The feature common to the entire WUFI® software family is the dynamic, coupled heat and moisture transport simulation. However, the programs are then distinguished by their roles in the following two categories:
- Building component simulations (WUFI® Pro and WUFI® 2D) focus on single- or multi-layer assemblies such as walls and roofs that are subject to specified external and internal climate conditions. These simulations address questions related to how one-dimensional cross-sections (e.g., far from edges) and/or cross-sections near transitions or connections such as foundation edges or balcony attachments perform and whether or not they will sustain moisture-related damage.
- Whole building simulations (WUFI® Plus und WUFI® Passive) include analyses of building components and their behavior, but they also take their effect on indoor conditions into account. The main focus of these simulations is on the indoor climate and the energy necessary for maintaining comfortable and healthy conditions.
For studying hygrothermal issues in building components WUFI® Pro, WUFI® 2D and WUFI® Light each has a specific focus:
WUFI® Pro is the standard tool for assessing hygrothermal performance of one-dimensional building envelope cross-sections.
WUFI® 2D extends the capabilities of WUFI® Pro by another dimension and is therefore particularly suitable for the assessment of more complex geometries such as building corners, window connections, foundation interfaces, etc. Potential users should be aware, however, that WUFI® Pro is much easier to use and in most cases the one-dimensional WUFI® Pro analysis is sufficient.
WUFI® Light is a reduced-functionality version of WUFI® Pro that is available for download at no cost. The WUFI® Light license is valid for 4 weeks.
| WUFI® Pro | WUFI® 2D | WUFI® Light | ||
| Simulation of one-dimensional cross-sections | thermal |  |  | |
| hygric | | | |
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| Simulation of corners and thermal bridges | thermal | | ||
| hygric | | |||
| Customizable material properties | | | ||
| Customizable climate-data files | | | ||
| Import of material- and climate-data | | | only one location | |
| Export of results | | | ||
| License allows commercial use | | | ||
Whole building simulation
To thoroughly evaluate building energy performance and thermal comfort, designers must perform dynamic, coupled heat and moisture simulations that account for the interaction between building components and the indoor/outdoor environment. Whole-building climate and energy simulation is accomplished with WUFI® Plus, WUFI® Passive, or WUFI® Plus/Passive Free.
WUFI® Plus is the most comprehensive tool in the WUFI®-Software family. In addition to the hygrothermal conditions in user-defined building components, WUFI Plus also models the indoor climate and its effect on comfort conditions and energy usage. WUFI® Plus is also designed to provide the dynamic assessment of thermal protection for summer months, and it can evaluate the transient response of three-dimensional thermal bridges. The output from WUFI® Plus simulations enables the user to determine if the building meets passive house criteria.
WUFI® Passive is closely related to WUFI® Plus. The main difference is that the dynamic hygrothermal simulation is performed only after static passive house criteria are met. In addition, WUFI® Passive employs a fast monthly balance approach that enables optimization and then certification of passive house designs.
WUFI® Plus Free and WUFI® Passive Free are free versions of WUFI® Plus and WUFI® Passive. These free versions do not allow hygric component simulation and room climate simulation. In addition, the databases cannot be extended with user-defined values and export of result data is also not possible.
| WUFI® Plus | WUFI® Passive | WUFI® Plus / Passive Free | ||
| Building component simulation | thermal | | | |
| hygric | | only passive houses | ||
| Room climate simulation | thermal | | | |
| hygric | | only passive houses | ||
| CO2 | | | |
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| Building energy simulation | | | |
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| Passive house calculations | | | |
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| Summer overheating protection (german standard DIN 4108-2) | | | |
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| Import of SketchUp and gbXML geometry | | | ||
| Air-flow-model | | | |
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| Dynamic shading calculations | | | |
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| Dynamic simulation of mechanical systems | | | |
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| Automatic reports with text and graphics | | | |
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| 3-D thermal bridging analysis | | | ||
| User-defined databases | | | ||
| User-defined climate data files | | | ||
| User-defined boundary conditions from external files | | | ||
| User-defined, MSWord-formatted text and graphic reports | | | ||
| Video and MSExcel-formatted output of all dynamic simulation results | | | ||
| Batch-file processing | | |||
| Customer support | Fraunhofer IBP | Partners | ||
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