QUESTION:

I want to experiment with different materials in my model to see the benefits I may get etc. Can I realistically simulate the thermal mass and thermal delay characteristics of a high mass adobe wall and other material types in ECOTECT ?

ANSWER:

Yes. The approach that we have taken with the software is as you describe, that you want to "play" with different designs and see the effects. The software is aimed mainly at building designers so that they can do this, rather than to the engineering market that wants to predict the exact values. Instead ECOTECT will export to other software such as EnergyPlus or ESP-r for more detailed analysis.

Where ECOTECT is best placed is in comparisons of systems, materials etc. For example, if you were to model your building and applied lightweight building materials such as metal cladding say, ran a thermal calc. got your graphs, and then switched the materials to heavyweight such as your adobe, you would certainly notice the shift in thermal mass effects according to time (particularly with the fabric gains graphs). Of course the material comparison doesn't have to be that dramatic, you could adjust the U-values etc. based on different thicknesses of Adobe construction, to see if there would be any benefits, or of course alter the geometry (window sizes, room volumes etc.) to see where you may be having trouble aside from just the materials.