Integration of the free software GenOpt for a thermal engineering course

ABSTRACT Information and communications technologies (ICT) are being used in engineering fields due to multiple advantages that motivate their introduction in university teaching. A course on thermal engineering has been taught for the past 3 years as part of the industrial engineering degree at the University of Vigo. Energy savings and efficiency are common issues. In a practical classroom, one example is the energy simulations of buildings. These tools can be used to simplify the realization of control strategies for different building HVAC systems, which, in most cases, results in an important reduction in the building's energy consumption over its lifetime. In this paper, the feasibility of using the free software GenOpt for simulation practice and as a tool for teaching and learning inside and outside the classroom is analyzed. These results, together with an analysis of the study plan of the industrial engineering degree at the University of Vigo, allow for the development of new teaching and learning methodologies as well as their implementation in energy simulation practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 24:356–364, 2016; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21713