Building energy simulation (ES) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) programs provide complementary information essential to evaluating building thermal performance. Integration of the two programs eliminates many model assumptions in separate applications and thus improves the quality of simulation results. This paper discusses the potential building and environmental characteristics that may affect the necessity and effectiveness of applying an ES-CFD coupling simulation. These characteristics and the solution accuracy requirement determine whether a coupled simulation is needed for a specific building and which coupling method can provide the best solution with the compromise of both accuracy and efficiency. The study conducts a sensitivity analysis of the coupling simulation to the potential influential factors, based on which general suggestions on appropriate usage of the coupling simulation are provided. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.