Highlights in IDA ICE 5.0

New climate zone model with arbitrary shape and stratification¹

A new zone model for detailed indoor climate analysis with results visualized in a 2D/3D-grid of the zone volume (air temperature, air velocity, operative temperature, draught risk, CO2, PPD, PMV). The new model supports:

Detailed radiation for arbitrary room geometry (also non-convex) with detailed view factor calculation, for long-wave and diffuse solar radiation exchange between surfaces and between surfaces and occupants.

Air stratification based on flow elements such as jets, plumes, and wall currents, e.g. cold air draft close to window in winter.

Operative temperature with, optionally, direct and diffuse short-wave radiation taken into account.

Equipment and other loads with position in the zone.

Position dependent sensors.

Yearly climate-based daylight³

Climate-based daylight calculation using the Radiance™ Three-Phase method.

Easy setup, execution, and results visualization, all inside IDA ICE

Calculation on selected zones or user-defined measuring planes placed inside or outside of the building.

A number of pre-defined metrics according to LEED 4, lm-83, BREEAM v6.0 and EN 17037.
It is easy to define your own post-processing result using commonly used parameters like illuminance levels and time aggregation.

Results presentation in a customizable report and in 3D with color-coded field visualization including possibility to show percentage of area above or below a threshold value.
Different parts of balconies can have different optical properties.
Automatically generated measuring grids can be combined with user defined measuring grids in the same calculation.
Sub hourly time steps and control signals from automatic shading controls.

Photovoltaics and battery storage¹

State of the art tool for analysis of building-integrated PV-systems with arbitrary location and multiple arrays. The effect of shading on electricity production due to row-to-row self-shading and shading form surrounding objects is analyzed at cell level. The new tool supports:

AC modules (PV module + micro inverter).

DC modules in string configuration with different levels of DC optimizers.

DC optimizers just for shaded modules (selective deployment).

Inverter power clipping and load sharing between the inputs.

Battery storage and energy management system for user-defined battery operation.

Energy management system to control battery charge/discharge, and energy trading.
Building to module thermal interaction.
New Electrical energy report and easy logging of time series in the electrical system.
Calculation and reports of load matching indicators according to ISO/FDIS 52000-1:2016(E) Annex G.

Multi-Objective Optimization and Parametric runs³

New easy-to-use automatic optimization with a powerful guiding algorithm that automatically selects the best optimization algorithms and their appropriate parameters. Built with reproducibility in mind, so the user can be assured to obtain the same result every time.

Supports single and multiple objectives.

Supports a mix of categorical parameters (i.e. list selections), integers, and real parameters with arbitrary precision.

Supports user-defined objective functions through Graphical scripts.

Possibility to add calculated results from reports, e.g. the Delivered energy report, to Outputs.

Pause and Save functionality gives the user full control over the optimization process.

Integrated within the already appreciated Parametric runs interface.

The Parametric runs interface has been improved with these features:

Supports all available simulation types including daylight (also combinations of simulations).

Parallel coordinates plot.

IDA ICE in the cloud (not available yet)

Get a monthly subscription to run IDA ICE without installing it locally. You will enjoy these benefits:

Access to unlimited number of computational nodes (cores) for large jobs such as parametric runs/optimizations or version handling projects.

Secure access from everywhere (including your phone).

Itemized billing based on user and project (to fairly divide licensing costs for larger organizations).
A web application in which you have:
- Progress monitoring, E-mail notifications, session history
- Access to ICE forum
- Manage subscriptions
Support for all types of simulations including these computationally intensive analyses:
- Daylight
- CFD

Improved plant modelling¹

Plant modelling made easier and more powerful with:

A new flow node model for bi- (or uni-) directional flow paths.

Plug-flow and finite-difference bi-directional models for pipe network modelling for, e.g., district heating networks.

A new palette with selected components ordered by functionality.

Circuit checks allowing the user to identify modelling errors in a simpler way.

A tag system that describes and categorizes the models. (not fully available in the first public beta).

New user forms making it easier to find and understand the main parameters, log variables and get information about the component.

Product database support for several components, such as heat pumps, solar thermal collectors, and pumps.

New heat pump and chiller models

A new model for variable capacity heat pumps and chillers is included. The model is based on the standard polynomials for compressor performance according to EN12900/ARI540. It provides accurate models for a majority of products using compressors in fix speed, variable speed, tandem and multiple staged configurations. Manufacturers can upload product data themselves for immediate access by users.

Multiple hot and cold-water distribution circuits

An unlimited number of hot and cold-water circuits from the plant can now be added. It is possible to have different heating and cooling circuits with different temperatures to any room unit or air handling unit.

Improved BIM import and export (only available in ESBO)²

Import zone geometry from CAD models created in CAD tools, e.g. DDS-CAD and MagiCAD, and export simulation results back to the CAD tool. Any CAD tool that can export IFC files with spaces and space boundaries can be supported.

Introduction of zone templates in ESBO. After setting up a number of zone templates with the desired constructions, surface materials, window types, internal gains, indoor climate standard and room units etc., this data is fetched from the zone templates during the BIM import. This method works for both IFC and the new plug-ins.

New Delivered energy report that supports energy production and export

The new report gives an overview over the total energy demand based on EN ISO 52000-1.

Extended concept of energy meters with new meter roles allows to meter used energy as well as produced, stored or converted energy.

New object "energy trader" defines economical interests (like utility, facility, tenants, PV plant owners etc.) that can trade energy between each other.

Primary energy and CO₂ factors defined for energy passing the so-called «assessment boundary» ecologically weight delivered and exported electricity, district heating/cooling and fuel.

New object "energy contract" between traders defines (potentially time-dependent) energy costs.
Monthly balance per energy carrier containing used, produced, purchased, and exported energy.
Monthly cost overview per trader.
Overall total and non-renewable primary energy as well as CO₂ emission.

New glazing report

A new detailed glazing report has been developed with properties calculated according to EN ISO 52022-3, EN 410 and ISO 15099.

New types of integrated shading

Three new types of typical shading devices can now easily be selected for the detailed window model; Switchable glass panes (e.g. electrochromic panes), Interior vertical slat curtains and Exterior vertical slats. Access to manufacturer data for shading materials has been enabled. The shading devices are visualized in the 3D view.

New component models

IDA ICE 5.0 includes a number of new component models. Here are a few examples:

Finite-difference underground duct model with wall condensation¹

Large vertical opening for the new stratified zone model¹.

Modelica implementation of energy zone model.

New cooling coil (improved wet/dry modelling and flow-dependent UA).

Improved solar collector (model and record in database).

Passage opening control model for openings in a series (e.g. sliding doors)¹

New valve models (based on characteristic curves)¹.

New air handling unit with liquid based heat recovery.

New air handling unit with direct expansion (DX) heat recovery.

New 3D animation of simulation results

The 3D animation of simulation results has been moved to a new Animation tab on the side bar. With this new feature it is now possible to:

Visualize much larger models and simulation results with vastly improved 3D performance.
Save any number of animations which include settings of:
- Variable to animate and from which type of simulation.
- Time.
- Scalebar settings including threshold value.
- View point including section cut.
- View settings including visual filter, wall thickness, x-ray, wire frame and background color.

New online help center

From IDA ICE 5.0 there is a central space with all documentation for your daily work available online at the EQUA WIKI. Press F1 within IDA ICE to access it. Use the search function.

Usability and productivity improvements

IDA ICE 5.0 includes a large number of usability and productivity improvements, many of them suggested by our users. Here are a few examples:

Output report of calculation of total weight of materials for, e.g., LCA studies. (An add-in for One Click LCA is available.)¹
Select from a map when downloading weather data.
To make it easier to work with multiple computer screens, most tabs and forms in IDA ICE open in windows that can be moved outside of the IDA ICE main window.

Special simulations (such as cooling/heating load) at advanced level¹.

Wall parts, H/C floors, windows and openings with custom shape, e.g. triangular windows.

ESBO-style default plant in ICE building with standard ICE boiler and chiller.

Possibility to remove results of selected simulation.

Possibility to edit the grid of windows/shading objects/PV panels in the dialog.

A warning is shown when opening a file saved in a previous version of IDA ICE.

More information in the list of resources.

More detailed tooltips in diagrams.

Progress bar shows total time in split-time mode.

Revised energy meters to support variable and additional energy factors.

Annotations tab on all objects where the user can take notes.

Improved memory management

The solver is updated to a 64 bit executable, which gives the possibility to simulate larger models with larger memory constraint (in principle 6TB) compared to the 32 bit 4Gb memory limit. It is still possible to run the 32 bit solver.

The diagram handling and the 3D results visualization have been separated into a 64 bit process, which makes is possible to visualize larger models and diagrams.

Real-time simulation feedback¹

At the advanced level the changing variable values can be monitored during simulation by opening the outline of a component. In the schematic view connectors are updated according to temperature and mass flow.

Sensors can be added in the 3D view and variable values can be shown on the sensor or animated with colors on zones or imported geometry.

¹Included in the Expert edition.

² Included in the Expert edition and available as extension (BIM Import) to the Standard edition.

³ Included in IDA ICE in the cloud.

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