DesignBuilder v6 Documentation A4
DesignBuilder v6 Documentation A4
DesignBuilder © No part of the manual is to be copied or reproduced in any form without the express
agreement of DesignBuilder Software Ltd
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Contents
Welcome to DesignBuilder v6 ............................................................................................ 37
Learn About DesignBuilder ................................................................................................ 37
Recent Files (Opening Screen) .......................................................................................... 38
User Interface ....................................................................................................................... 38
Edit Screen ........................................................................................................................... 39
DesignBuilder Tips .............................................................................................................. 40
Core Concepts ..................................................................................................................... 43
Model Data Hierarchy & Data Inheritance ......................................................................... 43
Templates And Components .............................................................................................. 45
Blocks Introduction ............................................................................................................. 45
Navigating Building Models ............................................................................................... 47
Title / Breadcrumbs ............................................................................................................. 48
Customising Model Options ............................................................................................... 49
DesignBuilder Model Files .................................................................................................. 49
Guidance For Working With DesignBuilder .dsb Files ....................................................... 50
Menu ..................................................................................................................................... 51
File Menu .............................................................................................................................. 51
Edit Menu .............................................................................................................................. 52
Go Menu ............................................................................................................................... 53
View Menu ............................................................................................................................ 54
Tools Menu ........................................................................................................................... 54
Help Menu ............................................................................................................................. 54
Licensing & Activation ........................................................................................................ 55
More Detailed Information On Licensing............................................................................ 69
Single User Licences........................................................................................................... 69
Setting Up A Licence Server For Site Network Licenses ................................................ 69
Summary Of Process ......................................................................................................... 70
Detailed Steps .................................................................................................................... 70
Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................. 73
Program Options ................................................................................................................. 75
Program Options - User Interface ...................................................................................... 75
Program Options - Dialogs ................................................................................................. 77
EN ISO 6946 Glazing U-value Calculations ...................................................................... 78
Detailed HVAC ................................................................................................................... 78
Program Options - Files ...................................................................................................... 79
Program Options - EnergyPlus .......................................................................................... 79
EnergyPlus ......................................................................................................................... 80
Output File .......................................................................................................................... 82
IDF Options ........................................................................................................................ 83
Using Custom Versions Of EnergyPlus ............................................................................. 83
Program Options - Limits ................................................................................................... 84
Program Options - International ........................................................................................ 85
Building Models ................................................................................................................... 87
Create New Site.................................................................................................................... 87
Create New Site - Location ................................................................................................. 87
Create New Site - Template ................................................................................................ 87
Building Geometry............................................................................................................... 87
View Controls In Edit Mode ................................................................................................ 88
View Rotation ....................................................................................................................... 89
Orbit ...................................................................................................................................... 90
Zoom Dynamic ..................................................................................................................... 90
Zoom Window ...................................................................................................................... 91
Fit View ................................................................................................................................. 91
Pan View ............................................................................................................................... 91
Normal View ......................................................................................................................... 92
Walk-Through ....................................................................................................................... 92
When Using The Mouse .................................................................................................... 92
When Using Keys............................................................................................................... 93
Look Around ........................................................................................................................ 93
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Water To Water Heat Pumps / Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP) ........................... 711
Configuring GSHPs In DesignBuilder .............................................................................. 713
Water To Water Heat Pump Heating ................................................................................ 714
General ............................................................................................................................ 714
Heating Capacity Coefficients .......................................................................................... 715
Heating Compressor Power Coefficients ......................................................................... 715
Advanced ......................................................................................................................... 715
Recommendation For Efficient Use ................................................................................. 715
Water To Water Heat Pump Cooling ................................................................................ 716
General ............................................................................................................................ 716
Cooling Capacity Coefficients .......................................................................................... 717
Cooling Compressor Power Coefficients ......................................................................... 717
Advanced ......................................................................................................................... 717
Generating Heat Pump Coefficients From Manufacturers Data ................................... 718
Processing Catalogue Data ............................................................................................. 718
Reference Condition Explanation And EquationFit Functionality Verification ................. 719
GSHP Example ................................................................................................................... 721
Air To Water Heat Pump / ASHP Data .............................................................................. 729
General ............................................................................................................................ 731
Compressor Settings........................................................................................................ 731
Flow Rate Settings ........................................................................................................... 732
Inlet Air Settings ............................................................................................................... 733
Fan Settings ..................................................................................................................... 734
Parasitic Load Settings .................................................................................................... 734
Air To Water Heat Pump Coil ............................................................................................ 734
General ............................................................................................................................ 735
Evaporator Settings.......................................................................................................... 735
Condenser Settings.......................................................................................................... 736
Crankcase Heater Settings .............................................................................................. 737
Performance Settings....................................................................................................... 737
Air To Water Heat Pump Example .................................................................................... 739
Performance Curves.......................................................................................................... 741
Linear ............................................................................................................................... 742
Quadratic .......................................................................................................................... 743
Cubic ................................................................................................................................ 744
Exponent .......................................................................................................................... 745
Bi-quadratic ...................................................................................................................... 746
Bi-cubic ............................................................................................................................ 748
Quartic .............................................................................................................................. 750
Rectangular Hyperbola 2 ................................................................................................. 751
Double Exponential Decay ............................................................................................... 752
Editing Zone Group Data .................................................................................................. 753
General Tab ..................................................................................................................... 753
Heating And Cooling Calculation Sequence Tab ............................................................. 754
Zone Defaults ................................................................................................................... 755
Editing HVAC Zone Data ................................................................................................... 755
Edit HVAC Zone Data - General Tab ................................................................................ 755
General ............................................................................................................................ 756
Thermostat Schedules ..................................................................................................... 756
Comfort PMV Setpoint Schedules ................................................................................... 756
Humidistat Control............................................................................................................ 756
CO2 And Contaminant Control ........................................................................................ 757
Zone Air Distribution Effectiveness .................................................................................. 758
Sizing ............................................................................................................................... 759
Cooling Sizing .................................................................................................................. 759
Heating Sizing .................................................................................................................. 761
Outdoor Air Sizing ............................................................................................................ 762
Dedicated Outdoor Air System Sizing.............................................................................. 763
Edit HVAC Zone Data - Target .......................................................................................... 764
Define HVAC Zone Affected By Changes ....................................................................... 764
Setpoint Manager............................................................................................................... 765
1-Scheduled Setpoint Manager ....................................................................................... 766
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Welcome to DesignBuilder v6
DesignBuilder is a user-friendly modelling environment where you can work (and play) with virtual building
models. It provides a range of environmental performance data such as: energy consumption, carbon
emissions, comfort conditions, daylight illuminance, maximum summertime temperatures and HVAC
component sizes.
DesignBuilder uses the EnergyPlus dynamic simulation engine to generate performance data.
A few minutes spent with these resources will be time well spent!
There is a range of other freely available learning resources on the Webinars and Other Learning
Materials sections of the DesignBuilder website.
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The Recent Files Opening Screen has a list of the files used in your previous DesignBuilder modelling
sessions. To access one of these files again you can double-click on it in the grid, or single click in the grid
to select it and then 'Open selected site' from the Info Panel on the Toolbar.
User Interface
The DesignBuilder user interface has been designed from first principles for ease of use. Each screen has
a specific purpose which is described in the Info panel on the right of the screen along with context
sensitive commands and other relevant information.
The Info panel is only displayed in Learning mode. If you would prefer to have simultaneous access to the
Model Data and the Edit View you can switch Learning mode off from the Program Options dialog from the
Tools menu.
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Edit Screen
The diagrams below illustrate the various components of the DesignBuilder Edit Screen with Learning
Mode switched on and off.
Learning Mode On
With Learning mode switched on the Edit screen will look similar to the screenshot below.
Use the Model data tabs to access Activity, Construction, Openings, Lighting, HVAC etc model data.
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DesignBuilder Tips
Miscellaneous information you should know before starting 'serious work' with DesignBuilder:
1. Buildings are put together by drawing blocks. Block creation and edit operations take place at the
building level.
2. Blocks can be subdivided into more than one zone by drawing partitions. Partitioning takes place at
the block level.
3. Default data is inherited from the level above, so blocks inherit their data from the building level,
zones inherit their data from blocks, surfaces from zones and openings from surfaces. It is therefore
possible to make global changes to the model by changing data at building level. It is possible to
override default by editing the data. So for example, you could change the external wall
construction for a whole block.
4. Data templates are the source of default data in DesignBuilder. They can also be used for loading
data to the model en masse. For example you can load the 'Energy code - heavyweight'
construction template at the building level to change the construction of the entire building to
thermally heavyweight elements which comply with local energy codes/building regulations.
5. You can clear non-default data (i.e. data that has been explicitly entered) to its default state by
using the Clear to default command.
6. When drawing a block which touches another block, you should use the shift key to lock the base
perimeter to the correct plane before drawing. You can release the shift key once you have placed
the first point of the perimeter.
7. Use the snap points - DesignBuilder block geometry is quite easy to work with but you must use the
positioning tools provided to ensure that blocks connect exactly. The only way to do this is to use
snaps - do not position blocks and partitions relative to each other 'by eye'.
8. Large building models can take a long time to simulate. You should familiarise yourself with the
Working with Large Models help topic before creating a large/complex DesignBuilder model.
9. DesignBuilder dsb files are already compressed so there is no need to 'Zip' them when attaching to
e-mails or support forums.
10. Understand DesignBuilder constructions, in particular the way floors and ceilings are defined.
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11. Name your zones. Do this by clicking twice (not double-clicking) on the name in the Navigator and
typing the name. This is especially useful when merging zones and when checking adjacencies of
individual surfaces in the Navigator.
12. If you are exporting IDF data for use outside DesignBuilder please read the Exporting EnergyPlus
IDF Files topic.
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Core Concepts
Core Concepts
Some core concepts you should be familiar with before attempting to use DesignBuilder on a real project are:
Default data is inherited from the level above in the hierarchy, so block data is inherited from building level,
zone data is inherited from block data and surface data from zone data. This arrangement allows you to make
settings at building level which can becomes active throughout the whole building; or make settings at block
level to change data for all zones/surfaces in the block. So for example, if the External wall construction is set
to 'Wall 1' at building level, then this will be the default External wall for all blocks in the building. It is possible
to change the inherited defaults in any of these blocks by making an explicit selection (say 'Wall 2'). All the
zones in the block whose external wall construction was set to 'Wall 2' have that default External wall
construction.
The construction and opening defaults are inherited down to surface level where the data is actually used in
the calculations. For example it is the External wall construction model data at the surface level that defines
the actual construction used for that external wall. The External wall model data set at zone, block and
building level has no effect on the model (other than by providing the default data for the level below in the
hierarchy).
To assist in identifying where data is inherited from DesignBuilder uses a colour code. Data set at building
level or user defined data ‘hard set’ at any level below will appear in red. All data inherited at levels below will
be in blue (see below).
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The simplest way of determining where data is inherited from is to start at the lowest level, a surface or
opening, and go up through the levels until the data turns red. This then is the level from which the data has
been inherited.
The DesignBuilder hierarchy mechanism is a fast way of setting data globally in a building model, but you
must take care to enter the minimum amount of data to get the most from the inheritance system. For
example if all zones in a particular block have the same activity called say 'Office work', you should set the
activity at block level and not multiple times at zone level. Equally if all the blocks in the building have the
same activity, you should set the data at the building level and allow the blocks to inherit the data from the
building. By keeping the amount of user data to a minimum, you will find it quicker to make changes at a later
date. Clearly it is much faster to change a few Model data items at building and block level than it is to make
multiple changes at zone or surface levels.
When entering construction data, you could set the construction for each surface in the model but in practice
this would be an extremely inefficient process. It is faster and less error-prone to set the construction as high
up in the hierarchy as possible, possibly at building level (if all external walls in the building have that external
wall construction), or at block level if all walls in that block have the construction (and other blocks don't).
Most data at the building level is 'user data' as buildings do not inherit their data from the site level.
To undo user defined ‘hard set’ data run the Edit > Clear to default menu command and select All data’ or
Custom openings and specify level (block, zone or surface) down to which the data is to be cleared.
Defaults
In short the rules are:
• Construction and Openings data is used at the surface level, i.e. all construction and opening data at
building, block and zone level is default data and only data at surface level is actually used to define
the model.
• Activity, Lighting, HVAC, Equipment data is used at the zone level, i.e. all Activity, Lighting, HVAC,
Equipment data at building and block level is default data.
A common question is "Why do I see Pitched roof constructions at building/block/zone level on the
Constructions tab when my building/block/zone doesn't have a pitched roof"?
The answer is that the Pitched roof construction setting at building, block and zone levels should be thought of
as the default setting for any pitched roofs that may (or may not) exist in the model further down in the
hierarchy. If there are no pitched roofs in the model then the data is simply not used.
Custom openings
When custom (user-drawn) openings have been created at surface level these override any openings that
would otherwise have been generated through the facade layout Model data for the surface.
Component blocks
Component blocks inherit their data from building level.
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Templates And Components
• Partitions separating zones within a single block. These partitions within a block inherit their data from
the block level. Why? They can't inherit from zone level because there are 2 zones adjacent to the
partition so they inherit from the next level up in the hierarchy - blocks.
• Inter-block partitions which separate zones in 2 different blocks have 2 parent blocks and so it is not
possible for the data to inherit from block level for these surfaces so data inherits directly from building
level.
DesignBuilder allows you to build up your own libraries of templates and components. Note that each user on
a computer maintains their own database of templates and components.
Template and component libraries are loaded into your model at the time it is created and new custom data
from other computers can be imported at any time.
Blocks Introduction
Blocks are the basic geometric shapes that you use to assemble a DesignBuilder model. The idea of blocks is
to provide fairly simple objects that you can easily move around in 3-D space in a similar fashion to that of
building a physical model using bricks from a construction set. Blocks are created by drawing 2-D perimeters
on horizontal or vertical planes and then extruding these perimeters to form 3-D shapes:
Blocks are versatile objects and once created can easily be modified by moving their surfaces, by stretching
them and even by cutting them using arbitrary planes. Typically, you might use a block to represent an entire
building storey:
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Or a particular building design might lend itself to an obvious division into blocks:
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Navigating Building Models
Once the overall geometry of a model has been established with blocks, you can go 'into' a block and sub-
divide it into a number of rooms or zones using partitions:
If you sub-divide a block internally using partitions, you can still modify the block by stretching, cutting,
rotating, etc. and where possible the internal geometry will be kept.
Also blocks can have boolean geometry operations applied such as Union, where 2 blocks are combined into
a single new block, Difference (subtract), in which one block is subtracted from the other to form a single new
block and Intersection, where a new block is formed where the 2 original blocks intersect.
• Single clicking the appropriate entry in the Navigator panel is the most versatile way because every
object in the building has an entry in the Navigation panel. Note that if the Double click to navigate site
hierarchy program option is set then you must double-click in the navigator to go to the associated
object.
• Double-clicking on the appropriate object in the Edit Screen takes you do it.
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• Single-clicking on the appropriate object in the Edit Screen then mouse right mouse clicking on the
object and selecting the 'Go to…’ menu option at the top.
• Use the Title / breadcrumbs at the top of the screen to navigate up one or more levels.
• Go to the level up in the hierarchy by pressing <F2> or by right mouse clicking in the Edit Screen and
selecting the 'Go up...’ menu option.
• The Next <F5> and Back <F4> Navigation buttons allows you to move sequentially through the model
(avoiding surfaces). This approach can be slow but can be useful when it is necessary to methodically
work through the model for any reason.
The Figure below shows how to either click on the Navigator entry or double-click on the Edit Screen to go to
'Zone 1' from 'Block 1'.
Title / Breadcrumbs
The Title at the top of the screen tells you which object you are currently navigated to. For example in the
screenshot below the title tells us that we are navigated to "Hallway 1" in block "0 Ground Fl" in building "Art
School" on the site "Art School".
The title also acts as "breadcrumbs" allowing you to quickly move up the model hierarchy by clicking on the
text in the Title representing the level you would like to navigate to. As you move the mouse over the Title text,
the various elements are underlined like a link on a webpage to indicate what would happen if you click with
the mouse.
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Customising Model Options
The Title / breadcrumbs are available on all screens, including when editing Detailed HVAC systems.
Note: Alternative ways to navigate up the hierarchy by one level are by pressing the <F2> key or by right
mouse clicking in the Edit Screen and selecting the 'Go up...’ menu option.
As the building design firms up, more information becomes available and you can change the model options
to use more specific data tailored to the project and less generic data.
The 'standard' Model Option set is loaded at the point the building is created and you should generally keep
these options unless you have specific reason to change.
Model Options are set in the Model Options dialog from the Edit menu.
• Building geometry
• Model data settings
• HVAC data
• Model components and templates
• Any user-defined weather files
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• Any user-defined textures
• All results for Heating design, Cooling design, Simulation, Daylighting, Cost/Carbon, Optimisation and
CFD (including all project variations)
See also:
1. Dropbox or similar folders which can lock files for synching for storage on cloud servers. If you try to
work on Dropbox or OneDrive folders your data will eventually become corrupted as
DesignBuilder tries and fails to save to a locked file.
2. Network drives. Less risky than Dropbox folders but a risk nevertheless.
3. Removable data sticks.
If you need to store your data using any of the above locations then you should copy your .dsb data stored on
the local disk to Dropbox, network or data sticks outside DesignBuilder once you have closed the software
down.
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Menu
Menu
The DesignBuilder menu is located at the top of the screen and provides a full reference of all the currently
available commands.
File Menu
The File menu can be accessed from the horizontal top bar menu at the top of the screen.
Tip: see the "DesignBuilder Model Files" on page 49 help page for advice on file storage, backups etc.
General
• New file (Ctrl+N) - create a new DesignBuilder dsb file.
• Open file (Ctrl+O) - Open an existing DesignBuilder dsb file.
• Close (Ctrl+F4) - close the currently open DesignBuilder dsb file and returned to the opening screen.
• Print - Print current view
• Load results file - load a previously generated ESO file.
Save
• Save (Ctrl+S) - Save currently open DesignBuilder dsb file. If no file is currently loaded then this
command saves the libraries.
• Save without output results - save the current DesignBuilder dsb file without output results reducing
the file size. Use this option if you plan to send the dsb file by e-mail or forums etc.
• Save as (F12) - save the DesignBuilder dsb file using a different name/location.
• Save as template - save the DesignBuilder dsb file as a template so it can be used as a starting point
for subsequent new projects.
Import
• Merge model data from file - import the attribute settings, components and templates, HVAC system,
assemblies and component blocks from a previously created DesignBuilder model into a newly
modified one.
• Import 2-D DXF floorplan - import a 2-D DXF floorplan into the model for tracing over.
• Import detailed survey data - import a survey data file into the model (advanced option - contact
DesignBuilder support for more information on this)
• Import building from external file - import building(s) into the current model from an external file.
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• Import assembly library - imports an assembly library from an external asl file previously created
using the Export assembly library command.
• Import library data - import library data from an existing DDF file.
Export
• Export EnergyPlus Heating design IDF file - export an IDF file using options for heating design
calculations.
• Export EnergyPlus Cooling design IDF file - export an IDF file using options for cooling design
calculations.
• Export EnergyPlus Simulation design IDF file - export an IDF file using options for simulation using
hourly weather data.
• Export model image - export the currently displayed image of the model.
• Export 3-D DXF model - export the model in 3-D DXF format.
• Export gbXML model - exports the current building geometry in gbXML format including layered
constructions, materials, glazing and shading devices for use in another compatible program.
• Export to MasterClima 11300 - exports the current building data in a format compatible with
MasterClima 11300. Contact SGM our Italian reseller for more details.
• Export assembly library - exports the current assembly library to an asl file for importing into another
model.
• Export CSV report file - export a summary of the model in spreadsheet format.
• Export library data - export library data in DDF format.
Folder
• EnergyPlus folder - opens a Windows Explorer window in the folder used by DesignBuilder for storing
temporary EnergyPlus files.
• Weather data folder - opens a Windows Explorer window in the folder where the hourly weather files
are stored.
• Library data folder - opens a Windows Explorer window in the folder where library data files are
stored.
• Template projects folder - opens a Windows Explorer window in the folder where dsb file templates
are stored. File templates are available for selection on the second tab of the Add new project dialog.
Edit Menu
The Edit menu can be accessed from the horizontal top bar menu at the top of the screen.
General
• Undo <Ctrl+Z> - undo last operation
• Redo <Ctrl+R> - redo last operation
• End stream <Enter> - end the partition stream creating a floating partition
• Cancel current operation <Esc> - cancel the current operation returning to select mode
• Undo last point <Esc> - undo the last point drawn when drawing a block base perimeter or when
drawing partitions. Note that when drawing arcs, the Undo last point command doesn't undo the
whole arc, it operates on one arc line segment at a time. To undo the whole arc, press <Esc> as many
times are there are lines in the arc.
• Clear to default - clear model data to defaults
• Load data from template <Ctrl+L> - loads data from template
• Reload templates - reloads data from template throughout model where the template is non-default
• Transfer blocks - transfers blocks from one building to another
• Convert selected outlines to blocks - convert any selected outlines to component or building blocks
• Drag block face -start the drag face operation on the currently selected block
• Divide block - divide the currently selected block using the cutting tool
• Measure <Ctrl+M> - measure length, angles or areas in the model
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Go Menu
Draw
• Draw block – add a new block (building level only)
• Draw internal perimeter- draw a void/courtyard (block level only)
• Draw partition - draw partition streams (block level only)
• Draw window - draw windows (surface level only)
• Draw sub-surface - draw sub-surface (surface level only)
• Draw door - draw doors (surface level only)
• Draw hole - draw holes (surface level only)
• Draw vent - draw vents (surface level only)
• Draw construction line - draw one or more construction lines
• Place assembly - place an assembly from the library
• Flip block surface orientation - applies only to open manifold blocks imported from BIM models
Remove
• Remove DXF data - remove all current DXF data
• Remove all construction lines - remove all construction lines
• Remove all outlines - remove all outline blocks
Select
• Select - returned to select mode
• Select all - select all objects in current view
Equipment (zone level, Equipment tab when Detailed gains model option
selected)
• Add - at an item of equipment
• Edit - edit currently selected equipment
• Delete - delete currently selected equipment
General
• Building model options <F11> - open Model options dialog
• Add building <Ctrl+A> - add a new building (site level only)
Go Menu
The Go menu can be accessed from the horizontal top bar menu at the top of the screen.
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View Menu
The View menu can be accessed from the horizontal top bar menu at the top of the screen.
Tools Menu
The Tools menu can be accessed from the horizontal top bar menu at the top of the screen.
General
• Program options - open program options dialog.
• Model data grid view - view the model data using a grid view, selecting from a range of view template
• "Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings" on page 1412 - define settings for
optimisation and parametric analysis
• Rebuild - Rebuilds all secondary geometry including block perimeters, zones, default openings,
adjacencies (block and zone) and all display lists from the base building elements.
• Merge zones - control the way zones are combined.
• Rezone block - refresh the zoning in the current block.
• Interzone Airflow - define scheduled air flow rates between zones.
• Import library components to model - import current component and template libraries to the
model replacing existing ones.
• Export data - export results/graphics results from the current screen.
• Compile report - generation of a report based on previously created Report topics.
• Hourly weather data - open the hourly weather data dialog.
• Thermal comfort calculator - calculate PMV and PPD from air and radiant temperatures, RH, clothing
and air speed.
• Show log file - show a log file containing information on your computer and all significant actions taken
during the current DesignBuilder session.
• Building Cost Summary - open the dialog to edit building summary costs.
Results screens
• Update calculated data - refreshes the results first opening the Calculation options dialog allowing you
to enter new options.
• Lock Y-axis min/max values - locks the extent of the Y-axes so that they keep their current maximum
and minimum values allowing consistent comparison with the future results display.
• Optimisation Analysis Settings - access optimisation settings.
Help Menu
The Help menu can be accessed from the horizontal top bar menu at the top of the screen.
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Licensing & Activation
DesignBuilder consists of a modelling Graphical User Interface (GUI) connected to a number of modules each
providing a particular functionality. Modules include Simulation, Visualisation, HVAC, CFD etc. You will need a
license for each of the modules you intend to use. If you require more than one module then the most
convenient way to obtain DesignBuilder licences is usually to purchase a DesignBuilder package. Each
package consists of 2 or more module licences, each module giving access to a particular aspect of
DesignBuilder functionality.
There are various types of licence and ways of licensing all accessed from the Licence Manager dialog (Help
> Licence menu option). The types of licence are:
• Single user licence which allows you to install DesignBuilder onto a single computer. If you need to
use the software on a second computer you can deactivate the licence on the first one and activate on
the second. You can move the licence from one computer to another freely in this way.
• Site network licence where a site license server is installed on one computer on the network and
provides module licenses on demand to DesignBuilder users on the network. With a site license you
purchase individual DesignBuilder modules in quantities sufficient to support your concurrent use
requirements.
• Pay as you go credits, currently only available for Certification licences, this is a low cost of entry
license for occasional certification users or for organisations with many affiliated energy assessors. Pay
as you go license allows the certification module to be used on any number of computers. Each time an
SBEM calculation is run to generate a new EPC or Part-L calculation, a pre-purchased credit is
deducted.
Evaluation
When you first install DesignBuilder you can request an evaluation license to be sent by email. To do this
open the Licence Manager dialog and click on the Evaluate button (this button will only be enabled if no other
licences are loaded on the machine).
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This takes you to a new dialog where you can enter your user details including an email address.
You will then be sent an email with an activation code. Copy the activation code from the email and return to
the Licence Manager dialog, pressing the Licence button to open the Licence Manager Wizard.
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Licensing & Activation
Here select the Activation code option, confirm your user details and press Next. On the next page paste
your activation code into the text box.
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Evaluation licences are valid for 30 days from the date of request and allow you to try out a fully functional
version of the software to check that it meets your needs and is compatible with your computer. You can read
about restrictions with evaluation licences on the main website.
Activation
When you purchase single user licences to use DesignBuilder, you are sent an e-mail containing an an 8-
character code. You should copy (Ctrl-C) the activation code from the e-mail and follow these steps in
DesignBuilder:
Open the Licence Manager dialog (Help > Licence). Click on the Licence button to open the Licence
Manager Wizard.
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Licensing & Activation
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Enter your user details including a valid email address and press Next.
On the next page paste your activation code into the text box and press Next.
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Licensing & Activation
You should see a message to say that the various modules have been activated.
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When you press Finish, if the activation was successful, you will be shown the Modules Licence tab displaying
the licence status of each module.
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Licensing & Activation
Note 1: If you purchased a Single User Licence then you will be able to activate the code on a single
computer.
Note 2: You must be connected to the Internet to activate and deactivate DesignBuilder licenses. If your
network has a strict firewall policy then you should ensure that DesignBuilder.exe is allowed to access the
www.designbuilder.co.uk website.
Licence file
You may have been supplied with a licence file with extension .lic containing your licence or extended
evaluation. Typical reasons for using a .lic file are when on a training course where you may not have access
to the Internet for activation or for customers who have purchased licences but either do not have Internet
access or have strict firewall policies preventing the standard web-based activation from working.
To activate DesignBuilder modules using a .lic file follow the instructions below. Before starting make sure the
lic file you received has been saved to a place where you can access it, e.g. desktop, a pen drive, documents
folder etc. The location does not have to be permanent as DesignBuilder will store a copy of the lic file in a
safe place on the local machine.
Open the Licence Manager dialog (Help > Licence). Click on the Licence button to open the Licence
Manager Wizard.
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Select the Licence file option and press Next.
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Licensing & Activation
Click on the browse button, select the Licence file and press Next.
With site network licenses each client computer on the network can "check out" licenses from the license
server application which manages the allocation of licenses. The system is designed to provide a maximum
number of concurrent users according to the number of seats purchased. For example if you purchased a site
licence with 10 seats for the EnergyPlus module then the software can be installed on any number of
computers but only a maximum of 10 people will be able to access DesignBuilder EnergyPlus simulations at
any one time. If an eleventh person on the network tries to check out an EnergyPlus license (by starting
DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus selected in the License dialog) then they will receive a message to say that the
seats are all in use and to wait until one becomes available.
DesignBuilder site licensing requires a simple server application to run on the network to provide licenses.
Each client computer has a setting to tell the software to run in site license mode and where to find the
Licence Server on the network. The site licensing system is quite straightforward but does require a network
administrator with adequate IT skills to set it up.
To set up site network licensing on a client computer (i.e. the computer that is to run DesignBuilder) follow the
instructions below.
Open the Licence Manager dialog (Help > Licence). Click on the Licence button to open the Licence
Manager Wizard.
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Select the Site network licence option and press Next.
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Licensing & Activation
You can find the IP address of your server by typing ipconfig in the Windows Command box on the
server machine.
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b. The port number which will usually be 5053.
When you click the Finish button the connection to the License Server is established based on the port
number and IP address you provided on the dialog.
If the site network licence connection was successful you will be shown the Modules Licence tab displaying
the licence status of each module.
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Single User Licences
Once back to the main License Manager dialog you can check out or check back in module licenses through
the check boxes in the Use column for each module.
If the server host name or IP address was incorrect, if that server is not running or if the Licence Server
service isn't running then the licences will not be accessed and error messages are displayed.
When you purchase a DesignBuilder single user license, you will receive an 8-digit activation code. To use
this enter it in the License dialog accessed from the Help menu within DesignBuilder and press the License
button and select the Activation code option. This will cause DesignBuilder to automatically download licences
for all modules associated with the activation code and activate them. You will then be able to use the
software and run functionality associated with each activated license.
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Summary Of Process
In summary, the steps to set up DesignBuilder Site Licenses are:
1. Download the designb_rlm.zip file from the Downloads > Software area of the DesignBuilder website
2. Extract the files in the designb_rlm.zip file to the folder on the server to be used to store DesignBuilder
site license files (e.g. c:\RLMSERVER)
3. Obtain the License file by clicking on activate.cmd, following instructions on the webpage and saving
the license file to the site license folder.
4. Run the RLM server as a service and start the service.
5. On client machines which are to run the DesignBuilder software, open the Licence Manager dialog
(Help > License menu option) and enter the ip address or hostname of site license server host.
Detailed Steps
Obtain your License File
With Site Network Licenses the License file is obtained through the activation code you received when
ordering the software.
a. Before you run the RLM server you will need to obtain your license file and save it into the RLM
installation folder. That's the folder containing rlm.exe and other files listed above. We recommend
setting up the rlm folder on a local drive on the server itself.
b. You should have received an activation code from your site license purchase. This is an 8-digit number
and is needed to activate the license.
c. Open the RLM installation folder in Windows Explorer and double click on activate.cmd
d. This loads a web page at www.designbuilder.co.uk with a form for you to enter your activation code.
e. Other values in the form such as Hostid are automatically filled in for you. After entering your activation
code click Activate License and if successful you will be presented with a download link for your
activated license file.
f. Download the license file and save in your RLM installation folder.
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Setting Up A Licence Server For Site Network Licenses
If your server computer has no internet connection then activate.cmd will not be able to connect a browser
window to the designbuilder.co.uk web server and you will have to activate manually by following these steps:
https://www.designbuilder.co.uk/license/activate_site.php
7. Enter your details in to the form and download the resulting .lic file.
8. Place a copy of the .lic file in the site license installation folder on your host server.
If you are running RLM in a command window you should close that before starting up RLM as a service.
To create the Windows service to run RLM automatically double click on service_install.cmd or use Manage
Windows Service in the admin interface.
If the service_install.cmd does not run then open a command window with elevated privileges from Start> right
click on Command prompt to run as admin, then cd to RLM folder and type service_install and press Enter
key. See below for details.
Note: The service will be added to Windows services but not started.
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Once started in this way the service will restart automatically if the computer is rebooted. By default the
service will write a log file designb_rlm.log into the rlm installation folder. If you want this in a different
location you can use the admin interface (above) to set up the service then you can specify the service name
and the log file location.
You may experience problems with permissions when setting up the service. You can either disable the UAC
or try right clicking service_install.cmd and choosing "Run as administrator".
Even this doesn't always give you access to the Service Control Manager. You can check this by running a
cmd prompt, changing folder to the license server installation folder and running the RLM install service
command (below).
If you edit service_install.cmd you'll see the command being executed is:
If you see this error returned "Error: Access to Service Control Manager denied" you can get over this by
running cmd as administrator and then run the install command. To do this right click Command Prompt on
the start menu and run as administrator. Change folder to the license manager installation folder and run the
rlm.exe -install_service command given above and it should work.
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Setting Up A Licence Server For Site Network Licenses
In case of trouble, add inbound windows firewall rules to server machine, to always allow TCP ports 5053,
5054. If you set fixed ISV port for port-forwarding method of off-site access (See Troubleshooting section)
then also add and fixed ISV port e.g.49670 as an inbound TCP port-allow rule. If necessary, also allow TCP
ports 2600 and 2700 inbound.
Refer to the RLM End User Manual (double click online_manual.cmd) for more details on using the admin
interface.
Note: DesignBuilder does not use the Activation page of the admin interface.
Reprise Software, developers of the RLM licensing system, always maintains a current version of the RLM
End User's Manual here:
https://www.reprisesoftware.com/RLM_Enduser.html
Troubleshooting
Unreachable server
Normally when the Client machine can’t see server it displays "-17 communications error" and "-111
Connection refused at server". In that case the access to the server is probably being blocked.
The RLM Licence server uses random ports. So, the best solution is not to allow exceptions by port, but
instead by program, eg. open all ports used by "rlm.exe".
But if the server is behind a firewall that you have to specify pinholes to get access then follow these
instructions:
In order to specify what port the second service uses you will have to edit the lic file.
On the ISV designb line of the lic file (that will be the 2nd line) add the following:
• port=nnnnn
• where nnnnn is the port number. There must be a space before the word "port".
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Usage of licence server from off-site (via WAN)
Now, on the second line you should see "ISV designb" but the "port=..." part is probably not present.
Be sure to insert after "designb", a space, followed by "port=", followed directly by a port number – one
example is 49670.
Then save the lic file and restart the service.
This instructs the licence server to use a fixed "ISV port" as specified, instead of randomly choosing the port
number from a range each time the server is started (default behaviour, good for security but it makes port-
forwarding for off-site access unachievable).
In the router used by the licence server, set up port forwarding from WAN TCP port 5053, to LAN TCP port
49670 or whatever you chose as your fixed ISV port. Forward to the LAN static IP of the licence server
machine.
All clients, whether on LAN or WAN, must then access the server using port 5053. When on WAN, for host
name they must use the server's WAN static IP or DDNS host address as the host name. This means when a
staff member moves in/out of the office with their laptop, they have to switch the hostname in their
DesignBuilder (client) licence settings (unless you have something clever set up on your network to make this
seamless). The VPN approach is probably more convenient in this respect.
Note: It is the customer's responsibility to consider security concerns when opening ports etc.
DesignBuilder Software Limited shall not be held responsible for damages due to a security breach.
The DesignBuilder licence server is based on the Reprise Licence Manager (RLM) software in case you have
prior knowledge of this platform.
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Program Options
Program Options
The Program options dialog is accessed from the Tools menu.
The Program options apply to the overall application no matter which file is loaded. There are six tabs:
• User interface
• Dialogs
• Files
• EnergyPlus
• Limits
• International
Learning
You should generally select Learning mode while you gain experience with DesignBuilder. In Learning mode,
the Info panel is shown to the right of the main screen, providing additional information and commonly used
tools relevant to each screen. Model data is accessed from tabs along the top of the screen.
With Learning mode switched off, the Info window is not shown and Model data is shown on the right of the
screen alongside the Model edit screen. This allows you to see the effects of updates to data as they are
made.
Help system
Select one of:
• 1-Web-help - the default option where the latest help is displayed from the DesignBuilder servers using
the Web Help system. This option has the advantage of providing the most up-to-date help but it
requires an Internet connection and is slower than...
• 2-Local help - a chm format help file called Manual.chm is downloaded. Once the help file is
downloaded no Internet connection is required for help.
When using 2-Local help, the help file is called Manual.chm and is downloaded and stored on the local hard
disk at:
C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\DesignBuilder\Help\V6.0
You can download the help file once while you have an Internet connection and manually copy it to other
computers as required when on or off-line, remembering to select the 2-Local help Program option on the
other computers.
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Use Slider controls
Some significant data items are (by default) controlled using a 'slider' which allows rapid selection of typical
values. If however you need to enter precise values (for example when modelling an existing building) or if
you need to enter values outside the slider range you may prefer to type this data in a text box. In this case
uncheck the 'Use slider controls' data. Common reasons for this are to enter Computer gain densities for IT
suites or dealing rooms.
Note: when using DesignBuilder with IP units, slider controls are always switched off regardless of this
setting.
Sort lists
By default DesignBuilder automatically sorts navigator and other data lists alphabetically. This can make it
easier to find the data you are looking for but also increases the time taken to generate lists and so slows
some program operations requiring lists to be generated. You can request unsorted lists by unchecking this
option.
On some less powerful computer displays, some line types in the model edit screen can be hard to see with
this option selected. You should ensure that this option is unchecked if you have this problem on your
computer. The default setting is off.
If you have a good quality graphics card you may prefer to leave this option unchecked and switch on
hardware antialiasing on the control panel provided by the software that comes with the graphics card. This
will improve image quality without the need to change DesignBuilder settings.
Warning: You should be careful when using this option as the Navigator list can quickly become out of date
when you are editing a model. You should be especially wary of clicking on objects in the Navigator which no
longer exist in the model as this can cause DesignBuilder to crash. For this reason we can only recommend
unchecking this option for advanced and "careful" users!
You can manually refresh the navigator lists by clicking on the refresh list icon above the Navigator panel
(below).
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Program Options - Dialogs
Tip: Enabling this option can be useful for identifying blocks, zones, surfaces by single-clicking in the
Navigator. It can also save time when renaming many zones at once from block level as it becomes possible
to click on the zone Navigator entries to rename them without navigating down to each zone and then having
to navigate back up again to block level to rename the next zone.
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Auto calculate
Check this option if you prefer DesignBuilder to automatically start calculations (typically opening the
calculation options dialog first) when you move to a new calculation tab. For example when you click on the
Simulation screen and there aren't any results available to display yet, by default DesignBuilder shows the
Update button, giving you opportunity to update the results. However if you activate the Auto calculate
program option, DesignBuilder will instead open the Simulation calculation options dialog. This was the default
behaviour in v5.1 and earlier, but in v5.2 and later it is necessary to click on the Update button to start a
calculation.
Calculation dialogs
These options control whether a calculation option dialog appears by default before every calculation. Note
that a dialog always appears when you press Update.
Detailed HVAC
Default HVAC zones target
By default in Detailed HVAC when you edit an HVAC zone equipment object, such as an HVAC zone, a FCU
a chilled ceiling or a sub-component within zone equipment such as a zone heating coil, any changes made
on the dialog apply only to that object. That is 1-This HVAC Zone only is selected by default on the Target
tab of the dialog. However you can use this selection to choose a different default option allowing changes
made to be saved to the equivalent component in all HVAC zones in the group by default if that is what is
required. Options are:
• 1-This HVAC Zone only - the data on the dialog will be saved for the current HVAC zone only.
• 2-Multiple (all settings) - all of the data on the dialog will be saved for all HVAC zones in the group
• 3-Multiple (modified settings only) - only the changed settings on the dialog (shown in red) will be
saved for all HVAC zones in the group.
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Program Options - Files
Show HVAC zone default data on the HVAC zone group dialog
When an HVAC zone is added to an HVAC zone group, default values are taken from the HVAC zone group.
This default HVAC zone group data is normally hidden because it can confuse new users who expect
changes made to HVAC zone default settings on the HVAC zone group dialog to be inherited by child HVAC
zones.
This option allows more experienced users who understand that the HVAC zone group defaults are only used
at the point when the HVAC zone is added to the group to control defaults. It is switched off by default.
Tip: The most important application of HVAC zone group default data is when saving HVAC templates
where specific HVAC zone settings are required. Any HVAC zone settings made in the source model are not
saved with an HVAC template, but the settings on the HVAC zone group are saved and applied to zones
added to the HVAC zone group when the template is subsequently loaded in the destination model.
Backup
DesignBuilder will by default make automatic backups of your current working file. Check the Automatic
backup option box and select a backup interval to enable this option.
DesignBuilder copies the auto backup file to the Backup folder below DesignBuilder Data folder.
Note: DesignBuilder keeps files in the Backup folder for up to 30 days and removes old backups each
time the program is run.
Default folders
DesignBuilder stores the most recently used folders for:
• Data file storage - default folder for .dsb .skh and .ddf exports.
• Picture file export - default folder for pictures and movie exports.
• Report file export
• DXF file import/export
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EnergyPlus
You can select the version of EnergyPlus to use in your simulations. This can be useful to target a specific
DOE version you may wish to use or when a new version becomes available which might provide new
functionality or address previous problems.
You should generally select the recommended DLL option as it is more tightly integrated within
DesignBuilder and provides progress feedback.
• DLL - the default option, runs the internal version of EnergyPlus supplied with the program
asynchronously giving visual feedback of progress and allowing interaction with the computer during
the simulation.
• Executable - an executable version of the program running in a command window.
Alternatively you can select an executable version of EnergyPlus supplied by DOE. If you are exporting IDF
data for use outside DesignBuilder you should select the appropriate DOE version to avoid incompatibilities.
Note: the EnergyPlus version selected here is used for simulations within DesignBuilder but also as the
target version when exporting IDF data for use outside DesignBuilder.
Mode
If you select an executable version (internal or DOE) there are four options available to control the way
EnergyPlus is executed when simulating within DesignBuilder:
• 1-Executable (minimised) - runs the executable invisibly - you will just see a minimised window on the
Task bar but not the EnergyPlus command window.
• 2-Executable (visible) - runs the executable showing EnergyPlus screen output in a command
window.
• 3-Executable (debug) - runs the executable showing EnergyPlus screen output in a command window
and pauses after simulation - intended for advanced EnergyPlus users who may want to see the stack
dump following a crash.
• 4-Executable (EP-Launch) - runs the DOE-supplied EP-Launch program, waiting until this is closed
before loading results. This option is only possible if you have selected a DOE-supplied version of the
EnergyPlus executable. This option can be useful for making quick minor changes to the IDF data prior
to simulation. Any changes made to the IDF data from within EP-Launch will be included in the
simulation but will not be retained for future simulations. Info on the EP-Launch option.
The screenshot below shows EP-Launch being used to control EnergyPlus simulations from DesignBuilder.
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Program Options - EnergyPlus
Note 1: If you use this method you must make sure to set the correct weather file manually.
Note 2: Any changes you make to the IDF data, either in the IDF Editor or using a text editor, will be
saved in a file called ip.inp in the EnergyPlus folder. This file will be overwritten the next time a simulation is
requested so if you wish to save the any changes you make to IDF data you should use the File > Export
option and edit the data and make simulations outside DesignBuilder.
Note 3: If you want to run EnergyPlus without DesignBuilder then use the File > Export > Export
EnergyPlus IDf file > Simulation option to generate the idf file and load this using EP-Launch outside
DesignBuilder.
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EnergyPlus export folder
When using a DOE EnergyPlus executable version you must also select the folder where the selected version
is installed. You can scan the disk for DOE installations by clicking on the link in the Info help panel..
When you select any option other than the default DLL option, the necessary EnergyPlus files are
downloaded seamlessly prior to the first simulation following the change.
Note: If you wish to install a different DLL version of EnergyPlus to that which is recommended, you must
have administrative rights on the computer.
Output File
Save ESO simulation output
You can generate ESO output files containing Heating design, Cooling design and Simulation results. The
files can be loaded later using the File > Load results file menu option, provided the model hasn't changed too
much.
Rules:
1. The DesignBuilder model must still have same zones and surfaces it had at the time the simulation
data was generated
2. If you have modified these files and carried out further simulations in EnergyPlus you should find that
the results will read in OK provided you haven't changed zone or surface names in the IDF data.
3. You cannot read in ESO files generated from IDF data which was entered by hand (or by other
software) because the zone and surface references will be different.
4. Results must be loaded to the correct screen - you can't for example read Heating design results into
the Simulation screen.
5. Simulation only: the results to be read in must have been generated using the same simulation period
and number of timesteps currently set in the Simulation options.
If you choose to Save ESO simulation output then you can also select options to Prompt for filename and
Auto load ESO described below.
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Program Options - EnergyPlus
also wish to switch the option off to avoid waiting for the results to read in when carrying out parametric
simulations.
IDF Options
Store IDF files
When this option is checked the EnergyPlus IDF input file associated with the simulation is stored with model
and can be accessed later even after the file in the EnergyPlus folder has been overwritten. This option is off
by default to help conserve memory for other operations.
Diagnostics,DisplayExtraWarnings;
to be included in the IDF data. This option is for experienced EnergyPlus users who understand the
significance of the extra warning messages generated.
IDF Formatting
The IDF data can be formatted using the options:
Replacement characters
IDF duplicate name delimiter
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versions supported by DesignBuilder and ideally the default version. The instructions are easiest if the version
number of your custom compilation is the exactly the same as that of a version that is supported by
DesignBuilder.
When the custom version has the same version number as a supported
version
1. Recompile your new version of EnergyPlus into EXE form (not DLL)
2. Select the EXE option from the EnergyPlus program options corresponding to the custom version.
3. This downloads and installs the appropriate standard version of EnergyPlus from the DesignBuilder
servers to the DesignBuilder EnergyPlus folder (if it hasn't already been downloaded).
4. Copy your custom EnergyPlus.exe (and Eplus+.idd if this has changed) to the DesignBuilder
EnergyPlus folder overwriting the standard the files downloaded by DesignBuilder.
5. Test by running simulations from within DesignBuilder to ensure that your custom version is being run.
1. Follow instructions 1-3 above selecting the standard version most similar to your custom version. This
ensures that all standard files are installed ready to be overwritten with custom files.
2. Create a new version component from the EnergyPlus tab on the Program options dialog and enter the
custom version on the dialog. See below.
3. Copy all of the EnergyPlus files which have changed typically EnergyPlus.exe and Energy+.idd to the
DesignBuilder EnergyPlus folder.
4. Test by running simulations from within DesignBuilder to ensure that your custom version is being run.
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Program Options - International
Note: you are advised not to exceed the default setting of 32 to prevent overly complex objects from being
created.
Note: you are advised not to exceed the default setting of 32 to prevent overly complex objects from being
created.
Maximum EnergyPlus ESO file size for importing hourly and sub-hourly
results (KB)
Before DesignBuilder starts loading an EnergyPlus result set from an ESO file it checks the size of the file. If
the file is larger than the value entered here in KB then you will be prevented from loading hourly and sub-
hourly results from the file. In this case you will be asked whether you would like to load the results without
hourly and sub-hourly results and if so the load continues but hourly and sub-hourly results will not be
available for viewing. If you select "No" then the load is cancelled and no results will be available.
This safeguard has been included to prevent users from attempting to load excessively large datasets that
could cause the software memory limits from being exceeded.
Language
DesignBuilder currently supports 5 languages:
When you change the language you must restart DesignBuilder for all screens and dialogs to be refreshed.
Units
Two options for units are available:
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Because the program uses SI units internally, and because the databases which come with the program have
mainly been built up using SI units, US users may find some limitations with the user interface when in IP
mode. For example the sliders used on some dialogs are replaced by text boxes.
Region filter
The region filter allows you to see only the data relevant to your particular region. Note that if you have a file
loaded then DesignBuilder will use the region associated with the location of the site. The region in this
dialogue is only used when no file is loaded. Data tables which can be filtered in this way are:
• Constructions
• Glazing
• Materials
• Metabolic rates
• Schedules
• Holidays
• Activity templates
• Construction templates
• Glazing templates
• Lighting templates
• HVAC templates
• DHW templates
• Sectors
Note: When categories of data are hidden using the program options described above this does not mean
they are deleted from the database - the data is still there but it does not appear on lists.
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Building Models
Building Models
The process for creating a new building model typically follows a sequence:
You can create a new site (dsb file) from the Opening screen. In DesignBuilder, 'Site' is synonymous with the
file because each file can only contain one site. When you request a new site, the Add New Site dialog is
opened which allows you to select the location and a template:
• Location
• Template
See also the Creating a model and Starting a New Project Tutorials
The Location defines the geographical location and weather data for all buildings on this site. You will be able
to load data from other location templates or override the default data from the Location Model Data tab at
Site level.
If you have a DesignBuilder file you would like to use as a template for future sites save or copy it to the
'Templates' folder (accessed from the File | Folders | Template projects menu command).
Building Geometry
This section describes the various facilities within DesignBuilder to create and edit model geometry.
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View Controls In Edit Mode
A number of view controls are provided to allow you to change the point of view for the model:
• View Rotation
• Orbit
• Zoom
• Fit view
• Pan view
• Zoom window
View tools can be activated at any time during operation of the drawing tools and control returned to the
active drawing tool after completing the view process. For example to draw a block perimeter adjacent to an
existing cylindrical block:
To continue drawing the perimeter around the other side of the cylindrical block, click on the 'Orbit' tool and
orbit the model to reveal the other side and then pan to centre the model:
You can then return to the drawing process either by pressing the ESC key or selecting 'Cancel Pan' from the
right-click menu:
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View Rotation
View Rotation
DesignBuilder provides several pre-defined standard view rotations:
You can select one of these standard views from the view rotation drop list:
The default 'Axonometric' setting is designed to provide a good general 3-D view of the various components at
each model level.
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Alternative ways to access the view rotation commands are:
Orbit
The Orbit tool is used to rotate the view around the model. To orbit the model click on the Orbit tool and then
press the left mouse button and keep the button pressed as you move the mouse cursor, the view will orbit
around the model.
• Hold <Shift> key and move mouse while pressing the right mouse button
• Move mouse while pressing the centre mouse button/wheel (if you have one).
• Hold the <Ctrl> + <Shift> + O keys to start the Orbit command then hold left mouse button and move
mouse.
Tip: It can be helpful to understand how the orbit command works to ensure smooth operation. When the
orbiting command is started, DesignBuilder needs to calculate a centre point around which to rotate the view.
To do this a ray is fired into the centre of the screen, which should ideally intersect with a part of the model
that you want to see. If this is not the case and the ray to the centre of the screen instead finds a far distant
point, then the centre of orbit will be that far distant point. The effect of this when you start to move the mouse
to change views can be rather disconcerting as the model will tend not to orbit as expected. To avoid this
sort of problem it is important to ensure that the object being viewed is in centre of the screen and
that any holes between the building blocks are not in the centre. If you do encounter any strange effects
with the Orbit command, an easy solution is to select a new view from the View Rotation drop list in the top
right of the screen (e.g. the Axonometric option) or to use the Fit View command.
Zoom Dynamic
To zoom in and out from the current model point of view, click on the Zoom tool, then press the left mouse
button and keep the button pressed as you move the mouse cursor, the view will zoom in as you move the
mouse cursor down and out as you move it up.
Tip: To centre the view on the current mouse position and start zooming, press the Z key first.
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Zoom Window
• Hold <Ctrl> key and move mouse while pressing the right mouse button.
• Hold <Ctrl> key and move mouse while pressing the centre mouse button (if you have one).
• Hold the <Ctrl> + <Shift> + Z keys to start the Zoom dynamic command then hold left mouse button
and move mouse.
• As mentioned above press Z to centre the view on the current mouse position and start zooming by
pressing left mouse button and moving mouse.
Zoom Window
The Zoom Window tool is used to zoom in on a selected area of your model. To create a window on an area
of the model, click on the Zoom Window toolbar icon and move the mouse cursor to a corner of the window
you want to create, then press the left mouse button and keep the mouse button pressed as you drag the
window, when you release the mouse button, the view will zoom to the extents of the defined window.
Note: the Zoom Window operation works best if the 2 corners selected to create the zoom window area
are both on the part of the model you wish to view. If either of the corners selected are outside the model (e.g.
on the white background or in distant parts of the model) then the operation can have unintended effects
when applying a subsequent Orbit command where the centre point of the Orbit operation is in the far
distance.
Fit View
The Fit view tool is used to zoom your view to a distance which will enable the whole model to be made
visible and centred in the 'Edit' window.
Pan View
The Pan tool is used to move the model point of view vertically and horizontally across the plane of the
screen. To pan the view, click on the Pan tool, then press the left mouse button and keep the button pressed
as you move the mouse cursor, the point of view will pan horizontally as you move the mouse cursor left and
right and vertically as you move it up and down.
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Alternative ways to access the Pan command are:
• Hold <Shift> + <Ctrl> keys and move mouse while pressing the right mouse button
• Hold <Shift> key and move mouse while pressing the centre mouse button (if you have one).
• Hold the <Ctrl> + <Shift> + N keys to start the Pan command then hold left mouse button and move
mouse.
Normal View
At the surface level, The Normal button in the top right-hand corner of the screen can be used to rotate the
point of view to be normal to the surface and to automatically zoom in so that the extents of the surface fill the
view.
The Default surface normal view program option allows you to control the behaviour of this command.
Walk-Through
Accessible from the Visualisation and CFD screens.
The walk-through view command allows you to walk through the model using the mouse or keyboard to
control the direction of movement and of the camera. It can be a useful tool to obtain specific views of the
model more quickly than is possible using the normal Orbit, Zoom, Pan etc tools. For example to look more
closely at a particular area of a CFD results slice or to gain a specific interior view when analysing shading on
the Visualisation screen.
Tip: One key feature of the Walk-through command is that the z (height) position of the camera is
maintained constant. This helps to give the impression of walking through the model. To change floors, or to
otherwise change the z-position, it can be convenient to use the Pan command. You can gain quick access to
the Pan command without stopping the Walk-through by holding the <Shift> key and the middle mouse
button/wheel down while moving the mouse.
Other tools often used together with the Walk-through tool are Look around or Orbit (to change the camera
direction), and Pan to move vertically up and down, which is not possible with the Walk-through command.
Tip: You can move more quickly by holding the <Shift> key down while using the above mouse commands.
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Look Around
Use the <Up> and <Down> keys to move forwards or backwards in the current direction.
Tip: The best way to learn how to use the Walk-through tool is to try it for yourself!
Look Around
Accessible from the Visualisation and CFD screens.
It is sometimes useful to be able to gain a quick visual indication of the location of the current block or zone in
the context of the rest of the building or block. The Surrounding block/zone display toolbar and menu
command provides a convenient way to control:
a. the visibility of other blocks in the current building (when working at block level) and,
b. the visibility of other zones in the current block (when working at zone level).
Note: The same functionality can also be accessed from the Surrounding block display and the
Surrounding block zone display options on the Display tab of the Model options dialog, however, it is usually
easier to use the toolbar icon. Note that the Model options dialog provides additional functionality in that it also
allows a zone to be seen in the context of all the other zones in the building if required. This less commonly
required option is not available from the toolbar which only allows zones to be seen in the context of the rest
of the current block.
- 93 -
Example use of the Surrounding block/zone display command at zone level
- 94 -
Ghost Blocks
Ghost Blocks
Accessed from Edit Screen, Building Level
There may be times when it is helpful to be able to ghost one or more blocks in the model so that they
become semi-transparent, allowing blocks behind them to be accessed and selected for editing. The Ghost
selected blocks and Show all blocks toolbar icons described here provide the most convenient way to
control the ghosting of blocks in the model.
The Ghost blocks mechanism applies to both building blocks and component blocks.
An alternative (slower) method of controlling building block ghosting is to use the Active checkbox on the
Blocks tab of the Model options dialog.
This tool is available on the Edit screen at building level when one or more blocks are currently selected.
a. Go to building level and select the building and/or component blocks to be ghosted.
b. Click on the Ghost selected blocks toolbar icon.
Note: Once in a ghosted state, blocks cannot be selected. There are 2 ways to "un-ghost" them:
1. Navigate to building level and use the Show all blocks command (below).
2. Navigate to the block to be un-ghosted, open the Model Options dialog and on the Block tab,
check/uncheck the Active checkbox. This allows the ghosting of blocks to be controlled independently and can
be useful for un-ghosting just one block at a time.
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Show All Blocks
Accessed from Edit Screen, Building Level
This tool is available on the Edit screen at building level when one or more blocks are currently ghosted. To
display or "unghost" all blocks in the building:
a. Go to building level.
b. Click on the Show all blocks toolbar icon
Shape
Three perimeter shapes are provided to enable specific perimeter topologies for blocks and surface openings
to be drawn efficiently:
• 1-Polygon
• 2-Rectangle
• 3-Circle
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Shape
Polygon
The 1-Polygon is generally the most useful shape and can be used to draw block and opening perimeters of
any topology. The 1-Polygon shape also allows you to change the line type from a straight line to an arc. To
draw a perimeter using the 1-Polygon shape, start drawing the first line by clicking anywhere in the active
drawing plane to place the starting point, then move the mouse cursor and click to place the line end-point,
you can use the snaps and the protractor to help with alignment. Continue placing perimeter lines in the same
way. If at any time you want to cancel the last line that you placed, you can press the ESC key or select the
Undo last point option from the right-click menu. If you want to incorporate an arc within the perimeter, you
can change the line type to 2-Arc and then place the centre-point of the arc:
To complete the perimeter, move the mouse cursor to the beginning of the first perimeter line, which activates
the end-point snap and click on it to connect the lines:
Rectangle
The 2-Rectangle shape allows you to draw perimeters by placing diagonally opposite corners of a rectangle:
- 97 -
Circle
The 3-Circle shape is used to draw circular perimeters by placing the circle centre and then setting the radius
by placing a second point:
The associated Segments option allows you to control the accuracy of the circle. In DesignBuilder geometry,
circles are actually composed of polygons and the accuracy of the representation can be controlled by
defining the number of segments (or lines) used in generating the polygon. Generally speaking, the greater
the number of segments used will result in more memory usage and processing time and so, particularly in the
case of blocks, it's advisable to use the default number of segments where possible.
More information on using the Circle shape can be found in the Basic Drawing Tools 9 Tutorial
Line Type
When the perimeter shape is set to 1-Polygon, you can set the perimeter Line type to one of:
• 1-Straight line or
• 2-Arc
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Line Type
Straight Line
When the line type is set to 1-Straight line, a perimeter is drawn by placing the origin and then a series of line
end-points:
Arc
To incorporate an arc within a perimeter, set the line type to 2-Arc. An arc is defined using the sweep angle
and number of segments:
A negative sweep angle can be used to create an arc in an anti-clockwise direction. In DesignBuilder
geometry, arcs are created using a number of segments or straight lines and the accuracy of the
representation can be controlled by defining the number of segments. Generally speaking, the greater the
number of segments used will result in more memory usage and processing time and so, particularly in the
case of blocks, it's advisable to use the default number of segments where possible.
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More information on using the Arc line type can be found in the Basic Drawing Tools 9 Tutorial
• Direction Snaps
• Point Snaps
• Drawing Guides
• "Protractor tool" on page 117
These items are made available when the various drawing tools are used, such as the Draw window tool at
the zone surface:
- 100 -
Direction Snaps
Direction Snaps
When drawing perimeter lines, block partitions or surface openings direction snaps can be used to draw lines:
Axis Snap
The axis snap check boxes are displayed under 'Direction snaps' in the 'Drawing Options' data panel when the
various drawing commands are active. The axis snap is used to draw lines parallel with the major axes of the
active drawing plane.
As you move the cursor around to draw a line, the line will change colour and 'stick’ slightly as it becomes
parallel with one of the major axes:
You can use axis snap to draw block perimeters on planes of any orientation. If the plane is non-horizontal,
the axis snap applies to the local coordinate system of the plane as if it were rotated to the horizontal:
- 101 -
If the axis snap is operating on a horizontal plane, the perimeter line will change colour to red if the line is
snapped to the X-axis or green if it's snapped to the Y-axis. However if the active drawing plane is not
horizontal, the line will change colour to orange for the X-axis and purple for the Y-axis.
At the building level, when the active drawing plane is horizontal, you can also snap block perimeters and
construction lines to the Z-axis:
which allows you to draw horizontally extruded blocks, this process is explained under Adding Blocks
- 102 -
Parallel Snap
Parallel Snap
The parallel snap is used draw lines parallel with the edges of existing objects. The parallel snap check box is
displayed under 'Direction snaps' in the 'Drawing Options' data panel when the various drawing commands
are active. To draw a block perimeter line to be parallel with an existing block edge, switch the parallel snap
on and move the mouse cursor to touch the edge with which the current perimeter line is to be parallel:
This will enable the active perimeter line to infer a direction from the selected edge and you can lock this
inference by pressing the SHIFT key to prevent a parallel inference being picked up from an unwanted edge.
So press the SHIFT key and move the mouse cursor to a position approximately parallel with the edge, the
cursor will 'stick' when the parallel snap operates and the perimeter line will change colour to cyan:
- 103 -
When the parallel snap is in operation, intersections are automatically calculated with drawing guides to allow
the two to be combined, so you can snap to the intersection of the two.
To draw a block perimeter line to be perpendicular with the edge of an existing block, move the mouse cursor
to touch the edge and then move it to be approximately perpendicular to it, the cursor will automatically snap
to a line which is exactly perpendicular.
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Normal (Perpendicular) Snap
You can lock the perpendicular snap by pressing the SHIFT key which will prevent the cursor from picking up
an unwanted direction inference. In this case, a construction line has been placed parallel with the block edge
to help in positioning the new block. The perimeter line locks to a perpendicular from the construction line:
When the normal snap is in operation, intersections are automatically calculated with drawing guides, allowing
you to snap to the intersection:
- 105 -
Offset Snap
The offset snap is used to draw partitions and voids parallel to existing walls and partitions at a fixed offset
distance. This help topic describes the use of offset snap for drawing partitions, but the information is equally
applicable to drawing voids at a fixed offset from the perimeter.
The offset snap check box is displayed under Direction snaps in the Drawing Options data panel when the
Draw partitions command is active.
- 106 -
Offset Snap
The offset snap can be used whenever a string of partitions is to be located at a fixed offset from a perimeter,
but can be specifically applied to dividing large open plan spaces up into ‘perimeter’ and ‘core’ zones for
thermal simulation.
When the offset snap is switched on, an additional Distance item will be displayed under the offset snap
check box which allows you to define the offset distance. When you first switch on the offset snap, having
clicked on the Draw partition icon, you will see offset snap indicators displayed as you move the cursor within
the snap range of an existing wall or partition:
The offset snap works in conjunction with the other snaps and so, for example, you can start an offset partition
at a fixed distance from the beginning of an existing wall using the edge snap in combination with the
increment snap:
After placing the beginning of the partition, the ‘rubber-banded’ partition will be automatically snapped to the
offset from the selected wall and as you move the cursor to the next connected wall segment, the offset snap
indicator will appear again:
- 107 -
As you move the cursor, you will see that the offset snap interacts with other snaps allowing you to position
partitions accurately. If you find that the other snaps are interfering with the offset snap, you can switch them
off by pressing the SHIFT key.
Completed perimeter:
- 108 -
Point Snaps
Note: The offset snap command prevents access to the normal end-point, mid-point and edge snaps. You
must switch off offset snap to re-enable these.
Note: If you override the offset snap (by snapping to a drawing guide or edge), the offset snap has to be
discontinued until the command (partition or void) is re-started.
Point Snaps
When the various point snaps are switched on, a coloured indicator is displayed when the mouse cursor is
close to a key-point on an existing element allowing a perimeter or partition line end-point to be positioned
precisely at the selected key-point.
• End-point snap
• mid-point snap
• Edge snap
• DXF snap
• Snap To Lower Perimeters
• Increment snap
Note: In some cases Snaps can interfere with attempts to draw to a particular point and in this case you
can temporarily switch off the appropriate snap(s) using the check boxes in the Drawing options panel in the
bottom left of the screen.
- 109 -
End-point Snap
This snap allows you to snap lines to the end-point of an existing edge. A green indicator is displayed when
the mouse cursor is within the snap range of an end-point:
For example, to snap the starting point of a new block perimeter to the end-point of an existing block edge,
move the mouse cursor onto the background and press SHIFT to lock the drawing plane to the ground plane.
Keep the SHIFT key pressed and move the mouse cursor close to the required edge marker to activate the
end-point snap:
Similarly to snap the starting point of a new block partition to the end-point of an existing partition, make sure
that the 'End-point' snap is switched on and move the mouse cursor close to the partition end-point to activate
the snap:
Mid-point Snap
For details of using the 'Mid-point' snap, please refer to the End-point snap.
- 110 -
Edge Snap
Edge Snap
The edge snap allows you to snap to any point on the edge of an existing object. The edge snap can be used
in conjunction with the increment snap to enable a point to be located along an edge by moving it in defined
increments. A red indicator is displayed when the mouse cursor is within the snap range of an edge and
distance indicators are also displayed to help in locating a point a specific distance from either end of the
edge:
By switching the increment snap on, the point can be moved along the edge in defined increments. For
example, if you wanted to start a block perimeter line at 6.0 metres from the end of the block, after switching
on the increment snap, you could set the snap increment to say 0.5m and then move the mouse cursor to
snap to the edge at a distance of 6.0 metres from the end-point:
If you wanted to locate the beginning of the perimeter line at a specific distance from the other end of the
edge, you can switch the end of the edge from which the increment snap operates by toggling the 'Switch
snap increment direction' switch:
- 111 -
DXF Snap
The DXF snap only applies when DXF data has been imported from an external file. The DXF snap enables
you to snap to the end-points of DXF lines:
Note: You should generally switch DXF snap off when drawing partitions at block level and simply use the
DXF lines as a visual guide. This ensures that partitions correctly snap to perimeters instead of snapping to
DXF lines which may be very close to the perimeter but not actually touching.
- 112 -
Increment Snap
When this snap is active, lines are also displayed at block level to represent any partitions and block
perimeters from the block(s) below. Sometimes these lines can cause confusion, especially if a 2-D drawing
has been loaded as well, and in this case it may help to switch the Snap to lower perimeters option off.
Increment Snap
The increment snap applies to any process that involves moving a point or a surface in a particular direction.
Such processes include drawing block partitions or perimeter lines which have an active direction snap or
dragging the surface of a block normal to the original surface position. The increment snap allows you to move
a point in a particular direction by defined increments. You can think of the increment snap acting in the same
way as a conventional CAD drawing grid and in fact if you were just to use the axis snaps it would have the
same effect, however the increment snap is more powerful in that it provides this type of incremental snap
along any defined vector not just the axis vectors.
The increment snap may be particularly useful during early stage design when you want to place geometry
with reasonable accuracy but don't want to be constantly keying-in distances.
Note: the increment snap will only come into operation when you are drawing a line or moving a surface
along a defined vector. For example if you are drawing a block perimeter parallel with an existing block edge,
the increment snap will operate when the parallel snap is active and in this case you would be able to move
the mouse cursor along the parallel vector in increments of 0.5m:
- 113 -
You can use the increment snap to control the location of block faces when you extrude a block on creation or
drag faces during an edit or stretch operation:
The increment snap also comes into operation when an edge snap is active, allowing you to snap to the edge
by increments from either end, please see edge snap for details.
- 114 -
Drawing Guides
Drawing Guides
Drawing guides are invisible lines that are automatically generated as soon as a drawing plane becomes
active during a drawing operation. Drawing guides are parallel with the active drawing plane X and Y axes
and run through all end-points and mid-points of existing object edges, which lie in the same plane as the
drawing plane. As you move the cursor in the vicinity of a drawing guide, it will become visible and you can
then snap the cursor to any point on the guide. When drawing guides are used in conjunction with Direction
Snaps or the Protractor they offer a powerful mechanism for locating perimeter lines in relation to existing
object edges.
For example to create a triangular window in a surface with the same height as an existing opening, first click
on the Draw window tool and check that the perimeter shape is set to 'Polygon', switch the protractor on and
then move the cursor to align approximately with the lower edge of the existing window which will
automatically snap the cursor to the required drawing guide:
Click to place the window origin and move the cursor to snap to the drawing guide associated with the existing
window upper edge, the protractor angle lock will automatically combine with the drawing guide:
- 115 -
Click to place the apex of the window and then place the next point in a similar fashion:
- 116 -
Protractor Tool
Note: In some cases Drawing guides can interfere with attempts to draw to a particular point and in this
case you can temporarily switch off Drawing guides using the check boxes in the Drawing Options panel in the
bottom left of the screen.
Protractor Tool
The protractor tool is used to draw perimeter lines and partitions at specified angles in relation to the current
drawing plane. The protractor can be activated from the ‘Drawing options’ data panel, which is displayed when
any of the drawing tools are used. For example, to create an offshoot projecting from an existing block with a
roof slope of 30°, move the cursor over the existing block surface, press the SHIFT key to lock the drawing
plane and draw the first perimeter line, snapping to the base edge using end-point snap:
Draw the second perimeter line to connect to the mid-point of the block edge and then activate the protractor:
- 117 -
The protractor will automatically snap to the current drawing plane and as you move the mouse cursor, the
perimeter line will snap to the protractor in angular increments, which can be set in the ‘Drawing options’ data
panel. The rotation angle is displayed at the centre of the protractor. Move the cursor until the displayed angle
is 30° and then move the snapped line towards the upper block edge. When the line end-point nears the
edge, it will ‘stick’ to the edge and the edge snap marker will be displayed:
Click to accept the point and complete the perimeter by snapping to the block face vertices using the end-
point snap:
- 118 -
Construction Lines
Construction Lines
Construction lines can be used to help in the creation of precise geometry. You can draw construction lines
using the snaps and the protractor to lie at defined locations and then use these lines as a framework from
which or to which various object geometries can be projected or attached.
At the building level, construction lines can also be snapped to the Z-axis to form vertical planes from which
block geometry can be extruded.
Construction line snap points can be picked up at all levels regardless of the level at which they were drawn.
For example all of these operations are possible:
• Draw construction lines at building level and pick up snap points for these at surface level for accurate
drawing of openings etc.
• Draw construction lines at block level and access them at zone and surface levels for positioning
openings, lighting sensors, CFD fans and assemblies.
• Draw construction lines at surface level to indicate the position of a shading device relative to windows
and use snap points to draw and position a component block at building level.
See also:
- 119 -
Construction lines are drawn in the form of line streams. To draw a construction line, click on the Place
construction line tool and start drawing the first line by clicking anywhere in the active drawing plane then
move the mouse cursor and click to place the line end-point, you can use point snaps, direction snaps,
drawing guides and the protractor to help with alignment. Continue placing construction lines in this way. If at
any time you want to cancel the last line that you placed, you can press the <Esc> key or select Undo last
point from the right-click menu.
Note: Although each construction line is a 1-D object, when placing a stream of construction lines
DesignBuilder considers the lines to lie on a single drawing plane . Once you have defined three points in the
line stream, that defines the drawing plane and all subsequent points will be located in that plane. The line
stream can be ended at any time by pressing the <Enter> key and then the next segment can be position on
any other plane.
Construction lines have numerous applications in forming temporary attachment points during the creation of
precise geometry. As a simple example, if you want to place a block at a precise distance from the angled wall
of an existing block, you could switch the Normal snap on, click on the Place construction line tool and draw
a perpendicular line a precise distance from the wall. To draw the perpendicular line, place the first point at an
end-point of the wall baseline, move the mouse cursor to touch the baseline and press <Shift> to lock the
direction inference, then move the mouse cursor to activate the perpendicular lock and key-in the required
distance:
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Drawing Construction Lines
You could then place a second construction line normal to the first line and key-in the required length:
You can then snap to the construction line to draw the new block perimeter:
- 121 -
You can also snap to the intersection of construction lines:
At the building level, construction lines can be snapped to the Z-axis in order to create vertical planes to which
block geometry can be attached. To draw construction lines in a vertical plane, switch the Z-axis snap on, click
on the 'Place construction line' tool and place the first point on the ground plane or any other horizontal plane.
Move the mouse cursor to snap the current line to the Z-axis:
- 122 -
Drawing Construction Lines
You can then use the protractor to place the next line in order to accurately define a plane:
After placing the second line, the two construction lines form a vertical plane that can be used for extruding
blocks or as a plane to be used as a cutting plane.
- 123 -
Note: Constructions lines can be copied, rotated, scaled etc like any other object.
Note: When drawing construction lines at block level it is possible to get a fuller range of snaps by
selecting the 2-Zone inner surfaces Snap mode.
General Operations
This section describes general geometric operations:
• Select
• Move
• Clone (copy)
• "Mirror" on page 127
• Rotate
• Stretch
• Delete
• "Measure" on page 134
Select
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Move
The Select tool acts like pressing the <Esc> key to cancel another command and enable graphical selection
of model objects. To select an object, click on the Select tool, or press <Esc>, or select 'Select' from the right-
click menu, then move the mouse cursor to the object to be selected and click the mouse to select. To select
multiple objects you can either press and hold the <Ctrl> key while clicking on objects or drag a selection
rectangle by pressing the left mouse button and keeping it pressed as you drag a window across the required
selection, when you release the mouse button, the objects inside the window will be selected.
Note: When using the selection rectangle it is important to be aware that any openings in the selection
rectangle that are hidden by model surfaces will be selected. It is therefore important to carefully check which
openings have been selected when using the select command before carrying out a significant operation on
the selection set such as deletion.
Move
You can use the Move command to move blocks, partitions, courtyards and openings. You can also use Move
to set the position of daylight sensors. To move an object, first select it and then click on the Move tool or
select 'Move' from the right-click menu. If you want, you can move several objects at the same time by doing a
multiple selection. You then need to define a 'handle point' for the move operation, the handle point can be
any point on a model surface or ground plane but more usually will be a vertex on the object that you want to
move, so make sure that the end-point snap is switched on, move the mouse cursor to the required object
vertex and snap to it:
When you release the mouse button, you will be able to move the object to any required location. As you
move the object, a displacement line is displayed to show how far the object has been moved, the
displacement line can be snapped to the axes or the Protractor. When a direction snap is active the increment
snap can also be used:
- 125 -
You can then click the mouse button to place the object.
At the building level, blocks can be moved in three dimensions onto any existing block face in the model. As
you move the block around the model, each block face will highlight in blue as the block handle point is moved
across it, indicating that the face has become the active drawing plane.
You can lock the active drawing plane by pressing the SHIFT key to position the block:
- 126 -
Clone (Copy)
Clone (Copy)
For details of using the Clone tool, please refer to the Move tool. The process is identical except that when
cloning, the original block is retained.
Mirror
Mirrored copies of blocks, partitions, courtyards and openings can be created through the Mirror command.
Objects can be mirrored in either the x or y axis. The process involved in using the mirror command is
described below.
Mirror Block
To use the Mirror command to create a mirrored copy of a building block:
1. Go to building level (or block level if you wish to mirror a block-level component block or assembly).
2. Select the block to be mirrored.
3. Click on the Mirror toolbar icon.
- 127 -
4. In the Drawing Options panel select the Reflection axis. Choose from x or y-axis as the mirror plane.
5. Select the reference point on the existing block. You should choose a point whose corresponding
mirrored point can be used to accurately snap the new mirrored copy in place.
6. Once you have selected the reference point the mirrored copy is created and can be positioned as
required, usually by snapping the mirrored reference point to the required place.
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Mirror
Mirror Openings
A similar process is used to create mirrored copies of a selected set of openings either at building or surface
level. The instructions below are for working at surface level, but the process is the same when working at
building level.
For surfaces, choosing to mirror in the x-axis means to mirror in a line in the horizontal direction and the
y-axis means that the mirror line is in the vertical direction.
5. Select the reference point on the existing set of selected openings by clicking with the mouse. It is
usually convenient to choose an end point snap point whose corresponding mirrored point can be used
to accurately snap the new mirrored copy in place.
6. Once you have selected the reference point the mirrored copy is created and can be positioned as
required, usually by snapping the mirrored reference point to the required place. You can key in an
exact distance to move the reference point while creating the mirrored copy.
- 129 -
7. Once the mirrored copy is in place, click with the mouse to actually create the new opening(s).
Rotate
You can rotate blocks, partitions, courtyards and openings. To rotate an object, first select it and then click on
the 'Rotate' tool or select 'Rotate' from the right-click menu. If you want, you can rotate several objects at the
same time by doing a multiple selection. As you move the cursor back into the Edit screen, the Protractor will
be displayed at the cursor position. At the building level, you can rotate a block around an axis point defined
on any plane and as you move the cursor from surface to surface in the model, each surface will highlight in
blue to show that it's the active drawing plane and the protractor will automatically rotate into the same plane:
- 130 -
Rotate
You define the rotation axis about which the object will be rotated by clicking the mouse when the mouse
cursor is in the required location, you can use the various snaps and drawing guides to locate the axis point.
After placing the axis point, you can then rotate the object around the axis:
In the case of partitions and courtyards at the block level, the active drawing plane for rotation is always the
plane of the block floor and in the case of surface openings, the active drawing plane is always the surface
plane:
- 131 -
See also the Basic Drawing Tools 3 Tutorial
Stretch
Building, component and outline blocks can be stretched (scaled) when at the building level. To stretch a
block, go to building level then select it and click on the Stretch toolbar icon, or select 'Stretch' from the right-
click menu. When you activate the Stretch tool, a wire frame is displayed around the extent of the block and
as you move the cursor across the faces of this frame, each face will highlight in the colour of the axis to
which the face is normal:
If you then click on one of these highlighted faces, you can then stretch the block along the axis normal to the
face. If the increment snap is switched on, the block can be stretched in increments:
- 132 -
Stretch
In the case of the Z-axis, the stretch operation will only operate along the positive Z-axis:
Tip: By default the stretch will take place in the direction defined by the face that you select. However to
stretch in both directions equally, hold the <Shift> key down while dragging.
Tip: You can also key in the new dimension using the keyboard. Note the difference to the Drag face tool
where the increment in the extrusion is keyed in.
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See also the Basic Drawing Tools 3 Tutorial
Delete
To delete an object, first select the object you want to delete and then click on the 'Delete' tool or select
'Delete' from the right-click menu. If you want, you can delete several objects at the same time by doing a
multiple selection.
Tip: It is usually quicker simply to press the <Delete> key on the keyboard.
Measure
The measure tool allows you measure distance, angles and areas on single planes in the model. To use the
tool, navigate to the part of the model you wish to measure, click on the Measure toolbar icon, select the type
of measurement to be made in the Display options panel on the left of the screen. The options are:
• 1-Distance - Click twice on a plane to define the length between the 2 points.
• 2-Angle - Click three times on a plane to define the area between the 2 lines.
• 3-Distance - Draw an enclosed polygon by clicking with the mouse on a single plane.
• 4-Perimeter - Draw an enclosed polygon by clicking with the mouse on a single plane.
Note: When measuring at block level it is possible to get a fuller range of snaps by selecting the 2-Zone
inner surfaces Snap mode.
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Import 2-D Drawing
• Importing floor plans where 2-D floor plan data is imported either from CAD or scanned paper
drawings.
• Import 3-D BIM data using the gbXML data format.
See also:
• "Merge Model Data from File" on page 151 to import the attribute settings, components and templates,
HVAC system, assemblies and component blocks from a previously created DesignBuilder model into
a newly imported BIM model.
DXF and other bitmap-type drawing data formats can be imported in the form of 2-D floor plan or elevation
layout drawings. These can be used to trace block perimeters, partitions and façades as a fast way to enter
the model geometry. A typical process is as follows:
The process of importing elevation drawings for drawing opening often takes place after the main block
geometry definition and partitioning has been completed as follows:
1. Import elevation DXF data to the ground plane (you cannot import 2-D drawing data directly to any
other plane).
2. Move the DXF object to a wall surface by selecting it and using the Move command.
3. Go to surface level and trace windows, doors and any other openings by snapping to the DXF data.
It is also possible to use elevation drawings to create the original block form as described below.
Note: It is necessary to switch on the Show imported 2-D drawing at zone and surface levels Display
model option on when using an imported elevation to show the position of windows, doors etc at surface level.
Tip: When a 2-D drawing is loaded, sometimes the drawing data can come between the mouse cursor and
objects to be accessed. In this case, pressing the <Shift> key while left mouse clicking allows the drawing to
become "transparent" to any clicks, making it easier to access model objects such as blocks and openings,
which are behind the drawing data.
Elevation drawings can also be used for creating horizontally extruded blocks of complex section such as the
aircraft hanger elevation drawing below, placed on an outline block ready to create a horizontally extruded
block shape.
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Using the Add surface tool, trace the outline of the hanger external façade:
The Cutting tool can be used to remove the original rectangular part of the outline block. The image below
shows the outline block from the other side with the rectangular part of the outline block removed so we can
see the drawing coplanar with the block facade:
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Import 2-D Drawing
The hanger outline block has now been converted to a building block and navigated to surface level we are
ready to use the drawing to help trace the windows and doors onto the surface.:
Completed hanger block with windows and doors drawn at building level:
More information on Importing floor plans can be found in the Importing 2-D Floor Plans - Basic Drawing
Tools 10 Tutorial
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Import Drawing File Wizard
You can import 2-D DXF floor plan files created in AutoCAD or other CAD programs or the other bitmap-
based drawing formats listed below. To start the process click on the Files > Import > Import 2-D drawing
file menu command. This starts a the Import Drawing File Wizard.
With the import wizard open, select the File type to import. You can select from:
• 1-DXF - 2-D CAD data. This option allows you to snap to the end-points of the DXF line segments, the
other bitmap-based formats below do not allow snapping.
• 2-PDF - PDF drawing file (single page). Note only PDF files with a single page will import
successfully into DesignBuilder.
• 3-BMP - Bitmap drawing file.
• 4-JPG - JPEG drawing file.
• 6-GIF - GIF drawing file.
• 7-TIFF - TIFF drawing file.
When you have selected the file type then select the file by clicking into the 'Filename' control. Click on the
ellipsis button to open the file browser dialogue box.
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Import 2-D Drawing
Once the floor plan has been imported you can add blocks by tracing over the external perimeter
corners of the floor plan.
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Tip: DesignBuilder is not able to import DXF files that are already open in other applications, so if you have
been checking the DXF file that you plan to import in AutoCAD or other CAD tool, you should make sure to
close the file before attempting to import it into DesignBuilder.
You must also set the attachment height at which the 2-D DXF floor plan will be attached in the DesignBuilder
model. The DXF data can be moved around the model once it is imported, so you do not need to know the
exact attachment height at this stage - you can import the DXF data at zero height and move it to the correct
location using the Move command. Click on the 'Next' button to set up layer visibility:
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Import 2-D Drawing
You can use these controls to switch off unnecessary layers in the DXF data. As you check/uncheck the
checkboxes you will see the effect of the change in the Edit view under the Wizard. Click on the 'Finish' button
to import the data:
At the building level, you can select, move and delete DXF data. When you select DXF data, you may need
to zoom in to make the selection. You can move DXF file in 3-D and snap the data to the edges of blocks or
end-points of construction lines:
Move the DXF data on top of the existing block and snap to an edge end-point:
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When you have imported the DXF data you can use the Measure tool to check that the dimensions are
correct.
Import DXF floor plans for other stories if necessary. Note that only one set of DXF data can be imported at a
time. Once the CAD data has been imported into the model, the source DXF file is no longer needed by
DesignBuilder and can be moved or deleted.
Also the Set X-axis for imported DXF and Scale DXF drawing menu commands are available from the Edit
menu when DXF data is loaded.
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Import 2-D Drawing
Invert bitmap
Check this option if you wish the colours in the bitmap to be inverted. For example if the picture is white on a
black background then it will generally be best to invert these for use in DesignBuilder.
Quality slider
By reducing the number of pixels in the bitmap it is possible to significantly reduce the size of the imported
drawing data and hence speed subsequent drawing 'scale' and 'rotate' operations. The default Quality setting
of 0.5 gives a good trade-off between image size and readability but if the drawing file is particularly large you
may decide to reduce the quality to reduce the memory overhead or, if the drawing is difficult to read you
could increase Quality.
Opacity slider
You can control the opacity (transparency) of the drawing data from 0 to 1. A value of 1 means that the
imported drawing will be completely opaque and 0 means it will be completely transparent. The default is 0.5.
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Bitmap-based files may be used for:
1. Existing buildings having paper floor plans that have been scanned into electronic format or,
2. Early stage design sketch ideas are available only in bitmap form.
Note: bitmap drawings do not allow end-point snap like DXF but can be an equally effective option for
rapid geometry entry in DesignBuilder.
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Import BIM/gbXML Data
Also the Set X-axis for imported bitmap and Scale bitmap drawing commands are available from the Edit
menu when bitmap data is loaded.
Important Note: This process will always be necessary for bitmap drawing formats as the scale is not
defined at the import stage.
Partitions
You can also use the imported floor plan data to draw internal partitions. To do this go to block level and draw
partitions by tracing over using the floor plan partition data. You should take care to connect partitions to the
external perimeters. A common mistake is to snap partitions to DXF data lying very close to the external
perimeter but not close enough to create a connection with the external perimeter.
Tip: It is generally best to switch off DXF snap in the Drawing options panel when drawing partitions
at block level to avoid this problem. Be sure to switch it back on again when you have finished drawing
partitions.
You can import gbXML from the site or building level using the Import BIM model toolbar icon or use the File
> Import > Import BIM/gbXML model. This opens the Import BIM Model dialog. If you are at site level
DesignBuilder will require you to create a building first to import the BIM model into.
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Unlike the 2-D drawing import which provides only a set of lines for tracing over, importing 3-D BIM data
imports the full geometry as blocks with zones, windows, doors and shading surfaces.
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Import BIM/gbXML Data
The Import BIM Model dialog has two pages. On the first page you can select the xml file to import. The file
must use the gbXML standard data format. Once you have selected the model, press the Next button to move
to the second page. For large models there will be a delay at this point while the model is loaded to the dialog.
The second page shows a preview of the model along with some controls to control the way the import is to
be carried out.
Import Options
View
You can display the preview of the model from various viewpoints. Select from:
• 1-Plan,
• 2-Left,
• 3-Right,
• 4-Back,
• 5-Front,
• 6-Axonometric (3-D view).
Import priority
This option allows you to define whether the system should prioritise reduction of gaps between blocks or
whether to aim to minimise likelihood of open manifold blocks being generated.
• 1-Minimise gaps between blocks where the gbXML surfaces are used to define block geometry. This
is the default option as it typically gives the best results for the majority of BIM models imported from
Revit and most other BIM applications.
• 2-Minimise open manifold blocks where DesignBuilder works out whether it would be better to use
the space or surface data sets based on the criterion that the number of open manifold blocks should
be minimised. Open manifold blocks are blocks that are not fully enclosed.
Adjacency tolerance
This is the maximum gap between neighbouring parallel gbXML surfaces that will be interpreted as being an
adjacency between 2 spaces. You might enter a value higher than the default 0.01m if the gbXML spaces are
separated by large gaps due to thick partitions or ceiling /floor voids being excluded from the gbXML. For
example if the largest gap in the between spaces that are to be modelled as adjacent is 0.3m then enter 0.3m
here.
The Adjacency tolerance can also be updated after the import from the Advanced tab of the Model options
dialog.
Note: For imported spaces to be grouped into storey blocks, they must all have the same height. Any
zones with different ceiling heights will be imported as independent blocks.
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Tip: It can sometimes help, especially in lower quality gbXML data sets, to import raw surface geometry
exactly as defined in the BIM model. In this case the Create storey blocks setting should be switched off and
the Allow open manifold building blocks setting should be switched on.
o Add surface
o Drag block face
o Mirror
o Divide block using cutting tool
o Boolean geometry operations.
Tip: Open manifold blocks are shown in a lighter grey than normal closed manifold blocks to differentiate
them and their icons in the Navigator have a red outline. See screenshot below.
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Import BIM/gbXML Data
Because Open manifold blocks cannot use all geometry operations, the orientation of their surfaces cannot be
reliably determined from the model and DesignBuilder must rely on the orientation data stored with the surface
from the BIM model. This data is not always reliable and so in some cases surfaces are facing in the wrong
orientation. The Flip block surface orientation command can and should be used to check and, if necessary
fix, the orientation of surfaces in all open manifold blocks.
Note: Shading plane surfaces do not have any impact on external CFD analyses.
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Tip: You can choose whether or not shading planes will be applied to the model using the BIM Surfaces
model option.
• Surfaces where the gbXML surfaces are used to define the block geometry. In well constructed gbXML
data sources this data is used to define the outer block geometry. It avoids the need to see gaps
between the blocks caused by partition and internal floor thickness. However if surfaces are missing
you may end up with surfaces also missing in the DesignBuilder model leading to open manifold blocks
which can't be simulated in daylighting and CFD.
• Spaces where surface data is not available the spaces are used as the source of the block geometry.
The DesignBuilder gbXML import works by simply mapping the gbXML space surface geometry to building
blocks, one block per zone.
The way to think about the relationship between gbXML spaces and surfaces is that surfaces are those
surfaces that define the interlocking contiguous zones that make up the whole building model and the spaces
are the inner volume spaces representing the contained air volumes within each zone. So, each internal
surface between adjacent zones would generally represent the centre-line between the zones, and the
associated record in the gbXML file would reference both zones in the adjacent space field.
Depending on the method used to identify the block geometry they represent:
• In the normal case where DB was able to use surfaces to define the block the External
measurements"Geometry convention template is applied to give realistic thickness for block surfaces
based on the overall thickness of the surface constructions defined in the gbXML if this option was
selected.
• Alternatively if DB wasn't able to find enough surface data to define the block but full space data is
available then it uses the space inner geometry and applies the Simple Geometry convention template
to give zero thickness for all block surfaces. In this case the building will be made up of a set of blocks
defined based on the gbXML inner spaces, possibly with gaps between them due to the partitions and
internal floors.
Note: It is important to understand that in both cases the success of the BIM to DesignBuilder data
transfer process depends on how well the spatial identification process has been conducted in the BIM
system. If there are intersecting or missing spaces in the BIM model then the model imported into
DesignBuilder will also have problems.
The adjacency between neighbouring surfaces is calculated within DesignBuilder based on the Adjacency
tolerance setting.
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Merge Model Data From File
Constructions and glazing systems are assigned to surfaces in the gbXML and when the Import thermal
properties option is selected in the import dialog the constructions assigned in the BIM program will be
assigned at surface level within the imported model.
Shading surfaces in the gbXML are retained and displayed in the imported model. Other surface objects aren't
normally required and are hidden after the import has been completed but can be activated as shading
surfaces from the Model options dialog, Drawing tools tab.
Note: For models imported through the gbXML mechanism, the windows will always be custom. This is
true even when importing a model that had previously been exported from a DesignBuilder model that used
the default façade mechanism.
There is a DesignBuilder add-in for all recent versions of Revit, which can help to ease the workflow when
transferring BIM models from Revit to DesignBuilder. The appropriate Revit add-in is installed when you install
DesignBuilder.
Tip: It is important to understand that the quality of the BIM geometry data ultimately imported into
DesignBuilder is directly related to the quality of the geometry included in the gbXML itself. This is turn
depends strongly on a) the accuracy of the base Revit architectural model and b) the care with which the
analytical model settings were set up prior to the gbXML export.
Note: Ideally the version of Revit you wish to use should be installed at the time you install DesignBuilder.
However if this is not the case, you can install the DesignBuilder Revit add-in individually after you have
installed the version of Revit you wish to use without reinstalling the whole DesignBuilder application. The
DesignBuilder Revit add-in can be installed from the Downloads section of the website. Note that a different
add-in is available for each version of Revit. You should ensure that you install the right version. For example
if you are using Revit 2019 you should install the DesignBuilder Add-in For Revit 2019.
You can read how to get the most from the Revit to DesignBuilder link in the DesignBuilder Revit – gbXML
Tutorial.
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data from file command allows you to load all of the important settings from the DesignBuilder model you
previously worked on into the latest geometry imported from BIM.
In the descriptions below the "old" model refers to the DesignBuilder model you previously worked on whose
settings you wish to import, and the "new" model refers to the DesignBuilder model newly imported from the
latest BIM model and needing settings to be imported from the old model.
1. Create a new DesignBuilder model from the updated BIM model by importing gbXML or through the
Revit add-in.
2. In the new DesignBuilder model, use the Merge model data from file command to merge the
attributes and any components, templates and HVAC system from the previous "old" DesignBuilder
model.
3. Check the merge has been completed as required. Note that any newly added blocks, zones, surfaces
and openings in the updated model will not receive settings from the old model that was merged in.
When the Merge model data from file command is selected a dialog is displayed allowing you to select the
"old model" file to be merged into the "new model" with some options. When these settings are confirmed
DesignBuilder makes the following changes to the new model:
• Blocks, zones and surfaces are matched between the old and the new geometry based on their
geometry and position. Where an object is matched all hard set attributes (those shown in red in model
data) are copied over from the old to the new model.
• All user-defined components and templates are copied from the old to the new model.
• If a Detailed HVAC system was defined in the old model then it is loaded to the new model (optional
merge). It is important to check that HVAC zone groups contain the right HVAC zones after the merge
has been completed.
• Any assemblies defined in the old model are merged into the new model (optional merge).
• Any component blocks defined in the old model are merged into the new model (optional merge).
• Openings such as windows, doors etc are merged based on a user-definable selection. The options
are:
o 1-Retain existing openings where the new openings are kept and the old ones are not copied
over.
o 2-Overwrite all existing openings where the old openings are copied to the new model
replacing all new openings.
o 3-Merge non-overlapping openings where the old openings are copied to the new model
wherever possible without overlapping with the openings already in the new model.
Note: The old and new models referred to above must each only contain 1 building.
Tip: The Merge model from file system was specifically created to accommodate the needs of energy
modellers working with BIM models that are often in a state of flux, however it can be used in any situation
where data is to be merged from one model to another, especially when some degree of geometry matching is
required.
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Exporting Geometric Data
2. From the DesignBuilder File > Import menu, click on the Import building from external file option and
select the dsb file containing the building(s) to be imported. When the import is completed you will end
up with the original building and the newly imported building(s) from the external file.
Tip: If you wish to merge selected blocks from the imported building(s) to the existing building you can use
the Transfer blocks tool to move the blocks from the imported building to the existing building. Once you have
transferred the blocks you wish to keep you can delete the imported building(s) from the Navigator panel.
Note: Bear in mind that components and templates are not imported with the geometry and attributes
when using the Import building from external file command. This means that if the building in the external
file refers to custom user-defined components or templates that are not also included in the destination model,
it is likely that component/template selections will be missing or incorrect in the imported building. For example
if the model in the external file includes a custom activity template and it is imported to a model without that
template then you are likely to end up with blank settings where you might expect that Activity template to be
selected. In general you should assume that any custom components and templates and their
selections will need to be remade in the imported model.
• 3-D DXF
• "Exporting gbXML" on page 154
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Choose one of two options:
• 1-Whole model with details - The entire building model is exported including 3-D details such as
window frames, 3-D building elements etc. This option can be useful for exporting for visualisation and
further processing in other software such as SketchUp (image below)
• 2-Zones - The building model is exported showing only zones. This option can be useful for visualising
the geometry of the model used in simulations.
Note: DesignBuilder DXF output uses surface objects and not lines so be sure to select one of the shaded
surface view options in your DXF viewer. Wire frame views will not display the model.
The above model was created in DesignBuilder, exported in DXF format using the Whole model with details
option and Imported into SketchUp where details such as textures, trees and people were added.
Note: when importing DXF files into SketchUp be sure to set the units options on the Open dialog to
Metres.
Exporting GbXML
You can export the current building model in gbXML format using the Export gbXML model command from
the File > Export menu. This opens the gbXML Export dialog. Press OK to confirm and select the name of the
gbXML file to be created.
The gbXML file includes full surface geometry, zone lists with names, windows, doors, component block
shading devices, constructions, materials and glazing systems. Note that all other data is not exported. No
data is stored on activity, lighting, HVAC and model settings.
gbXML files exported from DesignBuilder can be imported into any other software supporting the gbXML
standard file format, including DesignBuilder v3 and later.
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Working With Buildings (Site Level)
Tip: It is not generally possible to load models saved in DesignBuilder dsb format into earlier versions, but
as an alternative you can export gbXML from a recent version and import that into earlier versions of
DesignBuilder supporting the gbXML import. While this method would not retain most model data settings it
would allow you to transfer the data listed above.
You can add one or more new buildings from the site level. Each building has its own set of Model options
and is simulated separately but shares site Model data with the other buildings on the site.
When you select the Add new building option you are presented with the Add new building dialog which
allows you to make some basic settings:
When you press OK to close the dialog the building is created with the various selected settings and in most
cases starts you in Draw block mode so you can start adding geometry straight away. If you are not ready to
do this simply press the <Esc> key or right click and select Cancel.
1. You can obtain snaps from other buildings when moving or copying buildings at site level, however it is
important to be aware that buildings do not share adjacencies with each other. In other words, you may
have positioned Building A so that one of its façades is adjacent to the façade of a neighbouring
building, but that does mean that there will be an internal adjacency set up between the 2 buildings -
the touching façades of the 2 buildings will be simulated using external surfaces.
2. Snap points from other buildings are not available at building level or below, so if you need to
accurately align buildings with each other you may need to go to site level and move them into position.
3. Other buildings can be accounted for in EnergyPlus and Daylighting simulations by selecting the
appropriate calculation options. For both EnergyPlus and Daylighting the other buildings can cast
shadows and provide reflections, but they cannot be simulated within the same calculation.
4. Each building on the site adds to the memory overhead, especially if large amounts of result data are
stored. So if buildings and/or their stored result sets are likely to be large, when planning your
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modelling, you may consider including each building in a separate model and simulating the
shading/reflectance effects of neighbouring buildings using component blocks.
Model Type
Type
Select the type of building model you wish to create from the list of options. Your selection will depend on
what you want to do with the building model and the amount of data available. Some typical options are:
Tip: Regardless of the selection you make here, you can fine tune the Model options later after having
created the building using the Model options dialog.
• 1-Proposed and
• 2-Baseline.
Construction
Select the construction template to use as a source of default fabric data for the building.
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Working At Building Level - Blocks And Solar Collectors
Activity
Select the activity template to use as a source of default activity-related data for the building.
This will set the following default data:
Glazing
The glazing template is used as a source of default window, shading and percentage glazing data for the
building.
Lighting
The lighting template is used as a source of default lighting and lighting control data for the building.
HVAC
The HVAC template is used as a source of default data for the HVAC equipment to heat and cool the building.
Blocks are the basic elements used to create a 3-D DesignBuilder model. Three types of block can be added
to the building:
• Building Blocks are the mechanism used in DesignBuilder to create 3-D building volumes. They are
often referred to in simply as Blocks and are composed of building elements such as walls, floor slabs
and roofs . Building blocks may be partitioned internally to form a number of zones.
• Outline Blocks are used to help in the creation of more complex building block geometry.
• Component Blocks are used to create visual, ground and shading structures which do not contain
zones.
Blocks of all types are created at the Building Level in the same way and are drawn using perimeters which
can be extruded either horizontally, vertically, or in any other direction.
This section describes the various operations involved in creating and editing blocks at the building level.
To create or edit a block you must first go to the building level and you can do this by clicking on the building
entry in the navigator or if you're at the site level and you want to edit an existing building, you can double-
click on the building in the 'Edit' screen.
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Either operation will take you to the building level:
Adding Blocks
To add or create a new block, first go to the building level (if you are not already there) and click on the Add
new block tool. If you've just created a new building, the Add new block tool is automatically activated. A
block is created by drawing the base perimeter of the block using one of the perimeter shapes such as a
polygon. The dimensions of the block are those measured from the outside, the height of the block is the floor-
floor height.
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Adding Blocks
Please refer to perimeter shapes for details of drawing perimeters. After drawing a perimeter, a block will be
automatically extruded by the Height entry in the ‘Drawing options’ settings or if the Auto-complete block
setting is switched off, the perimeter can be dragged to form the extrusion. To help in setting the correct
extrusion height, the increment snap setting can be used which enables the drag movement to jump by any
defined increment. Alternatively, you can simply type in an extrusion height and press the enter key:
When a block has been placed, additional blocks can be drawn onto any surface of the block to form more
complex aggregate blocks. As you move the mouse cursor across the faces of an existing block, each face
will change colour from grey to blue to indicate the active drawing plane. You can lock the active drawing
plane by pressing the SHIFT key, which allows you to move the cursor off the current face while keeping the
plane active. You can also lock the active drawing plane to the ground plane by moving the cursor over the
background area and pressing the SHIFT key, this is particularly helpful in avoiding the selection of the wrong
plane when drawing a vertically extruded block adjacent to an existing block. Once you’ve clicked the first data
point into the active drawing plane, it becomes locked regardless of whether or not the SHIFT key is pressed
until the perimeter has been completed or the tool is cancelled. In the example below the vertical plane shown
in blue has been selected, the shape of the block will be drawn in this plane and the volume created by
extruding normal to it.
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When a block is added to the surface of another block, a geometric link is automatically created between the
two blocks:
A hole can be added to the mating surface of this link (the inter-block partition) in order to form one contiguous
space:
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Adding Blocks
Note: the Merge zones connected by holes Model option must be set if you wish the two zones in the 2
blocks to be treated as one zone in the thermal calculations.
As already illustrated, a block perimeter can be drawn on the ground plane or onto the surface of an existing
block in which case the perimeter is extruded normal to the surface on which it is drawn.
Avoiding Indents
If the perimeter includes indents in such a way that the requested wall thickness is physically impossible and
the wall thickness cannot be accommodated then DesignBuilder will still allow the block to be created but the
wall thickness is reset to a small value (typically 0.025m). See the wall thickness topic for more on this.
The protractor can be used to place the second line in order to accurately define the orientation of the plane
relative to the base or ground plane:
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Alternatively, the orientation of the plane can be defined using the first line:
Snapping the second line to the Z-axis then forms the horizontal extrusion:
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Block Creation Options
Once a vertical plane has been defined it will be ‘remembered’ until the ‘Add new block’ command is
cancelled, so the perimeter can be ‘unwound’ using the ESC key or the right-click menu ‘Undo last point’ entry
and any perimeter shape drawn into the stored plane:
After drawing the last perimeter line to connect to the perimeter start point, the perimeter can then be dragged
to create a horizontally extruded block:
These options are accessed through the Drawing options data panel, which is displayed when you click on
the Add new block tool:
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Block And Zone Dimensions
WARNING: THIS TOPIC REFERS TO V3 AND HAS NOT YET BEEN UPDATED
The diagram below illustrates how blocks should be defined and how zone volumes and surface dimensions
are derived from the parent block. Note that there are 2 alternative dimensioning protocols:
• UK NCM Convention which should always be used when using DesignBuilder for assessing buildings
through the UK National Calculation Methodology, i.e. for Part-L and Section 6 Building Regulations
checks and EPC/BER calculations.
• Simulation and General Design Convention which should generally be used for all other applications
where an NCM calculation is not required.
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Block And Zone Dimensions
1. UK NCM Convention - For ground and intermediate floors, the block height is defined as "top of floor
to top of floor" and for top floor blocks with a flat roof the block height is "top of floor to soffit/underside
of roof slab". Details on defining building geometry for other less common geometries when using the
NCM can be found in the Non Domestic EPC Conventions for England & Wales document.
2. Simulation and General Design Convention - For ground floors the block height is "top of floor to
bottom of floor". For intermediate floors, the block height is defined as "bottom of floor to bottom of
floor" and for top floor blocks with a flat roof the block height is "bottom of floor to soffit/underside of
roof slab".
1. The length/width dimensions of the block are measured from the outside of external walls.
2. Zone height is always the same as block height, i.e. it is unaffected by block wall thickness or thickness
of floor constructions.
3. Wall surfaces extend the full height of the block.
4. Flat roofs are placed on top of the block, so when drawing a block with a flat roof you should exclude
the roof construction in the height.
5. External floors are placed under the block, so when drawing a block with an external floor you should
exclude the external floor construction thickness in the height.
6. Zone surface dimensions (shown in green dotted lines above) are measured from inner edges of outer
walls and the centre line of partitions.
7. Floor surfaces extend horizontally to the inner surface of external walls and to the centre line of
partitions. See below for more on zone/surface dimensions.
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The zone volume used in ventilation calculations is the actual inside volume (shown in yellow in the diagram
above). These inside zone surface dimensions are used to define surface heat transfer areas in simulations
and other calculations.
Block Types
Three types of block are available:
• Building Blocks are used to draw the model or a section of the model.
• Outline Blocks are used to help in the creation of building block geometry and do not affect the model.
• Component Blocks are used to create visual and shading structures which do not contain zones.
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Building Block
Building Block
A building block represents the outer shell of the model or part of the model. A finished block comprises a set
of building elements, which may include external walls, roofs and floor slabs, the constructions of which are
determined from the current building construction model data. Similarly, using opening model data, block
facades are automatically created with the required configuration of windows, doors, vents and solar shading
devices:
A block may be divided internally into any number of zones by drawing partitions and where needed, voids or
courtyards can also be incorporated:
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Custom openings (windows, doors, etc.) can be added to block facades by going to the surface level and
using the 'Draw window' family of commands:
Blocks can be moved, copied and rotated. Blocks can also be cut or stretched and block faces can be
dragged to different positions.
Outline Block
An outline block is created and edited in exactly the same way as a building block but is just a 3-D shape
without associated building elements such as walls, floors, roofs, etc.
Outline blocks are very useful in the creation of more complicated models. Because they are relatively simple
objects, they are much faster to create, copy, move, etc. than conventional building blocks and can be
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Outline Block
manipulated freely without worrying about intersections. Once the required geometry has been established,
outline blocks can be converted to conventional blocks.
Outline blocks can also be used as a temporary device to create drawing planes from which building blocks or
other outline blocks can be extruded.
Note: Because Outline blocks are not part of the model they do not appear in the Navigator panel.
You can remove all outline blocks from a model by selecting Remove all outlines from the Edit menu.
Basic use of outline blocks is covered in the Basic Drawing Tools 5 Tutorial
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and then complete the perimeter:
Now drag the dormer perimeter all the way through the main roof block:
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Outline Block
Select the dormer block and click on the Cut block tool, making sure that the Cutting method on the Drawing
options data panel is set to 2-Select plane and click on the forward facing plane of the main roof block to
create a cut in the dormer block in the plane of the roof:
Click again to finish the cut and then select the section of the dormer block that is not required and delete it:
Select the dormer outline block and click on the Convert outline block tool to complete the process:
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The finished block after adding openings:
Note: Sometimes when converting outline blocks to component or building blocks you will notice that the
new block has a very slightly different size to the original outline block. This can happen when DesignBuilder
needs to slightly adjust the size in order to generate a viable zone with 3-D slab surfaces. It is therefore
advisable when using outline blocks to create complex geometries to draw and convert the outline blocks
individually. This avoids adjacencies between touching outline blocks from getting 'broken' when they are
converted 'en-masse'.
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Component Block
Component Block
There are 3 types of component block:
Component blocks are drawn in the same way as Building blocks but selecting the Block type in the Drawing
Options panel to be 3-Component block.
Each Component block has its own Component block material, transmittance schedule and shade/not shade
model data. To edit this you must first go to the component block itself by double-clicking on it in the model
edit screen or clicking on the entry in the Navigator. Alternatively, component blocks inherit default model data
from the building level so if you leave the component block model data in its default state (blue) you can
change all model data in one go by making the edit at the building level.
All component blocks cast shadows in Visualisations. In Radiance daylighting calculations component blocks
both cast shadows and provide diffuse and/or specular reflection.
More information on component blocks can be found in the Basic Drawing Tools 8 Tutorial
Standard component blocks are visible in Visualisations, using the texture associated with the Component
block material as set on the Constructions tab under the Component Block header. They can be used to cast
shadows and reflect solar radiation and light in EnergyPlus simulations by checking the Component block
shades and reflects model data under Component Blocks on the Constructions tab.
Note: In EnergyPlus simulations, component blocks do not shade ground reflected solar radiation and
light unless the Model all external reflections and shading of ground reflected solar calculation option is used.
The image below shows some typical uses of Standard component blocks.
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Important Note: Component blocks do not absorb or conduct heat in any way - their only effect on
building surfaces in simulations is related to the shading and reflection of short-wave solar radiation and light.
Component blocks are a flexible way to apply shading to any part of the building and can be used to model
more complex window shading systems not catered for by the in-built local shading systems that can be
selected on the Openings tab. However there are some issues that should be considered when using
component block in this way and these are discussed in the Component blocks used for local shading
reference page.
Note: Standard component blocks can be added at building and block levels, but component blocks
added at block level are not used in EnergyPlus simulations. They are however used in CFD, Daylighting
and Visualisation.
Use of standard component blocks for shading is also covered in the Solar Shading Tutorial
Ground component blocks are visible in Visualisations, using the texture associated with the Component block
material as set on the Constructions tab under the Component Block header. They can be used to cast
shadows and reflect solar radiation and light in simulations by checking the Component block shades and
reflects model data under Component Blocks on the Constructions tab.
Note: It is important to understand that the ground component block is used only to modify the adjacency
of the surfaces touching it to be 'adjacent to ground'. The areas of the zone surfaces that do touch the ground
component block are treated as being adjacent to the monthly ground temperatures defined for the site. The
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Component Block
material associated with the ground component block and the thickness of the block are not used in
any way to modify the conduction path of heat from the building to the ground. To modify the properties
of the ground heat transfer, edit the ground construction.
Surfaces with any openings which touch a ground component block will have those openings removed when
the component block is placed. Also it is not be possible to add openings in parts of a zone surface that touch
a ground component block. This applies to sub-surfaces as well as windows, doors, vents and holes.
Ground component blocks are displayed in the visualisation screen using the Ground texture as set at the site
level.
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More information on ground modelling can be found in the Ground Modelling topic.
Note: The adjacencies established by contact with ground blocks can be overridden by making settings
under Adjacency in Constructions model data at the surface level.
Adiabatic component blocks are visible in Visualisations, using the texture associated with the Component
block material as set on the Constructions tab under the Component Block header. They can be used to cast
shadows and reflect solar radiation and light in simulations by checking the Component block shades and
reflects model data under Component Blocks on the Constructions tab.
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Block Forms
Note: While no heat is conducted across the outer side of adiabatic surfaces, these surface will still allow
the flow of heat at the inside surface into the structure and so act to provide thermal mass to the connected
zone. Therefore simulation results will show heat transfer for adiabatic surfaces. In thermally massive
constructions (e.g. concrete floors) these heat flows can be quite significant over the period of hours and
days,but usually less so over monthly intervals.
Note: All openings and sub-surfaces in adiabatic surfaces are ignored in EnergyPlus simulations
Block Forms
While drawing a block perimeter, you can select the block form from the Drawing options data panel in the
bottom left of the screen. The standard block forms are provided to facilitate the creation of blocks
representing specific building geometries. You can select from options 1-4 below:
• 1-Extruded
• 2-Sloped wall
• 3-Pitched roof
• 4-Dome
• (5-General)
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The 5-General block form is not selectable but rather is defined internally by DesignBuilder following
block geometry operations such as Cut block, Horizontal block extrusion, Drag face and Boolean geometry
operation.
Once a block has been created, it is possible in most cases to change to a new form by navigating to the
block and opening the Model options dialog. When at block level the Model options dialog opens at the Block
tab and there the Block form can in most cases be changed.
The various methods of drawing general extrusions are explained under Adding Blocks. Circular and
rectangular perimeter shapes are used to create cylindrical and rectilinear prismatic extrusions from horizontal
planes:
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Pitched Roof Block Form
The wall angle is defined using the Slope setting in the Drawing options panel and the blocks are
automatically truncated by the Height setting:
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The slope of the roof is defined using the Roof slope setting in the Drawing options data panel. A pitched roof
can be created with hips or gable ends using the Gable roof setting:
If you draw a pitched roof on top of an existing block, you can control the overhang or the depth of the roof
eaves using the Roof overhang setting:
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Pitched Roof Block Form
Voids
Where roofs are to be created on top of conventional blocks that contain voids and the voids are to be
automatically incorporated within the pitched roof, the Automatically include voids from lower blocks Model
options switch must be switched on before drawing the roof perimeter.
Roof overhang
The extent to which the roof forms an overhang over the zones below. if the Auto-calculate pitched roof
thickness option is checked then the overhang displayed in the model and also the overhang modelled in the
simulation will be exactly the value of Roof overhang entered here.
Roof slope
The slope of the roof to be generated measured from horizontal.
Roofspace occupied
If the roofspace is flagged as being unoccupied (this option is left unchecked) then a series of changes are
made to the block attributes:
• Any glazing that would otherwise have been included on the gable end walls is removed.
• Zone type is set to 2-Semi-exterior unconditioned.
• Infiltration in the roofspace has a default value of 1 ac/h when using Scheduled natural ventilation or
'Very poor' sealing quality when using Calculated natural ventilation.
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Automatic Pitched Roof Geometry
This section describes the automatic DesignBuilder pitched roof geometry generation with reference to an
example roof created by drawing a rectangular perimeter with a roof overhang of 0.3m and a roof slab
thickness of 0.2m:
Roof perimeters are drawn using the perimeters of lower adjacent blocks:
The software first creates the roof zone (this would be the zone written to the EnergyPlus IDF file) by first
identifying the wall thickness of the adjacent lower block and then deflating the drawn perimeter by this
thickness to obtain the basic roof zone perimeter. The resulting roof zone perimeter is then guaranteed to
coincide with the lower adjacent zone perimeter(s) in the absence of a roof overhang:
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Pitched Roof Block Form
If a roof overhang is specified, the basic roof zone perimeter is then inflated by the roof overhang:
The roof zone is then completed by identifying the skeleton of the perimeter and applying the specified slope
to the resulting segments. The base of the roof zone now overlaps the lower adjacent zone(s) by the specified
roof overhang:
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Note: In the case where a roof perimeter is drawn on top of several blocks having different wall
thicknesses, the software identifies the wall thickness having the longest perimeter and uses that thickness to
derive the roof zone perimeter. You should be aware that in this case the specified roof overhang will only be
guaranteed where the roof overlaps blocks having the same wall thickness as that identified for the roof zone
perimeter.
The roof building block slabs are then created by extruding the roof zone surfaces outward along a normal to
the surfaces by a distance specified using the Roof Thickness setting.
The perimeter of the resulting roof block will extend beyond the roof zone perimeter by a distance (d in the
illustration) determined by the specified roof thickness:
Note: The overhang created by the formation of the roof slabs (d in the above illustration) is only
noticeable in the Edit and Visualisation views and will not be written to the IDF file i.e. unlike the roof zone
overlap, it has no effect on the EnergyPlus shading calculations.
Gable roofs
If the Gable roof option is selected, all gable end roof segments (isosceles triangles) are generated to fit flush
with the lower adjacent block surface:
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Dome Block Form
If the specified gable wall thickness is different to the wall thickness of the lower adjacent block, an overlap will
be created between the roof zone and the lower adjacent zone, which may affect shading calculations in
EnergyPlus:
Note: Pitched roof form blocks are automatically configured so that the external walls are not shown on
the Edit screen when at block level. This can help when drawing partitions, positioning assembly blocks etc.
The option can be reversed using the Display external walls Block display model option if required.
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More information on using the Dome block form can be found in the Basic Drawing Tools 9 Tutorial
Blocks having the General block form can still be transformed back to have the Sloped wall or Pitched roof
form (but not the Extruded form) on the Block tab of the Model options dialog.
Note: General form blocks are automatically configured so that the external walls are not shown on the
Edit screen when at block level. This can help when drawing partitions, positioning assembly blocks etc. The
option can be reversed using the Display external walls Block display model option if required.
Height
After drawing a vertically extruded block perimeter on a horizontal plane, the block will be automatically
extruded using the Height setting, if the Auto-Complete Block option is switched on or the View Rotation has
been set to 'Plan'.
Auto-Complete Block
After drawing a vertically extruded block perimeter on a horizontal plane, the block will be automatically
extruded by the Height setting if the Auto-Complete Block option is switched on or the View Rotation has
been set to 'Plan'. With this option switched off (or in the case of a non-horizontal drawing plane), the
perimeter can be dragged along an axis normal to the perimeter to obtain the required extrusion.
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Edit Blocks
Edit Blocks
The geometry and other attributes of blocks can be modified using the following tools:
The topology of a block can be edited using the Drag face tool which allows you to select a block surface and
drag it along an axis, normal to the surface. To edit a block topology first go to the building level and click on
the Drag face tool. Then move the mouse cursor to the block face that you want to move. As you move the
cursor across the block surfaces, each surface will highlight to help in selecting the required surface. When
the mouse cursor is over the required surface, click to start dragging it:
Drag the surface using the mouse or key-in the distance to shift the surface by the required amount:
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See also the Basic Drawing Tools 3 Tutorial
Blocks can be cut (i.e. divided into 2) using the Divide (Cut) Block Tool. To cut or divide a block first go to the
building level, select the block that you want to modify and click on the Divide block toolbar icon. Blocks are
divided using a plane which can be defined using one of 2 methods:
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Divide Block Using Cutting Tool
Because the geometry is fairly complicated, it's advisable to use an outline block to generate the intermediate
geometry and then convert the block to a building block after the editing process is complete. So, from the
building level, click on the Add new block tool, select 2-Outline block as the block type, set the perimeter
shape to 1-Polygon and the Height to the same height as the rotunda, then draw a conventional vertical
extrusion to fit flush to the rotunda. In order to trace round the base of the rotunda, it's probably easier to set
the view rotation to 'Plan', click on to the ground plane and press SHIFT to lock the plane before placing the
first perimeter point:
When tracing around a perimeter by snapping from end-point to end-point, it can be helpful to switch off the
direction snaps and the drawing guides to prevent them from interfering with the point snaps. Completing the
perimeter:
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Click on the outline block to select it and then click on the 'Divide block' tool and make sure that the 'Cutting
method' is set to 1-Draw plane in the Drawing Options data panel. Switch the protractor on and move the
cursor over the end face of the selected block, the surface will highlight to indicate that it's become the active
drawing plane. Press the SHIFT key to lock the drawing plane and then locate the cursor 4m from the base of
the block using edge snap:
Click to place the beginning of the first cutting plane line, then place the end of the line to intersect the face
edge with a pitch angle of 30°:
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Divide Block Using Cutting Tool
Orbit to make the back face of the block visible. Move the mouse cursor over the back face and when it
highlights, press the SHIFT key to lock the plane. Place the second cutting plane line to snap to the local X-
axis of the back face:
Click to complete the cutting plane. The blocks that will be produced by the cut are displayed in red and
green, depending on which side of the cutting plane they lie. At this point, you can choose to cancel the cut by
pressing the ESC key or selecting 'Cancel Cut' from the right-click menu.
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Click again to complete the cut and then select and delete the block that isn't needed:
Go through a similar process to create the other pitch. You may need to switch off the drawing guides and
mid-point snap to prevent them from interfering with the protractor and edge snap:
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Divide Block Using Cutting Tool
Click again to make the final cut and then select and delete the block that isn't part of the finished structure:
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The outline block can then be selected and converted to a building block:
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Divide Block Using Cutting Tool
Click on the Add new block tool, select 2-Outline block as the block type and set the perimeter shape to 1-
Polygon. Switch the protractor on and move the mouse cursor to the back face of the offshoot. When the
cursor is over the back face, press the <Shift> key to lock the drawing plane and snap the protractor to the
upper edge end-point:
Draw the first perimeter line at a 45° pitch and move the cursor to intersect with the back face upper edge
mid-point drawing guide and click to set the end-point:
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Move the cursor to snap to the other end-point of the back face upper edge and then complete the perimeter:
Now drag the outline block face through the main roof block:
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Divide Block Using Cutting Tool
Select the offshoot outline block and click on the ‘Cut block along plane’ tool, making sure that the ‘Cutting
method’ on the ‘Drawing options’ data panel is set to 'Select plane’ and click on the forward facing plane of the
main roof block to create a cut in the offshoot block in the plane of the roof:
Click again to finish the cut and then select the section of the offshoot roof block that is not required and
delete it:
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Select the roof offshoot block and click on the 'Convert selected outline blocks to building blocks' tool to
complete the process:
Note: In some circumstances, resulting blocks may not be able to be converted to building blocks due to
geometrical limitations. In this case, the block will be displayed in a sepia colour to indicate that it cannot be
converted.
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Boolean Geometry Operations
1. Select the 2 blocks involved. The union operation can be applied to any block including building blocks,
component blocks and outlines blocks but the Subtraction and Intersection operations can only be
applied to outline blocks as they require intersection of the 2 primary blocks. The 2 blocks must both
either be of the same type (building block /component block /outline block) or must involve an outline
block. They must touch in the case of the Union operation and intersect in the case of the Subtraction
and Intersection operations.
2. Click on the Boolean operations toolbar icon. This opens the Drawing options dialog in the bottom left
of the screen.
3. Select the operation type in the Drawing options panel in the bottom left of the screen. In the case of 2
building blocks Union is the only option so the drop list is greyed out. The 2 blocks are both shown in
purple for the Union and Intersection operations, or one in purple and the other in green for the
Subtraction operation. For the Subtraction operation the green block will be used to subtract space
from the purple block.
4. Left-mouse click a final time on the model to complete the operation.
Important Note: The Boolean tools are provided to help create geometries that cannot be created any
other way. DesignBuilder Support recommends that you only use them for this purpose and avoid the
temptation to use the union tool to reduce the number of blocks in a model. As a general guide, it is usually
better to work with a number of simpler blocks than one larger block of complex geometry. The more complex
the block geometry the more challenging the generation of the zone inner geometry and the more likely that
DB will generate surfaces of zero thickness.
One specific case that sometimes leads to zone inner volume creation failing and surfaces having zero
thickness is when more than 3 surfaces are adjacent to a vertex. This is more likely to happen with blocks of
complex geometry. It is not such an issue for EnergyPlus simulations because DesignBuilder is still able to
account for surface thickness when calculating zone volumes and floor areas, but it can be a real issue for
CFD which requires any internal surfaces to have non-zero thickness.
Note that the zone merge tools are the preferred method for creating zones spanning multiple blocks.
This example illustrates how to create geometry with one ellipsoid (egg-shaped) block within another.
Step 1 Draw 4 construction lines starting from origin to create a cross centred on the origin 20 x 10m
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Step 2 Draw a dome 20m radius centred on the origin, then use the Stretch tool to reduce it's y and z
dimensions by 50%. The dimensions should be 40m in the x-direction, 20m in the y-direction and 10m height
(z-direction).
Step 3 Draw a similar but 2x smaller ellipsoid 10m x 5m x 5m. Move the large ellipsoid on top of the smaller
one with the centre of each over the origin as shown below.
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Boolean Geometry Operations
Step 4 Use the selection tool to rubber band a selection over both blocks, click on the Boolean operations
toolbar icon and select the Subtraction option in Drawing options. If necessary click on the Switch subtraction
block checkbox to ensure that the smaller inner block is in green (i,e. it is to be used to subtract volume from
the larger block). After the Subtraction operation you should see the blocks as below.
and with the smaller inner block moved out of the way:
Step 5 Draw a small rectangular outline block aligned with the x and y axes to give you a vertical plane to
allow rotation operations to create the lower blocks. Then copy the larger outer block and rotate the copy by
180° using a vertical plane as the rotation plane. Repeat these steps for the smaller inner outline block.
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Step 6 Position and Union the 2 small inner blocks together to create an egg shaped inner block.
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Boolean Geometry Operations
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Step 9 Move the lower outer block into position.
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Boolean Geometry Operations
Step 10 if necessary, move the entire set of 4 blocks above ground by selecting all 3 blocks (rubber band
selection) and using the base point of the lower outer block as the reference point and moving it the origin.
Step 11 Set 100% glazing for exterior, interior and roof glazing.
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- 206 -
Boolean Geometry Operations
Step 12 Draw 2 holes in the floor of the outer top block. Note it is not possible to union the 2 outer blocks as
there would be problem maintaining the inner blocks in this case.
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Using the Boolean Operations - Union Blocks Example
The first step in using the Boolean operations is to go to building level and select the 2 blocks to which the
command is to apply.
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Boolean Geometry Operations
The 2 blocks to be combined are shown above before the operation is started- a 3.5 m height L-shaped block
and a tall sports hall block.
When the 2 blocks are both selected the screen looks as above with the Boolean operations toolbar icon
enabled.
Pressing on the toolbar icon at this stage starts the command and the Display options panel is displayed in
the bottom left of the screen. On this panel there is a drop list with the 3 Boolean functions available for
selection. In the case where 2 building or component blocks are selected, only the Union operation is allowed.
This is because building blocks cannot intersect and the Subtraction and Intersection options do not apply as
they require blocks to intersect.
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Once the command has been started the 2 blocks will become purple. To complete the operation, left-click
once more on the edit screen with the mouse.
After the final click, the 2 blocks are joined into a single block (above).
This can be a very useful way to simplify building geometry avoiding use of multiple blocks and easing the
creation of zones that may span what were multiple blocks.
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Edit Block Options
Note: When combining 2 adjacent blocks using the Union operation, block boundary walls are not
replaced by partitions for abutting vertical surfaces.
You can edit certain aspects of a building block geometry by clicking on the Model options icon while at the
block level. This opens the Model options dialog box opened on the Block tab.
To convert an Outline block to a Building block, or Component block select the blocks that you want to convert
and then click on the Convert selected outline block tool. This opens the Convert Outline Block Options
dialog below.
• Building block
• Component block
When converting to a Building block you can also enter the Wall thickness of the block.
Transfer Blocks
You can move blocks from one building to another using the Transfer blocks command accessed from the
Edit menu when the site contains more than 1 building. This menu option opens the Transfer blocks dialog
below. Select the building containing the blocks to be copied and the building to receive the blocks and Press
OK. All blocks in the source building will be moved to the destination building.
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Tip: If you would like to transfer only selected blocks then you could first clone the source building, remove
the blocks that are not required from the copy then transfer the remaining blocks to the destination building.
Note: You should check before starting the block transfer that none of the source blocks overlap with
blocks in the destination building. Even a small overlap will cause the whole process to fail.
A Transfer block operation cannot be undone and it clears any existing undo/redo information.
Add Surface
The topology of a block can be edited using the Add surface tool which allows you to modify a block surface
by drawing a perimeter on an existing block surface and dragging it inwards or outwards along an axis, normal
to the surface. It is a special case of the Drag block face tool which is used to drag a whole face. Add surface
allows you to drag a portion of a block surface creating a new block topology.
1. Go to the building level (or block level if you wish to add a surface to a block-level component block).
2. Click on the Add surface tool.
3. Move the mouse cursor to the surface that you want to edit and draw the perimeter of the surface to be
created.
4. Once the new surface perimeter has been defined use the mouse to start dragging it inwards or
outwards. You can key in an exact distance to be used in the drag process. See example screenshot
below.
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Adding Solar Collectors
5. When you have the block geometry you need, left mouse click to confirm.
1. First go to the building level (if you are not already there) and click on the Draw solar collector toolbar
icon. .
2. Select the type of collector from pop-up menu. For example to add a PV panel, select the Add solar
collector - Photovoltaic option.
3. Position and draw the Solar collector in the way that you would a block when using the 2-Rectangle shape.
The first click defines one corner (the bottom right say), the second click defines the diagonally opposite
corner (top left say) and completes the placement.
The panel is effectively defined in 2-D, i.e. there is no option to define its depth.
You can draw the panel on an existing building block, component block or outline block surface or directly on
the ground.
Note that in cases where a solar collector is placed on a building surface (e.g. on a pitched roof surface) it is
not modelled as being fully coupled with the underlying surface, however it does cast a shadow as would any
other block or shading surface.
4. You can edit the properties of the solar collector by first navigating to the Solar collector object by either
double-clicking on the graphical object in the Layout screen or single-clicking on the item in the Navigator. For
PV solar collectors you can define the panel performance and other properties on the Construction tab under
the Solar Collector header.
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5. The electrical side of the Photovoltaic collectors operation is defined on the HVAC tab under the
Generation header.
The hot water, operation and control of Solar hot water collectors is defined with the Detailed HVAC data.
Note: PV systems can be modelled when using either Simple or Detailed HVAC but Solar hot water
systems require Detailed HVAC.
Go to block level
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Working At Block Level
• Add and edit 1-Standard type component blocks for use in visualisation, daylighting and CFD
analysis.
• Add internal CFD fans for CFD analysis.
Snap mode
At block level the snap mode allows you to specific whether snaps should be made available for the block
outer perimeter or for the zone inner surfaces. The options are:
• 1-Block perimeter where snaps are provided for the block perimeter lines.
• 2-Zone inner surfaces where snaps are instead provided for the zone inner surfaces.
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Display zone inner surfaces OFF
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Zone Block By Drawing Partitions
By default the option is switched off and the zone inner surfaces are only represented by a dotted line on the
floor plane. To get a clearer picture of where all of the zone inner surfaces are, you can switch this option on.
Building blocks can be divided into any number of zones by drawing partitions inside the block. To start
drawing partitions, click on the 'Draw partitions' tool. You can place partitions freely within a block either free-
standing or snapped to an external block wall or existing partition. Partitions can be positioned using the
snaps, drawing guides and protractor. A partition doesn't need to be snapped to a wall element, you can drag
a partition across a wall and when you click the end-point, it will be automatically trimmed to the wall.
You can enter the thickness of the first partition drawn in the block and subsequent partitions take on the
same thickness as the first.
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Note for partitioning large models
By default, blocks are automatically re-zoned as soon as complete zone perimeters are formed by
drawing partitions. In order to speed up the process of adding partitions, particularly in the case of large
and complex blocks, the block zoning process can be postponed until partitioning has been completed.
To do this, open the Model options dialog and switch off the Automatic block zoning option under the
Miscellaneous Edit header on the Drawing Tools tab. When partitioning has been completed, the block
can be manually re-zoned by selecting the Rezone block command from the Tools menu. Partitions
drawn with the Automatic block zoning option switched off are called Outline partitions and are shown
in blue.
Rezoning blocks
When partitions are moved and/or deleted, DesignBuilder attempts to match the new zone geometry
with the previous geometry and if it is successful it keeps the previous zone attributes. The matching is
done based on overlaps with the floor areas of the old and new zone layouts. After partitions have been
moved or deleted the software checks for overlaps in floor areas between new zones and previous
zones and if overlaps are found, the attributes are inherited from the previous zones. The exception to
this is for detailed HVAC zones where the floor area must match exactly for the new zone to be
interpreted as a reworking of a previous zone.
Switching off the Automatic block zoning option can be a big help when rezoning an existing block
layout when aiming to maintain zone and surface attributes from the previous layout because it allows
the timing of the matching process to be controlled. For example, in the following simple example, if all
partitions are first deleted (with automatic block zoning turned on), the resulting single zone will inherit
all attributes from the previous zone with the largest floor area and so any subsequently partitioned
zones will inherit from that single zone:
However, if "automatic block zoning" is turned off prior to deleting the partitions and the block is
manually rezoned after adding the new partitions, the four new zones will inherit from the original four
zones:
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Zone Block By Drawing Partitions
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Partition Block Into Zones
Click the partition end-point on the outside of the wall and it's automatically trimmed:
When you draw a partition or a series of partitions (stream), you can undo the last point placed by pressing
the ESC key or selecting 'Undo last point' from the right-click menu.
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Zone Block By Drawing Partitions
You can also terminate a partition stream anywhere by selecting 'End stream' from the right-click menu (or by
pressing the ENTER key):
When partitions or partition streams are placed that don't connect with anything at either or both ends, they
are called hanging partitions and can be used to add thermal mass to zones:
Once you've placed partitions that divide existing zones within a block, the block is re-zoned automatically:
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When you partition complex blocks rather than simple vertical extrusions, partitions are automatically cut to fit
within the block:
Tip: If the display of the block outer walls prevents you from drawing partitions (for example in a pitched
roof block) then you can switch off the display filled external walls model option.
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Zone Block By Drawing Partitions
The partition and resulting zone will be cut to form what appears to be two partitions and two zones:
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However the two resulting zones are in fact two geometric bodies within one zone:
While this geometry is perfectly acceptable for the default EnergyPlus solar calculations (see Model Options),
it cannot be processed by the more rigourous Full exterior and interior solar distribution option. If this latter
option is required, you can either model the geometry as two separate blocks or cut the block.
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Hanging And Outline Partitions
partition tool, but are finished by pressing <Enter> (or the End partition stream command from the right click
menu) to define the end of a partition stream. They are shown in light blue (see below) to differentiate them
from normal and virtual partitions.
Note: Hanging partitions are not included in visualisation, daylighting and CFD studies (see below). You
should use internal component blocks to create an obstruction to daylight, CFD air movement or for more
realistic visualisations.
Outline partitions
Also if Automatic block zoning is switched off, all new partitions are treated as outline partitions (shown in blue
and do not create zones) until converted to standard partitions by using the Rezone block command from the
Tools menu.
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Virtual Partitions
A virtual partition is a partition between 2 zones which exists purely to sub-divide the space up and has no
corresponding wall in the actual building.
Virtual partitions are commonly used for separating perimeter zones from core zones when there is to be
different HVAC provision or when carrying out daylighting or solar overheating studies in situations where a
large open plan space is subject to a high level of solar gain around the perimeter. Virtual partitions can be
placed to create separate perimeter and core zones so that the local effect of the solar gain in the perimeter
zone may be calculated. In the absence of virtual partitions, the risk of overheating could be underestimated
due to the distribution of solar gain throughout the open plan space.
When drawing partitions you can set the Partition type in the Drawing option panel to 1-Standard (the default
for a standard partition) or to 2-Virtual to create a virtual partition.
For partitions that have already been created you can navigate to the partition (click on the appropriate item in
the Navigator or double-click on the partition object from either zone or block level) and change the partition
type between 1-Standard and 2-Virtual using the Partition type Drawing option control.
Note: Virtual partitions are modelled using a hole that fills the whole surface area so you cannot draw
custom openings on a virtual partition. For details on how DesignBuilder EnergyPlus models virtual partitions
see information on holes. The model options for controlling the effect of holes apply equally to virtual
partitions.
See also:
To create an external courtyard within a block, go to the required block by clicking on the navigator entry or
double-clicking the block and then click on the Draw void perimeter tool. You can the select a perimeter
shape and the line type used to draw it in the Drawing Options data panel:
After completing the perimeter, a courtyard is automatically generated within the block:
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Creating Voids (Courtyard Spaces) Within Blocks
Important note: in simulations, the void space is treated as exterior to the building and not as any sort of
zone. If you need to create an atrium space whose temperature and other conditions are simulated then avoid
use of the Draw void perimeter tool and instead model it like any other zone within the block using partitions.
If you would like DesignBuilder to automatically punch voids through new blocks drawn on top of existing
blocks having voids, then use the Automatically include voids from lower blocks model option which can be
set on the Miscellaneous Edit tab of the model options dialog.
Restriction: The void perimeter lines you draw to create a void cannot touch any other external or internal
wall, so you can't for example use the void command to take chunks out of the external wall - the void must be
wholly contained within the block.
Restriction: You can't create any other objects within a void - the void space is reserved and you will get
intersection errors if you try to draw a block in the void space. If you need to do this then you should create a
"hard" void using Boolean tools instead (see below).
• "Soft" voids are the courtyards etc added to a building block using the Draw void perimeter tool
described above. Soft voids are "soft" because they can be moved and generally edited.
• "Hard" voids are created by cutting a hole through a block using a Boolean operation.
The main practical differences between "soft" and "hard" voids are that:
a. another block (building block, component block, solar panel, assembly) can be located within a hard
void but this is not possible within a soft void, and,
b. soft voids can be edited at block level using the delete, copy, move, rotate, etc. commands.
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Open Manifold Blocks - Flip Block Surface Orientation
This command applies only to open manifold blocks imported from BIM models. It can be accessed from the
Edit screen when at building level when an open manifold block is selected or when at block level for an open
manifold block. Using the Ctrl-F keyboard shortcut is the fastest way to start the flip block command.
Open manifold blocks cannot use all geometry operations and the surface orientation cannot be reliably
determined from the model. DesignBuilder must rely on the orientation data stored with the surface from the
BIM model. This data is not always reliable and so in some cases surfaces come through into DesignBuilder
facing in the wrong orientation. The Flip block surface orientation command can and should be used to
check and, if necessary fix, the orientation of surfaces in all open manifold blocks.
When the Flip Block Surface Orientation command is active you can click on the surfaces in a block to see
their orientation. You should see the red arrow pointing outwards away from the centre of the block as shown
below.
Some surfaces may be facing in the wrong direction (inwards) and will often be seen in white looking from
outside the block as shown below.
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Open Manifold Blocks - Flip Block Surface Orientation
Clicking on these surfaces shows the arrow pointing inwards. In this case press the Shift key while left
clicking with the mouse to flip the direction of the surface to make it point outwards. The image below shows
the fixed block looks after the Shift mouse click was used to flip the surface orientation.
All such inward facing surfaces must be flipped to ensure an accurate model before using it to run energy
simulations. Otherwise inward-facing surfaces will have the wrong orientation in energy simulations.
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Note: even when all surfaces in open manifold blocks have been correctly flipped these models cannot be
used in Radiance daylighting and CFD calculations which require all blocks to be closed manifold.
One or more CFD Circulation Fans (often referred to as CFD fans) can be added at block level to increase air
momentum and add/subtract heat during CFD simulations. The supplied flow rates are converted to
momentum equation boundary conditions by combining them with the associated cell dimensions.
Example applications are jet fans and desk fans which can both be modelled using the CFD circulation fan to
add movement to the air.
CFD Fans are only used for CFD simulations and have no impact on any other calculations.
Fans can be drawn onto the block floor, onto component or outline blocks or onto walls of the block.
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Working Within Zones (Zone Level)
7. Having now drawn (and possibly repositioned) the fan, the final step is to define boundary conditions
for any heat flux added by the fan (e.g. fan heater), the flow rate and the direction.
8. Navigate to the fan either by double clicking on the object in the model view or by clicking on the CFD
Fan item in the Navigator and click on the CFD model data tab.
9. Enter any heat flux added by the fan, the fan flow rate and the direction as shown in the screenshot
below.
10. To change the direction of flow, change the Flow direction setting from 1-Positive to 2-Negative or
vice-versa.
Note: The fan discharge area dictates the fan discharge velocity and consequently the momentum for a
given flow rate.
Go to zone level
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Placing Light Sensors
If you switch zone Lighting Control on, a light sensor will be displayed as a blue rectangle with the number '1'
inside it indicating 'Light sensor 1'. By default Light sensor 1 is positioned in the geometric centre of the zone.
If you now switch on the Second Lighting Area, a second light sensor will be displayed with a number '2' inside
it:
To move a light sensor to a different location, move the mouse cursor over the required sensor and click on it
to select it and then Move it to wherever you want within the floor perimeter:
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Working With Surfaces (Surface Level)
Note: You can set the working plane height to define the desk height (and hence the z-position of the
lighting sensor) on the Lighting tab.
Go to surface level
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Note: When navigating to surfaces from zone level by clicking on them with the mouse, to access the
"backward-facing" surfaces (i.e. surfaces whose inside face is shown) you must hold the Shift key down while
clicking.
When working with surfaces, switching to Normal view rotation can be helpful in orientating openings and sub-
surfaces:
Openings
You can draw, move, clone (copy), rotate and delete the following types of opening:
• Window
• Sub-surface
• Hole
• Door
• Vent
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Draw Window
Note that custom openings that have been drawn by hand or copied are displayed in bright colours to
differentiate them from (grey) default openings:
• Yellow - windows
• Blue - sub-surfaces
• Green - holes
• Cyan - doors
• Magenta - vents
Note: All openings and sub-surfaces in adiabatic surfaces are ignored in EnergyPlus simulations
Draw Window
Before activating the Draw window tool, you are given the option of keeping any default surface openings
through a check box in the Display options dialog. If you choose to keep these openings, they will be
converted to custom openings and so will not be subsequently affected by any changes to the facade attribute
data and must be deleted or edited manually, or cleared back to default openings.
Note: When drawing windows you should draw the whole opening area in the fabric including the space
required for the frame. The way that the frame and window areas are provided to EnergyPlus in described in
more detail in the "Dimensions (Walls)" on page help topic.
To add a window to a surface, click on the 'Draw window' tool. If you have opted to keep the default openings,
they will be converted to custom openings:
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On the other hand, if you un-check the 'Keep default openings' option, all default openings will be removed.
Select the perimeter shape that you require and then move the mouse cursor to place the window origin. As
you move the mouse cursor over the surface, distance guides will be displayed from each of the surface
vertices to help in placing the window origin. If the increment snap is switched on, the origin will snap in
increments from the vertex that's nearest to the mouse cursor:
You can lock the origin to a particular vertex by moving the mouse cursor close to the vertex and pressing the
SHIFT key and keeping it pressed until you actually place the origin. This can be helpful if you want to place a
window relative to a vertex at the other end of the surface:
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Draw Window
Having placed the window origin, you can then draw the window using the selected perimeter drawing mode,
for details of drawing perimeters please refer to the Perimeters section.
2. Define the window position relative to an origin by first moving the mouse cursor to define the origin
(typically the bottom left corner of the surface)
3. Then type in the offset of the window origin (bottom left corner of the window in this example) in the format
x y. Note that there is no comma between the x and the y coordinates.
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The coordinates that you type in will appear under the 'Key In' header in Drawing Options panel. The
convention used when positioning and drawing openings at surface level is that x increases from left to right
and y increases from bottom to top. This is true whether viewing the surface from inside or from outside.
5. Next type in the window width followed by a space followed by the window height. Again the coordinates
you type in are shown in the Drawing Options panel. In the example below a window is being defined having
width 2m and height 1m.
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Draw Sub-Surface
You can use the mouse in conjunction with Key Ins if you prefer. So you could use the mouse to define the
window offset from the origin and then use Key Ins to define the window dimensions or vice versa.
Tip: You can also enter negative x and y values when keying in offset and coordinates.
Draw Sub-Surface
For details of using the Draw sub-surface tool, please refer to the Draw window tool.
See the Sub-Surface Construction topic for information on the construction data used for sub-surfaces and
other details.
Draw Door
For details of using the Draw door tool, please refer to the Draw window tool.
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Draw Hole
For details of using the Draw hole tool, please refer to the Draw window tool.
1. For merging zones together. Note that the Merge zones connected by holes option must be selected
for this to work.
2. If adjacent zones aren't merged then holes between them allow air and radiation to pass. See below for
details on this.
Holes can also be added in exterior surfaces to allow air and radiation to pass.
Tip: It is possible to draw large holes in surfaces to give the effect of the surface having being removed.
This can be a useful technique for creating atrium-type spaces, connecting gable roof blocks to the main roof
block and generally merging zones in different blocks.
More information on Drawing holes can be found in the Basic Drawing Tools 7 Tutorial
The way holes are modelled in EnergyPlus depends on the model options selected:
Airflow
The way that airflow through holes (and virtual partitions) is modelled depends on the Natural ventilation
model option selection. The rules are as follows.
Scheduled Natural Ventilation and Heating and Cooling design Simulations with Calculated Natural
calculations Ventilation
When the Advanced Natural Ventilation Model airflow through Holes are represented using an
openings and Airflow through internal openings model options unobstructed air flow path in the fabric
are checked, holes positioned on internal partition walls are used and air flow through them is unaffected
to mix the air between the two adjacent zones. In this case the by whether natural ventilation is enabled
airflow through internal holes is calculated based on the Airflow on the HVAC tab and the natural
rate per opening area data. ventilation setpoints and other controls.
External holes have no effect on airflow. This is because The airflow through holes is calculated
scheduled natural ventilation has no way to calculate the airflow (using the EnergyPlus Airflow Network)
through an external hole which would in reality require knowledge based on the pressure difference across
of wind speed and direction and other pressure-related data. the opening and a coefficient of
discharge of 0.65.
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Draw Vent
All exterior holes and when Internal holes in simulations Internal holes in heating design and
Solar distribution algorithm is when using CTF solution cooling design or when using Finite
Full interior and exterior algorithm difference solution algorithm
Draw Vent
For details of using the Draw vent tool, please refer to the Draw window tool.
When at surface level you can add a CFD boundary in much the same way as a window or any other opening
. Please refer to the instructions for the Draw window tool for details on the process of drawing the CFD
boundary.
Note: An important difference with placing CFD supply and extract boundaries compared with other
openings such as windows, is that their edges must not coincide with parent surface edges. The CFD
boundary should be separated from the surface edges by a distance of at least 0.1 m.
You should also ensure that there are at least three grid cells between a supply boundary and an obstruction
(such as a wall, component or assembly), otherwise, during simulation, the flow can ‘lock’ and the mass
residual will not converge.
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After selecting the Add CFD boundary tool, the boundary settings are displayed on the Drawing options data
panel. You can select the required boundary type from the Boundary type drop list. The following boundary
types are available for surfaces of all orientations:
The following additional boundary types for multi-directional diffusers are available for ceiling and other
downward-facing surfaces only:
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Add CFD Boundary
1-Supply:
• Y-discharge angle (°) - the discharge angle between the local surface Y-axis and an inward facing
normal to the surface. At the surface level, taking a normal view from the inside of the zone to the
surface, the Y-axis discharge angle is positive between the normal and the positive Y-axis (i.e. the axis
pointing upwards) and negative between the normal and the negative Y-axis (i.e. the axis pointing
downwards). For example to define a discharge angle of 45° pointing downwards from the centre of a
diffuser, looking at it from the inside of the zone, you would enter –45. On the other hand, to define a
discharge angle of 45°, pointing upwards from the centre, you would enter 45:
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• Minimum discharge velocity is the minimum required velocity at the face of the diffuser. The
minimum discharge velocity is an important setting in that the diffuser supply velocity in conjunction
with the diffuser discharge angle(s) can determine the flow pattern in a space.
The following paragraph only applies to orthogonal diffusers only. If the minimum discharge
velocity cannot be achieved by combining the specified flow rate with the face area of the diffuser as
drawn, supply diffusers are created using a number of elements, the areas of which are determined by
combining the specified volume flow rate together with the minimum discharge velocity. The maximum
linear dimension of each component element is currently 'hard-set' at 0.2m. If the minimum discharge
velocity is set to a very small value (e.g. 0.01m/s), a single element will be created spanning the entire
area of the diffuser as drawn and the actual discharge velocity will be determined from the geometry of
the diffuser face and the supply volume (i.e. v=V/A). The actual discharge velocity is displayed for
diffusers on the CFD data tab at the opening level.
Note: In the case of non-orthogonal supply diffusers, the minimum discharge velocity can only be
guaranteed if the diffuser has no tilt in the z-dimension (i.e. it has a non-orthogonal azimuth but zero
tilt).
Note: Supply diffuser discharge angles only apply to orthogonal diffusers, i.e. to diffusers aligned
with the grid. For diffusers placed on non-orthoganol diffusers the discharge angles simulated will be
incorrect.
2–Four-way
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Add CFD Boundary
• Minimum discharge velocity - the minimum required velocity at the face of the diffuser. Four-way
diffusers are created using four separate elements, one located at each edge of the diffuser, the area
of each being determined by combining the specified volume flow rate together with the minimum
discharge velocity.
3–Two-way
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4–Extract
5–Temperature
6– Flux
Note: You can add all types of CFD boundary conditions to zone surfaces, but only supply and extract
CFD boundaries can be added to component block surfaces.
Edit Surfaces
At the surface level, you can select custom openings and move, clone (copy), delete and rotate them.
You can also clear custom openings their default state using the Clear Data to Default command.
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Editing Openings At The Building Level
When you have selected an opening, you will see that the Move selected object(s), Clone selected object(s),
Mirror selected object(s), Stretch selected object(s) and Delete selected object(s) icons are active and you can
select one of these commands. As an example, the arched openings and doorway are to be copied onto the
angled façade of the leftmost block. To begin with, you need to delete the existing opening on the angled
façade by selecting it and clicking on the Delete selected object(s) icon:
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Opening removed:
All opening edit operations at the building level automatically convert default openings to custom openings,
which is why you need to remove the existing opening.
Then in order to copy the openings, you need to select a handle point and you can do this by first clicking on
the Clone selected object(s) command icon and then clicking on the required handle point - the endpoint snap
will help in selecting the handle point.
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Editing Openings At The Building Level
First select the handle point, and then position the copy using the various snaps:
As you move the copied openings across each block façade you will see them automatically snap into the
façade plane and after positioning the openings, you can then click on the mouse key to add the openings in
the required position:
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You will see that any copies that won’t fit into the selected location are automatically discarded.
Note: You can select openings on multiple planes but in this case the openings can only be deleted, not
moved or copied.
Undo/Redo
Undo/Redo commands accessed from Edit menu
To undo a geometric operation, select Undo from the 'Edit' menu (or press <Control-Z>) and similarly to redo
a geometric operation, select Redo (or press <Control-R>). Because many of the geometric operations are
dependent on specific model levels, you may need to undo or redo navigation operations before you get to the
required geometric operation, e.g. 'Undo - Go to surface', etc.
Note that Undo/Redo applies only to geometric operations and changes to Model Data cannot be undone.
Rebuild
Rebuild command accessed from Tools menu
Sometimes the adjacencies within DesignBuilder models can become corrupt. The Rebuild command
recalculates the zone, surface and adjacency geometry from the base building elements.
Rezone Block
Rezone block command accessed from Tools menu
Use the Rezone block command to refresh the zoning in the current block. The command converts any outline
partitions in a block to standard partitions and updates zones due to any partitions that may have deleted. The
command should be used when the Automatic block zoning model option is switched off. When the option is
switched on (and it has always been switched on during the life of a model) then you will not need to use this
command.
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Model Data
Model Data
Model Data is the data for the site on the tabs:
• Location
• Legislative region and insulation standards
• Activity (usage)
• Constructions
• Openings (windows, doors, vents, holes, sub-surfaces)
• Lighting
• HVAC
The Model Data tabs are shown in the Edit Screen - User Interface help topic.
At the point of the building is created, building model default data is initially loaded at the building level from
templates. This is inherited from the building to blocks to zones to surfaces and to openings. This default
model data can be overwritten by making edits on the Model Data tabs on the Edit screen.
Site Data
The site data represents information about the site including its location, the conditions of the ground,
weather, the legislative region and the maximum allowed U-values for new buildings. All buildings on the site
use the same site model data.
To edit site model data, go to site level and click on the Location or Region tabs (below).
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You can easily change the location of the site by making a selection for the Location template on the Location
tab or by using the Load data from template command.
Alternatively you can open up the headers on the Location and Region tabs to edit the data.
Location
Location tab on model data at Site level
Use this screen to edit the location of the site, its weather data, the daylight savings and energy codes which
apply.
You can load a location from the database by clicking on Template line under the Location Template header
then on the '...' at the right of the line.
When you make a selection from the list of location templates data from selected template will be loaded to
the model.
Alternatively you can use the Load data from template tool.
• Site location,
• Site details,
• Time and daylight saving,
• Simulation weather,
• Winter design weather and
• Summer design weather.
Site Location
Location tab on model data at Site level
You can set the latitude/longitude of the site for cooling design calculations as well as a number of site
characteristics.
Latitude
The latitude (in degrees) of the site. By convention, North Latitude is represented as positive; South Latitude
as negative. Minutes should be represented in decimal fractions of 60. (15’ is 15/60 or .25)
Longitude
The longitude (in degrees) of the site. By convention, East Longitude is represented as positive; West
Longitude as negative. Minutes should be represented in decimal fractions of 60. (15’ is 15/60 or .25).
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Site Details
Note: the latitude and longitude location data will only affect cooling design calculations. For simulations,
the position of the sun is defined by the location in the hourly weather file.
Site Details
• "Site Details - General" on page 253
• "Site Details - Site Height Variation" on page 254
• "Site Details - Ground" on page 254
• "Site Details - Mains Water Temperature" on page 273
• "Site Details - Precipitation + Irrigation" on page 274
• "Site Details - Outdoor Air CO2 and Contaminants" on page 275
Site orientation
The site orientation is the angle of the site plan view relative to North. For example enter 45 to rotate the
building(s) clockwise by 45°.relative to North (screenshot example below). This is the quickest and most
reliable way to rotate all the buildings on the site relative to North and allows you to keep your x and y axes
aligned with the building.
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North is indicated by the direction of the North arrow in the sketch plan view (above).
Warning: Rotating the building(s) is also possible but once this has been done it is more difficult to make
further geometric edits because, for rotations other than 90, 180 or 270°, the x and y axes will be out of
alignment with the building. Also major rotations can increase the risk of geometric issues in the model.
Tip: You can navigate to building level and use the Measure tool to measure the angle between 2 lines on
a floor plan to calculate the Site orientation.
Implementation Details
In DesignBuilder v6 and later, the Site orientation defined here is accounted for in the EnergyPlus IDF input
data by rotating the geometry of all site and building objects. In previous versions the EnergyPlus Building,
North Axis object was used instead.
Because DesignBuilder now handles all rotation itself, it is possible for it to accurately apply additional building
rotations in addition to site rotation entered here. Building rotations are applied to all building objects (not site
objects) about the geometric centre of the building in the x-y plane.
Building rotation applies to a) LEED baseline auto-rotation and b) parametric analysis, optimisation,
uncertainty and sensitivity analysis when the Building rotation variable is selected.
Exposure to wind
The exposure to wind model data affects the pressure coefficients used when the Calculated Natural
ventilation option is set. It also affects the calculation of U-values (though these are not used in EnergyPlus
simulations).
Important note: When the wind exposure setting is changed, the U-value for each construction in the
Constructions database is recalculated because the wind exposure affects the external heat transfer
coefficient. This is necessary to ensure that the info panel data remains up to date and for local calculations
such as SBEM which rely on U-values being up to date.
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Site Details - Ground
Ground Modelling
Include ground domains (v6.1 and earlier)
Checking this checkbox is equivalent to selecting the 3-Ground domain option in the description below under
Ground modelling method. Unchecking this checkbox is equivalent to selecting the 1-Standard option
below.
• 1-Standard the default method where a set of 12 fixed Ground monthly temperatures are used to
define the temperature on the outside boundary of building ground adjacent surfaces. Conceptually this
is the simplest method since it is based on 1-D ground heat transfer, however it requires prior
knowledge of the ground temperature just below the building for accurate calculations of the heat
transfer between the ground and the building. Because these temperatures are rarely known in
practice, this method can give rise to significant errors and it is not recommended in cases where
accurate ground modelling is required.
• 2-Kiva Basic where a single Kiva foundation object is used to represent heat transfer to, from and
within the ground. This option is ideal for accurate simulations of smaller buildings such as dwellings
where a single Kiva foundation object can realistically be used to represent the ground and the
connection with the building. It requires only a small amount of extra data entry compared with the 1-
Standard option to define the ground properties etc, but in return it provides a significant improvement
in ground modelling accuracy. See below for more details.
• 3-Ground domain a more detailed method than the previous 2 options where EnergyPlus ground
domain objects are used to represent the ground, basement and foundation configuration and
adjacency to the building. See below for more details.
• 4-Kiva Full the most accurate and flexible ground modelling option where EnergyPlus' Kiva system is
used to perform two-dimensional finite difference heat transfer calculations to, from and within the
ground. See below for more details on this option.
Note: For heating and cooling design calculations, the 1-Standard method is always used regardless of
the Ground modelling method selected.
Standard Method
This is the default method. You can find detailed information on how to use the 1-Standard ground modelling
method in the "Ground Modelling - Standard Method" on page 260 section.
Kiva enables detailed modelling of the ground while requiring a minimal amount of data to be entered. The
Kiva Basic option provides an easy introduction to Kiva ground simulations and is ideal for modelling smaller
buildings where a single Kiva foundation object can realistically be used to represent the ground, foundations,
insulation and its adjacencies to the building. Note that the Ground monthly temperatures, Ground deep
temperatures, Shallow deep temperatures described below are not used in Kiva simulations.
When the 2-Kiva Basic Ground modelling method option is selected, 2 more items are revealed below: Kiva
foundation settings and Kiva foundation. These are the only additional settings that needs to be entered to
define the ground modelling, adjacencies etc.
DesignBuilder automatically calculates the fraction of floor perimeters that are exposed to outside based on
the model surface adjacencies.
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Note: This option is exactly equivalent to the 4-Kiva Full option when the Kiva adjacency checkbox is
checked at building level and the Kiva foundation selected at building level with no further overriding settings
made at block, zone and surface levels.
Kiva foundation
Select a single Kiva foundation object to define the extent and properties of any insulation and details of the
walls and footings.
Note: These settings are automatically applied to all ground adjacent surfaces in the model when using
the 2-Kiva Basic ground modelling method.
The EnergyPlus Ground domain system provides a relatively quick and easy way to access the advanced
ground modelling capabilities of the Slab and Basement preprocessor tools which in older versions of
EnergyPlus had to be run as external utilities with a manual process required to feed the outputs from the
preprocessors as inputs to EnergyPlus. See the EnergyPlus Auxiliary Programs help for more information on
these legacy utilities.
The way that the temperature boundary conditions for the simulations are handled is defined on the Ground
Undisturbed Temperatures tab of the Ground domain dialog. Calculations are based on the hourly weather
data and soil properties. Note that the Ground monthly temperatures, Ground deep temperatures, Shallow
deep temperatures described below are not used in Ground domain simulations.
Select the 3-Ground domain option to activate the ground domain model. This reveals an option to select the
number of ground domain objects to use in the study. The number entered here will enable the display of that
number of ground domain objects as shown below.
You will normally need to create new Ground domain objects to define the exact situation for your model.
Note: Ground domains are not used in any heating and cooling design calculations. In this case surfaces
adjacent to ground and assigned with ground domain objects use the Ground monthly temperatures as the
other side.
Note: You must connect the ground domains defined and selected here to ground adjacent
surfaces to complete the domain definition. Wall surfaces that are underground can be selected as
basements and any floor that has any ground contact can be defined as having either slab or basement
contact.
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Site Details - Ground
Tip: Domain-surface connection settings can be made at any of building, block, zone and surface levels.
Setting data at building, block or zone level provides a quick way to associate multiple ground adjacent
surfaces to a ground domain.
Kiva enables detailed modelling of the ground while requiring a minimal amount of data to be entered. The
Kiva Full option provides access to the full EnergyPlus Kiva ground capability which allows accurate
simulations of the ground, foundations, insulation and its adjacencies to the building. It is an improvement on
the ground domain method in terms of accuracy, flexibility and execution speed. Note that the Ground monthly
temperatures, Ground deep temperatures, Shallow deep temperatures described below are not used in Kiva
simulations.
DesignBuilder automatically calculates the fraction of floor perimeters that are exposed to outside based on
the model surface adjacencies.
When the 4-Kiva Full Ground modelling method option is selected, the Kiva foundation settings must also be
selected here at site level. Also each ground-adjacent surface has an option to allow it to be selected as
having an adjacency with a Kiva foundation. You should normally check the option and select the appropriate
Kiva foundation.
Surface
Ground texture
Select the texture to be used to represent the ground in the rendered view on the Visualisation screen.
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Reproduced from the IBPSA BEM Book.
Important Note: Reflection from the ground is calculated even if the Reflections option is not used, but if
reflections are not calculated the ground plane is considered unobstructed, i.e., the shadowing of the ground
by the building itself or by component blocks is ignored. Shadowing of the ground-reflected radiation by
component blocks is only taken into account if the Reflections option is used.Conclusion: Switch
Reflections on for accurate shading calculations.
The ground surface reflectance is also used to quantify the reflection of visible light in the Daylighting
calculations.
Some typical ground reflectance values are shown for various surface types below.
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Site Details - Ground
During simulations, the ground is considered to be snow-covered when the SnowDepth data in the hourly
weather file is > 0.
The default modifier is 2 for both solar and daylight radiation, giving an overall default reflectance for snow
covered ground of 0.2 x 2 = 0.4, suitable for a typical urban site.
During simulations, the ground is considered to be snow-covered when the SnowDepth data in the hourly
weather file is > 0.
Note that the depth at which these temperatures apply depends on the thickness of the ground construction
(see above) added to the main floor/wall construction.
Caution: It is generally not appropriate to use the "undisturbed" ground temperatures calculated by the
weather converter and provided in the header of EnergyPlus hourly weather files as these values are too
extreme for the soil under typical conditioned buildings. A reasonable default value of 2°C less than the
average monthly indoor building temperature is appropriate for large buildings. For smaller buildings, the
ground temperatures will be somewhere between that value and undisturbed ground temperatures.
More information about determining appropriate ground temperatures is given in Ground Modelling and in the
EnergyPlus Auxiliary Programs document.
Tip: Undisturbed deep ground temperatures can usually be obtained from the weather file header.
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Ground Shallow Temperatures
There are 12 fields allowing you to represent the undisturbed shallow ground temperature for each month of
the year. These temperatures are used when the 1-ShallowReference ground temperature option is used in a
15-Follow ground temperature Setpoint manager.
Tip: Undisturbed shallow ground temperatures can usually be obtained from the weather file header.
A simplified approach is introduced to create equivalent constructions and model the ground heat transfer
through underground walls and ground floors for the building energy code compliance calculations. The
approach is to create constructions based on the user defined C or F factor with two layers: one concrete
layer (0.15 m thick) with thermal mass, and one fictitious insulation layer with no thermal mass.
There are 2 ways to define the ground temperatures for F-factor and C-factor calculations which are defined
through making one of the settings for the FCFactorMethod ground temperature source:
• 1-Hourly weather file where the monthly values of ground temperature come from the header of the
.epw hourly weather file. Note if this option is selected then the epw file header must include the
monthly FCFactor ground temperatures.
• 2-Model data in which case the 12 monthly temperatures are defined below.
How It Works
When using the simplest 1-Standard ground modelling method, heat is transferred between zones and the
ground through one-dimensional ground floor surface elements. The 2-D and 3-D effects in the ground heat
conduction that occur in reality are not treated by default. EnergyPlus uses ground construction data to model
the storage of heat in the ground and it can accurately model heat transfer processes over several days (so it
can model the effect of say a warm week followed by a cool week) but it cannot directly model long-term
ground thermal storage effects (periods measured in months).
Tip: Other more advanced methods are also provided for more accurate 3-D ground modelling.
EnergyPlus applies a constant temperature boundary condition for each month on the lower surfaces of
ground adjacent elements.
1. Using DesignBuilder's Auto adjacency detection where ground adjacency is set for all surfaces at or
below ground level. By default, all external surfaces which are at or below ground level are considered
to be adjacent to ground. For surfaces that are partially above and partially below ground level (z=0),
only the parts that are below z=0 are modelled with ground adjacency.
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Ground Modelling - Standard Method
2. Using Ground component blocks - any surfaces (or part of surfaces) touching a ground component
block are considered to be adjacent to ground.
3. Using the Adjacency model data on the Construction tab at block, zone and surface levels where
external surfaces can be defined as being adjacent to ground by changing the Adjacency model data
on the Construction tab from 1-Auto to 3-Adjacent to Ground. If a surface is below ground level but is
not adjacent to ground you can select 2-Not adjacent to ground.
Note: Any earth layers that are to be included in the simulation must be explicitly included in the ground-
adjacent ground floor/wall constructions if you wish to define ground temperatures within the earth.
Ground Temperatures
Monthly ground temperatures are defined at the site level under Site details.
Note: You should not use the ground temperatures in the EnergyPlus weather file header because these
are for undisturbed sites. The temperature beneath buildings is significantly affected by the building itself - the
EnergyPlus documentation recommends using ground temperatures of 2°C below average internal
temperatures for large commercial buildings (where perimeter heat loss is relatively less important). Note that
this temperature should be applied directly below the slab and should not include ground material.
EnergyPlus cannot model very thick constructions so it is necessary to use less thick constructions (2m or
smaller) combined with some assumptions about temperatures at about half a metre below the floor.
Many modellers prefer to define the ground temperature just below the slab and exclude the earth layers from
the model. This has the advantage of simplicity and clarity and is the approach recommended by EnergyPlus
developers.
Note: the default ground temperatures provided in DesignBuilder assume that an earth layer is included in
the constructions adjacent to ground. If an earth layer is not included then you should change the default site
ground temperatures to values closer to those typically found just below the ground slab (as described in note
above).
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Step 1
Draw 3 blocks on the z=0 ground plane. The lowest block will be the basement (completely buried), the middle
block will be the ground level block, partially buried and the top block will be the second level. So far only the
bottom surface is adjacent to ground because it sits on the z=0 plane.
Step 2
Draw 2 ground component blocks around the basement building block to give it's surfaces ground adjacency.
Note this step could be avoided by moving the whole building down so that the basement is fully below
ground. To do this go to building level, select all the blocks, select the move command, click on one of the
bottom corners of the middle block to create a reference point then click on a blank part of the screen to move
the reference point down to z=0.
Step 3
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Ground Modelling - Standard Method
Draw three new ground component blocks to create the sloping ground and the upper ground levels.
Step 4
The zone of the middle block is shown above. Notice how 3 of the surfaces have been split into external and
ground adjacencies (ground adjacencies are flagged by green ground symbols). Note also that the portions of
the surfaces touching the ground component block cannot have windows but DesignBuilder attempts to set up
the correct % glazing for the remaining external parts of the surface.
Step 5
The ground component blocks probably do not need to shade this model as they are mainly below all surfaces
that can receive solar radiation/light, but if you are modelling reflections you will probably need to include the
reflection of solar radiation and light from the ground blocks during simulations. In other cases you may prefer
to switch off the generation of the component blocks shading/reflection surfaces to speed simulations. Do this
on the Constructions model data tab under Component Block.
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Step 6
The finished model. The texture of Ground component blocks is defined by the material set under Component
blocks on the Constructions tab.
Kiva Summary
This summary applies when the Ground modelling method has been set to 2-Kiva Basic or 4-Kiva Full.
Kiva™ is an open source foundation heat transfer calculation tool developed by Big Ladder Software. It is the
product of Neal Kruis’ dissertation where he demonstrated that accurate foundation heat transfer calculations
can be performed quickly (on the order of 5 seconds) without any noticeable loss of accuracy relative to a
mesh-independent, fully three-dimensional simulation.
Within EnergyPlus, Kiva is used to perform two-dimensional finite difference heat transfer calculations. Each
Kiva foundation is represented by a single floor and wall, meaning that individual walls in EnergyPlus are
mapped to a single representative wall in the two-dimensional context using an area weighted average for any
non-uniform boundary conditions among the walls.
• weather data,
• solar position, and
• zone temperatures (from previous timestep),
• zone radiation (solar, IR, etc.)
to calculate the resulting convective heat gains and surface temperatures for the floor and wall surfaces
associated with a single Kiva foundation object. Because Kiva performs multi-dimensional finite difference
calculations, the associated surfaces do not use the same Solution Algorithm (e.g. CTF, Finite difference etc)
as the rest of the model.
Two-Dimensional Approximation
The two-dimensional approximation method employed by Kiva relies on knowing the footprint shape, area,
and exposed perimeter of each instance. The appropriate footprint shape, area, and exposed perimeter for
each instance will be defined within the context of the overall geometry of the Foundation surfaces.
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Kiva Summary
The general method is to define the width of the floor (the distance from the symmetry plane to the wall
interior), w in the two-dimensional context as:
A/Pexp
where:
Kiva also has the capability to adjust this width to account for concave foundation footprint shapes (Note: this
also relies on detailed input of the exposed foundation perimeter for each segment of the footprint polygon).
This adjustment is based on the boundary layer adjustment method described by Kruis and Krarti (2017). The
approach adjusts the exposed perimeter to account for interactions in heat flow within concave corners and
narrow gaps between two exposed edges.
This approach allows for accurate representation of building foundation heat transfer without performing three-
dimensional calculations. Because the two-dimensional context is symmetric, the domain can be divided in
half to further reduce the number of calculations.
Numerical Calculations
Kiva automatically discretises the two-dimensional domain into rectangular cells. The size of each cell is
defined by the Kiva foundation settings object’s Minimum cell dimension and Maximum Cell Growth
Coefficient. The Minimum cell dimension defines the smallest possible dimension of a cell within the
domain. Cells along a block boundary start at this size and grow geometrically away from the boundary
according to the “Maximum cell growth coefficient”. This is evident from the diagrams below which show
the discretisation for a single foundation at close and far perspectives, respectively.
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Example generated discretisation near foundation perimeter
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Kiva Summary
The discretised partial differential equations are solved using the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) finite
difference time stepping scheme. This scheme provides relatively fast calculations with stable results as
demonstrated by Kruis and Krarti (2015).
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Boundary Conditions
Wall Top: Zero heat flux in the vertical direction (assumes heat transfer through the exterior wall above is
one-dimensional in the horizontal direction).
Deep Ground: Either constant temperature or zero vertical heat flux, depending on user input. Deep ground
depth may be automatically calculated based on water table estimates using a method defined by Williams
and Williamson (1989).
Far-Field: Zero heat flux in the horizontal direction. If this boundary is sufficiently far from the building, this will
result in an undisturbed ground temperature profile.
Interior Surfaces:
• Convection is calculated according to the 6-TARP method.
• Long and short wave radiation is passed from EnergyPlus radiant exchange and interior solar
distribution algorithms. Note: Kiva uses area weighted averages to define the radiation incident on walls
in the two-dimensional context.
Exterior Surfaces:
• Convection is calculated according to the 6-DOE-2 method. Wind speeds along the exterior grade are
calculated at the roughness height.
• Exterior long wave radiation is calculated using the same algorithms used for other EnergyPlus
surfaces. Note: there is no explicit radiant exchange between the ground and building surfaces.
• Exterior solar incidence is uniform along the exterior grade surfaces. No shading is taken into account.
Solar incidence along the wall exterior
Multiple Zones: If the surfaces in several zones reference the same Kiva foundation object, each zone will
internally be calculated using separate Kiva instances, one per EnergyPlus floor surface.
Walk-Out Basements: Walkout basements are defined by using walls of different heights all referencing the
same Kiva foundation object.
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Kiva Summary
Walkout basement surfaces (in grey) all reference the same Foundation:Kiva object
A separate Kiva instance will be run internally for any walls with different heights associated with the same
Kiva foundation object. The diagram below shows the grouping of walls by height based on the basement
illustrated above, including the portion that is only a slab.
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Walkout basement Kiva instances (one for each wall height)
The resulting five two-dimensional contexts will look like the figures below.
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Kiva Summary
Each Kiva instance with a different wall height will calculate different heat fluxes, convective coefficients and
surface temperatures for both the wall and the floor. The heat flux through the associated floor will be
weighted according to the fraction of the total exposed perimeter, Pexp,tot, represented by each segment of
different height. The total heat flux through the walkout basement floor is:
The weighted average convective coefficient for the walkout basement floor surface is:
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Multiple Floor Surfaces: If a floor has multiple constructions (e.g., carpeted and bare) each surface must
reference a separate Kiva foundation object, or be combined into a single equivalent construction.
Warm-Up
The traditional “warm-up” (aka preconditioning) period in EnergyPlus (of repeating a single day) presents
several challenges for foundation heat transfer calculations:
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Site Details - Mains Water Temperature
• As the ground can have time constants on the order of years, a single day is simply not long enough to
adequately capture the thermal history of the ground.
• Any repetition of a single day would erase any pre-calculated thermal history and likely take much
longer to converge.
Instead, Kiva instances are initialized independently from the rest of the simulation using the accelerated
initialization method developed by Kruis (2015). This method looks back in the weather file and simulates long
timestep (on the order of weeks or months) calculations using an implicit numerical scheme. These long
timesteps allow Kiva to capture a long term history of the ground without running the entire building model.
The initialization of the ground relies on assumptions of indoor air temperatures (as they are not yet calculated
by EnergyPlus). When a thermostat is assigned to a zone with Kiva foundation surfaces, the assumed
temperature is equal to the setpoint (or a weighted average of heating and cooling setpoints depending on
outdoor temperature). For zones without thermostats, a constant 22°C indoor temperature is assumed.
Validation
Kiva has been tested against the BESTEST Ground coupled cases with accuracy within 3% of the reference
solutions (Kruis and Krarti, 2015).
References
• [1] N. Kruis and M. Krarti, “KivaTM: A Numerical Framework for Improving Foundation Heat Transfer
Calculations,” Journal of Building Performance Simulation, vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 449-468, 2015.
• [2] N. Kruis, “Development and Application of a Numerical Framework for Improving Building
Foundation Heat Transfer Calculations,” Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Colorado, 2015.
• [3] N. Kruis and M. Krarti, “Three-dimensional accuracy with two-dimensional computation speed: using
the KivaTM numerical framework to improve foundation heat transfer calculations,” Journal of Building
Performance Simulation, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 161?182, 2017.
• [4] T. Williams and A. Williamson, “Estimating Water-Table Altitudes for Regional Ground-Water Flow
Modeling, U.S. Gulf Coast,” Ground Water, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 333-340, 1989.
The Water Mains Temperature data is used to calculate water temperatures delivered by underground water
main pipes. The mains temperatures are used as default, make-up water temperature inputs for the Water
heater. The mains temperatures are also used in the water systems objects to model the temperature of cold
water supplies.
Note: This data is only used when using Detailed HVAC. For Simple HVAC a single annual average
mains water temperature is defined under the DHW header on the HVAC tab.
Water mains temperatures are a function of outdoor climate conditions and vary with time of year. A
correlation has been formulated to predict water mains temperatures based on two weather inputs:
These values can be easily calculated from annual weather data using a spreadsheet or from the ".stat" file
available with the EnergyPlus weather files at www.energyplus.gov. Monthly statistics for dry-bulb
temperatures are shown with daily averages. The daily averages are averaged to obtain the annual average.
The maximum and minimum daily average are subtracted to obtain the maximum difference. For more
information on the water mains temperatures correlation, see the EnergyPlus Engineering Document.
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Alternatively, the water mains temperatures can come from a schedule. This is useful for measured data or
when water comes from a source other than buried pipes, e.g., a river or lake.
Calculation method
Select from the options:
Schedule
If the Calculation method is 1-Schedule, the water mains temperatures are read from the schedule referenced
by this field. Note that the schedule temperatures must be in °C even when using IP units.
Precipitation
Location tab on model data at Site level
The Site precipitation data is used to describe the amount of precipitation on all Green roof surfaces over the
course of the simulation. Precipitation includes both rain and the equivalent water content of snow.
Precipitation is not yet described well enough in the usual building weather data file. So this object is used to
provide the data using Schedule objects that define rates of precipitation in meters per hour. A set of
schedules for site precipitation have been developed for USA weather locations and are provided with
EnergyPlus in the data set called “PrecipitationSchedulesUSA.idf.” The user can develop schedules however
they want. The schedules in the data set were developed using EnergyPlus’ weather file (EPW) observations
and the average monthly precipitation for the closest weather site provided by NOAA. EPW files for the USA
that were based on TMY or TMY2 include weather observations for Light/Moderate/Heavy rainfall, however
most international locations do not include these observations. The values were modeled by taking the middle
of the ranges quoted in the EPW data dictionary. The assumed piecewise function is shown below.
The values were inserted on hour by hour basis for the month based on the observations. Then each month
was rescaled to meet the average precipitation for the month based on the 30-year average (1971-2000)
provided by the NOAA/NCDC. Therefore, the flags in the EPW file match the precipitation schedules for the
USA. Note that summing the average monthly precipitation values will not give you the average yearly
precipitation. The resulting value may be lower or higher than the average yearly value. Once the typical
rainfall pattern and rates are scheduled, the Site Precipitation data provides a method of shifting the total
rainfall up or down for design purposes. Wetter or drier conditions can be modelled by changing the Design
Annual Precipitation although the timing of precipitation throughout the year will not be changed.
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Site Details - Outdoor Air CO2 And Contaminants
Precipitation schedule
The schedule that describes the rate of precipitation. The precipitation rate schedule is analogous to weather
file data. However, weather files for building simulation do not currently contain adequate data for such
calculations. Therefore, EnergyPlus schedules are used to enter the pattern of precipitation events. The
values in this schedule are the average rate of precipitation in meters per hour. The integration of these
values over an annual schedule should equal the nominal annual precipitation.
Irrigation type
Defines the way irrigation water is supplied. Select from:
• 1-Scheduled - water is proved using the maximum irrigation rate and schedule modifier (below).
• 2-Smart - as Scheduled but overrides the irrigation to be off when the earth is 30% or more saturated
with water.
Irrigation schedule
The schedule defining the operation of the irrigation system. A schedule value of zero means the irrigation is
switched off and a value of 1 means that the Max irrigation rate is used.
The Outdoor air CO2 and generic contaminants data at site level provides a way to select which contaminant
types will be simulated. Although carbon dioxide is not normally considered to be an indoor contaminant it is
used as an indicator of indoor air quality in buildings. From the simulation point of view EnergyPlus treats
carbon dioxide as a type of contaminant. In addition to carbon dioxide, a generic contaminant type model is
available.
These options should be selected if you wish to model CO2 or contaminant concentration levels in the
simulation, either to monitor zone air quality or if DCV control is being used.
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Note: DesignBuilder automatically selects the CO2 concentration and Generic contaminant
concentration options below as appropriate if you have one of the IAQP DCV systems requiring CO2 or
generic contaminant tracking selected in a Detailed HVAC model.
You can enter details on zone contaminant generation and removal on the Activity tab.
Contaminant schedule
Select the schedule that defines outdoor air contaminant level values in units of ppm.
Select the Time zone for the site location. The time zone defines both the standard time meridian and
information on daylight saving. Generally you should leave this as the default for the location.
You can override daylight savings to be off by unchecking the Use daylight saving model data.
DesignBuilder models the effect of daylight saving time where the clocks are moved forward one hour in the
summer months in most non-equatorial countries. The timing of this is handled automatically using the Time
zones database when you load data from one of the Location templates supplied with the program.
• In EnergyPlus, summer Daylight saving works by adding the number of hours specified in the Time
zone data (usually 1 hour) to the local mean time to get the time to determine schedule operation.
Because Simulation results are displayed in local mean time, during the summer when daylight saving
time is in use, occupancy and equipment etc will appear to start 1 hour earlier in the day than it does in
the winter. To help you pinpoint this, DesignBuilder prints the times when daylight saving starts and
ends on the graph.
• When comparing results with and without Daylight saving you will notice:
• Solar radiation data has exactly the same timing with and without daylight saving.
• Occupancy, equipment (and other aspects of building operation controlled by schedules) will
start 1 hour earlier with daylight saving.
• Visualisations use local mean time when setting the position of the sun for site shading analysis. Again
you can account for daylight saving time by adding 1 hour to the time during summer months to see
shading for local clock time.
See also:
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Simulation Weather Data
DesignBuilder uses EnergyPlus epw format hourly weather data for simulations (heating and cooling design
calculations use much simpler design weather data).
You can review, edit and convert weather using the Edit hourly weather data dialog.
Note: As well as being used for EnergyPlus simulations, this hourly weather file is also used for Annual
daylighting simulations
• 1-Sunday,
• 2-Monday,
• 3-Tuesday,
• 4-Wednesday,
• 5-Thursday,
• 6-Friday,
• 7-Saturday,
• 8-Use weather file - use the weather file to decide the first day of the week.
This value will be used as the Start day of the week for the simulation. The default is 8-Use weather file
where the day of week comes from the weather file.
Note: There is no direct link between hourly weather data and the ASHRAE design values on the Winter
and Summer design data tabs.
Heating design and simulation autosizing simulations use simplified winter design weather based on a worst
case design day.
• Minimum outside dry-bulb temperature - the winter design outside air temperature.
• Co-incident Wind speed. This data is used to help calculate external convective heat transfer
coefficients.
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In addition for zone heating load autosizing this additional data is used:
• Coincident Wind direction is used in Calculated natural ventilation autosizing calculations (along with
the wind speed above).
The degree of 'confidence' of the design data can be selected, i.e. the probability that the design data will
occur in practice based on conditions encountered over recent years. Select either 99.6 or 99% confidence
(i.e. 0.4 or 1% chance of more extreme winter weather occurring).
Sizing Period
When running simulations, some design features may benefit by using a longer design weather period for
HVAC autosizing or loads calculations. Longer design periods may be set up by allowing the hourly weather
file to be used in the sizing calculations.
Autosize method
Choose the design HVAC autosizing method to use for simulations from the following options:
• 1-Design day - the default option where data for a single winter design day is used based on the
settings described above.
• 2-Weather file days where you can select the period to be used from the weather file for sizing.
• 3-Weather file condition type where you can select from some standard per-defined types of period
such as 3-Winter extreme.
When 2-Weather file days is selected, enter the From start day and month and the To start day and month as
shown in the screenshot below.
Period selection
When the 3-Weather file condition type Autosize method is selected you must choose the Weather file
condition type from the following list.
• 1-Summer extreme
• 2-Summer typical
• 3-Winter extreme (default setting)
• 4-Winter typical
• 5-Autumn typical
• 6-Spring typical
• 7-Wet season
• 8-Dry season
• 9-No wet season
• 10-No dry season
• 11-Tropical hot
• 12-Tropical cold
Note: Not all weather files have all of the valid choices so this option is not completely generic. For
example there may be extreme cold periods in some weather files but extreme wet periods (tropical) in others.
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Summer Design Weather Data
Cooling design and simulation autosizing simulations use simplified summer design weather based on worst
case design days.
• Maximum outside dry-bulb temperature - the maximum dry bulb air temperature over the day
• Minimum outside dry-bulb temperature - the minimum dry bulb air temperature (night time)
• Wet-bulb temperature at the time of the maximum dry-bulb temperature.
In addition for zone cooling load simulation autosizing this additional data is used:
• Dry bulb temperature range modifier type to help define the daily profile of the outside air temperature
• Wind speed and direction for use in Calculated natural ventilation autosizing calculations.
The degree of 'confidence' of the design data can be selected, i.e. the probability that the design data will
occur in practice based on conditions encountered over recent years. This risk can be specified based on dry
or wet-bulb temperatures, for 99.6, 99 and 98% confidence (i.e. 0.4, 1 or 2% chance of more extreme weather
occurring).
Sky
• 1-ASHRAE Clear Sky, the default model described in ASHRAE HOF 2005 Chapter 31, can be used to
estimate hourly clear-day solar radiation for any month of the year in U.S. or similar temperate climates
in the northern hemisphere. EnergyPlus calculations extend the clear sky application to both northern
and southern hemispheres. Calculations use a Clearness value as part of their calculations. The Clear
Sky model usually over estimates the amount of solar radiation available to the building.
• 2-ASHRAE Tau, aka the ASHRAE Revised Clear Sky Model is introduced in the ASHRAE 2009 HOF
as a revised clear sky model based on location-specific optical depths for direct and diffuse radiation.
These values are tabulated by month for all 5564 locations in the ASHRAE design data that
accompanies the 2009 HOF. This data is included with EnergyPlus installations in C:\EnergyPlusV8-9-
0\PreProcess\WeatherConverter\ASHRAE_2013_Monthly_DesignConditions.csv. The Taub and Taud
design values for each month of the year are provided in the first 24 data columns. Studies done as
part of ASHRAE research projects show that the revised tau model produces more physically plausible
irradiance values than does the traditional clear sky model. In particular, diffuse irradiance values are
more realistic. Taub and Taud values can be entered as described below.
• 3-Zhang Huang, developed for initial use in modelling typical meteorological years for China weather
sites, this model seems to be good for other locations as well. Using total cloud cover, dry-bulb
temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed as the independent variables, the total (global
horizontal) solar radiation is estimated through a simple equation. This is the same model used to
estimate the global solar radiation value when it is absent from the source data in the Weather
Converter. Calculations use a Clearness value as part of their calculations.
• 4-Schedule, allows you to enter custom Beam solar day and Diffuse solar day scheduled values for the
day’s profile (below).
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Beam solar day schedule
Select your own custom day profile of beam solar values (Wh/m2) when the Solar model indicator is selected
as 4-Schedule. These values will replace the calculated values during design day processing. Only Day
schedules can be selected here.
Sky clearness
The sky “clearness” index for the summer design day and must be entered when the Solar model indicator is
selected as 1-ASHRAE clear sky or 3-Zhang Huang. Along with the solar position as defined by the Location
information and the date, this value helps define the solar radiation for each hour of the design day. Clearness
may range from 0.0 to 1.2, where 1.0 represents a clear sky at sea level. Values greater than 1.0 may be used
for high altitude locations.
Note: This “sky clearness” does not have the same meaning as the EnergyPlus output variable “Site
Daylighting Model Sky Clearness”.
• 1-Default multipliers - where EnergyPlus automatically generates the outside dry-bulb temperature
profile based on the data provided in ASHRAE 2009 HOF.
• 2-Multiplier schedule - where you can define a day schedule that specifies a multiplier applied to the
daily temperature range to create the proper dry-bulb temperature range profile for your design day.
This works as described below.
• 3-Temperature profiles - allows you to use a Dry-bulb temperature profile schedule to define the dry-
bulb temperature for the design day.
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Summer Design Weather Data
Important note: When using multiple summer design months these options are applied identically for
each month. They are therefore generally of more use for single design months, i.e. when 1-Single design
month is selected as the Design temperature period.
When using the 1-Default multipliers option, the multipliers are taken from the ASHRAE 2009 HOF. More
specifically, EnergyPlus creates an air temperature for each timestep by using the entered maximum dry-bulb
temperature in conjunction with the entered daily range and the above multiplier values. The actual equation
used is shown below:
where:
The range multiplier values represent typical conditions of diurnal temperatures (i.e. the low temperature for
the day occurring about 5:00 AM and the maximum temperature for the day occurring about 15:00. Note that
EnergyPlus does not shift the profile based on the time of solar noon as is optionally allowed in ASHRAE
procedures.
ASHRAE research indicates that dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures typically follow the same profile, so
EnergyPlus can use the default profile to generate humidity conditions.
Note: The temperature values in the schedule must be defined in °C even when SI units are selected.
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• 1-Wet-bulb, the default option where a wet-bulb temperature at the time of maximum temperature is
used. The as defined using the coincident wet-bulb temperature further down the data sheet.
• 2-Relative humidity, where the hourly variation of relative humidity is defined using the Humidity
condition schedule.
Wind Data
Wind speed
This is the wind speed to be used for calculating the exterior convective heat transfer coefficients and for use
(only in Calculated natural ventilation autosizing simulations) for calculating the exterior wind pressure along
with the surface wind press coefficients.
Wind direction
Used only for only in autosizing simulations of Calculated natural ventilation models for calculating the exterior
wind pressure along with the surface wind press coefficients.
Sizing Period
When running simulations, some design features may benefit by using a longer design weather period for
HVAC autosizing or loads calculations. Longer design periods may be set up by allowing the hourly weather
file to be used in the sizing calculations.
Autosize method
Choose the design HVAC autosizing method to use for simulations from the following options:
• 1-Design day - the default option where data for one or more summer design days is used based on
the settings described above.
• 2-Weather file days where you can select the period to be used from the weather file for sizing.
• 3-Weather file condition type where you can select from some standard per-defined types of period
such as 1-Summer extreme.
When 2-Weather file days is selected, enter the From start day and month and the To start day and month as
shown in the screenshot below.
Period selection
When the 3-Weather file condition type Autosize method is selected you must choose the Weather file
condition type from the following list.
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Legislative Region And Insulation Standards
• 5-Autumn typical
• 6-Spring typical
• 7-Wet season
• 8-Dry season
• 9-No wet season
• 10-No dry season
• 11-Tropical hot
• 12-Tropical cold
Note: Not all weather files have all of the valid choices so this option is not completely generic. For
example there may be extreme cold periods in some weather files but extreme wet periods (tropical) in others.
• 1-Single design month where a single set of worst case design data is used for cooling design and
autosizing simulations. In this case the design data is typically for the month of July in the Northern
hemisphere and January in the Southern hemisphere.
• 2-Multiple design months where design data for more than one month is used for cooling design and
autosizing simulations. In this case the range of months to be used are selected on either the Cooling
design calculation options or Model options dialog and the design data to be used for each month is
specified here on the Location tab.
Note: The details of the design day(s): day of the month, the month range and day of week to be used for
the Cooling design analysis can be defined on the Model options and Cooling design dialogs.
Note: DesignBuilder is supplied with a wide range of design data suitable for use with both of the above 2
options for over 6,400 locations around the world. The data supplied is based on the ASHRAE 2013 design
data set and is licensed from ASHRAE.
The data on the tab is related to the Legislative Region and associated insulation standards of the site.
Legislative region
A Legislative region in DesignBuilder is typically a whole country or a region, province or state within a country
which has its own building control powers. The legislative region contains information on:
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Include Fuel Emissions
You can optionally request fuel emissions output data from EnergyPlus simulations for each fuel individually.
Outputs are requested individually because a large number of pollutants are involved for each fuel. When this
data is requested the pollution caused by each fuel type is reported in the eso file and a summary is provided
in the Summary output file.
The input data for the fuel emission calculations comes from the Emissions tab of the Legislative regions
template dialog. Inputs are only included in EnergyPlus IDF for the selected fuels.
You can select the Mandatory energy code in force as well as three additional levels of reference insulation
standards to represent buildings with 'Uninsulated', 'Stock average' and 'Best practice' construction standards.
• To identify the mandatory energy code in force in the region. When one of the ASHRAE 90.1 codes are
selected this has a significant knock on impact on the rest of the model as described in the ASHRAE
90.1 Modelling section.
• To set the insulation levels used when the 'Pre-design' Construction and glazing Model option is
selected.
• When calculating asset ratings.
• Defines the Fuel emissions factors for the region.
Note: If you change any of this data, the insulation standards of the constructions in the <System>
category will be automatically updated.
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Activity Model Data
• Activity
• Construction
• Openings
• Lighting
• HVAC
• On Site Electricity Generation Data
• Economics
• Options
• CFD
• Detailed Equipment
Each of these categories of data has a template selection at the top of the tab allowing rapid loading of the
data from template.
Tip: Use DesignBuilder defaults wisely! Take care to enter the minimum amount of data to get the
most from the inheritance system. For example if all zones in a particular block have the same activity
called say 'Office work', you should set the activity at block level and not multiple times at zone level. Equally
if all the blocks in the building have the same activity, you should set the data at the building level and allow
the blocks to inherit the data from the building. By keeping the amount of user data to a minimum, you will find
it quicker to make changes at a later date. Clearly it is much faster to change a few Model Data items at
building and block level than it is to make multiple changes at zone or surface levels.
Data on the Activity tab allows you to define the activity (usage) of the zones including information on:
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You can load generic activity data by clicking on the Template option under Activity Template and then by
clicking on the '...' at the right of the line (below).
When you make a selection from the list of Activity templates, data from selected template will be loaded to
the model.
Alternatively you can use the Load data from template tool.
Note that the appropriate Sector is loaded with the activity (screenshot above).
All Activity data (apart from Holidays) is used to generate simulation data at the Zone level. Holiday data is
used at Building level.
Zone Type
Activity tab in model data under Activity Template header
The zone type can be set at block or zone level on the Activity tab and can be one of:
• 1-Standard - the zone is within the main envelope and is usually (but not necessarily) occupied and
heated and/or cooled. This zone type also covers zones within the main building envelope that are
unoccupied and not directly heated or cooled such as offices that are temporarily unoccupied may
come into this category.
• 2-Semi-exterior unconditioned - the zone is unoccupied and is neither heated nor cooled and lies
outside the main building envelope. Examples of unconditioned spaces are roofspaces, sunspaces,
crawlspaces, car parks etc.
• 3-Cavity - the zone is a narrow sealed vertical cavity such as the glazed cavity within a double façade
or a Trombe wall. This algorithm calculates the convection coefficients for such a cavity based on the
ISO 15099 standard.
• 4-Plenum - the zone is a plenum which is unoccupied and has no heating, cooling, or mechanical
ventilation (though of course air can flow through it to meet the needs of the zones it serves).
• 5-Semiheated - the zone is heated to a low level only. This option is only available for ASHRAE
90.1 models. In exceptional cases where an ASHRAE 90.1 model has been converted to non-
ASHRAE 90.1 model, any zones with the 5-Semiheated zone type are treated is if 1-Standard had
been selected.
Zone types are also described in the Basic Drawing Tools 6 Tutorial
Note: Zones having one of the 2-Semi-exterior unconditioned, 3-Cavity and 4-Plenum zone types do
not have their floor area included in the building total floor area in the summary reports.
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Zone Type
2-Semi-exterior unconditioned
When the Zone type is set to 2-Semi-exterior unconditioned, the program asks you 'Do you want to load
default unconditioned data including Activity, Lighting and HVAC templates?' If you reply 'Yes' then the zone is
set as unoccupied by loading <None> Activity, HVAC and Lighting template data.
Also Semi-exposed constructions will be used instead of standard partitions for adjacencies with
'Unconditioned' zones. For example the wall between an occupied office and a car park would use the Semi-
exposed construction, whereas the wall between two occupied offices would use Internal partition
construction.
Also roofspace insulation is applied in the floor of a Semi-exterior unconditioned space when it is above a
Standard space, if 'Floor fitted above floor slab' option is checked.
3-Cavity
When the Zone type is set to 3-Cavity, the program asks you 'Do you want to load default 'cavity' data
including appropriate convection coefficients, calculation options and Activity, HVAC and Construction
templates'. If you reply 'Yes' then the following changes are made:
• The zone is set as unoccupied by loading <None> Activity, HVAC and Lighting template data.
• Suspended floors and ceilings are switched off.
• The 5-Cavity Inside convection algorithm is set for Cooling design, Heating design and simulation
calculations.
• The 3-Full interior and exterior Solar distribution algorithm is set for Cooling design and simulation
calculations.
You can find out more about Trombe wall simulations in the Modelling Issues section.
4-Plenum
When the Zone type is set to 4-Plenum, the program asks you 'Do you want to load default plenum data
including appropriate convection coefficients, calculation options and Activity and HVAC templates?'. If you
reply 'Yes' then the following changes are made:
• The zone is set as unoccupied by loading <None> Activity, HVAC and Lighting template data.
• Suspended floors and ceilings are switched off.
• The 4-Ceiling diffuser Inside convection algorithm is set for Cooling design, Heating design and
simulation calculations.
You can find out more about modelling plenums under HVAC.
Note: Zones having one of the 2-Unconditioned zone types and 2-Ventilated Unconditioned zone
ventilation do not have their floor area included in the building total floor area in the summary reports.
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Zone Multiplier
Activity tab in model data under Activity Template header
The Zone multiplier data allows you to reduce the size of your model in cases where there are similar zones
by specifying that certain zones are repeated and so only need to be simulated once. A typical use is for multi-
storey buildings with identical (or very similar) floors. The image below is taken from the Zone Multiplier
Example.dsb file and illustrates how the zone multiplier mechanism works.
The basic 7 storey building on the left doesn't use the zone multiplier and, as each storey has one zone, the
whole building contains 7 zones. The equivalent building on the right has been simplified by using the zone
multiplier. The single mid-storey zone has a zone multiplier of 5 which means that during the simulation the
zone is treated as if there were 5 of them. In particular the energy consumption and HVAC airflow rates are
multiplied by 5 so the results for the reduced building match approximately with that of the non-reduced
model.
The top floor and ground floor zones cannot be combined using the zone multiplier of course because they
have roof and ground adjacencies respectively and so must be retained in the reduced model. However the 5
mid-floor zones all have the same operation and adjacencies and so can be combined.
Note: The Zone multiplier data is only used at zone level to multiply up zones. The settings at building
and block level are there only to allow zone defaults to be set for multiplying zones quickly and easily, they do
not multiply blocks or buildings.
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Include Zone
• Set the adjacency to be adiabatic for the underside of the top floor zone, the top and underside of the
mid-floor zone and the top of the ground floor zone.
• Help to position the mid-floor representative zone in a reasonable representative position to ensure that
a good average wind speed will be applied.
• Ensures correct shading in a more complex model. Shadows will be correctly cast by 'missing zones'
and also shading received by the representative mid-floor zone will be representative of the shading
received by all of the actual mid-floor zones.
• Improves the look of the reduced model to match that of the full model.
For other ways to simplify models see Simplification on the Advanced tab of the Model options.
Include Zone
Activity tab in model data under Activity Template header
• Surfaces between included and excluded zones are modelled as being adiabatic, i.e .heat is
transferred into the wall mass as if the temperature of the excluded zone is the same as that of the
included zone.
• Depending on the setting of the Include shading from excluded zones in simulation model option,
surfaces from excluded zones are either represented simply as shading surfaces to ensure that their
impact on the solar gains and daylighting in the included zone(s) is still accounted for, or they are
ignored altogether.
Note: In Calculated natural ventilation models you should be careful when excluding zones because they
could play an important role in the transfer of airflow from one part of the building to another and so could
have a significant effect on the natural ventilation in included zones. For example an excluded zone could
block the airflow from one included zone to another. Equally, by removing large parts of the model, you run a
risk of altering the stack flow regime, neutral pressure level etc in the building airflow model.
Tip: In large models it is sometimes easiest to uncheck this option at building level and just include the
zone(s) of interest. Another quick way to change the include/exclude status of multiple zones in one session is
to use the Model data grid edit tool.
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closets, or other storage or utility areas. In schools, they are areas where students, teachers, or
administrators are seated or standing as they work or study.
Total building floor areas for occupied and unoccupied zones is provided at building level towards the top of
the Activity tab.
Note: The building total floor areas are the sum of the zone floor areas which are calculated based on the
selected Zone floor area calculation method. They are not necessarily simply the sum of the floor surface
areas listed in the Navigator.
Tip: To ensure you are viewing the most up to date building areas refresh the navigator using the rightmost
icon.
Occupancy
Activity tab in model data
The Occupancy model data defines the number people in the space and the times of occupancy. This data is
used in Simulations and Cooling design calculations together with the Metabolic heat output of the occupants
and Holidays to calculate the heat input to the building.
Occupancy method
When the Gain definition level model option is set to 2-Zone by zone in model data you can select the units
to be used for occupancy here on the Activity tab. Choose from the options:
• 1-People/area - the default option where occupancy is defined as occupancy density (in people / m2 or
people / ft2).
• 2-Area per person - is sometimes preferred as an inverse occupancy density. Note that when
switching between this option and occupancy density the definitions on the Activity tab zone level are
translated accordingly. This is not the case when the number of people option below is selected.
• 3-Number of people - used when detailed zone by zone survey or design data is available. Unless you
need to enter specific known occupancy gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it increases
the amount of work involved
Note: When using the 3-Number of people option, the number of people in each room is entered zone by
zone as values inherited from building and block levels will typically not be correct.
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Occupancy
Depending on the Occupancy method selected either on model options or above, the occupancy gains can be
defined in one of 3 ways, as Occupancy density, Floor area per person or Number of people as described
below.
Occupancy density
When the Occupancy method is set to 1-Occupancy density you can set the number of people per unit floor
area. It is usually most convenient to load this data from the Activity template.
Number of people
When the Occupancy method is set to 3-Number of people you can enter the number of people in the zone
directly. In this case note that the value entered at block and building level does not normally inherit very
effectively, especially in buildings with zones of very different floor areas. In this case enter the number of
people for the most common type of zone at building level. Unless you need to enter specific numbers of
people in each zone this option is best avoided as it increases the amount of work involved due to the
inheritance mechanism not working effectively for gains that are not normalised by floor area.
Timing
The way that Occupancy is scheduled depends on the Timing model data option as described below.
When the Typical workday Timing model option is set, the occupancy times are controlled by setting On and
Off values and the number of days in the working week.
In above example there are 0.2 people per m2 between 8am and 6pm and there are no people outside these
times and at weekends.
Note: The Occupancy Days / week is set at the building level only and is used for all other Typical
workday schedules in the model apart from Mechanical ventilation, and Heating and Cooling operation which
have their own Days / week data.
When the Schedule Timing model option is set, the occupancy times are controlled by a Schedule . The
metabolic gains for the zone are multiplied by the value of the Schedule at each time step in the simulation so
you can define periods of part-occupancy using Schedule values less than 1. Use values of 0 to indicate that
the space in unoccupied.
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In above example number of people per m2 is calculated as 0.02 xSchedule value.
• 1-Dynamic calculation - where the latent fraction of occupancy gains is calculated within EnergyPlus
at runtime based on internal temperatures and metabolic rate. In this case the ratio of sensible to total
occupancy gain will reduce as the internal temperature in the zone increases and at temperatures
much above 30°C all of the occupancy gain will be latent (occupants sweating).
• 2-Fixed fraction - where the latent fraction of occupancy gains is constant regardless of internal
conditions and defined on the Activity tab (below).
Note: The total occupancy gain (sensible + latent) is not affected by this option, only the split of sensible
vs latent gain.
Latent fraction
Occupancy latent gains account for moisture from people in the building due to both perspiration (sweating)
and from exhaled moisture. The way that latent gains are calculated depends on the Occupancy latent gains
model option.
When this option is set to 2-Fixed fraction then you can enter the latent fraction here. A typical default value
is 0.5. Alternatively if this setting is left as the default 1-Dynamic calculation option then the latent fraction is
calculated within EnergyPlus at runtime based on internal temperatures and metabolic rate and no additional
setting is required here.
Metabolic
Select the level of activity by selecting a metabolic rate component based on the level of activity of people
using the space.
The metabolic rate determines the amount of heat gain per person in the zone under design conditions. This
value is modified during simulations based on a correlation to account for variations in space temperature.
This should be borne in mind when analysing occupant sensible heat output in the Cooling design and
Simulation results screens. Metabolic rate has units Watts per person and represents the total heat gain per
person including convective, radiant, and latent heat. An internal algorithm is used to determine what fraction
of the total is sensible and what fraction is latent. Then, the sensible gain is divided into radiant and
convective portions.
Metabolic rate data can be found in the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals and in CIBSE Guide A.
DesignBuilder default metabolic data is derived from the ASHRAE values and is for adult males having typical
surface area of 1.8m2. For women multiply the adult male value by 0.85 and for children multiply by 0.75.
The metabolic factor accounts for people of various sizes. Enter 1.00 for men, 0.85 for women, 0.75 for
children or you can use an average value if there is a mix of sizes.
Note: If the Occupancy latent gains model option is set to Dynamic calculation then the sensible/latent
split for occupancy gains is affected by the internal temperature and relative humidity. With high internal
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Metabolic
temperatures, people cool themselves largely by evaporation (sweating) and sensible occupancy gains can
be very low or even zero as the internal temperature approaches that of the human body.
Background
Heat is generated in the human body by oxidation at a rate called the metabolic rate. This heat is dissipated
from the body surface and respiratory tract by a combination of radiation, convection and evaporation. The
relative proportions of sensible and latent heat from people is a complex function of the metabolic rate and the
environmental conditions.
EnergyPlus uses a polynomial function to divide the heat gain into sensible and latent portions. More details
can be found in the EnergyPlus EngineeringDoc.pdf documentation.
Number of People * People Schedule * People Activity * Carbon Dioxide Generation Rate.
The default value is 3.82E-8 m3/s-W (obtained from ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2007 value at 0.0084
cfm/met/person over the general adult population). The maximum value can be 10 times the default value.
Clothing
• 1-Generic summer and winter clothing where the level of clothing insulation is entered as 2 fixed
values one for Summer and the other for Winter. Start and end days for each period are defined under
the "Time and daylight saving" on page 276 header at site level.
• 2-Schedule based clothing which allows application of a custom schedule to define level of clothing
insulation
Clothing reduces the body's heat loss and is classified according to its insulation value. The unit normally
used for measuring clothing's insulation is the Clo unit. The more technical unit is m²°C/W is also used
frequently (1 Clo = 0.155 m2°C/W). The Clo value can be calculated by adding the Clo value of each
individual garment. The insulation value for individual garments can be found in ISO 7730.
Clothing Clo-Value
Naked 0.0
Briefs 0.06
T-shirt 0.09
Bra and panties 0.05
Long underwear
upper 0.35
lower 0.35
Shirt
White, short sleeve 0.14
heavy, long sleeve 0.29
Add 5% for tie or turtleneck
Skirt 0.22-0.70
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Trousers 0.26-0.32
Sweater 0.20-0.37
Socks 0.04-0.10
Light summer outfit 0.3
Working clothes 0.8
Typical indoor winter clothing
1.0
combination
Heavy business suit 1.5
Note 1: Clo-values are additive, so one can calculate the clo-value for a person wearing a T-shirt and light
socks (0.09 + 0.04) = 0.13. (Adapted from ASHRAE Fundamentals and "Technical Review of Thermal
Comfort," Bruel and Kjaer, No. 2, 1982.)
Note 2: For equatorial regions where there is no clear 'summer/winter' weather pattern you should
generally use a 2-Schedule based clothing definition and adjust the clothing schedule values.
Note: This selection only affects comfort calculations and will not affect the Radiant Temperature reported
by DesignBuilder which remains a zone-averaged value regardless.
DesignBuilder offers 4 different ways to model contaminant generation and removal within each zone of the
building. EnergyPlus allows only one type of contaminant to be modelled in a simulation (in addition to CO2
which is handled separately).
Note: The Simulate contaminant concentration site level option must be selected for any of the zone
settings to take effect in the simulation and actually generate/remove contaminants.
Tip: The results of the contaminant simulation are not displayed in the built in results on the Simulation
screen, but the zone air contaminant concentration for each zone can be viewed when using the Results
Viewer.
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Contaminant Generation And Removal
Contaminant generation/removal
Check this checkbox if you would like to model contaminant generation and/or removal for the current zone.
When this option is checked the rest of the data described below becomes available for editing.
Constant
The 1-Constant option allows you to specify the generic contaminant generation rate and removal rate
coefficient in the zone. The associated fraction schedules allow the magnitude of sources and sinks to vary
with time. The object is equivalent to the combination of the constant coefficient model and the burst source
model defined in the sources and sinks element types of CONTAM 3.0.
The basic equation used to calculate generic contaminant source and sink for the constant model is given
below:
where:
Note: When only the mass generation rate is available, the rate must be converted to a volume flow rate.
In this case, use the mass flow rate divided by the vapour density of the generic contaminant.
Generation schedule
Select the schedule that modifies the maximum design generation rate (Gf). This fraction between 0.0 and 1.0
is noted as FG in the above equation.
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Design removal coefficient
This setting defines the full volumetric contaminant design removal coefficient (in m3/s or ft3/min). The design
removal rate is the maximum amount of generic contaminant expected at design conditions times the generic
contaminant concentration in the same zone. The design value is modified by the schedule fraction in the
Removal schedule described below.
Removal schedule
Select the schedule that modifies the maximum design generation rate (R f). This fraction between 0.0 and 1.0
is noted as FR in the above equation.
Cutoff Model
The 2-Cutoff model option allows the contaminant generation rate to be specified based on the cutoff
concentration model. The basic equation used to calculate generic contaminant source for the pressure driven
constant model is given below:
where:
Note: When the mass generation rate is available, the rate must be converted to a volume flow rate. Use
the mass flow rate divided by the vapour density of the generic contaminant.
Generation schedule
Select the schedule that modifies the maximum design generation rate (Gf). This fraction between 0.0 and 1.0
is noted as FG in the above equation.
Cutoff concentration
Enter the contaminant cutoff concentration level where the source ceases its emission in ppm.
Decay Source
The 3-Decay source option allows you to specify the contaminant generation rate based on the decay source
model. The basic equation used to calculate generic contaminant source for the decay source model is given
below:
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Contaminant Generation And Removal
where:
Schedule
Select the schedule that modifies the maximum design emission rate (G f). This fraction between 0.0 and 1.0 is
noted as FG in the above equation. When the value is equal to 1, the generation rate is used and time is reset
to zero. When the value is equal to zero, the schedule value is ignored in the equation.
Note: The variable t, time since the start of emission, will be reset to zero, when a new run period starts,
or the generation schedule value is equal to zero.
The deposition rate model provides for the input of a sinks' characteristic in the familiar term of deposition rate
in a zone. The removal stops when the sink concentration level is higher than the zone air concentration level.
The deposition rate model equation is:
Where:
Deposition Rate
This field specifies the deposition rate to the zone in the units of 1/s.
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Schedule
Select the schedule that modifies the maximum design removal rate (S f). This fraction between 0.0 and 1.0 is
noted as FR in the above equation.
Holidays
Activity tab in model data (building level only)
You can define the dates of holidays to include the effect of building shutdown during certain periods of the
year. Do this by selecting the Holidays option under the Holidays header on the Activity tab at building level.
Holidays defined at building level in this way are used for the whole simulation. The holiday data is used for
Simulations only (not Heating/Cooling Design Calculations) and allows you to set the Holiday Schedule and
the number of days of holiday per year. The possible holiday dates are defined in the Holiday schedule and
the actual holidays to be used in the simulation are selected from the top of the list based on the Holidays per
year data entered.
Note that you must have at least as many days defined in the holiday schedules as you request
here. If there are insufficient holidays in the holiday schedule you will receive an error message to this
effect prior to a simulation.
With the data in the above screenshot there will be 5 holidays and the dates are given by the first 5 holiday
dates set in the 'Typical UK' Holiday schedule.
The way holiday definition works depends on the Timing model option:
Compact Schedules
When the Timing model option is Schedules you can use Compact schedules to define holiday dates and
schedule values. The value of Compact schedule output during holidays can be defined explicitly using the
Holidays day type following For:.
For example:
SCHEDULE:COMPACT,
Bedroom_Cool,
Temperature,
Through: 31 Dec,
For: Weekdays SummerDesignDay WinterDesignDay,
Until: 05:00, 0.5,
Until: 09:00, 1,
Until: 24:00, 0.5,
For: Weekends,
Until: 05:00, 0.5,
Until: 24:00, 1,
For: Holidays AllOtherdays,
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Environmental Control
Until: 24:00, 0;
The Holiday data in this Compact schedule indicates that the cooling is switched off on holidays.
7/12 Schedules
Holiday operation is not defined explicitly and holidays use the same data as Sundays
Typical Workday
Holidays use the same data as Sundays
Environmental Control
Activity tab in model data
The heating and cooling setpoint temperatures, minimum fresh air per person and illuminance requirements
are related to the Activity or Usage of the zone and are accessed by opening the Environmental Comfort
group header.
Note: when using the Typical workday timing option, this setback temperature set point is only applied
during unoccupied periods such as night-time and holidays during the heating season. It is not applied during
the summer (if heating is switched off during the summer.)
Note: if the setback temperature set does not appear to affect results when using a Compact schedule,
this may be because the Zone setpoint heating schedule selected uses only 0 and 1, not the 0.5 required to
access setback temperature. See Defining setpoint temperature schedules for more on this.
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the Cooling setpoint temperature corresponds to the air temperature in the space and when it is set to set to
2-Operative temperature it is the operative temperature (MAT+MRT)/2.
Note: the cooling setpoint temperature must be higher than the heating setpoint temperature.
Note: when using the Typical workday timing option, this setback temperature set point is only applied
during unoccupied periods such as night-time and holidays during the cooling season. It is not applied during
the winter (if cooling is switched off during the winter.)
Note: if the setback temperature set does not appear to affect results when using a Compact schedule,
this may be because the Zone setpoint cooling schedule selected uses only 0 and 1, not the 0.5 required to
access setback temperature. See Defining setpoint temperature schedules for more on this.
RH Humidification setpoint
The zone humidistat relative humidity setpoint for humidification (0 to 100%).
RH Dehumidification setpoint
The zone humidistat relative humidity setpoint for dehumidification (0 to 100%).
The Thermal comfort calculator tool can be used to derive PMV values based on the known environmental
conditions.
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Environmental Control
Natural ventilation min temperature control applies to both Calculated and Scheduled natural ventilation.
Tip: To ensure that natural ventilation occurs regardless of internal temperature (e.g. to use nat vent
provide fresh air) then uncheck this option.
• 1-By value - use this option when the setpoint does not change with time in which case you can
enter a fixed setpoint temperature.
• 2-By schedule - use this option when the setpoint changes with time in which case you can
select a schedule of time-varying temperature setpoints.
Note that when using the Calculated natural ventilation model option windows and vents are only
opened when:
• The inside air temperature is above this cooling setpoint temperature, and
• The inside air temperature is greater than the outside air temperature, and
• The operation schedule allows ventilation.
Also, the data under the Calculated Natural Ventilation header on the Advanced tab of the Model
Options dialog can modify ventilation control behaviour.
When using the Scheduled natural ventilation model option the Natural ventilation delta T (below)
can prevent natural ventilation from occurring if the outside air temperature is too high.
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See also Defining setpoint temperature schedules.
Normally when using natural ventilation for cooling this option will be left unchecked as it would be unusual to
place an upper limit on the zone temperature for operation of such a system.
Indoor max temperature control option is used only with Scheduled natural ventilation and is not available for
Calculated natural ventilation.
• 1-By value - use this option when the setpoint does not change with time in which case you can
enter a fixed setpoint temperature.
• 2-By schedule - use this option when the setpoint changes with time in which case you can
select a schedule of time-varying temperature setpoints.
This data and the corresponding delta T data described below are not used in simulations when
working with the Simple HVAC 2-Ideal loads option or with Detailed HVAC and are never used in
Heating and Cooling design calculations.
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Environmental Control
For example, if you specify a maximum delta temperature of 2°C, ventilation is assumed to be available
if the outside air temperature is at least 2°C cooler than the zone air temperature. If the outside air dry
bulb temperature is less than 2°C cooler or warmer than the indoor dry bulb temperature, then
ventilation is automatically turned off. The values for this field can include negative numbers. This
allows ventilation to occur even if the outdoor temperature is above the indoor temperature. The Delta
Temperature control works in the code in the following way:
if (IndoorTemp - OutdoorTemp) < Max ventilation in-out delta T then ventilation is not allowed.
For example:
Tip: Enter a large negative number to allow ventilation even if the outdoor temperature is greater
than the indoor temperature. This useful for uncontrolled mechanical ventilation or as a way to estimate
the effect of required ventilation air for load calculations.
Fresh air
The Minimum fresh air per person defines the fresh air requirements of each person in the zone and is used
to generate appropriate mechanical outside air distribution rates when the mechanical ventilation Outside air
definition methods on the HVAC tab is set to any of:
• 2-Min fresh air per person where the fresh air flow rate is calculated as the Fresh air (l/s//person) x
People / m2 x Zone floor area (m2)
• 4-Min fresh air (Sum per person + per area) where the fresh air flow rate is the sum of 'per person'
and 'per area' fresh air requirements
• 5-Min fresh air (Max per person and per area) where the fresh air flow rate based on 'per person' is
compared with 'per area' and the maximum is used.
This data is also used to calculate natural ventilation outside air flow rates into the zone when the natural
ventilation Flow type on the HVAC tab is set to 2-Min fresh air per person.
• 3-Min fresh air (Per area), where the fresh air flow rate is calculated as the Mech vent per floor area
(l/s/m2) x Zone floor area (m2)
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• 4-Min fresh air (Sum per person + per area),
• 5-Min fresh air (Max per person and per area).
This data is not currently used for natural ventilation and is only used if one of the above mechanical
ventilation Outside air definition methods has been used.
CO2/Contaminant Setpoints
If the zone has its fresh air delivery controlled using the 3-IAQP DCV method and the 1-Simple HVAC
Detailed HVAC Activity data model option is set then you must enter the CO2 setpoint and minimum setting
here on the Activity tab. Likewise if the 5-IAQP generic contaminant option is selected then the generic
contaminant setpoint and minimum setting must be entered here.
If the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data model option is set then this data is entered on the HVAC
Zone dialog using schedules.
Lighting
Target illuminance
The desired lighting level (in lux) at the first daylighting sensor. This is also the lighting level that would be
produced at this sensor position at night if the overhead electric General lighting were operating at full input
power. Recommended values depend on type of activity; they may be found, for example, in the Lighting
Handbook of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and in CIBSE A Guide. A typical value for
general office work (excluding computer terminals) is 500 lux.
When the Lighting gain units model option is set to 1-Power density and a lighting template is loaded, this
value is copied directly from the Activity tab to the corresponding Task and Display Gain value on the Lighting
tab.
The Default display lighting density comes from the activity rather than from the lighting template because the
gain is more likely to be a function of the activity than of the type of lighting system installed.
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Computer Gains
The effect of hot water consumption (hot water taps, showers etc) on building energy use can be included in
your thermal model by switching on DHW on the HVAC tab.
The data on this tab defines the hot water consumption rate in each zone as l/day/m2 data (gal/day/ft in IP
units). The DHW consumption data is only used if DHW is selected on the HVAC tab.
The DHW consumption rate is the amount of water used over a whole day per floor area. The consumption
should be entered for the day of the year having the most consumption. For example in an office it might the
consumption over a typical work day. You should not enter an average rate over the year including reduced
rates on weekends etc.
Note: If you have DHW consumption data in l/person/day format you can convert to the l/m2-day format
used in DesignBuilder by multiplying it by occupant density (people/m2).
With Simple HVAC, the hot water generation system is defined under DHW on the HVAC tab.
Note: This DHW consumption data is also used in Detailed HVAC with the default 1-Simple HVAC
Detailed HVAC Activity data setting.
Computer Gains
Activity tab in model data
Check the Computers > On checkbox to model the heat emissions and fuel consumption due to computer
gains and other related IT equipment in the simulation.
Units
When the Gain definition level model option is set to 2-Zone by zone in model data you can select the units
to be used for internal gains here on the Activity tab. Choose from the options:
• 1-Power density where zone equipment gains are entered as a power density, i.e. as a power per
zone floor area in W/m2 or W/ft2. This option is usually the most convenient method for most general
purpose modelling as the data is normalised by area and so can be inherited from levels above in the
model hierarchy and can be effectively loaded from Activity template.
• 2-Absolute zone power where zone equipment gains are entered as a power value in W. This option
is usually used when detailed zone by zone survey or design data is available. Unless you need to
enter specific known lighting equipment gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it increases
the amount of work involved due to the inheritance mechanism not working effectively for gains that are
not normalised by floor area.
Gain
Set the design level of energy consumption due to computers. Depending on the Equipment gain units model
option setting, the gains data is entered either as Absolute zone power (in W) or as Power density (in W/m2
or W/ft2).
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The fuel is assumed to be electricity, all gains are assumed to be emitted to the space.
Schedule
Select the schedule that governs the timing of gains in the zone. The level of gains are multiplied by the time-
varying factor in this schedule to give the gain for each timestep in the simulation.
Radiant Fraction
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterise the amount of long-wave
radiant heat being given off by computer equipment in a zone. The radiant fraction will be multiplied by the
total energy consumed by electric equipment and (1-Fraction lost) to give the amount of long wavelength
radiation gain from computer equipment in a zone. A value of zero means that the heat gain is entirely
convective in which case all the heat is transferred to the air node in simulations. A value of 1 means that the
gain is entirely radiative in which case all the heat is distributed to the inside surfaces. a typical value is
somewhere between 0.1 and 0.2.
If the Internal gains operate with occupancy model option is not selected you can also set the operation
schedule.
Check the Office Equipment > On checkbox to include office equipment internal gains in the simulation.
Units
When the Gain definition level model option is set to 2-Zone by zone in model data you can select the units
to be used for internal gains here on the Activity tab. Choose from the options:
• 1-Power density where zone equipment gains are entered as a power density, i.e. as a power per
zone floor area in W/m2 or W/ft2. This option is usually the most convenient method for most general
purpose modelling as the data is normalised by area and so can be inherited from levels above in the
model hierarchy and can be effectively loaded from Activity template.
• 2-Absolute zone power where zone equipment gains are entered as a power value in W. This option
is usually used when detailed zone by zone survey or design data is available. Unless you need to
enter specific known lighting equipment gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it increases
the amount of work involved due to the inheritance mechanism not working effectively for gains that are
not normalised by floor area.
Gain
Set the design level of energy consumption due to office equipment. Depending on the Equipment gain units
model option setting, the gains data is entered either as Absolute zone power (in W) or as Power density
(in W/m2 or W/ft2).
The fuel is assumed to be electricity, all gains are assumed to be emitted to the space.
Schedule
Select the schedule that governs the timing of gains in the zone. The level of gains are multiplied by the time-
varying factor in this schedule to give the gain for each timestep in the simulation.
Radiant Fraction
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterise the amount of long-wave
radiant heat being given off by office equipment in a zone. The radiant fraction will be multiplied by the total
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Miscellaneous Gains
energy consumed by electric equipment to give the amount of long wavelength radiation gain from office
equipment in a zone.
A value of zero means that the heat gain is entirely convective in which case all the heat is transferred to the
air node in simulations. A value of 1 means that the gain is entirely radiative in which case all the heat is
distributed to the inside surfaces. a typical value is somewhere between 0.1 and 0.4.
If the Internal gains operate with occupancy model option is not selected you can also set the operation
schedule.
Miscellaneous Gains
Activity tab in model data
Check the Miscellaneous > On checkbox to include any Miscellaneous gains in the simulation.
Units
When the Gain definition level model option is set to 2-Zone by zone in model data you can select the units
to be used for internal gains here on the Activity tab. Choose from the options:
• 1-Power density where zone equipment gains are entered as a power density, i.e. as a power per
zone floor area in W/m2 or W/ft2. This option is usually the most convenient method for most general
purpose modelling as the data is normalised by area and so can be inherited from levels above in the
model hierarchy and can be effectively loaded from Activity template.
• 2-Absolute zone power where zone equipment gains are entered as a power value in W. This option
is usually used when detailed zone by zone survey or design data is available. Unless you need to
enter specific known lighting equipment gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it increases
the amount of work involved due to the inheritance mechanism not working effectively for gains that are
not normalised by floor area.
Gain
Set the design level of energy consumption due to miscellaneous equipment. The actual heat gain to the
space may be reduced through the Fraction lost data (below).
Depending on the Equipment gain units model option setting, the gains data is entered either as Absolute
zone power in W or as Power density in W/m2 or W/ft2.
Schedule
Select the schedule that governs the timing of gains in the zone. The level of gains are multiplied by the time-
varying factor in this schedule to give the gain for each timestep in the simulation.
Fuel
The fuel can be selected from a drop down list. Note that these fuels are currently mapped to a shorter list in
the results as follows:
Fraction lost
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterise the amount of 'lost' heat being
given off by the equipment in a zone. The number specified in this field will be multiplied by the total energy
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consumed by equipment to give the amount of heat which is 'lost' and does not impact the zone energy
balances. This might correspond to electrical energy converted to mechanical work or heat that is vented to
the atmosphere.
Latent fraction
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterize the amount of latent heat
given off by miscellaneous equipment in a zone. The number specified in this field will be multiplied by the
total energy consumed to give the amount of latent energy produced by the miscellaneous equipment. This
latent energy affects the moisture balance within the zone.
Radiant Fraction
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterise the amount of long-wave
radiant heat being given off by miscellaneous equipment in a zone. The radiant fraction will be multiplied by
the total energy consumed by electric equipment and (1-Fraction lost) to give the amount of long wavelength
radiation gain from miscellaneous equipment in a zone. A value of zero means that the heat gain is entirely
convective in which case all the heat is transferred to the air node in simulations. A value of 1 means that the
gain is entirely radiative in which case all the heat is distributed to the inside surfaces. a typical value is
somewhere between 0.1 and 0.5.
If the Internal gains operate with occupancy model option is not selected you can also set the operation
schedule.
In the absence of better information, a value of 3.45E-8 m3/s-W can be used which assumes the equipment is
not vented to outdoors. This value is converted from natural gas CO2 emission rate at 11.7 lbs CO2 per
therm, the CO2 emission rate provided by U.S. Energy Information Administration. The maximum value for
this input field is 3.45E-7 m3/s-W.
Calculation
The fuel input to the equipment ultimately appears as heat that contributes to zone loads. In the simulation
this heat is divided into four different fractions. Three of these are given by the input fields Latent fraction,
Radiant fraction and Fraction lost. The convected fraction, defined as the fraction of the heat from electric
equipment convected to the zone air, is calculated by the program as:
Fconvected = 1.0 – (Latent fraction + Radiant fraction + Fraction lost)
You will get an error message if Fraction Latent + Fraction Radiant + Fraction Lost exceeds 1.0.
Catering Gains
Activity tab in model data
Check the Catering > On checkbox to include any cooking gains and other catering activities in the
simulation.
Units
When the Gain definition level model option is set to 2-Zone by zone in model data you can select the units
to be used for internal gains here on the Activity tab. Choose from the options:
• 1-Power density where zone equipment gains are entered as a power density, i.e. as a power per
zone floor area in W/m2 or W/ft2. This option is usually the most convenient method for most general
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Catering Gains
purpose modelling as the data is normalised by area and so can be inherited from levels above in the
model hierarchy and can be effectively loaded from Activity template.
• 2-Absolute zone power where zone equipment gains are entered as a power value in W. This option
is usually used when detailed zone by zone survey or design data is available. Unless you need to
enter specific known lighting equipment gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it increases
the amount of work involved due to the inheritance mechanism not working effectively for gains that are
not normalised by floor area.
Gain
Set the design level of energy consumption due to catering equipment. The actual heat gain to the space may
be reduced through the Fraction lost data (below).
Depending on the Equipment gain units model option setting, the gains data is entered either as Absolute
zone power in W or as Power density in W/m2 or W/ft2.
Schedule
Select the schedule that governs the timing of gains in the zone. The level of gains are multiplied by the time-
varying factor in this schedule to give the gain for each timestep in the simulation.
Fuel
The fuel can be selected from a drop down list. Note that these fuels are currently mapped to a shorter list in
the results as follows:
Fraction lost
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterise the amount of 'lost' heat being
given off by the catering equipment in a zone. The number specified in this field will be multiplied by the total
energy consumed by equipment to give the amount of heat which is 'lost' and does not impact the zone
energy balances. This might correspond to cooker heat that is vented to the atmosphere through an extract
hood.
Latent fraction
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterize the amount of latent heat
given off by catering equipment in a zone. The number specified in this field will be multiplied by the total
energy consumed to give the amount of latent energy produced by the catering equipment. This latent energy
affects the moisture balance within the zone.
Radiant fraction
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterise the amount of long-wave
radiant heat being given off by catering equipment in a zone. The radiant fraction will be multiplied by the total
energy consumed by electric equipment and (1-Fraction lost) to give the amount of long wavelength radiation
gain from catering equipment in a zone. A value of zero means that the heat gain is entirely convective in
which case all the heat is transferred to the air node in simulations. A value of 1 means that the gain is
entirely radiative in which case all the heat is distributed to the inside surfaces. a typical value is somewhere
between 0.1 and 0.5.
If the Internal gains operate with occupancy model option is not selected you can also set the operation
schedule.
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CO2 generation rate
This numeric input field, available only when the fuel is selected as 2-Natural gas, specifies carbon dioxide
generation rate with units of m3/s-W or (ft3/min)/(Btu/hr). The default value of 0.0 assumes the equipment is
fully vented to outdoors.
In the absence of better information, a value of 3.45E-8 m3/s-W can be used which assumes the equipment is
not vented to outdoors. This value is converted from natural gas CO2 emission rate at 11.7 lbs CO2 per
therm, the CO2 emission rate provided by U.S. Energy Information Administration. The maximum value for
this input field is 3.45E-7 m3/s-W.
Calculation
The fuel input to the equipment ultimately appears as heat that contributes to zone loads. In the simulation
this heat is divided into four different fractions. Three of these are given by the input fields Latent fraction,
Radiant fraction and Fraction lost. The convected fraction, defined as the fraction of the heat from electric
equipment convected to the zone air, is calculated by the program as:
Fconvected = 1.0 – (Latent fraction + Radiant fraction + Fraction lost)
You will get an error message if Fraction Latent + Fraction Radiant + Fraction Lost exceeds 1.0.
Process Gains
Activity tab in model data
Check the Process > On checkbox to include any process gains in the simulation. Process gains model the
heat emissions and fuel consumption due to any manufacturing or industrial process which is part of the
business activity.
Units
When the Gain definition level model option is set to 2-Zone by zone in model data you can select the units
to be used for internal gains here on the Activity tab. Choose from the options:
• 1-Power density where zone equipment gains are entered as a power density, i.e. as a power per
zone floor area in W/m2 or W/ft2. This option is usually the most convenient method for most general
purpose modelling as the data is normalised by area and so can be inherited from levels above in the
model hierarchy and can be effectively loaded from Activity template.
• 2-Absolute zone power where zone equipment gains are entered as a power value in W. This option
is usually used when detailed zone by zone survey or design data is available. Unless you need to
enter specific known lighting equipment gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it increases
the amount of work involved due to the inheritance mechanism not working effectively for gains that are
not normalised by floor area.
Gain
Set the design level of energy consumption due to process activity. The actual heat gain to the space may be
reduced through the Fraction lost data (below).
Depending on the Equipment gain units model option setting, the gains data is entered either as Absolute
zone power in W or as Power density (in W/m2 or W/ft2).
Tip: You can enter negative process gains for modelling the cooling effect from refrigeration units such as
those found in supermarkets where the refrigerator doors may open and cause cool air to enter the zone.
Please note that for any such negative gains, the associated fuel consumption is not accounted for.
This is because the EnergyPlus fuel type must be set to “None” for negative gains regardless of the fuel type
actually selected in the user interface.
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Process Gains
Schedule
Select the schedule that governs the timing of gains in the zone. The level of gains are multiplied by the time-
varying factor in this schedule to give the gain for each timestep in the simulation.
Fuel
The fuel can be selected from a drop down list. Note that these fuels are currently mapped to a shorter list in
the results as follows:
Fraction lost
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterise the amount of 'lost' heat being
given off by the process equipment in a zone. The number specified in this field will be multiplied by the total
energy consumed by equipment to give the amount of heat which is 'lost' and does not impact the zone
energy balances. This might correspond to electrical energy converted to mechanical work or heat that is
vented to the atmosphere.
Latent fraction
This field is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterize the amount of latent heat
given off by process equipment in a zone. The number specified in this field will be multiplied by the total
energy consumed to give the amount of latent energy produced by the process equipment. This latent energy
affects the moisture balance within the zone.
Radiant fraction
This is a decimal number between 0.0 and 1.0 and is used to characterise the amount of long-wave radiant
heat being given off by process equipment in a zone. The radiant fraction will be multiplied by the total energy
consumed by electric equipment and (1-Fraction lost) to give the amount of long wavelength radiation gain
from process equipment in a zone. A value of zero means that the heat gain is entirely convective in which
case all the heat is transferred to the air node in simulations. A value of 1 means that the gain is entirely
radiative in which case all the heat is distributed to the inside surfaces. a typical value is somewhere between
0.1 and 0.5.
If the Internal gains operate with occupancy model option is not selected you can also set the operation
schedule.
In the absence of better information, a value of 3.45E-8 m3/s-W can be used which assumes the equipment is
not vented to outdoors. This value is converted from natural gas CO2 emission rate at 11.7 lbs CO2 per
therm, the CO2 emission rate provided by U.S. Energy Information Administration. The maximum value for
this input field is 3.45E-7 m3/s-W.
Calculation
The fuel input to the equipment ultimately appears as heat that contributes to zone loads. In the simulation
this heat is divided into four different fractions. Three of these are given by the input fields Latent fraction,
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Radiant fraction and Fraction lost. The convected fraction, defined as the fraction of the heat from electric
equipment convected to the zone air, is calculated by the program as:
Fconvected = 1.0 – (Latent fraction + Radiant fraction + Fraction lost)
You will get an error message if Fraction Latent + Fraction Radiant + Fraction Lost exceeds 1.0.
DesignBuilder uses construction components to model the conduction of heat through walls, roofs, ground
and other opaque parts of the building envelope . Constructions can be selected on the Constructions model
data tab to define the thermophysical and visual properties of the various internal and external surface
elements in the building. From the Construction model data tab, you can access data on:
• Construction
• Airtightness
• "Construction Cost" on page 361
Open the headers to enter construction details where they are different from those loaded from the template.
Any changes you make that are different from the template data originally loaded shown in bold red.
Templates
When you make a selection from the list of Construction templates data from selected template is loaded to
the model.
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Constructions
Or in either case you can use the Load data from template tool.
Constructions
Construction tab in model data
From the Construction tab, you can open the group header boxes to edit detailed makeup of the construction
of walls, roofs, floors, ceilings, partitions etc. used in the building.
The default/inheritance system used in DesignBuilder allows you to define building constructions quickly and
easily by loading data from templates and by making global settings at building, block and zone levels.
Construction data:
Note: data on the Openings tab can be used to define the layout of the facade.
Note: Please be aware that all settings made on the Constructions Model data tab are defaults,
(unless you are working at the surface level). Model data at the surface level (inherited from the zone
above or directly set) defines the thermal and visual characteristics of the surface in the model.
Constructions Data
Construction tab in model data under Construction header
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Schematic Diagram Showing Construction Locations
The schematic below shows the locations of various surface types and the constructions that will be applied to
them. It also shows block and zone dimension definitions.
Note: If you are using the NCM for EPCs, Part-L/Section 6 etc calculations you should refer to the Block
and Zone Dimensions page for a more detailed definition of block heights.
External walls
The external wall construction defines the construction of walls adjacent to outside. The definition of walls is
given by the roof-wall transition angle model option. In cold climates this construction will generally include an
insulating layer.
Flat roof
Flat roof constructions apply to external horizontal surfaces. The construction used to represent the flat roof
should include any slabs, insulation and suspended ceiling layers. If there are no flat roof surfaces, just ignore
this data.
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Constructions Data
The definition of 'pitched roof' is given by the roof-wall transition angle model option.
The definition of 'pitched roof' is given by the roof-wall transition angle model option.
Internal partitions
The internal partition construction defines the construction of internal partitions (walls used to divide blocks
into zones) and inter-block partitions (internal walls shared with other blocks). Internal partitions are used
where both zones are occupied. When one of the zones is occupied and the other is not the Semi-exposed
walls construction data is used (below). If there are no partitions just ignore this data.
The construction for the partition should represent all the layers in the actual internal wall. There is only one
element representing the partition between the zones and all it's layers should be defined in the same
construction.
Changes in model data settings at the surface level are reflected as equivalent changes in data for the
partition on the surface representing other side.
Note: this data is not available at zone level to avoid ambiguity when different settings are made in
adjacent zones. Surface level partition settings are generally inherited from block level, however settings for
inter-block partition surfaces are inherited from the building level.
Semi-Exposed
Semi-exposed walls
The semi-exposed wall construction applies to walls between fully occupied zones and Semi-exterior
unconditioned zones. They will normally include some insulation. DesignBuilder determines which of the
zones is relatively 'outside' and uses this information to correctly order the material layers in the wall. The
material layer defined in the construction as being 'outermost' (first-in list) will be the one adjacent to the
semi-exterior unconditioned zone. If there are no semi-exposed wall surfaces, just ignore this data.
Note: this data is not available at zone level to avoid ambiguity when different settings are made in
adjacent zones. Surface level semi-exposed wall settings are generally inherited from block level, however
settings for inter-block semi-exposed walls are inherited from the building level.
Semi-exposed ceiling
The semi-exposed ceiling construction is used between occupied zones and Semi-exterior unconditioned
zones (such as roofspace/attic/loft spaces) above. The construction should include any slabs, insulation and
suspended ceiling layers. DesignBuilder determines which of the zones is relatively 'exterior' and uses this
information to correctly order the material layers in the roof. If there are no semi-exposed ceiling surfaces, just
ignore this data.
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Note: the semi-exposed ceiling data is defined from the occupied zone side only. If you navigate to the
other side of the surface (the semi-exterior unconditioned zone floor) the data is not available for access.
Semi-exposed floor
The semi-exposed floor construction is used between occupied zones and Semi-exterior unconditioned
spaces below. The construction should include any slabs, insulation and raised floor layers. If there are no
semi-exposed floor surfaces, just ignore this data.
Note: This data is accessed from the occupied zone side only and cannot be accessed from the ceiling
surface of the semi-exterior unconditioned zone below.
Floors
Ground floor
The ground floor construction is used between all internal zones and the ground. The site ground
temperatures are applied to the outside of all surfaces adjacent to ground. If there are no ground floor or wall
surfaces, just ignore this data.
Note: The Basement ground floor is provided to help distinguish floors from slab-on-grade floors. It is
normally outside the scope of slab-on-grade floor definition described in ASHRAE 90.1 and is not regulated by
the 90.1 Standard. In DesignBuilder the baseline model uses the same construction for Basement ground
floor as that used in the proposed model, typically a standard layered floor construction (as opposed to an F-
Factor construction normally used for slab on grade floors).
External floor
External floors are floors that are adjacent to outside air, e.g. the floor of a cantilevered part of the building or
where for any other reason there is no ground or other zone below. The External floor construction should
include any slabs, insulation and raised floor layers. If there are no external floor surfaces, just ignore this
data.
Internal floor
The internal floor construction defines the makeup of floors between occupied zones including any slabs, air
gaps, raised floors and suspended ceilings. It will not usually contain insulation. Where the zone above is
unoccupied the semi-exposed ceiling construction is used instead. Likewise where the zone below is
unoccupied the Semi-exposed floor construction is used instead. If there are no internal floor surfaces, just
ignore this data.
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Sub-Surface Constructions
On the Navigator panel, for each surface, you will see one or more adjacency items listed below and to the
right as shown in the highlighted region of the screenshot below. Clicking on any of the highlighted items in
the navigator list will take you to the same surface level.
Important Note: DesignBuilder does not provide direct access to adjacency level data in the editor. For
example, in the above screenshot, when navigating to the surface level by clicking on the "External/internal
floor - 131.061 m2" item you will be working at the same surface level and with the same data as if you had
navigated to one of the adjacency items below, e.g. "External floor element - 31.061 m2". You can set the
construction type of both the external and internal floors from the surface level.
Zone Statistics
Zone Volume
The zone volume is calculated for all zone geometries and by default, the volume is the actual air volume of
the space excluding the volume of floor and ceiling constructions but including half the volume of partition
walls. The volume of the floor constructions can be optionally subtracted from the zone volume by using the
Zone volume calculation Model options.
Sub-Surface Constructions
Construction tab in model data under Construction header
Sub-surfaces are used to define areas of a surface having a different construction to that of the main surface
construction. Typical examples include cold-bridging elements such as window lintels and opaque panels in a
lightweight facade. You can define different sub-surface construction types for external walls, internal
partitions and pitched roofs. This makes it easier to set up defaults at building, block or zone level.
Sub-surfaces are modelled in the same detail as standard surfaces including the effect of thermal mass but
not including any 2-D or 3-D heat conduction effects due to the interface between the sub-surface and the
background parent surface.
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To add a sub-surface, go to the surface you wish to work on, click on the Layout tab and select the Draw sub-
surface command.
Walls
Any sub-surfaces created in a wall or ground floor will have this construction.
Internal
Any sub-surfaces created in any inside surface (partitions, internal floor etc) will have this construction.
Roof
Any sub-surfaces created in any pitched roof will have this construction.
External door
Defines the construction of external doors.
Internal door
Defines the construction of internal doors.
DesignBuilder uses the thermal characteristics of the constructions for each of the walls, floors, roofs,
partitions etc in each zone and accounts for the thermal mass in the simulations. You can also include
additional thermal mass to account for partitions within a zone, furniture and any other mass which will affect
the dynamic thermal response of the zone. There are two ways you can define additional internal thermal
mass in DesignBuilder:
1. Drawing hanging partitions (i.e. partitions which do not meet other walls at both ends),
2. Entering a non-zero internal thermal mass exposed area on the Constructions tab under the Internal
Thermal Mass header at zone level.
Construction
Thermal mass defined using these methods is lumped together for each zone and modelled in EnergyPlus in
a 'non-geometric' way. In both cases, the construction is defined under the Internal Thermal Mass header on
the Constructions tab.
Internal thermal mass defined in this way is used to specify the construction and area of items within the
space that are important to heat transfer calculations but not necessarily important geometrically. For
example, furniture within the space – particularly for large spaces. It can also be used for internal walls that
are not needed for solar distribution, when Solar distribution is set to 3-Full interior and exterior or to
represent all interior walls when solar is distributed to the floors only with Solar distribution set to 2-Full
exterior.
Example
When zoning an office building, five west-facing offices have been combined into one zone. All of the offices
have interior walls made of the same materials. As shown in the figure below, this zone may be described with
5 exterior walls and 11 internal walls or 1 exterior wall and 1 internal mass. Note that fewer surfaces will speed
up the EnergyPlus calculations.
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Adjacency
Example
A five-story building has the same ceiling/floor construction separating each of the levels. Zones that are on
floors 2 through 4 may be described using a single piece of internal mass to represent both the floor and
ceiling. The construction for this internal mass would be identical to the ceiling/floor construction that would be
used to describe separate surfaces.
Exposed Area
The exposed area is the surface area of the internal mass. The area that is specified must be the entire
surface area that is exposed to the zone. If both sides of a wall are completely within the same zone, then the
area of both sides must be included when describing that internal wall.
It is also possible to use the Zone capacitance multiplier to model the increase of air capacity due to
lightweight thermal mass which could be considered to be mixed with the air. Examples include furniture,
papers and any other items which might increase the effective thermal mass of the building zone response.
Adjacency
Construction tab in model data under Construction header
The adjacency of individual surfaces can be set to be either adjacent to ground or adiabatic. The adjacency
data is used at the surface level, though defaults can be set at a block and zone level as well if all surfaces in
a block or zone have the same adjacency.
• 1-Auto - the adjacency of the surface is determined automatically by DesignBuilder based on its
position. This is the default setting where external surfaces below the ground plane are considered to
be adjacent to ground and external surfaces above the ground plane are considered to be adjacent to
outside conditions.
• 2-Not adjacent to ground - the surface is not adjacent to ground even if it is situated below the ground
plane.
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• 3-Adjacent to ground - the surface is adjacent to ground even if it is above the ground plane or it is an
internal surface.
• 4-Adiabatic - the surface is adiabatic. This means that heat is not transferred across in its external
surface. Adiabatic surfaces are frequently used in thermal modelling to represent surfaces which are
between two zones at substantially similar conditions. Note that thermal mass is still modelled in
Adiabatic surfaces because heat can still be transferred into the mass through the internal surface.
Adiabatic surfaces are often used for modelling the boundary between the actual building model and
any adjacent buildings which are not to be modelled.
You can determine which surfaces are adiabatic or adjacent to ground by looking for the corresponding
surface adjacency markers in the Edit Screen at zone and surface levels:
Note: The recommended way to set ground and adiabatic adjacencies is to use component blocks.
For internal floors such as the unused 'floor' on top of the office space you can check the surface level
Exclude this surface area from total zone floor area? checkbox to ensure the floor is not used in the
calculation of zone and building floor area and in the calculation of internal gains where defined per m2 or per
ft2.
Note this surface setting should not be made for the floor of office zone itself, which of course is usable
floor area, but for the 'floor' of the zone above (typically a warehouse or other large volume space) which is
not usable floor area.
Another situation where this option can be used is where holes have been cut in a floor surface to remove it,
so upper and lower zones can be merged. In this case, any small remaining border in the cut floor surface
should ideally be removed from the floor area calculation for the combined zone.
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Geometry Areas And Volumes
block and zone dimensions drawn are exactly the ones used in calculations and the thickness of the surfaces
are not considered in the analysis.
• Simple - where the zone surfaces, floor areas and volumes used in calculations are all derived directly
from the drawn block and zone dimensions. If blocks are drawn using internal measurements then the
model would be considered to be using an internal convention and if blocks are drawn using outer
dimensions then the model would be using the external convention. Likewise to obtain a centre-line
convention simply draw blocks to the centre-line between inner and outer dimensions. This is the only
option provided in most other energy simulation tools.
• External measurements - the default option for simulation where blocks are drawn using outer
dimensions and the surfaces used in thermal calculations are derived from the zone outer geometry
and air volumes and floor areas are derived from the zone inner geometry. Note that this option works
well for EnergyPlus simulations but is not compatible with the UK NCM which requires internal surface
dimensions to be used in heat transfer calculations.
• External measurements to top of roof - like External measurements but zone geometry extends to
the top of flat roofs.
• DesignBuilder pre-v4 compatibility - surfaces are derived in the same way as in v3 and earlier where
a single "Block wall thickness" setting was used to define the thickness of all external wall surfaces in
the block. For v3 and earlier models loaded to v4 and later the old "Block wall thickness" attribute is
used to set the External wall thickness at block level.
• External measurements, internal zone geometry - blocks are defined using external measurements
and surfaces dimensions, zone volume and floors areas are all derived from the inner zone geometry.
• UK NCM external perimeter - blocks are drawn using external measurements and simulations use
internal measurements for surfaces, floor area and zone volume. The thickness of external wall and
pitched roof constructions is used to define the inner zone surfaces, volume etc. Use this template for
NCM work where the model has been or is to be defined using external block measurements. It may be
useful in cases where a model previously drawn using external measurements is to be used or when
importing from BIM where surfaces represent the external building geometry.
• UK NCM internal perimeter - blocks are drawn using internal measurements and simulations use
those internal measurements for surfaces, floor area and zone volume. Use this template for NCM work
as the easiest option on projects where it is possible to draw or import internal building geometry.
The usual inheritance mechanism applies so loading the required template at building level defines the
geometry convention for the whole building. Settings can be made at building level only but Fixed surface
thicknesses can be defined down to surface level and Void depths can be defined down to Zone level.
The Geometry convention template can also selected when creating a new building.
Tip: After making any changes to the model which could affect the geometry including construction type
selection as well as the settings described on this page, you should manually refresh the Navigator by
pressing the Refresh Navigator toolbar icon. This will ensure that the Navigator is synchronised with the
model.
• 1-Inner - where the surface dimensions and areas used in thermal calculations are derived from the
zone inner geometry. This is obtained from the outer zone geometry and "deflated" by the thickness of
each surface and any floor or ceiling voids. For each type of surface the thickness comes from either a)
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the construction thickness or b) an overriding value set under Fixed Surface Thickness header. You
should carefully check the notes below when using this option.
• 2-Outer - where the surface dimensions and areas used in thermal calculations are derived from the
zone outer geometry, which for a single zone block is exactly equal to the block outer dimensions.
Note 1: In cases where the 1-Inner volume option is selected and non-zero surface thickness settings
are being used, any component block shading devices placed adjacent to the block at building level will not be
exactly adjacent to the corresponding zone inner surfaces used in the simulations which are offset inwards
from the block outer geometry. The resultant gap will allow solar radiation to pass into the windows which will
not be apparent by looking at the model at building level or on the visualisation screen. You are therefore
advised to avoid using the combination of 1-Inner volume geometry, non-zero surface thickness and external
component blocks used as local shading devices. This issue does not arise with the local shading mechanism
which ensures that overhangs, sidefins and louvre blades are offset with the window.
Note 2: In cases where the 1-Inner volume option is selected and non-zero surface thickness settings
are being used, for some zone geometries, the inner volume cannot be generated and in this case the zone
outer surfaces will be used instead. This issue is discussed in more detail below under Special Conditions.
• 1-Inner - where the zone volume used in thermal calculations is derived from the zone inner geometry.
• 2-Outer - where the zone volume used in thermal calculations is derived from the zone outer geometry.
Note: Unless otherwise specified by your regional modelling code, the 1-Inner volume setting should
generally be used for calculating zone volume to allow it to account for the effects of surface thickness and
any floor and ceiling voids included.
• 1-Inner - where the zone volume used in thermal calculations is derived from the zone inner geometry.
• 2-Outer - where the zone volume used in thermal calculations is derived from the zone outer geometry.
The floor area calculated from the method selected here is used for:
• The Zone floor area used for calculating occupancy and other internal gains from the user-defined per
floor area values.
• Occupied and Unoccupied "Total Building Floor Areas" on page 290 reported at building level on the
Activity tab.
• Floor area values for general reporting, e.g. in UK Part-L and EPC reports.
Note: Unless otherwise specified by your regional modelling code, the 1-Inner volume setting should
generally be used for calculating zone floor area.
Tip: For zones with walls that have a finite thickness, this floor area will not be the same as the total area of
the floor surfaces listed in the Navigator, whose geometry is based on the Zone geometry and surface areas
method.
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Geometry Areas And Volumes
• 1-Inner, where the glazing areas are calculated based on the available internal area of external walls.
For example if there is a non-zero height ceiling void (using the Ceiling void depth attribute) then the
wall area seen from inside will be less than the area seen from outside and this lower inside area is
used in the calculation of the window size. For example if the WWR is set to 100% then the occupants
inside the building will see external walls as being fully glazed but people viewing from outside will see
the areas of the outside wall where the ceiling voids are as opaque.
• 2-Outer, where the whole of the outer wall surface is used in calculating the window sizes. When this
option is set and a 100% WWR is specified people viewing from outside will see a fully glazed building.
When the attribute is set to use the outer wall surface, visualisations will default to single skin display (all walls
paper thin) to allow full size windows to be rendered accurately.
In most cases you should simply select the Geometry convention template - you shouldn't normally need to
override the surface thickness settings below.
When at zone level, the fixed surface thickness for internal surfaces are not displayed due to the ambiguity
involved if the 2 zones involved in the connecting internal surface have different settings. This applies to
Internal partitions, Internal floor, Semi-exposed wall, Semi-exposed floor and Semi-exposed ceiling data.
Note: The surface thickness does not affect the thermal properties of the wall/floor/roof etc (U-value,
thermal mass etc). Surface thermal properties are based purely on the construction data specified for the
surface.
External wall
If the external wall surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness) then
check the checkbox and enter the wall thickness (in m or in).
Internal partition
If the partition surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness) then check
the checkbox and enter the wall thickness (in m or in).
Ground floor
If the ground floor surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness) then
check the checkbox and enter the floor thickness (in m or in).
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Note: In most cases ground floor blocks are measured from ground level and the ground slab construction
is not included in the volume of the building so this setting is normally overridden to be zero.
External floor
If the external floor surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness) then
check the checkbox and enter the floor thickness (in m or in).
Internal floor
If the internal floor surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness) then
check the checkbox and enter the floor thickness (in m or in).
Semi-exposed wall
If the semi-exposed wall surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness)
then check the checkbox and enter the wall thickness (in m or in).
Semi-exposed floor
If the semi-exposed floor surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness)
then check the checkbox and enter the floor thickness (in m or in).
Semi-exposed ceiling
If the semi-exposed ceiling surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness)
then check the checkbox and enter the ceiling thickness (in m or in).
Flat roof
If the flat roof surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness) then check
the checkbox and enter the flat roof thickness (in m or in).
Pitched roof
If the pitched roof surface thickness is to be overridden (i.e. not derived from construction thickness) then
check the checkbox and enter the pitched roof thickness (in m or in).
Tip: the easiest way to avoid any such issues would be to use the "Simple" Geometry conventions template
at the outset.
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Geometry Areas And Volumes
Void Depths
Ceiling void depth
The depth of the ceiling void (in m or in). This is used, in addition to any surface thickness applied to the
ceiling/roof surface to reduce the size of the zone inner volume and surfaces areas to account for the ceiling
void.
When using the 1-Inner Zone geometry and surface areas option, ceiling voids will reduce the height of zone
wall surfaces used in the simulation. Also when using the 1-Inner Zone volume calculation method option,
ceiling voids will reduce the zone volume for air flow and heat exchange calculations.
Note: If the ceiling/roof construction already includes an air gap to define the ceiling void and its thickness
is being used to define the inner volume then you should enter 0 here. Likewise, if the ceiling void is already
modelled using its own zone then enter 0.
When using the 1-Inner Zone geometry and surface areas option, floor voids will reduce the height of the
zone wall surfaces used in the simulation. Also when using the 1-Inner Zone volume calculation method
option, floor voids will reduce the zone volume for air flow and heat exchange calculations.
Note: If the floor construction already includes an air gap for the floor void and its thickness is being used
to define the inner volume then you should enter 0 here. Likewise, if the floor void is already modelled using
its own zone then enter 0.
When writing out zone floor area and volume settings to the EnergyPlus input data, DesignBuilder uses the
geometry convention settings described above. This ensures that the real usable floor area and actual zone
air volume are used in the simulation. In many cases these values will be less than the values that EnergyPlus
estimates when carrying out its input checking which is based only on the 2-D surfaces that make up the zone
geometry. You will therefore often see warnings generated in the error file such as:
Special Conditions
Inner geometry cannot be generated
When using 1-Inner Zone geometry and surface areas option, DesignBuilder creates an "inner volume" by
moving all zone surfaces inwards using the construction thicknesses (or fixed thicknesses where specified).
This process is called "deflation". In some cases, however the deflation process is not possible and the inner
volume cannot be generated. The two main reasons for this failure are:
1. When the resulting inner volume geometry will not physically fit, often due to the surface thickness
being too great. Examples of this situation include small kinks in the surface geometry with dimension
of 2 x the surface thickness or less (image below) and zones where there are acute angle corners and
thick wall constructions.
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2. Zones where one or more zone outer geometry vertex has 4 or more surfaces adjacent.
If the deflation process fails, the software uses an alternative mechanism in which the zone outer geometry is
used for all zone thermal surfaces. Although DesignBuilder is unable to generate full inner zone geometry for
these zones it can still calculate zone inner volumes and floor areas fairly accurately using a simpler algorithm
based on the outer zone geometry and surface thicknesses.
Zone inner geometry is calculated zone by zone and so if the deflation process fails for 1 zone in a block, this
should not affect the process in other zones in the block.
• When a wall surface has two different thickness, e.g. internal and external. This case is illustrated
below.
• When the ceiling surface has two different thickness (flat roof and internal floor).
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Geometry Areas And Volumes
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Geometry Convention Examples
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Surface Convection
A small wall thickness, below, allows the glazing to cover most of the wall giving good results (below).
A larger wall thickness, below, requires more area to cater for the walls joining at the corners and the glazing
does not meet 'round the corner' giving poor results (below).
Surface Convection
Construction tab in model data under Construction header
You can select the inside and outside surface convection algorithms in the Model data on the Construction tab
under the Surface Convection header. This allows you to make different selections in different parts of the
building. Further details of the algorithms are provided in the EnergyPlus Engineering reference document.
Tip: You can override the inside and outside convection algorithm selection described below by setting
fixed values on the Surface tab of the Construction component dialog.
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dynamically managing the selection of hc equations called adaptive convection algorithm. The algorithm
is used to select among the available hcequations for the one that is most appropriate for a given
surface at a given time. As Beausoleil-Morrison notes, the adaptive convection algorithm is intended to
be expanded and altered to reflect different classification schemes and/or new hcequations. The
adaptive convection algorithm implemented in EnergyPlus for the inside face has a total of 45 different
categories for surfaces and 29 different options for hc equation selections. The tables provided in the
Engineering document summarise the categories and the default assignments for hc equations.
• 2-Simple - The simple convection model uses constant coefficients for different heat transfer
configurations, using the criteria to determine reduced and enhanced convection. The coefficients are
taken directly from Walton (1983). Walton derived his coefficients from the surface conductances for
ε=0.90 found in the ASHRAE Handbook (1985) in Table 1 on p. 23.2. The radiative heat transfer
component was estimated at 1.02 * 0.9 = 0.918 BTU/h-ft2-F and then subtracted off. Finally the
coefficients were converted to SI units to yield the values below. For a vertical surface: h c = 3.076 For a
horizontal surface with reduced convection: hc = 0.948 For a horizontal surface with enhanced
convection: hc = 4.040 For a tilted surface with reduced convection: hc = 2.281 For a tilted surface with
enhanced convection: hc = 3.870.
• 3-CIBSE - applies constant heat transfer coefficient derived from traditional CIBSE values.
• 4-Ceiling diffuser - a mixed and forced convection model for ceiling diffuser configurations. The model
correlates the heat transfer coefficient to the air change rate for ceilings, walls and floors. The ceiling
diffuser algorithm is based on empirical correlations developed by Fisher and Pedersen (1997). The
correlation was reformulated to use the room outlet temperature as the reference temperature. The
correlations are shown below. For Floors: hc = 3.873 + 0.082 x ACH ^ 0.98, For ceilings: hc = 2.234 +
4.099 x ACH ^ 0.503 and for Walls: hc = 1.208 + 1.012∗ACH ^ 0.604.
• 5-Cavity - This algorithm was developed to model convection in a "Trombe wall zone", i.e. the air
space between the storage wall surface and the exterior glazing. (See the later sections on Passive
and Active Trombe Walls below for more information about Trombe walls.) The algorithm is identical to
the convection model (based on ISO 15099) used in Window5 for convection between glazing layers in
multi-pane window systems. The use of the algorithm for modelling an unvented Trombe wall has been
validated against experimental data by Ellis (2003).This algorithm gives the convection coefficients for
air in a narrow vertical cavity that is sealed and not ventilated. This applies both to the air gap in
between panes of a window or to the air gap between the Trombe wall glazing and the inner surface
(often a selective surface). These convection coefficients are really the only difference between a
normal zone and a Trombe zone. See also note below.
• 6-TARP - based on variable natural convection based on temperature difference from ASHRAE
algorithms. This is the same as the old "Detailed" Inside convection algorithm provided in earlier
versions of DesignBuilder. It is the default option for new models in v3.0.0.085 and later.
The 5-Cavity Inside convection algorithm is not available at the surface level.
Paraphrased note from EnergyPlus developers on the 5-Cavity option: "The Trombe wall convection
coefficients only make sense for a zone. They are specific coefficients calculated for a narrow enclosed
space. The two major walls of a Trombe wall zone are so close together that the convection patterns for the
two walls actually interact. If they are close enough they can fight each other and totally stagnate the
convection cell in the space. This is not free-boundary convection such as that found in a typical room.
Therefore, it does not make sense to apply these coefficients to a single surface. The algorithm analyses the
zone to figure out which are the two major surfaces and then sets the coefficients on those surfaces. The
other minor surfaces receive negligible convection."
The following inside convection options are also available for advanced users:
• 7-ASHRAEVerticalWall
• 8-WaltonUnstableHorizontalOrTilt
• 9-WaltonStableHorizontalOrTilt
• 10-FisherPedersenCeilingDiffuserWalls
• 11-FisherPedersenCeilingDiffuserCeiling
• 12-FisherPedersenCeilingDiffuserFloor
• 13-AlamdariHammondStableHorizontal
• 14-AlamdariHammondUnstableHorizontal
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Surface Convection
• 15-AlamdariHammondVerticalWall
• 16-KhalifaEq3WallAwayFromHeat
• 17-KhalifaEq4CeilingAwayFromHeat
• 18-KhalifaEq5WallNearHeat
• 19-KhalifaEq6NonHeatedWalls
• 20-KhalifaEq7Ceiling
• 21-AwbiHattonHeatedFloor
• 22-AwbiHattonHeatedWall
• 23-BeausoleilMorrisonMixedAssistedWall
• 24-BeausoleilMorrisonMixedOpposingWall
• 25-BeausoleilMorrisonMixedStableFloor
• 26-BeausoleilMorrisonMixedUnstableFloor
• 27-BeausoleilMorrisonMixedStableCeiling
• 28-BeausoleilMorrisonMixedUnstableCeiling
• 29-FohannoPolidoriVerticalWall
• 30-KaradagChilledCeiling
• 31-ISO15099Windows
• 32-GoldsteinNovoselacCeilingDiffuserWindow
• 33-GoldsteinNovoselacCeilingDiffuserWalls
• 34-GoldsteinNovoselacCeilingDiffuserFloor
To avoid discontinuities in surface heat transfer rate calculations, all correlations are extrapolated beyond the
lower limit of the data set (3 ACH) to a natural convection limit which is applied during the hours when the
system is off. These models are explained in greater detail in the EnergyPlus Engineering Reference
Document.
Note: selecting the SimpleCombined option at building level on the Constructions tab under
Surface Convection or on the Calculation options or Model options dialogs has a special meaning. In
this case the outside convective selection covers both convection and radiation combined. This means
for example that any hard-set outside convective heat transfer coefficients set on the Surface
properties tab of the Construction dialog will actually be used as a combined outside convective plus
radiation coefficient.
• 3-CIBSE - applies constant heat transfer coefficients depending on orientation, derived from traditional
CIBSE values.
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• 4-ASHRAEVerticalWall - Identical to the DOE-2 option.
• 5-TARP - TARP, or Thermal Analysis Research Program, is an important predecessor of EnergyPlus
(Walton 1983). Walton developed a comprehensive model for exterior convection by blending
correlations from ASHRAE and flat plate experiments by Sparrow et. al. In older versions of
EnergyPlus, prior to version 6, the “TARP” model was called “Detailed.” The model was re-
implemented in version 6 to use Area and Perimeter values for the group of surfaces that make up a
facade or roof, rather than the single surface being modelled.
• 6-DOE-2 - The DOE-2 convection model is a combination of the MoWiTT and BLAST Detailed
convection models (LBL 1994). It is the default option for new models.
• 7-MoWiTT - The MoWiTT model is based on measurements taken at the Mobile Window Thermal Test
(MoWiTT) facility (Yazdanian and Klems 1994). The correlation applies to very smooth, vertical
surfaces (e.g. window glass) in low-rise buildings. The MoWiTT algorithm may not be appropriate for
rough surfaces, high-rise surfaces, or surfaces that employ movable insulation.
The following outside convection options are also available for more advanced users:
• 8-WaltonUnstableHorizontalOrTilt
• 9-WaltonStableHorizontalOrTilt
• 10-AlamdariHammondStableHorizontal
• 11-AlamdariHammondUnstableHorizontal
• 12-FohannoPolidoriVerticalWall
• 13-NusseltJurges
• 14-McAdams
• 15-Mitchell
• 16-BlockenWindard
• 17-Emmel
• 18-ClearRoof
Note: When the surface is wet (i.e. it is raining and the surface is exposed to wind) then the convection
coefficient appears in results as a very large number (1000) and the surface is exposed to the Outdoor Wet
Bulb Temperature rather than the Outdoor Dry Bulb Temperature.
As well as being able to define convection options on the Model data on Construction tab under the Surface
Convection header as described above, building level inside and outside convection algorithm settings can be
made on:
You cannot make changes to individual surface convection settings where the surface is an internal partition.
All of the above algorithms are described fully in the EnergyPlus Engineering Reference.
Note: the equivalent inside and outside surface convection options in the Calculation and Model options
dialogs control building default values (equivalent of making a setting in Model data at building level) and
any changes made at block, zone or surface levels in the Model data will override these default settings.
Component Block
Construction tab in model data under Construction header
Component blocks can be used to include shading and reflection effects of objects such as local shading
devices, awnings, adjacent buildings and trees. They can also be used to define ground and adiabatic
adjacencies. The component block model data allows you to define the component block type, whether the
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Component Block
component block shades and reflects in simulations, transmittance of the shading material and also a
schedule for modelling variations in transmittance at different times of the day, seasons etc. For example they
can be used for modelling deciduous trees which shade more in the summer when they have leaves than they
do in winter when the leaves have fallen.
For more information on the Component block types see Component Block under Working with Blocks
(Building Level)
Note: Solar and light reflection from the ground is included even if the solar Model reflections option is not
used, but if reflections are not calculated the ground plane is considered unobstructed, i.e., the shadowing of
the ground by the building itself or by component blocks is ignored. Shadowing of the ground by component
blocks is only taken into account if the Model reflections option is used. Conclusion: Switch Model reflections
on for the most accurate shading calculations.
Level
This setting allows you to associate component blocks with either the building or the site, depending on
whether they are in some way part of the building or a fixed part of the site layout. Most of the time you won’t
need to change it, but for some simulations it can be important to attach component blocks to the site rather
than the building. For example if you are trying to optimise a building’s orientation using the parametric or
optimisation tools, or using the ASHRAE 90.1 automated baseline or UK DSM tools, you should leave
component blocks that represent building structures such as shades and canopies set to the default building
level. However for component blocks that represent fixed site objects such as other buildings or site
topography, you should set these to be site level objects to ensure that they are not rotated with the building
as part of any parametric variations.
Select whether the component block is considered to be part of the building or the site, choosing from:
• 1-Building - the default option where the component block is considered to be part of the building and
so is rotated with the building as part of parametric and optimisation studies where the Building
orientation is varied. Typically, any component blocks used to model building shading, should be given
this assignment.
• 2-Site - the component block is considered to be part of the fixed wider site, perhaps representing an
existing building or a tree and so is not rotated with the building as part of parametric and optimisation
studies.
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Note: It is especially important to make the correct setting here for UK DSM and ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix
G PRM buildings because any 1-Building level standard component blocks are removed from the auto-
generated notional and reference/baseline buildings. This is done based on the assumption that they
represent shading devices that must be excluded to be in keeping with code rules. If the component block is
intended to represent another building or other site object make sure to use the 2-Site setting.
Material
The component block material is used to define the solar and visible reflectance of the block surfaces in
Cooling design calculations and Simulations using real weather data when the model reflections calculation
option is selected.
Important Note: Component blocks do not absorb or conduct heat in any way - their only effect on
building surfaces in simulations is related to the shading and reflection of short-wave solar radiation and light.
In cases where the component block touches the building, the material associated with the component block
and the thickness of the block are not used in any way to modify the conduction of heat.
Note: Although component blocks are displayed in DesignBuilder as solid objects, non-flat component
blocks are modelled in EnergyPlus as a group of surfaces and it is the reflectance and transmission of each of
these surfaces that is being described here. The solar flux incident upon a building façade will be attenuated
by each successive shading object located on a path between the façade and the sun position.
• 1-Upper surface, where the uppermost of the 2 largest component block surfaces is used.
• 2-Lower surface, where the lowermost of the 2 largest component block surfaces is used.
• 3-Midway surface, where a surface midway between the lowermost and uppermost large component
block surfaces is used in simulations.
• 4-All surfaces, where flat components are represented using all surfaces like non-flat component
blocks.
Maximum Transmittance
Warning 1: In EnergyPlus (v8.9) used in DesignBuilder v6.0 and v6.1 there is a bug in the calculation of solar
radiation through multiple partially transmitting shading surfaces as recorded in EnergyPlus Issue 6420. The
bug applies only to non-flat component blocks and non-zero values as Maximum transmittance for flat
component blocks.
You are advised not to enter any value other than 0 here for non-flat component blocks until
EnergyPlus issue 6420 has been fixed.
Warning 2: Also, for flat, partially transmitting component blocks you must ensure that the blocks are either
rectangular or triangular in shape. More complex shaped flat, partially transmitting component blocks will not
transmit solar radiation and light as expected.
Flat, partially transmitting component blocks must be rectangular or triangular in shape to ensure
correct solar and light transmission.
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Component Block
This is the maximum solar transmittance of the entire component block to be used in EnergyPlus simulations.
The transmittance of the component block during the simulation is calculated by multiplying the maximum
transmittance by the time varying schedule value:
You will generally want component blocks to provide 100% shading for 100% of the time. In this case you can
leave the Maximum transmittance and Transmittance schedule in their default states of 0 and On
respectively. If you wish the component block to transmit solar and visible radiation you can define the extent
and timing of the transmission. The component block transmittance is calculated during the simulations as the
Maximum transmittance multiplied by the value of the transmittance schedule below. The maximum
transmittance can have any value between 0 and 1. Note that if the component block is flat (i.e. it consists of 2
large surfaces and several smaller 'edge' surfaces) the block is represented in the simulations by a single
shading surface. In this case the surface used will depend on the value of the Flat surface position above.
Tip: If your component block has a constant transmittance you can set the transmittance schedule below to
On and set the constant transmittance for the block here.
For non-flat component blocks every surface is included in the simulation as a shading surface and the solar
flux incident upon a building facade will be attenuated by each successive shading object located on a path
between the facade and the sun position. The shading transmittance schedule you define is therefore
modified to ensure that the overall transmittance of the block is the Maximum Transmittance value multiplied
by the schedule you selected. This is done assuming that the component block is convex and that therefore
solar rays can only pass through a maximum of 2 surfaces. The transmittance of each non-flat component
block surface is set to square root of the value you defined to achieve this.
Note: non-convex, non-flat component blocks will provide more shading than you specified during
times when solar rays pass through more than 2 surfaces.
Warning: Component blocks do not provide any transmission for Radiance daylighting calculations and so
this value and the transmittance schedule below are ignored when preparing inputs for Radiance.
Transmittance schedule
The component block transmittance schedule defines any time-varying transmittance of the component block
surfaces (for EnergyPlus simulations only). By default, the component block is fully opaque for the whole year.
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The transmittance schedule can contain any value between 0 and 1. The transmittance schedule can be
used to allow for seasonal transmittance change, such as deciduous trees that have a higher transmittance in
winter than in summer. The table "Modifying Characteristics of Various Species of Trees" in "Landscape
Architectural Graphic Standards"• by Leonard J. Hopper, 2007 contains some data on tree solar
transmission.
Transmittance based on time of day can also be used - a movable awning, for example, where the
transmittance is some value less than 1.0 when the awning is in place and is 1.0 when the awning is retracted.
The following assumptions are made in the shading surface transmittance calculation:
• Both sides of the shading surface have the same transmittance properties.
• The transmittance is the same for both beam and diffuse solar radiation.
• Beam solar transmittance is independent of angle of incidence on the shading surface.
• Beam radiation incident on a shading surface is transmitted as beam radiation with no change in
direction, i.e., there is no beam-to-diffuse component.
• If two shading surfaces with non-zero transmittance overlap, the net transmittance is the product of the
individual transmittances. Inter-reflection between the shading
• surfaces (and between the shading surfaces and the building) is ignored.
• For the daylighting calculation the shading surface’s visible transmittance is assumed to be the same
as its solar transmittance.
• Shading devices are assumed to be opaque to long-wave radiation no matter what the solar
transmittance value is.
Note: Shading devices only shade solar radiation when the sun is up, which is automatically determined
by EnergyPlus from latitude, time of year, etc. So you only need to account for the time-varying transmittance
of the shading device in the transmittance schedule,for times whether the sun is up. In other words for times
when the sun is not up, it doesn't matter what value of transmittance is contained in the schedule.
You can model linear thermal bridging at junction such as wall to wall corners, wall to floor edges etc using the
settings under the Linear Thermal Bridges at Junctions header on the Construction tab. These settings are
used at zone level and apply to all surface junctions in the zone. Defaults are provided at building and block
levels.
The default Psi values in DesignBuilder are the based on BRE IP 1/06 values degraded by the greater of 0.04
W/mK or 50%. More details on this and how the data relates to the UK NCM can be found in the NCM
modelling guide.
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Linear Thermal Bridges At Junctions
Note: The linear bridging defined by these Psi values is used in Simulations, SBEM and DSM
calculations, Heating design and Cooling design calculations.
Note: Negative psi values can be entered, however if the total zone linear heat conduction rate is
calculated as negative it is not included in the model (since EnergyPlus has no concept of negative
conduction). In this case a corresponding reduction in surface area must be included manually elsewhere in
the zone. The required negative conductance is written out in W/K to the IDF file as a comment.
Units are W/m-K or Btu-in/h-ft2-F, i.e. heat flux per length of junction per unit difference in inside to outside
temperature.
Constructions involving metal cladding are roof or wall systems where metal forms an integral part of the
construction, such as metal twin skin systems where the insulation is located between the metal skins and
where the metal skins are typically in the range 0.4 mm to 1.2 mm. Cladding with z-spacers would come into
this category as would composite metal panel systems.
If the metal is simply used as an external shield against weather, such as a rainscreen, this is not classed, for
the purposes of calculations as "metal cladding".
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Metal cladding systems are divided into two broad categories, these being:
a. built up metal cladding systems involving rail and bracket or z-spacer systems with insulation within the
panels
b. composite panel metal cladding systems with insulation inside the panels
You can define whether a construction includes metal cladding on the Constructions dialog.
How it Works
DesignBuilder calculates a total linear bridging transmittance for each zone by summing the length for each of
the 14 bridging categories and multiplying each by the Psi value entered for that category. The total bridging
length is calculated based on the zone outer dimensions.
You will need to confirm that you have set the Psi values accordingly with the convention set.
The total bridging transmittance to outside for the zone is included in the EnergyPlus model using a single
standard WallExterior surface type per zone with no film resistance applied. These surfaces are located
below the building to avoid interfering with shading calculations.
The area of these fictitious surfaces is calculated such that the total conductance is the same as that of the
sum of the linear bridges based on the known conductance of the predefined construction called
LinearBridgingConstruction.
Baffle
Construction tab in model data under Construction header
You can model a multi-skin exterior heat transfer surface by making settings on the Constructions tab under
the Baffle header at surface level. Baffle components consist of an outside baffle surface which is slightly
detached from the main wall or roof forming a cavity which exchanges air with the outside environment.
Baffles are typically used to model naturally ventilated rainscreens and/or solar shading of exterior surfaces.
The constructions used to define the underlying wall/roof should reflect the construction of just the underlying
surface. The data described here is used to describe the decoupled baffle layer and the characteristics of the
cavity and openings for natural ventilation.
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Baffle
Tip: If the baffle covers only part of a surface, then surfaces without the baffle can be modelled as sub-
surfaces which do not have natural vented cavities.
Tip: You can enter corresponding data for natural vented cavities on the Construction template dialog. If
you need to apply settings to a large number of surfaces you may find the fasted way to do this is to use the
Load data from template dialog, selecting the surfaces which have a baffle on the Target tab and selecting the
Construction template with the appropriate natural vented cavity and construction settings.
Technical Notes
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the program from the (flat) underlying surfaces. If the baffle is flat then this ratio is 1.0. If the baffle is
corrugated, then this ratio will be greater than one with a typical value might be 1.165.
• 1-Very rough
• 2-Rough
• 3-Medium rough
• 4-Medium smooth
• 5-Smooth
• 6-Very smooth
where is the value input into the field above for the height scale for buoyancy-driven ventilation.
Once a solar collector surface has been placed you can define its properties on the Constructions tab under
the Solar Collector header.
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Solar Collector Model Data
Depending on the type of solar collector selected you will see different data below. For Solar hot water
collectors the only data that can be edited here is the material used to represent the panel in rendered views
on the Visualisation tab. All of the rest of the data is defined with the HVAC Solar collector component and its
host loop.
When the 2-Photovoltaic option is selected further configuration and performance data for the PV panels can
be entered as shown in the screenshot below.
Cost
You can define the cost of the collector per area. The units will be the unit of currency currently selected on
the Program options dialog per area (e.g. GBP/m2 or USD/ft2).
Costs for the electric distribution can be included separately on the Load centre dialog.
Level
This setting allows you to associate solar panels with either the building or the site, depending on whether
they attached to the building or a fixed part of the site layout. Most of the time you won’t need to change it, but
for some simulations it can be important to attach panels to the site rather than the building. For example if
you are trying to optimise the orientation of the solar collector using the parametric or optimisation tools, or
using the ASHRAE 90.1 automated baseline or UK DSM tools, you should leave panels that are attached to
the building structures set to the default building level. However for panels that are fixed site objects, you
should set these to be site level objects to ensure that they are not rotated with the building as part of any
parametric variations.
Select whether the component block is considered to be part of the building or the site, choosing from:
• 1-Building - the default option where the solar collector is considered to be part of the building and so
is rotated with the building as part of parametric and optimisation studies where the Building orientation
is varied.
• 2-Site - the solar collector is considered to be part of the fixed wider site, perhaps as part of a ground-
mounted array and so is not rotated with the building as part of parametric and optimisation studies.
Material
This material is used only to define the texture to represent the Solar collector in rendered views on the
Visualisation screen.
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• 1-Upper surface, where the uppermost of the 2 largest solar panel surfaces is used in simulations.
• 2-Lower surface, where the lowermost of the 2 largest solar panel surfaces is used in simulations.
• 3-Midway surface, where a surface midway between the lowermost and uppermost large surfaces is
used in simulations.
• 4-All surfaces, this option should not be selected for solar collectors. It is only made available because
the same list is used for component blocks. If this option is selected, DesignBuilder will reset it at the
solar collector level to 1-Upper surface at the point of simulation input generation.
Photovoltaic Options
Performance type
Select from:
• 1-Simple, and
• 2-Equivalent One-Diode.
Depending on the selection you will be able to select from either a simple or equivalent one-diode definition of
the panel.
Tip: PV panels are included in the electrical generation side of the model by specifying them on the
Generator list tab of the Electric load centre dialog when one of the d.c. Buss types is selected.
Performance model
Choose the component to be used to define the performance of the collector. When the 1-Simple
performance type is selected, select from the list of previously defined Simple Photovoltaic components, or
when 2-Equivalent One-Diode is selected then choose from one of the Equivalent One-Diode components.
• 1-Decoupled, where the cell temperature of modules in the array is computed based on an energy
balance relative to NOCT conditions.
• 2-Decoupled Ulleberg Dynamic, where the cell temperature is calculated based on a dynamic model
developed by Ulleberg12.
Note: The above decoupled PV solar panels shade solar radiation from any other building surfaces below
so they can be used to model PV shading, awning and the reduced solar gain on roofs where there is a
ventilated cavity below the panel. They will be less accurate from the thermal point of view for building
integrated PV panels where there is a significant thermal solar gain through the panel and into the building
fabric.
Note: Building Integrated PV (BIPV) panels with closer thermal links with the building fabric can be
modelled directly on the Construction and Glazing dialogs by selecting the appropriate categories. In this case
further Heat transfer integration modes are allowed.
Modules in parallel
This field is the number of series-wired strings of PV modules that are in parallel to form the PV array. The
product of this field and the next field should equal the total number of modules in the array.
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PV Generator - Simple
The Modules in parallel and Modules in series data are only used for 2-Equivalent One-Diode PV arrays.
Modules in series
This field is the number of modules wired in series (on each string) to form the PV array. The product of this
field and the previous field should equal the total number of modules in the array.
PV Generator - Simple
PV Generator Simple component describes a simple model of PV panels that may be useful for early phase
design analysis. It provides direct access to the efficiency with which PV panels convert incident solar
radiation to electricity and does not require arrays of specific modules to be defined. The full geometric model
for solar radiation is used, including shading and reflections to determine the incident solar on the panel. This
model is intended to be useful for design purposes to quickly get an idea of the levels for annual production
and peak power. The model can also accept arbitrary conversion efficiencies and does not require actual
production units be tested to obtain performance coefficients.
Name
This field is the name of the PV array. The name is only used as an identifier.
Efficiency schedule
Select the schedule which specifies dimensionless efficiency values between 0.0 and 1.0. This could be used
for example to vary the efficiency to match results computed with more detailed models.
Note: The Rated electric power is used for sizing the battery storage and inverters and does not define
the maximum power output available from the panel.
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For more details on this input and its relationship with electric storage refer to Electrical Storage in the
EnergyPlus Engineering Reference.
Availability schedule
Select the generator availability schedule. A schedule value of 0 indicates the generator is not available, while
a schedule value > 0 indicates that the generator is available to operate.
Note: The number series and parallel-wired of Equivalent One Diode modules to be included in the model
are defined on the Constructions tab under the Solar Collector header.
Technical
Mathematically speaking, the EnergyPlus PV module employs equations for an empirical equivalent circuit
model to predict the current-voltage characteristics of a single module. This circuit consists of a DC current
source, diode, and either one or two resistors. The strength of the current source is dependent on solar
radiation and the IV characteristics of the diode are temperature-dependent. The results for a single module
equivalent circuit are extrapolated to predict the performance of a multi-module array.
The module employs a “four-parameter” equivalent circuit to model crystalline (both mono and poly) PV
modules developed at the University of Wisconsin – Madison [2]. The values of these parameters cannot
normally be obtained directly from manufacturers’ catalogs. However, the PV module will automatically
calculate them from commonly available data. The PV module also includes an optional incidence angle
modifier correlation to calculate how the reflectance of the PV module surface varies with the angle of
incidence of solar radiation.
More detailed technical information can be found in the EnergyPlus Engineering Reference.
Name
This field contains the unique name for the photovoltaic module performance data. The name is used as an
identifier.
Cell type
This field is used to describe the type of technology used in the PV module. There are two options available:
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PV Solar Collector Performance - Equivalent One Diode
Cells in series
The number of individual cells wired in series to make up a single module. The typical number for a 12V
crystalline silicon PV module is 36.
Active area
This field is the active area of the PV module in (m2 or ft2).
Semiconductor bandgap
This field is the semiconductor bandgap for the PV material. The bandgap for silicon is 1.12eV (electron volts).
Shunt resistance
This field is the shunt (parallel) resistance (in Ω) in the single diode electrical model of the PV. The shunt
resistance is effectively infinite for crystalline silicon based PV modules and is finite for thin film and exotic
metal modules.
Reference temperature
This field is the ambient temperature (in K or °F) at reference conditions. The value is usually 298K
Reference Insolation
This field is the radiation level (in W/m2 or Btu/h-ft2-°F) at reference conditions. The value is usually 1000
W/m2.
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Note: The Rated electric power is used for sizing the battery storage and inverters and does not define
the maximum power output available from the panel.
For details in this input and its relationship with electric storage refer to Electrical Storage in the EnergyPlus
Engineering Reference.
Availability schedule
Select the generator availability schedule. A schedule value of 0 indicates the generator is not available, while
a schedule value > 0 indicates that the generator is available to operate.
Current
Short circuit current
This field is the short circuit current (in A) for an individual module in the PV array at reference conditions.
Voltage
Open circuit voltage
This field is the open circuit voltage (in V) for an individual module in the PV array at reference conditions.
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Ground Domain
Ground Domain
Construction tab in model data under Construction header
Kiva
If the site level Ground modelling method is set to 4-Kiva Full then options are made available on the
Constructions tab for surfaces in contact with the ground and also at building, block and zone levels for setting
defaults for ground-adjacency surfaces.
Kiva adjacency
If you are at surface level and the current surface has an adjacency to a Kiva foundation then check this
checkbox. If you are at building, block or zone level then you can use this checkbox to set the default if the
majority of the ground adjacent surfaces in that object have an adjacency with a Kiva foundation.
Tip: If all (or most) ground-adjacent floors and walls in the building are to linked to Kiva foundations then
you should check this option at building level and select the most commonly used Kiva foundation (below).
Kiva foundation
If you are at surface level and the above Kiva adjacency checkbox is checked then select the appropriate Kiva
foundation . If you are at building, block or zone level then you can use this checkbox to set the default Kiva
foundation.
Ground Domain
If the site level Ground modelling method is set to 3-Ground domain (v6.2 and later) or the Include ground
domains checkbox was ticked (v6.1 and earlier) then an option will be available on the Constructions tab for
surfaces in contact with the ground and also at building, block and zone levels for setting defaults.
• 1-No ground domain - the surface is not in contact with a ground domain. Instead the conditions on
the other side of the surface are defined using the default ground temperature mechanism using
Ground monthly temperatures.
• 2-Slab - the horizontal surface is in contact with a slab ground domain object.
• 3-Basement - the underground surface is in contact with a basement ground domain object.
Ground domain
Select the ground domain in contact with this surface from the drop list of available domains.
Tip: Domain-surface connection settings can be made at any of building, block, zone and surface levels.
Setting data at building, block or zone level provides a quick way to associate multiple ground adjacent
surfaces to a single ground domain.
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Ground Domain Slab Tutorial
This tutorial takes you through the basic steps of adding a single ground domain to an existing single zone
model. It illustrates the process involved in adding a ground slab with vertical and horizontal insulation. The
objective is to model a case like that illustrated schematically below.
Data Entry
1. Create a single zone model 10m x 20m with the longest dimension on the E-W axis as shown below. Use
default settings throughout including the default London Gatwick location.
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Ground Domain Slab Tutorial
2. The first step in setting up a ground domain is to navigate to site level and on the Location tab, open the
Site Details header and also the Ground and Ground Domain headers.
3. Switch on the Include ground domains option to initiate the ground domain system.
4. To model a single ground slab set the Number of ground domains to 1 and copy the "Default Slab"
Ground domain to create an editable copy for working with. Name it "Project Slab" and select it. Your screen
should now look something like the screenshot below.
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5. Now edit the "Project Slab" Ground domain, making the following changes:
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Ground Domain Slab Tutorial
Data on the Insulation tab should now look like the screenshot below:
The meaning of the various thicknesses, depths and offsets defined above can be seen in the schematic
diagram at the top of this article.
6. Navigate to the Ground floor surface, open the Construction tab and open the Ground Domain header.
8. To associate the Project Slab ground domain that you have defined above with the ground floor surface, set
the Ground domain to 1-Project slab. The Constructions tab for the ground surface should now look like the
screenshot below.
Note: Because this is a single zone model with a single ground floor, you could equally make this setting
at building, block or zone level. For a larger model whose ground domain definition is the same for all ground
floors you may prefer to make this setting at building level.
9. Because we are using the 2-In-grade ground domain option, the ground floor construction must not include
the slab, insulation or earth, so the default ground floor construction must be updated to reflect this rule. Edit
the default "Project ground floor" construction by removing the insulation and cast concrete layers. The
construction dialog should look like the screenshot below:
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That completes the main part of the model set up and you are now ready to run simulations.
Simulations
We will run 5 simulations to help us understand the impact of some key changes to the model. Please read all
of this section before running any simulations.
1. 1m insulation depth (vertical) and 1m perimeter insulation width (horizontal), the configuration defined
above.
2. 2m insulation depth (vertical) and 2m perimeter insulation width (horizontal). To set this up open the
"Project Slab" Ground domain dialog, click on the Insulation tab and change both the horizontal
Perimeter insulation width and vertical Depth to 2m.
3. The same configuration as defined for simulation 1, but with the horizontal insulation extent set to 1-
Full.
4. No insulation. To set this up open the "Project Slab" Ground domain dialog, click on the Insulation tab
and uncheck the Include horizontal/vertical insulation checkboxes.
5. No ground domains, reverting to the standard monthly ground temperature approach. To set this up
uncheck the site level Include ground domains option to disable the ground domain system. In this
case the ground floor heat flow will be simulated in 1-D using an adjacency to the Ground monthly
temperatures defined at site level.
Ensure that the Surface heat transfer output option is checked before running any simulations so that ground
heat transfer data is generated to help us compare the 5 options.
Use the Simulation Manager to run the simulations and give the simulations appropriate descriptions to
ensure that results are labelled correctly when we view them in the Results Viewer.
Viewing Results
When you have finished running the 5 simulations, open the Simulation Manager and select the 5 simulation
result sets. Then click on the toolbar icon to compare the results in Results Viewer as shown below.
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Ground Domain Slab Tutorial
In Results Viewer, with the results loaded, click on the Monthly tab, select the ground floor heat loss Report
Type and click on the Add selected variables to new graph for all datasets toolbar icon as shown below.
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Notes on the Results
1. The lowest heat loss results from the case with most extensive insulation: full horizontal slab insulation
and 2m vertical insulation (blue line).
2. Replacing the full horizontal insulation with 2m perimeter insulation gives the next lowest floor heat loss
(green line).
3. Reducing the perimeter insulation further to 1m gives the next lowest heat loss (yellow line).
4. Removing all insulation increases heat loss as expected (red line).
5. For the no ground domain case, the results are (perhaps not surprisingly) very different from the other
simulations that do use the ground domain. The uninsulated ground floor is directly exposed to the
default constant 18°C monthly ground temperatures and heat flows are much lower in the winter and
much higher in the summer.
The tutorial hopefully demonstrates how spending a few minutes setting up a slab ground domain allows us to
model the ground heat loss in a much accurate way than using the basic default 1-D method.
The next part of the tutorial shows you how to run multi-year simulations and check results. Follow the steps
below.
1. Ensure that the model is configured per the original settings, case 1 under the Simulations section: 1m
insulation depth (vertical) and 1m perimeter insulation width (horizontal), then run a simulation for 5 years, as
described above. This takes longer than you might expect for this simple building because the ground domain
is being simulated in 2-D over a 5-year period.
2. When the simulation has finished load the results into DesignBuilder.
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Airtightness
3. Navigate to building level, select the 2-Monthly interval and 5-Fabric and ventilation data and Show as 1-
Graph options. If you also deselect the other fabric and ventilation data using the checkboxes on the Detailed
tab of the Display options panel, you should see an output similar to the one below.
4. Older versions of DesignBuilder may not display multiple years on the graph at one time so, as an
alternative to the above, you can display results in a spreadsheet. To do this, navigate to building level, select
the 2-Monthly interval and 5-Fabric and ventilation data and Show as 2-Grid options.
5. Export the results to a CSV file by click on the Export data toolbar icon and on the Export Data dialog
select the 1-File and CSV spreadsheet options.
6. In the spreadsheet set up a graph to display ground heat loss over the 5 year period to see a graph similar
to the one below.
Note: The important point to note from the above analysis is that the ground heat loss in the first month of
January is much higher than in subsequent years due to the inadequately formed temperature field in the
ground domain in the first year.
Airtightness
Construction tab in model data
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There are two ways of defining air tightness depending on the Natural ventilation model option:
• Scheduled
• Calculated
In both cases infiltration can be switched off at building, block or zone level.
Model infiltration
Infiltration is included by default but you can switch infiltration off by unchecking the Model infiltration
checkbox.
Infiltration rate
With the Scheduled natural ventilation option set the design infiltration rate (rate of entry of unintentional air
from outside through cracks, holes and through the porosity of the fabric) is assumed to be constant
throughout the simulation though it can vary with time through a schedule. The design infiltration rate can be
set in one of 4 different units depending on the setting of the Infiltration units model option:
1. ac/h - the default option where infiltration is defined in air changes per hour (ac/h), i.e. zone volume per
hour under standard operating pressures. An input value is entered equivalent to the actual anticipated
air changes due to infiltration during normal operation under typical pressures, not under pressure test
conditions. It will operate according to its schedule (below). Note that if you input a value of 0.6 (and
assuming a schedule value of 1) then in the outputs you will see 0.6 +/- a small amount as the air
temperature (and hence density) varies slightly.
2. m3/h-m2 at 50 Pa infiltration is defined as flow rate in m3/h per unit exposed surface area, when the
pressure difference between inside and outside is 50 Pa. Unit commonly used in the UK. Note that this
is a rate under pressure test conditions and therefore the actual rate under normal operating conditions
(at much lower pressures) will be a lot lower.
3. m3/h-m2 at 4 Pa infiltration is defined as flow rate in m3/h per unit exposed surface area, when the
pressure difference between inside and outside is 4 Pa. Units commonly used in France and Belgium.
DesignBuilder calculates the actual resultant value under Standard Pressure of 1atm or 101325 Pa
using formulae from EN12831 (section 7.2.2):
The epsilon coefficient is the building height class and is calculated by DesignBuilder based on the
building height:
epsilon:
• 0-10m = 1
• > 10-30m = 1.2
• > 30m = 1.5
The ei - wind exposure class [coefficient] is determined based on the façade exposure of each zone
according with the table below.
Heated zone no façade Heated zone with single Heated zone with multiple
Exposure description
exposed to outside façade exposed façades exposed
Open site (sea shores,
0.01 0.03 0.05
open country...)
Medium sheltered site 0.01 0.02 0.03
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Airtightness (Scheduled Natural Ventilation)
4. n50 - ac/h at 50 Pa - infiltration is defined in air changes per hour (ac/h), i.e. zone volume per hour,
when the pressure difference between inside and outside is 50 Pa. Unit commonly used in Europe.
When this option is selected there are options to override the default EN 12831 wind exposure and
building height coefficients to account for national standards. See below under Coefficient Override
options for "n50 - ac/h at 50 Pa".
The air flow rate in m3/s at standard pressure is calculated from the ac/h data using:
where ZoneVolume is the total air volume of the space including the volume of floor and ceiling constructions
and any raised floor and suspended ceiling voids (if selected in Separate constructions) and including half the
volume of partition walls.
Note: this total zone volume value may be different from the value used for calculating air flow rates for
natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation which have model options for excluding floor/ceiling
constructions.
The ac/h at standard pressure is calculated from other units using formulae in EN12831 and the m3/s
calculated using the above formula.
Note: The "exposed surface area" of a zone used in the m3/h-m2 options is calculated by DesignBuilder
as the sum of the gross area of all surfaces that have an external adjacency. That includes external walls, flat
and pitched roofs, external floors and all external windows. It does not include ground floors, semi-exposed or
adiabatic surfaces.
Height coefficient
Enter the height coefficient to override the default value from EN 12831.
Schedule
The schedule that modifies the design infiltration rate. The schedule should contain fractions between 0.0 and
1.0 and is used for Cooling design and Simulations (when the Scheduled natural ventilation option is set) but
not for Heating design calculations which use the constant design infiltration rate.
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Note: Both the Infiltration rate and Schedule are only used in Simulations when the Scheduled natural
ventilation model option is set. However this data is still used when Calculated natural ventilation is set for
Cooling design calculations (Infiltration rate and schedule) and Heating design calculations (Infiltration rate
only).
Model infiltration
Infiltration is included by default but you can switch infiltration off by unchecking the Model infiltration
checkbox. This may be useful if you are carrying out a calculated natural ventilation summertime simulation of
a large building to reduce the number of cracks in the model and so speed simulations.
Note: if you switch off infiltration when Calculated natural ventilation is active, you should make sure that
the Natural ventilation option on the HVAC tab is switched on to ensure that sufficient flow paths exist.
Otherwise EnergyPlus may generate errors.
• 1-Template slider.
• 2-Crack template.
Template slider
Airtightness is defined through a five point scale:
Crack template
When the 2-Crack template Airtightness method is used, airtightness is defined through a specific selection
of a template which can be user-defined. With this method it is still possible to select the pre-defined crack
templates referred to by the Template slider method.
• Airflow through the surface itself which could be caused by cracks or by general fabric porosity.
• Cracks between windows, vents and doors and the main wall or roof surface.
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Airtightness (Calculated Natural Ventilation)
The data that allows DesignBuilder to generate these airflow paths is stored in Crack templates. For example,
take a 20m2 external wall with a single 2m x 1m window. If the Good crack template is selected for the
surface then the flow paths used in the simulations will be as follows:
1. Main surface infiltration 0.000040 kg/s.m2 @ 1Pa, which for the 18m2 (20m2 - 2m2) wall = 0.0072 kg/s
@ 1Pa.
2. In the Good Crack template, cracks between windows and walls have infiltration 0.000060 kg/s.m @
1Pa. Our window has perimeter 6m so the overall crack property used in the simulation would be
0.00036 kg/s @ 1Pa.
The screenshots below indicate the source of the above Crack template values.
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External wall crack data in Crack template dialog
Note: As well as being included in standard simulations, infiltration from Calculated natural ventilation is
also included in Detailed HVAC autosizing calculations and also in Simple HVAC sizing when using the 2-
EnergyPlus Simple HVAC autosizing method.
Constant rate
Enter the maximum rate of infiltration, which is modified by the multiplier fraction factors in the Schedule select
below. The units for the infiltration depend on the Infiltration units Model data setting. This value and the
associated schedule below are used for Cooling design calculations as well as simulations when using
Scheduled natural ventilation.
Note: for zones that are below ground level you should set the infiltration rate to zero if there is no
external air entering through cracks/porosity. Such zones shouldn't receive any infiltration during the
simulation when calculated natural ventilation is set because the "external" surfaces will be adjacent to
ground, but this does need to be set manually for heating and cooling design purposes.
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Construction Cost
Schedule
Select the schedule which defines any time-varying of the infiltration. The default schedule is On giving a
constant infiltration rate based on the Constant rate entered as described above.
Construction Cost
Construction tab in model data
Additional cost data can be defined for each zone and surface using the controls under the Cost header on
the Constructions model data tab.
Tip: The Cost data help topic provides an overview of the places in DesignBuilder where costs are entered.
Sub-Structure cost
In general the sub-structure cost is the cost of all works below ground level. The sub-structure cost data
entered here is used at zone level and is multiplied by the zone sub-structure surface area ,which is calculated
as the sum of all ground floor areas in the zone, i.e. the sum of all floors with a ground adjacency.
Note: Additional substructure cost is included in below grade surfaces and their constructions.
Structure
Select the structure type to define the cost of the building structural elements per floor area. This data is used
zone by zone when calculating total building structural costs. Structure costs appear in the report, depending
on the cost model used, as follows:
Walls
Enter the cost of internal finishes for all walls (external and internal partitions) in cost per surface area. This
should cover the cost of paint, wallpaper or any other material or process not already covered in the wall
construction costs.
Floors
Enter the cost of internal finishes for all floors (external, ground and internal) in cost per surface area. This
should cover the cost of paint, polish or any other material or process not already covered in the floor
construction costs.
Ceilings
Enter the cost of internal finishes for all ceilings (internal and underside of external roof surfaces) in cost per
surface area. This should cover the cost of paint, polish or any other material or process not already covered
in the ceiling/roof construction costs.
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Openings Model Data (Windows, Doors, Vents, Holes,
Sub-surfaces)
Openings tab in model data
The term opening is used in DesignBuilder to describe any opening in the main building fabric. These are
modelled as exceptions to the main surface construction. There are five types of opening:
• Windows
• Sub-surfaces ( i.e. opaque elements within the surface that have different properties from the main
construction. For example lintels and lightweight panels can be defined as sub-surfaces. Data for these
is held on the Construction tab)
• Holes
• Doors
• Vents
The layout, operation and construction data for these (apart from sub-surfaces) can be set on the Openings
tab.
Templates
You can load generic Opening data by clicking on the Template option under Glazing Template and then by
clicking on the '...' at the right of the line (below).
When you make a selection from the list of Glazing templates, data from selected template will be loaded to
the model.
• External Glazing
• Internal Glazing
• Roof Glazing
• Doors
• Vents
headers to enter opening details where they are different from those loaded from the template.
Note: Once you have created custom openings on any particular surface, changes made to facade layout
on this tab will not affect the layout for the surface.
All Openings data is used to generate simulation data at the Surface level.
You can also override default Pressure Coefficient data when the Calculated Natural ventilation option is set
and you are at surface level.
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External Glazing
External Glazing
Openings tab in model data
The data under the External Glazing header applies to all glazing lying on external walls. You can enter
information on:
• Dimensions
• Frame
• Shading
• Operation
Dimensions (Walls)
Openings tab in model data under External Glazing and Internal Glazing headers
You can use settings such as Window to wall % (WWR) and Window height, Window spacing and Sill
height to easily change the amount of glazing and its layout on the walls. The way this data is used for each
façade type is described below.
Facade types
There are a number of standard façade types:
Window to Wall %
Often referred to as the Window to Wall Ratio (WWR) this setting can be used to change the amount of
glazing for all openings at or below the current level in the building hierarchy. For example changing the WWR
at building level changes the size of all windows in the model not overridden by other settings lower in the
hierarchy.
When using the 2-Outer volume Zone geometry and surface areas option (typically one of the "External
measurements " convention templates) it is important to understand that the reference surface area used
when calculating the window area from the % value supplied is based on the Window to wall ratio method
which is accessed from the Constructions tab under the "Geometry Areas and Volumes" on page 320header.
The image below illustrates a wall in a model using the "External measurements" geometry convention
template where a window has been created using the 3-Preferred height façade option with a 10% glazing
ratio. You can see the black outline showing the available area where the window could possibly be sited.
Areas outside this outline to the left and right are taken up by corners with adjacent walls. The % glazing
calculation uses the black outline area as the reference area. In an extreme case where 100% glazing is
specified the whole of this area would be filled with window, but of course the sides of the surface where there
is a corner with an adjacent surface cannot contain a window and so do not take part in the calculation - even
though they will form part of the surface used in the simulation.
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Tip: If you need to ensure that the % window areas used in the simulation exactly match the % you define
here then you should consider using the Simple Geometry convention template which ensures that 100% of
each surface is available for containing windows by using zero surface thickness for all surfaces.
Note: If any custom windows are drawn on a surface, the automatic (aka default) façade mechanism
described on this page using Window to Wall % (WWR), window width, height, spacing etc is not applied any
more. The façade mechanism can be reinstated using the Clear data to default option.
Window width
The width of the windows including any frame (in m or ft).
Window height
The height of the windows including any frame (in m or ft).
Window spacing
The spacing between the each window on the façade (in m or ft). The window spacing is the centre to centre
spacing between windows, not the gap between windows.
Sill height
This is the height of the base of the window from the base of the block (in m or ft).
Note 1: You can control the configuration of the building façades in greater detail by drawing individual
"custom" windows at the surface level or by copying previously drawn windows at building level. In either of
these cases glazing, vent and door façade layout model data is ignored.
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Frame And Dividers
Note 2: Flat roofs do not have default glazing set up using Roof glazing layout model data. To create
openings on a flat roof you should go to the surface level and add them there.
Note 3: When the surface is non-rectangular, even with the 2 façade type options that prioritise Window
to wall % (3-Preferred height and 1-Continuous horizontal), the Window to wall % will not be perfectly
maintained. For these surfaces, DesignBuilder calculates a rectangle that can accept the windows and starts
from one end of the rectangle adding windows using the Window spacing data until no more fit into the
rectangle. This results in an approximately correct looking façade but only prioritises Window to wall % in the
rectangle, not accounting for the areas outside the bounding rectangle. For relatively large values of Window
spacing on non-rectangular surfaces, no glazing may be generated. For example you may find that gable
window surfaces have no default windows generated and it is often easiest to draw a window in this case.
Note: The outside reveal depth is used in EnergyPlus, Visualisations and Daylighting calculations and
(unlike Inside reveal depth) is available regardless of whether the frame and dividers are included.
Note: EnergyPlus models outside reveals through the co-ordinates of the window, which are offset into
the zone so the window and the base surface don't lie on the same plane. DesignBuilder provides window co-
ordinates to EnergyPlus in this way and there is no specific data item in the IDF data to define it.
The FenestrationSurface:Detailed window data written to the EnergyPlus IDF input file will usually have a
smaller area compared with the gross window area defined in DesignBuilder. EnergyPlus window sizes and
positions are defined for the glazing area and the frame is extended from the window position to the parent
wall/roof surface. DesignBuilder therefore accounts for the frame which is included in the window area defined
in DesignBuilder but excluded from the EnergyPlus IDF window area. In cases where the frame option is
switched off in DesignBuilder the frame area in the IDF data will exactly match the area set in DesignBuilder.
If window frames and dividers are being modelled separately from the glazed part then the properties of the
frame and dividers can be entered under the Frame and Dividers header on the Openings tab. A discussion
on the methods that can used for modelling windows and frames in "Glazing Assemblies" on page 372.
Important Note: Frames and dividers are only applied to rectangular windows (default and custom) and
not to other shaped windows. They are also not applied when using the Fill surface (100%) facade type. If
you are unsure about whether frames and dividers will be applied to a window you can use the Visualisation
rendered view to check.
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A frame surrounds the glazing in a rectangular window (schematics below). It is assumed that all frame
characteristics, such as width, conductance and solar absorptance, are the same for the top, bottom and side
elements of the frame. If the frame elements are not the same then you should enter area-weighted average
values for the frame characteristics.
If the glazing does not have a frame or dividers or if the whole glazing assembly properties are being modelled
directly using the 2-Simple glazing definition method then you should uncheck the Has frame/dividers box.
For external windows on walls the following dimensions in the direction of the glazing normal can also be
entered:
Reveal
Reveal surfaces are associated with the setback of the glazing from the outside and/or inside surface of the
parent wall. If the depth and solar absorptance of these surfaces are specified, the program will calculate the
reflection of beam solar radiation from these surfaces. The program also calculates the shadowing (onto the
window) of beam and diffuse solar radiation by outside reveal surfaces.
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Frame And Dividers
The following fields specify the properties of the window reveal surfaces (reveals occur when the window is
not in the same plane as the base surface). From this information and from the geometry of the window and
the sun position, the program calculates beam solar radiation absorbed and reflected by the top, bottom, right
and left sides of outside and inside window reveal surfaces. In doing this calculation, the shadowing on a
reveal surface by other reveal surfaces is determined using the orientation of the reveal surfaces and the sun
position.
It is assumed that:
• The window is an exterior window (EnergyPlus does not consider reveals for interior windows).
• The reveal surfaces are perpendicular to the window plane.
• If an exterior shade, screen or blind is in place it shades exterior and interior reveal surfaces so that in
this case there is no beam solar on these surfaces.
• If an interior shade or blind is in place it shades the interior reveal surfaces so that in this case there is
no beam solar on these surfaces.
• The possible shadowing on inside reveal surfaces by a window divider is ignored.
• The outside reveal surfaces (top, bottom, left, right) have the same solar absorptance and depth. This
depth is not input here but is automatically determined by the program—from window and wall vertices-
-as the distance between the plane of the outside face of the glazing and plane of the outside face of
the parent wall.
• The inside reveal surfaces are divided into two categories: (1) the bottom reveal surface, called here
the "inside sill;" and (2) the other reveal surfaces (left, right and top).
• The left, right and top inside reveal surfaces have the same depth and solar absorptance. The inside
sill is allowed to have depth and solar absorptance values that are different from the corresponding
values for the other inside reveal surfaces.
• The inside sill depth is required to be greater than or equal to the depth of the other inside reveal
surfaces. If the inside sill depth is greater than zero the depth of the other inside reveal surfaces is
required to be greater than zero.
• The reflection of beam solar radiation from all reveal surfaces is assumed to be isotropic diffuse; there
is no specular component.
• Half of the beam solar reflected from outside reveal surfaces is goes towards the window; the other half
goes back to the exterior environment (i.e., reflection of this outward-going component from other
outside reveal surfaces is not considered).
• The half that goes towards the window is added to the other solar radiation incident on the window.
Correspondingly, half of the beam solar reflected from inside reveal surfaces goes towards the window,
with the other half going into the zone. The portion going towards the window that is not reflected is
absorbed in the glazing or is transmitted back out into the exterior environment.
• The beam solar that is absorbed by outside reveal surfaces is added to the solar absorbed by the
outside surface of the window's parent wall; similarly, the beam solar absorbed by the inside reveal
surfaces is added to the solar absorbed by the inside surface of the parent wall.
• The net effect of beam solar reflected from outside reveal surfaces is to increase the heat gain to the
zone, whereas the effect of beam solar reflected from inside reveal surfaces is to decrease the heat
gain to the zone since part of this reflected solar is transmitted back out the window.
• If the window has a frame, the absorption of reflected beam solar by the inside and outside surfaces of
the frame is considered. The shadowing of the frame onto interior reveal surfaces is also considered.
The schematics below show how DesignBuilder reveal data is used to describe real glazing systems.
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FAQ: Why does DesignBuilder require both Inside and Outside reveal depth data when wall thickness
is available to calculate one reveal depth from the other?
Although it is possible for inside reveal depth to be calculated from the outside reveal depth and the wall
thickness, DesignBuilder allows both Inside and Outside reveal depths to be defined giving greater flexibility
for situations where it is not possible to enter the wall thickness as accurately as one might like. For example
the wall thickness may be entered as zero for simplified modelling. In such cases having direct control over
the reveal depth data is an advantage.
Note: Inside reveal depth data is provided to EnergyPlus in the same object as the frame and divider
data, so when the Has frame/dividers option is unchecked this data is not provided to EnergyPlus and the
equivalent of a 0 inside reveal depth will be simulated.
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Frame And Dividers
Note: Inside sill depth data is provided to EnergyPlus in the same object as the frame and divider data,
so when the Has frame/dividers option is unchecked this data is not provided to EnergyPlus and the
equivalent of a 0 inside sill depth will be simulated.
Frame
Construction
Select the construction used to define the thermal properties of both the frame and dividers. In particular the
frame construction is used to derive these EnergyPlus frame-related fields:
Frame conductance
The effective thermal conductance of the frame (in W/m2-K or Btu/h-ft2-F) measured from inside to
outside frame surface excluding surface air films and taking frame and window geometry as associated
2-D conduction effects into account. Ideally the frame conductance should be obtained from THERM or
some other 2-D calculation. DesignBuilder calculates the surface to surface conductance simply based
on the material layers in the Frame construction. If you need to include particular 2-D conduction
effects for the frame conductance then you should adjust the thickness or material properties of the
layers of the frame construction.
Note: For metal frame windows DesignBuilder will calculate a very high surface to surface U-value
for the frame construction, but the value that will be provided to EnergyPlus is limited to an maximum
value of 500 W/m2k. This is in line with the limits used in the LBNL WINDOW program. This will have
negligible difference on simulation as the corresponding thermal resistance is effectively zero in both
cases (relative to the inside and outside film resistances).
Frame width
The width of the frame elements when projected onto the plane of the window (in m or ft). It is assumed that
the top, bottom and side elements of the frame have the same width. If not, an average frame width should be
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entered such that the projected frame area calculated using the average value equals the sum of the areas of
the frame elements.
Frame conductance
The effective thermal conductance of the frame measured from inside to outside frame surface (no air films)
and taking 2-D conduction effects into account. Obtained from WINDOW or other 2-D calculation.
Dividers
Dividers split the glazing up into separate lites. It is assumed that all divider elements have the same
characteristics. If not, area-weighted average values should be used.
The schematic below show how DesignBuilder divider data is used to describe real glazing systems.
Divider type
The type of divider can be selected from these options:
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Frame And Dividers
• 1-Divided lite means that the divider elements project out from the outside and inside surfaces of the
glazing and divide the glazing into individual lites. For multi-pane glazing, this type of divider also has
between-glass elements that separate the panes.
• 2-Suspended is applicable only to multi-pane glazing. It means that the divider is suspended between
the panes. (If there are more than two glass layers, the divider is assumed to be placed between the
two outermost layers.)
Divider width
The width of the divider elements when projected onto the plane of the window (in m or ft). It is assumed that
the horizontal and vertical divider elements have the same width. If not, an average divider width should be
entered such that the projected divider area calculated using the average value equals the sum of the areas of
the divider elements.
Horizontal dividers
The number of divider elements parallel to the top and bottom of the window.
Vertical dividers
The number of divider elements parallel to the sides of the window.
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Divider conductance
The effective thermal conductance of the divider (in W/m2-K or Btu/h-ft2-F) measured from inside to
outside divider surface excluding surface air films and taking 2-D conduction effects into account.
Obtained from WINDOW 6 or other 2-D calculation. DesignBuilder calculates the surface to surface
conductance simply based on the material layers. If you need to include particular 2-D conduction
effects for the frame/divider conductance then you should adjust the thickness or material properties of
the layers of the frame construction.
Note 1: If you do not wish to model the shading/reflection effect of the reveal/frame/divider then simply set
the projection/depth to zero.
Note 2: In the case where a window blind is applied mid-pane, any dividers that may have been specified
for the window will not be applied in the model. EnergyPlus will generate a warning to this effect.
Glazing Assemblies
By default EnergyPlus models glazing and frames separately through separate window and frame objects.
This topic discusses some of the issues related to model overall glazing assemblies including the glazed
window and opaque frame elements.
• Data for glass and frame are entered separately where "glass only" properties are defined in the
glazing component selected and frame data is defined on the Openings tab under Frame and Dividers.
Note that when using this method EnergyPlus is not able to calculate an overall assembly U-value from
separate window and frame data. If this output is required is can be done either approximately by
adding the parallel conductance of the window and frame and taking the reciprocal or in more detail in
a tool such as WINDOW.
• Data for whole glazing assembly is entered directly. This is done using the 2-Simple glazing
definition method and entering whole assembly U-value, solar and light transmission data in the glazing
component selected on the Openings tab. In this case, to avoid double-counting the impact of the
frame, it is important to remove the frame on the Openings tab for all windows using the whole
assembly glazing system by unchecking the Has frame/dividers checkbox. If you only have access to
"glass only" solar and visible transmission data then these can be multiplied by 1 minus the frame
fraction to calculate the whole assembly solar and visible transmission values.
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Shading
See the "Dimensions (Walls)" on page 363 topic for details on how glazing dimensions are written to
EnergyPlus IDF.
Shading
Openings tab in model data under External Glazing, Internal Glazing and Roof Glazing headers
• Component blocks
• Assemblies
Window and Local shading are both covered in the Solar Shading Tutorial
Window Shading
Openings tab in model data under External Glazing, Internal Glazing and Roof Glazing headers
Window shading can be included to reduce solar gains and increase resistance to heat conduction through
windows. To include blinds, transparent insulation or electrochromic glazing check the Window shading
checkbox. Then select the window blind component, the position of the shading device relative to the window
and the way that the window shading is controlled.
Type
Select the Window blind component type. There are 4 categories of window blinds:
• Slat
• Shade
• Transparent insulation
• Electrochromic switching (if you select a blind of this category the position must be 'Switchable'.
Position
The window shading devices can be positioned in one of four ways:
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Note: When selecting the 2-Mid-pane position option you must ensure that there is sufficient gap
between the innermost and second pane in the Glazing window gas layer to accommodate the blind Slat
width.
Control type
Control data specifies how the shading device is controlled. It determines whether the shading device is “on”
or “off.” For blinds and shades, when the device is “on” it is assumed to cover all of the window except its
frame; when the device is “off” it is assumed to cover none of the window (whether “on” or “off” the shading
device is assumed to cover none of the wall that the window is on). For switchable glazing, “on” means that
the glazing is in the fully-switched state and “off” means that it is in the unswitched state; for example, for
electrochromic glazing, “on” means the glazing is in its darkest state and "off” means it is in its lightest state.
The choices for Shading control type are the following. Equivalent EnergyPlus control types are shown in
italics. If a setpoint is applicable its units are shown in parentheses.
The following six control types are used primarily to reduce zone cooling load due to window solar
gain.
• 3-Schedule - Shading operation is defined by a time only through a schedule. When the schedule has
value 1 then shading operates, otherwise it does not.
• 4-Solar (OnIfHighSolarOnWindow) - Shading is active if beam plus diffuse solar radiation incident on
the window exceeds the Solar setpoint.
• 5-Glare (OnIfHighGlare) - Shading is on if the total daylight glare index at the zone’s first daylighting
sensor from all of the exterior windows in the zone exceeds the maximum glare index specified in the
daylighting input for zone.
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Window Shading
• 7-Inside air temp (OnIfHighZoneAirTemp) - Shading is on if zone air temperature in the previous time
step exceeds the Inside air temperature setpoint.
• 8-Cooling (OnIfHighZoneCooling) - Shading is on if zone cooling rate in the previous time step is non-
zero.
The following two control types can be used to reduce zone cooling load. They are applicable to any
Shading type but are most appropriate for interior or exterior blinds, interior or exterior shades with
low insulating value, or switchable glazing.
The following three control types can be used to reduce zone heating load during the winter by
reducing window conductive heat loss at night and leaving the window unshaded during the day to
maximize solar gain. They are applicable to any Shading type but are most appropriate for interior or
exterior shades with high insulating value ("movable insulation"). “Night” means the sun is down and
“day” means the sun is up.
• 12-Night inside low air temp (OnNightIfLowInsideTemp/OffDay) - Shading is on at night if the zone air
temperature in the previous time step is less than the Inside air temperature setpoint and schedule, if
specified, allows shading. Shading is off during the day.
• 13-Night heating (OnNightIfHeating/OffDay) - Shading is on at night if the zone heating rate in the
previous time step is greater than zero and schedule, if specified, allows shading. Shading is off during
the day.
The following two control types can be used to reduce zone heating and cooling load. They are
applicable to any Shading type but are most appropriate for translucent interior or exterior shades
with high insulating value ("translucent movable insulation").
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Solar setpoint
The solar setpoint can be defined when one of these shading control types has been selected:
• 4-Solar
• 9-Day cooling and solar + night
• 10-Day cooling and solar
• 16-Horizontal solar
• 17-Outdoor air temp + Solar on window
• 18-Outdoor air temp + Horizontal solar
When the solar radiation (in W/m2 or BTU/h-ft2) is higher than the setpoint entered here and any other
required condition are met (control types 9, 10, 17 and 18) and the schedule allows shading operation then
the window shading is activated.
For cooling control types, when the inside air temperature (in °C or °F) is higher than the setpoint entered here
and the schedule allows shading operation, the window shading is activated. For heating control types the
logic is reversed and shading is activated when the temperature is below this setpoint.
When the outside air temperature (in °C or °F) is higher than the setpoint entered here and the schedule
allows shading operation, the window shading is activated.
• 1-Fixed slat angle, the default option where the angle of the slats is fixed to the Slat angle set on the
Window shading dialog for the whole simulation.
• 2-Scheduled slat angle where the angle of the slats is defined by a schedule selected on the Slat
angle schedule below.
• 3-Block beam solar where the slats are automatically orientated to be perpendicular to the direction of
the suns rays so as to block as much solar radiation as possible.
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Local Shading
Note: the operation of the blinds is controlled independently of the slat angle.
Operation
Operation schedule
For all shading control options apart from Glare and Always on, the shading can only be active when this
schedule value is 1. Select the schedule On if the blind is always activated or if the only control is one of the
others listed above.
Limitations
• If two daylit zones share an interior window, neither zone can have an exterior window whose shading
device does glare control (i.e. Control type is 5-Glare).
• If two daylit zones share an interior window, neither zone can have an exterior window with daylight
control (i.e. Control type is 2-Daylight).
Local Shading
Openings tab in model data under External Glazing headers
To include overhangs, sidefins and/or louvres check the Local shading checkbox. This shows the Local
shading component data. DesignBuilder comes with a small database of Local shading devices, but if you
cannot find a suitable component for your model, you can create a custom local shading component. by
clicking on the Add new button from the Selection dialog or from the info panel when using Learning mode.
Note: the DesignBuilder Local shading devices allow a range of different overhangs, side fins and louvres
to be defined, but if you need to model a shading device not covered by the standard mechanism, you can
draw custom shading devices using Component blocks or Assembly blocks.
Airflow Windows
Openings tab in model data under External Glazing header
Airflow windows can be modelled by checking the Airflow windows option on the Openings tab. This option
can be used to specify the control mechanism for windows in which forced air flows in the gap between
adjacent layers of glass. Such windows are called “airflow windows.” They are also known as “heat-extract
windows” or “climate windows.”
A common application is to reduce the zone load by exhausting indoor air through the window. In the cooling
season this picks up and expels some of the solar heat absorbed by the window glass (and by the between-
glass shade or blind, if present). In the heating season this warms the window, reducing the heat loss from the
window. A side benefit is increased thermal comfort. This is because the inside surface of the window will
generally be cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
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Limitations
• Windows must have two or three glass layers, i.e., double or triple-glazing. For triple-glazing the airflow
is assumed to be between the two inner glass layers.
• An error will result if the gas in the airflow gap is other than air.
• If an airflow window has a between-glass shade or blind, the gas in the gap on either side of the shade
or blind must be air.
The surface output variable Surface Window Gap Convective Heat Transfer Rate gives the heat picked up
(or lost) by the gap airflow.
(a) Air exhaust window: Airflow Source = 1-Indoor Air, Airflow Destination = 2-Outdoor air;
(b) Indoor air curtain window: Airflow Source = 1-Indoor air, Airflow Destination = 1-Indoor air;
(c) Air supply window: Airflow Source = 2-Outdoor air, Airflow Destination = 1-Indoor air;
(d) Outdoor air curtain window: Airflow Source = 2-Outdoor air, Airflow Destination = 2-Outdoor air;
(e) Airflow to Return Air: Airflow Source = 1-Indoor air, Airflow Destination = 3-Return air.
Based on “Active facades” Version no. 1, Belgian Building Research Institute, June 2002.
Note: Although Airflow control windows are defined under the External Glazing header (which normally
holds data for wall glazing only) Airflow control window settings apply to all windows, including rooflights.
Airflow control
Check this option to include airflow control for external windows.
Airflow source
The source of the gap airflow. The choices are:
• 1-Indoor air - Indoor air from the window’s zone is passed through the window.
• 2-Outdoor air - Outdoor air is passed through the window.
Airflow Destination
This is where the gap air goes after passing through the window. The choices are:
• 1-Indoor air - the gap air goes to the indoor air of the window’s zone.
• 2-Outdoor air - the gap air goes to the outside air.
• 3-Return-air- the gap air goes to the return air for the window’s zone. This choice is allowed only if
Airflow Source = 1-Indoor air. If the return air flow is zero, the gap air goes to the indoor air of the
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Window Operation And Free Aperture
window’s zone. If the sum of the gap airflow for all of the windows in a zone with Airflow destination =
3-Return air exceeds the return airflow, then the difference between this sum and the return airflow
goes to the indoor air.
The diagram above shows the allowed combinations of Airflow source and Airflow destination. The allowed
combinations of Airflow source and Airflow destination are:
• IndoorAir to OutdoorAir
• IndoorAir to IndoorAir
• IndoorAir to ReturnAir
• OutdoorAir to IndoorAir
• OutdoorAir to OutdoorAir
The fan energy used to move the air through the gap is generally very small and so is ignored.
Operation
The operation of windows can be defined by entering data under the Operation header. This data is only
shown:
a. When Natural ventilation is activated on the HVAC tab at the current level and Calculated natural
ventilation is selected, or,
b. For Internal glazing or both Calculated and Scheduled natural ventilation.
• 1-Control by schedule - the internal windows are controlled entirely by schedule and are not affected
by any of the natural ventilation controls on the HVAC tab.
• 2-Control with external windows/vents - the internal windows are controlled using exactly the same
natural ventilation controls as external windows and vents through controls on the HVAC tab as well as
the operation schedule described below.
• 1-Control by schedule - the internal windows are controlled entirely by schedule and are not affected
by any of the natural ventilation controls on the HVAC tab.
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• 2-Closed - the internal windows are always closed and do not allow any airflow to be exchanged.
Operation schedule
The schedule that specifies when window venting is available. A zero or negative schedule value means
window venting is not allowed. A value greater than zero means venting can occur if other venting control
conditions (specified by natural ventilation Control Mode) are satisfied.
This schedule allows you to turn off venting at certain times of the day (at night, for example), of the week (on
weekends, for example), or of the year (during the winter, for example).
If used with natural ventilation Control Mode = 4-Constant, the ventilation rate is constant only when this
schedule allows venting; otherwise the ventilation rate is set to zero. If Ventilation Control Mode = 1-NoVent,
this schedule has no effect.
Tzone_air > Tsetpoint AND Tzone_air > Toutside_air AND the schedule value = 1
The ventilation rate is calculated based on the pressure difference across the opening calculated from wind
and stack pressure effects using equations described in Natural Ventilation Modelling.
Free Aperture
The size and position of window opening airflow paths can be defined by entering data under the Free
Aperture header. This is data is used in both:
Note: While free aperture data is shown when the Scheduled natural ventilation model option is selected,
this data is not used in EnergyPlus simulations. In this case the data is only made available to allow it to be
used for CFD boundary conditions.
Opening position
The position of the opening in the window can be selected from
• 1-Top - the aperture is in the top of the window. Air flow in and out will flow through the top of the
window.
• 2-Bottom - the aperture is in the bottom of the window. Air flow in and out will flow through the bottom
of the window.
• 3-Right - the aperture is in the right of the window (looking from outside). Air flow in and out will flow
through the right of the window.
• 4-Left - the aperture is in the left of the window (looking from outside). Air flow in and out will flow
through the left of the window.
Windows should be rectangular to have an airflow opening in them and the position of the opening on the
window can be defined by selecting from the above list. Options 3-Right and 4-Left will give identical
simulation results as the EnergyPlus Airflow Network only accounts for the z-position of openings. The
difference is useful for CFD simulations though.
Note: Non-rectangular windows (or rotated rectangular windows) can still be used as airflow openings. In
this case for Airflow Network opening size purposes, EnergyPlus treats triangular windows as if they were
rectangular with height and width based on the maximum dimensions in each direction.
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Window Operation And Free Aperture
The "free area" is multiplied by the discharge coefficient to give the "effective area" for the Airflow Network
calculations within EnergyPlus.
Tip: A good rule of thumb to approximate of the free area for a top hung window is the bottom rectangular
"opening area" plus 2 x the triangular side opening area. For closely spaced windows the side triangles should
be reduced to account for the reduced effective opening area. A similar calculation can be made for side and
bottom hung windows.
A couple of good reference for how to measure or otherwise obtain this data are:
• A review of ventilation opening area terminology by, Benjamin M. Jones, Malcolm J. Cook, Shaun D.
Fitzgerald,Christopher R. Iddon., 2015.
• "Air of Credibility" in the CIBSE Journal May 2016 (same authors as above).
Note: if modulation is switched on (it isn't by default) the glazing opening areas defined here are multiplied
by a factor to account for external conditions in EnergyPlus Airflow Network simulations when using
Calculated natural ventilation.
Tip: In some cases it is best to switch off the Lump similar windows on surface model option when using
Calculated natural ventilation. Particular cases where this is important are a) when there are windows of the
same size and type but different % Glazing area opens values on the same surface and b) where the air flow
rate through individual windows is required, e.g. when preparing boundary conditions for a linked EnergyPlus
CFD study.
Discharge coefficient
The constant discharge coefficient for the window (Cd) is used for Calculated natural ventilation only. The
value must be between 0.0 and 1.0. Separate values can be entered for internal, external and roof windows.
For open doors and holes, a discharge coefficient can entered on the Advanced tab of the model options
dialog under the Natural Ventilation header.
From the IEA Annexe 20 document Air flow Through Large Openings in Buildings.
The EnergyPlus Airflow Network model is based on the following empirical powerlaw relationship between the
flow and the pressure difference across a crack or opening in the building envelope:
The volumetric flow rate, Q [m3/s], is a simple function of the pressure drop, ∆P [Pa], across the opening. A
common variation of the powerlaw equation is:
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where the mass flow rate, F [kg/s], is a simple function of the pressure drop. A third variation is related to the
orifice equation:
where:
Theoretically, the value of the flow exponent, n, should lie between 0.5 and 1.0. Large openings are
characterized by values very close to 0.5, while values near 0.65 have been found for small crack-like
openings.
Other sources recommend a value close to 0.6. For example the CONTAMW 2.0 User Manual states that the
discharge coefficient, is related to the dynamic effects and is typically close to 0.6 for an orifice and slightly
higher for other openings in buildings.
Cd = 0.4 + 0.0045 δT
Given other uncertainties in natural ventilation calculations (wind pressure coefficients, effective areas of real-
world openings and crack flows etc), using a discharge coefficient between 0.60 and 0.65 should provide
sufficient accuracy.
Note: Natural Ventilation can be overridden to be off on the HVAC tab for both Calculated and Scheduled
model options.
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Internal Glazing
Internal Glazing
Openings tab in model data
The data under the Internal Glazing header applies to all glazing lying on internal partition walls. You can
enter information on:
• Dimensions
• Frame
• Operation
The data is as described previously for External glazing except that shading is not permitted for internal
glazing.
Roof Glazing
Openings tab in model data
The data under the Roof Glazing header applies to all glazing lying on external roof surfaces. You can enter
information on:
• Dimensions
• Frame
• Shading
• Operation
Note: flat roofs do not have default glazing set up using Roof glazing layout model data. To create
openings on a flat roof you should go to the surface level and add them there.
Dimensions (Roofs)
Openings tab in model data under Sloped Roof Windows / Skylights headers
Notes: The settings for roof window dimensions are similar to those for external walls with some important
exceptions:
a) The façade settings apply only to sloping roofs. Flat roofs are not covered by this data. To create
windows in flat roofs you should draw them at surface level or clone them at building level from other façades.
The reason flat roofs do not use the façade mechanism is that there is no top and bottom to set up sills, height
vs width etc.
b) Only the 0-None, 4-Fixed width and height and 5-Fill surface (100%) façade options are available. There
is therefore no way to set up windows using a % glazing (WWR) on roof surfaces.
Facade types
There are 3 façade types available for sloped roof surfaces:
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• 0-None - there is no glazing.
• 4-Fixed width and height - windows have fixed width and height.
• 5-Fill surface (100%) - the entire surface is filled with glazing and there is no frame.
Window width
The width of the windows including any frame (in m or ft).
Window height
The height of the windows including any frame (in m or ft).
Window spacing
The spacing between the each window on the façade (in m or ft). The window spacing is the centre to centre
spacing between windows, not the gap between windows.
Sill height
This is the height of the base of the window from the base of the block (in m or ft).
If window frames and dividers are being modelled separately from the glazed part then the properties of the
frame and dividers can be entered under the Frame and Dividers header on the Openings tab. A discussion
on the methods that can used for modelling windows and frames in "Glazing Assemblies" on page 372.
Important Note: Frames and dividers are only applied to rectangular windows (default and custom) and
not to other shaped windows. They are also not applied when using the Fill surface (100%) facade type. If
you are unsure about whether frames and dividers will be applied to a window you can use the Visualisation
rendered view to check.
A frame surrounds the glazing in a rectangular window (schematics below). It is assumed that all frame
characteristics, such as width, conductance and solar absorptance, are the same for the top, bottom and side
elements of the frame. If the frame elements are not the same then you should enter area-weighted average
values for the frame characteristics.
If the glazing does not have a frame or dividers or if the whole glazing assembly properties are being modelled
directly using the 2-Simple glazing definition method then you should uncheck the Has frame/dividers box.
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Frame And Dividers
For external windows on walls the following dimensions in the direction of the glazing normal can also be
entered:
Reveal
Reveal surfaces are associated with the setback of the glazing from the outside and/or inside surface of the
parent wall. If the depth and solar absorptance of these surfaces are specified, the program will calculate the
reflection of beam solar radiation from these surfaces. The program also calculates the shadowing (onto the
window) of beam and diffuse solar radiation by outside reveal surfaces.
The following fields specify the properties of the window reveal surfaces (reveals occur when the window is
not in the same plane as the base surface). From this information and from the geometry of the window and
the sun position, the program calculates beam solar radiation absorbed and reflected by the top, bottom, right
and left sides of outside and inside window reveal surfaces. In doing this calculation, the shadowing on a
reveal surface by other reveal surfaces is determined using the orientation of the reveal surfaces and the sun
position.
It is assumed that:
• The window is an exterior window (EnergyPlus does not consider reveals for interior windows).
• The reveal surfaces are perpendicular to the window plane.
• If an exterior shade, screen or blind is in place it shades exterior and interior reveal surfaces so that in
this case there is no beam solar on these surfaces.
• If an interior shade or blind is in place it shades the interior reveal surfaces so that in this case there is
no beam solar on these surfaces.
- 385 -
• The possible shadowing on inside reveal surfaces by a window divider is ignored.
• The outside reveal surfaces (top, bottom, left, right) have the same solar absorptance and depth. This
depth is not input here but is automatically determined by the program—from window and wall vertices-
-as the distance between the plane of the outside face of the glazing and plane of the outside face of
the parent wall.
• The inside reveal surfaces are divided into two categories: (1) the bottom reveal surface, called here
the "inside sill;" and (2) the other reveal surfaces (left, right and top).
• The left, right and top inside reveal surfaces have the same depth and solar absorptance. The inside
sill is allowed to have depth and solar absorptance values that are different from the corresponding
values for the other inside reveal surfaces.
• The inside sill depth is required to be greater than or equal to the depth of the other inside reveal
surfaces. If the inside sill depth is greater than zero the depth of the other inside reveal surfaces is
required to be greater than zero.
• The reflection of beam solar radiation from all reveal surfaces is assumed to be isotropic diffuse; there
is no specular component.
• Half of the beam solar reflected from outside reveal surfaces is goes towards the window; the other half
goes back to the exterior environment (i.e., reflection of this outward-going component from other
outside reveal surfaces is not considered).
• The half that goes towards the window is added to the other solar radiation incident on the window.
Correspondingly, half of the beam solar reflected from inside reveal surfaces goes towards the window,
with the other half going into the zone. The portion going towards the window that is not reflected is
absorbed in the glazing or is transmitted back out into the exterior environment.
• The beam solar that is absorbed by outside reveal surfaces is added to the solar absorbed by the
outside surface of the window's parent wall; similarly, the beam solar absorbed by the inside reveal
surfaces is added to the solar absorbed by the inside surface of the parent wall.
• The net effect of beam solar reflected from outside reveal surfaces is to increase the heat gain to the
zone, whereas the effect of beam solar reflected from inside reveal surfaces is to decrease the heat
gain to the zone since part of this reflected solar is transmitted back out the window.
• If the window has a frame, the absorption of reflected beam solar by the inside and outside surfaces of
the frame is considered. The shadowing of the frame onto interior reveal surfaces is also considered.
The schematics below show how DesignBuilder reveal data is used to describe real glazing systems.
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Frame And Dividers
FAQ: Why does DesignBuilder require both Inside and Outside reveal depth data when wall thickness
is available to calculate one reveal depth from the other?
Although it is possible for inside reveal depth to be calculated from the outside reveal depth and the wall
thickness, DesignBuilder allows both Inside and Outside reveal depths to be defined giving greater flexibility
for situations where it is not possible to enter the wall thickness as accurately as one might like. For example
the wall thickness may be entered as zero for simplified modelling. In such cases having direct control over
the reveal depth data is an advantage.
Note: Inside reveal depth data is provided to EnergyPlus in the same object as the frame and divider
data, so when the Has frame/dividers option is unchecked this data is not provided to EnergyPlus and the
equivalent of a 0 inside reveal depth will be simulated.
Note: Inside sill depth data is provided to EnergyPlus in the same object as the frame and divider data,
so when the Has frame/dividers option is unchecked this data is not provided to EnergyPlus and the
equivalent of a 0 inside sill depth will be simulated.
Frame
Construction
Select the construction used to define the thermal properties of both the frame and dividers. In particular the
frame construction is used to derive these EnergyPlus frame-related fields:
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Frame conductance
The effective thermal conductance of the frame (in W/m2-K or Btu/h-ft2-F) measured from inside to
outside frame surface excluding surface air films and taking frame and window geometry as associated
2-D conduction effects into account. Ideally the frame conductance should be obtained from THERM or
some other 2-D calculation. DesignBuilder calculates the surface to surface conductance simply based
on the material layers in the Frame construction. If you need to include particular 2-D conduction
effects for the frame conductance then you should adjust the thickness or material properties of the
layers of the frame construction.
Note: For metal frame windows DesignBuilder will calculate a very high surface to surface U-value
for the frame construction, but the value that will be provided to EnergyPlus is limited to an maximum
value of 500 W/m2k. This is in line with the limits used in the LBNL WINDOW program. This will have
negligible difference on simulation as the corresponding thermal resistance is effectively zero in both
cases (relative to the inside and outside film resistances).
Frame width
The width of the frame elements when projected onto the plane of the window (in m or ft). It is assumed that
the top, bottom and side elements of the frame have the same width. If not, an average frame width should be
entered such that the projected frame area calculated using the average value equals the sum of the areas of
the frame elements.
Frame conductance
The effective thermal conductance of the frame measured from inside to outside frame surface (no air films)
and taking 2-D conduction effects into account. Obtained from WINDOW or other 2-D calculation.
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Frame And Dividers
Dividers
Dividers split the glazing up into separate lites. It is assumed that all divider elements have the same
characteristics. If not, area-weighted average values should be used.
The schematic below show how DesignBuilder divider data is used to describe real glazing systems.
Divider type
The type of divider can be selected from these options:
• 1-Divided lite means that the divider elements project out from the outside and inside surfaces of the
glazing and divide the glazing into individual lites. For multi-pane glazing, this type of divider also has
between-glass elements that separate the panes.
• 2-Suspended is applicable only to multi-pane glazing. It means that the divider is suspended between
the panes. (If there are more than two glass layers, the divider is assumed to be placed between the
two outermost layers.)
- 389 -
Divider width
The width of the divider elements when projected onto the plane of the window (in m or ft). It is assumed that
the horizontal and vertical divider elements have the same width. If not, an average divider width should be
entered such that the projected divider area calculated using the average value equals the sum of the areas of
the divider elements.
Horizontal dividers
The number of divider elements parallel to the top and bottom of the window.
Vertical dividers
The number of divider elements parallel to the sides of the window.
Divider conductance
The effective thermal conductance of the divider (in W/m2-K or Btu/h-ft2-F) measured from inside to
outside divider surface excluding surface air films and taking 2-D conduction effects into account.
Obtained from WINDOW 6 or other 2-D calculation. DesignBuilder calculates the surface to surface
conductance simply based on the material layers. If you need to include particular 2-D conduction
effects for the frame/divider conductance then you should adjust the thickness or material properties of
the layers of the frame construction.
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Roof Shading
independent of angle of incidence of solar radiation. If visible reflectance (or reflectivity) data is
available, then absorptance is equal to 1.0 minus reflectance (for opaque materials).
Note 1: If you do not wish to model the shading/reflection effect of the reveal/frame/divider then simply set
the projection/depth to zero.
Note 2: In the case where a window blind is applied mid-pane, any dividers that may have been specified
for the window will not be applied in the model. EnergyPlus will generate a warning to this effect.
Roof Shading
Openings tab in model data under Roof Glazing headers
You can select one type of shading for external roof windows:
Window Shading
Openings tab in model data under External Glazing, Internal Glazing and Roof Glazing headers
Window shading can be included to reduce solar gains and increase resistance to heat conduction through
windows. To include blinds, transparent insulation or electrochromic glazing check the Window shading
checkbox. Then select the window blind component, the position of the shading device relative to the window
and the way that the window shading is controlled.
Type
Select the Window blind component type. There are 4 categories of window blinds:
• Slat
• Shade
• Transparent insulation
• Electrochromic switching (if you select a blind of this category the position must be 'Switchable'.
Position
The window shading devices can be positioned in one of four ways:
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• 3-Outside - the shading devices positioned outside.
• 4-Switchable - select this option for electrochromic glazing in which case the outer pane is switched
based on the shading control (below).
Note: When selecting the 2-Mid-pane position option you must ensure that there is sufficient gap
between the innermost and second pane in the Glazing window gas layer to accommodate the blind Slat
width.
Control type
Control data specifies how the shading device is controlled. It determines whether the shading device is “on”
or “off.” For blinds and shades, when the device is “on” it is assumed to cover all of the window except its
frame; when the device is “off” it is assumed to cover none of the window (whether “on” or “off” the shading
device is assumed to cover none of the wall that the window is on). For switchable glazing, “on” means that
the glazing is in the fully-switched state and “off” means that it is in the unswitched state; for example, for
electrochromic glazing, “on” means the glazing is in its darkest state and "off” means it is in its lightest state.
The choices for Shading control type are the following. Equivalent EnergyPlus control types are shown in
italics. If a setpoint is applicable its units are shown in parentheses.
The following six control types are used primarily to reduce zone cooling load due to window solar
gain.
• 3-Schedule - Shading operation is defined by a time only through a schedule. When the schedule has
value 1 then shading operates, otherwise it does not.
• 4-Solar (OnIfHighSolarOnWindow) - Shading is active if beam plus diffuse solar radiation incident on
the window exceeds the Solar setpoint.
• 5-Glare (OnIfHighGlare) - Shading is on if the total daylight glare index at the zone’s first daylighting
sensor from all of the exterior windows in the zone exceeds the maximum glare index specified in the
daylighting input for zone.
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Window Shading
• 7-Inside air temp (OnIfHighZoneAirTemp) - Shading is on if zone air temperature in the previous time
step exceeds the Inside air temperature setpoint.
• 8-Cooling (OnIfHighZoneCooling) - Shading is on if zone cooling rate in the previous time step is non-
zero.
The following two control types can be used to reduce zone cooling load. They are applicable to any
Shading type but are most appropriate for interior or exterior blinds, interior or exterior shades with
low insulating value, or switchable glazing.
The following three control types can be used to reduce zone heating load during the winter by
reducing window conductive heat loss at night and leaving the window unshaded during the day to
maximize solar gain. They are applicable to any Shading type but are most appropriate for interior or
exterior shades with high insulating value ("movable insulation"). “Night” means the sun is down and
“day” means the sun is up.
• 12-Night inside low air temp (OnNightIfLowInsideTemp/OffDay) - Shading is on at night if the zone air
temperature in the previous time step is less than the Inside air temperature setpoint and schedule, if
specified, allows shading. Shading is off during the day.
• 13-Night heating (OnNightIfHeating/OffDay) - Shading is on at night if the zone heating rate in the
previous time step is greater than zero and schedule, if specified, allows shading. Shading is off during
the day.
The following two control types can be used to reduce zone heating and cooling load. They are
applicable to any Shading type but are most appropriate for translucent interior or exterior shades
with high insulating value ("translucent movable insulation").
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• 18-Outdoor air temp + Horizontal solar (OnIfHighOutdoorAirTempAndHighHorizontalSolar) -
Shading is on if the outside air temperature exceeds the Outside air temperature setpoint and if if the
horizontal solar radiation on the window exceeds the Solar setpoint.
Solar setpoint
The solar setpoint can be defined when one of these shading control types has been selected:
• 4-Solar
• 9-Day cooling and solar + night
• 10-Day cooling and solar
• 16-Horizontal solar
• 17-Outdoor air temp + Solar on window
• 18-Outdoor air temp + Horizontal solar
When the solar radiation (in W/m2 or BTU/h-ft2) is higher than the setpoint entered here and any other
required condition are met (control types 9, 10, 17 and 18) and the schedule allows shading operation then
the window shading is activated.
For cooling control types, when the inside air temperature (in °C or °F) is higher than the setpoint entered here
and the schedule allows shading operation, the window shading is activated. For heating control types the
logic is reversed and shading is activated when the temperature is below this setpoint.
When the outside air temperature (in °C or °F) is higher than the setpoint entered here and the schedule
allows shading operation, the window shading is activated.
• 1-Fixed slat angle, the default option where the angle of the slats is fixed to the Slat angle set on the
Window shading dialog for the whole simulation.
• 2-Scheduled slat angle where the angle of the slats is defined by a schedule selected on the Slat
angle schedule below.
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Window Operation And Free Aperture
• 3-Block beam solar where the slats are automatically orientated to be perpendicular to the direction of
the suns rays so as to block as much solar radiation as possible.
Note: the operation of the blinds is controlled independently of the slat angle.
Operation
Operation schedule
For all shading control options apart from Glare and Always on, the shading can only be active when this
schedule value is 1. Select the schedule On if the blind is always activated or if the only control is one of the
others listed above.
Limitations
• If two daylit zones share an interior window, neither zone can have an exterior window whose shading
device does glare control (i.e. Control type is 5-Glare).
• If two daylit zones share an interior window, neither zone can have an exterior window with daylight
control (i.e. Control type is 2-Daylight).
Operation
The operation of windows can be defined by entering data under the Operation header. This data is only
shown:
a. When Natural ventilation is activated on the HVAC tab at the current level and Calculated natural
ventilation is selected, or,
b. For Internal glazing or both Calculated and Scheduled natural ventilation.
• 1-Control by schedule - the internal windows are controlled entirely by schedule and are not affected
by any of the natural ventilation controls on the HVAC tab.
• 2-Control with external windows/vents - the internal windows are controlled using exactly the same
natural ventilation controls as external windows and vents through controls on the HVAC tab as well as
the operation schedule described below.
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For Scheduled natural ventilation:
• 1-Control by schedule - the internal windows are controlled entirely by schedule and are not affected
by any of the natural ventilation controls on the HVAC tab.
• 2-Closed - the internal windows are always closed and do not allow any airflow to be exchanged.
Operation schedule
The schedule that specifies when window venting is available. A zero or negative schedule value means
window venting is not allowed. A value greater than zero means venting can occur if other venting control
conditions (specified by natural ventilation Control Mode) are satisfied.
This schedule allows you to turn off venting at certain times of the day (at night, for example), of the week (on
weekends, for example), or of the year (during the winter, for example).
If used with natural ventilation Control Mode = 4-Constant, the ventilation rate is constant only when this
schedule allows venting; otherwise the ventilation rate is set to zero. If Ventilation Control Mode = 1-NoVent,
this schedule has no effect.
Tzone_air > Tsetpoint AND Tzone_air > Toutside_air AND the schedule value = 1
The ventilation rate is calculated based on the pressure difference across the opening calculated from wind
and stack pressure effects using equations described in Natural Ventilation Modelling.
Free Aperture
The size and position of window opening airflow paths can be defined by entering data under the Free
Aperture header. This is data is used in both:
Note: While free aperture data is shown when the Scheduled natural ventilation model option is selected,
this data is not used in EnergyPlus simulations. In this case the data is only made available to allow it to be
used for CFD boundary conditions.
Opening position
The position of the opening in the window can be selected from
• 1-Top - the aperture is in the top of the window. Air flow in and out will flow through the top of the
window.
• 2-Bottom - the aperture is in the bottom of the window. Air flow in and out will flow through the bottom
of the window.
• 3-Right - the aperture is in the right of the window (looking from outside). Air flow in and out will flow
through the right of the window.
• 4-Left - the aperture is in the left of the window (looking from outside). Air flow in and out will flow
through the left of the window.
Windows should be rectangular to have an airflow opening in them and the position of the opening on the
window can be defined by selecting from the above list. Options 3-Right and 4-Left will give identical
simulation results as the EnergyPlus Airflow Network only accounts for the z-position of openings. The
difference is useful for CFD simulations though.
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Window Operation And Free Aperture
Note: Non-rectangular windows (or rotated rectangular windows) can still be used as airflow openings. In
this case for Airflow Network opening size purposes, EnergyPlus treats triangular windows as if they were
rectangular with height and width based on the maximum dimensions in each direction.
The "free area" is multiplied by the discharge coefficient to give the "effective area" for the Airflow Network
calculations within EnergyPlus.
Tip: A good rule of thumb to approximate of the free area for a top hung window is the bottom rectangular
"opening area" plus 2 x the triangular side opening area. For closely spaced windows the side triangles should
be reduced to account for the reduced effective opening area. A similar calculation can be made for side and
bottom hung windows.
A couple of good reference for how to measure or otherwise obtain this data are:
• A review of ventilation opening area terminology by, Benjamin M. Jones, Malcolm J. Cook, Shaun D.
Fitzgerald,Christopher R. Iddon., 2015.
• "Air of Credibility" in the CIBSE Journal May 2016 (same authors as above).
Note: if modulation is switched on (it isn't by default) the glazing opening areas defined here are multiplied
by a factor to account for external conditions in EnergyPlus Airflow Network simulations when using
Calculated natural ventilation.
Tip: In some cases it is best to switch off the Lump similar windows on surface model option when using
Calculated natural ventilation. Particular cases where this is important are a) when there are windows of the
same size and type but different % Glazing area opens values on the same surface and b) where the air flow
rate through individual windows is required, e.g. when preparing boundary conditions for a linked EnergyPlus
CFD study.
Discharge coefficient
The constant discharge coefficient for the window (Cd) is used for Calculated natural ventilation only. The
value must be between 0.0 and 1.0. Separate values can be entered for internal, external and roof windows.
For open doors and holes, a discharge coefficient can entered on the Advanced tab of the model options
dialog under the Natural Ventilation header.
From the IEA Annexe 20 document Air flow Through Large Openings in Buildings.
The EnergyPlus Airflow Network model is based on the following empirical powerlaw relationship between the
flow and the pressure difference across a crack or opening in the building envelope:
- 397 -
The volumetric flow rate, Q [m3/s], is a simple function of the pressure drop, ∆P [Pa], across the opening. A
common variation of the powerlaw equation is:
where the mass flow rate, F [kg/s], is a simple function of the pressure drop. A third variation is related to the
orifice equation:
where:
Theoretically, the value of the flow exponent, n, should lie between 0.5 and 1.0. Large openings are
characterized by values very close to 0.5, while values near 0.65 have been found for small crack-like
openings.
Other sources recommend a value close to 0.6. For example the CONTAMW 2.0 User Manual states that the
discharge coefficient, is related to the dynamic effects and is typically close to 0.6 for an orifice and slightly
higher for other openings in buildings.
Cd = 0.4 + 0.0045 δT
Given other uncertainties in natural ventilation calculations (wind pressure coefficients, effective areas of real-
world openings and crack flows etc), using a discharge coefficient between 0.60 and 0.65 should provide
sufficient accuracy.
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Doors
Note: Natural Ventilation can be overridden to be off on the HVAC tab for both Calculated and Scheduled
model options.
Doors
Openings tab in model data
DesignBuilder doors are opaque and are added to the model by navigating to the appropriate surface and
checking the Door fitted option. This adds a single door replacing one of the windows. Alternatively, for more
control over the placement position of the doors, you can go to surface level and draw the doors using the
Draw Door command. On surfaces where custom openings have been defined, any changes to door layout
model data on the Opening tab is ignored.
• Door Placement
• Door Operation
Note: if you have drawn custom doors at the surface level then these will be used even if the Doors fitted
checkbox is not checked. The Doors fitted checkbox only controls the automatic generation of doors, not
their use in the calculations.
Note: Doors positioned on external walls only have an effect on airflow in Simulation calculations when
the Natural ventilation building model option is set to Calculated. They have no effect on airflow in Heating
and Cooling Design calculations. Doors positioned on internal partition walls are used to mix the air between
the two adjacent zones when the Scheduled Natural ventilation building model option is set. They also
provide an air flow path when the Calculated option is set.
Glazed doors
Exterior doors that have glazing should be modelled using windows. If only a portion of the door is glazed then
the door could be modelled as part door and part window.
Door Placement
Openings tab in model data under Doors
On surfaces where no custom openings have been defined, you can create doors simply by checking the
'Doors fitted?' options under the External and Internal Doors headers. In this case a single door is positioned
on each surface in place of one of the windows in the automatically generated facade layout.
Door Operation
Openings tab in model data under Doors
The operation of doors can be defined by entering data under Operation headers:
• % Area door opens - defines the area of the door which opens relative to the total area to give an
approximation of the actual opening size and,
• % Time door is open - defines the average time the door is in the open position. Accounts for the fact
that during occupied periods the door may open and close repeatedly.
• Opening position - defines where in the door the airflow opening is located. Select from:
• 1-Top,
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• 2-Bottom,
• 3-Right and
• 4-Left
The way this data is used depends on the Natural ventilation model option set but in both cases the concept
of doors opening and closing is approximated by reducing the size of the door opening area to account for the
fact that the door is closed for much of the time.
Note: the same Opening position and % Area door opens data is used for both EnergyPlus Calculated
natural ventilation and CFD calculations. % Time door is open is not used in CFD.
Operation schedule
The Operation schedule is used to control timing of the door opening. Note that the schedule should have
values of 0 and 1 only and intermediate fractional values do not indicate partial opening.
Internal doors are modelled using the EnergyPlus ZoneMixing object which mixes air between the two
adjacent zones. DesignBuilder uses an approximate empirical relationship to calculate the mixing flow:
Flow (m3/s) = Door area (m2) * % area door opens * % time door is open * FAirflowRatePerOpeningArea
where FAirflowRatePerOpeningArea is a factor used to obtain the mixing flow from the opening area. The
value of this factor can be defined on the Model options dialog on the Advanced tab under Natural ventilation.
The default value is 0.1 m3/s-m2.
Note: The Airflow through internal openings model option must be checked to obtain airflow through
internal doors when using Scheduled natural ventilation.
Operation schedule
The Operation schedule is used to control timing of the mixing flow. Note that the schedule should have
values of 0 and 1 only and intermediate fractional values do not indicate partial opening.
Note: For both Scheduled and Calculated natural ventilation options, door opening is controlled entirely by
schedule and is not affected by natural ventilation controls.
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Vents And Holes
Vents
DesignBuilder vents are used for modelling airflow through openings and can be easily added to the model by
navigating to the appropriate surface and checking the Vents fitted option. This adds a single vent under each
of the windows (if the vent spacing is the same as the window spacing). Alternatively, for more control over
the placement position of the vents, you can go to surface level and draw the vents using the Draw vent
command. On surfaces where custom openings have been defined, any changes to vent layout model data
on the Opening tab is ignored.
• Vent Placement
• Vent Operation
Note: if you have drawn custom vents at the surface level then these will be used even if the Vents fitted
checkbox is not checked. The Vents fitted checkbox only controls the automatic generation of vents, not their
use in the calculations.
The properties of the vent are defined by the selection of the vent type:
Holes
Holes are modelled in a similar way to vents with some exceptions:
Vent Modelling
Calculated Natural Ventilation (Simulations only)
• An EnergyPlus Door. The heat conduction through the vent Door component is displayed in results as
Internal Natural vent and External Natural vent.
• An EnergyPlus AirflowNetwork:MultiZone:Component:DetailedOpening and other associated
AirflowNetwork components, providing a controllable flow path. You can define Vent operation.
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Scheduled Natural Ventilation (and Heating and Cooling Design Calculations)
• An EnergyPlus Door. The heat conduction through the vent Door component is displayed in results as
Internal Natural vent and External Natural vent.
• Internal vents also have an EnergyPlus ZoneMixing object using parameters set in the Model options
dialog. External vents do not exchange air explicitly with Scheduled natural ventilation.
Hole Modelling
Calculated Natural Ventilation (Simulations only)
• Sub-surface:
• If using 1-Minimum shadowing or 2-Full exterior solar distribution the hole is represented using
an EnergyPlus Door. In this case heat conduction through the vent Door component is displayed
in results as Internal Natural vent and External Natural vent.
• If the 3-Full interior and exterior solar distribution Model option is set then the hole is modelled
using a 'perfectly clear' window which transmits solar radiation and visible light.
• Sub-surface:
• If using 1-Minimum shadowing or 2-Full exterior solar distribution the hole is represented using
an EnergyPlus Door. In this case the heat conduction through the vent Door component is
displayed in results as Internal Natural vent and External Natural vent.
• If the 3-Full interior and exterior solar distribution Model option is set then the hole is modelled
using a 'perfectly clear' window which transmits solar radiation and visible light.
• Internal holes have an EnergyPlus ZoneMixing object using parameters set in the Model options
dialog. External holes do not exchange air explicitly with Scheduled natural ventilation.
Vent Placement
Openings tab in model data under Vents
On surfaces where no custom openings have been defined, you can create vents simply by checking the
Auto generate options under the External and Internal Vents headers. In this case vents are positioned on
each surface using Vent spacing and Vent height above floor in the automatically generated facade layout.
Typically, a single vent is positioned under each of the windows (if the vent spacing is the same as the window
spacing).
Note: It is often more convenient to place vents manually by drawing them at surface level or by copying
previously drawn vents at building level.
Vent area
Enter the area of the area of each vent (in m2 or ft2).
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Vent Operation
Vent spacing
The spacing between the each vent on the facade (in m or ft). In many cases this will be the same as the
window spacing if auto generated windows are also being used. The window spacing is the centre to centre
spacing between vents, not the gap between vents.
Vent Operation
Openings tab in model data under Vents
The operation of vents can be defined by entering timing data under Operation headers.
• 1-Control by schedule - the internal vents are controlled entirely by schedule and are not affected by
any of the natural ventilation controls on the HVAC tab.
• 2-Control with external windows/vents - the internal vents are controlled using exactly the same
natural ventilation controls as external windows and vents through controls on the HVAC tab as well as
the operation schedule described below.
• 1-Control by schedule - the internal vents are controlled entirely by schedule and are not affected by
any of the natural ventilation controls on the HVAC tab.
• 2-Closed - the internal vents are always closed and do not allow any airflow to be exchanged.
The way this data is used depends on the Natural ventilation model option set:
Operation schedule
The Operation schedule is used to control timing of the vent opening availability. Note that the schedule
should have values of 0 and 1 only and intermediate fractional values do not indicate partial opening.
Note: Vents on a roof surface use the operation schedule under the Vents > External > Operation header
to define simulated vent opening availability.
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Scheduled Natural Ventilation
External vent opening is not modelled explicitly with the Scheduled natural ventilation model data setting.
Instead, the total natural ventilation flow rate and operation is defined for each zone on the HVAC tab. No
operation data is entered on the Openings tab for external vents.
Internal vents are modelled using the EnergyPlus ZoneMixing object which mixes air between the two
adjacent zones. DesignBuilder uses an approximate empirical relationship to calculate the mixing flow:
Flow (m3/s) = Door area (m2) * % area door opens * % time door is open * FAirflowRatePerOpeningArea
where FAirflowRatePerOpeningArea is a factor used to obtain the mixing flow from the opening area. The
value of this factor can be defined on the Model options dialog on the Advanced tab under Natural ventilation.
The default value is 0.1 m3/s-m2.
Note: The Airflow through internal openings model option must be checked to obtain airflow through
internal vents when using Scheduled natural ventilation.
Operation schedule
The Operation schedule is used to control timing of the mixing flow. Note that the schedule should have
values of 0 and 1 only and intermediate fractional values do not indicate partial opening.
You can enter Wind pressure coefficients (WPC) for wind incidence angles in 45° increments for each surface
in the model. DesignBuilder automatically sets up default WPC data as surfaces are created using published
Wind Pressure Coefficient template data.
Wind pressure coefficients are only available when using the Calculated natural ventilation model option.
Note: the wind incidence angles are relative to the surface normal for each surface.
Templates
You can load generic Lighting data by clicking on the Template option under Lighting Template and then by
clicking on the '...' at the right of the line.
When you make a selection from the list of Lighting templates, data from selected template will be loaded to
the model.
With Early gains, the lighting gains in the space are separated into Task and General lighting.
You can also open these headers to enter lighting details where they are different from those loaded from the
template:
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General Lighting
• General Lighting
• Task Lighting
• Lighting Control
• Exterior Lighting
• "Lighting Cost" on page 415
When you load lighting data from template, the actual general lighting internal gain is calculated by dividing
the W/m2/100 lux data in the template by the required illuminance level as set on the Activity tab.
Consequently you should make sure the correct activity data has been loaded in each zone before loading
lighting templates. Also, you may need to explicitly load data in each zone by checking each zone in the
Target tab of the 'Load data from template' dialog.
General Lighting
Lighting tab in model data
General lighting accounts for the main lighting in the room. It is assumed to be able to be replaced by daylight
through lighting control.
Units
When the Gain definition level model option is set to 2-Zone by zone in model data you can select the units
to be used for lighting here on the Lighting tab. Choose from the options:
• 1-Power density - where the General lighting gains are defined per floor area. This method has the
advantage that the level of gains can clearly be understood by looking at W/m2 or W/ft2 values and
floor area. However it can cause problems when loading data from lighting templates in that if the
activity is changed subsequently with a different illuminance requirement, the lighting power density is
not updated. This issue has led to the introduction of the second option.
• 2-Normalised power density - Although the units for Normalised power density (W/m2-100 lux or
W/ft2-fc) may seem quite obscure, this method of defining lighting gains has advantages over using
simple Power density. Namely that the actual lighting level is associated with the lighting system type
without the need to refer to the zone activity and hence illuminance requirement. So if a particular
lighting system type is installed throughout a building, but the building has a range of activities each
with different illuminance requirements, it will usually be possible to enter the lighting Normalised
power density value once only at building level, set the activity for each zone and obtain realistic
lighting gains.
• 3-Absolute zone power - where the lighting gains are defined as W without reference to the zone floor
area. This option is used when the actual absolute lighting gains levels are known in W. Unless you
need to enter specific known lighting equipment gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it
increases the amount of work involved due to the inheritance mechanism not working effectively for
gains that are not normalised by floor area.
Note: When using the 3-Absolute zone power option, the lighting gains data is normally entered
individually for each zone because values inherited from building and block levels will typically not be correct.
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Gain
Set the design level of energy consumption due to general lighting. Depending on the Lighting gain units
model option setting, the gains data is entered as Power density (in W/m2 or W/ft2) or as Normalised power
density (W/m2-100lux or W/ft2-fc) or as Absolute zone power (in W).
Power density
When the 1-Power density Lighting gain units model option is selected gains are entered in W/m2 or W/ft2.
Note: When loading lighting data from template and using the 1-Power density option, the actual lighting
gain per area is calculated by dividing the Normalised power density data in the template by the required
illuminance level as currently set on the Activity tab. If you select a new Activity with different illuminance level
requirements, the Lighting tab does not automatically update the Power density.
Max Lighting power (W) = Lighting energy (W/m2-100lux) x Zone floor area (m2) x Zone Illuminance
requirement / 100
Calculations
For all of the above 3 options, the lighting energy should be the maximum electrical power input to lighting in a
zone, including ballasts, if present. This value is multiplied by a schedule fraction (below) during the simulation
to get the lighting power in a particular time step.
The electrical input to lighting ultimately appears as heat that contributes to zone loads or to return air heat
gains. In EnergyPlus this heat is divided into four different fractions. Three of these are given by the input
fields Return Air Fraction, Fraction Radiant and Fraction Visible. A fourth, defined as the fraction of the heat
from lights convected to the zone air, is calculated by EnergyPlus as:
Convected Fraction = 1.0 – (Return Air Fraction + Radiant Fraction + Visible Fraction)
Note: An error message is displayed if Return Air Fraction + Radiant Fraction + Visible Fraction exceeds
1.0. These fractions depend on the type of lamp and luminaire, whether the luminaire is vented to the return
air, etc.
Schedule
If the Internal gains operate with occupancy model option is not set (the default state) then General lighting
operation is governed by the operation schedule selected here.
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General Lighting
The level of lighting gains are multiplied by the time-varying factor in the schedule to give the gain for each
timestep in the simulation. Otherwise, if the Internal gains operate with occupancy model option is set then
these gains are synchronised with the Occupancy schedule.
Luminaire type
Select from:
When you select using the drop-down list an appropriate set of defaults for the luminaire type is loaded
according to the table below, assuming fluorescent lighting.
4-Luminous
2-Surface 5-Return-air
Data 1-Suspended 3-Recessed and Recessed
Mount Ducted
Ceiling
Return Air
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.54
Fraction
Radiant
0.42 0.72 0.37 0.37 0.18
Fraction
Visible Fraction 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18
Convected
0.40 0.10 0.45 0.45 0.10
Fraction
Approximate values of Return Air Fraction, Radiant Fraction and Visible Fraction for overhead fluorescent
lighting for different luminaire configurations. These values assume that no light heat goes into an adjacent
zone. Source: Lighting Handbook: Reference & Application, 8th Edition, Illuminating Engineering Society of
North America, New York, 1993, p. 355.
More up to date data on luminaire performance can also be obtained from ASHREA Fundamentals 2013, 18.6
Table 3:
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Note: the Space fraction in the above table from ASHRAE is the fraction of the gain entering the room
and corresponds to 1 - Return air fraction.
Radiant fraction
The fraction of heat from lights that goes into the zone as long-wave (thermal) radiation. The program
calculates how much of this radiation is absorbed by the inside surfaces of the zone according the area times
thermal absorptance product of these surfaces.
Fraction visible
The fraction of heat from lights that goes into the zone as visible (short-wave) radiation. The program
calculates how much of this radiation is absorbed by the inside surfaces of the zone according the area times
solar absorptance product of these surfaces.
Note: selecting an option from the Luminaire type drop-down list loads default Return Air Fraction,
Radiant Fraction and Visible Fraction data from the table above.
Fraction convected
The fraction of the heat from lights convected to the zone air is calculated from:
Fraction convected = 1.0 – (Return Air Fraction + Fraction Radiant + Fraction Visible)
You will get an error message if Return Air Fraction + Fraction Radiant + Fraction Visible exceeds 1.0.
Task and Display Lighting accounts for lighting used for specific tasks (e.g. desk lamps) or for displaying items
(e.g. display lighting for goods in shops).
Data Value
Radiant fraction 0.42
Visible fraction 0.18
Return air fraction 0
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Lighting Control
Gain
Enter the gain due to task and display lighting (in W/m2 or W/ft2).
Note that when you load lighting data from template, the Default lighting display density lighting gain value on
the Activity tab is copied here overriding any previously set value.
Operation
If 'Internal gains operate with occupancy' under model options is not set Task lighting has a specific operation
schedule set under Task Lighting, otherwise these gains are synchronised with occupancy.
Lighting Control
Lighting tab in model data
You can control the electric lights according to the availability of natural daylight. When Lighting control is
switched on, illuminance levels are calculated at every time step during the simulation and then used to
determine how much the electric lighting can be reduced. The daylight illuminance level in a zone depends on
many factors, including sky condition, sun position, photocell sensor positions, location, size, and glass
transmittance of windows, window shades and reflectance of interior surfaces. Reduction of electric lighting
depends on daylight illuminance level, illuminance set point, fraction of zone controlled and type of lighting
control.
Note: You should not use daylight control in zones without any windows - this will generate errors
preventing calculations from running. You should therefore use the building and block level lighting control
setting with care, checking for any zones without windows and switching off lighting control at the zone level.
Lighting control is available for General lighting but not for Task and display lighting. If no general lighting is
specified then lighting control won't be applied.
Lighting Areas
When lighting control is switched on, by default all of the lights in the zone are controlled by the first (main)
lighting sensor and % Zone Controlled by Lighting Area 1 has value 100%. Some larger spaces may have
2 Lighting Areas, each area having its own lighting sensor and covering its own area of the zone. The area is
not defined geometrically in DesignBuilder - it simply reflects the fraction of the total General overhead electric
lighting that can be dimmed by its lighting sensor.
1. A large zone may need more than one sensor if the output from main sensor does not represent the
daylight available in other parts of the zone. For example a zone having facades in both South and
East directions would need 2 sensors (and 2 Lighting Areas), one on each facade.
2. The zone has 2 different activity areas which have been lumped into a single zone for convenience.
The 2 activities have different visual illuminance requirements and the Lighting Areas for both can
benefit from daylighting through daylighting control. An example would be a zone having both office
and recreational space. The office space may have a lighting requirement of 500 lux and the
recreational space may need 300 lux.
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Note 1: if the zone has a different sensor for the back half (for example) you should check the Second
light sensor option.
Note 2: if the zone has perimeter and core areas, perimeter lights having daylight control and core lights
not, then you only need to use a single lighting sensor. The fact that the core lights are not controlled can be
modelled using % Zone Controlled by Lighting Area 1. If 60% of the lights in the zone are located in the
core zone and do not have daylight control then set % Zone Controlled by Lighting Area 1 to 40.
Perimeter Area
A typical perimeter area would be the areas of the zone that are close to a window. By convention perimeter
areas are defined as the area within a fixed distance from a normal to the perimeter. In the UK NCM the fixed
distance is 6m.
If you wish to create a separate thermal zone to model the different lighting and solar conditions in the
perimeter area, you can use the Offset snap option to draw Virtual partitions.
Daylight illuminance on the 'working plane' is calculated for up to two locations in each zone during the
simulation and illuminance setpoints are maintained where necessary by electric lighting. The sensor is
always located in the working plane which, by default, is 0.8m above the floor. By default, when lighting
control is switched on, a single photo sensor monitors the daylight illuminance at the first sensor location and
controls the lights for the whole of the zone. You can however set up 2 Lighting Areas in each zone, by
checking the Second lighting area check box. In this case you can set a target illuminance for the second
lighting area separately and also define the percentage of the zone covered by Lighting Area 2.
Note 1: the floor area covered by the 2 sensors does not need to add to 100%. The lights in the remaining
floor area operate without daylight control.
Note 2: the target illuminance for Lighting Area 1 is set on the Activity tab under Environmental Control.
is assumed to have no lighting control (i.e. in this uncontrolled area of the space, the lights operate purely
according to the schedule without any dimming/switching).
Procedure
The procedure for introducing the lighting control is:
1. Check the Lighting Control On checkbox (at building level if all zones are to have lighting control).
2. Enter the working plane height which should normally be the height of the lighting control sensor above
the top of the floor surface of the zone.
3. Select the type of control as described below.
4. Position the first sensor in each zone having lighting control. The z-position is set by the Working plane
height on the Advanced tab of the Model options dialog.
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Lighting Control
5. Set the % Zone covered by Lighting Area 1. If all the lights in the zone are in Lighting Area 1 (i.e.
they are controlled by the 1st (main) lighting sensor then enter 100%.
6. If there are two lighting areas then position the second sensor.
7. Set the % Zone covered by Lighting Area 2. If all the lights in the zone are in Lighting Area 2 (i.e.
they are controlled by the 2nd lighting sensor) then enter 100 - %Zone covered by Lighting Area 1.
Note: by default the main lighting sensor is positioned in the geometric centre of the zone. It is important
that you check the position of all lighting sensors to obtain accurate results. For example, if the lighting sensor
is positioned right next to a window receiving large amounts of daylight, the lighting sensor will signal 'enough
daylight' even if the rest of the zone is only dimly lit and electric lighting energy will be under-estimated
(daylight savings over-estimated).
Linear Control
With Linear control, the overhead lights dim continuously and linearly from maximum electric power,
maximum light output to minimum electric power, minimum light output as the daylight illuminance increases.
The lights stay at the minimum point with further increase in the daylight illuminance.
The Minimum input power fraction for Linear control type is the lowest power the lighting system can dim
down to, expressed as a fraction of maximum input power. For Linear/off lighting control, this is the power
fraction reached just before the lights switch off completely.
The Minimum output fraction for Linear control type, is the lowest lighting output the lighting system can
dim down to, expressed as a fraction of maximum light output. This is the fractional light output that the
system produces at minimum input power. For Linear/off lighting control, this is the light output fraction
reached just before the lights switch off completely.
Note: Linear control provides an idealised lighting control mechanism which can be useful for calculating
upper limits on the potential for savings when using natural daylight to offset electric lighting.
Linear/Off Control
Linear/off control is the same as Linear control except that the lights switch off completely when the minimum
dimming point is reached.
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Stepped Control
Stepped control allows you to switch lighting on/off according to the availability of natural daylight in discrete
steps. Whereas the Linear control described above provides precisely controlled illuminance by dimming the
lights, the stepped control models blocks of lights switching on/off according to the electric lighting
requirement.
The electric power input and light output vary in discreet, equally spaced steps. The number of steps can be
set.
Glare
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Lighting Control
Instrument assembly 22
Hospital wards 18
Laboratories 22
Museums 20
Offices 22
School classrooms 20
*Source EnergyPlus documentation
Algorithms
By default, DesignBuilder uses the EnergyPlus Daylighting:Detailed object to model the control of electric
lighting according to daylight illumination levels. You can find more information on the algorithms used in the
EnergyPlus Daylight Calculations section.
Output
For any zone simulated with daylighting controls, an illuminance map can be output with a 10 x 10 grid of
additional daylighting reference points. The resulting map is output as a comma delimited text file called
eplusmap.csv in the EnergyPlus folder. This file can be imported into a spreadsheet program for rapid
visualisation of the daylighting illuminance patterns in a zone. To generate this file, at least one zone must
have daylight control and the Daylight map output selection on the Output tab of the Simulation output options
dialog must be made.
The Working plane height is used for EnergyPlus daylighting simulations only and is not used in Radiance
daylighting where a separate value is defined on the Daylighting calculation options dialog.
Horizontal Position
To calculate the default position of the first and second daylight sensors DesignBuilder follows these steps:
1. For zones that are non-convex (zones where some surfaces cannot see all of the other surfaces in the
zone, e.g. L-shaped zone) the floor plan is broken down into the smallest possible number of convex
areas.
2. The geometric centre of the largest of the convex areas derived in step 1 is used as the basis for the
position of the lighting sensors.
3. The specific position of the first and second sensors are 0.5m to the "left" and "right" of the geometric
centre position derived in step 2.
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You can move the sensor by following these steps:
If the second sensor is enabled in the zone then you will be able to position that in the same way.
Exterior Lighting
Lighting tab in model data
Exterior lighting allows you to account for the energy consumption of lights used to illuminate the exterior of
the building. Options are available for scheduled operation and nighttime switching.
Operation schedule
The schedule allows the exterior lights consumption to be operationally different, hour to hour as well as
seasonally. Fractional values in the basic schedule are applied to the design level data below.
Design level
This data is normally used to represent the maximum electrical input to exterior lighting fixtures that is then
multiplied by a schedule fraction (see previous field). Alternatively, the lighting design level could be a
“diversity factor” applied to a schedule of real numbers.
Control Option
This data is used to determine how the exterior lights are controlled. There are currently two options:
• Schedule only where the exterior lights always follow the operation schedule.
• Schedule + override off on daytime where the exterior lights will not run when the sun is up, no
matter what the schedule indicates. Using this option makes it simple to model exterior lights that are
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Lighting Cost
controlled by a photocell or other controller that ensures that outdoor lights will not run during the
daytime. However, this control works off of the position of the sun and therefore does not operate
exactly like a photocell. During the night, the schedule values are still applied in the usual way.
Lighting Cost
Lighting tab in model data
The electric lighting cost is calculated zone by zone by multiplying the zone floor area by the cost per floor
area (GIFA) for the zone on the Lighting tab. This data will normally be loaded from the Lighting template to
ensure that lighting performance and cost data are consistent.
Tip: The Cost data help topic provides an overview of the places in DesignBuilder where costs are entered.
Templates
You can load generic HVAC data by clicking on the Template option under HVAC Template and then by
clicking on the '...' at the right of the line.
When you make a selection from the list of HVAC templates, data from selected template will be loaded to the
model.
The rest of this HVAC section is split into 2 main sections covering the 2 HVAC model options:
• Simple HVAC
• Detailed HVAC
• Natural Ventilation
• Earth Tubes
• Domestic Hot Water
• Air Temperature Distribution
Simple HVAC
HVAC tab in model data - Simple HVAC
Simple HVAC is suitable for use at early design stages or for other analyses where detailed treatment of
heating, cooling and mechanical ventilation systems is required.
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You can also open headers to enter HVAC details where they are different from those loaded from the
template:
• Auxiliary Energy
• Mechanical Ventilation
• Fans
• Outside Air
• Heating
• Cooling
Auxiliary Energy
HVAC tab in model data - Simple HVAC
When using Simple HVAC, this data is used to calculate the electric energy consumption due to fans and
pumps, control gear and any other HVAC-related equipment not accounted for elsewhere. The data used for
this calculation depends on the Simple HVAC Auxiliary model options setting.
NCM Setting
When the 1-NCM Simple HVAC auxiliary energy calculations option is set, only one data item is required to
define the auxiliary energy consumption. This data is used at the zone level and the auxiliary energy
consumption for the building is displayed at building level in the Simulation results as Auxiliary Energy.
Auxiliary energy
The total annual Auxiliary energy consumption can be entered as kWh/m2 (SI units) or Btu/ft2 (IP units).
Auxiliary energy accounts for any additional energy consumption due to fans, pumps, control gear etc. It is
specified per floor area and is modelled as being consumed 24/7 during the simulation. Note that when using
the NCM option, auxiliary energy consumption will not vary according to mechanical ventilation flow rates or
any other settings - it is a very basic way to account for auxiliary energy consumption.
The default auxiliary energy method is based on that published in the UK National Calculation Methodology
(NCM).
The energy consumption related to Auxiliary energy is shown at building level on the Simulation results
screen.
• Fan energy is calculated based on fan pressure rise and efficiency values as defined under
Mechanical ventilation > Fans. The fan energy consumption data is displayed in simulation results as
Fan energy and will depend on the actual mechanical ventilation flow rates applied in the simulation.
• Pump, control and any other electrical energy associated with the HVAC system is calculated using a
power density value (W/m2 or W/ft2) plus a schedule to define time/seasonal variations.
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Mechanical Ventilation
When the Mechanical ventilation method model option is set to 1-Room ventilation, fans are modelled in
EnergyPlus based on the Room ventilation pressure and efficiency settings and the energy consumption of
the fans and pumps are reported separately in results. When the Mechanical ventilation method option is set
to 2-Ideal loads EnergyPlus does not model fan energy consumption separately and in this case the total
consumption of fans and pumps should be entered under Pumps etc and the results are reported under
"Pumps".
Schedule
Select the schedule defining the time variation of the pump energy consumption.
Mechanical Ventilation
HVAC tab in model data - Simple HVAC
Check the mechanical ventilation checkbox to indicate that outside air and/or re-circulated air is delivered to
the zone. You can use this setting to define mechanical ventilation and air delivered through centrally ducted
air conditioning systems or local fresh air systems.
The specification of outside air delivery rates is the same for both options as described in the Outside air
section.
The way that mechanical ventilation is modelled in Simple HVAC depends on the Mechanical ventilation
method model option:
1-Room Ventilation
With the Mechanical ventilation method model option the introduction of outside air through fans is achieved
using the EnergyPlus ZoneVentilation:DesignFlowRate data separate from the main HVAC system. Energy
consumption and heat pick up from fans is included as described below.
Fan Type
When using Simple HVAC, enter the type of fan. Select from:
• 1-Supply - fan blows outside air into the zone and the zone receives heat from the fan if Fan in air
(below) > 0
• 2-Extract - fan exhausts air from the zone. In this case there is no fan heat pickup and it is not possible
to enter Fan pressure rise and Fan total efficiency. It is assumed that makeup air comes from outside.
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Note: In Simple HVAC the Auxiliary energy data accounts for all electric fan and pump distribution
EnergyPlus controls and any other electrical energy use associated with HVAC that is not already accounted
for elsewhere.
2-Ideal Loads
With the Ideal loads option, Mechanical ventilation is modelled with heating and cooling using the EnergyPlus
ZoneHVAC:IdealLoadsAirSystem data. In this case there are options to include the effects of heat recovery,
economiser, humidification and dehumidification.
Note: With the Ideal loads option, fan energy and heat pickup are not included in the simulation. In this
case you can approximate fan energy using auxiliary energy data but if you need more detailed fan modelling
you should use either the Room ventilation option or Detailed HVAC model options.
Economiser
Economisers are used to provide cooling when the outdoor temperature is lower than the indoor temperature.
An economiser is a damper opening that draws up to 100% outside air when the outside air is cooler than the
temperature inside the building, thereby providing free cooling. An outdoor air economy cycle can reduce
cooling energy requirements by some 20% to 30%, or around 5% of the air conditioning energy use and are
often required by energy codes for larger air conditioning units.
• 1-None where no economiser operation will be simulated and outside fresh air is based purely on the
Mechanical ventilation Outside air rate and associated operation schedule.
• 2-Differential dry bulb the economiser increases the outdoor air flow rate above the minimum outdoor
air flow when there is a cooling load and the outdoor air temperature or enthalpy is below the zone
exhaust air temperature.
• 3-Differential enthalpy the economiser increases the outdoor air flow rate above the minimum outdoor
air flow when there is a cooling load and the outdoor air enthalpy is below that of the zone exhaust air.
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Outside Air
Note: The economiser works together with the cooling system and if cooling is not selected the
economiser will not operate.
Note: This value is not used a) when the Cooling limit type is set to 2-Limit capacity and b) when the
HVAC Autosize model option is 1-Adequate.
Heat recovery
When heat recovery is active you can choose the type of heat recovery. Select from:
• 1-Sensible which provides sensible heat recovery whenever the zone exhaust air temperature is more
favourable than the outdoor air temperature.
• 2-Enthalpy where latent and sensible heat recovery are provided whenever the zone exhaust air
enthalpy is more favourable than the outdoor air enthalpy.
With the EnergyPlus Ideal loads system used in Simple HVAC heat recovery heating is only available when a
zone is heated, i.e. when the Heated checkbox is checked on the HVAC tab. Likewise cooling heat recovery
will only be available if the Cooled checkbox is checked. That is not to say that heat recovery isn't available
for zones with heating at times when the heating system is not operating - heat recovery heating is available
at any time in this case when the outside air is cooler than zone exhaust air, regardless of whether heating is
operating or not. If you need to model heat recovery for systems without heating then you should use Detailed
HVAC which is more flexible.
Outside Air
HVAC tab in model data under Mechanical Ventilation header - Simple HVAC
You can set the amount, timing and control of outside air delivery through the HVAC air distribution system on
the HVAC tab.
Outside air requirement data is used at the zone level for all HVAC configurations and options, though
defaults settings can be made at building and block levels.
The Mech Vent + Nat Vent + Infiltration output data can be displayed on the Heating design, Cooling design
and Simulation screens when you select 1-All or 3-Comfort data. This is the sum of fresh air delivered
through the HVAC system, infiltration and natural ventilation outside airflow in air changes per hour (ac/h) and
when used together with the other environmental output it can be very useful in checking for occupant
discomfort.
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Outside air definition method
Defines the method used to set the maximum outside air delivery rate. The actual outside air flow rate during
simulation is modified by the Operation schedule described below. The options are:
• 1-By zone - enter the zone outside air delivery rate in air changes per hour in the control directly
below. The air flow rate in m3/s is calculated from the ac/h data using:
where ZoneVolume is the actual air volume of the space calculated according to Model options for
excluding floor/ceiling constructions.
Note: this zone volume may be slightly different from the value used for the purposes of calculating
air flow rates for infiltration which uses the total zone volume.
• 2-Min fresh air (Per person) - maximum mechanical ventilation rate is defined using Minimum fresh
air requirements per person as set on the Activity tab. The air flow rate in m3/s is calculated from this
as:
• 3-Min fresh air (Per area) - maximum mechanical ventilation rate is defined using Minimum fresh air
requirements as set on the Activity tab. The air flow rate in m3/s is calculated as:
• 4-Min fresh air (Sum per person + per area) - maximum natural ventilation rate is defined using
Minimum fresh air requirements for both as set on the Activity tab. The air flow rate in m3/s is
calculated as:
• 5-Min fresh air (Max per person and per area) - maximum natural ventilation rate is defined using
Minimum fresh air requirements for both as set on the Activity tab. The air flow rate in m3/s is
calculated as:
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Heating
The actual minimum amount of outside air entering the AHU can be modified by the Operation schedule
(below).
Note: For Heating design calculations, the Outside air flow rate value is used unmodified by a schedule
when mechanical ventilation is switched on and included in the analysis.
Operation
Schedule
Select the schedule that defines the time-varying operation of the mechanical ventilation system. The
fractional values in the schedule are multiplied by the Outside air flow rate (above).
Heating
HVAC tab in model data - Simple HVAC
The data required to define the heating system will depend on whether the HVAC model option is set to
Simple or Detailed and if using Detailed the type of Detailed HVAC system selected.
Note: for all systems, heating setpoint temperatures are defined on the Activity tab.
Heated
If the zone is to be heated then check this checkbox. When it is checked the rest of the items described on
this page become available.
Heating Capacity
The heating capacity can either be entered by hand or can be Autosized using the Heating Design
Calculations. By default, if immediately prior to a Simulation the heating capacity has not been entered
(neither by hand nor from a previous Heating design calculation) then a Heating design autosizing simulation
is started to calculate the capacity. The Plant sizing building model option controls the way this works.
You can change heating capacities by hand if you wish but you should bear in mind that, by default, if Model
Options change, all heating and cooling capacities are reset to zero. Set the Plant sizing model option to '2-
Manual' to avoid this happening.
If the HVAC system is Unitary multizone then the central heating coil capacity is calculated as the sum of the
individual zone heating energy requirements.
Heating Plant
Heating fuel
Select the type of fuel used to generate the heating energy - choose from:
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Interface Fuel Name Fuel in results
1-Electricity from grid Electricity
2-Natural Gas Gas
3-Oil Oil
4-Coal Solid fuel
5-LPG Bottled gas
6-Biogas Bottled gas
7-Anthracite Solid fuel
8-Smokeless Fuel (inc Coke) Solid fuel
9-Dual Fuel Appliances (Mineral + Wood) Other
10-Biomass Other
11-Waste Heat Other
You should select 1-Electricity from grid you wish the results displayed in DesignBuilder to agree with those
calculated by EnergyPlus directly for District heating and displayed on the Summary tab of the Simulation
screen.
Heating system CoP data is specified by zone so you can model different heating efficiencies in each zone.
But generally you should access this data from the building level and allow zones to take on building default.
Note: When comparing the heating fuel consumption results with the data displayed on the Summary tab,
it is important to realise that DesignBuilder applies a fuel type and a CoP to the idealised heating systems
used in EnergyPlus when using Simple HVAC. On the other hand EnergyPlus displays the unprocessed loads
as District heating in the tables on the Summary tab. This is because the idealised systems in EnergyPlus
are considered to be met directly without use of HVAC equipment through a district heating type system.
• 1-Convective - the space is heated by an air system and controlled to the air temperature set point.
The system is modelled using the EnergyPlus "Ideal Loads" system.
• 2-Radiative/convective units - used for modelling general systems where a radiant heat is a factor.
Allows modelling of convective systems, hot water radiator systems, underfloor heating systems,
baseboard heating etc. using EnergyPlus 'High Temp Radiant System'.
1-Convective
When using Simple HVAC you can specify the heating supply air conditions of the air.
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Heating
• 1-Limit flow rate - means that the heating supply air flow rate will be limited to a flow rate value
calculated based on the autosizing model option settings. When using the 3-Autosize HVAC
sizing method the flow rate limit is calculated by EnergyPlus sizing calculations. Otherwise if the
DesignBuilder sizing method is used the flow rate is calculated based on the required heating
capacity calculated by DesignBuilder and the Maximum supply air delivery temperature
(above).
• 2-Limit capacity - means that the sensible heating capacity will be limited to a capacity value
calculated based on the autosizing model option settings. When using the 3-Autosize HVAC
sizing method the capacity is calculated by EnergyPlus sizing calculations. Otherwise if the
DesignBuilder sizing method is used the flow rate is calculated based on the required heating
capacity calculated by DesignBuilder and the Maximum supply air delivery temperature
(above).
• 3-Limit flow rate and capacity - means that both flow rate and capacity will be limited to the
above values.
2-Radiant/Convective Units
When the Simple HVAC, 1-Room ventilation Mechanical ventilation and 1-DesignBuilder Simple
HVAC autosizing method model options are set you can model radiant heating systems. Set the
heating system type as 2-Radiant/convective units (above) and enter the heating radiant fraction and
the way radiant heat is distributed through the space.
Important: Recent versions of EnergyPlus no longer support the radiant/convective option combined
with Simple HVAC cooling systems, so if you need radiant heating and cooling in the same zone then
you should switch to Detailed HVAC.
Radiant distribution
The Radiant distribution allows you to control how the radiant heat from the Radiant unit is distributed
around the room. Options are:
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Note: for all Simple HVAC systems, heating setpoint temperatures are defined on the Activity tab.
• 1-Met by zone equipment where mechanical ventilation loads are met entirely by zone equipment and
so the capacity of the zone heating systems must account for mechanical ventilation loads.
• 2-Exclude where the mechanical ventilation loads are not met by zone heating equipment so zone
heating sizing calculations can safely ignore them.
• 3-Partially met by AHU where the mechanical ventilation loads are partially met by heating coils in the
AHU but there is still some residual load to be met by zone heating equipment. In this case the supply
air temperature must also be entered. See below.
Note: The default Mechanical ventilation load setting is 1-Met by zone equipment. For DOAS systems
which introduce air that is partially or fully pre-heated, this setting should be changed to 2-Exclude or to 3-
Partially met by AHU to ensure that zone equipment is not oversized.
Note: This setting applies only to Heating design calculations. For Detailed HVAC simulations the DOAS
settings on the HVAC zone group dialog are used instead to account for any additional loads due to
mechanically supplied fresh air. For Simple HVAC the full outdoor air load is assumed when sizing heating
and cooling systems, no preheat/precool is assumed when sizing zone equipment.
• 1-Met by zone equipment the default option where natural ventilation loads are met entirely by zone
equipment and so the capacity of the zone heating systems must account for natural ventilation loads.
Note that in Heating design calculations, when this option is selected, natural ventilation will be applied
without regard for schedule or mechanical ventilation setpoint temperature settings.
• 2-Exclude where the natural ventilation loads are not met by zone heating equipment so zone heating
sizing calculations can safely ignore them.
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Cooling
Operation
Heating operation schedule
This schedule data is used in conjunction with the heating setpoint temperatures on the Activity tab to define
the time-varying heating setpoint schedule in the zone. The operation schedule defines the times when full
and setback setpoints should be met and the setpoint data on the Activity tab define the actual setpoint
values. See Defining setpoint temperature schedules for more on this.
Note: the zone heating operation schedule is also used in Detailed HVAC with the default 1-Simple
HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data setting.
Cooling
HVAC tab in model data - Simple HVAC
You can enter details on the cooling system including the maximum capacity (at zone level).
Note: for all systems, cooling setpoint temperatures are defined on the Activity tab.
Cooled
If the zone is to be actively cooled then check this checkbox. When it is checked the rest of the items
described on this page become available.
Cooling system
This item is shown with a green background as it is used in Cooling design calculations only. The data is
normally used to group zones together that are served by the same AHU. This allows the cooling capacity of
the AHU to be calculated on the Cooling design screen.
By default DesignBuilder provides a single Cooling system called Default and all zones are allocated to it.
You can create new Cooling systems and select them in the same way that any other component such as a
glazing system would be created and selected. Cooling systems have no data other than a name.
Cooling capacity
The Cooling capacity can either be entered by hand or can be Autosized using the Cooling Design
Calculations. If, immediately prior to a Simulation the Cooling capacity has not been entered (neither by hand
nor from a previous Cooling Design Calculation) then a Cooling design autosizing simulation is started to
calculate the capacity. The Plant sizing building model option controls the way this works.
You can change cooling capacities by hand if you wish but you should bear in mind that, by default, if Model
Options change, all heating and cooling capacities are reset to zero. Set the Plant sizing model option to '2-
Manual' to avoid this happening.
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Minimum supply air humidity ratio
The minimum humidity ratio (kg of water per kg of dry air) of the cool supply air. The default is 0.0077 kg-
H2O/kg-air which corresponds to a 10C (50F) dew point. You should be careful to enter a value that is a valid
condition, i.e. it is under the 100% saturation line on the Psychrometric Chart.
• 1-Limit flow rate - means that the cooling supply air flow rate will be limited to a flow rate value
calculated based on the autosizing model option settings. When using the 3-Autosize HVAC sizing
method the flow rate limit is calculated by EnergyPlus sizing calculations. Otherwise if the
DesignBuilder sizing method is used the flow rate is calculated based on the required cooling capacity
calculated by DesignBuilder and the Minimum supply air delivery temperature (above).
• 2-Limit capacity - means that the sensible heating capacity will be limited to a capacity value
calculated based on the autosizing model option settings. When using the 3-Autosize HVAC sizing
method the capacity is calculated by EnergyPlus sizing calculations. Otherwise if the DesignBuilder
sizing method is used the flow rate is calculated based on the required cooling capacity calculated by
DesignBuilder and the Minimum supply air delivery temperature (above).
• 3-Limit flow rate and capacity - means that both flow rate and capacity will be limited to the above
values.
Cooling Plant
Cooling fuel
Select the type of fuel used to generate the cooling energy - choose from:
You should select 1-Electricity from grid you wish the results displayed in DesignBuilder to agree with those
calculated by EnergyPlus directly for District cooling and displayed on the Summary tab of the Simulation
screen.
Cooling system CoP data is specified by zone so you can model different cooling efficiencies in each zone.
But generally you should access this data from the building level and allow zones to take on building default.
Note: When comparing the cooling fuel consumption results with the data displayed on the Summary tab,
it is important to realise that DesignBuilder applies a fuel type and a CoP to the idealised cooling systems
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Humidity Control
used in EnergyPlus when using Simple HVAC. On the other hand EnergyPlus displays the unprocessed loads
as District cooling in the tables on the Summary tab. This is because the idealised systems in EnergyPlus
are considered to be met directly without use of HVAC equipment through a district cooling type system.
Operation
Note: the zone cooling operation schedule is also used in Detailed HVAC with the default 1-Simple
HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data setting.
Humidity Control
HVAC tab in model data - Simple HVAC
When using the Ideal loads Mechanical ventilation method you have the option to control humidity by
checking the Humidification and/or Dehumidification checkboxes on the HVAC tab.
Note: In real HVAC systems humidity control can require considerable energy consumption to achieve. If
you require an accurate assessment of this energy then you should consider using Detailed HVAC humidity
control which allows you to track energy flows in more detail.
Humidification
Humidification control type
When humidification is selected there are 2 further options:
• 1-Constant supply humidity ratio means that during heating the supply air will always be at the
Maximum heating supply humidity ratio.
• 2-Humidistat means that the humidity in the zone is controlled using the Humidification setpoint
defined on the Activity tab. The ideal loads system will attempt to meet the humidistat request, i.e. it will
humidify according to the setpoint.
Dehumidification
Dehumidification control type
When dehumidification is selected there are 3 further options:
• 1-Constant supply humidity ratio means that during cooling the supply air will always be at the
Minimum cooling supply humidity ratio.
• 2-Humidistat means that the humidity in the zone is controlled using the Dehumidification setpoint
defined on the Activity tab. The ideal loads system will attempt to meet the humidistat request, i.e. it will
dehumidify according to the setpoint.
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• 3-Constant sensible heat ratio. means that the ideal loads system will be controlled to meet the
sensible cooling load, and the latent cooling rate will be computed using the constant sensible heat
ratio (SHR) defined below.
For 3-Constant sensible heat ratio and 2-Humidistat options, if the mixed air humidity ratio is less than the
target humidity ratio, then the mixed air humidity ratio will be used. For all options, the supply air humidity ratio
will never be allowed to exceed saturation at the supply dry bulb temperature. The selected dehumidification
control type is always applied when the unit is in cooling mode. If the unit is in deadband mode (not actively
heating the supply air) control type Humidistat will be active. If the unit is in heating mode, control type
Humidistat will be active if the Humidification Control Type field below is set to Humidistat or None. This allows
the ideal loads system to heat and dehumidify at the same time.
Detailed HVAC
HVAC tab in model data - Detailed HVAC
When the Detailed HVAC model option is selected, the HVAC tab is used to define:
Note: With Detailed HVAC simulations the Heating on and Cooling on settings have no effect on
simulations, other than to show/hide the schedule data. They are always used in Heating and Cooling design
calculations though.
Note: For heating and cooling design calculations the humidity and temperature setpoints and ventilation
requirement data comes from the Activity and HVAC tabs as described under the 1-Simple HVAC column in
the table under Detailed HVAC Activity data, regardless of the Detailed HVAC Activity Data setting.
The main HVAC data is entered by clicking on the <HVAC System> navigator node.
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Natural Ventilation
Natural Ventilation
HVAC tab in model data
You can control the operation of natural ventilation using the data under the Natural Ventilation header on the
HVAC tab. When using Calculated natural ventilation model option there is additional data on the Openings
tab to control the timing and extent of operation of openings.
Note: the Natural ventilation checkbox must be ticked here on the HVAC tab to allow window, vent and
door operation to be defined on the Openings tab.
The data shown under Natural ventilation on the HVAC tab depends on whether you are using the Scheduled
or Calculated Natural ventilation setting in Model options.
Both Scheduled and Calculated Natural ventilation options are available with Simple, Compact and Detailed
HVAC options.
When the Natural ventilation model option is set to Scheduled,and for heating and cooling design
calculations, natural ventilation is defined as follows:
Find out more about Natural Ventilation Modelling under Modelling Advice.
Natural Ventilation
Natural ventilation On
Check the On checkbox under the Natural Ventilation header to activate natural ventilation. This causes all of
the natural ventilation data on the HVAC tab to be accessible.
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Outside air definition method
The Outside air definition method allows you to select the method to be used to set the maximum outside air
natural ventilation rate. The options are:
• 1-By zone - enter the zone natural ventilation rate in air changes per hour in the control directly below.
The design air flow rate is calculated from the ac/h data using:
where ZoneVolume is the actual air volume of the space calculated according to options for optionally
excluding floor/ceiling constructions.
Note: this zone volume may be different from the value used for the purposes of calculating air flow
rates for infiltration which uses the total zone volume.
• 2-Min fresh air per person - maximum natural ventilation rate is defined using Minimum fresh air
requirements as set on the Activity tab. The design air flow rate in m3/s is calculated as:
The actual ventilation rate in m3/s is calculated at each time step of the simulation using the equation below:
Ventilation = Vdesign Fschedule [A + B (Tin - Tout) + C . Wind Speed + D (Wind Speed 2)]
Each of the parameters A-D in the equation above are explained below under Delta T and Wind Speed
Coefficients.
Operation
Schedule
Select the schedule used to modify the maximum design natural volume flow rate (Vdesign) (see Design Flow
Rate Calculation Method field and related subsequent fields). This fraction between 0.0 and 1.0 is included as
Fschedule in the above equation.
• 1-By value - use this option when the setpoint does not change with time in which case you can
enter a fixed setpoint temperature.
• 2-By schedule - use this option when the setpoint changes with time in which case you can
select a schedule of time-varying temperature setpoints.
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Scheduled Natural Ventilation Data
• 1-By value - use this option when the setpoint does not change with time in which case you can
enter a fixed setpoint temperature.
• 2-By schedule - use this option when the setpoint changes with time in which case you can
select a schedule of time-varying temperature setpoints.
Delta T Limits
Delta T limit control
Check this option to limit natural ventilation operation based on the temperature difference between the indoor
and outdoor air dry-bulb temperature. It allows ventilation to be stopped if the temperature outside is too warm
and could potentially heat the space.
Uncheck this option to keep the ventilation on even if the outdoor temperature is greater than the indoor
temperature. This is useful for uncontrolled natural ventilation (open windows) or as a way to estimate the
effect of required ventilation air for load calculations.
Delta T definition
There are 2 ways to define the Delta T to be used in temperature difference control:
• 1-By value - use this option when the Delta T does not change with time in which case you can
enter a fixed value.
• 2-By schedule - use this option when the Delta T changes with time in which case you can
select a schedule of time-varying Delta T values.
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Delta T
This is the temperature difference (in °C or °F) between the indoor and outdoor air dry-bulb
temperatures below which ventilation is shut off. This field allows ventilation to be stopped if the
temperature outside is too warm and could potentially heat the space. For example, if the user specifies
a delta temperature of 2°C, ventilation is assumed to be available if the outside air temperature is at
least 2°C cooler than the zone air temperature. If the outside air dry-bulb temperature is less than 2°C
cooler than the indoor dry-bulb temperature, then ventilation is automatically turned off. The values for
this field can include negative numbers. This allows ventilation to occur even if the outdoor temperature
is above the indoor temperature.
For example:
Delta T schedule
This is the schedule of temperature difference values (in °C) between the indoor and outdoor air dry-
bulb temperatures below which ventilation is shut off. See above Delta T description for more details.
Technical
The question of typical values for these coefficients is subject to debate. Ideally, one should do a detailed
analysis of the ventilation situation and then determine a custom set of coefficients using methods such as
those laid out in Chapter 26 of the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals. The defaults are 1,0,0,0 which give
a constant volume flow of ventilation under all conditions.
The equation must always yield a non-negative results; negative values are set to 0.0. BLAST (one of the
EnergyPlus predecessors) used the following values as defaults: 0.606, 0.03636, 0.1177, 0. These
coefficients produce a value of 1.0 at 0C deltaT and 3.35 m/s (7.5mph) wind speed, which corresponds to a
typical summer condition. At a winter condition of 40C deltaT and 6 m/s (13.4 mph) wind speed, these
coefficients would increase the ventilation rate by a factor of 2.75.
In DOE-2 (the other EnergyPlus predecessor), the air change method defaults are (adjusted to SI units) 0, 0,
0.224 (wind speed), 0. With these coefficients, the summer conditions above would give a factor of 0.75, and
the winter conditions would give 1.34. A wind speed of 4.47 m/s (10 mph) gives a factor of 1.0.
The source of the BLAST defaults is noted in the BLAST documentation as: "Empirical equation and the
coefficient default were determined from ASHRAE journal articles and other data on the effects of outdoor
weather conditions." The source of the DOE-2 defaults is based on examining the infiltration relationships
described in the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals.
The local outdoor dry-bulb temperature used in the above basic equation (Tout) is typically a function of the
height of the zone centroid above ground. The local outdoor dry-bulb temperature calculation procedure is
described in the “Local Outdoor Air Temperature Calculation” section of the Engineering Reference.
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Scheduled Natural Ventilation Data
The local outdoor wind speed used in the above basic equation (Wind Speed) is also a function of the height
of the zone centroid above ground. The local outdoor wind speed calculation procedure is described in the
“Local Wind Speed Calculation” section of the Engineering Reference.
Constant
This constant term coefficient is the “A” parameter in the above ventilation equation. It is part of the user
specified modifying parameters that are a function of environmental factors. This parameter, however, is a
constant under all conditions and is not modified by any environmental effect. As a result, it is dimensionless.
Temperature
The temperature term coefficient is the “B” parameter in the above ventilation equation. It is part of the user
specified modifying parameters that are a function of environmental factors. This parameter is modified by the
temperature difference between the outdoor and indoor air dry-bulb temperatures. The units for this parameter
are inverse Celsius.
Velocity
The velocity term coefficient is the “C” parameter in the above ventilation equation. It is part of the user
specified modifying parameters that are a function of environmental factors. This parameter is modified by the
speed of wind being experienced outside the building. The units for this parameter are s/m.
Velocity squared
The velocity squared term coefficient is the “D” parameter in the above ventilation equation. It is part of the
user specified modifying parameters that are a function of environmental factors. This parameter is modified
by square of the speed of wind being experienced outside the building. The units for this parameter are
s2/m2.
Scheduled natural ventilation is active at any time in the simulation based on the rules in the table below.
Data
Condition Rule
Location
Operation schedule has value > 0 AND HVAC tab
If Natural ventilation indoor min temperature control Tin > Natural ventilation min temperature
Activity tab
checked AND
If Natural ventilation indoor max temperature control Tin < Natural ventilation max temperature
Activity tab
checked AND
If Outdoor min temperature control checked Tout > Outdoor min temperature AND HVAC tab
If Outdoor max temperature control checked Tout < Outdoor min temperature AND HVAC tab
If Delta T control checked Tin - Tout > Delta T HVAC tab
Where:
Note: The Outdoor temperature and Delta T control rules described on this page can be used in
combination with any indoor temperature min/max controls that may also have been selected on the activity
tab to set up multiple restrictions on natural ventilation operation.
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Tip: To ensure that natural ventilation operates regardless of temperature inside and outside you should
uncheck all of the checkbox options listed on the "Condition" column in the above table.
In addition, you can override operation of internal windows, vents and doors to be off as follows:
When the Natural ventilation model option is set to Calculated, natural ventilation data is set up using the
following procedure:
You can override the operation of windows, vents and door to be off as follows:
Note that even when operation is switched off as described above, windows, vents and doors still provide a
small flow path through the crack between the opening and the surrounding surface if the Model infiltration
option is checked.
Note 1: For Cooling design calculations, natural ventilation is always handled as Scheduled even when
the Natural ventilation model option is set to Calculated. In this case you can still enter natural ventilation air
change rates and operation schedule data on the HVAC tab but it is used only for design simulations. The
captions for data used for design calculations only is displayed with a green background in the interface.
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Calculated Natural Ventilation Data
Note 2: With both the Scheduled and Calculated options, natural ventilation can be overridden to be off in
Heating and Cooling design calculations. In Heating design calculations natural ventilation is switched off by
default because it is considered to be a cooling mechanism - windows and vents will normally be closed
during the coldest winter periods.
Wind Factor
When carrying out conservative design simulations you may prefer to exclude (or reduce) the effects of wind
pressure from Calculated natural ventilation. To exclude wind-driven airflow from the analysis altogether set
the Wind factor to 0. For full treatment of wind effects set it to 1, and for intermediate treatment of wind set it to
a number between 0 and 1. You can also check the impact of increasing wind pressure by entering values
greater than 1.
The wind factor entered here is used to multiply the Wind Pressure Coefficients entered at surface level when
writing out the modified values for EnergyPlus.
Note: Although this setting is called "Wind factor" for convenience, it is actually used as a wind pressure
coefficient multiplier. The wind pressure of a surface as calculated by EnergyPlus during simulations as:
So to obtain the effect of multiplying wind speed, you should enter a squared value here. For example, if you
would like to check the impact of halving the wind speeds in the weather file you should enter 0.5 2 = 0.25 as
the Wind factor.
Control mode
For calculated natural ventilation the control mode defines the way that the openings are opened and closed
based on air temperatures or enthalpy. The data can be entered at building, block or zone level.
• 1-NoVent - all of the zone’s openable windows and doors are closed at all times independent of indoor
or outdoor conditions. The operation schedule is ignored in this case.
• 2-Temperature - all of the zone’s openable windows and doors are opened if Tzone > Tout and Tzone >
Tset and operation schedule allows venting.
• 3-Enthalpy - All of the zone’s openable windows and doors are opened if H zone > Hout and Tzone > Tset
and operation schedule allows venting.
• 4-Constant - Whenever an opening's operation schedule allows venting, all of the zone’s openable
windows and doors are open, independent of indoor or outdoor conditions. Note that “Constant” here
means that the size of each opening is fixed while venting; the air flow through each opening can, of
course, vary from time step to time step. This option allows modelling of a window that is opened for
fresh air regardless of inside/outside temperature/enthalpy.
• 5-Adjacent temperature cooling - applies to interior surfaces only. All of the zone’s openable
windows and doors are opened if Tzone > Tadjacent zone and Tzone > Tset and operation schedule allows
venting.
• 6-Adjacent temperature heating - applies to interior surfaces only. All of the zone’s openable
windows and doors are opened if Tzone < Tadjacent zone and Tzone > Tset and operation schedule allows
venting. This option is a basic attempt to get round the EnergyPlus assumption that natural ventilation
is always used for cooling and allow it to heat a zone as well. Note however that the zone setpoint is
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still used to switch off ventilation if the temperature goes too low (rather than too high as might be
expected for a heating control).
• 7-CEN 15251 Adaptive - The openable window or door associated with the surface is opened if the
operative temperature is greater than the comfort temperature (central line) calculated from the
CEN15251 adaptive comfort model and the Venting operation schedule allows venting.
8-ASHRAE 55 Adaptive - The openable window or door associated with the surface is opened if the
operative temperature is greater than the comfort temperature (central line) calculated from the
ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 adaptive comfort model and the Venting operation schedule allows
venting.
Both of the Adjacent temperature control options (5 and 6) revert to 2-Temperature when applied to exterior
surfaces. This allows these options to be set at building level.
For interior openings the zone temperature and setpoint used to control operation is that of the "more
occupied" of the 2 adjacent zones. The rules for establishing which zone is "more occupied" are as follows:
If zone is occupied and adjacent zone is unconditioned, or, if the 2 zones have the same zone type then the
assessment is made based on:
If both zones have identical zone type and heating and cooling setpoints are the same then an arbitrary
assignment is made.
Tip: Control mode data is available at surface and opening level allowing you to control different windows
in different ways.
Modulation of Openings
You can modulate the window/door openings when using Calculated natural ventilation by making appropriate
settings to:
This data is used within EnergyPlus to calculate a factor between 0 and 1 that multiplies the opening factor of
each window and door in the building. Modulation of the openings can reduce the large temperature swings
that can occur if the windows/doors are too far open when they are venting, especially when there is a large
inside-outside temperature difference. This can avoid discomfort due to introduction of cold air and/or prevent
heating system operation in summer when not really required.
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Calculated Natural Ventilation Data
For example if the Lower value of Tin - Tout is 0, the Upper value is 15 and the Limit value of opening
modulation factor is 0.05, the windows and doors are only opened 5% of their full opening area when the
outside air is 15K colder than inside.When the inside and outside temperatures are the same the windows are
open to their maximum opening area and when the temperature difference is 7.5K the windows are opened
halfway between these extremes.
Important Notes
1. The purpose of the Modulate option is to prevent discomfort due to very cold air being
introduced into the zone. You should keep in mind though that because this control will also
prevent ventilation when the temperature in the space is very hot and the outside air is not
particularly cold because of the large temperature difference between inside and outside.
For example if the upper modulation temperature difference is 15K and the limiting modulation
factor is 0.05 then the maximum window and vent opening area will be reduced to 5% of their
normal size if the temperature in the zone is 35°C and the temperature outside is 20°C. In this
case the natural ventilation through the 'almost closed' openings would probably not be
adequate to cool the zone back down again. So you should not use this option if you wish
natural ventilation to occur when the temperature inside is very high.
2. With Modulation active, openings will be completely closed if the difference between inside and
outside air temperatures is greater than Upper value of Tin-Tout.
3. While the modulation graph above shows the opening factor to be 1 when the inside
temperature is greater than outside temperature, by default the natural ventilation openings will
all be closed in this case based on the 2-Temperature control mode.
This modulation data can also be accessed from the HVAC tab under the Natural Ventilation > Options
headers.
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Tip: Although basic DesignBuilder natural ventilation options don't allow controls based on absolute outdoor
air temperature, it is possible to apply upper and/or lower outdoor air temperature limits for natural ventilation
through use of the mixed mode Temperature control schedule and the Mixed mode minimum and maximum
temperatures.
Tip: Modulation settings are available at surface and opening level allowing you to control different windows
in different ways.
You can include mixed mode natural ventilation (called hybrid ventilation in EnergyPlus) and HVAC change-
over control for zone equipment by checking the Mixed mode checkbox on the HVAC tab under the Natural
ventilation header.
1. Prevents simultaneous natural ventilation and HVAC system cooling operation, and,
2. Allows you to test various ventilation strategies to maximize natural ventilation in order to reduce
heating/cooling loads.
The mixed mode change-over controller links the associated HVAC system with the operable windows and
vents in the zones served by the HVAC system. The controller overrides the natural ventilation controls for
windows and vent openings, closing these openings under when conditions are unfavourable for natural
ventilation and allowing the HVAC system to operate. If the controller determines that conditions are
favourable for natural ventilation, then the HVAC system is disabled and the openings are able to operate
based on the standard natural ventilation control mechanism (natural ventilation setpoint, maximum opening
area, modulation etc).
Mixed mode controls can be used when using either Calculated or Scheduled natural ventilation, Simple or
Detailed HVAC.
Note: Mixed model data on the HVAC tab is used for a) Simple HVAC and b) zone equipment such as
FCU, PTAC etc when using Detailed HVAC. This data is not used to control Detailed HVAC AHUs. The AHU
mixed mode controls are on the Air Handling Unit dialog and any mixed mode settings made on that dialog will
override any mixed mode settings made on the HVAC model data tab for zones connected to that AHU.
See also the Summary of Mixed mode modelling for background information.
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Mixed Mode Zone Equipment
Temperature Control
Minimum outdoor temperature
The outdoor temperature (in °C or °F) below which the entire mixed mode ventilation system is shut off when
the control mode schedule value = 1 (Temperature). This lower temperature limit is intended to avoid
overcooling a space, which could result in a heating load.
Enthalpy Control
Dewpoint Control
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Advanced
Control mode schedule
This schedule determines whether or not for a given time the mixed mode ventilation control is to be applied.
Schedule values equal to zero indicate no ventilation control, resulting in natural ventilation and HVAC system
operation being performed based on their own controls. Schedule values equal to one denote temperature
control for either cooling or heating, which is determined internally based on thermostat set point. The
temperature control is restricted between the minimum and maximum outdoor temperatures provided in two
additional input fields (below). Schedule values equal to two denote enthalpy control, which is restricted
between minimum and maximum outdoor enthalpy values given in two additional input fields (below).
Schedule values equal to three denote dew point control for either dehumidification or humidification.
Schedule values equal to four represent outdoor ventilation air control.
Tip: The standard Calculated DesignBuilder natural ventilation options don't allow controls based on
absolute outdoor air temperature, but it is possible to apply upper and/or lower outdoor air temperature limits
for calculated natural ventilation through use of the Temperature control schedule mixed mode and the Mixed
mode minimum and maximum temperatures.
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Mixed Mode Cooling
Schedule values equal to zero indicate the individual ventilation control based on the control requirements
from their own objects. Schedule values equal to one denote group control. The ZoneVentilation:* and
ZoneMixing objects in the zones served by the primary air loop are controlled by a single object, whose name
is provided in the following input field.
"It is a building in which occupants can open windows, and which is designed with
effective passive strategies for limiting the effects of the external climate. The
passively designed building is utilised to provide acceptable conditions for the
majority of the year, and is supplemented by a mechanical system, either on an ‘as
and when required’ basis, or on a seasonal basis."
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integrates the use of air-conditioning when and where it is necessary, with the use DesignBuilder
of natural ventilation whenever it is feasible or desirable, to maximize comfort while can model all
avoiding the significant energy use and operating costs of year-round air three types of
conditioning." mixed mode
system defined
Source: Mixed mode page on Center for Built Environment website, contains background, by CBE in the
case studies above
and a database of 150 mixed mode buildings. reference.
Some useful background documents on mixed mode design and simulation: 1. Concurre
nt (Same
1. www.cbe.berkeley.edu/mixedmode space,
2. www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS1999/BS99_D-07.pdf same
time)
Concurrent mixed-mode operation is the most prevalent design strategy in practice today, in which the
air-conditioning system and operable windows operate in the same space and at the same time. The
HVAC system may serve as supplemental or “background” ventilation and cooling while occupants are
free to open windows based on individual preference. Typical examples include open-plan office space
with standard VAV air-conditioning systems and operable windows, where perhaps perimeter VAV
zones may go to minimum air when sensor indicates that a window has been opened.
2. Change-over (Same space, different times)
Change-over designs are becoming increasingly common, where the building “changes-over” between
natural ventilation and air-conditioning on a seasonal or even daily basis. The building automation
system may determine the mode of operating based on outdoor temperature, an occupancy sensor, a
window (open or closed) sensor, or based on operator commands. Typical examples include individual
offices with operable windows and personal air conditioning units that shut down for a given office
anytime a sensor indicates that a window has been opened; or a building envelope where automatic
louvers open to provide natural ventilation when the HVAC system is in economizer mode, and then
close when the system is in cooling or heating mode.
3. Zoned (Different spaces, same time)
Zoned systems are also common, where different zones within the building have different conditioning
strategies. Typical examples include naturally ventilated office buildings with operable windows and a
ducted heating/ventilation system, or supplemental mechanical cooling provided only to conference
rooms. For many mixed-mode buildings, operating conditions sometimes deviate somewhat from their
original design intent (e.g., a building originally designed for seasonal changeover between air-
conditioning and natural ventilation may, in practice, operate both systems concurrently).
Note: Concurrent and Zoned systems can be modelled simply by including natural ventilation with HVAC
systems without using DesignBuilder mixed mode control. In DesignBuilder "mixed mode" specifically refers to
Change-over systems where the HVAC and the natural ventilation do not take place at the same time.
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Mixed Mode Cooling
DesignBuilder supports mixed mode in all combinations of natural ventilation and HVAC model options.
1. Include active cooling and natural ventilation by switching on the Natural ventilation on and Cooled
options on the HVAC tab.
2. Also, include mechanical ventilation if there is outside air introduced through the HVAC system.
3. Ensure that the setpoints for natural ventilation and cooling operation are correct. The natural
ventilation (window/vent opening) setpoint should ideally be 2°C lower than the cooling setpoint to
ensure maximum use of natural ventilation and to avoid the active cooling system being used
unnecessarily and also 2°C higher than the heating .temperature. Typical values might be heating
setpoint temperature = 21°C, natural ventilation setpoint temperature = 23°C, cooling setpoint
temperature = 25°C. Heating should ideally be switched off in the summer to avoid unnecessary
heating caused by natural ventilation overcooling the space.
4. See the mixed mode section on the HVAC help for detailed information on the data that can be set,
including conditions that require windows and vents to be closed such as rain, wind and low outside air
temperature.
Note: "Mixed mode" means the same as the term "Hybrid ventilation" used in the EnergyPlus
documentation.
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Earth Tubes
HVAC tab in model data
An earth tube is a long, underground metal or plastic pipe through which air is drawn. During the cooling
season, as air travels through the pipe, it gives up some of its heat to the surrounding soil and enters the room
as cooler air. Similarly, during heating season, as air travels through the pipe, it receives some of its heat from
the soil and enters the room as warmer air. Simple earth tubes in EnergyPlus can be controlled by a schedule
and through the specification of minimum, maximum, and delta temperatures as described below. As with
infiltration and ventilation, the actual flow rate of air through the earth tube can be modified by the temperature
difference between the inside and outside environment and the wind speed. See equation below.
Note 1: Earth tubes are only available when using the Scheduled natural ventilation model option.
Note 2: Earth tube settings are used for heating and cooling design as well as in simulations.
The CalcSoilSurfTemp program is simple and requires only two input fields : soil condition and soil surface
condition in addition to a valid weather file. For soil condition, the user should select the number
corresponding to the actual condition of the soil surrounding the earth tube from the four typical options to
determine the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of the surrounding soil. For soil surface conditions,
the user should select the number corresponding to the actual condition of the ground surface above the earth
tube from the eight following options:
This determines the absorption coefficient and the fraction of evaporation rate of the ground surface.
From this information and an analysis of the weather for the location selected, the CalcSoilSurfTemp
program (ref. Auxiliary Programs document) calculates the three parameters described below- Average soil
surface temperature, Amplitude of soil surface temperature and Phase constant of soil surface temperature.
The full input description of an earth tube is given below.
Include earthtube
Check this option to include zone air delivery through earth tubes.
The outside air definition data is used to calculate the the maximum amount of air mass flow rate of the earth
tube expected at design conditions (Edesign in the above equation in units of m3/s. The design value is modified
by the schedule fraction (see next field) and user specified coefficients (last four fields).
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Earth Tubes
Operation
Schedule
Select the schedule that modifies the maximum design volume flow rate (see previous field). The fraction in
the schedules should vary between 0.0 and 1.0 and is referred to as Fschedule in the above equation.
Control
Minimum zone temperature when cooling
This is the indoor temperature (in °C or °F) below which the earth tube is shut off. This lower temperature limit
is intended to avoid overcooling a space and thus result in a heating load. For example, if the user specifies a
minimum temperature of 20°C, earth tube is assumed to be available if the zone air temperature is above
20°C. If the zone air temperature drops below 20°C, then earth tube is automatically turned off.
Delta temperature
This is the temperature difference (in °C or °F) between the indoor and outdoor air dry-bulb temperatures
below which the earth tube is shut off. This is to allow the earth tube to be stopped either if the temperature
outside is too warm and could potentially heat the space or if the temperature outside is too cold and could
potentially cool the space. For example, if the user specifies a delta temperature of 2°C, earth tube is
assumed to be available if the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor temperature is at least 2°C.
If the outside air dry-bulb temperature is less than 2°C cooler or warmer than the indoor dry-bulb temperature,
then the earth tube is automatically turned off.
• 1-Natural which is assumed to be air movement/exchange that will not consume any fan energy or is
the result of natural air flow through the tube and into the building. Values for fan pressure and
efficiency for a natural flow earth tube are ignored. The conditions of the air entering the space are
assumed to be equivalent to the air which is cooled or heated by passing along the pipe.
• 2-Intake where values for fan pressure and efficiency define the fan electric consumption and an
appropriate amount of fan heat is added to the air stream.
• 3-Exhaust where values for fan pressure and efficiency define the fan electric consumption.
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Pipe Specifications
Pipe radius
This is the radius of the earth tube/pipe (in m or ft). This plays a role in determining the amount of heat
transferred from the surrounding soil to the air passing along the pipe. If the pipe has non-circular cross
section, user can use the concept of hydraulic diameter as follows.
D = 4 . A / Perimeter
However, since this field requires the pipe radius, hydraulic diameter should be divided by two.
Pipe thickness
This is the thickness of the pipe wall (in m or ft). This plays a role in determining the amount of heat
transferred from the surrounding soil to the air passing along the pipe.
Pipe length
This is the total length of the pipe (in m or ft). This plays a role in determining the amount of heat transferred
from the surrounding soil to the air passing along the pipe. As the length of the pipe becomes longer, the
amount of the heat transfer becomes larger.
This determines the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of the surrounding soil, which play a role in
determining the amount of heat transferred from the surrounding soil to the air passing along the pipe.
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Earth Tubes
Outputs
Note: Airflow introduced into zones by Earth tubes is included in the Mech Vent + Nat Vent + Infiltration
ac/h output. Also the heating/cooling effect of Earth tubes on the zone is included in the Zone Vent heat
balance output. If you would like to see further details on the impact of the Earth tubes in your results then you
should include one or more of the output variables below to an external idf file, "include" it in the main IDF file
generated by DesignBuilder and view results in the Results Viewer.
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• HVAC,Average,Earth Tube Zone Inlet Air Temperature [C]
• HVAC,Average,Earth Tube Ground Interface Temperature [C]
• HVAC,Average,Earth Tube Outdoor Air Heat Transfer Rate [W]
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Domestic Hot Water
The effect of hot water consumption (hot water taps, showers etc) on building energy use can be included in
your thermal model by switching on DHW on the HVAC tab.
When using Simple HVAC, Domestic Hot Water (DHW) is modelled in DesignBuilder by using hot water
consumption rates based on the activity in each zone. DHW hot water consumption is defined on the Activity
tab and the definition of the hot water generating equipment is described below) is defined on the HVAC tab.
Type
Three types of DHW are available:
• 1-Boiler - heat is supplied by the same boiler used for heating the building
• 2-Gas - gas-fired hot water system
• 3-Electric - electric immersion heater
Operation
The DHW Operation schedule defines the timing of the hot water draw off.
The DHW consumption rate is defined on the Activity tab in l/m2-day (gal/ft2-day in IP units) but this needs
processing before being passed into E+ which requires max DHW flow in m3/s. To do this DesignBuilder
needs to use the concept of number of operation hours per day (or 'Typical hours per day') based on this
operation schedule.
When a Compact schedule is used to define DHW operation, DesignBuilder calculates the 'Typical hours per
day' based on the day in the year which has the most operation hours. Fractional hours operation are included
as fractions. A 30 minute timestep through the year is used to perform this calculation.
Schedule:Compact,
Domestic Occupancy,
Fraction,
Through: 31 Dec,
For: Weekdays SummerDesignDay,
Until: 08:00, 1,
Until: 16:00, 0,
Until: 18:00, 0.5,
Until: 24:00, 1,
For: Weekends,
Until: 14:00, 1,
Until: 20:00, 0,
Until: 24:00, 1,
For: WinterDesignDay AllOtherDays,
Until: 08:00, 1,
Until: 16:00, 0,
Until: 18:00, 0.5,
Until: 24:00, 1;
For this schedule, the Weekdays give the most operation hours:
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Until: 08:00, 1,
Until: 16:00, 0,
Until: 18:00, 0.5,
Until: 24:00, 1,
8 * 1 + 8 * 0 + 2 * 0.5 + 6 * 1 = 15 hours.
When 7/12 schedules are used the typical occupancy hours per day is determined from January/Monday
data.
When typical workday schedules are used, this is simply the number of hours occupied during the working
day.
Note: the zone DHW operation schedule is also used in Detailed HVAC when the default 1-Simple HVAC
Detailed HVAC Activity data setting is made.
DHW Type
A range of DHW types can be selected but note that different types of DHW system do not affect results in
EnergyPlus simulations, apart from 1- Same as HVAC which causes heating CoP and fuel to be taken from
the heating system. Other options all give the same results.
1- Same as HVAC
2- Dedicated DHW boiler
3- Stand alone water heater
4- Instantaneous DHW only
5- Instantaneous Combi
6- Direct (or off-peak) electricity
7- Heat pump
By default EnergyPlus assumes that air temperature within a zone is completely uniform (i.e. the air is fully
mixed). However a number of other modelling options are provided to account for non-uniform room air
temperatures that may occur within the interior air volume of a zone.
Although there are many types of analyses (comfort, indoor air quality, etc.) that might benefit from localized
modelling of how room air varies across space, only the temperature distribution of room air within the zone is
currently addressed in EnergyPlus. This allows surface heat transfer and air system heat balance calculations
to be made taking into account natural thermal stratification of air and different types of intentional air
distribution designs such as under-floor and side-wall displacement ventilation that purport to extract room air
at higher-than-mean temperatures. Note that EnergyPlus does not have completely general methods of
modelling room air that are applicable to every conceivable type of airflow that might occur in a zone. Such
models (e.g. RANS-CFD) are too computationally expensive to use with EnergyPlus for the foreseeable
future. The models that are available in EnergyPlus offer only limited modelling capabilities for select room
airflow configurations. Also note that because the complete mixing model for room air has long been the
standard in building energy simulation, there is not currently a consensus on how to best model non-uniform
air temperatures in buildings. Therefore, it is up to the user to have a good understanding of when, where, and
how to apply the room air models available in EnergyPlus. The rest of this section provides some guidance in
the way of examples and further discussion of the models available in EnergyPlus.
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Air Temperature Distribution - Dynamic Gradient
• 1-Mixed the default option where the air temperature is modelled as being uniform through the zone.
• 2-Dynamic gradient which allows air temperature stratification within a zone to be modelled by setting
up a temperature gradient which varies dynamically depending on any of: outside temperature, inside
temperature, inside-outside temperature difference, heating load or cooling load.
• 3-Three node displacement ventilation which uses 3 nodes to model spaces that are served by a low
velocity floor-level displacement ventilation air distribution system and the dominant sources of heat
gain are from people and other localized sources located in the occupied part of the room.
• 4-Underfloor air distribution interior which uses upper and a lower sub-zone nodes to model interior
spaces that are served by an underfloor air distribution system and the dominant sources of heat gain
are from people, equipment, and other localized sources located in the occupied part of the room.
• 5-Underfloor air distribution exterior which uses upper and a lower sub-zone nodes to model
exterior spaces that are served by an underfloor air distribution system. The dominant sources of heat
gain should be from people, equipment, and other localized sources located in the occupied part of the
room, as well as convective gain coming from a warm window.
The Dynamic Gradient Air Distribution model data allows you to model stratification within a zone by setting
up a temperature gradient which varies dynamically depending on:
• Outside temperature.
• Inside temperature.
• Inside-outside temperature difference.
• Heating load.
• Cooling load.
• 1-Outside temperature. This option directs the program to interpolate between upper and lower values
of the vertical gradient based on the outdoor air temperature. If the outdoor temperature exceeds the
upper limit set under the Upper Conditions header, then the gradient entered in the Upper
Conditions > Temperature gradient field is used. Similarly if the outdoor air temperature is below the
value set in the Lower Conditions > Temperature field, then the gradient entered in the Lower
Conditions > Temperature gradient is used. For outdoor temperatures that lie between the upper and
lower bounds, the gradient is determined by linear interpolation between the two.
• 2-Inside temperature. This option directs the program to interpolate between upper and lower values
of the vertical gradient based on the mean zone air temperature. If the mean zone air temperature
exceeds the upper limit set under the Upper Conditions header, then the gradient entered in the
Upper Conditions > Temperature gradient field is used. Similarly if the mean zone air temperature is
below the value set in theLower Conditions > Temperature field, then the gradient entered in the
Lower Conditions > Temperature gradient is used. For mean zone air temperatures that lie between
the upper and lower bounds, the gradient is determined by linear interpolation between the two.
• 3-Inside outside delta T. This option directs the program to interpolate between upper and lower
values of the vertical gradient based on the difference between the outdoor environment and the mean
zone air temperature. If the temperature difference exceeds the upper limit set under the Upper
Conditions header, then the gradient entered in the Upper Conditions > Temperature gradient field
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is used. Similarly if the temperature difference is below the Lower Conditions > Temperature field,
then the gradient entered in the Lower Conditions > Temperature gradient is used. For temperature
differences that lie between the upper and lower bounds, the gradient is determined by linear
interpolation between the two.
• 4-Sensible cooling load. This option directs the program to interpolate between upper and lower
values of the vertical gradient based on the sensible cooling load. If the cooling load exceeds the upper
limit set under the Upper Conditions header, then the gradient entered in the Upper Conditions >
Temperature gradient field is used. Similarly if the cooling load is below the value set in the Lower
Conditions > Heat rate field, then the gradient entered in the Lower Conditions > Temperature
gradient is used. For cooling loads that lie between the upper and lower bounds, the gradient is
determined by linear interpolation between the two.
• 5-Sensible heating load. This option directs the program to interpolate between upper and lower
values of the vertical gradient based on the sensible heating load. If the heating load exceeds the
upper limit set under the Upper Conditions header, then the gradient entered in the Upper
Conditions > Temperature gradient field is used. Similarly if the heating load is below the value set in
the Lower Conditions > Heat rate field, then the gradient entered in the Lower Conditions >
Temperature gradient is used. For heating loads that lie between the upper and lower bounds, the
gradient is determined by linear interpolation between the two.
Upper Conditions
Temperature
This field is used to enter the upper bound on temperature values (in °C or °F). It is required for the
interpolation modes based on temperature.
Heat rate
This field is used to enter the upper bound on heat rate values. It is required for the interpolation modes based
on load. Both heating and cooling loads are entered as positive numbers (in W).
Temperature gradient
This field specifies the gradient, or slope, of temperature changes in the vertical direction (in ºC/m or °F/ft)
when the selected temperature or heat load is at or above the upper condition.
Lower Conditions
Temperature
This field is used to enter the lower bound on temperature values (in °C or °F). It is required for the
interpolation modes based on temperature.
Heat rate
This field is used to enter the lower bound on heat rate values. It is required for the interpolation modes based
on load. Both heating and cooling loads are entered as positive numbers (in W).
Temperature gradient
This field specifies the gradient, or slope, of temperature changes in the vertical direction (in ºC/m or °F/ft)
when the selected temperature or heat load is at or below the lower condition.
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Air Temperature Distribution - Dynamic Gradient
Operation.
Operation schedule
The operation schedule defines the times when air temperature distribution is to be calculated. When the
value of the schedule is 1, the distribution calculations take place, when the value is 0, the zone air
temperature is fully mixed.
Heights
Thermostat height
Thermostat height specifies the distance above the floor where the thermostat for HVAC control is situated.
This height is used by the model to determine the thermostat temperature relative to the mean air temperature
by applying the gradient.
Range of applicability
The air temperature distribution within the zone is used as follows:
1. To calculate boundary conditions for conduction through surfaces (walls, roofs, glazing etc).
2. To include the effects of extracting relatively warmer air at the ceiling level when using Detailed HVAC.
3. To include the vertical position of the thermostat sensor for HVAC control.
How It Works
Changing the Distribution mode to 2-Dynamic gradient reveals the air temperature distribution data. By
default the Interpolation mode is 2-Inside-outside DeltaT. This means that the temperature gradient within
the space is modelled as varying according to the inside-outside temperature difference. The Upper conditions
define the most extreme temperature gradient, typically under design conditions. By default, the upper
temperature difference is 10 °C and the corresponding temperature gradient is 4 °C/m. This means that when
the temperature difference between inside and outside is 10 °C or more the internal temperature gradient is 4
°C/m. The Lower conditions data shows that when the temperature difference between inside and outside is
zero there is no temperature gradient, i.e. the air is fully mixed. EnergyPlus calculates the temperature
gradient for other inside-outside temperature differences by linear interpolation. The calculation is similar for
the other interpolation modes but is instead based on outside temperature, inside temperature, heating or
cooling load.
Limitations
The air temperature distribution mechanism does not include:
1. The effects of extracting relatively warmer air at the ceiling level when using Scheduled and Calculated
natural ventilation.
2. The vertical position of the sensor for ventilation control.
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Air Temperature Distribution - Three Node Displacement
Ventilation
HVAC tab in model data
This model is applicable to spaces that are served by a low velocity floor-level displacement ventilation air
distribution system. Furthermore, the dominant sources of heat gain should be from people and other
localized sources located in the occupied part of the room. The model should be used with caution in zones
which have large heat gains or losses through exterior walls or windows or which have considerable direct
solar gain. The model predicts three temperatures in the room:
• A foot level temperature (TFLOOR). The floor region is 0.2 meters deep and TFLOOR represents the
temperature at the mid-point of the region.
• An occupied sub-zone temperature (TOC), representing the temperature in the region between the floor
layer and the upper, mixed layer.
• An upper node representing the mixed-layer/outflow temperature (TMX) essential for overall energy
budget calculations and for modelling comfort effects of the upper layer temperature.
The following fields are used to define the Three node displacement ventilation room air temperature
distribution.
• people
• task lights
• electric equipment
• gas equipment
• hot water equipment
• steam equipment
• other equipment
• baseboard heat
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Air Temperature Distribution - Under Floor Interior
Types of internal gains that are assumed to be in the upper subzone are:
• general lights
• tubular daylighting devices
• high temperature radiant heaters
The schedule values should be between 0 and 1. A value of 1 means that all the convection gains from
equipment, task lights and people are dispersed in the lower occupied subzone. Conversely a value of 0 puts
all the lower subzone convective gains into the plumes rising into the upper well-mixed subzone.
Thermostat height
This field is the height (in m or ft) of the thermostat/temperature control sensor above the floor.
Comfort height
The height (in m or ft) above the floor at which air temperature is calculated for comfort purposes. The air
temperature at this height is used in calculating the available measures of comfort: Fanger, Pierce or KSU.
The default is 1.1m.
Advanced
Temperature difference threshold for reporting
This field specifies a minimum temperature difference between the upper mixed subzone and the occupied
subzone that will be used to trigger whether or not the displacement ventilation auxiliary outputs will be
calculated. These outputs are Room Air Zone Transition Height, Room Air Zone Recommended Minimum
Flow Fraction, Room Air Zone Average Temperature Gradient and Room Air Zone Maximum Temperature
Gradient. They are set to negative values when the temperature difference is less than the threshold and the
output Room Air Zone Is Mixed Status is set to 1.
The value should be greater than or equal to zero and is in units of Delta °C or Delta °F. The default value is
0.4°C.
This model is applicable to interior spaces that are served by an underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system.
The dominant sources of heat gain should be from people, equipment, and other localized sources located in
the occupied part of the room. The model should be used with caution in zones which have large heat gains
or losses through exterior walls or windows or which have considerable direct solar gain.
• An occupied subzone temperature (TOC), representing the temperature in the region between the floor
and the boundary of the upper subzone.
• An upper subzone temperature (TMX) essential for overall energy budget calculations and for modelling
comfort effects of the upper layer temperature.
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The following fields are used to define the Under Floor Air Distribution (UFAD) Interior data.
Number of diffusers
The total number of diffusers in this zone. This field can allowed to Autocalculate (in which case it is set to
the design occupancy level; i.e., number of people). If the design occupancy is low or zero but there are still
heat sources that could generate buoyancy driven plumes, the user should input a value based on the design
supply air flow rate of the zone and the design flow rate of an individual diffuser. In the absence of any other
information, divide the zone area by 100 ft2. The default for this field is Autocalculate.
Diffuser type
The choices for this alpha field are:
The swirl and displacement diffusers are fixed area diffusers. The variable area diffusers maintain an
approximately constant exit velocity. Linear bar grilles are normally used in exterior zones and are fixed area
diffusers. Custom is used to signify that the user intends to input the coefficients A – E (see below) rather than
let the program set the coefficients based on diffuser type. The default is 1-Swirl.
Gamma is a variable that characterizes the amount of stratification in a UFAD zone. K c is the fraction of the
total internal convective heat gain that is assigned to the lower (occupied) subzone. The coefficients in the
formula are defaulted based upon diffuser type.
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Air Temperature Distribution - Under Floor Interior
Coefficient A
The coefficient A in the above formula.
Coefficient B
The coefficient B in the above formula.
Coefficient C
The coefficient C in the above formula.
Coefficient D
The coefficient D in the above formula.
Coefficient E
The coefficient E in the above formula.
Height Settings
Thermostat height
This field is the height (in m or ft) of the thermostat/temperature control sensor above the floor. The default is
1.2m.
Comfort height
The height (in m or ft) above the floor at which air temperature is calculated for comfort purposes. The air
temperature at this height is used in calculating the available measures of comfort: Fanger, Pierce or KSU.
The default is 1.1m.
Transition height
An optional field to allow the transition height (in m or ft above floor) to be defined rather than have the
program calculate it. The default is 1.7m.
Advanced
Temperature difference threshold for reporting
This field specifies a minimum temperature difference between the upper subzone and the occupied subzone
that will be used to trigger whether or not the UFAD auxiliary outputs will be calculated. These outputs are
Room Air Zone Transition Height and Room Air Zone Average Temperature Gradient. They are set to zero
when the temperature difference is less than the threshold and the output Room Air Zone Is Mixed Status is
set to 1.
The value should be greater than or equal to zero and is in units of Delta °C or Delta °F. The default value is
0.4°C.
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Air Temperature Distribution - Under Floor Exterior
HVAC tab in model data
This model is applicable to exterior spaces that are served by an underfloor air distribution system. The
dominant sources of heat gain should be from people, equipment, and other localized sources located in the
occupied part of the room, as well as convective gain coming from a warm window. The model predicts two
temperatures in the room:
• An occupied subzone temperature (TOC), representing the temperature in the region between the floor
and the boundary of the upper subzone..
• An upper subzone temperature (TMX) essential for overall energy budget calculations and for modeling
comfort effects of the upper layer temperature.
The following fields are used to define the Under Floor Air Distribution (UFAD) Exterior data.
Number of diffusers
The total number of diffusers in this zone. This field can allowed to Autocalculate (in which case it is set to
the design occupancy level; i.e., number of people). If the design occupancy is low or zero but there are still
heat sources that could generate buoyancy driven plumes, the user should input a value based on the design
supply air flow rate of the zone and the design flow rate of an individual diffuser. In the absence of any other
information, divide the zone area by 100 ft2. The default for this field is Autocalculate.
Diffuser type
The choices for this alpha field are:
The swirl and displacement diffusers are fixed area diffusers. The variable area diffusers maintain an
approximately constant exit velocity. Linear bar grilles are normally used in exterior zones and are fixed area
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Air Temperature Distribution - Under Floor Exterior
diffusers. Custom is used to signify that the user intends to input the coefficients A – E (see below) rather than
let the program set the coefficients based on diffuser type. The default is 1-Swirl.
Gamma is a variable that characterizes the amount of stratification in a UFAD zone. Kc is the fraction of the
total internal convective heat gain that is assigned to the lower (occupied) subzone. The coefficients in the
formula are defaulted based upon diffuser type.
Coefficient A
The coefficient A in the above formula.
Coefficient B
The coefficient B in the above formula.
Coefficient C
The coefficient C in the above formula.
Coefficient D
The coefficient D in the above formula.
Coefficient E
The coefficient E in the above formula.
Height Settings
Thermostat height
This field is the height (in m or ft) of the thermostat/temperature control sensor above the floor. The default is
1.2m.
Comfort height
The height (in m or ft) above the floor at which air temperature is calculated for comfort purposes. The air
temperature at this height is used in calculating the available measures of comfort: Fanger, Pierce or KSU.
The default is 1.1m.
Transition height
An optional field to allow the transition height (in m or ft above floor) to be defined rather than have the
program calculate it. The default is 1.7m.
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Advanced
Temperature difference threshold for reporting
This field specifies a minimum temperature difference between the upper subzone and the occupied subzone
that will be used to trigger whether or not the UFAD auxiliary outputs will be calculated. These outputs are
Room Air Zone Transition Height and Room Air Zone Average Temperature Gradient. They are set to zero
when the temperature difference is less than the threshold and the output Room Air Zone Is Mixed Status is
set to 1.
The value should be greater than or equal to zero and is in units of Delta °C or Delta °F. The default value is
0.4°C.
HVAC Cost
Air temperature distribution tab on HVAC Templates Dialog.
The HVAC cost is calculated zone by zone by multiplying the zone floor area by the cost per floor area (GIFA)
for the zone on the HVAC tab. This data will normally be loaded from the HVAC template to ensure that HVAC
performance and cost data are consistent.
This cost should include any contributions to the total cost of the building HVAC system from plant
components and not only the components within the particular zone.
Note: This data is used for both Simple and Detailed HVAC for costing purposes.
Tip: The Cost data help topic provides an overview of the places in DesignBuilder where costs are entered.
The Environmental Impact Factors data contains additional information that is not individually specified in the
Fuel emission factors data. Source to Site conversion factors for District Heating, District Cooling and Steam
are entered in this object.
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On Site Electricity Generation
This data can only be accessed when using the Detailed HVAC model option. It is available at building level
only.
EnergyPlus provides a range of different on site electricity generation options and these are coordinated
during the simulation through use of one or more Electric load centres. These define how the various
generation components are operated and coordinated together.
DesignBuilder currently supports various types of electric generators PV, BIPV, Wind, Internal combustion
engine and micro turbine.
Settings for electricity generation are made at Building level on the Generation tab under the On Site
Electricity Generation header.
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Note: The order of the Electric load centre objects selected on the Generation tab is significant and is
used to structure how generators are dispatched, the first load centres and generators being managed before
the later ones.
See also:
1. Position and size PV panels by following instructions in the Adding Solar Collectors topic.
2. To access the properties of the PV panel first navigate to the solar collector object by double-clicking
on the graphical object from building level or single-click on the solar collector item in the Navigator.
3. Once at the Solar collector object, define the performance and other panel properties on the
Constructions tab under the Solar Collector header.
4. Define the electric side of the PV system at building level on the Generation tab under the On Site
Electricity Generation header:
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Photovoltaic (PV) Systems
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Electric Load Centre
Electric load centres are components used to include on-site electricity generators in a simulation. The electric
load centre dispatches generators according to operation schemes and tracks and reports the amount of
electricity generated and purchased. When using on-site generators, the program provides a “net” report
where the total electricity used is reduced by the amount generated on site. Electrical demand tracking is done
by the internal or custom meters used by EnergyPlus for reporting. The dispatching of different generators is
based on expectations based on their nominal/rated electric power output. If the current conditions are such
that the generator model determines that generation was higher or lower, then the results of the dispatch may
differ from expectations.
Up to 5 different Electric load centre components can be included in simulations by making selections on the
On Site Electricity Generation tab. A great deal of flexibility is available by mixing different load centres and
operating schemes. If multiple load centres are used, the supervisory control will dispatch generators
sequentially across the load centres.
Electric load centres effectively serve as a “load” to the generators and “supply” power to the rest of the
building. The internal meters used by EnergyPlus for reporting do all of the demand tracking. The electric load
centre manager sums all of the building and system electric loads and provides operating schemes for the
generators. What is not provided by the on-site generation equipment, and electric storage units if specified, is
met by (purchasing) off-site electricity.
The electricity produced from generators such as photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines and cogeneration is
reported in the electricity produced output variable and will reduce the demand that the generators will try to
meet for that timestep.
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Electric Load Centre
Load centres can include both power conditioning and storage. Separate inverter models are used to
condition DC power from photovoltaic panels and BIPV systems into AC power for the building and utility.
Load centres serving PV need to be specified with a direct current (d.c.) buss. The other generators may have
inverters inside the devices but these are already embedded in the generator models.
General
Name
This alpha field contains the identifying name for the electric load centre.
• 1-Base load operates the generators at their rated (requested) electric power output when the
generator is scheduled on. This scheme requests all generators scheduled on (available) to operate,
even if the amount of electric power generated exceeds the total facility electric power demand.
• 2-Demand limit - limits the amount of purchased electrical from the utility to an amount specified. The
Demand limit scheme tries to have the generators meet all of the demand above the purchased electric
limit.
• 3-Track electrical tries to have the generators meet all of the electrical demand for the building.
• 4-Track schedule tries to have the generators meet all of the electrical demand determined in a user-
defined schedule.
• 5-Follow thermal is used for co-generation systems where the generators are to be run mainly to meet
the thermal demand and any excess electricity can be exported to the grid.
• 6-Follow thermal limit electrical is as above for 5-Follow thermal but in this case generator output is
restricted to a maximum of the building’s current electrical demand so that no electricity is exported.
The 2-Demand limit, 3-Track electrical and 4-Track schedule schemes will sequentially load the available
generators. All demand not met by available generator capacity will be met by purchased electrical. Therefore,
if 2-Demand limit, 3-Track electrical, or 4-Track schedule is used and the available generators are not able
to meet demand, then purchased electricity will by used to offset the difference. If a generator is needed in the
simulation for a small load and it is less than the minimum part load ratio the generator will operate at the
minimum part load ratio and the excess will either reduce demand or the excess energy will be available for
returning to the electric grid.
The 5-Follow thermal and 6-Follow thermal limit electrical schemes are for heat due to co-generation and
run the generators to meet the thermal demand. The 5-Follow thermal scheme allow excess electrical
generation to be exported to the grid, while the 6-Follow thermal limit electrical scheme restricts generator
output to a maximum of the building’s current electrical demand so that no electricity is exported. The thermal
demand is determined from the plant modelling and depends on the flow requested by other components on
the demand side of the plant loop, the loop temperatures, and the loop temperature set point. The electric
load centre converts the thermal load to an electrical load using a nominal ratio of the thermal to electrical
power production for each generator. For these schemes, the generator needs to be connected to the supply
side of a plant loop and components that request hot water need to be on the demand side of the plant loop.
This is different than the usual configuration for electrical following schemes where the generator is put on the
demand side and request flow for the purposes of cooling the generator. Therefore a switch from one of the
electrical-based operating schemes to one of the thermal-based operating schemes requires a substantial
change in plant topology
If the load centre includes electrical storage, then the choice of operating schemes will also affect how storage
is managed.
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Note: The5-Follow thermal and 6-Follow thermal limit electrical schemes will only work for generators
that are placed on the supply side of a plant loop and are being run to satisfy thermal load. When generators
are run to satisfy electrical load (1-Base load, 2-Demand limit, 3-Track electrical and 4-Track schedule
scheme types), they're located on the demand side and request flow rate for cooling purposes only.
Technical
For all operating schemes except 1-Base load, a total electric load reduction target (or thermal load converted
to electrical equivalent) is established for the load centre based on the specific operating scheme. The load
centre then requests that its generators operate, one-by-one in the order specified, until the target is met or
exceeded. Generators that are not scheduled as ‘available’ for the simulation time step are not called to
operate. The requested power demand to be met by each generator is the smaller of the nominal ‘rated’
electric power output (as specified in the Generators object) or the remaining total electric load reduction
target for the load centre. After each electric generator is requested to operate, the actual electric power
delivered by the generator, which may be greater than or less than the requested amount due to inputs
specified in the generator performance model, is used to update the remaining total electric power target for
the other generators associated with this load centre.
Most of the operating schemes will sequentially load the available electric load centres and generators.
EnergyPlus can accept multiple Electric load centres with different operating schemes. Because of this, there
are two levels of reporting, one for the whole building and a second for each load centre. The whole-building
results are managed with the internal meters for the entire model. The individual load-centre results are
summed for those generators connected to a particular load centre. The total electricity purchased is reported
both in power and energy units. This value is positive when the amount of energy is purchased from the utility.
This value can be negative when the total electricity produced is greater than the facility electrical needs. The
excess will either be available for storage or to sell back to the electric utility company.
Track schedule
When the 4-Track schedule option is used then you should select a schedule containing values for the
“demand” loads placed on the generator(s). The schedule values should be in Watts.
• 1-Alternating current
• 2-Alternating current with storage
• 3-Direct current with inverter
• 4-Direct current with inverter DC storage
• 5-Direct current with inverter AC storage
All the generators connected to a specific load centre need to be of the same type (all AC or all DC). If the
generators are DC, then an inverter is needed to convert the DC to AC.
Alternating Current
The most basic configuration is selected with the keyword “Alternating Current” for the Electrical Buss Type,
shown in the following diagram.
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Electric Load Centre
The Alternating current load centres have AC generators with no storage and behave in the following way. All
electric demand not met by the sum of the electrical power produced by the available generators will be met
by purchased electricity. If a generator is needed in the simulation for a small load and the load is less than
the generator’s minimum part load ratio, the generator will operate at the minimum part load ratio and the
excess will either reduce demand or the excess energy will be exported back to the electric utility company.
The purchased electrical demand limit is the user input for the demand limit above which the generators will
try and meet the entire electrical load on the building. It is possible to set up load centres with inconsistent or
conflicting operating schemes, so users need to be careful.
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The Alternating current with storage load centres attempt to augment the generator electricity production so
that the power requests are met. Storage control logic is discussed below under Electrical Storage.
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Electric Load Centre
The Direct current with inverter load centres collect DC power from various PV arrays, run the DC power
through an inverter and produce AC power. The PV arrays produce DC power based on the availability of
sunshine and do not respond to load requests made by the electric load centre. The AC output from the
inverter is what is recorded as electricity production.
The Direct current with inverter DC storage load centres charge or draw DC power to meet the requested
electrical load.
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Inverter
The inverter selection option is only used if the Electrical buss type is set to 3-Direct current with inverter
and it allows you to select the inverter connected to this load centre (if any). There are three types of inverter
models available:
• Simple,
• Look up table, or
• Function of Power.
Storage
The storage selection option is used to identify the electrical storage connected to this load centre (if any). It is
only used if the Electrical Buss Type is set to 4-Direct current with inverter DC storage or 5-Direct current
with inverter AC storage.
Cost
Distribution and electrical cost
Enter the cost of the electrical power distribution and any other related costs here.
The cost of the panels themselves is entered on the Constructions tab under the Solar Collectors header.
The cost entered here on the load centre will be included with the other renewable equipment costs under:
• Basic:
• UNIFORMAT II: F10 Special construction
• NRM1:
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Wind Turbine Systems
Generator List
On the Generator List tab you can define up to 30 generators per Electric load centre. Set the number of
generators and select the generator to be used for each.
For DC Electric load centres the generators will be PV solar collectors, Construction BIPV or Glazing BIPV
systems.
Tip: To model multiple PV panels without the need to draw all of the building panels you can reference the
same panel multiple times on the Generator list tab. You should only do this if all of the panels have the same
shading and if the shading cast by the panels does not impact on the building.
1. First define the electric side of the wind turbine system at building level on the Generation model data
tab under the On Site Electricity Generation header:
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Wind Turbines
Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy of the surrounding air-stream into electricity. The EnergyPlus wind
turbine model calculates the electrical power produced based on the characteristics of the turbine itself as well
local environmental conditions such as wind speed and density of air at the height of the systems. The model
obtains the weather information from the simulation weather data file and then determines the wind speed and
air density at the specific height of the system. It also requires the user to input the annual average wind
speed measured at the local site and the height of the measurement so that it factors in differences between
the weather file wind data and the local wind data.
Tip: Wind turbines are included in the model by specifying them on the Generator list tab of the Electric
load centre dialog when one of the a.c. Buss types is selected.
Technical
The model employs the general kinetic energy equation to calculate the performance characteristics of the
horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) systems. It provides a simple approximation algorithm when the power
coefficient, Cp, is available which represents the efficiency of the wind turbine in the wind power extraction
from the ambient air stream. It also allows the user to input experimental constants so that the power
coefficient can precisely be determined according to the characteristic of the airfoil of the system. As for the
vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) systems, it employs the general mathematical equations for straight-bladed
Darrieus-type VAWT systems, which are common to VAWT systems. Various types of VAWT systems such
as the Savonius-type and the curved-blade (or egg-beater) type may be simulated with this same model. It
includes two different types of dynamic power control: Fixed Speed Fixed Pitch (FSFP) and Variable Speed
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Wind Turbines
Fixed Pitch (VSFP). Currently, it does not include an algorithm for modelling pitch control such as Fixed
Speed Variable Pitch (FSVP) and Variable Speed Variable Pitch (VSVP). The model also has the ability to
account for transient losses associated with the power produced during dynamic control by a user-specified
fraction.
The model does not include detailed algorithms for generators and inverters due to concerns for
computational convergence, time, and usability. Instead, all conversion losses of these subsystems are
included by applying a user-supplied total system efficiency to the maximum power extraction of the wind
turbine. The field of the total system efficiency must be specified by the user.
Name
A unique user assigned name for a particular wind turbine system. Any reference to this unit by another object
will use this name.
Availability schedule
The schedule selected here defines the times when the wind turbine system can run. A schedule value
greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the time period. A value less than or
equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off and will not operate for the time period.
Rotor type
This field is the type of axis of the wind turbine. Select from 2 types
• 1-Horizontal axis or
• 2-Vertical axis.
A different algorithm is used in the calculation of the electrical power output of the wind turbine depending on
the Rotor type.
Power control
This field is the type of rotor control for the wind turbine. This protects the system against the overloading for a
system with no speed or pitch control and also to maximize the energy yield for the system. Four different
control types are classified in the literature:
Currently, FSFP and VSFP types can be modelled in EnergyPlus. The other two types will be modelled as
VSFP. If the first FSFP control type is chosen, the model assumes the maximum power at a fixed rotor speed
when the power output predicted is greater than the maximum until the rotor speed reaches the maximum
wind speed (see next field). If one of the last three control options is chosen, the model assumes that the
system produces a constant power at the rated wind speed when the wind speed is between the rated wind
speed and cut-out wind speed. The default value is 3-Variable Speed Fixed Pitch (VSFP).
Rotor diameter
This field is the diameter of the rotor (in m or ft). Note that this field is not the height of the blade, but the
diameter of the perpendicular circle from the vertical pole in the VAWT systems. It determines the swept area
of the rotor of the HAWT systems and the chordal velocity of the VAWT systems.
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Overall height
This field is the height of the hub of the HAWT system, or of the pole of the VAWT system (in m or ft). It is
necessary to estimate local air density and the wind speed at this particular height where the wind turbine
system is installed.
Number of blades
This field is the number of blades of the wind turbine. The azimuth angle of the rotor of the VAWT system is
determined by dividing 360 degree by this field so that the model determines the chordal velocity component
and the normal velocity component of the system. The default value is 3.
Rated power
This field is the nominal power output of the wind turbine system at the rated wind speed (in W or Btu/hr).
Note that the maximum power of the system should be entered with no control, i.e. FSFP control type, can
physically produce. Manufacturer data sometimes describes this as “peak power” or “rated capacity”. If the
local wind speed is greater than the rated wind speed, the model assumes constant power output of this field.
The user also has the ability to specify delivery losses from the system to the local area. If the user does not
enter a fraction, the model assumes the default value of 0.835. Note that the fraction must be between zero
and one.
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Wind Turbines
• 1-Simple - simple approximation model employs the general kinetic energy equation and a Maximum
power coefficient to calculate power extraction from the wind.
• 2-Analytical - The power output of the turbine is calculated from the Power coefficient equation using 6
parameters C1-6.
where:
The maximum and default coefficient values are 0.59 and 0.35 respectively.
Vertical Axis
For vertical axis turbines you can enter details on the Blade chord area, drag coefficient and lift coefficient on
the Vertical Axis tab.
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Blade drag coefficient
This is the blade drag coefficient for a specific blade. It is for determining the tangential and normal force
coefficients with the blade lift coefficient (below) so that the model can calculate the power output from the
system. The user should be able to obtain this parameter for a specific blade from the manufacturers’ data.
This field is only required for VAWT systems.
Power Coefficients
For horizontal axis turbines using the 2-Analytical Power calculation method the Power coefficients can be
entered on the Power Coefficients tab.
where:
Cp = power coefficient
C1- 6 = empirical power coefficient parameters
λ = tip speed ratio (often known as TSR)
λi = tip speed ratio at ith time step
θ = azimuth angle of the pitch, 0 [degree]
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
0.5176 116 0.4 0.0 5.0 21
Electrical Storage
Electrical energy provided by generators such as PV panels and wind turbines can be stored on site for later
use using Storage components.
Tip: Electric storage devices are included in the model by specifying them on the Electrical load centre
dialog when one of the storage Electrical buss types has been selected.
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Simple Storage
There are 2 ways to model the define the performance of the electrical storage device:
• 1-Simple storage - simple definition of the performance of the storage device that is not intended to
represent any specific type of storage technology.
• 2-Battery - more detailed performance definition of a battery using the kinetic battery model.
The type of storage device is defined by selecting the appropriate Category option on the Storage dialog.
Simple Storage
The Simple storage option is accessed by selecting the Simple storage category on the Storage dialog. The
Simple type of Electrical storage component is used to model storage of electricity in an Electric load centre. It
is a simple model that does not attempt to represent any of the detailed performance characteristics of a real
storage device such as a battery. The type of power, AC or DC, depends on the configuration chosen as the
Electrical buss type in the Electric load centre.
Name
This field contains a unique name for the electric storage device.
Category
There are 2 categories to choose from:
• Simple storage for a simple definition of the performance of batteries or other storage device.
• Battery for a more detailed performance definition of a battery
The Category selected affects the type of model used and the data to be entered on the Storage dialog.
Availability schedule
This schedule describes the times when the storage device is available. If storage is not available, by
scheduling a value of 0, then no electrical energy can be stored or drawn from the device. Any non-zero
schedule value means the devices is available. If this field is blank, the schedule has values of 1 for all time
periods.
Attach to a zone
If the losses from the storage device should be represented as heat gains to a zone then check this box and
select the zone in the next field.
Zone
This field contains the name of the thermal zone where the storage device is located. The selected zone will
receive the storage losses as heat gains.
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Simple Options
Nominal energetic efficiency for charging
This field contains the charging efficiency. This is the energetic efficiency of storing electrical energy in the
storage device. A value of 1.0 means the device does not lose any energy when charging.
Battery
The Battery option is accessed by selecting the Battery category on the Storage dialog. Batteries can be used
to store charge in an Electric load centre. The battery bank is a collection of one or more individual battery
modules. Given the surplus or deficit power from the electrical system and the state of charge from the
previous time step, this object can model the voltage, current, and energy losses with charging and
discharging during each time step. The cumulative battery damage can be also modelled and reported at the
end of each simulation run.
The battery component allows both Lead-Acid and Nickel Cadmium batteries to be simulated. With input
parameters derived from specific battery tests, the object is expected to support other battery types such as
Lithium-ion batteries.
The kinetic battery model assumes that part of the battery’s energy storage capacity is immediately available
in discharging or charging while the rest is chemically bound. As a function of constant current, the battery
capacity is related to three parameters: the maximum capacity at infinitesimal current, the capacity ratio of
available charges, and the conversion ratio between available charges and bound charges. These parameters
are usually obtained via curve fitting based on battery data sheets or test data.
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Battery
Each individual battery module is modelled as a voltage source in series with an electrical resistance. KiBaM
assumes that the internal resistance is constant and the open circuit voltage varies with the electric current,
the state of charge and the operation mode (charging or discharging). For an individual battery module, the
open circuit voltage at any time is correlated to the voltage at fully charged/discharged state and three other
regression coefficients. These regression coefficients are usually obtained via curve fitting based on battery
test data.
The object offers user the option to perform battery life calculation. If battery life is modelled, the user needs to
provide a group of coefficients for the correlation between the number of cycles for battery failure and the
corresponding cycle range. More detailed information can be found in the Engineering Reference.
Name
This alpha field contains the identifying name for the battery bank.
Category
There are 2 categories of electrical storage device to choose from:
• Simple storage for a simple definition of the performance of batteries or other storage device.
• Battery for a more detailed performance definition of a battery
The Category selected affects the type of model used and the data to be entered on the Storage dialog.
Availability schedule
This alpha field contains the schedule name (ref. Schedule) that describes when the battery is available. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that electrical energy can be stored or drawn from
the battery. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the battery is not available. If this
field is blank, the schedule has values of 1 for all time periods.
Zone
This field contains the name of the thermal zone where the battery is located. Entering a valid name of zone
here will direct EnergyPlus to include the energy storage losses as heat gains to the named thermal zone. If
the battery is not within a thermal zone, this field can be left blank and the thermal energy associated with
storage losses is removed from the building model.
Battery Storage
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Number of battery modules in series
This field defines the number of modules connected in series in the battery bank. The total number of modules
in a battery bank is equal to the number of modules in parallel times the number of modules in series.
This field specifies the fraction of total charge in the battery that is part of the available tank. The ratio of
available charge capacity to total capacity is a parameter usually derived from test data by curve fitting.
where X is the battery charge divided by the maximum capacity at a given current. More details can be found
from the Engineering Reference.
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Inverters
where X is the removed charge divided by the maximum capacity at a given current. More details can be
found from the Engineering Reference.
Battery Life
Battery life calculation
This checkbox indicates whether the battery life model is activated in the simulation. If the battery life model is
activated, the following 2 inputs are required.
Inverters
Inverters are used to model conversion from Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) in an electric load
centre that contains photovoltaic modules. Such a load centre has an array of photovoltaic modules that feed
an inverter with DC power and the inverter produces AC power.
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Tip: Electric inverters can be included in the model by selecting them on the Generator List tab of the
Electrical load centre dialog when one of the d.c. Electrical buss types has been selected.
The type of inverter can be selected using the Category option on the Inverter dialog.
Inverter - Simple
Simple inverters use a single fixed conversion efficiency value.
General
Name
The name of the inverter entered here must also be unique across all other inverters in the model.
Category
Select the type of inverter from the options below:
Availability schedule
The schedule that describes when the inverter is available. If the inverter is scheduled to not be available, by
scheduling a value of 0, then it cannot produce AC power and will not consume ancillary power during
standby. Any non-zero schedule value means the inverter is available to produce AC power and consume
ancillary power during standby. If the Inverter is scheduled to be unavailable but it is being supplied with DC
power anyway, then the energy is dissipated as heat.
Simple
Inverter efficiency
This field contains the value for inverter efficiency. In the simple model, efficiency is a constant. This is the so-
called 1-term model. Input data for different types of inverters is available at:
https://www.gosolarcalifornia.org/equipment/inverter_tests/summaries/
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Inverter - Function Of Power
Zone
When including inverter losses and heat gains to a zone select the building zone where the inverter is located.
Radiative fraction
This field contains the fraction of inverter thermal losses that enter the zone as long-wave thermal radiation.
This should be a factor between 0.0 and 1.0. The balance of the losses is convective. This data is only
required when including inverter losses and gains to a zone.
General
Name
The name of the inverter entered here must also be unique across all other inverters in the model.
Category
Select the type of inverter from the options below:
Availability schedule
The schedule that describes when the inverter is available. If the inverter is scheduled to not be available, by
scheduling a value of 0, then it cannot produce AC power and will not consume ancillary power during
standby. Any non-zero schedule value means the inverter is available to produce AC power and consume
ancillary power during standby. If the Inverter is scheduled to be unavailable but it is being supplied with DC
power anyway, then the energy is dissipated as heat.
Function Of Power
Efficiency function of power curve
This is the curve representing the relationship between DC power input into the inverter and the efficiency with
which that power is converted to AC. The curve can be of type Linear, Quadratic, or Cubic. The curve’s “x”
value is DC power input normalized by the Maximum continuous input power (below). The result of the
curve should be power conversion efficiency expressed as a fraction between 0.0 and 1.0.
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Rated maximum continuous input power
This field contains the rated power input (in W). This is value used to normalize input power for use with the
curve named in the previous field. This is DC power from the PV arrays going into the inverter.
Minimum efficiency
This field contains a minimum bound on the inverter efficiency. This value will be used as a limit on the curve’s
result.
Maximum efficiency
This field contains a maximum bound on the inverter efficiency. This value will be used as a
limit on the curve’s result.
Maximum power
This field contains an upper limit on the AC power produced by the inverter (in W). If the resulting power
output would be above this level, then the power produced is capped at this level with the rest of input power
converted to losses (unless it is going into storage).
Zone
When including inverter losses and heat gains to a zone select the building zone where the inverter is located.
Radiative fraction
This field contains the fraction of inverter thermal losses that enter the zone as long-wave thermal radiation.
This should be a factor between 0.0 and 1.0. The balance of the losses is convective. This data is only
required when including inverter losses and gains to a zone.
https://www.gosolarcalifornia.org/equipment/inverter_tests/summaries/
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Inverters - Lookup Table
All of the data needed for this object can be found there by make and model of inverter. The core of the data
set is a 3x6 matrix of efficiency at different voltage and power levels. These form the look up table used in the
model. Note that EnergyPlus PV models currently model only power and not the voltage and current situation.
Therefore, only the nominal voltage data are used. This is the middle row of data in the Go Solar summaries.
General
Name
The name of the inverter entered here must also be unique across all other inverters in the model.
Category
Select the type of inverter from the options below:
Availability schedule
The schedule that describes when the inverter is available. If the inverter is scheduled to not be available, by
scheduling a value of 0, then it cannot produce AC power and will not consume ancillary power during
standby. Any non-zero schedule value means the inverter is available to produce AC power and consume
ancillary power during standby. If the Inverter is scheduled to be unavailable but it is being supplied with DC
power anyway, then the energy is dissipated as heat.
Lookup Table
At 10% Power
The fractional efficiency at nominal voltage and 10% power.
At 20% Power
The fractional efficiency at nominal voltage and 20% power.
At 30% Power
The fractional efficiency at nominal voltage and 30% power.
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At 50% Power
The fractional efficiency at nominal voltage and 50% power.
At 75% Power
The fractional efficiency at nominal voltage and 75% power.
At 100% Power
The fractional efficiency at nominal voltage and 100% power.
Zone
When including inverter losses and heat gains to a zone select the building zone where the inverter is located.
Radiative fraction
This field contains the fraction of inverter thermal losses that enter the zone as long-wave thermal radiation.
This should be a factor between 0.0 and 1.0. The balance of the losses is convective. This data is only
required when including inverter losses and gains to a zone.
Economics
Economics tab in model data
When using Detailed HVAC you can define 3 aspects of building economics on the Economics tab at building
level:
The data entered on the Economics tab will be passed to EnergyPlus to be included in simulations.
Note: You must have Economics and HVAC licence modules to work with the data on this tab. Detailed
HVAC is required to provide access to components with the full set of EnergyPlus fuel types for tariff analysis
and LCC. Simple HVAC cannot access tariff analysis (and hence LCC) as it uses ideal loads HVAC systems
rather than EnergyPlus fuels.
Tariff Analysis
To calculate the costs of the utilities, fuels etc use the tariff analysis section of the Economics tab.
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Tariff Analysis
Number of tariffs
Enter the number of tariffs to be included in the simulation. You will be able to select a Tariff analysis
component for each.
Tariff 1, 2 etc
Select the Tariff analysis component describing the characteristics of each tariff to be included. Up to 5
different tariffs can be selected depending on the Number of tariffs selected above.
Construction Costs
Include construction cost in simulation inputs
To include the construction capital cost of the building in the simulation you should check this checkbox. This
must be done to include construction cost in a Life cycle cost calculation.
Summary results from the most recently run Cost calculation on the Cost and Carbon tab will be included in
the "Component cost" component which is selected by default.
Construction cost
Select the Construction cost component.
Tariff Analysis
Monthly utility bills are often directly related to monthly energy consumption and monthly peak demand. The
approach of tariff analysis is to allow you to model the individual component charges that make up the utility
bill and report the results on a monthly basis. The calculation is organized in hierarchy for economics charges
illustrated below.
Any charges included in the EnergyCharges category are added together at the first step. The
EnergyCharges, DemandCharges and ServiceCharges are added together to form the Basis.The Basis,
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Adjustments and Surcharges are added together to form the Subtotal. And finally the Total is obtained from
the summation of Subtotal and Taxes, where the Total represents the total monthly charges on that tariff for
the energy source used. In addition, each category name is usually used as a source variable when setting
charges and doing tariff calculation.
In detail, this module consists of the name of the tariff, the type of tariff, and other details about the overall
tariff. The objects such as Tariff, Charge (either Simple or Block), Qualify, Ratchet stayed in the same tariff
package will perform tariff calculation with tariff name being given on Tariff tab.
Multiple Tariff objects can be modelled, and it is common that electric and gas utilities have more than one
rate that may be used. However, only one Tariff for each Output Meter object and Group Name is shown in
the Economics Summary Report. The one that is shown in the report is chosen by first eliminating Tariff
objects that are not qualified due to their Qualify objects. If more than one Tariff object remains, the one that
has the lowest cost for a combination of an Output Meter and Group Name will be selected. If the Group
Name field is not checked, then the lowest cost Tariff object is chosen for each Meter.
• Tariff
• Charge
• Qualify
• Ratchet
• User Variables
Tariff
Tariff name
The field gives the name of the tariff to be modelled. Tariffs are sometimes called rates. The name is used in
identifying the output results and in associating all of the charges and other objects that make up a tariff.
Description
Enter a description for the tariff.
Category
Select a category for the tariff from:
• Electricity tariffs
• Gas tariffs
• Other tariffs
• 1-Electricity:Facility,
• 2-Gas:Facility,
• 3-ElectricityPurchased:Facility,
• 4-ElectricitySurplusSold:Facility,
• 5-ElectricityNet:Facility,
• 6-Other Defined Meter
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Tariff Analysis - Tariff
This output meter name must point to a valid meter, otherwise it will lead to unexpected results.
Usually, the Electricity:Facility meter or the ElectricityPurchased:Facility is selected when the buyFromUtility
option is used, the ElectricitySurplusSold:Facility meter is selected when the sellToUtility option is used and
the ElectricityNet:Facility meter is selected when the netMetering option is used.
To calculate energy cost for specific energy use, the corresponding output meter name must be used (if input
manually, it should be typed exactly as EnergyPlus defined). For example, if your utility cost calculation is
intended for lighting electricity only, the InteriorLights:Electricity output meter name should be used here.
• 1-UserDefined
• 2-kWh
• 3-Therm
• 4-MMBtu
• 5-MJ
• 6-KBtu
• 7-MCF
• 8-CCF
The following table shows the conversion factors when specifying one of the predefined choices:
Schedules
Use 'Time of use period schedule'?
Check this check box if you would like to include a time of use period schedule.
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Time of use period schedule
Select the schedule that defines the time-of-use periods that occur each day. The period schedule is used to
determine which variables are defined. The values for the different variables are:
• 1 is Peak
• 2 is Shoulder
• 3 is OffPeak
• 4 is MidPeak
Note: Different utilities use different terms to describe their rates. Sometimes the "shoulder" and the term
"midpeak" both mean basically the same thing. To define a time of use period schedule, you do not need
always use all of these terms. For terms “Shoulder” and “MidPeak”, in DesignBuilder/EnergyPlus you can use
either term as long as you use them consistently throughout the description of the utility tariff. Of course, you
can use them both if the utility has four levels though it is very unusual.
The following variables are created automatically if these different periods are used in the schedule and
include:
• peakEnergy
• peakDemand
• shoulderEnergy
• shoulderDemand
• offPeakEnergy
• offPeakDemand
• midPeakEnergy
• midPeakDemand
Some special variables are created that include only demand from one period that exceeds the demand from
another period. For other months that do not exceed, the values are zero. These variables are seldom used
but are available for the occasional rate that includes a clause looking at demands during one period that
exceed another period.
• PeakExceedsOffPeak
• OffPeakExceedsPeak
• PeakExceedsMidPeak
• MidPeakExceedsPeak
• PeakExceedsShoulder
• ShoulderExceedsPeak
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Tariff Analysis - Tariff
Season schedule
Select the schedule that defines the seasons. The seasons are:
• 1 is Winter
• 2 is Spring
• 3 is Summer
• 4 is Autumn
The change in the season schedule must occur at the same time as the change in the Monthly Schedule. In
other words, a season must end at the same time as a billing month. Variables are automatically created if a
season schedule is used. These variables are set to 1 within the season and 0 for the months that are not in
the season. The variables are:
• isWinter
• isNotWinter
• isSpring
• isNotSpring
• isSummer
• isNotSummer
• isAutumn
• isNotAutumn
Month schedule
Select the schedule that defines the billing periods of the year. Normally this entry is allowed to default and a
schedule will be internally used that has the breaks between billing periods occurring at the same time as the
breaks between months, i.e., at midnight prior to the first day of the month. If other billing periods are used
such as two month cycles or a single bill for an entire season, such as some natural gas companies do in the
summer, then the month schedule may be used to redefine it. Make sure that the month schedule and season
schedule are consistent, otherwise an error will be issued.
Thus, the schedule that represents this would look like the following. If no schedule is specified the following
Month Schedule is used which defines the months of the year as the normal calendar months.
The use of the Month Schedule Name field is not usually required. Most utility tariffs have monthly bills and so
this field would not need to be used. Specifically, if you have bills every two months, you would define a
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schedule to use in this field that had the value of 1 for January and February, the value of 2 for March and
April, the value of 3 for May and June, etc. See below:
For other cases, some natural gas utilities define a single billing period for the summer months. In this case
you would define a schedule that was 1 for January, 2 for February, 3 for March, 4 for April, 5 for May June
July and August, 6 for September, 7 for October, 8 for November, 9 for December.
Other Settings
Demand window length
The determination of demand can vary by utility. Some utilities use the peak instantaneous demand measured
but most use a fifteen minute average demand or a one hour average demand. Some gas utilities measure
demand as the use during the peak day or peak week.
• QuarterHour
• HalfHour
• FullHour
• Day
• Week
Note: The choice may be overridden based on the value of simulation time step so that they are
consistent, i.e. demand window length should be exact multiples of simulation time step length in minute. For
example, if the time step is 6, i.e. 10 minutes time step, then QuarterHour is not used and instead HalfHour is
used. Or if time step is 3, i.e. 20 minutes time step, then QuarterHour and HalfHour are not used and instead
FullHour is used.
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Tariff Analysis - Tariff
When this option is enabled, the Time of Use Period, Season and Month schedules are not needed unless
Charge objects are used in defining other charges which involve these schedules.
If this field is used the baseline totalEnergy and totalDemand is calculated, then compared to the metered
value and therefore the real time rate charge based on the difference is calculated using the values defined in
real time pricing charge schedule, which is either added or subtracted to the utility cost.
If this field is not used, the real time charge schedule applies to all energy from the meter and totalEnergy and
totalDemand is based on metered value as usual.
Group name
This field defines the group name of the tariff such as distribution, transmission, supplier, etc. If more than one
tariff with the same group name is present and qualifies, only the lowest cost tariff is used. Usually the group
name field is left blank which results in all tariffs using the same meter variable being compared and the
lowest cost one being selected.
Buy or sell
It sets whether the tariff is used for buying, selling or both to the utility. This should be allowed to default to
BuyFromUtility unless a power generation system is included in the building that may generate more power
than the building needs during the year.
• BuyFromUtility – The values from the metered variable are used and are shown as being purchases
from the utility.
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• SellToUtility – The values from the metered variable are used for a “sell back” rate to the utility. The
charges in the rate should be expressed as negative values.
• NetMetering – Negative values are used to reduce any positive values during the specific period on the
tariff when negative values occur (sell back to utility).
A warning will be issued if the selection of this field does not match the type of meter (please refer to Output
Meter Name field for more details).
Charge Selection
Number of charges
The number of charges applied in this tariff can be selected from this dropdown list.
Simple or Block?
Select the charge type according to utility rate settings from:
• 1-Simple is used to compute energy and demand charges that are very simple. It may also be used for
taxes, surcharges and any other charges that occur on a utility bill. As many Simple Charge objects as
needed may be defined for a single tariff and they will be added together.
• 2-Block is used to compute energy and demand charges that are structured in blocks of charges. It
may also be used for Taxes, Surcharges and any other charges that occur on a utility bill but those are
more commonly simple flat charges so Simple Charge is more commonly used for those functions. As
many Block Charge objects as needed may be defined for a single tariff and they will be added
together. Blocks are a structure used by almost all utilities for calculating energy and demand charges
and they allow the utility to charge more or less per unit of energy or demand if more units are used.
Charge : Simple
Charge variable name
This is the name associated with the Simple charge object and will appear in the report, which is also used to
store the results of the Simple charge calculation. Spaces are not significant in Charge variable names. They
are removed during the utility bill calculation process.
Source variable
This is the name of the source used by the Simple charge. This is usually the name of the variable holding the
energy or demand but may also be the name of any variable including the Subtotal or Basis if other charges
are based on those. This should be typed exact as defined.
the Source variable is usually the name of the variable holding the energy or demand but may also be the
name of any variable including the subtotal or basis if other charges are based on those.
• totalEnergy
• totalDemand
• EnergyCharges
• DemandCharges
• ServiceCharges
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Tariff Analysis - Charge Tab
• Basis
• Adjustments
• Surcharges
• Subtotal
• Taxes
• Total
• peakEnergy
• peakDemand
• shoulderEnergy
• shoulderDemand
• offPeakEnergy
• offPeakDemand
• midPeakEnergy
• midPeakDemand
In addition see the Tariff Report in the Summary output to see other native variables that may be available.
Also you can create additional user defined variables to model complex tariffs.
Season
This is the name (or number) of a season for which the Simple charge is calculated. If this is set to Annual, the
calculations are performed for the entire year (all months), otherwise they are calculated only for the months in
the season defined. The season is defined by the Season Schedule on the Tariff tab.
• Annual
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall (Autumn)
• EnergyCharges
• DemandCharges
• ServiceCharges
• Basis
• Adjustment
• Surcharge
• Subtotal
• Taxes
• Total
• NotIncluded
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defined on the User variables tab). If no value or variable is entered, a zero is assumed. For SellToUtility
tariffs, the values in this field are usually expressed as negative numbers.
Charge : Block
Charge variable name
This is the name associated with the Block charge object and will appear in the report, which is also used to
store the results of the Block charge calculation. Spaces are not significant in Charge variable names. They
are removed during the utility bill calculation process.
Source variable
This is the name of the source used by the Block charge. This is usually the name of the variable holding the
energy or demand but may also be the name of any variable including the Subtotal or Basis if other charges
are based on those. This should be typed exact as defined.
Season
This is the name (or number) of a season for which the Block charge is calculated. If this is set to Annual, the
calculations are performed for the entire year (all months), otherwise they are calculated only for the months in
the season defined. The season is defined by the Season schedule on the Tariff tab.
• Annual
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall (Autumn)
• EnergyCharges
• DemandCharges
• ServiceCharges
• Basis
• Adjustment
• Surcharge
• Subtotal
• Taxes
• Total
• NotIncluded
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Tariff Analysis Qualify
Number of blocks
This field gives number of blocks needed for this Block charge setting.
Note: The above two fields run as a group can be repeated many times up to the number defined in
Number of blocks field. For the last pair of the two, a default variable named “remaining” contains a large
value may be used when the remaining amount should be included in that block. This “remaining” is
EnergyPlus reserved keyword, which should not be altered or if manual input is required, this variable should
be typed exactly.
Many utilities provide a large number of tariffs and separate their customers by the amount of energy use they
have or by the amount of demand. The Qualify object allows only certain tariffs that are modelled to be used.
If the results of the simulation fall outside of the range of qualifications, that tariff is still calculated but in the
results the “Qualified” entry will say “No” and the Qualify object that caused its exclusion is shown. Multiple
tariffs from the same utility can be modelled and only one of them should be used, make sure that the
qualifiers are consistent especially within the same Group name (defined on the Tariff tab). Multiple Qualify
objects can appear for a specific rate and they can be based on any variable.
The energy used and demands for each month vary. Since it is possible that they vary across the minimum
and maximum values defined by this object, a choice in how to treat the thresholds is necessary. The utility
probably has very specific requirements about which months or consecutive months can be above or below a
threshold to qualify for the rate.
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Name
The name used for the Qualify object and displayed if the tariff qualify or does not qualify. It is also treated as
a variable and contains:
Variable name
The name of the variable used. For energy and demand, the automatically created variables, totalEnergy and
totalDemand should be used, respectively.
Qualify type
This defines criteria for checking tariff’s qualification, the options can be either “Minimum” or “Maximum”.
Season
If the UtilityCost:Qualify only applies to a season, enter the season name from the following list:
• Annual
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall (Autumn)
It defaults to Annual.
Threshold test
The Number of months (below) is used in one of two different ways depending on this setting. Select from:
• 1-Count where the qualification is based on the count of the total number of months per year.
• 2-Consecutive where the qualification is based on a consecutive number of months.
Number of months
A number is used here from 1 to 12. If Input Number of months is not checked, 12 is assumed when the
qualify type is minimum and 1 when the qualify type is maximum. This is the number of months that the
threshold test applies to determine if the rate qualifies or not. If the season is less than 12 months (if it is not
annual) then the value is automatically reduced to the number of months of the season.
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Tariff Analysis - Ratchet
The Ratchet object allows the modelling of tariffs that include some type of seasonal ratcheting. Ratchets are
most common when used with electric demand charges. A ratchet is when a utility requires that the demand
charge for a month with a low demand may be increased to be more consistent with a month that set a higher
demand charge.
Example: A utility has a single ratchet that says that the billing demand for each month of the year is
the higher value of the actual demand or 60% of the peak summer demand.
DesignBuilder input:
EnergyPlus idf:
If multiple ratchets occur in the same tariff, they be “chained” together with the Baseline source variable
replaced with the Ratchet variable name of the previous Ratchet.
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Baseline source variable
The name of the variable used as the baseline value. When the ratcheted value exceeds the baseline value
for a month the ratcheted value is used but when the baseline value is greater than the ratcheted value the
baseline value is used. Usually the electric demand charge is used. The baseline source variable can be the
results of another ratchet object. This allows utility tariffs that have multiple ratchets to be modelled.
Season from
This is the name of the season that is being examined. The maximum value for all of the months in the named
season is what is used with the multiplier and offset. This is most commonly Summer or Annual. When
Monthly is used, the adjustment source variable is used directly for all months.
• Annual
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall (Autumn)
• Monthly
Season to
This is the name of the season when the ratchet would apply. This is most commonly Winter. The ratchet only
is applied to the months in the named season. The resulting variable for months not in the Season To
selection will contain the values as appear in the baseline source variable. The choices are:
• Annual
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall (Autumn)
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Tariff Analysis - User Variables
For a simple typical case using totalDemand for both “Baseline source variable” and “Adjustment source
variable”, please see the example at the top of this page.
This tab defines and stores any user defined variables required for selection on other tabs of this dialog. Direct
entry of monthly values can be entered for each variable.
Note: Variables are defined using a text name which must be entered exactly on the previous tabs to
match with the variable defined here.
The places on the other Tariff analysis dialog tabs where a variable can be entered are:
Tariff tab
• Monthly service charge variable name
• Minimum monthly charge variable name
Charge tab
• Charge variable name (Simple Charge setting)
• Charge variable name (Block Charge setting)
Qualify tab
• Threshold variable name
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Ratchet tab
• Multiplier variable name
• Offset variable name
Variables Used
Number of variables used
Enter the number of variables to be defined.
Variable N Settings
For each variable enter the following data.
Name
This field defines the name of the variable.
Variable type
This field is used to indicate the kind of units that may be associated with the variable. It is used by IDF Editor
to display the appropriate SI and IP units for the January through December values. The available options are
shown below. If none of these options are appropriate, select Dimensionless which will have no unit
conversion.
• Energy
• Demand
• Currency
• Dimensionless
Each field contains an entry of the monthly values of the variable. Normally 12 months are used for most utility
rates and so 12 values should be entered.
Construction Costs
Component cost modelling provides an early design stage estimate of the initial construction capital costs
associated with the building and services being modelled. The construction costs input to the EnergyPlus
costing calculations are derived from the cost outputs on the Cost and Carbon tab. Initially, the idea of
EnergyPlus construction costs is to ensure that cost estimates are consistent with the EnergyPlus model and
allow using results calculated during a simulation such as equipment sizes and surface areas.
The DesignBuilder EnergyPlus cost estimating capabilities are intended for early stage estimation and do not
cover all the types of analyses included in more detailed cost estimating software.
The usual reason for including component costs in an EnergyPlus simulation will to as part of a larger
investment analysis such as life-cycle costing.
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Construction Costs
Note: The term "component cost" is used almost synonymously with "construction cost" in the
DesignBuilder documentation. The "component cost" terminology comes from the EnergyPlus
ComponentCost:LineItem, ComponentCost:Adjustments and ComponentCost:Reference data used to include
construction costs in the simulation.
To understand how to include cost estimates in EnergyPlus inputs, it may be helpful to first define some
terminology and provide an overview of the process used in EnergyPlus. There are three broad steps involved
in the EnergyPlus component cost calculations.
1. Construction costs calculated by summing individual “line items" through calculations carried out on the
Cost and Carbon screen.
2. Project costs calculated by adjusting construction costs to account for other factors such as profit or
design fees.
3. Finally the current simulation results are compared with equivalent results for a reference case so that
marginal alterations can be calculated.
Each of above steps involves using one of the three Component cost data sets described below. These 3
steps are organized by corresponding tabs on the Construction costs dialog:
• Line Item
• Adjustments
• Reference
The results can be included in the Construction Cost Estimate Summary table by checking the Component
Cost Economics Summary output option under the Summary Annual Reports header.
Example
The construction cost calculation example below shows the Component Cost Economics Summary output
and how this is used as the basis for a comparison with a reference case with adjustment factors applied. The
process is as follows:
1. Ensure that the Detailed HVAC model option is selected which enables the Economics model data tab
at building level.
2. Run a Cost calculation on the Cost and Carbon tab.
3. Return to the Edit screen, navigate to the Economics tab and switch on the Include construction
costs in simulation inputs checkbox to reveal the Construction cost component selection. The default
construction cost option is called "Component cost".
4. Edit the selected construction cost. On the first tab you will find the latest costs summed for each high
level category.
5. Make any changes required on the Adjustments and Reference tabs and press OK to confirm.
6. Go the Simulation screen and run a simulation.
7. After the simulation is complete click on the Summary tab, click on the "Table of Contents" link and
then on the "Component Cost Economics Summary" link to view the component construction costs.
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Corresponding Adjustment and Reference Inputs:
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Construction Costs - Line Item
Name
Enter the name of this Component cost component.
Description
Enter the name of this Component cost component.
Category
The category cannot be changed on the dialog.
The way line item data is entered depends on which of these 2 categories is selected:
• DesignBuilder - Line item data is read automatically from the current results on the Cost and Carbon
tab when opening the dialog, If the cost calculations are updated then data on this dialog must also be
updated by re-opening the dialog and saving it again.
• User defined - Up to 10 line item data items can be entered manually.
When using the DesignBuilder cost estimate, all Line items are obtained by first running the Cost and Carbon
calculation. The line items are obtained from the sub totals in this output:
• Structure costs
• HVAC costs
• Lighting costs
• Sub-structure costs
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• Super structure costs
• Glazing costs
• Renewables costs
• Surface finish costs
For details on how these costs are calculated, refer to the Cost and Carbon calculation section.
Alternatively, you can use your own line item data (as opposed to those calculated by DesignBuilder) by
selecting a Component cost component from the User defined folder. Data from this folder has all fields
editable.
Line items are reported by EnergyPlus and displayed in tabular form on the Summary tab of the Simulation
screen:
Item name
This field is used to refer to a specific instance of an object.
Quantity
This field is used to directly enter the line item quantity. The units should correspond to what is used in the Per
Each field.
Data on the Adjustments tab can be used to perform various modifications to the construction costs to arrive
at an estimate for total project costs. It allows the line item model to be extended so that the overall costs of
the project will reflect various profit and fees.
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Construction Costs - Reference
The total base costs calculated by applying the regional adjustment factor to be modelled and miscellaneous
construction costs will be used for calculating other additional costs in terms of multiplying the fractions in the
following five fields.
Contractor fee
This field can be used to enter a fraction of total base costs that should be added to account for Contractor
fees. Note it is not the same as a fraction of the total cost estimate.
Contingency
This field can be used to enter a fraction of total base costs that should be added for contingency. Note that is
not the same as a fraction of the total cost estimate.
Commissioning fee
This field can be used to enter a fraction of total based and miscellaneous construction costs that should be
added to account for commissioning services. Note that is not the same as a fraction of the total cost estimate.
Data on this tab can be used to compare the current cost estimate with the results of a previously calculated
reference building. It parallels the data on the Adjustment tab but adds a field for entering the cost line item
model result for the reference building.
All the various adjustments to the project cost estimate are available here as factors that differ between the
current and the reference building models to be applied. The factors entered here are applied to the reference
building while the factors listed in the Adjustment object are applied to the current building model cost
estimate. The results are included in the Construction Cost Estimate Summary table by checking the
Component Cost Economics Summary output option.
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Reference miscellaneous cost per conditioned area
This field can be used to enter a cost model for miscellaneous project costs that are not included in the line
item modelling. Miscellaneous costs are entered in cost (local currency) per conditioned floor area. This field
allows including the costs of project elements that go beyond what can be modelled using Line item objects.
The value input in this field will be multiplied by the conditioned floor area and listed in the Construction Cost
Estimate Summary table.
This field is useful for using national average data in the line item and miscellaneous construction cost models
and then altering the results based on regional differences.
The total base costs calculated by applying regional adjustment factor to modelled and miscellaneous
construction costs will be used for calculating other additional costs in terms of multiplying the fractions in the
following five fields.
Reference contingency
This field can be used to enter a fraction of total base costs that should be added for contingency. Note that it
is not the same as a fraction of the total cost estimate.
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Life Cycle Cost - Parameters
The calculations are based on discounting the future values according to normal life-cycle costing techniques
as described in NIST Handbook 135 Life-Cycle Costing Manual for the Federal Energy Management
Program.
The following is a list of life-cycle costing related data that provide a way to describe the parameters and costs
associated with the life-cycle of a building or building system. These objects are organized by tabs on the Life
Cycle Cost dialog:
• Parameters
• Recurring costs
• Non-recurring costs
• Use price escalation
• Use adjustment
The utility costs and first costs are used along with other current and future costs input using the Recurring
costs and Non-recurring cost data and these are combined into the present value life-cycle cost metric. The
Parameters object establishes the set of assumptions for the analysis along with Use price escalation (often
from databases) and Use adjustment objects.
Note 1: It is important to understand that the comparison of different simulation results and their present
values is not performed by EnergyPlus. Instead, EnergyPlus provides the present value calculations for a
specific simulation combining the energy costs, first costs, and future costs and you need to make the
comparison between the results of multiple simulations when needed.
Note 2: Life-Cycle Costing (LCC) should not be confused with Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). With LCC the
result is an economic evaluation of current and future expenditures in order to make a decision on alternative
investments. In LCA, the environmental impact such as equivalent CO2 production involved in the materials,
delivery, manufacturing, and construction are combined with environmental impacts of the building in
operation and the eventual removal of the building and is used to understand the overall environmental impact
or embodied energy.
Tip: You can carry out powerful analyses to simultaneously optimise whole life cycle cost and whole life
cycle environmental impact performance using DesignBuilder's optimisation tools. Choose the LCC and LCA
KPIs for this sort of analysis.
Output
The results of using the LCC analysis are included automatically in the Summary report under “Life Cycle Cost
Report.” This report shows the costs and the timing of costs, often called “cash flows,” along with the present
value in several different tables. The tabular results show the present value of all current and future costs.
Provides inputs related to the overall life-cycle cost analysis. It establishes many of the assumptions used in
computing the present value. It is important that when comparing the results of multiple simulations that the
fields in the Parameters objects are the same for all the simulations. To help check this is the case, the first
table in the Life-Cycle Cost Report shows the inputs to this object.
Name
An identifying name this LCC analysis.
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Discount Settings
Discounting convention
The field specifies if the discounting of future costs should be computed as occurring at the end, the middle or
the beginning of each year. The most common discounting convention uses the end of each year, therefore
without a specific reason, the end of year should be used. The year being used starts with the base year and
month (see below) and repeats every full year.
All costs assumed to occur during that duration are accumulated and shown as an expense either at the
beginning, middle or end of the year. The options are:
• 1-BeginningOfYear
• 2-MidYear
• 3-EndOfYear
Note: Specifically, some military projects may require using the middle of each year.
Inflation approach
This field is used to determine if the analysis should use constant dollars or current dollars which is related to
how inflation is treated. The two options are:
If 1-ConstantDollar is selected, then the Real discount rate input (see below) is used and it excludes the rate
of inflation. If 2-CurrentDollar is selected, then the Nominal discount rate (see below) input is used and it
includes the rate of inflation. For most analyses, using the 1-ConstantDollar option will be easier since the
effect of inflation may be ignored.
Reference: From NIST Handbook 135: “The constant dollar approach has the advantage of avoiding the
need to project future rates of inflation or deflation. The price of a good or service stated in constant dollars is
not affected by the rate of general inflation. For example, if the price of a piece of equipment is $1,000 today
and $1,050 at the end of a year in which prices in general have risen at an annual rate of 5 percent, the price
stated in constant dollars is still $1,000; no inflation adjustment is necessary. In contrast, if cash flows are
stated in current dollars, future amounts include general inflation, and an adjustment is necessary to convert
the current dollar estimate to its constant-dollar equivalent. This adjustment is important because constant-
and current-dollar amounts must not be combined in an LCCA.”
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Life Cycle Cost - Parameters
Inflation rate
Enter the rate of inflation for general goods and services as a decimal, e.g. for a 2% rate, enter the value 0.02.
When Inflation approach is set to 1-ConstantDollar this input is ignored.
Example: Below is an example from the NIST Handbook 135 1995 edition.
• 1-January (default)
• 2-February
• 3-March
• 4-April
• 5-May
• 6-June
• 7-July
• 8-August
• 9-September
• 10-October
• 11-November
• 12-December
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Reference: According to NIST 135 “the base date is the point in time to which all project related costs are
discounted in an LCCA [life cycle cost analysis]. The base date is usually the first day of the study period for
the project, which in turn is usually the date that the LCCA is performed. In a constant dollar analysis, the
base date usually defines the time reference for the constant dollars (e.g. 1995 constant dollars). It is essential
that you use the same base date and constant-dollar year for all of the project alternatives to be compared. If
you set the base date to the date that the LCCA is performed, then the constant dollar basis for the analysis
will be the current date, and you can use actual costs as of that date without adjusting for general inflation.”
• 1-January (default)
• 2-February
• 3-March
• 4-April
• 5-May
• 6-June
• 7-July
• 8-August
• 9-September
• 10-October
• 11-November
• 12-December
Reference: According to NIST Handbook 135: “The service date is the date on which the project is
expected to be implemented; operating and maintenance costs (including energy- and water-related costs)
are generally incurred after this date, not before.”
Other Settings
Reference: According to NIST Handbook 135, “the study period for an LCCA is the time over which the
costs and benefits related to a capital investment decision are of interest to the decision maker. Thus, the
study period begins with the base date and includes both the planning/construction period (if any) and the
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Life Cycle Cost - Recurring Costs
relevant service period for the project. The service period begins with the service date and extends to the end
of the study period.”
Tax rate
Enter the overall marginal tax rate for the project costs. This does not include energy or water taxes. The
single tax rate entered here is not intended to be a replacement of the complex calculations necessary to
compute personal or corporate taxes; instead it is an approximate that may be used for a simple analysis
assuming a constant tax rate is applied on all costs. The tax rate entered should be based on the marginal tax
rate for the entity and not the average tax rate. Enter the tax rate results in present value calculations after
taxes. Most analyses do not factor in the impact of taxes and assume that all options under consideration
have roughly the same tax impact. Due to this, many times the tax rate can be left to default to zero and the
present value results before taxes are used to make decisions. The value should be entered as a decimal
value, e.g. for 15% enter 0.15. For an analysis that does not include tax impacts, enter 0.0. The default is 0.
Depreciation method
For an analysis that includes income tax impacts, this entry describes how capital costs are depreciated. Only
one depreciation method may be used for an analysis and is applied to all capital expenditures. Only analyses
that include tax impacts need to select a depreciation method. The options are:
• 1-ModifiedAcceleratedCostRecoverySystem-3year
• 2-ModifiedAcceleratedCostRecoverySystem-5year
• 3-ModifiedAcceleratedCostRecoverySystem-7year
• 4-ModifiedAcceleratedCostRecoverySystem-10year
• 5-ModifiedAcceleratedCostRecoverySystem-15year
• 6-ModifiedAcceleratedCostRecoverySystem-20year
• 7-StraightLine-27year
• 8-StraightLine-31year
• 9-StraightLine-39year
• 10-StraightLine-40year
• 11-None (default)
Depreciation allowances reduce the actual/nominal tax dollars paid by the owner. Thus, analyses using
depreciation should be conducted in nominal dollars. For an analysis that does not include tax effects, 11-
None should be selected.
Note: For more details about depreciation methods and which one to choose, refer to IRS Publication 946
– How to Depreciate Property. It states that "Depreciation is an annual income tax deduction that allows you
to recover the cost or other basis of certain property over the time you use the property. It is an allowance for
Fair market value the wear and tear, deterioration, or obsolescence of the Intangible property.” Details on
which depreciation method to choose depends on the property being depreciated, IRS Publication 946 and
your accountant will be the best sources of information in determining which depreciation method to choose.
Recurring costs are costs that repeat over time on a regular schedule during the study period. If costs
associated with equipment do repeat but not on a regular schedule, use the Non-recurring costs tab instead.
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Recurring Cost N Settings
Name
The identifier used for this recurring cost. The name is used in identifying the cash flow equivalent in the
output results in the Life-Cycle Cost Report.
Category
Enter the category of the recurring costs. Choose the closest category. The options include:
• 1-EnergyCosts
• 2-WaterCosts
• 3-Maintenance
• 4-Repair
• 5-Operation
• 6-Replacement
• 7-MinorOverhaul
• 8-MajorOverhaul
• 9-OtherOperational
Note: For recommendations on estimating other operational costs, see NIST 135 Section 4.6.3.
Cost
Enter the cost (local currency) for the recurring costs. Enter the cost for each time it occurs. For example, if
the annual maintenance cost is $500, enter 500 here.
Start of costs
Enter when the costs start. The First year of cost is based on the number of years past the Start of costs. For
most maintenance costs, the Start of costs should be 1-ServicePeriod. The options are:
• 1-ServicePeriod
• 2-BasePeriod
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Life Cycle Cost - Non-Recurring Costs
A non-recurring cost happens only once during the study period. For costs that occur more than once during
the study period on a regular schedule, use the Recurring costs tab.
Category
Enter the category of the non-recurring costs. Choose the closest category. The options include:
• 1-Construction
• 2-Salvage
• 3-OtherCapital
Reference: For recommendations on estimating capital and salvage (residual) costs, see NIST 135 Section
4.5.
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Cost
Enter the non-recurring cost value. For construction and other capital costs the value entered is typically a
positive value. For salvage costs, the value entered is typically a negative value which represents the money
paid to the investor for the equipment at the end of the study period.
Start of costs
Enter when the costs start. The first year of cost is based on the number of years past the Start of costs. For
most non-recurring costs the Start of costs should be base period which begins at the base month and year.
The options are:
• 1-ServicePeriod
• 2-BasePeriod
The Use price escalation data will commonly be part of a dataset on life cycle costs.
Reference: The values for this object may be found in the annual supplement to NIST Handbook 135 in
Tables Ca-1 to Ca-5. A dataset file comes with EnergyPlus in the DataSet directory and includes the
LCCusePriceEscalationDataSetXXXX.idf file which includes the value for the supplement to NIST 135 from
the year indicated. The object provides inputs for the escalations of energy and water costs assuming that
they change differently than inflation. According to the NIST 135 supplement the values are “present projected
fuel price indices for the four Census regions and for the United States. These indices, when multiplied by
annual energy costs computed at base-date prices provide estimates of future-year costs in constant base-
date dollars. Constant-dollar cost estimates are needed when discounting is performed with a real discount
rate (i.e., a rate that does not include general price inflation).”
https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2019/NIST.IR.85-3273-34.pdf
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Life Cycle Cost - Use Price Escalation
If requested, NIST personnel will provide a file called ENCOSTxx.TXT which contains the data used to create
Table Ca-1 to Table Ca-5 in the supplement. To convert the data in the ENCOSTxx.TXT file to an IDF file,
open the ENCOSTxx.TXT file in a text editor and copy the entire contents into the first tab called “Step 1” of
the conversion spreadsheet. The conversion spreadsheet file named
ConvertENCOSTtoEnergyPlusLifeCycleCost.xls is available upon request from the EnergyPlus
development team. The “Step 2” tab separates the data into columns. The “Step 3” tab computes ratios that
are the same as Table Ca-1 to Table C1-6 in the supplement. Checking these values against what appears in
the printed supplement is recommended. The “Step 4” and “Step 5” tabs rearrange the data and the “Step 6”
tab shows the data in a format that can be easily copied and pasted into a new idf dataset file. The final step
requires using your text editor to replace the fuel names with those used by EnergyPlus. The replacement
names are listed on the “FuelNameConversion” tab.
Name
The identifier used for this escalation. The name usually identifies the location (such as the state, region,
country or census area) that the escalations apply to. In addition the name should identify the building class
such as residential, commercial, or industrial and the use type such as electricity, natural gas, or water.
Resource
Select the resource from:
• 1-Electricity
• 2-FuelOil1
• 3-NaturalGas
• 4-PropaneGas
• 5-FuelOil2
• 6-Coal
• 7-Steam
• 8-Gasoline
• 9-Diesel
• 10-Water
• 1-January (default)
• 2-February
• 3-March
• 4-April
• 5-May
• 6-June
• 7-July
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• 8-August
• 9-September
• 10-October
• 11-November
• 12-December
Escalation Data
Year 1 escalation
The escalation in price of the energy or water use for the first year expressed as a decimal.
Year n escalation
The escalation in price of the energy or water use for the n-th year expressed as a decimal. As mentioned
above, normally 25 to 50 years data is used.
Note: If the number of years of escalation is less than the number of years in the analysis period, the
remaining years will assume no escalation, therefore normal inflation will be the only affect for these years.
Adjustment N Settings
Name
The identifier used for this use adjustment data.
Resource
Select the resource from:
• 1-Electricity
• 2-FuelOil1
• 3-NaturalGas
• 4-PropaneGas
• 5-FuelOil2
• 6-Coal
• 7-Steam
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Outputs
• 8-Gasoline
• 9-Diesel
• 10-Water
Adjustment Data
Year 1 multiplier
The multiplier to be applied to the end use cost for the first year in the service period. The total utility costs for
the selected end use is multiplied by this value. For no change enter 1.0.
Year n multiplier
The multiplier to be applied to the end use cost for each following year. The total utility costs for the selected
end use is multiplied by this value. For no change enter 1.0.
Note: If the number of years of Use price escalation is less than the number of years in the analysis
period, the remaining years will assume no escalation, therefore normal inflation will be the only affect for
these years.
Outputs
Options tab in model data
You can control the output data that is generated in the design calculations and simulations by making
selections on the Options model data tab.
Outputs - General
Name in last EnergyPlus calculation
This is the IDF name of the current building, zone, surface or opening from the last EnergyPlus simulation. For
surfaces and openings it is possible for more than one EnergyPlus objects to be generated per corresponding
DesignBuilder object.
Tag
You can enter your own tag to define the current object for use in EMS optional arguments and target
selection tools.
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Output Options - Cooling Design
Cooling Design tab on Model Options dialog, General tab on Cooling Design Calculation Options
dialog and Outputs model data tab
Cooling design output options apply to the whole building and are only visible at building level when accessed
from the Outputs model data tab.
• No occupancy and,
• No cooling and,
• No heating and,
• No mechanical ventilation
Note: if you uncheck this option and all zones in the model are unoccupied then you will get a 'Zero floor
area error' message
Warning: Use the surface and opening output options with caution on large models as, when selected, they
will cause large amounts of data to be stored.
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Simulation Output Options
Output options
Simulation output options can be accessed at building, block, zone, surface and opening levels giving you
control of the elements in the model for which output data will be generated.
The following options are available at building level only and the same options can also be accessed from the
Simulation tab of the Model options dialog and on the Output tab of the Simulation Calculation Options dialog:
• Store opening/sub-surface output - at surface level and above in the model hierarchy, this is a
default value for openings and sub-surfaces. It much be selected for a particular opening if any data for
that opening or sub-surface is to be generated.
• Inside Surface Temperature - for surfaces and openings.
• Outside Surface Temperature - for surfaces and openings.
• Surface Heat Gain - for surfaces.
• Glazing Heat Gain - for openings.
• Solar Incident - for surfaces and openings.
• Solar Transmitted - for window openings.
• External Sunlit Fraction - for surfaces and openings.
• Internal Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient - for surfaces and openings.
• External Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient - for surfaces and openings.
• Airflow - data is available at both surface and opening level. At surface level the data includes only
infiltration through the opaque part of the parent surface and does any flow through the openings
contained on the surface. At opening level the flow includes both natural ventilation through the main
opening and also infiltration through gaps. Window infiltration is defined by the selected crack template.
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Positive flow is flow into the zone and negative airflow is flow out. This is true for both red and blue
Airflow data.
Warning: Use these surface and opening options with caution on large models as, when selected, they will
cause large amounts of data to be generated and stored. Select only the data you need for the building
elements of interest.
Daylighting Outputs
Working plane height
Enter the working plane height above the top of the floor (in m or ft). This can be entered at building, block or
zone level and is used by DesignBuilder at zone level. It allows you to enter different working plane heights for
different zones.
Note: The same attribute can be accessed on the Daylighting calculation options dialog but for building
level only .
CFD
CFD tab of model options
This tab allows you set various types of boundary condition for CFD calculations.
If you have previously loaded simulation results as boundary conditions using the CFD Boundary Conditions
Edit dialog then this data will be displayed at surface and opening levels.
Note: Data specified on this tab does not affect EnergyPlus simulations.
This setting provides a default inside surface temperature for internal surfaces (partitions, internal floors and
ceilings) as well as all internal openings. It can be set for all levels in the model hierarchy from building level
down.
This value is also used for virtual partitions to represent the average temperature of the surfaces in the
adjacent room.
Note: Zero thickness internal partitions separating two zones in a block or building level CFD simulation
are ignored, and in this case the domain will be seen as a single contiguous space. This boundary condition
setting therefore has no effect on the simulation in this case.
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CFD Boundary Conditions Editor
This setting provides a default inside surface temperature for all external opaque surfaces and openings,
including walls, roofs, external floors etc as well as external doors and sub-surfaces. It can be set for all levels
in the model hierarchy from building level down.
It does not include external windows though, which are included in the item below.
This setting defines the inside surface temperature for external windows. It can be set for all levels in the
model hierarchy from building level down.
The average zone temperatures are stored at zone level. These aren't used yet in CFD calculations yet but
will be used in checks in a future version to ensure equal convective heat gains are considered in the CFD
and EnergyPlus simulations.
Temperature of air entering the space through windows, vents, doors and holes.
Boundary temperature
Applies to: Supply diffusers
See also:
• Check and set the airflow rate through each supply and extract boundary condition and also through
each window, vent, door and hole in the selected domain.
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• Check that total flow in balances with total flow out (a key requirement for the CFD calculations). If
flows do not balance there are options to automatically apply a correction flow to one of the existing
openings to ensure balance.
• Check and set the temperatures of each boundary condition where temperature is defined (surfaces,
supply flow, windows, temperature boundary conditions).
• Import surface and opening boundary conditions for a specific time/date from a previous EnergyPlus
simulation.
Group
The Group options allows you to group boundary condition data by one of:
• 1-None - each boundary condition is displayed in a simple list without any grouping.
• 2-Boundary types - boundary conditions are displayed groups according to type (extract, supply,
temperature, window etc). See screenshot above.
• 3-Zones and surfaces - the boundary conditions are grouped by zone and then by surface.
Under some circumstances the display can be erratic when using the 2-Boundary type grouping and in this
case you may find it better to use one of the other grouping options.
You can edit the flow in and flow out airflow rates and temperatures as appropriate on the dialog and the
changes are only saved to the model when you press the OK button. No changes are made if you press
Cancel.
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CFD Boundary Conditions Editor
If flows do not already balance this will be indicated in red on the Info panel to the right and you can select
one of the openings in the dialog and click on the Correct balance using selected opening link. A flow is
added or subtracted as appropriate to get flows to balance.
Temperature
You can edit the temperature for all temperature-related boundary conditions. There are 2 temperature
columns, one for surface temperatures and the other for air temperature. The air temperature column is only
relevant for openings and supply diffusers and is the temperature of the air entering the space. Openings such
as windows, vents and doors can have different surface and air temperatures defined. If the airflow rate
through the opening is zero then you will not be able to edit the data in the air temperature column.
• Surface inside temperatures of walls, floors, roofs, partitions, ceilings, windows, doors and sub-
surfaces.
• Flow in and flow out of windows, vents, doors and holes (only when using the Calculated natural
ventilation model option).
To import simulation data click on the Import button in the Boundary Conditions Editor (above).
Import Dialog
The Import data dialog allows you to select boundary conditions for a particular snapshot in time from the
simulation results.
Interval
You can read CFD boundary conditions from either sub-hourly or hourly results. Select from:
• 1-Sub-hourly where boundary condition data is loaded from sub-hourly EnergyPlus results.
• 2-Hourly where boundary condition data is loaded from sub-hourly EnergyPlus results.
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Press OK to import the results to the CFD Boundary Conditions Editor.
When the Interval is set to 1-Sub-hourly the times listed in the drop list will be in the format Hour:Minutes
based on the currently set Number of timesteps per hour. When the Interval is set to 2-Hourly the time is
simply the hour.
Note: all available opening airflow and inside surface temperature results from the most recent
EnergyPlus simulation will be imported. That is the imported results are not restricted to the current CFD
domain or zone (if this is a subset of the whole building).
The simulation data that can be used as boundary conditions in CFD calculations are:
To obtain access to the above data the simulation must generate inside surface temperatures and any natural
ventilation airflow rates to be included in the CFD calculations. Before starting you should decide on the extent
of the CFD domain and the time period you wish to analyse. Then only generate simulation data for these
areas and time periods.Otherwise, for large models you might generate an impractical amount of data and
overload the software.
The steps required to generate boundary condition data from simulation are:
1. If the CFD simulation is to use natural ventilation airflows through windows calculated by EnergyPlus
then you must use the Calculated natural ventilation model option. Scheduled natural ventilation does
not calculate airflows through individual windows.
2. Because CFD calculations do not use infiltration flows you may want to switch off Infiltration treatment
on the Constructions model data tab. This will help ensure that the flow balance with little or no need for
extra correction flows to be introduced on the CFD Boundary Conditions dialog. It also speeds up
simulations by reducing the complexity of the Airflow network in EnergyPlus.
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Infiltration In CFD
3. Switch off the Lump similar windows on surface model option to ensure that all windows are modelled
individually.
4. Prepare the simulation model data and carry out test simulations to check that the model is behaving
as expected during the period of interest (e.g. summer design conditions). Look at hourly results.
5. Navigate to the level in the model covering the CFD domain. If you are modelling a single zone in the
CFD simulation, then navigate to that zone, if you are modelling a block then go that block or if you are
modelling the whole building then go to building level. Then on the Options model data tab select the
following output options:
• Store opening output - ensure that data for windows, vents, doors, holes and sub-surfaces is
included in the output.
• Inside Surface Temperature - to store inside surface temperatures for all surfaces and
openings in the domain.
• Airflow in - to record the flow in through windows, vents, doors and hole (natural ventilation
calculations only).
• Airflow out - to record the flow out through windows, vents, doors and hole (natural ventilation
calculations only).
6. Once the model is prepared, click on the Simulation tab and request hourly or sub-hourly results and
run the simulation.
7. Check the simulation results by examining hourly results before feeding them into the CFD calculations.
Check that airflow through windows is in the expected direction based on wind direction and expected
wind pressures etc.
8. Start the CFD Boundary Conditions Editor and follow instructions for importing the simulation hourly or
sub-hourly results
9. Add any assemblies or component blocks with any further boundary conditions needed to represent
heat, temperature and flow boundaries imposed by HVAC, lighting and other equipment and
occupants.
10. Make sure you have the same total convective heat from your internal gains in the CFD model as you
had in the EnergyPlus simulation.
11. Check that CFD results correspond with the boundary conditions provided by the simulation.
Note: It is not currently possible to set flow boundary conditions on internal openings. So although
EnergyPlus calculates flow rates through interior openings, DesignBuilder CFD will ignore these flows
and re-calculate them using a more detailed method taking into account distributed air velocities and
pressures.This means that the flows through internal openings calculated by the CFD won't match
exactly with the flows calculated by the EnergyPlus Airflow network. EnergyPlus flow rates through
exterior openings are always respected by DesignBuilder CFD when used as boundary conditions.
Note: Infiltration airflow is not modelled in CFD and if you are looking at summer time natural
ventilation you may wish to switch Infiltration off in simulations. Winter time simulation may need
infiltration included if it is significant.
Infiltration In CFD
DesignBuilder CFD doesn't include the concept of infiltration as cracks cannot be graphically defined and
there can be no porous airflow through CFD surfaces as there can in EnergyPlus. Because airflow through
cracks in simulations using Calculated natural ventilation can be significant, importing EnergyPlus opening
airflows from simulations that include crack leakage can sometimes cause flow balance problems, especially
in zones with only a single opening. It is therefore usually advisable to exclude the effects of infiltration from
simulations that are to be used for setting boundary conditions for CFD. A warning message to this effect is
given if you attempt to import simulation data generated using Calculated natural ventilation and infiltration.
Another reason for excluding infiltration from simulations to be used for setting up CFD boundary conditions is
that the flow is likely to balance much more easily without the need to add large balancing flows to one or
more openings.
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Assembly Library
DesignBuilder is provided with an assembly library which contains a small database of typical components
that may be useful in defining a CFD model. Some assemblies in the library include thermal gains while others
simply provide an obstruction to airflow.
Note: The boundary conditions selected here will act as default settings at assembly block level and will
not override any hard-set attributes made within the constituent component blocks themselves.
1. Select the component blocks and/or CFD fans to be included in the assembly at block or building level.
It does not matter which of these levels the blocks are originally created at. It will be possible to import
the resultant assembly at building or block level regardless of where it was created.
2. Click on the Add assembly to library toolbar command.
3. In the Drawing options panel enter a unique name for the assembly and the default assembly boundary
conditions.
4. Select the Assembly creation mode.
5. Move the mouse to highlight the plane of the assembly to be used as the attachment plane and click.
The attachment plane will be used later when placing the assembly.
6. Click again to add the assembly to the library.
• 1-Replace with assembly instance - the selected component blocks will be replaced by the new
assembly.
• 2-Leave component blocks - the selected component blocks are left unaffected by the creation of the
new assembly.
• 3-Delete - the selected component blocks are deleted once the new assembly has been created.
Export/Import
The assembly library data can be exported for use in other projects using the File > Export > Export
assembly library menu command.
The exported assembly library .asl file can be loaded into other projects using the File > Import > Import
assembly library menu command.
Detailed Equipment
Equipment tab in model data (zone level only)
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Edit Detailed Equipment
Warning: This option is intended for modelling existing buildings where individual items of equipment have
been recorded as part of a detailed survey and is not intended for general design or assessment simulation
work.
When the Gains model option is set to Detailed you can enter data on individual items of equipment in each
zone.
Note: For other modelling applications you should use the Early gains model option because data can be
set at the building level and/or loaded from template with much less effort.
You can define the category of internal gain (below), the number of items of equipment, the rated power per
item of equipment as well as the operational schedule.
The Radiant fraction is the fraction of heat emitted by the device as long-wave radiation. The rest of the heat
is considered to be convective i.e. it is modelled as heating up the zone air directly.
The Latent fraction is the fraction of the rated power which is converted to latent energy and affects the
moisture balance in the zone instead of the sensible heat balance.
A number of categories of gains are available. These are listed below together with the output data with
which they are associated:
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• Computers - Computer + equipment
• Computer accessories - Computer + equipment
• Telecoms - Computer + equipment
• Lifts - Miscellaneous
• Catering - Catering
• Small power - Miscellaneous
• Heating - Miscellaneous
• Cooling - Miscellaneous
• Pumps - Miscellaneous
• Fans - Miscellaneous
• DHW - Miscellaneous.
• Process - Miscellaneous
• External lighting - Task lighting
• Other external - Miscellaneous
• Miscellaneous - Miscellaneous
Note that all of the above gains are modelled as scheduled gains in the zone and the data is reported as
such in the program output. So for example categorising an item of equipment as DHW does not affect in any
way DHW modelling as defined on the HVAC tab. Likewise data for Heating, Cooling, Pumps and Fans is
simply modelled as a scheduled gain in the zone, completely unconnected with HVAC modelling.
Cost Data
This page gives an overview of the various sources of data used in a building construction cost summary
calculation.
The capital cost of constructing the building is defined in a number of places in the model:
2. Building cost summary data on the Building Cost Summary dialog (accessed from Tools menu).
This data together with the building geometry allows the construction cost (aka capital expenditure or Capex)
of the building to be calculated.
A report of the cost can be viewed on the Cost and Carbon screen.
Tip: The Capex totals can also be used as objective or constraints within optimisation or parametric
studies.
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Building Cost Summary Data
Opaque wall, roof, floor and partition fabric costs are calculated using the model geometry, and construction
selected for each surface The cost of each surface is calculated from its area and the type of construction
used. For an external wall the cost for a surface is calculated from its surface area (minus the area of any
windows and other openings) and the cost of the construction per area. The cost of the construction per area
is calculated in the way defined on the Cost tab for the construction.
Note: If a construction has more below ground surface area than above ground surface area, then this
construction is defined as a below ground construction.
Glazing costs are calculated using the model geometry, the window areas and the glazing selected for each
window. The cost of each window is calculated from its area and the type of glazing used. The cost of the
glazing per area is defined on the Cost tab for the glazing component.
Note: For costing purposes the Roof/wall transition angle is assumed to be a fixed 70°, which mean if the
slope is greater than 70°, then it is defined as a window, otherwise it is defined as a skylight.
Sub-structure costs are calculated as the sum of the Sub-structure settings on the Constructions tab and the
construction costs of below-grade surfaces.
The dialog includes controls to allow you to select the cost calculation method. When either the NRM1 or
UNIFORMAT II formats are selected, additional summary cost data for building can be entered to support the
calculation.
Tip: The Cost data help topic provides an overview of the places in DesignBuilder where costs are entered.
Cost model
Select the model to use from:
Calculation method
HVAC calculation method options are:
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• 1-Cost per area where the cost of the HVAC system is defined per floor area where typical only data is
available.
• 2-Cost per capacity where the cost of the HVAC system is defined per heating and/or cooling capacity
of the zone HVAC system. This is normally a more realistic method given the right cost data. It requires
the heating and cooling design calculations to have been previously carried out before cost reports can
be provided . In the case of optimisation studies HVAC heating and cooling capacities are determined
from the main simulation design sizing outputs.
UNIFORMAT II
UNIFORMAT II is one of the most widely used element-based classification standards in North America.
Developed through an industry and government consensus, the standard is intended to reduce the effort in
construction planning, scheduling and cost estimation in early design phases. Using it helps to ensure
consistency in the economic evaluation of building projects over time and from project to project. It also
enhances project management and reporting at all stages of the building life cycle—planning, programming,
design, construction, operations, and disposal.
Elements are classified in three hierarchical levels of definition. Level 1 identifies seven Major Group
Elements, such as the Substructure, Shell, and Interiors. Level 2 further subdivides Level 1 into Group
Elements. The Shell, for example, includes the Superstructure, Exterior Closure, and Roofing. Level 3 breaks
the Group Elements further into Individual Elements. Exterior enclosure, for example, includes Exterior Walls,
Windows, and Exterior Doors.
Note: While DesignBuilder requires most of its data to be input using Level 2 elements, it reports costs
using both Level 1 and 2 formats.
Building and sitework elemental costs are presented with cost analysis parameters providing an efficient tool
for communicating economic information to decision makers in a quickly understood, concise format that helps
them make project choices. Owners, developers, programmers, cost planners, project managers, schedulers,
architects and engineers, operating and maintenance staff, manufacturers, specification writers, and
educators use the classification.
A major benefit of performing an economic analysis based on an elemental framework rather than on a
product-based classification is the reduction in time and costs for evaluating alternatives at the early design
stage. This encourages more economic analyses and more economically efficient choices among buildings
and building elements. Other UNIFORMAT II benefits include providing a standardized format for collecting
and analyzing historical data for use in estimating and budgeting future projects; providing a checklist for the
cost estimation process as well as the creativity phase of the value engineering job plan; providing a basis for
training in cost estimation; facilitating communications among members of a project team regarding the scope
of work and costs in each discipline; and establishing a database for automated cost estimating.
The data that is not already included in the model should be entered on the UNIFORMAT II tab of this dialog.
Much of the data is structured as a cost per area or per each followed by the area or the number of items in
that category.
A Substructure
The substructure costs are defined in the model through use of zone cost per floor area data (A10) and the
constructions themselves within the below grade constructions (A20):
• A10 Foundation: includes standard foundation, special foundations and slab on grade. The area used
in the calculation is the ground floor area.
• A20 Basement construction: includes basement excavation and basement walls.
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Building Cost Summary Data
B Shell
The cost of the superstructure is defined within the model through the area of the various exterior surfaces
making up the superstructure and the cost per area of their constituent opaque and glazed constructions.
C Interiors
The cost of interior construction (C10) is defined within the model through the area of the various surfaces
making up the interior construction and the cost per area of their constituent opaque and glazed constructions.
D Services
Note that HVAC costs (D30) are included in the model.
D10 Conveying: includes elevators, lifts, escalators, moving walks and other conveying systems
D20 Plumbing: includes plumbing fixtures, domestic water distribution, sanitary waste, rain water drainage,
and other plumbing systems
D30 HVAC: includes energy supply, heat generating systems, cooling generating systems, distribution
systems, terminal & package units, controls and instrumentation, systems testing & balancing and other
HVAC systems and equipment. This data is included zone by zone in the model on the HVAC tab and so does
not need to be entered again here.
D40 Fire protection: includes sprinklers, standpipes, fire protection specialities and other fire protection
systems.
D50 Electrical: includes electrical service & distribution, lighting & branch wiring, communication & security
and other electrical systems.
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G40 site electrical utilities: includes electrical distribution, site lighting, site communications & security and
other site electrical utilities
G50 Other site construction: includes service and pedestrian tunnels and other site systems.
NRM1
Published by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) , NRM1 provides guidance on the
quantification of building works for the purpose of preparing cost estimates and cost plans. It is described by
RICS as the cornerstone of good cost management of construction projects, enabling more effective and
accurate cost advice to be given to clients and other project team members, as well as facilitating better cost
control. It helps by providing a standard format and sequence for priced works for the purpose of providing
best practice guidance on the preparation of order of cost estimates, elemental cost models, cost plans, cost
analyses and benchmark analyses.
The latest version of this standard can be downloaded from the RICS website.
The data that is not already included in the model should be entered on the NRM1 tab of this dialog. Much of
the data is structured as a cost per area or per each followed by the area or the number of items in that
category.
Facilitating Works
• Toxic / hazardous / contaminated material treatment: Includes toxic or hazardous material removal,
contaminated land and eradication of plat growth
• Major demolition works: Includes demolition works and soft strip works, temporary support to
adjacent structures
• Specialist groundwork’s: Includes site dewatering and pumping, soil stabilisation measures and
ground gas venting measures
• Temporary diversion works
• Extraordinary site investigation works: Includes archaeological investigation, reptile / wildlife
mitigation measures and other extraordinary site investigation works.
Substructure
The substructure costs are defined in the model through use of zone cost per floor area data and the
constructions themselves within the below grade constructions.
Superstructure
The cost of the superstructure is defined within the model through the area of the various exterior surfaces
making up the superstructure and the cost per area of their constituent opaque and glazed constructions. The
exception is the stairs and ramps cost which is entered on this dialog.
• Frame: Includes steel frames, space frame / decks, concrete casings to steel frames, concrete frames,
timber frames or specialist frames
• Upper floors: Includes floors, balconies and drainage to balconies.
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Building Cost Summary Data
• Roof: Includes roof structure, roof coverings, specialist roof systems, roof drainage, rooflights, skylights
and openings.
• Stairs and ramps: Includes stair/ramp structures, stair/ramp finishes and stair/ramp balustrades and
handrails.
• External walls: Includes external enclosing walls above ground level, external enclosing walls below
ground level, solar/rain screening, external soffits, subsidiary walls, balustrades, proprietary balconies
and facade access/cleaning systems
• Windows and external doors: Includes external windows and external doors.
• Internal walls and partitions: Includes internal walls, partitions, balustrades and handrails, moveable
room dividers and cubicles
• Internal doors
Internal Finishes
Internal finishes data is entered for each surface using inheriting defaults on the Constructions tab.
• Wall finishes
• Floor finishes: includes finishes to floors and raised access floors
• Ceiling finishes: includes finishes to ceilings, false ceilings and demountable suspended ceilings (be
careful not to double count this in the construction costs).
Services
• Sanitary installation: includes sanitary appliances, sanitary ancillaries
• Service equipment
• Disposal installations: includes foul drainage above ground, chemical, toxic and industrial liquid
waste drainage and refuse disposal
• Water installations: includes main water supply, cold and hot water distribution, local hot water
distribution and steam and condensate distribution
• Heat source
• Space heating, air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC): includes central heating, local heating,
central cooling, local cooling, central and local air conditioning, central and local ventilation, special
ventilation and smoke extract or control.
• Electrical installations: includes electrical mains and sub-mains distribution, power installations,
lighting installations, specialist lighting installations, local electricity generation systems and earthing
and bonding systems
• Fuel installations: includes fuel storage and fuel distribution systems
• Life and conveyor installations: includes lifts and enclosed hoists, escalators, moving pavements,
powered stairlifts, conveyors, doc levellers and scissor lifts, cranes and unenclosed hoists, carlifts, car
stacking systems, tumtables and the like, document handling systems and life and conveyor systems.
• Fire and lightning protection: includes fire fighting systems, fire suppression systems and lightning
protection
• Communication, security and control systems: includes communication systems, security systems
and central control/building management systems
• Specialist installations: includes specialist piped supply installations, specialist refrigeration systems,
specialist mechanical installations and specialist electrical/electronic installations.
• Builder’s work in connection with service
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Complete Buildings And Building Units
• Prefabricated buildings and building units: includes complete building, building units and pods
External Work
• Site preparation works: includes site clearance and preparatory groundworks
• Roads, paths, pavings and surfacing: includes roads, paths and pavings, special surfaces and
pavings.
• Soft landscaping, planting and irrigation systems: includes seeding and turfing, external planting
and irrigation systems
• Fencing, railings and walls: includes fencing and railings, walls and screens, retaining walls, barriers
and guardrails
• External fixtures: includes site/street furniture and equipment and ornamental features
• External drainage: includes surface water and foul water drainage, ancillary drainage systems,
external chemical, toxic, industrial liquid waste drainage and land drainage
• External services: includes water main supply, electricity mains supply, external transformation
devices, electricity distribution to external plant and equipment, gas main supply, telecommunications
and other communication systems, external security systems, external/street lighting systems,
local/district heating installations, builder’s work in connection with external services.
• Minor building works and ancillary buildings
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Model Data Management
• Other development/project costs: includes land acquisition costs, employer finance costs, fees,
charges, planning contributions, insurances, archaeological works, other specialist fieldwork, decanting
and relocation costs, tenan’s costs/contributions, marketing costs and other employer costs.
Inflation Allowance
• Tender inflation
• Construction inflation
• "Model Data Grid View" on page 537 - view and edit model data in a grid
• Load Data from Template - load predefined data sets to the model from a template
• "Save Data to Template" on page 566 - save model data to create a new template
• "Reload Templates" on page 568 - reload any "hard-selected" templates, i.e. those shown in red on the
model data user interface
• Clear Data to Default - clear data back to default values inherited from level above in model hierarchy)
• Merging Zones - control merging of zones from one dialog
• Load Whole Building Infiltration - load measured results from pressurisation tests
The Model Data Grid View tools allows the current building model data to be viewed using a grid. It is
possible to select from a range of "layouts" which define which data is to be displayed.
Viewing the building model data in a grid provides a global view of the data across the whole model and
makes comparisons between settings for different parts of the model much easier than when using the usual
model data input screen.
Management Dialog
The Model Data Grid View tools are all accessed from the main Model Data Grid View Management dialog
which is launched from the toolbar icon or from the Tools menu and is active for the current building in
the model. The Model Data Grid View tools are available at building level and below, but are not available
from site level.
The title of the dialog identifies the currently selected analysis type. The dialog presents a list of layouts which
are:
• Filtered to those that are compatible with the current model’s currently selected Analysis type.
• Grouped by the level for at which they display data e.g. Building, Zone, Surface, Opening.
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• Indicated as "System" or "User" under the Layout Type column.
• Model Data – with View / Edit / Import buttons which can be used to access the model data itself.
• Layout Management – with New / Edit / Copy / Delete buttons which can be used to manage and
modify the layouts, i.e. the definitions of which model data is to be shown.
• "Model Data Grid View - Viewing and Editing Model Data" on page 538
• "Model Data Grid View - Importing Model Data" on page 549
• "Model Data Grid View - Layout Management" on page 551
• "Model Data Grid View - Layout Editing" on page 553
Layout Selection
One or more layouts can be selected from the Layouts list on the Management dialog. When multiple layouts
are selected the sum of all attributes from each layout is used to determine which model data will be
presented.
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Model Data Grid View - Viewing And Editing Model Data
Multiple layout selection is achieved using the Ctrl key and selecting additional layouts under the same level
grouping. To select multiple layouts for viewing / editing they must be under the same level grouping, e.g.
Zone.
The only difference between view and edit modes is that in edit mode the data can be edited, while in view
mode it cannot. The section below explains how to switch between the two modes.
Below is an example of the data grid view created from selecting 2 layouts at Zone level:
The dialog title identifies the chosen layout (the first chosen layout and "…" if more than one layout was
chosen).
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Surface
A “splitter” separates the set data and model data attributes on the data grid view.
For example:
Group Level
At the “tab” level the top most grouped header will show / hide columns including parent headers and attribute
headers beneath:
At the parent grouped header level the 2nd header will show / hide columns including attribute headers
beneath:
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Model Data Grid View - Viewing And Editing Model Data
Individually
At the attribute header level the 3rd header will show / hide individual attribute columns:
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Grouping by Column
Grouping of attribute columns can be achieved by dragging the desired column into the grouping row:
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Model Data Grid View - Viewing And Editing Model Data
Filtering
Rows in the data grid can be filtered. By hovering the mouse pointer at the right-hand side of the attribute
column caption a drop down arrow will appear and clicking this will display the filter control:
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More than one filter can be created on different columns and can be cleared individually or all at once by
clicking the Clear Filters button.
Searching
At the top of the data grid is a search box. Any text entered here and matched in the data grid will be
highlighted yellow. Search matches can be navigated via the search up and down arrows. The "x" symbol
closes the search box (cancelling the search), which can be re-opened by entering Ctrl+F on the keyboard.
Exporting data
The visible data grid view may be exported to a comma separated file (.CSV) for subsequent editing in
another program, e.g. in MS Excel. Clicking the Export button will launch a dialog to specify the file name and
choose its location.
Data in the exported CSV file can be edited in a spreadsheet tool, saved and imported back into the model.
Tip: To edit a CSV file that was exported by the Model data grid tool, simply double-click on it from
Windows Explorer. Make sure to save the file in CSV form as well if you intend to import the data back into
DesignBuilder.
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Model Data Grid View - Viewing And Editing Model Data
o The data is not relevant to view / edit e.g. activity, lighting and HVAC data for merged child
zones.
o The data is not appropriate to view / edit e.g. blocking out wall construction data for a floor or
roof surface.
o An attribute visibility rule defined in a layout fails the criteria for that rule. E.g. to provide a list of
roof windows, a rule might check that the parent surface custom attribute Surface Type has a
particular value to decide whether an opening is to be displayed.
Clicking in a selected cell will set it into editing state.
The following type of edits are available depending on the type of model data:
• Numeric / Text - Entered content will be validated against the type of model data being edited to
ensure it is appropriate i.e. whole number, decimal etc.
• List – a drop down list of valid values will be shown to make a choice from:
• Browse – a browse dialog will appear to allow selection from categorised values, with the initial select
value being defaulted to the current model data:
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Copy & Paste
A selected data cell’s content can be copied to the clipboard via Ctrl+C or a right click context menu:
Where the type of model data is appropriate to paste into a data cell the Ctrl+V or the Paste menu item will be
available to paste what is on the clipboard.
Bulk Edit
Multiple rows on the data grid can be selected by holding down the Ctrl key and left mouse clicking additional
rows for selection or by holding down the Ctrl key + Shift key and clicking rows below for contiguous selection.
When 2 or more rows are selected, the Bulk Edit” check box towards the top left of the data grid dialog can
be checked and bulk edit mode will be enabled for the selected rows with the currently editable rows
becoming highlighted in blue:
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Model Data Grid View - Viewing And Editing Model Data
Editing a data cell for one of the selected rows will change the data cell for the corresponding data cells in the
other bulk edit selected rows:
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Unchecking the Bulk Edit checkbox will return the data grid to its previous edit mode state.
Applying changes
Current changes may be applied to the model by clicking the “Apply” button. If there are changes yet to be
applied and either the dialog is closed or Edit mode is switched back to view, there will be a confirmation
dialog to determine what should happen next:
If switching from Edit mode to View mode and the “No” option is chosen the latest changes will be reverted to
what is stored in the current model.
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Model Data Grid View - Importing Model Data
Note: Applying changes is not the same as saving the file. Any changes applied to the model still require
the model file to be saved.
Choosing No will exit the import process. Choosing Yes will progress the import process to the next check.
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Choosing No will exit the import process. Choosing Yes will progress the import process. The Save button
saves the list of unresolved model objects to a text file for subsequent checking.
Choosing No will exit the import process. Choosing Yes will import the model data.
Import completion
Upon completion of the import process the data grid dialog is displayed showing what was imported:
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Model Data Grid View - Layout Management
It is possible to create your own custom layouts to allow you to set up display or edit sessions with exactly the
model data that you need for your projects.
In the above example, the layout, when selected, would allow the Window height and width to be viewed for
all openings in the model for any of the 3 main analysis types.
System layouts
System layouts are pre-defined layouts supplied with the software to cover aspects of building models
considered to be of general purpose use for viewing / editing in a data grid.
User layouts
User layouts are those created by users to allow customised views of the model.
Management of Layouts
Management of layouts is performed on the Layout management dialog using the buttons under the Manage
Layouts header.
The table below shows the actions that may or may not be performed on layout definitions:
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Copy Yes Yes
Edit No Yes
Delete No Yes
Creating a Layout
Clicking New will launch the Layout Editor to allow a new User Layout definition to be created.
Editing a Layout
Clicking Edit will launch the Layout Editor to allow a User Layout definition to be modified. System layouts
cannot be edited.
Copying a Layout
Clicking Copy will copy a selected System or User Layout . The new Layout is displayed under the
appropriate model object type in the Layouts list.
Deleting a Layout
Clicking Delete will prompt for confirmation to delete the selected User Layout. System layouts cannot be
deleted.
Exporting a Layout
When a user layout is selected, clicking Export Layout will open a standard file save dialog allowing for a
choice of location and file name to be specified for the layout:
This allows you to export layouts for subsequent import on another machine.
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Model Data Grid View - Layout Editing
Importing Layouts
Clicking Import Layout will open a standard file open dialog allowing for the selection of one or more user
layout files to be imported:
Where there is a clash in layout name with existing layouts a new name is given. For example, if a layout
named “Internal Doors” exists and a layout of the same name is imported it will be given the name “Internal
Doors (1)”.
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There are 4 areas of data to be entered on the dialog:
• Analysis types which allows you to specify which Analysis types the layout applies to.
• Level which defines the data that will be displayed and editable (typically zone, surface or opening).
• The list of Attributes that can be displayed when the layout is accessed for view/edit.
• For each attribute any special Visibility rules.
When creating a new Layout, the Analysis type is set by default to match that of the current model's Analysis
type (typically EnergyPlus, SBEM or DSM) and the Level is set to Building. The list of available attributes is
based on the Analysis type and Level selections and will change when different combinations of Analysis
types and level are selected.
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Model Data Grid View - Layout Editing
Layout Details
Name
Enter a descriptive identification for the layout. This will be displayed on the list of Layouts on the main Model
Data Grid View Management dialog.
Analysis Types
Select one or more analysis types to define which are compatible for the layout being defined. For example if
your layout should only be available for EnergyPlus models for then check that checkbox only. In this case the
Layout will appear in the Layout list on the main Model data grid view management dialog for models where
the Analysis type is set to EnergyPlus. However, if your model is located in the UK and the Analysis type for
your model is set to SBEM or DSM then this layout won't appear in the Layout list.
Level
Select the model object the layout will apply to. Options are:
• Site,
• Building,
• Block,
• Zone,
• Surface,
• Opening.
For example if you select the Zone level, the layout will display data for zones, i.e. each row in the model data
grid view will be for a zone. In this case the attributes specified for each zone are defined as described below.
Attributes
The attributes to be displayed as columns in the model data grid view are defined by making appropriate
selections in the list of attributes by checking the required attributes.
The attributes list is grouped into categories based on the model data tab in which it appears: Activity,
Construction, Lighting, Outputs, CFD etc. The tree view nodes can be expanded to reach the required
attributes which can have their respective checkboxes checked to select the attribute to be included with the
layout. See below.
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The attributes displayed in the list depends on the Analysis types and model object Level selected (see
above).
If the Layout Editor was launched for an existing Layout via the Edit button from the Layout management
group then the attributes to be displayed will have their respective check boxes checked.
Custom Attributes
To enhance the information presented on the data grid, some additional read-only attributes are included in
the list depending on the data level. If custom attributes are available for the selected level they will appear at
the bottom of the attributes list. Custom Attributes will always appear in the data grid, unless an attribute
visibility rule has been defined to hide them in certain circumstances.
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Model Data Grid View - Layout Editing
• Column visibility rules which check the value of a level attribute far enough up the hierarchy that the
evaluation is the same for all objects (rows) to be displayed in the grid. This allows a whole column to
be shown or hidden depending on the evaluation of the rule. Column visibility rules are based on
building or site attributes. An example of a column visibility rule is where the visibility of the Natural
ventilation outside air flow rate is to controlled based on the Natural ventilation model option.
Because this model option is a building level setting it applies equally to all zones (rows) in the grid and
so the column can be hidden entirely if the Calculated natural ventilation model option is set.
• Cell visibility rules are checked separately for each row and control the visibility of individual cells.
Individual cells are "hidden" by displaying a blank / grey data grid cell. An example of a cell visibility rule
is one where the Glazing type is only shown for openings where the parent surface is of External wall
surface type. Hidden cells are displayed as:
For both types of rule you may need to refer to some attribute option lists to help you define the visibility rules.
Some commonly used attribute settings are listed below under Attributes Commonly used in Visibility Rules.
Object
The Object selection determines which model object level will be used as the basis for the rule. Note that only
levels "above" the level specified in the Layout level are available. For example if the layout Level is set to
Zone then the only Object options allowed are Block, Building and Site.
Attribute
The Attribute to be used in the visibility rule can be chosen by clicking the browse button "…" to display the
Attribute Browse dialog:
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Attributes in this tree view are based on the selected model Object selected and the Analysis types as
described above.
Custom attributes (if applicable for the selected model Object) are found at the bottom of the tree view.
Comparison
The comparison operator for the rule. Currently available options are:
• = equal to
• != not equal to
• < less than
• > greater than
• <= less than or equal to
• >= greater than or equal to
Value
The value to compare the chosen attribute value against. A range of values can be specified by separating
with commas. E.g. 1,2,10. So, for example, for Model Object “Site” for attribute “Analysis Type” with a
comparison on “=” and a value = “1,2,10” the rule will be passed if the current model’s Analysis type is 1-
EnergyPlus, 2-SBem or 10-DSM.
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Model Data Grid View - Layout Editing
Types of rule
Note: Column visibility rules use Site or Building level attributes such as Analysis type (a site level
attribute) or building model options. An exception would for a layout set up to list building level data for
multiple buildings on the site in which case building attributes not would be an option and only site level
attributes could be used.
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This rules results in a grid view similar to that shown below where the rule applied only allows the Roof glazing
type to be shown for the 2 pitched roof windows:
Analysis type can be used for controlling the availability of entire layouts through use of the Analysis types
checkboxes as described above or individual attributes through the Attribute visibility rules.
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Load Data From Template
Surface type
It can be useful to show/hide opening level attributes based on the parent surface type. For example
displaying Glazing type for surfaces of type 3 (walls). See above under Cell visibility rules. The full list of
surface types used internally by DesignBuilder is as follows:
• 0-Floor
• 1-Flat roof
• 2-Pitched roof
• 3-Wall
• 4-Hole
• 8-Sloped floor
1. The Toolbar
2. The Edit menu
3. Mouse right-click in the Model data. In this case, by default any template data loaded applies only to
the selected model data attribute.
The Load data from template dialog is used to load template data into the model in a controlled way. You
can select one or more data sources from the following template libraries:
• Construction template
• Glazing template
• Facade template
• Activity template
• Lighting template
• HVAC template
• Location template
When you select one of the above templates as a source of data you must also select the template from which
to load:
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In the above case, data will be loaded from the Energy code - Mediumweight Construction template to
whichever objects are selected on the Target tab.
Target Object(s)
On the Target tab you can select the way you want to set data and, where appropriate, which model objects to
load to.
• 1-Selected object(s) - choose this option if you want to load the same data to one or more building,
block, zone or surface. Check the boxes next to the target objects to select them as targets.
• 2-Reload templates - reloads template data for the current building and all its blocks, zones, surfaces
and openings. Data is only loaded if the template selection is non-default. If the template inherits from
the hierarchical level above, data is not loaded. See also Reload Templates.
• 3-Search & replace - allows you to search the model for objects having particular template setting(s)
and replace with data from a template that you select. On the Search For tab check the checkbox
relating to the data you would like to search for and on the Replace With tab check the template(s) to
be loaded. If a data option is checked on the Replace With tab but not on the Search For tab then all
searched objects will have the replace operation carried out. For example if no items are checked on
the Search For tab and a heavyweight construction template is selected on the Replace With tab and
all objects in the model have been selected then every object in the model will have the heavyweight
construction template loaded. So the selections on the Search For tab can be thought of a filters to
restrict the template loading.
Selection tools are available from the Info panel to allow you to control the selection of building objects:
Tip: The Filter selection tool provides a convenient way to select multiple objects such as zones, surfaces
and windows which have properties in common.
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Filter Selection
When you load lighting data from template you should bear in mind that DesignBuilder sets the lighting output
from the lights based on:
a. Normalised power density (W/m2-100 lux or W/ft2-fc) using data from the Lighting template and,
b. Illuminance levels required in the zone as set on the Activity tab.
If you are using the 3-Absolute zone power Lighting gain units model option
If you have many types of activity in the building you can load lighting data for each zone taking into account
the required illuminance level in the zone by selecting the appropriate zones in the Target tab.
Filter Selection
The Filter selection dialog provides tools to allow the selection of objects on the Load data from template
dialog to be controlled. It is accessed by clicking on the Selection filter link in the Info panel of the Load data
from template dialog.
Note: Selections made using this dialog are additive to any already made. To clear any previous
selections first you should use the Select none option on the Load data from templates dialog before opening
the Filter selection dialog.
General
There are 3 general selection methods selected from the Filter by drop list:
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• 1-Zones - the filter tools will be used to select zones with particular text in their name or tag.
• 2-Surfaces - the filter tools will be used to select particular surfaces.
• 3-Openings - for selecting particular openings.
Adjacency selection
When either 2-Surfaces or 3-Openings are selected as the Filter by method you can define whether the
selection should apply to internal, external or to both internal and external objects. Select from:
Zones
When the 1-Zones selection method is used you can filter either by zone name or tag.
Selection type
The filter can be set up to either include or exclude text. Choose from:
• 1-Including text where the filter is used to select any zones whose names include the text
entered into the Filter text below.
• 2-Excluding text where filter is used to select any zones whose names do not include the text
entered into the Filter text below.
Filter text
Enter the filter text. For example if you wanted to select all zones in the model with the text "corridor" in
their zone name then set the Selection type (above) to 1-Including text and enter "corridor" here and
press OK. This can be useful as a quick way to load activity, lighting and HVAC templates to particular
zone types.
Tip: This tool is much easier to use if zones are named consistently when setting up models.
Filter by tag
If you wish to filter by the zone tag then check this checkbox.
Selection type
The filter can be set up to either include or exclude text. Choose from:
• 1-Including text where the filter is used to select any zones whose tags include the text entered
into the Filter text below.
• 2-Excluding text where filter is used to select any zones whose tags do not include the text
entered into the Filter text below.
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Filter Selection
Filter text
Enter the filter text. For example if you wanted to select all zones in the model with the text "East" in
their zone tag then set the Selection type (above) to 1-Including text and enter "East" here and press
OK. This can be useful as a quick way to load activity, lighting and HVAC templates to particular zone
types.
Surfaces
When the 2-Surfaces selection method is used you can select surfaces based on their orientation and/or
slope with an option to limit selection to zones that are already selected on the Load data from template dialog
on the Target tab.
Filter by tag
If you wish to filter by the surface tag then check this checkbox.
Selection type
The filter can be set up to either include or exclude text. Choose from:
• 1-Including text where the filter is used to select any surfaces whose tags include the text
entered into the Filter text below.
• 2-Excluding text where filter is used to select any surfaces whose tags do not include the text
entered into the Filter text below.
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Filter text
Enter the filter text. For example if you wanted to select all surfaces in the model with the text "Curved"
in their zone tag then set the Selection type (above) to 1-Including text and enter "Curved" here and
press OK. This can be useful as a quick way to load construction, glazing and/or facade templates to
particular surfaces.
Openings
When the 3-Openings selection method is used you can select openings based on their orientation, slope
and/or tag with an option to limit selection to zones that are already selected on the Load data from template
dialog on the Target tab. Settings work in the same way as for surfaces described above.
The Save data to template tool can be useful to help create a template based on current model settings. For
example, if you have set up a particular group of glazing and shading model data selections that you would
like to apply to other parts of the model, you can use this tool to create a new Glazing template using all of the
related glazing and shading settings for the current location on the current model data tab. You can then use
the Load data from template tool to apply those settings as required to other parts of the model.
This tool is available from any of the following model data tabs:
Tip: Save data to template can be thought of as the reverse of the Load data from template process in
that data is flowing from the model to a template instead of from the template to the model.
Example
To create a template to quickly apply the settings below made on the Glazing model data tab follow these
steps:
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Save Data To Template
1. When you have finished making the model data settings to be saved as a template, click on the Save
data to template toolbar icon . You could be at building, block, zone, surface or window level for
this and the settings of the current object will be saved.
2. Open the Save Data to Template dialog, see screenshot below.
3. Provide a name for the new template. Enter "SageGlass green with glare control"
4. Select the category as "Project"
5. Enter some text for the Source, e.g. "Project XYZ".
6. When you have finished press OK to close the dialog and create the template.
7. Once the template has been created, you are asked whether you would like to select the newly created
template for your current object. If you reply yes then, in this example, the new "SageGlass green with
glare control" Glazing template will be selected and the Openings model data tab will appear as shown
below.
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Reload Templates
Model Data Management
The Reload templates option provides a quick way to reload template data for the current building and all its
blocks, zones, surfaces and openings. Data is only reloaded if the template selection is non-default. If the
template inherits from the hierarchical level above, data is not loaded. This ensures that any model data that
was manually overriden reverts back to template settings. After running this command you should not see any
model data shown in red bold.
The command opens the Load data from template dialog with the option 2-Reload templates selected and all
model data tabs selected for updating. You can modify these settings, for example if you only wish to reload
data on certain model data tabs.
Tip: This option can be run after changing template data to ensure that the latest template settings are
loaded to the model.
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Merging Zones
'Clearing to default' removes any 'user data' (shown in red) from the current object and instead default data is
passed from the 'parent' object in the hierarchy (Model Data shown in blue).
You can control the extent of the 'clearance' by setting the Clear Down to data at the bottom. Leave this data
as Surface level if you want all data in the currently selected model object (including child objects) to be
returned to a default state.
Note: The Clear data to default command does not apply to CFD boundary object attributes such as
window Flow in and Flow out, Supply diffuser Flow rate attribute and all other attributes associated with CFD
boundary objects.
Merging Zones
Merging zones is the process whereby zones that are identified as being separate in the model can be
merged together with other zones in simulations. This can help to simplify models and speed subsequent
calculations.
The Merge Zones dialog can be accessed from the Tools menu when on the Edit screen. It provides
convenient access to the 3 ways of merging zones in DesignBuilder:
These zone merging mechanisms are described below. They can also be accessed from the Model options
dialog, though this does not provide the controls for selective merging that are available from the Merge Zones
dialog.
Tip: Selective zone merging is generally the preferred way to merge zones as it gives a greater degree of
control over which zone is used as the parent.
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Merge zones of same activity
This option is a quick and easy way to reduce the number of zones, by merging all zones having the same
activity template selection. It should be used with care as it could lead to a very crude zone merging with
many zones lumped together.
Where holes have been cut in a floor surface to remove it so upper and lower zones can be merged, any
small remaining border in the cut floor surface should ideally be removed from the floor area calculation for the
combined zone. To do this, you should navigate to the floor surface and tick the option to Exclude this surface
area from the total zone floor area in the Adjacency section of the Construction tab.
Note: when merging 2 or more stacked zones using holes in the floor and the Merge zones connected
by holes option, you should be aware that the combined floor area used to calculate internal gains in the
simulations will exclude the area of any holes in the floor. In this case, if you require gains to be calculated
using the total upper and lower floor area you should either ensure that the area of the hole is very small or
else use the selective zone merging option instead and avoid using holes.
Once the merge has been applied, the parent zone will control the activity, lighting, HVAC and all other zone-
based selections for the entire zone group. Constructions and glazing can still be applied to the child zones
though.
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Merging Zones
Merging Zones
With a zone selected in the left hand pane it is now possible to select zones in the right hand pane to become
members of the zone group. Zones to be merged cannot already be merged members of an existing group,
however the parent of an existing group can be merged. Selecting a valid zone to be merged will enable the
Merge button located between the two panes of the dialog. Clicking on this button carries out the merge and
the newly merged zone will be shown on the tree in the left hand pane. If the parent of an existing zone group
is selected and merged then the parent and all of its children become members of the merged zone group.
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Unmerging Zones
A single child zone can be removed from a zone group by selecting it in the left hand pane, then using the
Unmerge button located beneath the pane. Selecting the parent of a zone group then using the Unmerge
button will remove all the child zones from the group but will not remove the parent itself If a parent zone
having no children is selected, the text of the unmerge button changes to Remove Parent, and the parent
zone can be removed from the tree in the left hand pane. Updating DesignBuilder Any changes made to zone
merging settings are only applied when the dialog is closed using the OK button. Closing the dialog with the
Cancel button discards any changes.
The above screenshot of the Navigation list shows the First floor zone, Second floor zone and Roof zones all
merged into the Atrium zone.
The parent zone is the zone that is used for defining Activity, HVAC, Lighting (and all other zone related data)
for itself and all it's child zones. You cannot access this zone-related Model data for merged child zones. You
must go to the parent zone to edit the Model data for the combined zone. The internal gains are calculated
based on the data set on the Activity tab for the parent zone but using the combined total floor area of all of
the merged zones.
Constructions, glazing and other surface level data can be defined separately in each of the parent and child
zones in the normal way.
Tip: See also Zone multiplier for a manual way to reduce models having similar zones and Boolean
operations for how to combine blocks geometrically.
• Speed up simulations.
• A geometrically complex space in the actual building is to be modelled using more than one block in
DesignBuilder (e.g. dormer windows, atria).
• To reduce the number of zones and simplify HVAC system descriptions when exporting EnergyPlus
IDF data for use outside DesignBuilder.
• If you have created a tall merged zone, you may want to use the Air distribution model data on the
HVAC tab to create a dynamic vertical temperature gradient. This approach to modelling tall spaces is
preferred over connecting a number of horizontal slices with air flow openings, because it does not rely
on getting correct airflow conductances between the horizontal slices.
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Merging Zones
When generating data for the calculations, surfaces between zones are defined twice, once from each side.
Surfaces between 2 zones that have been merged are called Surfaces within zone. By default these are
modelled in the same way as standard surfaces but with both sides adjacent to the same zone. If the
Surfaces within zone treated as adiabatic option is set, the 'other side' in each of the 2 surfaces is modelled
as adiabatic.
Disadvantages of merging
If done without consideration of the issues, merging zones can reduce cooling load peaks resulting in an
underestimate of cooling equipment sizes required to condition the building (and associated energy
consumption in a simulation). To understand this, consider a building in the Northern hemisphere with two
zones, a North zone and a South zone connected to each other along the E-W axis. When solar gains are
highest, the South zone may experience a cooling load and the North Zone not. Now imagine the same 2
spaces merged into a single zone. The combined single zone will now almost certainly have a lower cooling
load than the load in the original South zone because the air and surfaces on the South side of the merged
space is cooled by the shaded North side.
As simple guide, where the temperatures, internal/solar gains, ventilation, HVAC system and other operational
parameters in the actual separate zones are about the same as each other then the merging process should
not affect simulation accuracy unduly, however, when merging zones which have different conditions and/or
load profiles, the merging will reduce accuracy.
In most cases, merging zones will speed up simulations but occasionally simulations can slow down,
especially at the initialisation stage. This may be because any very large zones generated through merging
can have many windows which can slow down solar and daylighting initialisation.
Merging rules
1. When merging zones using the Merge zones of same activity or Merge zones connected by holes,
zones connected by the merge option are lumped together into a single 'parent' zone. In a vertical stack
of zones the parent will be the lowest zone in the stack.
2. The zone surfaces in merged child zones are generated in exactly the same way as they would have
been without the merging but are associated with the parent zone rather than the original child zone.
3. In child merged zones, you can access Constructions and Openings surface-based Model data but not
space related data such as Activity, Lighting, HVAC. This is accessed from the parent zone only.
Note: For buildings with any zone merging set, heating and cooling design and simulation results are not
shown at block level.
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Merging buildings
You can also 'merge' 2 existing buildings (including component blocks) using the Transfer blocks command
from the Edit menu.
The infiltration flow rates are calculated from the entered whole building value using equations described in
EN 12831 including consideration of the exposed area of surfaces in each zone, building height, wind
exposure index and the infiltration units selected in model options.
Correct Data
When typing a numeric value into a model data text box, if the value is out of range, i.e. it is lower than the
minimum value or greater than the maximum value allowed, then the Correct Data dialog is displayed. The
dialog provide information on the limits as well as ways to fix the error by clearing the value to default or by
reloading from the associated template.
Reload
If the data can be loaded from a template then pressing the Reload button will reload the data from template
to the dialog. If you agree with the change then press the OK button to complete the correction.
Clear
Press the Clear button to clear the value to default and close the dialog. The Clear button is only enabled
when there is a default value to use so for example it is not available when working at building level which is at
the top of the model data hierarchy.
Help
Loads this page.
OK
Press the OK button to apply the value in the dialog text box to model data.
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Naming Model Objects
Building name
The building name can be edited in the Navigator by clicking on the existing building name to select it and
then clicking again to enter edit mode, in the same way that you would rename a file in Windows Explorer.
See screenshot below.
The building name is used as a description alongside the filename on Simulation Manager lists.
Block name
The block name can be edited in the navigator by clicking on the existing block name to select it and then
clicking again to enter edit mode, in the same way that you would rename a file in Windows Explorer. The
block name is used as part of IDF zone names and described below under EnergyPlus IDF names.
Zone name
The zone name can be edited in the navigator by clicking on the existing zone name to select it and then
clicking again to enter edit mode, in the same way that you would rename a file in Windows Explorer. The
zone name is used as part of IDF zone names and described below under EnergyPlus IDF names.
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Note: The zone name must be unique within the Block to allow IDF names to be generated without extra
characters being added by DesignBuilder to ensure uniqueness.
Tip: If you need to rename a lot of zones you can switch on the Double-click in Navigator to edit model data
program option to speed up the process. This can be useful for identifying blocks, zones, surfaces by single-
clicking in the Navigator and saves time when renaming many zones at once from block level as it becomes
possible to click on the zone Navigator entries to rename them without navigating down to each zone and
then having to navigate back up again to block level to rename the next zone.
Surface name
Surfaces are given names automatically by DesignBuilder and these names cannot be changed by users.
Openings name
Openings are given names automatically by DesignBuilder and these names cannot be changed by users.
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Naming Model Objects
HVAC components
For Detailed HVAC systems, sub-loop components such as boilers, chillers, pumps, heat exchangers etc have
editable names. On the other hand, sub-components such as AHU heating coils, water heater heating
elements and all zone components and sub-components have hard-set, non-editable names derived from
their parent components.
Zone names
Any characters in user-defined names not supported by EnergyPlus need to be replaced with characters that
are allowed before being used as zone IDF object names. So if you work with intermediate EnergyPlus input
or output files and need to be able to easily read IDF object names, or if you write your own EMS scripts, or if
you use the Results Viewer, you should aim to ensure that the block and zone names you enter are such that
the none of the steps below cause characters to be removed or replaced.
In summary, zone IDF names are created by adding the parent block name to the zone name itself, separated
by the ":" character. For example, "Zone 5" in "Block 1" would be given an IDF zone name of
"BLOCK1:ZONE5". The details of the block and zone name process are as described below.
1. The only characters allowed in DesignBuilder-generated IDF zone names are: 0-9, a-z, A-Z. All non-
standard characters are replaced by the nearest English equivalent. E.g. "é" would be replaced by "e".
2. Space characters are removed.
3. If no corresponding English equivalent exists then the character is replaced by "X". E.g. "-" would be
replaced by "X".
4. Words are capitalised.
5. If the name is greater than 20 characters, all vowels are removed.
6. If the name is still greater than 20 characters, the name is arbitrarily truncated to 20 characters.
7. The block and zones names processed as described above are added together to form a full IDF zone
name as block name followed by ":" followed by zone name.
8. The full IDF name is checked for uniqueness and if not unique, an index number is added preceded by
the "Q" character. For example if Zone 1 is defined twice in Block 1 then the second zone would be
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named "BLOCK1:ZONE1Q1" to ensure a difference from the first which would be named
"BLOCK1:ZONE1".
Note: Steps 1-6 are applied to both zone and block names individually.
Detailed HVAC
This section describes the graphical interface provided by DesignBuilder for the assembly of component
based HVAC systems which may be combined with building models for energy simulation using EnergyPlus.
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Detailed HVAC
Overview
HVAC system models in DesignBuilder are assembled by placing a number of pre-defined air and water
distribution loops together with groups of zones which are then connected to form complete systems.
The air and water loops incorporate a number of HVAC components connected together by pipes or ducts to
form distribution systems. These loops can be modified to incorporate any additionally required components
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and then connected to associated components in other loops or to heating, cooling and ventilation equipment
located in zones to form complete systems.
Zones are placed in the form of zone groups which enable a number of zones having the same HVAC
equipment to be grouped together. Each zone in the group can different equipment ratings. The zone group
mechanism greatly simplifies the HVAC schematic assembly in that only one set of equipment and
connections needs to be defined for the group while maintaining the flexibility of changing equipment
properties for individual zones within the group.
The pre-defined loops incorporate setpoint managers which enable the loop to run without any additional
control. However, additional setpoint managers can be added to the various loops to customise the control of
the system.
Data associated with all loops, zones and associated components can be edited via dialogs for specific
system requirements.
After placing loops, zone groups and setpoint managers and completing the required loop connections to
associated equipment, an EnergyPlus simulation can be conducted for the combined building and HVAC
system model.
Click on this <HVAC System> node to access the HVAC edit screen.
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HVAC Loops
• The word "supply air" refers to the air being supplied to the zone. So for example the "supply air flow
rate" is the rate of air delivered to the zone. It is not necessarily the fresh air delivery rate (though if
there is no recirculation then it will be).
HVAC Loops
An HVAC loop is used to model air and water distribution systems such as mechanical ventilation systems,
hot and chilled water piped distribution systems and condenser water distribution systems. A loop is divided
into two sub-loops, a demand sub-loop and a supply sub-loop.
At its simplest, a sub-loop comprises an inlet connection (pipe or duct) which is connected in series via a
number of components to an outlet connection. The inlet connection of each loop sub-loop connects with the
outlet connection of the other loop sub-loop:
The demand sub-loop is typically that section of a loop from which energy is extracted from a system and the
supply sub-loop is that section of a loop to which energy is supplied by the system.
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Consequently, supply sub-loops incorporate equipment such as boilers in the case of heating systems or
chillers in the case of cooling systems, the supply sub-loop of an air system incorporates items such as
heating and cooling coils. The supply sub-loop also contains circulating equipment such as pumps and fans.
Similarly, the demand sub-loop of a heating system includes items such as air conditioning heating coils or
zone equipment such as hot water radiators, fan-coil unit heating coils, under-floor heating, etc. and similarly a
chilled water demand sub-loop contains equipment such as air condition cooling coils, zone cooled beams,
chilled ceilings, etc. The sub-loop of an air loop typically incorporates zone air distribution equipment such as
VAV boxes, etc.
Plant and condenser sub-loops incorporate a flow splitter and a flow mixer which allow a number of parallel
branches to be defined. Each parallel branch would normally comprise an inlet connection from the splitter, a
component and an outlet connection to the mixer. A by-pass parallel branch (without a component) is also
included to ensure flow continuity.
The supply sub-loops for single duct air loops on the other hand generally comprise a single branch which
incorporates an inlet connection connected to various components in series including an outdoor air mixer,
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HVAC Loops
fans, cooling coils, heating coils, etc. which are in turn connected to an outlet connection. Air loop supply sub-
loops do not contain flow splitters or mixers. Demand sub-loops for single duct air loops incorporate the
supply path connections to zone air distribution equipment and zone return air path connections. Air loop
demand sub-loops also incorporate a flow splitter and a flow mixer allowing air distribution equipment in a
number of zones to be connected to the supply and return paths:
The outdoor air mixer and fan components in DesignBuilder HVAC are incorporated within an air handling unit
component. Optionally, additional components such as heat recovery, heating coils, cooling coils, humidifiers
and outdoor air pre-treatment coils can also be added to air handling units:
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Air supply sub-loops for dual duct systems incorporate two outlet connections, one for the hot duct and one
for the cold duct; dual duct supply sub-loops also incorporate a single air splitter to split the flow between the
hot and cold ducts:
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Air Loops
The demand sub-loops for dual duct air loops similarly contain two inlet connections for hot and cold ducts
which can then be connected to zone dual duct air distribution terminals via air splitters and a mixer.
There are various pre-defined loops in DesignBuilder HVAC, 4 air loops, 5 plant loops a VRF loop and a
condenser loop.
Air Loops
Air loops are used by EnergyPlus to distribute mechanically driven air to zones. In the Air loops provided by
DesignBuilder, the air flow supplied into the zones is the same as the flow out. In other words air leakage is
not accounted for.
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Air Loop - Generic Single Duct
This air loop incorporates a Generic air handling unit (AHU) component in the supply sub-loop to which may
be added various sub-components including pre-treatment coils (heating and cooling), heat recovery,
recirculation with economiser, heating and cooling coils and a humidifier. The air handling unit automatically
includes supply and extract fans. The demand sub-loop incorporates a flow splitter and a flow mixer to enable
the loop to be connected up to zone equipment. The loop incorporates a single scheduled setpoint manager
which by default is pre-defined to maintain a supply temperature.
The image below shows a single duct air loop connected to 2 Zone groups.
The image below shows a dual duct air loop connected to a Zone group.
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Air Loop - Unitary Heat Cool
The image below shows a unitary heat cool air loop connected to a Zone group.
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See also Air Loop Data
The image below shows a unitary heat pump air to air connected to a Zone group.
The image below shows a unitary heat pump water to air connected to a Zone group.
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Plant And Condenser Loops
• Condenser loop
A plant equipment operation facility is included to provide plant and condenser loops with a mechanism for
controlling the operation of the loop and to specify which equipment is available under what conditions. This
allows you to model scheduled sequencing of plant equipment depending on time-varying load requirements.
For example you may want to model a multiple chiller system and schedule low load chillers to handle loads
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up to a certain magnitude and then switch in higher load chillers as the cooling load increases. This feature is
available through the plant/condenser loop Plant Equipment Operation tab.
The sub-loop also includes a scheduled temperature setpoint manager which is set up by default to control
the off-plant temperature at a constant 80°C.
The demand sub-loop incorporates a flow splitter and flow mixer in order that the loop can be connected to
heating plant components. The image below shows a hot water plant loop connected to 2 water heating coils.
See also:
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Primary/Secondary Chilled Water Plant Loop
By default, the chiller has a water cooled condenser and connections are included to enable the condenser to
be connected up to a condenser loop. Air cooled chillers can also be selected.
The sub-loop also includes a scheduled temperature setpoint manager which is set up by default to control
the off-plant temperature at a constant 6.0°C.
The demand sub-loop incorporates a flow splitter and flow mixer in order that the loop can be connected to
cooling plant components. The image below shows a chilled water loop connected to a water cooling coil.
See also:
By default, the chiller has a water cooled condenser and connections are included to enable the condenser to
be connected up to a condenser loop. Air cooled chillers can also be selected.
The primary sub-loop also includes a scheduled temperature setpoint manager which is set up by default to
control the sub-loop outlet temperature at a constant 6°C.
The secondary sub-loop includes a scheduled temperature setpoint manager which is pre-defined to control
the sub-loop inlet temperature at a constant 6°C but the schedule defining this temperature can be replaced
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with any required alternative. The secondary sub-loop also incorporates a flow splitter and flow mixer in order
that the loop can be connected to cooling plant components.
See also:
The sub-loop also includes a scheduled temperature setpoint manager which is set up by default to control
the off-plant temperature at a constant 55°C.
The demand sub-loop incorporates a flow splitter and flow mixer in order that the loop can be connected to
hot water outlets.
The screenshot below shows a typical DHW application with a hot water plant loop connected to DHW loop
with a water outlet group.
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Domestic Hot Water Plant Loop
Another common DHW loop configuration uses an Air Source Heat Pump on the supply side as shown below:
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See also:
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Solar And Auxiliary Heating Loops
In order to realise energy savings with a solar heating system, it is best to use a two-tank system with a
storage tank and an auxiliary water heater. The storage tank gathers heat directly from the solar collectors
and stores it for later use. The auxiliary water heater is positioned downstream of the storage tank on the
supply side of the DHW plant loop. The auxiliary water heater, or booster water heater, provides additional
heat if the storage tank water is not hot enough. The auxiliary water heater can be modelled as an
instantaneous/tankless water heater or as a standard tanked water heater with heating source (see Water
Heater component):
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Another strategy to consider for solar heating systems is to allow the storage tank to reach a much higher
temperature than necessary for the end use. This allows the tank to store more energy from the solar
collectors, when it is available. However, for applications such as domestic hot water, it is undesirable and
unsafe to supply excessive hot water temperatures at the point of demand. To take advantage of higher
storage temperatures, yet still avoid scalding temperatures at the tap, the hot water leaving the storage tank
can be tempered with cold water using a three-way valve (tempering valve) to achieve the target temperature.
An additional auxiliary DHW heating loop is provided by DesignBuilder HVAC which incorporates this
arrangement. A solar loop water heater can be directly connected to the supply side splitter and mixer of an
auxiliary heating loop:
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Solar And Auxiliary Heating Loops
Another common solar hot water loop arrangement similar to above but this time with auxiliary heating from a
hot water loop with boiler:
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This arrangement of components and loops models a typical solar heating system with 2 tanks: a solar tank
with water at potentially high temperatures and an auxiliary tank containing water at temperatures that can be
used by heating and/or DHW purposes. The Solar Assisted DHW HVAC template provides this functionality.
More information on how to configure and control Solar and Auxiliary heating loops can be found on the Solar
Hot Water help page.
The demand is the loop demand rather than a component demand, i.e. the demand is created by the need to
satisfy the setpoint on the solar loop supply sub-loop outlet. In other words, the more the outlet temperature
from the water heater element drops below the setpoint, the higher the demand on the collectors.
See also:
Condenser Loop
The condenser supply sub-loop incorporates one or more cooling towers connected in series or parallel, flow
splitter and flow mixer together with a circulating pump. The default sub-loop also includes a scheduled
temperature setpoint manager which is pre-defined to control the off-plant temperature at a constant 29°C.
The demand sub-loop incorporates a flow splitter and flow mixer in order that the loop can be connected to
condenser components such as a water cooled chiller.
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Condenser Loop
The graph below (reproduced with permission from CIBSE) illustrates the vapour compression cycle. The
condenser process takes the fluid from saturated vapour (point 5) to saturated liquid (point 6) on the graph
below.
See also:
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VRF Loops
A VRF system is an air-conditioning system that varies the refrigerant flow rate using variable speed
compressor(s) in the outdoor unit, and the electronic expansion valves (EEVs) located in each indoor unit. The
system meets the space cooling or heating load requirements by maintaining the zone air temperature at the
setpoint. The ability to control the refrigerant mass flow rate according to the cooling and/or heating load
enables the use of as many as 60 or more indoor units with differing capacities in conjunction with one single
outdoor unit. This unlocks the possibility of having individualized comfort control, simultaneous heating and
cooling in different zones, and heat recovery from one zone to another. It may also lead to more efficient
operations during part-load conditions.
• The system provided in DesignBuilder is the system curve based model (VRF-SysCurve). In this
model, a number of system level curves are used to describe the VRF system performance. This model
corresponds to the AirConditioner:VariableRefrigerantFlow object.
• Physics based model (VRF-FluidTCtrl) has been recently introduced into EnergyPlus. It is able to
consider the dynamics of more operational parameters and is applicable for fluid temperature control.
This model corresponds to the AirConditioner:VariableRefrigerantFlow:FluidTemperatureControl object.
Refer to the Engineering reference for more technical details of the two models.
VRF indoor units are placed within HVAC zones like other zone forced air units. They include pre-configured
direct-expansion cooling and/or heating coils.
VRF loops are not like other loops in DesignBuilder HVAC as they consist simply of a single VRF outdoor unit
connected to one or more VRF indoor units through a dotted line.
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Loop Data
There is no data associated with the VRF loop itself - it mainly serves as a container for the VRF outdoor unit
and the connections to the indoor units.
Loop Data
There are 3 plant and air loop dialogs:
General
Name
This is the name of the loop. If the supplied loop name is found to already exist, the software will automatically
append an integer to create a unique name.
Sizing
The rest of the Air loop dialog provides the sizing inputs needed to perform a central forced air system design
air flow, heating capacity, and cooling capacity calculation for a system serving one or more zones. The
information needed consists of the outside environmental conditions and the design supply air temperatures,
outdoor air flow rate, and minimum system air flow ratio.
The outside conditions come from the design days in the input. A system sizing calculation is performed for
the design day defined in the input file and the resulting maximum heating and cooling air flow rates and
capacities are used in the component sizing calculations.
Supply air conditions are specified by inputting a supply air temperature for cooling, a supply air temperature
for heating, and a preheat temperature. The system sizing calculation sums the zone design air flow rates to
obtain a system supply air flow rate. The design conditions and the outdoor air flow rate are used to calculate
a design mixed air temperature. The temperature plus the design supply air temperatures allows the
calculation of system design heating and cooling capacities.
Note: Detailed HVAC autosizing calculations are not to be confused with Heating and Cooling design
calculations, which use separate simpler data entry from the HVAC tab. No Detailed HVAC data is used for
Heating and Cooling design calculations, which are based on the EnergyPlus Ideal loads system.
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Design outdoor air flow rate
The design outdoor air flow rate (in m3/s or ft3/min). Generally this should be the minimum outdoor air flow. It
is used for both heating and cooling design calculations. The assumption for cooling is that any outdoor air
economizer will be closed. If Autosize is input the Design outdoor air flow rate used in the simulations will be
taken from the sum of the zone outdoor air flow rates based on the Sizing option below.
Note that the Design supply air flow rate is defined in the AHU dialog contained within the Air loop.
Sizing option
The Sizing option is set to as follows:
• 1-Non-coincident where the central system air flow rate will be sized on the sum of the non-coincident
zone air flow rates. This option is normally used for CAV systems.
• 2-Coincident where the central system air flow rate will be sized on the sum of the coincident zone air
flow rates. This option is normally used for VAV systems,
• 1-Sensible means that the central system supply air flow rate will be determined by combining the
zone design air flow rates, which have been calculated to meet the zone sensible loads from the design
days. In addition this option tells the program to size the central cooling coil using entering air flow rate
and air conditions at the sensible load peak.
• 2-Ventilation requirement means that the central system supply air flow rate will be determined by the
system ventilation requirement.
• 3-Total means that the central system supply air flow rate will be determined by combining the zone
design air flow rates, which have been calculated to meet the zone total sensible + latent loads from
the design days. In addition this option indicates that the program should size the central cooling coil at
the air flow rate and conditions at the total load peak.
The central heating coil is always sized at the conditions at the peak sensible heating load.
Important Note: For CAV air loops used to model a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS), you must set
the Type of load to size on to 2-Ventilation requirement. This is true even if the air is being pre-heated
and/or pre-cooled to temper it before delivery.
• 1-Zone sum which sums the outdoor air flows across all zones served by the system.
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Air Loop Data
• 2-Ventilation Rate Procedure (VRP) which uses the multi-zone equations defined in 62.1-2007 to
calculate the system outdoor air flow. VRP considers zone air distribution effectiveness and zone
diversification of outdoor air fractions.
Note: When the Type of load to size on is set to 2-Ventilation requirement the System outdoor air
method control is set to 1-Zone sum and the control is greyed out.
Heating
Preheat design temperature
This is the design air temperature exiting the preheat coil (°C or °F).
The default value for newly added air loops is 16°C corresponding to a reheat-type system where the zone
temperature control is provided through local reheat terminal units.
Note: For a centralised system where the AHU is to provide zone heating, you should increase this value
to say 35-50°C in order for the heating coil sizing to be performed correctly.
• 1-No for systems with recirculation set in the AHU, the system will be sized for heating using minimum
outside air.
• 2-Yes for systems without recirculation set in the AHU, the system will be sized for heating using 100%
outdoor air.
• 1-Design day which means the program will calculate the system design heating air flow rate using
the System Sizing input data and a design day simulation.
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• 2-Flow/System which means that the program will use the input of the field Heating Design Air Flow
Rate as the system design heating air flow rate.
The default method is 1-Design day, i.e., the program uses the calculated design values.
Cooling
Pre-cool design temperature
This is the design air temperature exiting the pre-cooling coil (°C or °F).
This value should typically be lower than the Central heating design supply air temperature.
• 1-No for systems with recirculation set in the AHU, the system will be sized for cooling using minimum
outside air
• 2-Yes for systems without recirculation set in the AHU, the system will be sized for cooling using 100%
outdoor air.
• 1-Design Day which means that EnergyPlus will calculate the system design cooling air flow rate
using the System Sizing input data and a design day simulation.
• 2-Flow/System where the Cooling design air flow rate below is used as the system design cooling air
flow rate.
The default method is 1-Design Day, i.e. the program uses the calculated design values.
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Plant And Condenser Loop Data
Availability schedule
Schedule values greater than zero (usually 1 is used) indicate that the system is on. Schedule values less
than or equal to zero (usually 0 is used) denote that the system is off. This schedule overrides the air loop fan
schedules for determining whether the fans are on.
See the Hot Water Loop Tutorial and the Condenser Loop Tutorial
General
Name
If the supplied loop name is found to already exist, the software will automatically append an integer to create
a unique name.
Fluid type
You can define the type of fluid used in the loop as a mixture of water and glycol along with the particular
concentration being used. EnergyPlus will accurately model the thermal properties of the fluid based on glycol
concentration and fluid temperature at each time step of the simulation.
• 1-Water.
• 2-EthyleneGlycol.
• 3-PropyleneGlycol.
Glycol concentration
When one of the glycol fluid types is selected above then you can enter the concentration of glycol in the loop
fluid here. It should be entered as a decimal fraction between 0.0 and 1.0. A concentration of 0.0 refers to
pure water. A concentration of 1.0 would denote 100% of the fluid referenced in the Fluid type input above.
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Flow Type
Plant loop flow type
Two options are available:
• 1-Constant flow, for constant flow plant loops. In this case a constant speed pump will automatically
be specified.
• 2-Variable flow for variable flow plant loops. In this case a variable speed pump will automatically be
specified.
The flow type is fixed as 1-Constant flow for DHW and condenser loops
Temperatures
Maximum loop temperature
This is the maximum allowable temperature (in °C or °F) for this loop.
Flow Rates
Note: This value is generally autosizable but only when the condenser loop does not contain any Vertical
ground heat exchanger components. In cases where a vertical ground heat exchanger is included the
Maximum loop flow rate should normally take the same value as entered on the ground heat exchanger
dialog for Maximum flow rate and Design flow rate. The Condenser loop Maximum loop flow rate can be
entered as higher than the ground heat exchanger flow rate but in this case it will be limited to that value
during the simulation.
• 1-Sequential uses each piece of equipment to its maximum part load ratio and will operate the last
required piece of equipment between its minimum and maximum part load ratio in order to meet the
loop demand.
• 2-Optimal operates each piece of equipment at its optimal part load ratio and will operate the last
component between its minimum and maximum part load ratio in order to meet the loop demand.
• 3-Uniform evenly distributes the loop demand amongst all available components on the equipment list
for a given load range.
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Plant And Condenser Loop Data
• 1-SingleSetPoint scheme in which the Plant loop requires that a Setpoint manager sets a single
setpoint value. Examples of this setpoint manager are 1-Scheduled, SetpointManager:OutsideAir etc.
• 2-DualSetPoint scheme in which the Plant loop requires that a 17-Dual setpoint SPM sets the high and
low setpoint values for heating and cooling to implement a mixed water loop.
Sizing
Design loop exit temperature
The water temperature (in °C or °F) at the exit of the supply side of the plant loop, Thus this is the temperature
of the water supplied to the inlet of chilled or hot water coils in the case of plant loops or chiller condensers in
the case of condenser loops.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the Plant loop is available during the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the device can be on for the timestep. A value
less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the device must be off.
Note: When either of the cut-in or cut-out conditions occurs they override the availability schedule. For
example in the case of a hot water loop, when the Outside temperature operation check box is selected, if
the outside air dry-bulb temperature is below the External cut-in temperature then the loop is cycled on (it is
available) or if it is above the External cut-out temperature then the loop availability is forced off (not
available), otherwise the loop availability is controlled by the Availability schedule alone.
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Plant Equipment Operation
Plant and condenser loops have a mechanism for controlling the operation of the loop to allow control over
which equipment is available under what conditions. Since there may be multiple control schemes that are
assigned various priorities associated with each loop, an overall operation scheme must be defined. Each
operation scheme must have the type of operation scheme together with the name of the scheme and the
schedule that defines its availability.
Note: The order in which the individual operation schemes appear in this list defines its priority relative to
the others with the same scheduled availability. The first scheme appearing in the list is given the highest
priority; the second scheme has second highest priority, etc. In other words, if according to its schedule, the
first operation scheme is available, then it is used by the simulation to define how the plant or condenser loop
operates. If it is not available, the second operation scheme in the list is checked to see if it is available until
the highest priority scheme that is also available is found. To allow for simultaneous heating and cooling, there
is one configuration where multiple operation schemes are available at a given timestep. This is allowed if a
user inputs both a heating range based operation and a cooling range based operation with overlapping
schedules. The simulation will look at the current loop demand to determine if the cooling scheme should be
used or the heating scheme. In other cases, if two schemes overlap (are available at the same time),
EnergyPlus will raise an error and the simulation will be aborted.
Number of schemes
This is the number of operational schemes that are to be associated with the plant or condenser loop. A
maximum of ten schemes are allowed for each loop. After setting the required number of schemes, the dialog
will be automatically populated with sections for each scheme, the settings for each operation scheme being
described below.
Scheme
Scheme operation type
This is the type of control scheme used. The available options will depend on the current loop type. For
condenser and chilled water plant loops, the options are:
• 1-Uncontrolled and
• 2-Cooling load
for heating and domestic hot water plant loops, the options are:
• 1-Uncontrolled and
• 3-Heating load.
Uncontrolled loop operation simply specifies a group of equipment that runs ‘uncontrolled’. If the loop runs,
this equipment will run also, unless turned off by the loop flow resolver to maintain continuity in the fluid loop.
The 2-Cooling load and 3-Heating load options allow different load ranges to be defined and which items of
equipment will operate for each range. If either of these options is selected, at least one operational range
must be defined. For each range, there is a lower limit for the load range, an upper limit for the load range,
and a list of the equipment items that will operate in this range.
Scheme equipment
This setting is only displayed if the Scheme operation type is set to 1-Uncontrolled. A list of valid items of
plant or condenser equipment is displayed together with check boxes allowing you to define which items of
equipment will be turned on for this scheme.
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Solar Loop Data
Scheme schedule
This is the schedule for the control scheme. This schedule consists of weeks and days, with the days
containing “0 or 1” for each hour of the day. This binary schedule (0 for off, 1 for on) determines if the control
scheme is operating for that hour of the day or not.
Number of ranges
This setting is only displayed if the Scheme Operation Type is set to 2-Cooling load or 3-Heating load and is
used to define the number of ranges required for the heating or cooling load scheme.
Range
Range lower limit
This setting is only displayed if the Scheme Operation Type is set to 2-Cooling load or 3-Heating load. This
is the lower demand range (W) for the equipment defined for the current range. If demand is below this value,
then the equipment will not turn on to meet the demand.
Range Equipment
A list of valid items of plant or condenser equipment is displayed together with check boxes allowing you to
define which items of equipment will be turned on for this range. This setting is only displayed if the Scheme
Operation Type is set to 2-Cooling load or 3-Heating load.
Note: A priority drop-list associated with each item of equipment allows you to define the order in which
equipment will be turned on when the loop demand is within this range.
General
Name
If the supplied loop name is found to already exist, the software will automatically append an integer to create
a unique name.
Fluid type
There is currently only one fluid type available which is 1-Water.
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Plant loop volume
This is the volume of the plant loop (in m3 or gal). This is the loop volume for the entire loop, i.e. both the
demand side and the supply side. This is used for the loop capacitance calculation which updates the loop
temperature from one time-step to the next and introduces some time delay between the supply and demand
sides of the loop. The loop volume could be calculated from pipe size data but this is not usually known. If
zero volume is specified the demand inlet temperature is set to the supply outlet temperature at the previous
system time-step. If a very large capacitance is specified unrealistic time delay may result and there may be
poor response to changes in loop setpoint temperature. If the loop volume is auto-calculated, the EnergyPlus
provided calculation gives reasonable values for most system sizes. This calculation is described in the
EnergyPlus Engineering Reference manual.
Flow Type
Plant loop flow type
Two options are available:
• 1-Constant flow, for constant flow plant loops. In this case a constant speed pump will automatically
be specified.
• 2-Variable flow for variable flow plant loops. In this case a variable speed pump will automatically be
specified.
Temperatures
Maximum loop temperature
This is the maximum allowable temperature (in °C or °F) for this loop.
Flow Rates
Maximum loop flow rate
This is the maximum loop flow rate (in m3/sec or ft3/min). This parameter is also used when the user chooses
to auto-calculate the loop volume. See the Plant loop volume above and the EnergyPlus Engineering Manual
for more details.
• 1-Sequential uses each piece of equipment to its maximum part load ratio and will operate the last
required piece of equipment between its minimum and maximum part load ratio in order to meet the
loop demand.
• 2-Optimal operates each piece of equipment at its optimal part load ratio and will operate the last
component between its minimum and maximum part load ratio in order to meet the loop demand.
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Solar Loop Data
• 3-Uniform evenly distributes the loop demand amongst all available components on the equipment list
for a given load range.
Temperature Protection
Low temperature protection
Check this option to obtain low temperature protection.
Differential Thermostat
The differential thermostat settings allow an availability manager to be set up to switch the loop on or off
depending on the temperature differential between a collector outlet and the outlet from the water heater. A
differential sensor check box on the solar collector dialog allows you to define the collector to used by the
differential sensor (where there are more than one solar collector on the loop).
This prevents the water heater from being supplied with inadequately heated water by the solar collector.
Differential thermostat
Check this option to use a differential thermostat on the Solar HW loop.
Sizing
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Loop design temperature difference
This is the design temperature rise (for cooling or condenser loops) or fall (for heating loops) (in °C or °F)
across the demand side of a plant or condenser loop.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the Plant loop is available during the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the device can be on for the timestep. A value
less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the device must be off.
Note: The order in which the individual operation schemes appear in this list defines its priority relative to
the others with the same scheduled availability. The first scheme appearing in the list is given the highest
priority; the second scheme has second highest priority, etc. In other words, if according to its schedule, the
first operation scheme is available, then it is used by the simulation to define how the plant or condenser loop
operates. If it is not available, the second operation scheme in the list is checked to see if it is available until
the highest priority scheme that is also available is found. To allow for simultaneous heating and cooling, there
is one configuration where multiple operation schemes are available at a given timestep. This is allowed if a
user inputs both a heating range based operation and a cooling range based operation with overlapping
schedules. The simulation will look at the current loop demand to determine if the cooling scheme should be
used or the heating scheme. In other cases, if two schemes overlap (are available at the same time),
EnergyPlus will raise an error and the simulation will be aborted.
Number of schemes
This is the number of operational schemes that are to be associated with the plant or condenser loop. A
maximum of ten schemes are allowed for each loop. After setting the required number of schemes, the dialog
will be automatically populated with sections for each scheme, the settings for each operation scheme being
described below.
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Solar Loop Data
Scheme
Scheme operation type
This is the type of control scheme used. The available options will depend on the current loop type. For
condenser and chilled water plant loops, the options are:
• 1-Uncontrolled and
• 2-Cooling load
for heating and domestic hot water plant loops, the options are:
• 1-Uncontrolled and
• 3-Heating load.
Uncontrolled loop operation simply specifies a group of equipment that runs ‘uncontrolled’. If the loop runs,
this equipment will run also, unless turned off by the loop flow resolver to maintain continuity in the fluid loop.
The 2-Cooling load and 3-Heating load options allow different load ranges to be defined and which items of
equipment will operate for each range. If either of these options is selected, at least one operational range
must be defined. For each range, there is a lower limit for the load range, an upper limit for the load range,
and a list of the equipment items that will operate in this range.
Scheme equipment
This setting is only displayed if the Scheme operation type is set to 1-Uncontrolled. A list of valid items of
plant or condenser equipment is displayed together with check boxes allowing you to define which items of
equipment will be turned on for this scheme.
Scheme schedule
This is the schedule for the control scheme. This schedule consists of weeks and days, with the days
containing “0 or 1” for each hour of the day. This binary schedule (0 for off, 1 for on) determines if the control
scheme is operating for that hour of the day or not.
Number of ranges
This setting is only displayed if the Scheme Operation Type is set to 2-Cooling load or 3-Heating load and is
used to define the number of ranges required for the heating or cooling load scheme.
Range
Range lower limit
This setting is only displayed if the Scheme Operation Type is set to 2-Cooling load or 3-Heating load. This
is the lower demand range (W) for the equipment defined for the current range. If demand is below this value,
then the equipment will not turn on to meet the demand.
Range Equipment
This setting is only displayed if the Scheme Operation Type is set to 2-Cooling load or 3-Heating load. A list
of valid items of plant or condenser equipment is displayed together with check boxes allowing you to define
which items of equipment will be turned on for this range.
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Note: A priority drop-list associated with each item of equipment allows you to define the order in which
equipment will be turned on when the loop demand is within this range.
As an example, consider a building model where five ground floor zones are to be cooled and ventilated using
a VAV box without reheat supplied by a single AHU and the zones are to be heated using radiators supplied
by the same heating circuit. A single zone group can be used to incorporate the equipment for the five zones
within the HVAC layout.
See the Detailed HVAC Activity Data and Zone Groups Tutorial
From HVAC System level, a zone group can be placed and then edited to include the ground floor zones:
After adding the zones, the zone group becomes active and you can navigate down to it, either by double-
clicking on the graphic in the Edit screen or by selecting it from the navigator. At the zone group level, you can
see all of the zones added to the group:
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HVAC Zones And Zone Groups
You can then navigate down to any one of the zones to add the required equipment:
Now when you move back up to the zone group level, you will notice that the zone equipment has
automatically been added to all zones in the group:
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You can now navigate down to equipment in any zone to change the equipment default settings:
At the system level, only one set of connections is required to connect the equipment in all of the constituent
zones up to the air and plant loops:
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HVAC Component Hierarchy And Navigation
When data is written to the EnergyPlus IDF file prior to simulation, all constituent zones, zone equipment and
zone equipment connections are written out separately.
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Methods of navigating the HVAC system are the similar to those used for navigating the building model (see
Navigating Building Models for further information). To move down to an object lower down in the hierarchy,
you can either select the object graphically on the Edit screen and double-click on it or alternatively, just select
it from the navigator tree list at the left of the screen. To move up a level, you can either press the F2 key, or
select the required level object from the Navigator.
After moving down to an object, only that object and any related components in other objects will be active, all
other objects in the hierarchy will become inactive and displayed in grey on the Edit screen.
Note: DesignBuilder HVAC does not use the same hierarchical data inheritance system as the building
model. In particular HVAC zone groups are used to define default data for newly added HVAC zones but their
data is not inherited down to its HVAC zones.
There 15 different types of setpoint manager available. However only certain types of setpoint manager are
available for different types of air loops and plant/condenser loops:
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Working At HVAC System Level
Refer to the Setpoint manager section for information regarding specific setpoint manager types.
Note: A Mixed Air Setpoint manager is only included in systems that incorporate ‘draw-through’ coils.
Also, if a setpoint manager is added in front of a draw-through fan, the Mixed Air Setpoint manager is omitted.
1. Use the Load HVAC template dialog to load a fully connected HVAC system. When there are no HVAC
loops or HVAC zone groups defined already and you navigate to the HVAC system level, this dialog is
opened automatically.
2. Use the Save HVAC Template tool to save the currently defined system as a template for future use.
3. Add and edit air, plant and condenser loops.
4. Add and edit zone groups.
5. Delete one or more existing HVAC components. Either select the component(s) for deletion and use
the Delete toolbar icon or, to delete all components, use the Delete tool with no components selected.
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Load HVAC Template Dialog
You can use the Load HVAC Template dialog to load a fully connected HVAC system to the model either in
addition to any system data already defined or to replace it. To load an HVAC template, first go to the HVAC
System level then click on the Load HVAC Template tool.
Note: When there are no HVAC loops or HVAC zone groups defined already and you navigate to the
HVAC system level, this dialog is opened automatically.
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Load HVAC Template Dialog
To select a different HVAC system, click on the Detailed HVAC template browse item to reveal the browse
button and click on the browse button to bring up a list of available templates. With this list open simply select
the HVAC system you would like and press the OK button.
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Once you have the right HVAC system selected click on the Next button in the Load HVAC Template dialog.
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Load HVAC Template Dialog
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Hot Water System Data
If the HVAC template includes a hot water system and you chose to override template defaults then on this
page you get the opportunity to provide key settings for the hot water system.
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Load HVAC Template Dialog
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Loading The Template
When you have entered all of the necessary data click on the Finish button. If there is no existing HVAC data
or you chose to replace all existing HVAC data then the components associated with the HVAC template are
placed automatically for you. Alternatively,if the HVAC template is being used to add components to an
existing system then you should use the mouse to position the new components away from the existing ones
and click with the mouse to actually place them. You may need to zoom out to find a free area to place the
new components.
Note: If you click on an area where the new HVAC components would overlap with any that already exist
then the load is cancelled.
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Save HVAC Template
Use the Save HVAC Template tool if you would like to save the HVAC system defined in your current model
for loading to this or other models in the future. To save an HVAC template, first go to the HVAC System level
then click on the Save HVAC Template tool.
The dialog that opens allows you to name the HVAC template and provides a summary of the sub-systems
that will included with the saved template.
If you press the OK button to save the template the HVAC data is stored in the template library.
Note: The whole HVAC system as seen at HVAC system level is saved and there is no way to selectively
save particular parts of the system.
To place an HVAC zone group, first go to the HVAC System level and click on the Add zone group tool. To
place a zone group, simply move the cursor to the required position on the Edit screen and click the mouse
button to place the zone group.
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Add Loop Tool
To place an HVAC loop, first go to the HVAC System level and click on the Add loop tool which will display a
drop-menu of available pre-defined loops. You can then select whichever loop you require from the menu. To
place a loop, move the cursor to the required position on the Edit screen and click the mouse button to place
the loop.
Note: Sub loops have no attribute data of their own so there is no sub-loop dialog.
Boilers can only be incorporated within the supply sub-loops of hot water plant loops so you first need to go to
the supply sub-loop of the hot water plant loop to which the boiler is to be added. The Add boiler tool icon will
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Add Chiller Tool
then appear on the toolbar. To place a boiler, click on the Add boiler tool and then move the mouse cursor to
the required position and click the mouse button to place the boiler.
Chillers can only be incorporated within the supply sub-loops of chilled water plant loops so you first need to
go to the supply sub-loop of the chilled water plant loop to which the chiller is to be added. The Add chiller tool
icon will then appear on the toolbar. To place a chiller, click on the Add chiller tool and then move the mouse
cursor to the required position and click the mouse button to place the chiller.
Cooling towers can only be incorporated within the supply sub-loops of condenser loops so you first need to
go to the supply sub-loop of the condenser loop to which the cooling tower is to be added. The Add Cooling
Tower tool icon will then appear on the toolbar. To place a cooling tower, click on the Add Cooling Tower tool
and then move the mouse cursor to the required position and click the mouse button to place the cooling
tower.
Water heaters can only be incorporated within the supply sub-loops of domestic hot water plant loops so you
first need to go to the supply sub-loop of the domestic hot water plant loop to which the water heater is to be
added. The Add Water Heater tool icon will then appear on the toolbar. To place a water heater, click on the
Add Water Heater tool and then move the mouse cursor to the required position and click the mouse button to
place the water heater.
Pumps can only be included in the supply sub-loops of plant and condenser loops. EnergyPlus requires that
the pump must be the first component in the sub-loop. Consequently, a pump must be connected directly to
the sub-loop inlet node. Only one pump can be added to each plant/condenser supply sub-loop and so the
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tool will only appear on the toolbar at the plant/condenser sub-loop level if you delete the existing pump in
order to change its orientation.
To place a pump, click on the Add pump tool and click the mouse button when the pump is at the required
location. After clicking the mouse button, you can then rotate the pump by moving the mouse in a circular
direction around the centre of the pump to obtain the required orientation:
Heating coils can only be incorporated within the supply sub-loops of air loops so you first need to go to the
supply sub-loop of the air loop to which the coil is to be added. The Add heating coil tool icon will then appear
on the toolbar. To place a heating coil, click on the Add heating coil tool.
Heating coils can be placed anywhere in the sub-loop but are more commonly incorporated within an air
handling unit. To add a heating coil to an air handling unit, after clicking on the Add heating coil tool, move the
cursor (with the coil attached to it) into the supply section of the air handling unit and click the mouse button to
place the coil at the required location. Coils may be placed in front of the supply fan for a ‘draw-through’
configuration or after the fan for a ‘blow-through’ configuration:
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Add Cooling Coil Tool
Cooling coils can only be incorporated within the supply sub-loops of air loops so you first need to go to the
supply sub-loop of the air loop to which the coil is to be added. The Add cooling coil tool icon will then appear
on the toolbar. To place a cooling coil, click on the Add cooling coil tool and then select the required coil from
the drop-list.
Cooling coils can be placed anywhere in the sub-loop but are more commonly incorporated within an air
handling unit. To add a cooling coil to an air handling unit, after clicking on the Add cooling coil tool, move the
cursor (with the coil attached to it) into the supply section of the air handling unit and click the mouse button to
place the coil at the required location. Coils may be placed in front of the supply fan for a ‘draw-through’
configuration or after the fan for a ‘blow-through’ configuration:
Humidifiers can only be incorporated within the supply sub-loops of air loops so you first need to go to the
supply sub-loop of the air loop to which the humidifier is to be added. The Add humidifier tool icon will then
appear on the toolbar. To place a humidifier, click on the Add humidifier tool.
Humidifiers can be placed anywhere in the sub-loop but are more commonly incorporated within an air
handling unit. To add a humidifier to an air handling unit, after clicking on the Add humidifier tool, move the
cursor (with the humidifier attached to it) into the supply section of the air handling unit and click the mouse
button to place the humidifier at the required location. Humidifiers may be placed in front of the supply fan for
a ‘draw-through’ configuration or after the fan for a ‘blow-through’ configuration:
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Add Splitter/Add Mixer Tool
Splitter and mixers are used in HVAC in order to connect multiple items of equipment to a sub-loop by means
of parallel branches:
Note: Only one splitter and one mixer can be incorporated within both the supply and demand sub-loops
of plant and condenser loops and consequently the Add splitter and Add mixer tool will only appear on the
toolbar if an existing splitter and mixer have been removed.
Air loops are slightly different in that air supply sub-loops comprise series component connections and
consequently do not require any splitter or mixer with the exception of dual-duct systems which incorporate a
single splitter to enable the flow to be split between hot and cold ducts. Air demand sub-loops are similar to
plant and condenser sub-loops in that they can only contain a single mixer but can incorporate an additional
splitter to cater for dual duct systems.
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Add Supply/Return Plenum Tool
To place a splitter or mixer, click on the Add splitter or Add mixer tool and click the mouse button when the
splitter/mixer is at the required location. After clicking the mouse button, you can then rotate the splitter/mixer
by moving the mouse in a circular direction around the centre of the component to obtain the required
orientation:
Plenums may be used to model building features such as ceiling or floor voids which are used to supply or
return centrally conditioned air. Supply and return plenums are essentially uncontrolled building zones
incorporated within the supply and return paths of air loop demand side sub-loops. Plenums can account for
building side heat balance, that is they can transfer heat with other zones through surfaces, but they cannot
incorporate HVAC equipment.
HVAC air plenums are special types of component since there is a heat balance connection and building
description and a system airflow connection that transfers the airflow directly from a supply plenum to a
controlled zone or from a controlled zone to a return plenum in the system air simulation.
Placing plenums
When an air loop is first placed, a splitter and mixer component is automatically included on the supply and
return sides respectively. The normal way to place a supply plenum is to first delete the original splitter
component and replace it with a supply plenum component. Likewise to include a return plenum, first delete
the original mixer component and replace it with a return plenum component.
To place a supply or return plenum, click on the Add supply plenum or Add return plenum tool and click the
mouse button when the plenum is at the required location. After clicking the mouse button, you can then
rotate the plenum to its final orientation by moving the mouse in a circular direction around the centre of the
component:
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Connecting plenums
When you first place a plenum it will be shown on the HVAC layout diagram in light grey indicating that it does
not yet have a building zone allocated to it and so cannot yet be connected up. So the first thing to do having
placed a supply or return plenum is to assign a building zone to the Plenum component.
Note: Each air loop demand sub-loop can contain a single return plenum but can incorporate an
additional supply plenum to cater for dual duct systems.
The Connect components tool is used to create connections between the inlets and outlets of both air-side
and water-side components. The tool can only be used at the sub-loop level. HVAC connections are created
in the form of a number of segments or steps, each segment snapped to the X or Y axis. To create a
connection between two components, first click on the Connect components tool and move the cursor to the
required component inlet/outlet. When the cursor is over the required inlet/outlet, a green connection marker
will be displayed to indicate that the beginning of the connection can be snapped to the inlet/outlet:
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Working At HVAC Zone Group Level
You can then click the mouse button to start the connection. Having snapped the beginning of the first
connection segment to the required inlet/outlet, as you move the mouse cursor away, the cursor will
automatically snap to the X or Y axis depending on the position of the cursor relative to the connection point.
As you move the cursor across the screen, drawing guides are displayed to indicate that the current cursor
position has been automatically snapped to align with existing connections in the X and Y axes:
When the cursor snaps to a required drawing guide, you can then click the mouse button to place the end
point of the current connection segment. Finally, as you move the cursor towards the component inlet/outlet to
which the connection is to be created, a green connection marker will again be displayed to indicate that the
end of the connection can be snapped into position by clicking the mouse cursor button.
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Working At HVAC Zone Level
When at the HVAC zone level, if no zone components are selected, you can edit the current HVAC zone by
clicking on the Edit icon in the toolbar. Also, at the HVAC zone level, you can:
1. Add and edit air distribution units (VAV boxes, chilled beams etc.).
2. Add and edit forced air units (fan-coil units, etc.).
3. Add and edit heated floors
4. Add and edit chilled ceilings.
5. Add and edit radiators/convectors.
6. Add a zone extract.
7. Add and edit Zone exhaust fan.
See also:
Zone air distribution units are placed at the zone level. To place an ADU, click on the Add air distribution unit
tool and then select the required unit from the drop-list and then making sure that the cursor is inside the
boundary of the zone, just click the mouse button to place the ADU. The ADU will be automatically positioned
at the top left of the zone:
You should make sure to add a distribution unit that is compatible with the type of air loop you plan to connect
to. Constant volume ADUs can only connect to CAV air loops and Variable volume ADUs can only connect to
VAV air loops.
Note You must also add a zone extract unit to a zone that contains an ADU in order to connect up the air
return path from the zone.
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Add Zone Forced Air Unit Tool
Forced air units are placed at the zone level. To place a forced air unit, click on the Add forced air unit tool and
then select the required unit from the drop-list and then making sure that the cursor is inside the boundary of
the required zone, just click the mouse button to place the unit. The unit will be automatically positioned at the
bottom left of the zone:
Heated floors are placed at the zone level. To place a heated floor, click on the Add heated floor tool and then
making sure that the cursor is inside the boundary of the required zone; just click the mouse button to place
the heated floor. The heated floor will be automatically positioned at the bottom of the zone:
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Add Zone Chilled Ceiling Tool
Chilled ceilings are placed at the zone level. To place a chilled ceiling, click on the Add chilled ceiling tool and
then making sure that the cursor is inside the boundary of the required zone, just click the mouse button to
place the chilled ceiling. The chilled ceiling will be automatically positioned at the top of the zone:
Note: Where chilled ceilings are added to zones with internal ceilings, the floor surface of the associated
adjacent upper zone must have a construction with an internal source to represent the embedded piping
system of the chilled ceiling. Similarly, in the case of zones with external flat roofs, the roof construction must
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Add Zone Radiative-Convective Unit Tool
contain an internal source. Refer to the documentation on Constructions for further information on defining
internal sources for constructions.
Radiators and convectors are placed at the zone level. To place a radiator or convector, click on the Add
radiative-convective unit tool and then select the required unit from the drop-list and then making sure that the
cursor is inside the boundary of the required zone, just click the mouse button to place the radiator/convector.
The unit will be automatically positioned at the bottom centre of the zone:
Zone extracts are placed at the HVAC zone level and are used to return air back to the AHU. To place an
extract, click on the Add zone extract tool and then making sure that the cursor is inside the boundary of the
zone just click the mouse button to place the extract. The extract will be automatically positioned near the top
right of the zone:
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Note: A zone extract is required in an HVAC Zone if an ADU has been placed.
The Zone extract does not require any data to be entered and so does not appear on the Navigator list. It is
not to be confused with the Zone exhaust fan which is used to extract air direct to outside and can be linked to
the Airflow Network.
Zone exhaust are placed at the HVAC zone level and are used to extract air to outside. To place an extract,
click on the Add zone exhaust fan tool and then making sure that the cursor is inside the boundary of the
zone just click the mouse button to place the extract. The exhaust fan will be automatically positioned at the
top right of the HVAC zone:
Note: A zone exhaust fan can be added in addition an extract in an HVAC Zone if an ADU has been
placed. Alternatively it can included without an ADU and extract.
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Working At Component Level
Data for the zone exhaust fan data can be entered on the Zone exhaust fan dialog. It is not to be confused
with the Zone extract which is used to return air back to the AHU.
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Autosizing HVAC Components
In many cases, HVAC component sizes can be autosized by EnergyPlus. All settings that can be autosized
are displayed in dark blue on the component edit dialogs. The special keyword Autosize must typed into the
edit control on the component edit dialog if a setting is to be autosized.
For example, for a hot water coil, the Maximum water flow rate can be autosized:
Autosizing In EnergyPlus
EnergyPlus is able to automatically size many HVAC components based on user-specified building
configuration and design external conditions.
By default DesignBuilder automatically provides data on 2 sizing periods, one for winter, the other for summer
for sizing heating and cooling equipment respectively. If multiple summer design months have been selected
these will all be used in the summer simulation cooling autosizing as well. EnergyPlus uses this design day
weather data to specify outside conditions when autosizing HVAC components.
Information on how zone load sizing is to be carried out can be entered for each zone (on the HVAC zone
dialog). Also data governing how air loops are to be sized can be entered for each air system on the Air loop
dialog. Likewise sizing data for plant and condenser loops is entered on Plant loop dialogs.
Other than zone thermostat setpoints, the sizing calculations generally know nothing about the system control
inputs defined on Setpoint managers and availability schedules. You must coordinate the sizing inputs on the
HVAC zone and air loop dialogs with the actual simulation control inputs.
The sizing calculations only recognize the presence of central heating and cooling coils, preheat and precool
coils and reheat coils. These are assumed to deliver the various supply temperatures specified in the Air loop
and HVAC Zone objects. The impact of their sub-components such as heat recovery, dehumidifiers, fans, and
pumps are not accounted for in the sizing calculations.
Note: The Detailed HVAC autosizing calculations referred to on this page are not to be confused with
Heating and Cooling design calculations which use separate simpler data entry from the HVAC tab. No
Detailed HVAC data is used for Heating and Cooling design calculations, which are based on the
EnergyPlus Ideal loads system.
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Autosizing HVAC Components
Some commonly used applications of summer and winter design days in schedules are:
1. Setting internal loads (lights, equipment, occupancy) to maximum all day for cooling and to zero all day
for heating;
2. Setting heating and cooling thermostat set points to constant values (no set up or set back);
3. Setting heating and cooling equipment to be always on for design days.
None of these applications are necessarily recommended but these and other uses of the special
summer/winter design day schedules may prove useful for specific situations.
Some examples of common mistakes with design day data in schedules are:
1. Using a schedule such as the predefined On schedule for operating internal gains equipment such as
computers or lights. Internal gains must not be included in heating sizing calculations because the size
of the heating equipment must be calculated without consideration of any contribution from internal
gains. Including such gains usually results in undersizing of heating zone equipment and/or plant.
Internal gains must of course be included in cooling sizing so should operate for the
SummerDesignDay.
2. Selecting a Heating operation schedule on the HVAC tab with options indicating the schedule to be off
for the WinterDesignDay. Or selecting a Cooling operation schedule on the HVAC tab with options
indicating the schedule to be off for the SummerDesignDay. Likewise when using the 2-Detailed
HVAC activity data model option the heating and cooling setpoint schedules selected on the HVAC
zone dialog must operate on their respective design day periods.
Sizing Factors
There are generally 2 areas of input where the user can impose sizing factors.
1. In HVAC zone sizing data, the user can specify heating and cooling sizing factors for a specific zone.
These factors are applied to the calculated zone design loads and air flow rates.
2. For some plant components (all central chillers, boilers and cooling towers) the user can specify a
sizing factor that modifies the autosized component capacity and flow rates. These factors are applied
after zone sizing factors. They are primarily used to split the design load between multiple components.
These sizing factors can change the autosizing of the associated loops and pumps. The following rules
define the effect of plant component sizing factors on loops and pumps.
a. For supply side branches, the sizing factors of all components in series on the branch are
summed and the result becomes the branch sizing factor. If there is a branch pump, its
autosized design flow rate is multiplied by the branch sizing factor.
b. For each loop, if the average of the branch sizing factors is less than 1, the loop sizing factor is
set equal to the sum of he branch sizing factors. If the average is greater than 1, the loop sizing
factor is set equal to the maximum of the branch sizing factors. The loop sizing factor is applied
to the loop design flow rate (if autosized) and to the loop pump flow rate (if autosized).
1. Each component is autosized independently. Thus user input for a flow rate in one component will have
no effect on other components’ autosized flow rates. For instance, specifying the chilled water loop
pump’s rated flow rate will have no effect on the autosizing of the chiller’s design evaporator flow rate
or on the plant loop’s autosized maximum loop flow rate.
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2. Within a component it is best to autosize all inputs or enter specified values for all inputs. For example,
in a chiller, if only the nominal capacity is user-specified, the autosized chilled water flow rate may not
be consistent with the specified capacity.
3. Sizing information flows only from the sizing data on the HVAC zone, Air loop and Plant loop dialogs to
the components. The sizing calculations have no knowledge of user-specified values in a component.
The only exception to this rule is that plant loop sizing will collect all component design water flow rates
whether autosized or user-specified.
4. To specify a particular zone or system air flow rate use the HVAC Zone and Air Loop data rather than
in the individual components.
5. The plant loop flow rates are sized from the total design demand of the components connected to each
loop. The components demanding water need not be autosized for the plant loop autosizing to work
successfully. So the user could specify all the air side components and autosize all the plant loops and
plant components. Or specify the chilled water loop flow rate, chilled water pump inputs and chiller
inputs and let the condenser loop and tower autosize.
1. The user can specify a separate zone level Zone sizing factor for heating and cooling for each HVAC
zone object.
2. For each zone the user can input a Cooling design air flow rate and/or a Heating design air flow rate
(and specify Cooling design air flow method = 1-Flow/Zone and Heating design air flow method = 1-
Flow/Zone). These user inputs override the calculated values. The program divides the user input
cooling or heating design air flow rate by the calculated values and uses the result as a zone sizing
factor to multiply all the elements in the design heating and cooling air flow and load sequences. From
this point the design calculations proceed as usual.
• Begin with everything fully autosized (no user-specified values) and get a working system before trying
to control any specifically sized components.
• You must coordinate system controls with sizing inputs. For example, if the Air loop Central cooling
design supply air temperature is set to 13°C, you must make sure that the corresponding setpoint
manager for the central cooling coil controls to the same 13°C as design conditions. EnergyPlus does
not cross-check these inputs. The HVAC autosizing calculations use the sizing information in the Air
loop and HVAC zone data. The simulation uses the information in controllers and setpoint managers.
• User-specified flow rates will only impact the sizing calculations if entered in the Air loop and HVAC
zone data. Sizing information flows only from the sizing objects to the components. The sizing
calculations have no knowledge of user specified values in a component. The only exception to this
rule is that plant loop sizing will collect all component design water flow rates whether autosized or user
specified.
• The zone thermostat schedules determine the times at which design loads will be calculated. All zone-
level schedules (such as lights, electric equipment, infiltration) are active during the sizing calculations
(using the day type specified for the sizing period). System and plant schedules (such as availability
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Humidity Control
managers and component schedules) are unknown to the sizing calculations. To exclude certain times
of day from the sizing load calculations, use the thermostat setpoint schedules for SummerDesignDay
and/or WinterDesignDay. For example, setting the cooling setpoint schedule to 99°C during night-time
hours for the SummerDesignDay day type will turn off cooling during those hours.
1. When using Detailed HVAC and the Detailed HVAC activity data, the simulation setpoints and
schedules are defined separately on the HVAC zone dialog and can easily be different to the setpoints
defined on the Activity tab and to the schedules defined on the HVAC tab. When using the default
Simple HVAC activity data option this difference is much less likely to occur.
2. The mechanical ventilation settings are defined on the HVAC tab for heating and cooling design
calculations but they are defined on the Air loop dialog for autosizing simulations.
3. The conditions of the supplied air is defined on the HVAC zone dialog for autosizing simulations
whereas the data on the HVAC tab under Supply air conditions headers is used for heating and cooling
design calculations.
4. Cooling design calculations are run using 2 timesteps per hour whereas the cooling autosizing
simulations are run using the number of timesteps selected for the simulation. The timestep difference
doesn't arise for heating design where the inside and outside conditions are static.
5. The WinterDesignDay settings control the operation for the heating autosizing simulations, whereas
for Heating design calculations, fixed values are always used and there is less scope for obtaining
"surprising" results. E.g. there is no way to include internal gains from occupants and equipment,
whereas it is possible to include these gains (deliberately or inadvertently) in heating autosizing
simulations through compact schedule settings.
6. When the Calculated natural ventilation model option is selected this is used in autosizing simulations
(if the relevant schedules allow it) whereas for Cooling design calculations the scheduled natural
ventilation settings are used (if natural ventilation is enabled).
7. Heat recovery can be activated or not for Cooling design calculations whereas it is not included when
sizing zone loads in autosizing simulations.
Humidity Control
It is usually easiest to select an appropriate HVAC Template as the starting point when setting up humidity
control for Detailed HVAC systems. However in some cases you may need to define humidity control
manually and this page describes the steps involved.
The process depends on the base system type. The instructions below are for the Simple HVAC activity data
option. When the Detailed HVAC activity data is used the process is similar but humidistat setpoints come
from schedules defined on the HVAC zone dialog instead of setpoint values defined on the Activity tab and
demand schedules on the HVAC zone dialog.
Humidification
1. Add a humidifier to the AHU, typically as the rightmost component in the AHU (nearest to the supply
end).
2. Set any sizing and capacity parameters on the humidifier dialog.
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3. On the supply loop level of the air loop add a setpoint manager immediately downstream of the
humidifier and edit the setpoint manager type to use one of the "humidity minimum" setpoint managers.
For example the 6-Multi-zone humidity minimum controller calculates the supply air minimum humidity
ratio based on the zone with the highest humidity ratio setpoint to maintain the zone RH levels near
their respective humidifying setpoints. Setting up the setpoint manager in this way ensures that air
leaving the humidifier has a minimum level of humidity required to meet the setpoint in the zone with
the lowest RH.The screenshot below illustrates the components involved.
4. When using one of the "humidity minimum" controllers you must switch on the humidistat option on the
HVAC zone dialog and define RH setpoint schedules. Humidistats can provide a fine degree of
humidification control within each zone. To define RH setpoint schedules enter the zone Humidification
setpoint model data and Humidifying demand schedule on the HVAC zone dialog (when using Simple
HVAC Activity Data) or the HVAC zone Humidifying RH setpoint schedule (when using Detailed HVAC
Activity Data).
5. An alternative approach which does not provide close control of zone humidity is to use a 1-Scheduled
Setpoint manager type and the 6-Minimum humidity ratio Control variable. This simply ensures that the
supply air has a minimum RH. In this case the HVAC zone humidifying setpoint settings are not used.
Dehumidification
1. On the AHU cooling coil dialog, to control both temperature and humidity set the Controller control
variable to 3-Temperature and Humidity Ratio, or if no temperature control is required, select the 2-
Humidity Ratio option.
2. Where a cooling coil is to conduct both temperature and humidity control the temperature and humidity
Setpoint managers must both be located on the same node. Assuming that the default temperature
Setpoint manager is already placed downstream of the AHU, add a new setpoint manager downstream
of the AHU and edit the setpoint manager Type to use one of the "humidity maximum" setpoint
managers. For example the 7-Multi-zone humidity maximum controller calculates the supply air
humidity ratio based on the zone with the lowest humidity ratio setpoint to maintain the zone RH levels
near their respective humidity setpoints. Setting up the setpoint manager in this way ensures that air
leaving the cooling coil has a maximum level of humidity, but on its own does not provide close control
humidity in the zones. The
3. To provide a finer degree of dehumidification control within each zone, you must switch on the
humidistat option on the HVAC zone dialog and define any time-varying demand schedules.
4. For all dehumidification systems currently supported by DesignBuilder it is essential to include some
form of zone reheat to ensure that "overcooled" air from the AHU does not cause the zone to be
overcooled. The zone reheat can be a standard reheat ADU or it can be some other form of zone
heater such as a convector or radiator.
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HVAC Components
Note: In cases where a VAV system uses a water cooling coil for dehumidification in the AHU , it is
sometimes not possible to control upper zone humidity levels accurately. This situation is more likely under
low load conditions when the VAV terminal box dampers are at minimum position and the water cooling coil
cannot drop the air stream temperature to the level required for high humidity control. In such cases you may
find that swapping the water coil for a Cooling Coil - Two Stage with Humidity Control DX helps because the
lower coil temperatures and humidity control capability of this DX coil allow it to drop out more moisture from
the air stream, helping to maintain the zone maximum humidity setpoint. Another possible solution to this
problem is to increase the minimum flow fraction for the ADU to a higher than normal value , e.g. 0.5. This
allows a greater volume of dry air from the AHU to be introduced into the zones, even when sensible loads are
low.
The Humidification and Dehumidification set ups described above can be used together to achieve full
humidity control.
1. For each zone supplied by the unitary heat cool AHU, switch humidity control on by checking the
Humidistat control check box on the HVAC zone dialog and define any time-varying demand
schedules.
Dehumidification
1. Go down to the air loop supply sub-loop and edit the AHU, changing the Dehumidification control type
to 2-CoolReheat.
2. Add a Maximum humidity setpoint manager downstream of the AHU (5-Multi-zone maximum
humidity average or 7-Multi-zone humidity maximum or 9-Single zone humidity maximum).
Humidification
1. Add a Humidifier component to the AHU.
2. Add a Minimum humidity setpoint manager immediately downstream of the Humidifier (4-Multi-zone
minimum humidity average or 6-Multi-zone humidity minimum or 8-Single zone humidity
minimum).
HVAC Components
A range of component types are available with Detailed HVAC:
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• "DHW" on page 776
• "Solar Hot Water" on page 801
• "Plant and Condenser Loop Equipment Data" on page 807
• "Zone Unit Data" on page 935
• "Heating and Cooling Coil Data" on page 1034
• "Generators" on page 1066
To edit the data associated with an AHU, you first need to be at the supply sub loop level of the Air loop.
Select the AHU component by moving the mouse cursor over it and then clicking the mouse button to select it.
You can then access the edit dialog by right-clicking the mouse and selecting the Edit selected component
option or alternatively, select the Edit selected component tool from the toolbar.
• Generic AHU
• Unitary Heat Cool AHU
• Unitary Heat Pump AHU
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
General
Name
This is the name that you assign to the AHU which should be unique. If the supplied name is not unique, the
software will automatically append a backslash and integer to ensure that there are no duplicate names.
Fan type
This setting is used to indicate a Constant Air Volume (CAV) or Variable Air Volume (VAV) system. It can take
one of two values:
• 1-Constant volume or
• 2-Variable volume.
Note 1: Once an air loop has been connected to a zone ADU, the Fan type setting is fixed (greyed out)
preventing an invalid connection and remains greyed out until the air loop is disconnected from all ADUs. So
to change an air loop from VAV to CAV or vice-versa using this control you must first disconnect the demand
side of the air loop from all zone ADUs. You can do this by deleting connecting branches.
Note 2: Once the AHU fan type has been set, the air loop containing the AHU can only be connected to
valid zone air distribution units (ADU), i.e. CAV air loops can only be connected to CAV ADUs and similarly
VAV systems can only be connected to VAV ADUs.
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Operation
Availability schedule
This schedule contains information on the availability of the AHU for operation. A schedule value greater than
0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the hour. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually
0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off.
When this unit is unavailable (schedule values of 0) then all equipment contained within this AHU will also be
switched off.
This mechanism offers considerable flexibility in determining how the night time on/off decision will be made.
The temperature in one specific zone may be used or the temperatures in all the zones connected to the AHU
may be sampled. You can specify a temperature tolerance and a run time for the system once it switches on.
There is also an applicability schedule for scheduling when this mechanism may be applied.
Control type
The possible inputs are:
• 1-Stay off means the night cycle mechanism will have no effect – AHU on/off will be determined by the
fan schedule
• 2-Cycle on any means that if any zone served by the air loop incorporating this AHU has an air
temperature outside the cooling or heating set points the central fan will turn on even though the fan
schedule indicates the fan is off.
• 3-Cycle on control zone means the same thing except that the temperature in only the specified
control zone is used.
• 4-Cycle on any zone fans only is the same as 2-Cycle on any except that only the zone fans are
cycled on and the AHU fan is left off.
Important Note: Plant loops and any required zone units must be available during the night cycle by
amending the availability schedules appropriately. The night cycle availability manager only automatically
overrides the air loop fan schedule.
Thermostat tolerance
This is the amount (in °C or °F) by which the zone temperature must exceed the cooling set point or fall below
the heating set point in order for the night cycle mechanism to signal that the system should turn on.
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
Control zone
For the Control Type option 3-Cycle on control zone select the control zone.
Extract Fan
Note: If the AHU is connected to a zone that incorporates a Variable Air Volume with Reheat and Variable
Speed Fan ADU, the AHU extract fan should be omitted otherwise EnergyPlus will raise an error and the
simulation will be aborted.
Mixed Mode
You can set up Mixed mode controls for the AHU to model optimal interaction between the natural ventilation
system (Scheduled or Calculated) and the AHU.
Refer to the main HVAC tab Mixed Mode section for details on the options available.
Note: If mixed mode is activated here on the AHU dialog, then any mixed mode settings for connected
zones on the HVAC tab will be overriden by these mixed mode settings.
If all the limits are satisfied, the outdoor air controller does the following for continuous air flow systems: if the
outdoor air temperature is greater than or equal to the mixed air temperature setpoint, the outdoor air flow rate
is set to the maximum; if the outdoor air temperature is less than the mixed air temperature setpoint, the
outdoor air controller will modulate the outdoor air flow so that the mixed air temperature will match the mixed
air setpoint temperature.
A time-of-day schedule may also be used to simulate an increase in outdoor air flow rate for “push-button”
type economiser applications. When the schedule permits (i.e., schedule values are greater than 0), the
outdoor air flow rate is increased to the user-specified maximum outdoor air flow rate.
The outdoor air controller can also account for changes in the outdoor air flow rate during times when indoor
humidity levels are high. A zone humidistat must be used with this control option. During high indoor humidity,
the outdoor air flow rate is modified in response to a high indoor humidity condition. If high humidity control is
based on the outdoor air humidity ratio and the outdoor humidity ratio is greater than the indoor humidity ratio,
high humidity control is terminated. When the economiser is used in conjunction with the high humidity control
option, high humidity control has priority and controls the change in air flow rates. If the AHU Night Cycle
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option is switched on, it has priority over high humidity control and will use the controller’s maximum outdoor
air flow rate when the Night Cycle mechanism cycles the fan on.
Optional pre-cool coil, pre-heat coil and heat recovery may be specified upstream of the mixer. When this is
the case, any modulation will be determined by the conditions at the inlet node of the mixer rather than the
outdoor air. This means that the controller will account for the heat recovery device or pre-heating/pre-cooling
coils that may modify the condition of outdoor air before it reaches the mixer. If all the limits are satisfied, the
outdoor air controller does the following for cycling fan systems: the outdoor air flow rate is set to the
maximum when the fan cycles on. If the limits are not satisfied, the outdoor air flow rate is at the minimum
when the fan cycles on.
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the air loop in which the AHU is located.
Recirculation
If this option is checked, the AHU will re-circulate a proportion of the air delivered by the AHU, otherwise the
system will operate as a full fresh air system.
If you need to model a full fresh air system with no recirculation but need some of the functionality under the
Recirculation check box, such as an economiser, you should check the Recirculation checkbox and make the
following settings:
• Check the Apply minimum fraction of outdoor air schedule checkbox and select the On 24/7 schedule
as the Minimum fraction of outdoor air schedule.
• Check the Apply maximum fraction of outdoor air schedule checkbox and select the On 24/7 schedule
as the Maximum fraction of outdoor air schedule.
The screenshot below shows how the data should look when you are finished.
These settings ensure that the fraction of fresh air is 1 at all times and that there is no recirculation.
This value should be set to zero when using DCV and to Autosize when
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
• 1-Proportional minimum which means the minimum outdoor airflow rate varies in proportion to the
total system air flow rate
• 2-Fixed minimum which means that the minimum outdoor airflow rate is fixed no matter what the
actual system flow rate is.
Economiser
An economiser can be included to provide free cooling by increasing the flow of outdoor air into the AHU
mixing box when conditions are favourable. The types of economiser available are:
• 1-No Economiser - the economiser will not operate and the outdoor airflow rate will be at the minimum
for the entire simulation.
• 2-Fixed Dry-Bulb - the economiser will set the outdoor airflow rate at minimum if the outdoor air
temperature is higher than a specified dry-bulb temperature limit.
• 3-Differential Dry-Bulb - will trigger the outdoor airflow to minimum when the dry-bulb temperature of
outdoor air is higher than the dry-bulb temperature of the return air.
• 4-Fixed Enthalpy - checks the upper limit of the enthalpy given as a field input against the enthalpy
content of outdoor air and will set the outdoor airflow rate to minimum if the latter is greater than the
former.
• 5-Differential Enthalpy does the same as 4-Fixed Enthalpy but compares the return air enthalpy with
the enthalpy of outdoor air. When the enthalpy of outdoor air is greater than the enthalpy of the return
air, the outdoor air flow rate is set to minimum.
• 6-Electronic Enthalpy enables the simulation to calculate the humidity ratio limit of outdoor air based
on the dry-bulb temperature of outdoor air and a quadratic/cubic curve, and compare it to the actual
outdoor air humidity ratio. If the actual outdoor humidity ratio is greater than the calculated humidity
ratio limit, then the outdoor airflow rate is set to minimum.
• 7-Fixed Dew-Point and Dry-Bulb compares both the outdoor dew-point temperature and the outdoor
dry-bulb temperature to their specified high limit values. If either outdoor temperature exceeds the high
limit value, the outdoor airflow rate is set to minimum.
• 8-Differential Dry-Bulb and Enthalpy enables the control strategy to be based on both the 3-
Differential Dry Bulb and 5-Differential Enthalpy economiser control strategies.
In addition to all economiser control types listed above, each control type checks for user-entered values for
the upper limit of dry-bulb temperature, enthalpy limit, humidity ratio limit and dew-point limit. The outdoor air
flow rate is set to minimum if any of these entered limits are exceeded.
Note: The economiser acts to control the temperature of the mixed air stream regardless of the type of
economiser.
The way that the economiser air flow rate is controlled is illustrated in the diagram below.
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Economiser optimiser control action
• The Min. Limit DB temperature on the graph above is set using the Economiser minimum limit dry-bulb
temperature setting and when the OA Temperature is below this value, the OA Flow Rate is set to
minimum.
• The Mixed Air SP temperature is obtained by EnergyPlus from a mixed air Setpoint Manager which is
automatically created by DesignBuilder using the setpoint defined for the first cooling SPM downstream
from the AHU air mixing box.
• When the OA Temperature is less than the Mixed Air SP, the controller modulates the OA flow rate so
as to maintain the Mixed Air SP.
• The Max. Limit DB is set using the Economiser maximum limit dry-bulb temperature setting (which is
only be available on the dialog for 2-Fixed Dry Bulb and 7-Fixed Dew Point And Dry Bulb
economiser control types).
• When the OA Temperature is between the Mixed Air SP and the Max Limit DB, the OA controller
sets the OA flow rate to maximum.
• When the OA temperature reaches the Max. Limit DB, the OA controller sets the OA Flow Rate to
minimum.
When the economiser control type is set to 4-Fixed Enthalpy, the Max. Limit DB would be replaced by the
enthalpy value entered for the Economiser maximum limit enthalpy setting, i.e. instead of switching the OA
flow to minimum when the OA temperature reaches the specified maximum, it would switch to minimum when
the OA enthalpy reaches the specified maximum. The optimiser is still working though to maintain the setpoint
temperature for the mixed air stream.
Note: A cooling or scheduled temperature setpoint manager must be included on the supply side of the air
loop when an economiser is selected. This will typically be downstream of the AHU.
• 1-Modulate flow which means that the outdoor air flow rate will be increased to meet the mixed air
setpoint temperature, subject to the limits imposed via other inputs for this object (e.g., Economizer
Maximum Limit Dry-Bulb Temperature, Maximum Outdoor Air Flow Rate, etc.).
• 2-Minimum flow with bypass, which is only available if Heat Recovery is selected. This option is used
in conjunction with a heat recovery device for providing free cooling operation in the absence of a
conventional air-side economizer (i.e., when outdoor air flow rate is not increased during economizer
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
mode). It forces the outdoor air flow rate to always remain at the minimum. However, when high
humidity control is used, the outdoor air flow rate is set to the product of the maximum outdoor air flow
rate multiplied by the high humidity outdoor air flow ratio. The heat exchanger uses the limit checking in
the outdoor air controller to decide whether or not to bypass the outdoor air around the heat exchanger
– or turn off the wheel motor in the case of a rotary heat exchanger. Heat exchange is also suspended
when high humidity control is active. When 2-Minimum flow with bypass is used and the Time of day
economizer control schedule value is 0, then the flow is set to the minimum. If the time of day schedule
is not used, then flow is always at minimum. If there is no economizer, the flow is always at minimum. If
there is an economizer, this data either maintains flow at minimum when bypassing or not.
Lockout type
This option is only available for Unitary Heat Cool or Unitary Heat Pump AHUs. Choices for this setting are:
• 1-No lockout,
• 2-Lockout with heating, which means that if the packaged unit is in heating mode, the economiser is
locked out – i.e. the economizer dampers are closed and there is minimum outdoor air flow.
• 3-Lockout with compressor. This setting only applies to unitary systems with DX coils and means
that in addition to locking out the economiser when the unit is in heating mode the economiser is locked
out when the DX unit compressor is operating to provide cooling. In other words, the economiser must
meet the entire cooling load – it isn’t allowed to operate in conjunction with the DX cooling coil. The
3-Lockout with compressor option is sometimes called a “non-integrated” economiser.
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Time of day economiser control schedule
This is an optional schedule which controls the outdoor air flow rate based on a time-of-day economiser.
Schedule values equal to 0 disable this feature. A schedule value of greater than 0 causes the outdoor air flow
rate to increase to the maximum. When an economiser is used in conjunction with the high humidity control
option, high humidity control has priority.
Note: While conditions may be favourable for economizer operation, it does not guarantee that the air-
side economizer has increased outdoor air flow above the minimum level since the actual outdoor air flow rate
is also governed by other controls (e.g., mixed air set point temperature, time of day economizer control,
maximum humidity setpoint, etc).
• Apply minimum outdoor air schedule - to apply a schedule whose values are multiplied by the
minimum outdoor air flow rate to calculate the outdoor fresh air rate at any time during the simulation.
In this case you can select the Minimum outdoor air schedule below.
• Apply minimum fraction of outdoor air schedule - to apply a schedule whose values are multiplied
by the total (design) air flow rate to calculate the outdoor fresh air rate at any time during the simulation.
In this case you can select the Minimum fraction of outdoor air schedule below.
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
The screenshot below shows how to change the AHU Outdoor Air Schedule settings to obtain outdoor air
varying between the maximum value defined on the HVAC tab and zero based on occupancy schedule
"Office_OpenOff_Occ", in the same way as it does with Simple HVAC.
When outdoor air delivery to zones is to be controlled accurately as described above it is necessary to make 3
further settings:
1. When using the VAV with Reheat and VAV with no Reheat terminal units in the way described above
then it is also necessary to select the Control on outdoor air flow option in these 2 dialogs.
2. It is also necessary to use the 2-Fixed minimum Minimum limit type on the AHU dialog.
3. Ensure that the Minimum outdoor air flow rate is set to Autosize and not zero. Note that this is the
opposite of the requirement for DCV.
It is important to understand that even with the above settings you won't generally obtain exact specified
outdoor air flow rates to individual zones, however the total fresh air supply rate provided through the
AHU should be correctly calculated as the sum of the minimum fresh requirements of all zones served by the
AHU. This is because the total outdoor air requirement for each zone on the air handler is summed and used
to set the minimum total outdoor air flow rate for the air handler. The outdoor air controller sets an outdoor air
flow rate for the air handler at each time step during the simulation. After that, each zone receives a pro-rated
share of the total outdoor air flow proportioned by the current supply flow rate to each zone, but the exact
supply flow rate to each zone will be calculated based on cooling or heating demand not fresh air
requirements and there is no further zone-by-zone allocation of outdoor air quantities - which is what happens
in a real system.
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Note: If both the Minimum outdoor air schedule and the Minimum fraction of outdoor air schedule
are both selected then for each timestep of the simulation, the higher of the two minimum limits is calculated
and applied. Both of these settings act by overriding the Outdoor air flow rate.
The VRP option can be used for calculating these outdoor air ventilation requirements and resetting them
based on varying occupancy levels and zone diversification. This is particularly useful for large air distribution
systems that serve a number of different zone types with varying occupancy levels.
DCV control can also be used to model the Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) as defined in Standard 62.1
• 1-Zone sum which sums the outdoor air flows across all zones served by the system.
• 2-Ventilation Rate Procedure (VRP) uses the multi-zone equations defined in 62.1-2007 to calculate
the system outdoor air flow. VRP considers zone air distribution effectiveness and zone diversification
of outdoor air fractions.
• 3-Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) is the other procedure defined in ASHRAE Standard 62.1-
2007 for calculating the amount of outdoor air necessary to maintain the levels of indoor air carbon
dioxide at or below a setpoint. Setpoints are defined on the Activity tab (Simple HVAC activity data
option) or on the HVAC zone dialog (Detailed HVAC activity data option). Outdoor air intake and other
system design parameters are based on an analysis of contaminant sources, and contaminant
concentration targets. EnergyPlus uses the IAQP to control carbon dioxide and allows credit to be
taken for controls that can be demonstrated to result in indoor carbon dioxide and generic contaminant
concentrations equal to or lower that those achieved using the VRP. The IAQP may also be used
where the design is intended to attain specific target carbon dioxide and generic contaminant levels.
• 4-Proportional control based on occupancy schedule described in Appendix A of the ASHRAE
62.1-2010 user’s manual discusses another method for implementing CO2-based DCV in a single zone
system where the required outdoor air flow rate varies in proportion to the percentage of the CO2 signal
range. This variant on the proportional method uses the real occupancy at the current time step to
calculate outdoor air rate. This is a good approach to estimate outdoor air rate in special applications
where the zone controller has access to the real time occupancy information.
• 5-Proportional control based on design occupancy similar to option 4 above where the required
outdoor air flow rate varies in proportion to the percentage of the CO2 signal range. This variant on the
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
proportional method uses the design occupancy to calculate outdoor air rate. This is usually a more
realistic control strategy for real systems, which don't have access to real time occupancy data. This
option should generally used for design stage simulations.
• 6-Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) generic contaminant calculates the amount of outdoor air
necessary to maintain the levels of indoor air generic contaminant at or below the setpoint defined on
the Activity tab (Simple HVAC activity data option) or on the HVAC zone dialog (Detailed HVAC activity
data option).
Note: If either 1-Zone sum or 2-Ventilation Rate Procedure (VRP) options are selected here then the
CO2 and contaminant option does not need to be selected on the HVAC zone dialog.
Note: If either 3-Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) or 6-Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP)
generic contaminant are selected then the CO2 and contaminant option must be selected for at least one
HVAC zone connected to the AHU.
Note: When one of the proportional control methods is selected (4-Proportional control based on
occupancy schedule or 5-Proportional control based on design occupancy) then selection of the CO2
and contaminant HVAC zone options is optional. If zone minimum CO2 concentration settings for proportional
control are to be specified then you should check it, otherwise leave it unchecked.
Note: When using DCV you should ensure that the Minimum outdoor air flow rate is set to zero and not to
Autosize. This is the opposite of the requirement when scheduling outdoor air flow without using DCV.
A summary guide on the steps required to model DCV is provided in the Modelling advice section.
For more details on how DCV is simulated in EnergyPlus see the DCV page in the EnergyPlus Engineering
Reference Guide.
Availability schedule
Select the schedule which defines when DCV should operate. If the schedule’s value is 0.0, then mechanical
ventilation is not available and flow will not be requested. If the schedule’s value is > 0.0 (usually 1 is used),
mechanical ventilation is available.
Tip: This schedule can be useful for purging the building of contaminants prior to occupancy (i.e.,
ventilation rate per unit floor area will be provided even if the occupancy is zero).
• The minimum outdoor air flow rate calculated by the normal (non-DCV) outdoor air method based on
the settings on the HVAC and Activity tabs, and,
• The outdoor air flow rate calculated by the DCV
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The actual outdoor air flow rate may be higher than the minimum if free cooling is available. Regardless, the
outdoor air flow rate will not exceed the Maximum outdoor air flow rate
Heat exchanger performance can be specified to transfer sensible energy, latent energy or both between the
supply and exhaust air streams. The input requires no geometric data. Performance is defined by specifying
sensible and/or latent effectiveness at 75% and 100% of the nominal (rated) supply air flow rate at two
operating conditions as shown in the following table:
Heat exchange between the supply and exhaust air streams occurs whenever the unit is scheduled to be
available (Availability schedule) and supply/exhaust air flow is present. Heat recovery can be used in
conjunction with a conventional air-side economiser (select 1-Modulate flow for the Economiser control
action type), whereby heat exchange is suspended whenever the air-side economiser (or high humidity
control) is active (i.e. air flow is fully by-passed around a fixed-plate heat exchanger or the rotation of a rotary
heat exchanger is stopped). It is also possible to suspend heat exchange for the purpose of providing free
cooling operation in the absence of a conventional air-side economizer (i.e. specify 2-Minimum flow with
bypass for the Economiser control action type). During winter weather, humid exhaust air entering the heat
exchanger can form frost on the cold heat exchanger surfaces, which can reduce air flow and the amount of
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
energy recovery. Several methods are used to control or eliminate frost formation, and the following types can
be modelled for this heat exchanger object: supply air pre-heat, minimum exhaust air temperature, exhaust air
recirculation and exhaust only. For preheat frost control, the Pre-heat Coil option must be checked under the
Pre-Treatment header. The other frost control types may be selected using the Frost control type drop-list.
Air-to-air heat exchangers are sometimes controlled to maintain a fixed supply air outlet temperature to avoid
overheating. DesignBuilder provides an option to model this control in EnergyPlus by automatically including a
Setpoint manager to establish a temperature set point at the supply air outlet node of the heat exchanger.
Wheel speed modulation or plate supply air bypass is used to control the supply air exiting conditions to this
set point. The set point for supply air temperature control should be set at the minimum economizer
temperature set point if an air-side economizer is also being used by the air system. If frost control and supply
air outlet temperature control are used, frost control takes precedence over supply air temperature control
(e.g. Control defrost time fraction is determined as if wheel speed modulation or plate supply air bypass is not
used).
The 4 methods listed below are can be used to help control heat recovery systems.
Note: Although an economiser is included in some methods, its main purpose is to provide control of the
heat recovery and not free cooling. If effective free cooling is required then you should consider using the
1-Modulate flow economiser option.
Control method 1: Scheduled heat recovery heating setpoint: When using heat recovery with Supply air
outlet temperature control and without an economiser the heat recovery unit heats the outside air up to the
heat recovery setpoint and no higher while the outside air temperature is below the setpoint. The heat
recovery unit is bypassed when the temperature setpoint is satisfied. When the outside air temperature rises
above the heat recovery setpoint the heat exchanger is not bypassed running at full capacity and heating the
air as much as possible. This can lead to high supply temperatures when it is warm outside. Overall this
control method works well for lower outdoor air temperatures but not so well in summer.
Control method 2: Fixed heating setpoint with economiser: To avoid the overheating caused by Control
method 1 an economiser can be introduced with the following settings:
This works well reducing overheating relative to method 1, but it only provides a single fixed heat recovery
setpoint temperature for the year which makes it difficult to achieve optimal control.
Control method 3: Heat recovery outdoor air temperature setpoint: Another approach to controlling heat
recovery is to use the heat exchanger only when the outside air temperature is below a setpoint, and for
warmer outside conditions bypass the heat recovery unit. The following settings achieve this:
Control method 4: Use EMS. An EMS program can be written to control the heat recovery unit in a more
optimal way. An example script is shown below which is based on Control method 1 but overrides the HR
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setpoint temperature and/or availability schedules to simulate a control system which provides the full benefit
of HR in winter and bypasses the heat exchanger in warmer conditions when HR is not required:
!- EMS Program: HR Optimal Control Strategy 2 - Stepped HR Setpoint + Zone Temp Sensing
EnergyManagementSystem:Sensor,
Toa,
Environment,
Site Outdoor Air Drybulb Temperature;
EnergyManagementSystem:Sensor,
TempBlock1Zone1, ! Name
Block1:Zone1 , ! Zone name
Zone Mean Air Temperature ; ! Output:Variable or Output:Meter Name
EnergyManagementSystem:Actuator,
OverrideHRAvailability, !- Name
HR Availability Schedule, !- Actuated Component Unique Name
Schedule:Compact, !- Actuated Component Type
Schedule Value; !- Actuated Component Control Type
EnergyManagementSystem:Actuator,
OverrideHRSetpointTemp, !- Name
HR Setpoint Schedule, !- Actuated Component Unique Name
Schedule:Compact, !- Actuated Component Type
Schedule Value; !- Actuated Component Control Type
EnergyManagementSystem:ProgramCallingManager,
Optimise HR , !- Name
BeginTimestepBeforePredictor, !- EnergyPlus Model Calling Point
CalcHRSetpoint; !- Program Name
EnergyManagementSystem:Program,
CalcHRSetpoint,
! Stepped control of HR setpoint temp depending on outside air temp
IF Toa < 8,
Set OverrideHRSetpointTemp = 20.0,
ELSEIF Toa < 12,
Set OverrideHRSetpointTemp = 16.0,
ELSE,
Set OverrideHRSetpointTemp = 12.0,
ENDIF,
IF Toa > OverrideHRSetpointTemp,
Set OverrideHRAvailability = 0, ! Avoid E+ HR control quirk
ELSEIF TempBlock1Zone1 > 23,
Set OverrideHRAvailability = 0, ! avoid HR when room temp more than 23
ELSE,
Set OverrideHRAvailability = 1, ! Otherwise HR is available
ENDIF;
Other possibilities include checking for zone heating and/or cooling loads to help ensure optimal HR setpoints.
• 1-Bypass when within economizer limits - The default option where heat recovery is disabled any
time the controller determines that the economizer is active (i.e. all economiser controls are within
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
limits). Note that in cases where the economiser is selected but no economiser limits are defined then
the heat recovery will always be bypassed.
• 2-Bypass when OA flow greater than minimum - EnergyPlus checks whether the economizer is
active and also whether the outdoor air flow rate is greater than the minimum, if so heat recovery is
disabled. This means that heat recovery is active any time the outdoor air flow rate is equal to the
minimum even when the economizer requests free cooling. For this case, the use of Supply air outlet
temperature control for the heat exchanger is recommended (see below).
When 1-Yes is selected you can enter the setpoint temperature to be used in the next text box below. In this
case DesignBuilder automatically adds a scheduled Setpoint manager at the heat recovery supply air outlet
node using the entered set point temperature. When an air-side economizer is also being modelled for this air
system, the set point for the supply air outlet temperature control is forced to be equal to the Economizer
minimum limit dry-bulb temperature.
Plate heat exchangers can be either sensible only when plates are made of a non-porous material such as
aluminium, or they can also exchange latent heat when the plates are made of a porous material.
The heat exchanger type affects the modelling of frost control options and supply air outlet temperature
control. For rotary heat exchangers, rotational speed is varied to control frost formation or the supply air outlet
temperature. For plate exchangers, air bypass around the heat exchanger is used to obtain the desired effect.
Economiser lockout
This input denotes whether the heat exchanger unit is locked out (bypassed for plate type heat exchangers or
the rotation is suspended for rotary type heat exchangers) when the air-side economiser is operating. Both the
economiser and High Humidity Control activate the heat exchanger lockout as specified by this input. The
input choices are 1-Yes (meaning locked out) or 2-No.
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Sensible effectiveness at 75% heating air flow
The sensible heat exchange effectiveness at the heating condition defined in the Operating Conditions for
Defining Heat Exchanger Performance table with both the supply and exhaust air volume flow rates equal to
75% of the nominal supply air flow rate. The default value for this field is 0.
• 1-None,
• 2-Exhaust air recirculation, dampers are used to direct exhaust air back into the zone through the
supply side of the heat exchanger when the supply (outdoor) air inlet temperature falls below a
threshold temperature (defined in the next input field). The fraction of time that exhaust air is circulated
through the supply side of the heat exchanger is dependent on the supply (outdoor) air inlet
temperature with respect to the threshold temperature, the initial defrost time fraction, and the rate of
change of defrost time fraction (see Rate of defrost time fraction increase). When exhaust air is being
re-circulated, no supply (outdoor ventilation) air is being provided through the heat exchanger unit
(which may or may not be acceptable regarding ventilation for occupants).
• 3-Exhaust only (supply air bypass): this control cycles off the supply air flow through the heat
exchanger for a certain period of time while the exhaust air continues to flow through the exhaust side
of the heat exchanger. The fraction of time that the supply flow through the heat exchanger is cycled off
is dependent on the supply (outdoor) air inlet temperature with respect to the threshold temperature,
the initial defrost time fraction, and the rate of change of defrost time fraction (see Rate of defrost time
fraction increase). When implemented in real applications, provisions are usually made to avoid
building depressurization when this frost control is operating (automatic or pressure-operated dampers,
or a bypass air damper around the supply side of the heat exchanger). For this frost control type, it is
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Generic Air Handling Unit (AHU)
assumed that the supply air is bypassed around the heat exchanger during frost control operation, i.e.
the total supply flow is not reduced during defrost, but merely bypassed around the heat exchanger.
• 4-Minimum exhaust temperature where the temperature of the exhaust air leaving the heat
exchanger is monitored and the heat exchanger effectiveness is decreased (by slowing heat exchanger
rotation or bypassing supply air around the plate exchanger) to keep the exhaust air from falling below
the threshold temperature.
If a pre-heat frost control coil is specified, this setting is automatically set to 1-None and disabled.
Threshold temperature
This numeric field defines the dry-bulb temperature of air which is used to initiate frost control (in °C or °F).
The default value is 1.7ºC. If 2-Exhaust air recirculation or 3-Exhaust only options are selected the Frost
control type, the threshold temperature defines the supply (outdoor) air inlet temperature below which frost
control is active. For 4-Minimum exhaust temperature frost control, heat exchanger effectiveness is
controlled to keep the exhaust air outlet temperature from falling below this threshold temperature value.
The appropriate threshold temperature varies with exhaust (inlet) air temperature and humidity, frost control
type, heat exchanger type, and whether the heat exchanger transfers sensible energy alone or both sensible
and latent energy (enthalpy). Typical threshold temperatures are provided in the table below. However, it is
recommended that the user consult manufacturer’s information for the specific air-to-air heat exchanger being
modelled.
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Rate of defrost time fraction increase
This is the rate of increase in the defrost time fraction as the supply (outdoor) air inlet temperature falls below
the threshold temperature. This field is only used for the 2-Exhaust air recirculation and 3-Exhaust only
frost control types. The value for this setting must be ≥ 0. The default value is 0.012 (e.g., 0.72 min / 60 min
per degree C temperature difference) which is typical for Exhaust air recirculation frost control. Higher values
(e.g. 0.024 = 1.44 min / 60 min per °C temperature difference) are typically required for Exhaust only frost
control. For best results, you should obtain this information from the manufacturer.
Total defrost time fraction = Initial Defrost Time Fraction + Rate of Defrost Time Fraction Increase * (Tthreshold –
Tsupply air inlet)
The model does not allow the total defrost time fraction to exceed 1.0 or be less than 0.
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the heat recovery device is available for each timestep of
the simulation. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the device can be on. A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the device must be off.
Pre-treatment Coils
Pre-treatment heating and cooling coils, humidifiers and evaporative coolers can be included to ensure that
the outside air is pre-conditioned before it enters the air handling unit. In v5.0 and earlier, pre-treatment coils
were added through settings on the AHU dialog. In v5.2 and later they are instead added in the same way as
for other AHU coils, by navigating to the AHU object and placing coils in the outdoor air unit section of the
AHU. This allows more flexibility in the number and type of coils added and also in the way that they are
controlled. See screenshot below.
You must also add a setpoint manager downstream of each coil added. To do this first navigate up to the
supply side of the air loop. See screenshot below.
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Unitary Heat Cool AHU
Note: Only 1-Scheduled type SPMs can be added for pre-treatment coils.
- 667 -
Note: The Unitary Heat Cool AHU can only be added as part of a Unitary Heat Cool Air loop .
A detailed description of how Unitary air loops work is provided in the EnergyPlus Engineering Reference.
General
Name
This is the name that you assign to the AHU which should be unique. If the supplied name is not unique, the
software will automatically append a backslash and integer to ensure that there are no duplicate names.
Operation
Availability schedule
This schedule contains information on the availability of the AHU for operation. A schedule value greater than
0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the hour. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually
0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off.
When this unit is unavailable (schedule values of 0) then all equipment contained within this AHU will also be
switched off.
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Unitary Heat Cool AHU
Supply Fan
Fan type
Two fan types are available for selection in this AHU:
• 1-Constant volume where the fan delivers a constant flow rate through the unit regardless of whether
the unit is heating, cooling and/or providing fresh air. Constant volume fans don't use the Supply air fan
operating mode schedule (below). When this option is selected an extract fan can optionally also be
included in the AHU.
• 3-On/Off where the Supply air fan operating mode schedule (below) determines the flow regime. In this
case an extract fan cannot be selected.
• 1-Blow through where the supply air fan is before the DX cooling/heating coil.
• 2-Draw through where the supply air fan is after the DX cooling/heating coil.
The default schedule is "Fan operation mode - Continuous" with a constant value of 1, i.e. that the supply fan
runs continuously while the heating or cooling coil cycles to meet the load at all times. To obtain the AUTO fan
configuration, select the "Fan operation mode - Cycling" schedule which has a constant value of 0.
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Extract Fan
Include extract fan
An extract fan is included within all AHUs by default. This setting may be used to remove the extract fan from
the AHU.
Note: This option is only available for Constant volume fan types. On/Off fans do not allow an extract
fan to be included in the AHU and when this fan type is selected the Include extract fan check box will be
disabled.
Thermostat Location
Dehumidification
Dehumidification control type
There are two options for dehumidification control:
Note: If 2-Cool Reheat is used, a humidistat must be defined in one of the zones supplied by the AHU.
Night Cycle
See Night cycle description for Generic AHU
Mixed Mode
You can set up Mixed mode controls for the AHU to model optimal interaction between the natural ventilation
system (Scheduled or Calculated) and the AHU.
Refer to the main HVAC tab Mixed Mode section for details on the available options.
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Unitary Air To Air Heat Pump AHU
Tip: The Unitary Air to Air Heat Pump AHU can be used to model ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G System 4
PSZ-HP.
Note: The Unitary Air to Air Heat Pump AHU can only be added as part of a Unitary Air to Air Heat Pump
Air loop .
A detailed description of how Unitary air loops work is provided in the EnergyPlus Engineering Reference.
General
Name
This is the name that you assign to the AHU which should be unique. If the supplied name is not unique, the
software will automatically append a backslash and integer to ensure that there are no duplicate names.
- 671 -
Operation
Availability schedule
This schedule contains information on the availability of the AHU for operation. A schedule value greater than
0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the hour. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually
0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off.
When this unit is unavailable (schedule values of 0) then all equipment contained within this AHU will also be
switched off.
Supply Fan
Fan type
Two fan types are available for selection in this AHU:
• 1-Constant volume where the fan delivers a constant flow rate through the unit regardless of whether
the unit is heating, cooling and/or providing fresh air. Constant volume fans don't use the Supply air fan
operating mode schedule (below). When this option is selected an extract fan can optionally also be
included in the AHU.
• 3-On/Off where the Supply air fan operating mode schedule (below) determines the flow regime. In this
case an extract fan cannot be selected.
• 1-Blow through where the supply air fan is before the DX cooling/heating coil and the supplementary
heating coil.
• 2-Draw through where the supply air fan is between the DX cooling/heating coil and the
supplementary heating coil.
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Unitary Air To Air Heat Pump AHU
The default schedule is "Fan operation mode - Continuous" with a constant value of 1, i.e. that the supply fan
runs continuously while the heating or cooling coil cycles to meet the load at all times. To obtain the AUTO fan
configuration, select the "Fan operation mode - Cycling" schedule which has a constant value of 0.
Extract Fan
Include extract fan
An extract fan is included within all AHUs by default. This setting may be used to remove the extract fan from
the AHU.
Note: This option is only available for Constant volume fan types. On/Off fans do not allow an extract
fan to be included in the AHU and when this fan type is selected the Include extract fan check box will be
disabled.
Thermostat Location
Controlling zone or thermostat location
While the heat pump may be configured to serve multiple zones, system operation is controlled by a
thermostat located in a single “control” zone. Click on the <Select zone> label and then click on the displayed
ellipsis button to bring up the zone selector dialog. Select the zone supplied by the AHU where the thermostat
controlling the heat pump is located.
Dehumidification
Dehumidification control type
There are two options for dehumidification control:
Note: If 2-Cool Reheat is used, a humidistat must be defined in one of the zones supplied by the AHU.
Tip: To provide humidification, a humidifier should be added to the AHU and a setpoint manager added
downstream of the AHU with one of the "minimum humidity" control options.
Supplemental Heater
If the heat pump’s DX heating coil output at full load is insufficient to meet the entire heating load, the part
load ratio is set equal to 1.0 (compressor and fan are not cycling) and the remaining heating load is passed to
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the supplemental heating coil. If the outdoor air temperature is below the minimum outdoor air temperature for
compressor operation, the compressor is turned off and the entire heating load is passed to the supplemental
gas or electric heating coil.
Night Cycle
See Night cycle description for Generic AHU
Mixed Mode
You can set up Mixed mode controls for the AHU to model optimal interaction between the natural ventilation
system (Scheduled or Calculated) and the AHU.
Refer to the main HVAC tab Mixed Mode section for details on the available options.
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Unitary Water To Air Heat Pump AHU
The unitary water-to-air heat pump is similar to the unitary air-to-air heat pump except water is used on the
source side, connected to a condenser loop with a heat exchanger (ground heat exchanger or other type) or a
plant loop with a heating source such as a boiler and a cooling source such as a chiller or cooling tower.
Note: The Unitary Water to Air Heat Pump AHU can only be added as part of a Unitary Water to Air Heat
Pump Air loop .
A detailed description of how Unitary air loops work is provided in the EnergyPlus Engineering Reference.
General
Name
This is the name that you assign to the AHU which should be unique. If the supplied name is not unique, the
software will automatically append a backslash and integer to ensure that there are no duplicate names.
Operation
Availability schedule
This schedule contains information on the availability of the AHU for operation. A schedule value greater than
0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the hour. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually
0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off.
When this unit is unavailable (schedule values of 0) then all equipment contained within this AHU will also be
switched off.
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greater than 0 is required (input cannot be blank or 0), this input is not used for the Equation Fit coil model.
Instead, the supply air flow rate is determined by the input in the corresponding Equation Fit coil objects.
Supply Fan
Supply fan placement
There are two options:
• 1-Blow through where the supply air fan is before the DX cooling/heating coil and the supplementary
heating coil.
• 2-Draw through where the supply air fan is between the DX cooling/heating coil and the
supplementary heating coil.
The default schedule is "Fan operation mode - Continuous" with a constant value of 1, i.e. that the supply fan
runs continuously while the heating or cooling coil cycles to meet the load at all times. To obtain the AUTO fan
configuration, select the "Fan operation mode - Cycling" schedule which has a constant value of 0.
Thermostat Location
Controlling zone or thermostat location
While the heat pump may be configured to serve multiple zones, system operation is controlled by a
thermostat located in a single “control” zone. Click on the <Select zone> label and then click on the displayed
ellipsis button to bring up the zone selector dialog. Select the zone supplied by the AHU where the thermostat
controlling the heat pump is located.
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Unitary Water To Air Heat Pump AHU
Dehumidification
Dehumidification control type
There are two options for dehumidification control:
Note: If 2-Cool Reheat is used, a humidistat must be defined in one of the zones supplied by the AHU.
Tip: To provide humidification, a humidifier should be added to the AHU and a setpoint manager added
downstream of the AHU with one of the "minimum humidity" control options.
Cooling Coil
Cooling coil time constant
Enter the time constant for the cooling coil’s capacity to reach steady state after startup. Suggested values are
shown below (Henderson et al. 1999):
Compressor
Maximum cycling rate
Enter the maximum on-off cycling rate for the compressor, which occurs at 50% run time fraction. Suggested
values are shown below (Henderson et al. 1999):
Supplemental Heater
If the heat pump’s DX heating coil output at full load is insufficient to meet the entire heating load, the part
load ratio is set equal to 1.0 (compressor and fan are not cycling) and the remaining heating load is passed to
the supplemental heating coil. If the outdoor air temperature is below the minimum outdoor air temperature for
compressor operation, the compressor is turned off and the entire heating load is passed to the supplemental
gas or electric heating coil.
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Maximum outdoor dry-bulb temperature for supplemental heater
operation
This setting defines the outdoor air dry-bulb temperature above which the heat pump supplemental heating
coil is disabled. The temperature for this input field must be less than or equal to 21°C.
• 1-Cycling which varies water flow through the coil based on the heat pump Part Load Ratio. This
control method is appropriate for modelling heat pumps that are outfitted with a solenoid valve which
allows water to flow through the coil only when the compressor is active. This is the default setting.
• 2-Constant which provides a constant water flow regardless of heat pump operation. Remember that
EnergyPlus has two coils (a heating coil and a cooling coil) to approximate the operation of one coil that
can operate in either heating mode or cooling mode. Therefore, when the water flow mode is constant,
there will be full flow through either the heating coil or the cooling coil, but not both at the same time.
• 3-Constant on demand which provides full flow through the coil whenever there is a load. When there
is no load, there is zero flow through the coil.
Night Cycle
See Night cycle description for Generic AHU
Mixed Mode
You can set up Mixed mode controls for the AHU to model optimal interaction between the natural ventilation
system (Scheduled or Calculated) and the AHU.
Refer to the main HVAC tab Mixed Mode section for details on the available options.
Advanced
Cooling convergence
This numeric value allows the user to determine how close the air side has to be controlled. The lower the
value of convergence the better the control of air side conditions and the less the zone temperature fluctuates.
However in a poorly designed system, a lower convergence might result in warnings which are caused due to
the iteration limit for run time fraction calculation is limited to 20.
Heating convergence
This numeric value allows the user to determine how close the air side has to be controlled. The lower the
value of convergence the better the control of air side conditions and the less the zone temperature fluctuates.
However in a poorly designed system, a lower convergence might result in warnings which are caused due to
the iteration limit for run time fraction calculation is limited to 20.
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Plenum Data
Plenum Data
Supply and Extract plenums are HVAC components much like Splitters and Mixers but they can be associated
with a building zone which is used as the supply or extract plenum.
The only item of data required for an HVAC plenum is the name of the associated building zone.
Zone name
If no zone has previously been allocated to the plenum, click on the ellipsis button adjacent to the <Select
zone> text to bring up a zone selection control. Only zones that have not already been associated with zone
groups or other plenums are available for selection.
Fans
The following fan types are available when using Detailed HVAC:
Used in:
Fan:ConstantVolume
• Air Handling Unit (Constant Volume)
Supply • Fan Coil Unit
• PTAC,
• PTHP,
• Unitary Heat Cool,
• Unitary Heat Pump
Extract
This object models a constant air volume fan that is intended to operate continuously based on a time
schedule. This fan will not cycle on and off based on cooling/heating load or other control signals.
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General
Name
A unique auto-assigned name for the Fan. Any reference to this fan by another object will use this name.
Type
The type of the constant volume fan is fixed as:
• 2-Constant volume
Note: To change from constant volume to variable volume you must open the parent AHU dialog and
change the AHU Fan type to 2-Variable volume. To allow the AHU Fan type to be edited you must first
disconnect the demand side of the air loop from all zone ADUs by deleting connecting branches.
Pressure rise
The pressure rise (in Pascals or inH2O) at full flow and standard (sea level) conditions (20°C and 101325 Pa).
The required pressure rise across an AHU fan is dependent on the duct network supplied by the AHU. For
example, if a duct network was sized using a constant pressure loss of 1 Pa/m and the index run of the
network (route of highest pressure drop) was say 300 m and the fitting losses were say an additional 20%, the
required pressure rise across the fan would be 300 x 1 x 1.2= 360 Pa.
End-use subcategory
Allows you to specify a user-defined end-use subcategory, e.g., "Central System", etc. A new meter for
reporting is created for each unique subcategory (ref: Report Meter). Subcategories are also reported in the
ABUPS table. If this field is omitted or blank, the fan will be assigned to the "General" end-use subcategory.
Flow Rates
Maximum flow rate
The full load air volumetric flow rate (m3/sec or ft3/min) at standard temperature and pressure (dry air at 20°C
dry-bulb). EnergyPlus uses local barometric pressure to account for altitude using equation for "standard
atmospheric" pressure on p 6.1 of the ASHRAE 1997 HOF (SI edition) to initialize the air systems being
simulated.
p=101325*(1-2.25577E-05*Z)**5.2559
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Fan - Constant Volume
Motor
Motor efficiency
The shaft power divided by the electrical power consumed. Must be between 0 and 1.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the Schedule that defines whether the fan can run during a given time period. A schedule value greater
than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the fan can be on during a given time period. A value less than or
equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the fan is off.
Algorithm
The way that fan and motor efficiency values affect the condition of the air at the fan outlet is given by the
following equations:
Qtot = m.δP / (etot. ρair)
Qshaft = emotor.Qtot
Qtoair = Qshaft + (Qtot - Qshaft).fmotortoair
hout = hin + Qtoair / m
wout = win
Tout = PsyTdbFnHW(hout,wout)
Nomenclature:
fmotortoair is the fraction of motor heat generated passed into the air stream
Qtot is fan power in W
m is mass flow in kg/s
δP is the design pressure increase
etot is fan total efficiency
emotor is the motor efficiency
ρair is air density at standard conditions (kg/m3)
Qshaft is the fan shaft power in W
Qtoair is the power entering the air in W
hout,hin are the outlet and inlet specific enthalpies in J/kg
wout,win are the inlet and outlet air stream humidity ratios
PsyTdbFnHW is the EnergyPlus psychrometric routine relating enthalpy and humidity ratio to
temperature.
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Fan Delta Temp [C]
This output field contains the average rise in air temperature across the fan (outlet air temperature minus inlet
air temperature) (in °C or °F)elsius for the timestep being reported.
Used in:
Fan:VariableVolume
• Air Handling Unit (Variable Volume)
Supply
Extract
General
Name
A unique auto-generated name for the fan. Any reference to this fan by another object will use this name.
Type
The type of the variable volume fan is fixed as:
• 2-Variable volume
Note: To change from variable volume to constant volume you must open the parent AHU dialog and
change the AHU Fan type to 1-Constant volume. To allow the AHU Fan type to be edited you must first
disconnect the demand side of the air loop from all zone ADUs by deleting connecting branches.
Pressure rise
The pressure rise (in Pascals or inH2O) at full flow and standard (sea level) conditions (20°C and 101325 Pa).
The required pressure rise across an AHU fan is dependent on the duct network supplied by the AHU. For
example, if a duct network was sized using a constant pressure loss of 1 Pa/m and the index run of the
- 682 -
Fan - Variable Volume
network (route of highest pressure drop) was say 300 m and the fitting losses were say an additional 20%, the
required pressure rise across the fan would be 300 x 1 x 1.2= 360 Pa.
End-use subcategory
Allows you to specify a user-defined end-use subcategory, e.g., "Central System", etc. A new meter for
reporting is created for each unique subcategory (ref: Report Meter). Subcategories are also reported in the
ABUPS table. If this field is omitted or blank, the fan will be assigned to the "General" end-use subcategory.
Flow Rates
Fan minimum flow rate input method for fan power
This field is a key/choice field that tells which of the next two fields is filled and is descriptive of how the
minimum flow rate is specified for calculating the fan power. The key/choices are:
• 1-Fraction where the fan power will be calculated using the value specified in the Minimum flow
fraction for fan power below.
• 2-Fixed flow rate where the fan power is calculated using the value specified in the Minimum air flow
rate for fan power below.
p=101325*(1-2.25577E-05*Z)5.2559
Motor
Motor efficiency
The shaft power divided by the electrical power consumed. Must be between 0 and 1.
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Motor in airstream fraction
The fraction of the motor heat that is added to the air stream. A value of 0 means that the motor is completely
outside the air stream. A value of 1 means that all of the motor heat loss will go into the air stream and act to
cause a temperature rise. Must be between 0 and 1.
Fan Coefficients
Fan coefficient data under this header provides the coefficients C2 to C5 in the fourth order polynomial curve giving the fraction of full load power (PLF) as a function of
flow fraction (FF). Flow fraction is the air mass flow rate divided by the maximum air mass flow rate.
Fan coefficient 1
The constant coefficient C1 in the above curve
Fan coefficient 2
The linear coefficient C2 in the above curve
Fan coefficient 3
The quadratic coefficient C3 in the above curve
Fan coefficient 4
The cubic coefficient C4 in the above curve
Fan Coefficient 5
The coefficient C5 in the above curve
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines whether the fan can run during a given time period. A schedule value greater than 0
(usually 1 is used) indicates that the fan can be on during a given time period. A value less than or equal to 0
(usually 0 is used) denotes that the fan is off.
Algorithm
The algorithm used to calculate energy consumption and air outlet conditions in variable flow fans are as
follows.
fflow = m / mmax
fpl = c1 + c2.fflow + c3.fflow2 + c4.fflow3 + c5.fflow4
Qtot = fpl.m.δP/(etot.ρair)
Qshaft = emotor.Qtot
Qtoair = Qshaft + (Qtot - Qshaft).fmotortoair
hout = hin + Qtoair / m
wout = win
Tout = PsyTdbFnHW(hout,wout)
Nomenclature:
fflow is the flow fraction of design or maximum flow
fmotortoair is the fraction of motor heat generated passed into the air stream
fpl is the part load factor
Qtot is fan power in W
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Fan - On/Off
Fan - On/Off
Used in:
Fan:OnOff
• Fan Coil Unit
• PTAC,
• PTHP,
• Unitary Heat Cool,
• Unitary Heat Pump
The On/off fan models a constant air volume fan that is intended to cycle on and off in tandem with a cooling
or heating system (i.e., AUTO fan control mode). The fan can also operate continuously like a Constant
volume fan. If modelling continuous operation and this object is used as part of a system that utilizes
Coil:Heating:Gas, Coil:Cooling:DX:SingleSpeed or Coil:Heating:DX:SingleSpeed, the user should confirm
proper air flow rates (coil and fan max load fraction is less than or equal to 1 for all values of coil part-load
ratio).
Multi-speed fan operation can also be modelled when the On/off fan is included as part of a compound object
that allows multiple fan speeds (e.g.,Unitary Heat Cool, PTAC, etc.). In this case, the ratio of the compound
object air flow rate to the fan’s maximum air flow rate is used to determine the power at alternate fan speeds.
The input for Fan Power Ratio Function of Speed Ratio Curve Name must be entered to model multi-speed
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fan operation. An optional fan total efficiency ratio curve is also available to model efficiency differences at
alternate fan speeds.
Name
A unique system assigned name for an instance of an On/off fan. Any reference to this fan by another object
will use this name.
Pressure rise
The pressure rise (in Pascals or inH2O) at full flow and standard (sea level) conditions (20°C and 101325 Pa).
The required pressure rise across an AHU fan is dependent on the duct network supplied by the AHU. For
example, if a duct network was sized using a constant pressure loss of 1 Pa/m and the index run of the
network (route of highest pressure drop) was say 300 m and the fitting losses were say an additional 20%, the
required pressure rise across the fan would be 300 x 1 x 1.2= 360 Pa.
End-use subcategory
Allows you to specify a user-defined end-use subcategory, e.g., "Central System", etc. A new meter for
reporting is created for each unique subcategory (ref: Report Meter). Subcategories are also reported in the
ABUPS table. If this field is omitted or blank, the fan will be assigned to the "General" end-use subcategory.
p=101325*(1-2.25577E-05*Z)**5.2559
Motor efficiency
The shaft power divided by the electrical power consumed. Must be between 0 and 1.
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Fan - On/Off
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the Schedule that defines whether the fan can run during a given time period. A schedule value greater
than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the fan can be on during a given time period. A value less than or
equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the fan is off.
Algorithm
The on/off fan model is similar to the simple constant volume fan model with the exception that the on/off fan
may cycle on and off during a simulation time step. The cycling rate of the fan is known as the run time
fraction. The calculation of run time fraction accounts for the part-load losses of other equipment used in the
HVAC system. A part-load factor (a.k.a. part-load ratio) is first calculated for the fan as the ratio of the actual
operating mass flow rate to the maximum fan mass flow rate. The run time fraction is then calculated as the
part-load factor divided by the part-load fraction. The part-load fraction is determined by other HVAC
equipment in the simulation.
fflow = m / mmax
RTF = fflow / PLF
The total fan power is then calculated as the maximum fan power multiplied by the run time fraction.
Qtot = RTF.[m.δP/(etot.ρair)]
Qshaft = emotor.Qtot
Qtoair = Qshaft + (Qtot - Qshaft).fmotortoair
hout = hin + Qtoair / m
wout = win
Tout = PsyTdbFnHW(hout,wout)
Nomenclature:
fflow is the flow fraction or part load ratio
fmotortoair is the fraction of motor heat generated passed into the air stream
Qtot is fan power in W
m is mass flow in kg/s
mmax is the maximum or design mass flow in kg/s
RTF is runtime fraction
PLF is part load factor
δP is the design pressure increase
etot is fan total efficiency
emotor is the motor efficiency
ρair is air density at standard conditions (kg/m3)
Qshaft is the fan shaft power in W
Qtoair is the power entering the air in W
hout,hin are the outlet and inlet specific enthalpies in J/kg
wout,win are the inlet and outlet air stream humidity ratios
PsyTdbFnHW is the EnergyPlus psychrometric routine relating enthalpy and humidity ratio to
temperature.
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Fan Electric Power [W]
This output field contains the average electricity consumption rate for the fan in Watts for the timestep being
reported.
The zone exhaust fan provides a way to extract zone air to outside. It is a standalone component and unlike
the other Detailed HVAC fans it does not link in with the main Air loop. It can also impact air flows in central air
handlers by decreasing the flow of return air and sometimes increasing the outdoor air flow rate.
There are several control options available for the exhaust fan including an on/off availability schedule,
interaction with system availability managers, minimum zone air temperature control limits and a variable flow
fraction schedule. The way in which the exhaust fan impacts central air system can be controlled by declaring
what portion of the flow has been “balanced” by simple airflow from infiltration, ventilation, or mixing. However
it is important to note that presence of an exhaust fan does not by itself drive any simple airflow such as
infiltration, ventilation, or zone mixing.
Note: When used with Calculated natural ventilation, Zone exhaust fans can take part in the Airflow
Network causing a negative pressure in the zone which can be balanced by flows into the zone through other
openings and cracks. In this case a single corresponding vent from the Zone Exhaust Fans category must be
placed on an external surface of the building zone.
To obtain balancing when using Scheduled natural ventilation the main natural ventilation airflow must be
coordinated with the flows defined for the exhaust fan as there is no comprehensive automatic mass
balancing between air system flows, exhaust flows, and the separate simple airflows.
Zone exhaust fans differ from the other fans in EnergyPlus HVAC in that they can stand on their own in a zone
rather than serving as one part of an HVAC air system.
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Fan - Zone Exhaust
A zone exhaust fan is defined differently depending on whether the Calculated natural ventilation model option
is selected or not.
• When not using Calculated natural ventilation simply add an Exhaust fan to the HVAC zone and
make any settings on the dialog.
• When using Calculated natural ventilation then as well as the Exhaust fan in the HVAC zone you
must also include a single external rectangular vent from the Zone Exhaust Fans category somewhere
in the zone by drawing it at surface level on an exterior surface. The purpose of the vent is to include
the zone exhaust fan as an airflow path in the EnergyPlus Airflow Network. The numbered steps that
follow refer to the screenshot below. Having drawn the vent object at surface level:
1. Navigate to the vent object.
2. Select the vent type model data on the Openings tab.
3. Select the pre-defined "Zone Exhaust Fan" vent component.
4. Alternatively create a new vent component and set its category to Zone Exhaust Fans.
The end result should be that each zone with an HVAC Exhaust fan has exactly 1 rectangular vent from
the Zone Exhaust Fans category placed on an exterior surface.
Tip: It is possible to simply add a single zone exhaust fan to a zone group without any other HVAC
equipment to simulate cases where no HVAC equipment (apart from the exhaust fan) is required. Zone
exhaust fans can equally be mixed with other zone equipment data including standard extract
components.
- 689 -
Name
A unique user-assigned name for an instance of a zone exhaust fan. Any reference to this fan by another
object will use this name.
End-Use subcategory
Allows you to specify a user-defined end-use subcategory, e.g., "Kitchen Exhaust", "Fume Hoods", etc. A new
meter for reporting is created for each unique subcategory (ref: Output:Meter object). Subcategories are also
reported in the ABUPS table. If this field is omitted or blank, the fan will be assigned to the "General" end-use
subcategory.
Fan Data
Pressure rise
The pressure rise (in Pascals or inH2O) at full flow and standard (sea level) conditions (20°C and 101325 Pa).
p=101325*(1-2.25577E-05*Z)**5.2559
• 1-Coupled which indicates that the exhaust fan should be integrated with the system availability
manager so that the fan runs when the air system is forced to run.
• 2-Decoupled which indicates that the exhaust fan should operate on its own and ignore the system
availability manager’s requests so that the exhaust fan can remain off when the air system runs.
- 690 -
Humidifier - Steam Electric
schedule values. If the zone is warmer than the scheduled limit, then the fan will operate. When balancing with
Scheduled natural ventilation, this feature can be used to coordinate exhaust fan operation with the main
natural ventilation controls for minimum indoor temperature.
Operation
Availability schedule
The availability schedule denotes whether the fan can run during a given time period. A schedule value of 0
indicates that the fan is off for that time period. A schedule value greater than 0 indicates that the fan can
operate during the time period.
Used in:
Humidifier:Steam:Electric
• Air Handling Units
The electric steam humidifier is a component that represents an electrically heated, self contained steam
humidifier. The component uses electrical energy to convert ordinary tap water to steam which it then injects
into the supply air stream by means of a blower fan. The actual unit might be an electrode-type humidifier or a
resistance-type humidifier.
The humidifier model includes local control of the humidifier unit to meet a humidity ratio setpoint on its air
outlet node.
- 691 -
Note: To ensure that the humidifier will add moisture to meet the humidity ratio setpoint, a Minimum
humidity Setpoint manager must be added immediately downstream of the Humidifier (4-Multi-zone
minimum humidity average or 6-Multi-zone humidity minimum or 8-Single zone humidity minimum).
General
Name
A unique system assigned name for a particular humidifier unit. Any reference to this unit by another object
will use this name.
Rated capacity
The nominal full output water addition rate of the unit (in m3/sec or gal/min of water at 5.05°C).
Note: The Rated capacity cannot be autosized in current versions of EnergyPlus, but if you are not sure of
the correct value to use, it is possible to enter a very high value (e.g. 1m3/s) to ensure that humidification
loads can always be met.
Rated power
The nominal full output power consumption of the unit (in W), exclusive of the blower fan power consumption
and any standby power. This field can be autosized. When it is autosized, the calculations are based on the
rated capacity and the enthalpy rise of the feed water from the reference temperature of liquid water at 20°C
to a saturated steam at 100°C.
Standby power
The standby power consumption (in W). This amount of power will be consumed whenever the unit is
available (as defined by the availability schedule).
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines whether the unit can run during a given time period. A schedule value greater than 0
(usually 1 is used) indicates that the fan can be on during a given time period. A value less than or equal to 0
(usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off.
- 692 -
Evaporative Cooler Data
Humidifier:Water [m3]
This meter output contains the sum of the water consumed (in cubic neters of water during the report
timestep) by all the steam humidifiers at the HVAC level in the simulation.
Humidifier:Electricity [J]
This meter output contains the sum of the electricity consumed (in Joules during the report timestep) by all the
steam humidifiers at the HVAC level in the simulation.
- 693 -
As water is evaporated, energy is lost from the air, reducing its temperature. The lowest temperature that an
evaporative cooler can cool to is the incoming air wet-bulb temperature.
Two types of evaporative cooler are supported by DesignBuilder EnergyPlus: direct and indirect systems.
• Direct evaporative cooling (open circuit) is used to lower the temperature of air by using latent heat of
evaporation, changing liquid water to water vapour. In this process, the energy in the air does not
change. Warm dry air is changed to cool moist air. The heat of the outside air is used to evaporate
water.
• Indirect evaporative cooling (closed circuit) is similar to direct evaporative cooling, but uses some type
of heat exchanger. The cooled moist air never comes in direct contact with the conditioned
environment.
In DesignBuilder evaporative coolers can be placed within an AHU in much the same way that water and DX
cooling coils are placed. They can also be selected as outdoor air pretreatment components within the AHU
dialogs. Five types of evaporative coolers are provided any of which can be selected when placing the
component or from the Evaporative cooler dialog:
• 1-Direct CelDekPad
• 2-Direct Research Special
• 3-Indirect CelDekPad
• 4-Indirect Wet Coil
• 5-Indirect Research Special
Used in:
EvaporativeCooler:Direct:CelDekPad
• Air Handling Units
The direct stage, shown in the figure below, consists of a rigid media evaporative pad, with water recirculated
from a reservoir. The water is pumped from the reservoir to a water distribution header, for water feed by
gravity from above the media. The evaporative pad provides the area for the adiabatic saturation of the air.
While the process provides a lower dry-bulb temperature, the moisture content of the leaving air is higher than
the entering condition. The direct stage is used for comfort cooling in a building where adding humidity to the
air can be tolerated.
- 694 -
Evaporative Cooler - Direct CelDekPad
The thermodynamic process is a simultaneous heat and mass transfer, or adiabatic cooling, and follows a
constant enthalpy line on the psychrometric chart, it is shown in the figure below as a process from A to B.
Since the deviation of the constant wet-bulb line and the constant enthalpy line is small, it is assumed that the
wet-bulb temperature is constant across the direct evaporative stage.
- 695 -
Psychrometric Chart - Constant Enthalpy
If the direct evaporative process were 100% efficient, the leaving dry-bulb temperature would equal the
entering wet-bulb temperature. The efficiency of the direct evaporative process is less than 100% and by
defining saturation efficiency (εse) for the direct stage or evaporative pad, the leaving dry-bulb temperature can
be expressed by the following equation.
General
Name
A unique name for an instance of an evaporative cooler which is predetermined by DesignBuilder.
Type
Select the type of evaporative cooler from the list of options:
• 1-Direct CelDekPad, the cooler described here, a direct evaporative cooler with rigid media evaporative
pad and water recirculated from a reservoir.
• 2-Direct Research Special, similar to 1-Direct CelDekPad but with methods to specify variable
effectiveness based on primary air flow rate and a way to control the cooler operating range based on
temperature limits.
• 3-Indirect CelDekPad, an indirect evaporative cooler with a rigid media pad, similar to the direct
evaporative cooler.
• 4-Indirect Wet Coil, an indirect evaporative cooler where water is sprayed directly on the tubes of the
heat exchanger.
• 5-Indirect Research Special, similar to the other indirect evaporative coolers, but it provides additional
flexibility including a way to specify the source of secondary air.
- 696 -
Evaporative Cooler - Direct Research Special
Settings
Direct pad area
The face area of the evaporative pad (in m2 or ft2). With the area and mass flow rate, the air velocity is
calculated and is used to determine the saturation efficiency.
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines when the coil is available, i.e. whether the evaporative cooler can run during a given
time period. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a
given time period. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off.
Used in:
EvaporativeCooler:Direct:ResearchSpecial
• Air Handling Units
This cooler is similar in principal to the Direct CelDekPad. The model differs in that it gives the user a simple
way of specify the cooler effectiveness. Using the Research Special input object also allows the cooler to
control the amount of cooling based on node setpoints, controlled by Setpoint managers. This avoids
problems from over cooling when conditions are such that loads are low and cooling power is high. Water
pump power is assumed to vary linearly when the cooler is operating at less than full capacity.
The model allows the effectiveness to be vary depending on the primary air flow rates. The design
effectiveness can be modified by multiplying by an Effectiveness flow fraction modifier curve. The flow fraction
is the ratio of the current primary airflow rate to the design flow rate. The recirculating and spray water pump
power is assumed to vary with the primary air flow. The design pump power is modified using user specified
pump modifier curve value. The normalized pump power modifier curve is a function of primary air flow
fraction as a independent variable.
Also the direct evaporative cooler operating range can be controlled depending on the entering air dry bulb
and wet bulb temperatures. The operating range can be controlled based on minimum and maximum inlet
node air temperature limits. The evaporative cooler can be turned on or off depending user specified minimum
and maximum temperature limits. If the inlet node entering air temperature is lower or higher than the
minimum and maximum limits, respectively, then the evaporative cooler is turned off. The operating range
control feature is primarily intended for application in data centres.
- 697 -
General
Name
A unique name for an instance of an evaporative cooler which is predetermined by DesignBuilder.
Type
Select the type of evaporative cooler from the list of options:
• 1-Direct CelDekPad, a direct evaporative cooler with rigid media evaporative pad and water
recirculated from a reservoir.
• 2-Direct Research Special, the cooler described here which is similar to 1-Direct CelDekPad but with
methods to specify variable effectiveness based on primary air flow rate and a way to control the cooler
operating range based on temperature limits.
• 3-Indirect CelDekPad, an indirect evaporative cooler with a rigid media pad, similar to the direct
evaporative cooler.
• 4-Indirect Wet Coil, an indirect evaporative cooler where water is sprayed directly on the tubes of the
heat exchanger.
• 5-Indirect Research Special, similar to the other indirect evaporative coolers, but it provides additional
flexibility including a way to specify the source of secondary air.
Settings
Primary design air flow rate
This autosizable setting is the primary air design air flow rate (in m3/s or ft3/min). If the evaporative cooler is
on main air loop branch, the design flow rate is the same as branch design flow rate, or else if it is on outdoor
air system it will be the maximum of the outdoor air design flow rate and the half of the primary air flow rate on
the main air loop branch.
• Linear
• Quadratic
• Cubic
• Exponent
• Quartic
• Rectangular Hyperbola 2
• Double Exponential Decay
- 698 -
Evaporative Cooler - Direct Research Special
Recirculating Water
• Linear
• Quadratic
• Cubic
• Exponent
• Quartic
• Rectangular Hyperbola 2
• Double Exponential Decay
Temperature Limits
Evaporative operation minimum dry-bulb temperature
To define a dry-bulb temperature lower limit for evaporative cooler operation check this checkbox. Otherwise,
if this option is unchecked then there is no dry-bulb temperature lower limit for evaporative cooler operation.
- 699 -
Evaporative operation maximum limit wet-bulb temperature
To define a wet-bulb temperature upper limit for evaporative cooler operation check this checkbox. Otherwise,
if this option is unchecked then there is no wet-bulb temperature upper limit for evaporative cooler operation.
Blowdown
Blowdown On
Select this option to model additional water consumed by the cooler from blowdown. Blowdown is water that is
intentionally drained from the cooler’s sump to offset the build up of solids in the water that would otherwise
occur because of evaporation.
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines when the coil is available, i.e. whether the evaporative cooler can run during a given
time period. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a
given time period. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off.
Used in:
EvaporativeCooler:Indirect:CelDekPad
• Air Handling Units
The dry coil indirect evaporative cooler has a rigid media pad, similar to the direct evaporative stage, where
the adiabatic cooling takes place. The secondary air enters the evaporative cooler at ambient conditions, is
passed into the rigid media pad and enters an air to air heat exchanger where it cools the supply air flowing
through the heat exchanger tubes (see diagram below). The moist secondary air is then exhausted to the
- 700 -
Evaporative Cooler - Indirect CelDekPad
environment. The secondary air stream has its own fan and consists of a rigid media evaporative pad with
water recirculated from a reservoir. The water is pumped from the reservoir to a water distribution header for
water feed by gravity from above the media. The evaporative pad provides the area for the adiabatic
saturation of the air.
The process that the secondary air goes through, A to C to D, is shown by the dashed lines in the following
figure. Process A to C is adiabatic cooling in the rigid media pad. Then the air enters the shell side of the heat
exchanger and is sensibly heated from C to D by the warm supply air passing through the tube side. The
secondary air inlet is modeled as a separate stream of outdoor air and the user has the option of defining the
name of an outdoor air node.
The advantage of the dry coil heat exchanger is that the heat exchanger does not have the evaporation taking
place on the outside of the tubes, thus no mineral deposits are left on the heat exchange surface to reduce
the efficiency of the heat exchanger. The rigid media pads are designed to flush the mineral deposits to the
sump, so the saturation efficiency of the pad stays relatively constant.
- 701 -
General
Name
A unique name for an instance of an evaporative cooler which is predetermined by DesignBuilder.
Type
Select the type of evaporative cooler from the list of options:
• 1-Direct CelDekPad, a direct evaporative cooler with rigid media evaporative pad and water
recirculated from a reservoir.
• 2-Direct Research Special, similar to 1-Direct CelDekPad but with methods to specify variable
effectiveness based on primary air flow rate and a way to control the cooler operating range based on
temperature limits.
• 3-Indirect CelDekPad, the indirect evaporative cooler described here with a rigid media pad, similar to
the direct evaporative cooler.
• 4-Indirect Wet Coil, an indirect evaporative cooler where water is sprayed directly on the tubes of the
heat exchanger.
• 5-Indirect Research Special, similar to the other indirect evaporative coolers, but it provides additional
flexibility including a way to specify the source of secondary air.
Settings
Direct pad area
The face area of the evaporative pad (in m2 or ft2). With the area and mass flow rate, the air velocity is
calculated and is used to determine the saturation efficiency on the secondary side of the evaporative cooler.
Secondary Fan
The secondary flow is sourced from outside air and blown over the
- 702 -
Evaporative Cooler - Indirect Wet Coil
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines when the coil is available, i.e. whether the evaporative cooler can run during a given
time period. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a
given time period. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off.
Used in:
EvaporativeCooler:Indirect:WetCoil
• Air Handling Units
The wetted coil evaporative cooler shown in the figure below, has water sprayed directly on the tubes of the
heat exchanger where latent cooling takes place. The vaporization of the water on the outside of the heat
exchanger tubes allows the simultaneous heat and mass transfer which removes heat from the supply air on
the tube side. Secondary air at ambient conditions is passed over the wet coil and is exhausted to outside.
The secondary air stream has its own fan.
The process that the secondary air goes through, A to C on the following figure, is a path of simultaneous heat
and mass transfer, but it does not follow a line of constant enthalpy as in the direct stage. The process is not
adiabatic due to the heat gain from the supply air flowing through the tubes of the heat exchanger.
- 703 -
Secondary Air Process – Indirect Wet Coil Evaporative Cooler
General
Name
A unique name for an instance of an evaporative cooler which is predetermined by DesignBuilder.
Type
Select the type of evaporative cooler from the list of options:
• 1-Direct CelDekPad, a direct evaporative cooler with rigid media evaporative pad and water
recirculated from a reservoir.
• 2-Direct Research Special, similar to 1-Direct CelDekPad but with methods to specify variable
effectiveness based on primary air flow rate and a way to control the cooler operating range based on
temperature limits.
• 3-Indirect CelDekPad, an indirect evaporative cooler with a rigid media pad, similar to the direct
evaporative cooler.
• 4-Indirect Wet Coil, the indirect evaporative cooler described here where water is sprayed directly on
the tubes of the heat exchanger.
• 5-Indirect Research Special, similar to the other indirect evaporative coolers, but it provides additional
flexibility including a way to specify the source of secondary air.
- 704 -
Evaporative Cooler - Indirect Wet Coil
Settings
Coil maximum efficiency
The maximum efficiency of the stage is a combination of the efficiency due to the simultaneous heat and mass
transfer on the outside of the tube and the efficiency of the heat exchanger. This value can be higher than the
dry coil overall efficiency since the convective coefficients on the outside of the tube are larger.
Secondary Fan
Secondary fan flow rate
This field is used to specify the secondary fan flow rate and is specified in m3/s or ft3/min.
Blowdown
Blowdown On
Select this option to model additional water consumed by the cooler from blowdown. Blowdown is water that is
intentionally drained from the cooler’s sump to offset the build up of solids in the water that would otherwise
occur because of evaporation.
- 705 -
Blowdown concentration ratio
The value entered here is dimensionless. It can be characterized as the ratio of solids in the blowdown water
to solids in the make up water. Typical values are 3 to 5. The default is 3.0.
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines when the coil is available, i.e. whether the evaporative cooler can run during a given
time period. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a
given time period. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off.
Used in:
EvaporativeCooler:Indirect:ResearchSpecial
• Air Handling Units
The EnergyPlus Indirect Research Special is similar in principal to the Indirect CelDekPad and Indirect
WetCoil evaporative coolers, but it provides some additional flexibility. The model differs in that it gives the
user more flexibility to specify the source of secondary air. The cooler effectiveness with respect to wet-bulb
depression is allowed to go beyond 1.0. Using the Research Special input object also allows the cooler to
control the amount of cooling based on node setpoints (controlled by Setpoint Managers). This avoid
problems from over cooling when conditions are such that loads are low and cooling power is high. Fan power
is assumed to vary linearly when the cooler is operating at less than full capacity.
The indirect evaporative cooler research special calculation procedure allows accounting for dry and wet
effectiveness value variation with flow fraction. Two effectiveness modifier curves are included as optional
user inputs for this purpose. Effectiveness modifier curves operate on the design dry and wet effectiveness
values. The flow fraction is calculated as a ratio of the sum of current primary and secondary air flow rates to
the sum of the design flow rates. Model also accounts for fan and recirculation water pump power variation
with secondary air flow rates using pump power modifying curve. The fan power is calculated by multiplying
the design fan power using fan power modify curve value evaluated at current secondary air flow fraction.
Similarly, recirculating pump power is calculated by multiplying the design pump power by pump power
modifier curve value evaluated at current secondary air flow fraction. If the secondary air fan and recirculating
pump power modifier curves are not specified, then fan and pump power are assumed to vary linearly with
part load fraction.
The cooler effectiveness with respect to wet-bulb depression is allowed to go beyond 1. Fan power is
assumed to vary linearly when the cooler is operating at less than full capacity.
General
Name
A unique name for an instance of an evaporative cooler which is predetermined by DesignBuilder.
Type
Select the type of evaporative cooler from the list of options:
- 706 -
Evaporative Cooler - Indirect Research Special
• 1-Direct CelDekPad, a direct evaporative cooler with rigid media evaporative pad and water
recirculated from a reservoir.
• 2-Direct Research Special, similar to 1-Direct CelDekPad but with methods to specify variable
effectiveness based on primary air flow rate and a way to control the cooler operating range based on
temperature limits.
• 3-Indirect CelDekPad, an indirect evaporative cooler with a rigid media pad, similar to the direct
evaporative cooler.
• 4-Indirect Wet Coil, an indirect evaporative cooler where water is sprayed directly on the tubes of the
heat exchanger.
• 5-Indirect Research Special, the model described here, similar to the other indirect evaporative
coolers, but it provides additional flexibility including a way to specify the source of secondary air.
Settings
Primary design air flow rate
This autosizable setting is the primary air design air flow rate (in m3/s or ft3/min). If the evaporative cooler is
on main air loop branch, the design flow rate is the same as branch design flow rate, or else if it is on outdoor
air system it will be the maximum of the outdoor air design flow rate and the half of the primary air flow rate on
the main air loop branch.
• Linear
• Quadratic
• Cubic
• Exponent
• Quartic
• Rectangular Hyperbola 2
• Double Exponential Decay
- 707 -
Dry-bulb effectiveness flow ratio modifier
Check this option to allow the Cooler dry-bulb design effectiveness specified above to be modified by a curve
based on flow fraction. If this option is not checked then the dry-bulb effectiveness is assumed to be the
constant value entered above.
• Linear
• Quadratic
• Cubic
• Exponent
• Quartic
• Rectangular Hyperbola 2
• Double Exponential Decay
Recirculating Water
Recirculating water pump design power
This autosizable setting is the recirculating pump electric power at Secondary design air flow rate (in W). It is
the nominal design pump power water recirculation and spray for evaporation at design secondary air flow
rates and cooler design effectiveness.
- 708 -
Evaporative Cooler - Indirect Research Special
side flow fraction as independent variable. The curve generates a value of 1.0 at a flow fraction of 1.0. The
flow fraction is the ratio of the primary air during current operation divided by Primary design air flow rate. Any
curve with one independent variable can be used. Select a curve from one of these categories:
• Linear
• Quadratic
• Cubic
• Exponent
• Quartic
• Rectangular Hyperbola 2
• Double Exponential Decay
Secondary Air
Secondary air design flow rate
This field is used to specify the secondary air fan flow rate and is specified (in m3/s or ft3/min). This flow rate
would typically be similar in magnitude to the flow through the primary side. The flow rate is used to determine
parasitic fan energy and cooler effectiveness. The flow rate (and fan power) is effectively reduced by cycling
when the amount of cooling needs to be restricted for control purpose. This field can be autosized. When this
input is autosized, the program calculates it by scaling the Primary design air flow rate using secondary air
scaling factor specified in the input field below.
• Linear
• Quadratic
• Cubic
• Exponent
• Quartic
• Rectangular Hyperbola 2
- 709 -
• Double Exponential Decay
Temperature Limits
Evaporative operation minimum dry-bulb temperature
To define a dry-bulb temperature lower limit for evaporative cooler operation check this checkbox. Otherwise,
if this option is unchecked then there is no dry-bulb temperature lower limit for evaporative cooler operation.
Secondary Fan
Secondary fan flow rate
This field is used to specify the secondary fan flow rate and is specified in m3/s or ft3/min.
- 710 -
Water To Water Heat Pumps / Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)
Blowdown
Blowdown On
Select this option to model additional water consumed by the cooler from blowdown. Blowdown is water that is
intentionally drained from the cooler’s sump to offset the build up of solids in the water that would otherwise
occur because of evaporation.
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines when the coil is available, i.e. whether the evaporative cooler can run during a given
time period. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a
given time period. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off.
One single physical water to water heat pump could provide either heating only, cooling only or both heating
and cooling. These configurations can be represented in DesignBuilder using Heat pump - heating and heat
pump - cooling components connected to hot and chilled water plant loops respectively. Where both heating
and cooling are provided by the same physical heat pump both heating and cooling heat pumps must be
included in the HVAC layout and the data entry for the heat pumps (especially flow rates), must be
coordinated.
The Supply side of the heat pump is usually connected to a Ground Heat Exchanger. The schematic diagram
below shows the layout and piping diagram of the water-to-water heat pump.
- 711 -
GSHP Loops
Ground source heat pumps systems are essentially made up of two loops (heating or cooling only cases) or
three loops (combined heating and cooling):
• HW loop (for heating applications) - Hot water loop (Water-to-water heat pump heating)
• CHW loop (for cooling applications) - Chilled water loop (Water-to-water heat pump cooling)
• Condenser loop - typically a Ground heat exchanger loop (exchanges heat with ground via either
surface, pond or vertical borehole types)
In addition to the above mandatory loops, the system may also require extra loops such as air loops for
specific room/block applications.
Tip: You are advised to work through the GSHP Example before attempting to model these systems for the
first time.
Component descriptions:
- 712 -
Water To Water Heat Pumps / Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)
1. Run DesignBuilder Heating design and Cooling design calculations in order to get the maximum
heating and cooling loads for the system.
2. Choose/load a correctly sized water-to-water heat pump model from DesignBuilder database by
matching the peak heating/cooling loads with heat pump’s ‘Rated heating/cooling capacity’. Or
alternatively, creating and applying your own heat pump data if its catalogue data is available (using
procedure described in the ).
3. Select ground heat exchanger (vertical) borehole numbers from that quick/simple sizing table; set flow
rate equal to the sum of ‘Rated source side flow rate’ of heat pumps connecting to it, or use your own
tool to generate (and apply) a vertical ground heat exchanger case for specific conditions or
detailed/precise sizing.
4. Condenser loop: set flow rate equal to or greater than the flow rate of ground heat exchanger (vertical)
calculated above.
The EnergyPlus ParameterEstimation model limits the refrigerant used to R22 and the compressor to the
reciprocating compressor type. However almost all water-to-water heat pumps presently on the market use
refrigerants other than R22 (R22 has of course been phased out recently for environmental reasons) and
equipped with scroll and other compressor types. So catalogue data is no longer available for the
ParameterEstimation model.
Also EnergyPlus strongly recommend using the EquationFit model instead of ParameterEstimation for
efficient and reliable modelling,
For these reasons DesignBuilder currently only provides the EquationFit water-to-water heat pump model.
The Equation Fit model uses four non-dimensional equations or curves to predict the heat pump performance.
The same method is used in both cooling and heating modes.
The performance data used in the Equation Fit method is derived from manufacturers data through a pre-
process step in which the generalized least square method is used to generate a set of performance
coefficients from manufacturer's catalogue data at indicated reference conditions. This is done in an
EnergyPlus spreadsheet. Then the calculated coefficients and indicated reference conditions are entered on
the heat pump dialog in the model to simulate the heat pump performance. A library of templates containing
pre-defined manufacturers heat pump data is provided to allow an early stage analysis to be carried out
without specific project equipment being specified.
The variables that influence the water-to-water heat pump performance include load side entering water
temperature, source side entering water temperature, source side water flow rate and load side water flow
rate. The governing equations for the cooling and heating modes are as follows:
Cooling Mode
- 713 -
Heating Mode:
Assuming no losses, the source side heat transfer rate for cooling and heating mode is calculated as:
Qsource,c = Qc + Powerc
Qsource,h = Qh - Powerh
Where:
General
Name
This alpha field contains the unique identifying name for the water to water heat pump.
Template
You can use this control to load data to the dialog from a pre-defined heat pump template as a starting point
for your particular heat pump component. A sample list of manufacturers data is provided in the templates and
instructions on how to create your own templates from manufacturers data.
Heat pumps are usually selected using their Rated heating capacity.
Type
DesignBuilder provides the EnergyPlus Equation Fit water to water heat pump model. EnergyPlus also
provides the Parameter Estimation model but this only supports R22 refrigerant which is no longer permitted
in new designs. Because of this and other technical limitations in the model, DesignBuilder have now removed
this option so the Type control is currently disabled and is fixed as 1-Equation fit.
- 714 -
Water To Water Heat Pump Heating
Advanced
Cycle time
The full on and off cycle time of the heat pump unit in hours. You are advised to leave this data at the default
value of 0.0161 hours (1 minute) which is also the minimum value. The maximum allowed value is 0.1 hours
(6 minutes) but note that using values higher than the default can prevent correct operation of the heat pump.
- 715 -
The figure below uses Carrier model 50PSW036 (highest leaving water temperature 51.8ºC) heating as an
example to show the impact of using heat pumps outside their intended operation regime. Extrapolation of
catalogue data is not normally recommended however a simple trend line (following red coloured line) shows
that the COP of the heat pump will be much reduced at ~1.38 when output water temperature reaches 80ºC.
So this sort of system configuration is clearly not as energy efficient as a low temperature system such as a
heated floor which require supply temperatures around 35ºC and give COPs of over 4 at this leaving water
temperature. Underfloor heating is therefore recommended for use with GSHP.
General
Name
This alpha field contains the unique identifying name for the water to water heat pump.
Template
You can use this control to load data to the dialog from a pre-defined heat pump template as a starting point
for your particular heat pump component. A sample list of manufacturers data is provided in the templates and
instructions on how to create your own templates from manufacturers data.
Type
DesignBuilder provides the EnergyPlus Equation Fit water to water heat pump model. EnergyPlus also
provides the Parameter Estimation model but this only supports R22 refrigerant which is no longer permitted
- 716 -
Water To Water Heat Pump Cooling
in new designs. Because of this and other technical limitations in the model, DesignBuilder have now removed
this option so the Type control is currently disabled and is fixed as 1-Equation fit.
Advanced
Cycle time
The full on and off cycle time of the heat pump unit in hours. You are advised to leave this data at the default
value of 0.0161 hours (1 minute) which is also the minimum value. The maximum allowed value is 0.1 hours
(6 minutes) but note that using values higher than the default can prevent correct operation of the heat pump.
- 717 -
Generating Heat Pump Coefficients From Manufacturers
Data
In order to allow manufacturer's heat pump catalogue data to be used, EnergyPlus provides spreadsheets to
generate heating/cooling capacity coefficients (1 to 5) and compressor power coefficients (1 to 5) for each
heat pump model. The spreadsheets and relevant documents from EnergyPlus,
HeatPumpWatertoWaterWatertoAirSpreadsheets and Docs, can be accessed at:
https://energyplus.helpserve.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/83/39/heatpump-watertowater-watertoair-
spreadsheets-and-docs
Manufacturer’s catalogues normally provides more data points than are needed to generate coefficients for
the EnergyPlus heat pumps. The EnergyPlus spreadsheet only requires 7 fields:
These seven fields must be rearranged as columns in the order specified by the EnergyPlus spreadsheet
before attempting to generate the relevant coefficients.
The more data points used, the more accurate the calculation of the coefficients. As EnergyPlus states, the
minimum data points for EF based model are 5. However, the data points must involve various inlet conditions
(e.g. water flow rates, inlet water temperatures, etc.) that cover the entire range of the heat pump operating
conditions.
Some catalogue data is in IP units, however the EnergyPlus spreadsheets can take data in either SI or IP
units (data in IP units will be converted to SI units after a button is clicked in the spreadsheets). All processing
is carried out using SI units.
The figure below shows how the relevant catalogue data is rearranged to the format EnergyPlus spreadsheets
require and how the links between the two are established starting with the manufacturer's table on the right
table and copying relevant data to the spreadsheet shown on the left). The example is based on a Carrier
heat pump model 50PSW180 heating mode .
- 718 -
Generating Heat Pump Coefficients From Manufacturers Data
- 719 -
Recommendation for efficient use when heating
The highest supply water temperature provided in catalogue data is normally between 50ºC-60ºC. This is not
normally hot enough to supply hot water radiators and heating coils and you are advised not to connect to
water radiators to these systems. However, EneryPlus does not limit the output water temperature to the
catalogue maximum, so in practice, if setpoints allow it, supply water temperatures can achieve the typical hot
water radiator/baseboard temperature levels of 75ºC-80ºC. The figure below uses Carrier model 50PSW036
(highest leaving water temperature 51.8ºC) heating as an example to show the impact of using heat pumps in
this way. Extrapolation of catalogue data is not normally recommended however the trend line (following red
coloured line) shows its COP value is much reduced at 1.38 when output water temperature reaches 80ºC. So
this sort of system configuration is clearly not nearly as energy efficient as a low temperature system such as
a heated floor which require supply temperatures around 35ºC. Underfloor heating is therefore recommended
for use with GSHP.
- 720 -
GSHP Example
GSHP Example
Create a building model first then follow the steps below to set up a water to water (ground source) heat pump
(GSHP) system using vertical boreholes to provide both heating through heated floors and cooling through
chilled beams.
- 721 -
2. Run DesignBuilder Cooling design calculation to obtain peak cooling
load.
The layout below shows a typical heating and cooling application. This was loaded from the GSHP - Heated
Floor and Chilled Beams HVAC template but you can create a similar layout from scratch to suit your
particular configuration.
- 722 -
GSHP Example
Alternatively you can create your own heating capacity coefficients and heating compressor power coefficients
together with rated flow rates, rated heating capacity and rated heating power consumption from catalogue
data.
Note that the rated load side flow rate for the selected heat pump is 0.00442 m3/s.
Alternatively you can create your own cooling capacity coefficients and cooling compressor power coefficients
together with rated flow rates, rated heating capacity and rated cooling power consumption from catalogue
data.
Note that the rated load side flow rate for the selected heat pump is 0.00442 m3/s.
- 723 -
6. Set ground heat exchanger data.
Open the Ground heat exchanger dialog and use the quick sizing table (below) to decide which template to
load. Rounding up design heating and cooling loads from 85 kW to 90 kW you can see that 40 boreholes are
required to meet this combination of loads.
Change both Design flow rate and Maximum flow rate to 0.00884 which is the sum of 0.00442 + 0.00442
for the heat pump heating and heat pump cooling components respectively. Refer to steps 4 and 5. If you
have used your own specific heat pump heating/cooling data generated from catalogue data you should alter
this flow rate figure accordingly.
- 724 -
GSHP Example
Change Maximum loop flow rate from Autosize to 0.00884, the same as (or greater than) ground heat
exchanger flow rate, derived in step 6.
Important note: You must not use Autosize for condensers connected to GSHPs.
- 725 -
8. Turn on ground floor’s internal source in order to apply underfloor
heating system.
Edit any Ground floor, Internal floor or External floor constructions where the underfloor heating applies to
ensure that an internal source is included in the construction.
To ensure the best heat transfer from the embedded hot water pipes to the room occupied region, the
innermost layer (top layer) of the construction should have a relatively small thickness using thermally
conductive timber flooring or tiles rather than a more insulating material such as carpet.
On the Internal source tab, check the Internal source option and assign the position of the internal source
within the construction layers. The internal source layer should normally be placed at one layer below (inside)
innermost layer.
- 726 -
GSHP Example
- 727 -
During occupied hours each day in summer, room air temperature was controlled well at 24ºC (cooling
setpoint temperature is 24ºC).
- 728 -
Air To Water Heat Pump / ASHP Data
During occupied hours each day in winter, room air temperature was controlled at about 23ºC (heating
setpoint temperature is 22ºC).
Note: The terms "Air to water heat pump", "Air source heat pump" and "ASHP" are used interchangeably
in the documentation.
Various configurations of tank location, inlet air source, and DX coil compressor location can be modelled.
- 729 -
2. Supply side of DHW loop.
3. As a zone object within an HVAC zone. In this case the inlet air source is the zone in which the ASHP
is located.
The heat pump water heater’s DX coil is the primary heat source and the water tank’s heater (element or
burner) can provide supplemental heat as necessary. The model also assumes that the heat pump’s fan and
water pump cycle on and off with the compressor.
• Water heater heat pump is the top level object. The data for the dialog is described below.
• Water heater - used to store hot water generated by the heat pump coil. The tank can be used to
represent a buffer tank and the volume set .
• Air to water heat pump coil
• On/off fan
The ASHP HVAC template uses a more sophisticated way to combine ASHP and supplementary heating. The
ASHP provides the main heating and a hot water loop with boiler is used to provide any additional heat
required to meet the overall supply setpoint via a heat exchanger .
- 730 -
Air To Water Heat Pump / ASHP Data
Example HVAC layout showing how ASHP output can be supplemented by heat from a hot water loop
- ASHP
General
Name
Enter a unique name for the air to water heat pump.
Availability schedule
The availability schedule defines the times when the heat pump compressor is available to operate. A
schedule value equal to 0 denotes that the heat pump compressor is off for that time period. A value other
than 0 denotes that the heat pump compressor is available to operate during that time period. During times
when the heat pump compressor is scheduled off, the heater (element or burner) in the water tank object
operates based on its tank set point temperature schedule and the heat pump’s parasitic electric power is also
off for that time period.
Compressor Settings
Compressor setpoint temperature schedule
This schedule defines the set point (or “cut-out”) temperature for the heat pump compressor. Temperature
values used in this schedule should be in degrees Celsius. The heat pump compressor cycles off when the
tank water reaches this set point temperature. Once the heat pump compressor cycles off, the tank water
temperature drops until it falls below the set point temperature minus the dead band temperature difference
defined below (i.e., the “cut-in” temperature). At this point, the heat pump compressor cycles on and remains
on until the heat pump compressor set point temperature is reached.
Important Note: The overall heat pump compressor “cut-in” temperature (Compressor setpoint
temperature schedule value minus the dead band temperature difference below) must be greater than the
- 731 -
Water Heater Setpoint temperature schedule ("cut-out" temperature) in order for the heat pump to provide
heat to the water heater tank.
In this model, the heat pump water heater’s DX compression system is considered the primary heat source
and the water tank’s heater (element or burner) provides supplemental heat as necessary. Therefore, the cut-
in temperature for the heat pump compressor (set point minus dead band temperature difference) is usually
higher than the set point temperature for the heater (element or burner) in the associated water heater tank
object. At times when the water heater tank set point temperature is greater than the cut-in temperature of the
heat pump compressor, the heat pump compressor is disabled and the tank’s heater is used to heat the water.
Note: The minimum Minimum inlet air temperature for compressor operation setting allowed in
DesignBuilder is -20°C, but if you intend to export the model to run outside DesignBuilder in EnergyPlus v8.6,
the minimum temperature allowed is higher at -5°C. In this case, if you need to use a value lower than -5°C,
you should either copy the idd file stored in the DesignBuilder EnergyPlus folder to the EnergyPlus folder you
are using, or manually edit the EnergyPlus idd file. In EnergyPlus v8.9 and later, the minimum limit has been
removed so this issue will not arise.
Compressor location
Select the location of the heat pump compressor and the air temperature for this location used to control
operation of the compressor’s crankcase heater in the Air to water heat pump coil. Valid entries are:
• 1-Schedule, in which case a compressor ambient temperature schedule must be defined below.
• 2-Zone when the crankcase heater operation is controlled based on the air temperature in the zone in
which the ASHP is located.
• 3-Outdoors in which case the crankcase heater operation is controlled based on the outdoor air
temperature.
The 2-Zone option is only available when the ASHP is used as an object placed within an HVAC zone.
- 732 -
Air To Water Heat Pump / ASHP Data
specified for the heat pump’s DX coil. This water flow rate must be greater than 0 or this field is
autocalculatable. If autocalculated (field value = autocalculate), the condenser water flow rate is set equal to
the rated heating capacity of the heat pump’s DX coil multiplied by 4.487E-8 m3/s/W. When this flow rate is
different from the Rated condenser water flow rate specified for the heat pump’s DX coil, the user should also
specify a Heating capacity function of water flow fraction curve and a Heating COP function of water flow
fraction curve in the associated DX coil object to account for differences in capacity and power consumption at
the off-rated water flow rate.
• 1-Schedule, in which case names an inlet air temperature schedule and an inlet air humidity schedule
are defined in the fields below.
• 2-Zone air only, option only available when the ASHP is placed as a zone unit. The inlet air is sourced
from the zone in which the ASHP is placed.
• 3-Outdoor air only.
• 4-Zone and outdoor air, option only available when the ASHP is placed as a zone unit. The inlet air is
sourced from the zone in which the ASHP is placed and mixed with outdoor air based on the Inlet air
mixer schedule below.
- 733 -
zone air. For this same case, the outlet air splitter directs 60% of the ASHP outlet air back to the zone and
40% of the outlet air flow is exhausted outdoors.
Fan Settings
Fan placement
This Selection defines the placement of the fan in the heat pump water heater. Valid choices are:
• 1- Zone where both the on-cycle and off-cycle parasitic heat is rejected to the zone. This option is only
available for ASHP used as zone equipment in which case the heat is rejected to the zone containing
the ASHP.
• 2-Exterior where parasitic heat is rejected outdoors (does not impact the zone air heat balance)
- 734 -
Air To Water Heat Pump Coil
This DX coil calculates the air-side sensible and latent cooling capacity at the specific operating conditions for
each simulation timestep, as well as the condenser’s water-side temperature difference at a given condenser
water flow rate. The heat pump water heater DX coil model performs the following major functions:
The input fields for this object are described below in detail.
General
Name
Enter a unique name for the air to water heat pump coil.
Rated COP
This numeric field defines the DX coil’s water heating coefficient of performance (COP=water heating capacity
divided by electrical power input) at rated conditions (rated inlet temperatures and flow rates specified below).
This input not only determines the electric energy use of the heat pump DX coil, but also the amount of total
air cooling provided by the evaporator. The rated COP includes compressor power, and may or may not
include condenser pump power or evaporator fan power (see field Evaporator fan power included in rated
COP and field Condenser pump power included in rated COP). Values must be greater than 0.
Evaporator Settings
Rated evaporator inlet air dry-bulb temperature
This numeric field defines the evaporator inlet air dry-bulb temperature (in °C or °F), that corresponds to rated
coil performance (heating capacity, COP and SHR). Values must be greater than 5°C. The default value is
19.7°C.
- 735 -
Rated evaporator air flow rate
This numeric field defines the evaporator air volume flow rate (m3/s or ft3/min) at rated conditions. Values
must be greater than 0. If this field is autocalculated (value = autocalculate), the default value is 5.035E-5
m3/s/W (31.25 cfm/MBH) multiplied by the Rated heating capacity specified above. When autocalculating the
rated evaporator air volumetric flow rate, the zone sizing data is not used.
Condenser Settings
Rated condenser inlet water temperature
This numeric field defines the condenser inlet water temperature (in °C or °F) that corresponds to rated coil
performance (heating capacity, COP and SHR). Values must be greater than 25°C. The default value is
57.5°C.
Condenser pump heat included in rated heating capacity and rated COP
This option specifies whether condenser pump heat is included in the rated heating capacity and rated COP
defined above. It impacts the calculation of compressor electric power and total air cooling provided by the
evaporator for each simulation timestep. If it is selected, the condenser pump heat is already included in the
rated heating capacity and rated COP. If it isn't selected, it is assumed that the rated heating capacity and
rated COP do not include the condenser pump heat, and pump heat is added to the total water heating
capacity based on the Condenser water pump power and Fraction of condenser pump heat to water fields
below. See Engineering Reference section for Coil:WaterHeating:AirToWaterHeatPump for further details.
- 736 -
Air To Water Heat Pump Coil
Performance Settings
You can use curves to modify the rated capacity and rated COP defined above based on one or more
performance curves. To apply a curve first check its associated check box and then select the required curve.
Note: to use the rated capacity and rated COP without modification you should uncheck all of the check
boxes in this section.
• 1-Dry-bulb temperature in which case the inlet air dry-bulb temperature entering the heat pump DX
coil and fan section is used to evaluate the curve objects.
• 2-Wet-bulb temperature where the inlet air wet-bulb temperature entering the heat pump DX coil and
fan section is used to evaluate the curve objects.
If the curves are not defined then this field is not used.
If the associated checkbox is unchecked, the heating capacity remains constant (curve value assumed to be
1.0 for all conditions).
- 737 -
Heating capacity function of air flow fraction curve
This Quadratic or Cubic performance curve defines the variation in DX coil heating capacity as a function of
the ratio of actual air flow rate across the evaporator coil to the rated evaporator air flow rate. The output of
this curve is multiplied by the Rated heating capacity and the Heating capacity modifier curve (function of
temperature) to give the DX coil heating capacity at the specific inlet fluid temperatures and air flow rate at
which the coil is operating. The curve should be normalized to have the value of 1.0 at the rated evaporator air
flow rate (air flow fraction of 1.0).
If the associated checkbox is unchecked the heating capacity remains constant (curve value assumed to be
1.0 for all air flow rates).
If the associated checkbox is unchecked the heating capacity remains constant (curve value assumed to be
1.0 for all water flow rates).
If the associated checkbox is unchecked the COP remains constant (curve value assumed to be 1.0 for all
conditions).
If the associated checkbox is unchecked the heating COP remains constant (curve value assumed to be 1.0
for all air flow rates).
If the associated checkbox is unchecked the heating COP remains constant (curve value assumed to be 1.0
for all water flow rates).
- 738 -
Air To Water Heat Pump Example
The part load fraction correlation should be normalized to a value of 1.0 when the part load ratio equals 1.0
(i.e., no efficiency losses when the compressor(s) run continuously for the simulation timestep). For PLR
values between 0 and 1 (0 <= PLR < 1), the following rules apply:
If PLF < 0.7 a warning message is issued, the program resets the PLF value to 0.7, and the simulation
proceeds. The runtime fraction of the coil is defined as PLR/PLF. If PLF < PLR, then a warning message is
issued and the runtime fraction of the coil is limited to 1.0.
A typical part load fraction correlation for a conventional, single-speed DX cooling coil (e.g., residential unit)
would be:
If the user wishes to model no efficiency degradation due to compressor cycling, the part load fraction
correlation should be defined as follows:
3. Load the ASHP Air-to-water Heat Pump, Series Boiler, Water Convector Detailed HVAC template.
- 739 -
This provides a high temperature air to water heat pump with gas boiler supplementary heater.
4. Run the Heating design calculations to obtain the total design heating capacity of the system.
5. Now change the default high temperature model loaded from the template to use low temperature outlet
from the HP. Edit the Air to water heat pump coil and select the ASHP LowT COPFT and ASHP LowT
Heating CAPFT performance curves. The curves section of the dialog should similar to the screenshot below.
• Enter the Rated heating capacity of the ASHP. Enter 90% of the design heating load (we will rely on
the gas boiler to boost overall system capacity to achieve the full capacity).
• Create and select a new schedule for the Compressor setpoint temperature schedule based on LowT
heat pump water supply temperature: Always 55.00.
• Ensure that the Minimum inlet air temperature for compressor operation is set to -10°C to allow
operation on cold days but prevent operation on days colder than -10°C.
• Change the Deadband temperature difference to 2°C.
- 740 -
Performance Curves
9. Edit the boiler and change the capacity of the boiler to provide the remaining 10% of the design heating
load.
10. Check that the SPM downstream of the supply side of the HX is controlling supply water temperature to
55°C.
Performance Curves
Curve:Linear
Curve:Quadratic Used in many HVAC components as well as electrical
Curve:Cubic storage devices
Curve:Quartic
Curve:Exponent
Curve:Bicubic
Curve:Biquadratic
Curve:RectangularHyperbola2
Curve:DoubleExponentialDecay
This group of objects primarily consists of polynomial curves that are used to characterize the performance of
HVAC equipment. Several other non-polynomial curves are also included to characterize the performance of
pumps and fans. The curves are usually derived from fits or regressions to data covering a limited range.
Results for independent variable values outside this range are likely to be invalid, so curve input always
contains a range of validity (maximum and minimum permitted values) for each independent variable and can
optionally have limits on the curve output. No error or warning message is issued if an independent variable is
outside the range. Instead, EnergyPlus uses the minimum value if an independent variable is less than the
minimum, and the maximum if a variable exceeds the maximum. Similarly, no error or warning message is
issued if the curve output is outside the range of the optional minimum and maximum curve output limits.
Instead, EnergyPlus uses the minimum and maximum curve limits to cap the output of the performance curve.
Tip: Tools are available to help you create performance curves for use in DesignBuilder HVAC:
1. Curve Generator tool accessed from the Info panel of the Curves dialog.
2. VRF Curve Generation Utilities spreadsheet can be downloaded from the DesignBuilder website.
3. The EnergyPlus Curve Fit Tool can be used to generate HVAC performance curves in the format required
by EnergyPlus.
The curve data follow a similar pattern and all have the same first 4 data items:
Name
A user assigned unique name for a curve. When a curve is used, it is referenced by this name.
Note
Specific information about the curve.
- 741 -
Source
Where the curve was derived from (usually either EnergyPlus, meaning it comes from the EnergyPlus curves
database, which is largely derived from the DOE-2 database, or DesignBuilder meaning that the curve is
provided by DesignBuilder Software)
Category
The category can be one of:
• Linear
• Quadratic
• Cubic
• Exponent
• Bi-Quadratic
• Bi-Cubic
• Quartic
• Rectangular Hyperbola 2
• Double Exponential Decay
The rest of the data depends on the category as described below.
Linear
Input for the linear curve consists of a curve name, the two coefficients, and the maximum and minimum valid
independent variable values. Optional inputs for curve minimum and maximum may be used to limit the output
of the performance curve (e.g. limit extrapolation). The equation represented by the linear curve is:
y = C 1 + C2 * x
Coefficient 1 constant
The constant coefficient (C1) in the equation.
Coefficient 2 x
The linear coefficient (C2) in the equation.
Minimum value of x
The minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of x
The maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
- 742 -
Performance Curves
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
• Dimensionless
• Capacity
• Power
Quadratic
Input for a quadratic curve consists of the curve name, the three coefficients, and the maximum and minimum
valid independent variable values. Optional inputs for curve minimum and maximum may be used to limit the
output of the performance curve (e.g. limit extrapolation). The equation represented by the quadratic curve is:
y = C 1 + C2 * x + C 3 * x 2
Coefficient 1 constant
The constant coefficient (C1) in the equation.
Coefficient 2 x
The linear coefficient (C2) in the equation.
Coefficient 3 x2
The quadratic coefficient (C3) in the equation.
Minimum value of x
The minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of x
The maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
- 743 -
are appropriate, select Dimensionless which will have no unit conversion.
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
• Dimensionless
• Capacity
• Power
Cubic
Input for a cubic curve consists of the curve name, the 4 coefficients, and the maximum and minimum valid
independent variable values. Optional inputs for curve minimum and maximum may be used to limit the output
of the performance curve (e.g. limit extrapolation). The equation represented by the cubic curve is:
y = C 1 + C2 * x + C 3 * x 2 + C4 * x 3
Coefficient 1 constant
The constant coefficient (C1) in the equation.
Coefficient 2 x
The linear coefficient (C2) in the equation.
Coefficient 3 x2
The quadratic coefficient (C3) in the equation.
Coefficient 4 x3
The quadratic coefficient (C4) in the equation.
Minimum value of x
The minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of x
The maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
- 744 -
Performance Curves
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
• Dimensionless
• Capacity
• Power
Exponent
Input for a exponent curve consists of the curve name, the 3 coefficients, and the maximum and minimum
valid independent variable values. Optional inputs for curve minimum and maximum may be used to limit the
output of the performance curve (e.g. limit extrapolation). The equation represented by the exponent curve is:
y = C1 + C2 * xC3
Coefficient 1 constant
The constant coefficient (C1) in the equation.
Coefficient 2 constant
The linear coefficient (C2) in the equation.
Coefficient 3 constant
The exponent coefficient (C3) in the equation.
Minimum value of x
The minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of x
The maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
- 745 -
Maximum curve output
The maximum allowable value of the evaluated curve. Values greater than the maximum will be replaced by
the maximum.
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
• Dimensionless
• Capacity
• Power
Bi-quadratic
This curve is a function of two independent variables. Input consists of the curve name, the six coefficients,
and min and max values for each of the independent variables. Optional inputs for curve minimum and
maximum may be used to limit the output of the performance curve (e.g. limit extrapolation). The equation
represented by the biquadratic curve is:
z = C1 + C2 * x + C3 * x2 + C4* y + C5 * y2 + C6*xy
Coefficient 1 constant
The constant coefficient (C1) in the equation.
Coefficient 2 x
The linear coefficient (C2) in the equation.
Coefficient 3 x2
The quadratic coefficient (C3) in the equation.
Coefficient 4 y
The coefficient C4 in the equation.
Coefficient 5 y2
The coefficient C5 in the equation.
- 746 -
Performance Curves
Coefficient 6 xy
The coefficient C6 in the equation.
Minimum value of x
The minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of x
The maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
Minimum value of y
The minimum allowable value of y. Values of y less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of y
The maximum allowable value of y. Values of y greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
- 747 -
Output unit type
This field is used to indicate the kind of units that may be associated with the output values. It is used by IDF
Editor to display the appropriate SI and IP units for the Minimum Curve Output and Maximum Curve Output.
The unit conversion is not applied to the coefficients. The available options are shown below. If none of these
options are appropriate, select Dimensionless which will have no unit conversion.
1. Dimensionless
2. Capacity
3. Power
Bi-cubic
This curve type is a function of two independent variables. Input consists of the curve name, the ten
coefficients, and the minimum and maximum values for each of the independent variables. Optional inputs for
curve minimum and maximum may be used to limit the output of the performance curve (e.g. limit
extrapolation). The equation represented by the bicubic curve is:
z = C1 + C2 * x + C3* x2 + C4* y + C5 * y2 + C6*xy + C7* x3 + C8* y3 + C9 * x2y + C10 * xy2
Coefficient 1 constant
The constant coefficient (C1) in the equation.
Coefficient 2 x
The linear coefficient (C2) in the equation.
Coefficient 3 x2
The quadratic coefficient (C3) in the equation.
Coefficient 4 y
The coefficient C4 in the equation.
Coefficient 5 y2
The coefficient C5 in the equation.
Coefficient 6 xy
The coefficient C6 in the equation.
Coefficient 7 x3
The coefficient C7 in the equation.
Coefficient 8 y3
The coefficient C8 in the equation.
Coefficient 9 x2y
The coefficient C9 in the equation.
Coefficient 10 xy2
The coefficient C10 in the equation.
- 748 -
Performance Curves
Minimum value of x
The minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of x
The maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
Minimum value of y
The minimum allowable value of y. Values of y less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of y
The maximum allowable value of y. Values of y greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
- 749 -
options are appropriate, select Dimensionless which will have no unit conversion.
• Dimensionless
• Capacity
• Power
Quartic
Input for a Quartic (fourth order polynomial) curve consists of the curve name, the five coefficients, and the
maximum and minimum valid independent variable values. Optional inputs for curve minimum and maximum
may be used to limit the output of the performance curve (e.g., limit extrapolation). The equation represented
by the quartic curve is:
y = C 1 + C2 * x + C 3 * x 2 + C 4 * x 3 + C 5 * x 4
Coefficient 1 constant
The constant coefficient (C1) in the equation.
Coefficient 2 x
The linear coefficient (C2) in the equation.
Coefficient 3 x2
The quadratic coefficient (C3) in the equation.
Coefficient 4 x3
The cubic coefficient (C4) in the equation.
Coefficient 5 x4
The fourth-order coefficient (C5) in the equation.
Minimum value of x
The minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will be replaced by the minimum.
Maximum value of x
The maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced by the maximum.
Maximum value of x
The maximum allowable value of the evaluated curve. Values greater than the maximum will be replaced by
the maximum.
- 750 -
Performance Curves
• Dimensionless
• Temperature
• VolumetricFlow
• MassFlow
• Distance
• Power
• Dimensionless
• Capacity
• Power
Rectangular Hyperbola 2
Input for the single rectangular hyperbola type 2 curve consists of the curve name, the three coefficients, and
the maximum and minimum valid independent variable values. Optional inputs for the curve minimum and
maximum may be used to limit the output of the performance curve (e.g., limit extrapolation). The equation is:
Coefficient 1 C1
The required numeric constant coefficient C1 in the equation.
Coefficient 2 C2
The required numeric constant coefficient C2 in the equation.
Coefficient 3 C3
The required numeric constant coefficient C3 in the equation.
Minimum value of x
The required numeric minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will b e replaced by
the minimum.
Maximum value of x
The required numeric maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced
by the maximum.
- 751 -
Input unit type for x
This optional field is provided for future purposes so that DesignBuilder could display the appropriate SI or IP
units for the Minimum Value of x and Maximum Value of x (currently dimensionless). At this time, only the
Dimensionless option is provided so that no unit conversion is used for this curve.
y = C1 + C2 exp( C3 x) + C4 exp(C5 x)
Coefficient 1 C1
The required numeric constant coefficient C1 in the equation.
Coefficient 2 C2
The required numeric constant coefficient C2 in the equation.
Coefficient 3 C3
The required numeric constant coefficient C3 in the equation.
Coefficient 4 C4
The required numeric constant coefficient C4 in the equation.
Coefficient 5 C5
The required numeric constant coefficient C5 in the equation.
Minimum value of x
The required numeric minimum allowable value of x. Values of x less than the minimum will be replaced by
the minimum
Maximum value of x
The required numeric maximum allowable value of x. Values of x greater than the maximum will be replaced
by the maximum
- 752 -
Editing Zone Group Data
• General tab, where the building zones to be included in the zone group are selected.
• Heating and Cooling Sequence tab where the order of simulation is defined for each item of zone
equipment.
• Zone defaults tab which is hidden by default but can be displayed when the Show HVAC zone default
data on the HVAC zone group dialog Program option is selected.
See the Detailed HVAC Activity Data and Zone Groups Tutorial
General Tab
Title
This is the name that you assign to the zone group. The name must be unique and if a duplicate name is
entered, the software will automatically append an integer in order to ensure a unique name.
Zones in Group
This is a tree control with checkboxes that you can use to define which building zones are to be added to the
zone group. Only zones that have not already been assigned to other zone groups or plenums are made
available for selection.
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Tip: You can use the checkboxes at building and block levels as a fast way to select/deselect all of the
available zones in the building or block.
If the calculation sequence had been set up the other way round then the FCU is unlikely to have been able to
accurately meet heating and cooling setpoints since it would not be accounting for the load introduced by the
ADU.
Note 1: The heating and cooling calculation sequence can only be assigned after equipment has been
added to one of the constituent HVAC zones.
- 754 -
Editing HVAC Zone Data
Note 2: When a Zone group includes both heating and/or cooling zone equipment with an ADU providing
ventilation air, DesignBuilder will by default set up the calculation sequence so that the air system is simulated
first and other zone equipment after that. This will generally be the correct setting as mentioned above, it
ensures that any air load resulting from the supply of centrally delivered air to the zone can be met by the
other zone equipment. However you can change that behaviour manually by selecting zone equipment to
simulate first.
Zone Defaults
When the Show HVAC zone default data on the HVAC zone group dialog Program option is selected you can
enter default settings which will be used to initialise any HVAC zones subsequently added to this HVAC zone
group. Making changes to these zone defaults values do not affect HVAC zones once they have been
created.
Tip: The most important application of HVAC zone group default data is when saving HVAC templates
where specific HVAC zone settings are required. Any HVAC zone settings made in the source model are not
saved with an HVAC template, but the settings on the HVAC zone group are saved and applied to zones
added to the HVAC zone group when the template is subsequently loaded in the destination model.
• General
• Target
The first tab which is the General tab is used to define temperature and humidity control together with zone
sizing information (Cooling Sizing, Heating Sizing and Outdoor Air Sizing). The Cooling sizing and Heating
sizing information provides the data needed to perform a zone design air flow calculation for a single zone.
This calculation assumes a variable amount of supply air at a fixed temperature and humidity. The information
needed consists of the zone inlet supply air conditions: temperature and humidity ratio for heating and cooling.
The calculation is done for every design day included in the input. The maximum cooling load and air flow and
the maximum heating load and air flow are then saved for the system level design calculations and for the
component automatic sizing calculations. The Outdoor air sizing information is used to define the design
outdoor air flow rate. This can be specified in a number of ways as described under Outdoor air method. This
data is then used in the EnergyPlus system sizing calculation for sizing zone components that use outside air.
You can also place limits on the heating and design cooling air flow rates. See Heating design air flow method
and Cooling design air flow method and the explanations of the various heating and cooling flow input fields.
The second Target tab is used to specify which other zones in the zone group the changes will be applied to.
- 755 -
General
Name
This is the name of the building zone with which the current HVAC zone is linked.
Thermostat Schedules
Detailed HVAC Activity data set to 2-Detailed HVAC
If the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data model option is set then you can select schedules
defining zone heating and cooling setpoint temperatures on this dialog. Otherwise, if the 1-Simple HVAC
option is selected then zone setpoint temperatures and schedules are defined on the Activity and HVAC
model data tabs respectively and the Thermostat schedule data is not displayed on this dialog.
Note: The temperatures defined in these schedules must be in °C regardless of whether you are using IP
or SI units in the interface.
If the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data model option is set then you can select schedules which
define zone heating and cooling setpoint PMV values on this dialog. Otherwise, if the 1-Simple HVAC option
is selected then zone setpoint PMV values and schedules are defined on the Activity and HVAC model data
tabs respectively and the Thermostat schedule data is not displayed on this dialog.
The Thermal comfort calculator tool can be used to derive PMV values based on perhaps more familiar
parameters.
Humidistat Control
Humidistat control
This check-box is used to specify whether or not the zone has humidity control.
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Edit HVAC Zone Data - General Tab
The rest of the General tab of the HVAC Zone dialog is related to Detailed HVAC autosizing calculations only.
Note: When the DCV System outdoor air method is either 1-Zone sum or 2-Ventilation Rate Procedure
(VRP) then this option does not need to be selected.
Note: When one of the proportional DCV System outdoor air methods is selected on the AHU dialog (4-
Proportional control based on occupancy schedule or 5-Proportional control based on design
occupancy) then selection of the CO2 and contaminant control checkbox on this dialog is optional. If you
wish to specify zone minimum CO2 concentration settings for proportional control then you should check this
checkbox, otherwise leave it unchecked, in which case outdoor air CO2 concentration will be used as the
minimum instead. You can find details of the calculations used to calculate the target indoor CO2
concentration in the Engineering reference under Proportional Control.
Note: When one of the IAQP DCV System outdoor air methods are selected (3-Indoor Air Quality
Procedure (IAQP) or 6-Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) generic contaminant) then the CO2 and
contaminant option must be selected for at least one HVAC zone connected to the AHU.
More information on DCV is available in the DCV control section of the AHU help page.
- 757 -
Detailed HVAC Activity data is 2-Detailed HVAC
If the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data model option is set then you can select schedules
defining time-varying CO2 and contaminant setpoints on this dialog.
The rest of the General tab of the HVAC Zone dialog is related to Detailed HVAC autosizing calculations only.
Method
You can choose to either define fixed zone air distribution effectiveness values for heating and cooling or
select a schedule with time-varying values to cover both heating and cooling together. Select from:
• 1-Separate heating and cooling where fixed zone air distribution effectiveness values are entered
separately for heating and cooling.
• 2-Scheduled where a schedule is selected which defines how the zone air distribution effectiveness for
both heating and cooling varies with time.
- 758 -
Edit HVAC Zone Data - General Tab
z
1.
Ceiling supply of cool air.
0
1.
Ceiling supply of warm air and floor return.
0
0.
Ceiling supply of warm air 15°F (8°C) or more above space temperature and ceiling return.
8
Ceiling supply of warm air less than 15°F (8°C) above space temperature and ceiling return provided that
1.
the 150 fpm (0.8 m/s) supply air jet reaches to within 4.5 ft (1.4 m) of floor level. Note: For lower velocity
0
supply air, Ez = 0.8.
Floor supply of cool air and ceiling return provided that the 150 fpm (0.8 m/s) supply jet reaches 4.5 ft (1.4 1.
m) or more above the floor. Note: Most underfloor air distribution systems comply with this proviso. 0
Floor supply of cool air and ceiling return, provided low-velocity displacement ventilation achieves 1.
unidirectional flow and thermal stratification. 2
1.
Floor supply of warm air and floor return.
0
0.
Floor supply of warm air and ceiling return.
7
0.
Make-up supply drawn in on the opposite side of the room from the exhaust and/or return.
8
0.
Make-up supply drawn in near to the exhaust and/or return location.
5
1. “Cool air” is air cooler than space temperature.
2. “Warm air” is air warmer than space temperature.
3. “Ceiling” includes any point above the breathing zone.
4. “Floor” includes any point below the breathing zone.
5. As an alternative to using the above values, Ez may be regarded as equal to air change effectiveness
determined in accordance with ANSI/ASHRAE Standard
Recirculation fraction
The non-negative numeric input for this field is the fraction of a zone’s recirculation air that does not directly
mix with the outdoor air. The zone secondary recirculation fraction Er is determined by the designer based on
system configuration. For plenum return systems with secondary recirculation (e.g., fan-powered VAV with
plenum return) Er is usually less than 1.0, although values may range from 0.1 to 1.2 depending upon the
location of the ventilation zone relative to other zones and the air handler. For ducted return systems with
secondary recirculation (e.g., fan-powered VAV with ducted return), Er is typically 0.0, while for those with
system-level recirculation (e.g, dual-fan dual-duct systems with ducted return) Er is typically 1.0. For other
system types, Er is typically 0.75. Minimum is 0.0, and default is 0.0 for single-path systems (also to maintain
backward compatibility). For parallel fan-powered VAV systems, the secondary ventilation path only functions
(Er > 0.0) when the fans in the VAV boxes operate, which is during heating. The local ventilation path and the
benefits of secondary recirculation disappear during cooling, when
the local parallel fans are off (Er = 0.0).
Sizing
Cooling Sizing
• 1- Supply air temperature means that the Zone cooling design supply air temperature
(below) will be used to determine the zone cooling design air flow rate.
• 2-Temperature difference where the Zone cooling design supply air temperature
difference (below) is used to determine the zone cooling design air flow rate.
- 759 -
Cooling design supply air temperature
This is the supply air temperature (in °C or °F) for the zone cooling air flow rate calculation. Air is
supplied to the zone at this temperature during the cooling design day simulation and the zone load is
met by varying the zone air flow rate. The maximum zone flow rate is used as the zone cooling design
air flow rate.
This data is only available when the Cooling design supply air temperature input method (above) is 1-
Supply air temperature.
This data is only available when the Cooling design supply air temperature input method (above) is 2-
Temperature difference.
Note: This value is only used when the zone is connected to a VAV Air loop, in which case this
data is used for sizing and not for the simulation itself.
• 1-Design day means the program will calculate the zone design cooling air flow rate using the
zone cooling sizing information and a design day simulation without imposing any limits other
than those set by the minimum outside air requirements.
• 2-Flow/zone means that the program will use the Cooling design air flow rate as the zone
design cooling air flow rate.
• 3-Design day with limit means that the maximum from Cooling minimum flow per zone floor
area and Cooling minimum air flow will set a lower limit on the design maximum cooling air flow
rate.
- 760 -
Edit HVAC Zone Data - General Tab
Heating Sizing
Heating design supply air temperature input method
This option determines how the heating design air flow rate is calculated in the system autosizing
calculations:
• 1- Supply air temperature means that the Zone heating design supply air temperature
(below) will be used to determine the zone heating design air flow rate.
• 2-Temperature difference where the Zone heating design supply air temperature
difference (below) is used to determine the zone heating design air flow rate.
- 761 -
Zone heating sizing factor
This is the zone level heating sizing ratio. The zone design heating air flow rates and loads will be
multiplied by the number input in this field. The default value comes from the Zone group dialog whose
default Zone heating sizing factor is the ASHRAE recommended heating oversizing factor of 1.25.
• 1-Design day means the program will calculate the zone design heating air flow rate using the
zone heating sizing information and a design day simulation without imposing any limits other
than those set by the minimum outside air requirements.
• 2-Flow/zone means that the program will use the Heating design air flow rate as the zone
design heating air flow rate.
• 3-Design day with limit means that the maximum from Heating maximum flow per zone floor
area and Heating maximum air flow will set a lower limit on the design maximum heating air flow
rate.
When the Detailed HVAC Activity data is set to 2-Detailed HVAC then the outdoor air requirement is
defined here on the HVAC zone dialog.
• 1-Flow/Zone, means that the program will use the Outdoor air flow per zone as the zone design
outdoor air flow rate.
- 762 -
Edit HVAC Zone Data - General Tab
• 2-Flow/Person, means the program will use the input from the field Outdoor air flow per person
and the maximum occupancy to calculate a zone design outdoor air flow rate.
• 3-Flow/Area, means that the flows calculated from the fields Outdoor air flow per zone floor area
used to obtain the zone design outdoor air flow rate.
• 4-Sum, means that the flows calculated from the fields Outdoor air flow per person, Outdoor air
flow per zone floor area and Outdoor air flow per zone will be added to obtain the zone design
outdoor air flow rate.
• 5-Maximum means that the maximum flow derived from Outdoor air flow per person, Outdoor
air flow per zone floor area and Outdoor air flow per zone will be used for the zone design
outdoor air flow rate.
Note: If the Detailed HVAC Activity data is set to 1-Simple HVAC then this option is disabled and
the Outdoor air method is copied from the corresponding building zones' HVAC model data.
Note: If the Detailed HVAC Activity data is set to 1-Simple HVAC then this option is disabled and
the Outdoor air flow per person is copied from Outdoor air flow per person from the corresponding
building zones' Activity model data.
Note: If the Detailed HVAC Activity data is set to 1-Simple HVAC then this option is disabled and
the Outdoor air flow per zone floor area data is copied from the corresponding building zones' Activity
model data.
Note: If the Detailed HVAC Activity data is set to 1-Simple HVAC then this option is disabled and
the flow per zone is calculated from the ac/h value set on the HVAC model data tab and displayed
here.
- 763 -
is added to the zone design heat gain for the zone and the zone design air flow rate is adjusted to meet
the DOAS heat gain plus the zone design heat gain.
• 1-Neutral supply air, the default option in which ventilation air supplied to the zone will cause
little heating or cooling. The air will be heated or cooled to keep it between the low and high
temperature setpoints specified in the subsequent two fields. A good choice for these fields
might be 21.1 and 23.9°C.
• 2-Neutral dehumidified supply air, where the ventilation air will be cooled and dehumidified
and then reheated to a neutral temperature. The ventilation air is cooled to the lower setpoint
temperature (if necessary) and reheated to the upper setpoint temperature. A good choice for
the setpoints would be 14.4 and 22.2°C, or
• 3-Cold supply air where the ventilation air will be used to supply cooling to the zone. Cold
outside air is heated to the upper setpoint; warm outside air is cooled to the lower setpoint. A
good choice for the setpoints would be 12.2 and 14.4°C.
• 1-This HVAC Zone only - the data on the dialog will be saved for the current HVAC zone only.
• 2-Multiple (all settings) - all of the data on the dialog will be saved for all HVAC zones in the group
• 3-Multiple (modified settings only) - only the changed settings on the dialog (shown in red) will be
saved for all HVAC zones in the group.
- 764 -
Setpoint Manager
Note: If you would like to change the default behaviour so that the equivalent objects in other HVAC
zones in the same group are all ticked when dialogs are first opened then you should check the Target all
HVAC zones in group by default Program option.
Setpoint Manager
To edit the data associated with a setpoint manager, you first need to select it by moving the mouse cursor
over it and then clicking the mouse button to select it. You can then access the edit dialog by right-clicking the
mouse and selecting the Edit selected component option or alternatively, select the Edit selected component
tool from the toolbar.
Name
This is the name that you assign to the setpoint manager which should be unique. If the supplied name is not
unique, the software will automatically append a backslash and number to ensure that there are no duplicate
names.
Type
There several different types of setpoint manager available. However only certain types of setpoint manager
are available for different types of loop:
- 765 -
• 13-Multi-zone cooling average (Air loops only).
• 14- Multi-zone heating average (Air loops only).
• 15-Follow ground temperature (Condenser loops only)
• 16-Follow outdoor air temperature
• 17-Dual setpoint (Plant loops only)
Control variable
The control variable can be one of:
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
- 766 -
Setpoint Manager
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
Note: This setpoint manager requires that humidistats are specified for the controlled zones.
- 767 -
Maximum setpoint humidity ratio
This is the maximum humidity ratio (kg/kg) that is allowed by this setpoint manager. If the calculated setpoint
humidity ratio is greater than this value, then the setpoint is set to this maximum value.
In the case of a chilled water coil which is used for both temperature and high humidity control, this setpoint
manager works in conjunction with the coil controller to determine the supply air temperature required to meet
both the temperature (sensible) and humidity (latent) load in the control zone.
Note: This setpoint manager requires that humidistats are specified for the controlled zones.
Note: This setpoint manager requires that humidistats are specified for the controlled zones.
- 768 -
Setpoint Manager
The use of this object requires that a Zone Humidistat object be specified with a dehumidifying relative
humidity schedule for one or more controlled zones served by the HVAC air loop. If the Zone Humidistat is
defined for only one of the zones served by the air loop then this Setpoint Manager performs as a Single zone
humidity maximum setpoint manager.
In the case of a chilled water coil which is used for both temperature and high humidity control, this setpoint
manager works in conjunction with a the controller associated with the Cooling coil - water object to determine
the supply air temperature required to meet both the temperature (sensible) and dehumidification (latent) load
in the control zone.
See object Controller:WaterCoil in the EnergyPlus Engineering Reference for a detailed discussion of how this
is achieved.
Note: This setpoint manager requires that a humidistat be specified for the controlled zone.
Control zone
Click on the <Select zone> label and then click on the displayed ellipsis button to bring up the zone selector
dialog. Select the zone for humidity control.
- 769 -
9-Single Zone Humidity Maximum Setpoint Manager
The Single Zone Maximum Humidity Setpoint Manager allows the control of a single zone maximum humidity
level. This setpoint manager, together with a humidistat which must be defined for the controlled zone, detects
the air humidity level in a single control zone and uses air/moisture mass balances to calculate the supply air
humidity ratio needed to maintain the zone relative humidity at or below a given setpoint. The calculated
supply air humidity ratio is then used as the setpoint for the designated setpoint node. A dehumidification
component placed upstream of this node can then use the humidity ratio setpoint to control its moisture
removal rate (e.g. water cooling coil).
In the case of a chilled water coil which is used for both temperature and high humidity control, this setpoint
manager works in conjunction with the coil controller to determine the minimum supply air temperature
required to meet both the temperature (sensible) and humidity (latent) load in the control zone.
Note: This setpoint manager requires that a humidistat be specified for the controlled zone.
Control zone
Click on the <Select zone> label and then click on the displayed ellipsis button to bring up the zone selector
dialog. Select the zone for humidity control.
Note: Normally SATOH will be lower than SATOL in which case EnergyPlus interpolates to calculate the
supply temperature. If SATOH is higher than SATOL then EnergyPlus sets the supply air temperature to the
average of the SATOH and SATOL.
The default Outdoor air reset settings for various loop types are:
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
- 770 -
Setpoint Manager
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
- 771 -
Minimum supply air temperature
The minimum supply air temperature (in °C or °F) that is allowed for this system (as set by this setpoint
manager).
Control zone
Click on the <Select zone> label and then click on the displayed ellipsis button to bring up the zone selector
dialog. Select the zone for single zone heating control.
Note: A variable temperature, constant volume heating and cooling system can be simulated by
combining a 11-Single Zone Heating Setpoint Manager with a 12-Single Zone Cooling Setpoint Manager
together on the supply side of a loop. The way this is done depends on whether the AHU has a blow-through
or draw-through fan configuration.
Blow-through: When the fan is placed upstream of the heating and cooling coils in the AHU then the 11-
Single Zone Heating Setpoint Manager is placed directly after the heating coil, between the heating coil and
the cooling coil and the 12-Single Zone Cooling Setpoint Manager is placed downstream of the AHU.
Draw-through: When the fan is placed downstream of the heating and cooling coils in the AHU then both the
11-Single Zone Heating Setpoint Manager and 12-Single Zone Cooling Setpoint Manager are placed
downstream of the AHU.
Note: See also note above on Combining 11-Single Zone Heating and 12-Single Zone Cooling Setpoint
Managers.
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
- 772 -
Setpoint Manager
Control zone
Click on the <Select zone> label and then click on the displayed ellipsis button to bring up the zone selector
dialog. Select the zone for single zone cooling control.
Note: this SPM is intended for use on constant volume air loops only
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
Note: The same notes for combining single zone heating and cooling SPMs apply to the multizone
equivalents. See Combining 11-Single Zone Heating and 12-Single Zone Cooling Setpoint Managers.
- 773 -
Note: this SPM is intended for use on constant volume air loops only
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
Note: The same notes for combining single zone heating and cooling SPMs apply to the multizone
equivalents. See Combining 11-Single Zone Heating and 12-Single Zone Cooling Setpoint Managers.
When this SPM is selected the following other fields should be defined.
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
Generally the deep ground temperatures are the most useful for a plant loop serving a vertical borehole
ground heat exchanger.
- 774 -
Setpoint Manager
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
17-Dual Setpoint
This setpoint manager places a high and low schedule value on one or more nodes. The input consists of the
Setpoint Manager name, the control variable, the high and low set point schedule names.
The Dual Setpoint manager can be used with Plant loops only and can be used to create a mixed water loop
to give both heating and cooling setpoints on the same loop. In this case settings on the Plant Equipment
Operation tab of the Plant loop dialog define which equipment has priority depending on whether there is a
heating or cooling load.
The Dual Setpoint manager should be used together with the 2-DualSetPoint Plant loop demand calculation
scheme option.
When this SPM is selected the following other fields should be defined.
Control variable
The type of variable that will be controlled. There is only one choice for this type of setpoint manager: 1-
Temperature.
- 775 -
Low setpoint schedule
Select the schedule that contains the low setpoint values. The schedule value for each time period is the low
setpoint.
DHW
Domestic Hot Water (DHW) is provided in DesignBuilder Detailed HVAC through DHW loops, Water heaters,
Water outlet groups and Water outlet components.
DHW loops are added at the HVAC System level. On the demand side of the DHW sub loops, Water outlet
groups can be added. However a default Water outlet group is provided with the initial DHW loop so in many
cases you will not need to add a new Water outlet group. Instead simply navigate to the default Water outlet
group and add one or more Water outlet components to define hot water consumption and any heat transfer
to a building zone.
If you are working with the default 1-Simple HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data model option then simply
associate the zones to be connected on the Zones served tab of the dialog. In many cases this would be all
occupied zones in the building. In this case the amount of DHW consumed is calculated as a function of the
activity in the zone. For example, there is a demand assumed to arise from the occupants of an office for
activities such as washing hands and washing up cups. This demand is associated with the office rather than
the toilet or tea room. So the demand from each space needs to be assigned to a DHW system even if the
DHW delivery (tap, shower etc) is not present in the space.
On the other hand, when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data model option it would
normally make more sense to model the actual water draw off rates in the rooms where hot water is
consumed (toilet, tea room, shower room etc).
Tip: For consistency with Simple HVAC use the default 1-Simple HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data
model option then create a single DHW loop, use the default Water outlet group and Water outlet provided
with the DHW loop and select all zones in the building on the Zones served tab of the Water outlet.
To add new Water outlets to a Water outlet group first navigate to the Water outlet group and then use the
Add water outlet toolbar option. You can edit the details for each Water outlet by right clicking on it in the
Water outlet group screen image and selecting the Edit drop down menu option.
- 776 -
Water Outlet
One popular type of drain water heat exchanger is the Gravity-Film Heat Exchanger (GFX). The GFX is most
closely approximated with the 3-Counter flow option, but keep in mind that the UA varies more with flow rate
for the GFX than for most traditional heat exchangers.
• 1-Plant which indicates that the all of the recovered heat will be sent to the return flow at the outlet
node of the Water outlets to preheat the make-up cold water from the water mains.
• 2-Equipment, indicating that the all of the recovered heat will be used to preheat the cold water flow
side of the Water outlets listed in this Water outlet group
• 3-Plant and Equipment, indicating that the recovered heat will be divided between the plant and the
Water outlets, as described above. This is the only option where the flow rates are equal in the drain
and the heat exchanger.
Water Outlet
The Water outlet component defines hot water consumption, delivery temperatures as well as any heat
conduction and latent gains to zones. One or more Water outlets can be associated with a previously defined
Water outlet group.
The way that Water outlets works in very different depending on whether you are using the Simple or Detailed
HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data setting.
- 777 -
Simple HVAC Activity data
When using Simple HVAC activity data one Water outlet component can be used to serve multiple zones very
easily simply by selecting the zones on the Zones served tab. In this case DHW demand data from Activity
and HVAC model data tabs is used to define the total hot water flow rate and schedule of consumption for the
zones referenced in the Zones served tab.
When using Detailed HVAC activity data option the Water outlet hot water consumption peak flow rate and
time varying schedule are defined independently of any model data DHW settings and you must provide the
peak hot water flow rate and schedule of operation for the Water outlet. This gives you the flexibility to define
DHW consumption is various ways:
• Use one Water outlet for multiple zones. This approach can be used in cases where the usage
pattern (schedule) is the same in each of the zones. In this case the total peak hot water flow rate for all
the zones to be included can be calculated in a spreadsheet (for example) and the peak flow for all
zones entered here on the Water outlet dialog.
• Use one Water outlet for each zone. This approach might be preferred when either the patterns of
usage (schedules) for each zone is different and needs to be defined separately or when you prefer a
more explicit separation of zones for a clearer representation in the model, rather than lumping all flows
into a single Water outlet.
• Use one Water outlet for each physical water outlet in the building, e.g. one Water outlet for each
hot water tap, shower etc. In this case you would need to calculate expected peak flow and schedules
of usage for each outlet.
In all of the above cases it is usually more work to set up DHW input data when using the Detailed HVAC
activity data than for the Simple HVAC activity alternative.
General
Name
Enter a unique name for the water outlet.
Flow Rate
Note: The data under the Flow Rate header is only shown when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed
HVAC Activity data setting.
- 778 -
Water Outlet
Zone
Select the zone to receive sensible and/or latent loads from this water outlet.
Zones Served
The Zones served tab on the Water outlet dialog is only visible when using the default 1-Simple HVAC
Detailed HVAC Activity data setting. It allows you to select the zones served by this Water outlet. For these
zones the actual hot water consumption rates used in the simulation are generated based on the DHW
consumption rate set on the Activity tab and the DHW Operation schedule on the HVAC tab in the same way
as for Simple HVAC.
Check the boxes of the zones to be served by this Water outlet as shown below.
Tip: You can use the checkboxes at building and block levels as a fast way to select/deselect all of the
available zones in the building or block.
Note: Any zones selected on the Zones served tab will not consume hot water in the simulation if their
DHW consumption rate is 0. This means that you can select all zones in a building without concern for
generating DHW demand for unoccupied zones.
- 779 -
Water Heater
Used in:
WaterHeater:Mixed
Supply side of DHW Loops
WaterHeater:Stratified
WaterHeater:Sizing
Water heaters are DHW loop components and can be used for simulating many types of water heaters and
storage tanks, including gas and electric residential water heaters, and a variety of large commercial water
heaters. They model stand-alone operation, on- and off-cycle parasitic loads and thermal losses to the zone
and instantaneous/tankless water heaters. Typical applications include domestic hot water heating, low-
temperature radiant space heating, and energy storage for solar hot water systems or waste heat recovery.
Water heaters have an inlet node and outlet node on the “source side” and an inlet node and outlet node on
the “use side”. The source side typically draws cold water from the tank and returns warmer water, for
instance, from solar hot water systems or waste heat recovery systems. The use side typically draws hot
water from the tank and returns cooler water from the cold water supply mains or from the outlet of a heating
system. The distinction between source and use sides is merely a convenience for reporting. They can
actually be used interchangeably.
For a water heater that is indirectly heated (e.g. with a separate boiler), the source side can be used to
provide remotely heated water to the tank. The source side is configured to operate as a component on the
demand side of a plant loop. The design flow rate through the source side can be set by the user or autosized.
The water heater input includes an additional design parameter that describes how rapidly the tank can
recover.
• 1-Mixed,
• 2-Stratified.
The 1-Mixed type simulates a well-mixed, single-node water tank. The 2-Stratified type simulates a stratified,
multi-node water tank. Both water heaters can be appropriate for simulating many types of water heaters and
storage tanks, including gas and electric residential water heaters, and a variety of large commercial water
heaters. Both types share similar features, such as on- and off-cycle parasitic loads and thermal losses to the
- 780 -
Water Heater
zone. However, each type has its advantages which may make one more appropriate than the other
depending on the application.
Standard Ratings
The EIO file reports the industry standard ratings of Recovery Efficiency and Energy Factor for water heaters.
The rating method is based on the GAMA and 10CFR430 test procedures. Under certain input parameters,
the rating method will not succeed and a warning message will be generated. Problems occur when inputs do
not allow the tank to recover to the setpoint temperature within the test period. This can occur if the maximum
heater capacity is undersized, or if the deadband temperature difference is large enough that the first draw of
the test does not trigger the heater to come on. In either case, the Recovery Efficiency test will not compute
properly because recovery to the setpoint was not achieved.
Standard ratings for storage-only water tanks (Heater Maximum Capacity = 0) cannot be calculated and do
not report anything in the EIO file.
- 781 -
HVAC,Average,Water Heater Net Heat Tranfer Rate [W]
HVAC,Sum,Water Heater Net Heat Tranfer Energy [J]
HVAC,Sum,Water Heater Cycle On Count []
HVAC,Average,Water Heater Runtime Fraction []
HVAC,Average,Water Heater Part Load Ratio []
HVAC,Average,Water Heater <Fuel Type> Consumption Rate[W]
HVAC,Sum,Water Heater <Fuel Type>Consumption [J]
HVAC,Average,Water Heater Off-Cycle Parasitic <Fuel Type> Consumption Rate[W]
HVAC,Sum,Water Heater Off-Cycle Parasitic <Fuel Type> Consumption [J]
HVAC,Average,Water Heater On-Cycle Parasitic <Fuel Type> Consumption Rate[W]
HVAC,Sum,Water Heater On-Cycle Parasitic <Fuel Type> Consumption [J]
HVAC,Average,Water Heater Water Consumption Rate [m3/s]
HVAC,Sum,Water Heater Water Consumption [m3]
- 782 -
Water Heater
- 783 -
Water Heater Net Heat Transfer Rate [W]
The average net heat transfer rate when considering all losses and gains.
Used in:
WaterHeater:Mixed Supply side of DHW Loops
WaterHeater:Sizing
- 784 -
Water Heater - Mixed
The 1-Mixed water heater simulates a well-mixed, single-node water tank. The model solves the differential
equation governing the energy balance of the water tank. Within a timestep, conditions are solved separately
for when the heater element or burner is “on” (on-cycle) and when it is “off” (off-cycle). This approach allows
ambient losses and parasitic loads to be divided into on-cycle and off-cycle effects and accounted for in detail.
For losses to the ambient environment, the ambient air temperature can be taken from a schedule, a zone, or
the exterior. When used with a zone, a fraction of the skin losses can be added to the zone heat balance as
internal heat gains.
Control options allow the heater to cycle or modulate to meet the load. When cycling, the heater element or
burner is either on or off. The heater remains fully on while heating the tank up to the setpoint temperature.
When the setpoint is reached, the heater turns off. The heater remains off until the tank temperature falls
below the “cut-in” temperature, i.e., the setpoint temperature minus the deadband temperature difference. The
heater continuously cycles on and off to maintain the tank temperature within the deadband. Most storage-
tank water heaters cycle.
When modulating, the heater power varies between the maximum and minimum heater capacities. The heater
stays on as long as the required total demand is above the minimum capacity. Below the minimum capacity,
the heater will begin to cycle on and off based on the deadband temperature difference. Equipment is usually
designed and rated to avoid this condition. Most tankless/instantaneous water heaters modulate.
See also:
General
Name
The name of the Water heater.
Type
Select the type of water heater from the list:
• 1-Mixed,
• 2-Stratified.
For a discussion of the applications, advantages and disadvantages of the two water heater types see the
Water heater overview topic.
Tank volume
The volume of the storage tank (in m3 or ft3). This field is autosizable based on the Sizing data. Although this
field is allowed to go down to zero, even so-called "tankless" water heaters have some volume of water that is
maintained around the heating elements or in the heat exchanger, typically around 0.00379 m3 (1 gallon).
- 785 -
Indirect water heating recovery time
This field is only required when the External heating plant option is checked, i.e. when the water heater is
connected to the demand side of a plant loop. It is used to provide a design parameter for autosizing design
flow rates The recovery time is expressed in hours. This is the time that the entire volume of the tank can be
heated from 14.4ºC to 57.2ºC (58ºF to 135ºF) with an inlet temperature defined as the exit temperature in the
associated Plant Sizing object. The default is 1.5 hours. The calculation is based on log-mean temperature
difference (LMTD) and includes the heat transfer effectiveness factor entered above.
Temperature Settings
• 1-Schedule where the Ambient temperature schedule field defines the ambient temperature.
• 2-Zone where the zone air temperature of the zone specified by Ambient temperature zone, below,
provides the ambient temperature
• 3-Outdoors where the outdoor dry-bulb air temperature provides the ambient temperature for the water
heater.
- 786 -
Water Heater - Mixed
Note: This field is autosizable however auto-sizing of the heating element will generally only work when
the tank sizing Design mode is set to 1-Peak draw and the water heater has significant capacity. In this case,
the element should be sized using the tank capacity in conjunction with the Time for tank recovery setting. In a
situation where there is an external plant connection, the Nominal tank volume for autosizing plant
connections setting is also used.
• 1-Electricity,
• 2-Natural gas,
• 3-Propane gas,
- 787 -
• 4-Fuel oil 1,
• 5-Fuel oil 2,
• 6-Coal,
• 7-Diesel,
• 8-Gasoline,
• 9-Steam,
• 10-District heating.
• 11-Other fuel 1
• 12-Other fuel 2
11-Other fuel 1 and 12-Other fuel 2 can be used for representing biofuels such as biomass and biogas for
example.
Note: If the curve accounts for ambient losses and/or parasitic fuel consumption, these effects should not
also be input into the related fields in this object as that would result in double-counting.
On-Cycle Settings
• 1-Electricity,
• 2-Natural gas,
• 3-Propane gas,
• 4-Fuel oil #1,
• 5-Fuel oil #2,
• 6-Coal,
• 7-Diesel,
• 8-Gasoline,
• 9-Steam, or
• 10-District heating.
The fuel type can be the same or different from the Heater Fuel Type.
- 788 -
Water Heater - Mixed
Off-Cycle Settings
Off-Cycle Parasitic Fuel Consumption Rate
Off-cycle parasitics include parts of the water heater that consume fuel when the heater is off, for example, a
pilot light, or stand-by electronic control circuits. The fuel consumption rate (in W or Btu/h) is strictly the total
fuel that is consumed by all of the off-cycle parasitics.
• 1-Electricity,
• 2-Natural gas,
• 3-Propane gas,
• 4-Fuel oil #1,
• 5-Fuel oil #2,
• 6-Coal,
• 7-Diesel,
• 8-Gasoline,
• 9-Steam, or
• 10-District heating.
The fuel type can be the same or different from the Heater fuel type.
Use-Side Settings
- 789 -
Source-Side Settings
Source side effectiveness
This field specifies the heat transfer effectiveness between the source side water and the tank water. If the
effectiveness is set to 1 then complete heat transfer occurs, simulating perfect mixing of the source side water
and the tank water. If the effectiveness is lower, then the source side outlet water temperature will not be as
hot as the tank water, simulating a heat exchanger.
• 1-IndirectHeatPrimarySetpoint, where the water heater will request flow at the source side when the
main Setpoint temperature schedule and deadband call for the tank to be heated. This mode is typical
for a water heater indirectly heated by a boiler.
• 2-IndirectHeatAlternateSetpoint is similar but it bases its control decisions on an alternate setpoint
selected in the following field. This mode is useful when the indirect source of heat may not satisfy the
load and an internal heater is used for backup.
• 3-StorageTank is for a passive tank and it always requests flow unless the tank temperature is equal
to or higher than the maximum limit given in the input field called Maximum temperature limit.
Sizing
The Water heater sizing data is entered on the Sizing tab.
Design mode
This field describes the method to be used for sizing the water heater. There are six choices:
• 1-Peak draw. This design method uses the design flow rates of all the different demands placed on the
water heater. The tank size is based on how long it can meet the demand and how quickly it can
recover. The user enters the time in hours that the water heater can meet the demands. Only the hot
water uses connected to an individual water heater are included in that water heater’s peak draw.
• 2-Residential HUD-FHA minimum This design method is based on minimum permissible water heater
sizes (established by HUD-FHA in its Minimum Property Standards for One- and Two-Family Living
Units, No. 4900.1-1982). The user enters the number of bathrooms and bedrooms in this input object.
The smallest allowable water heater sizes are used.
• 3-Per person This design method scales sizes based on the total number of people in all zones in the
building. Each water heater in the model will be sized using the total (peak, design) number of people
for the entire model. The number of people is determined from People objects defined elsewhere in the
input file
• 4-Per floor area This design method scales sizes based on the total floor area in all the zones in the
building. Each water heater in the model will be sized using all the floor area in the model. The floor
areas are determined from the geometry input elsewhere in the input file.
- 790 -
Water Heater - Mixed
• 5-Per unit This design method scales sizes based on an arbitrary number of units. This can be used,
for example, to size based on the number of rooms in a lodging building. The user provides the number
of units in an input field in this object.
• 6-Per solar collector area This design method scales tank volume based on the collector area for a
solar hot water collector. The collector area is summed for all the collectors in the model and each tank
is sized for the total. The collector area is determined from input for Solar Collectors defined elsewhere
in the input file.
Number of bedrooms
This field is used to enter the number of bedrooms in the model. It is only required if the Design mode is 2-
Residential HUD-FHA minimum.
Number of bathrooms
This field is used to enter the number of bathrooms in the model. It is only required if the Design mode is 2-
Residential HUD-FHA minimum.
- 791 -
Recovery capacity per floor area
This field is used to enter the recovery capacity per floor area in units of m3/h-m2 or ft3/h-ft2. This is the
volume water the heater can recover in an hour per floor area. Recovery is heating water from a starting
temperature of 14.4ºC (58ºF) to a final temperature of 57.2ºC (135ºF). The Recovery capacity per floor area is
only required if the Design mode is 4-Per floor area
Number of units
This field is used to enter the number of Units for use in sizing on per-Unit basis with the next two fields. The
Number of units data only required if the Design mode is 5-Per unit. This can be used to account for any
arbitrary item such as lodging rooms, desks, water fixtures, restrooms, etc.
Used in:
WaterHeater:Stratified Supply side of DHW Loops
WaterHeater:Sizing
The 2-Stratified water heater simulates a stratified, multi-node water tank. The model divides the water tank
into multiple nodes of equal volume. The nodes are coupled by vertical conduction effects, internode fluid
flow, and temperature inversion mixing. The water heater simultaneously solves the differential equations
governing the energy balances on the nodes using a numerical method. The system timestep is divided into
many small substeps that allow the simulation to capture events that occur on a very short time scale. This
approach allows ambient losses and parasitic loads to be divided into on-cycle and off-cycle effects and
accounted for in detail.
For losses to the ambient environment, the ambient air temperature can be taken from a schedule, a zone, or
the exterior. When used with a zone, a fraction of the skin losses can be added to the zone heat balance as
internal heat gains.
The Stratified water heater allows two heating elements to be simulated. The two elements can cycle on and
off to maintain the node temperature within the deadband. The Heater priority control setting determines
how the heaters work together. There are two priority control options: 1-Master Slave or 2-Simultaneous. In
the Master slave option, the main Heater is the master and the auxiliary heater is the slave. That is, both
heaters are not allowed to turn on at the same time. If the thermostats ask for heat from both heaters, only the
main heater will turn on. Once the main heater has met the set point, it turns off and the auxiliary heater can
turn on, if necessary. In the Simultaneous priority control option, both heaters can turn on and off
independently. Autosizing is available for only for the main Heater.
- 792 -
Water Heater - Stratified
General
Name
The name of the Water heater.
Type
Select the type of water heater from the list:
• 1-Mixed,
• 2-Stratified.
For a discussion of the applications, advantages and disadvantages of the two water heater types see the
Water heater overview topic.
Tank volume
The volume of the storage tank (in m3 or ft3). This field is autosizable based on the Sizing data. Although this
field is allowed to go down to zero, even so-called "tankless" water heaters have some volume of water that is
maintained around the heating elements or in the heat exchanger, typically around 0.00379 m3 (1 gallon).
Tank height
The height of the tank (in m or in).
For the 2-Horizontal cylinder tank shape (see below) the height of the tank is the measure in the axial
direction, i.e., the height if you were to stand the cylinder up on its end. This field is autosizable.
Tank shape
The tank shape determines the size and skin losses of the stratified nodes. There are two options:
- 793 -
Temperature Settings
Maximum temperature limit
The temperature (in °C or °F) at which the tank water becomes dangerously hot and is vented through boiling
or an automatic safety. The tank temperature will never exceed the maximum. Any extra heat added to the
tank is immediately vented. Note: The maximum temperature must be greater than the setpoint temperature at
all times.
• 1-Schedule where the Ambient temperature schedule field defines the ambient temperature.
• 2-Zone where the zone air temperature of the zone specified by Ambient temperature zone, below,
provides the ambient temperature
• 3-Outdoors where the outdoor dry-bulb air temperature provides the ambient temperature for the water
heater.
- 794 -
Water Heater - Stratified
• 1-Electricity,
• 2-Natural gas,
• 3-Propane gas,
• 4-Fuel oil 1,
• 5-Fuel oil 2,
• 6-Coal,
• 7-Diesel,
• 8-Gasoline,
• 9-Steam,
• 10-District heating.
• 11-Other fuel 1
• 12-Other fuel 2
11-Other fuel 1 and 12-Other fuel 2 can be used for representing biofuels such as biomass and biogas for
example.
Heater capacity
The heat rate (in W) supplied to the water for the main heater, probably the same as the “nominal” capacity.
For residential electric water heaters, heating elements are usually 4500 W. This field is autosizable.
Height
The height of the main heating element in the tank (in m or in).
- 795 -
Auxiliary Heating Element
Auxiliary heating element
If a second "auxiliary" heater is to be included in the water heater then this checkbox should be checked.
• 1-Master slave, where the main heater is the master and the auxiliary heater is the slave. In most
residential electric water heaters, the heaters operate in a Master-slave relationship. That is, both
heaters are not allowed to turn on at the same time. If the thermostats ask for heat at both the main and
auxiliary heaters, only the main heater will turn on. Once the main heater has met the set point, it turns
off and the auxiliary heater can turn on, if necessary. In other words, only one heater can be on at any
time, and the main heater 1 always has priority over the auxiliary heater.
• 2-Simultaneous. where the main and auxiliary heaters can turn on and off independently.
Heater capacity
The heat rate (in W) supplied to the water for the auxiliary heater.
Height
The height of the auxiliary heating element in the tank (in m or in).
On-Cycle Settings
• 1-Electricity,
• 2-Natural gas,
• 3-Propane gas,
- 796 -
Water Heater - Stratified
The fuel type can be the same or different from the Heater Fuel Type.
Off-Cycle Settings
Off-Cycle Parasitic Fuel Consumption Rate
Off-cycle parasitics include parts of the water heater that consume fuel when the heater is off, for example, a
pilot light, or stand-by electronic control circuits. The fuel consumption rate (in W or Btu/h) is strictly the total
fuel that is consumed by all of the off-cycle parasitics.
• 1-Electricity,
• 2-Natural gas,
• 3-Propane gas,
• 4-Fuel oil #1,
• 5-Fuel oil #2,
• 6-Coal,
• 7-Diesel,
• 8-Gasoline,
• 9-Steam, or
• 10-District heating.
The fuel type can be the same or different from the Heater fuel type.
- 797 -
Inlet Mode
Inlet mode
The inlet mode of entering fluid from the use and source sides. There are two options:
• 1- Fixed, the default mode, where the fluid enters at the fixed heights specified above.
• 2-Seeking where the fluid “seeks out” the stratified node that is closest to the inlet temperature and
adds all flow to that node. The Seeking mode provides maximum stratification.
Use-Side Settings
Use side effectiveness
This field specifies the heat transfer effectiveness between the use side water and the tank water. If the
effectiveness is set to 1 then complete heat transfer occurs, simulating perfect mixing of the use side water
and the tank water. If the effectiveness is lower, then the use side outlet water temperature will not be as hot
as the tank water, simulating a heat exchanger.
Source-Side Settings
• 1-IndirectHeatPrimarySetpoint, where the water heater will request flow at the source side when the
main Setpoint temperature schedule and deadband call for the tank to be heated. This mode is typical
for a water heater indirectly heated by a boiler.
- 798 -
Water Heater - Stratified
Stratification Settings
Additional destratification conductivity
An additional destratification conductivity (in W/m-K or Btu-in/h-ft2-°F) is added to the fluid conductivity of
water (0.6 W/m-K) to account for vertical conduction effects along the inside of the tank wall, and perhaps
other vertical components such as the flue, the cold water inlet pipe (dip tube), and the anode rod.
Sizing
The Water heater sizing data is entered on the Sizing tab.
Design mode
This field describes the method to be used for sizing the water heater. There are six choices:
• 1-Peak draw. This design method uses the design flow rates of all the different demands placed on the
water heater. The tank size is based on how long it can meet the demand and how quickly it can
recover. The user enters the time in hours that the water heater can meet the demands. Only the hot
water uses connected to an individual water heater are included in that water heater’s peak draw.
• 2-Residential HUD-FHA minimum This design method is based on minimum permissible water heater
sizes (established by HUD-FHA in its Minimum Property Standards for One- and Two-Family Living
Units, No. 4900.1-1982). The user enters the number of bathrooms and bedrooms in this input object.
The smallest allowable water heater sizes are used.
• 3-Per person This design method scales sizes based on the total number of people in all zones in the
building. Each water heater in the model will be sized using the total (peak, design) number of people
for the entire model. The number of people is determined from People objects defined elsewhere in the
input file
- 799 -
• 4-Per floor area This design method scales sizes based on the total floor area in all the zones in the
building. Each water heater in the model will be sized using all the floor area in the model. The floor
areas are determined from the geometry input elsewhere in the input file.
• 5-Per unit This design method scales sizes based on an arbitrary number of units. This can be used,
for example, to size based on the number of rooms in a lodging building. The user provides the number
of units in an input field in this object.
• 6-Per solar collector area This design method scales tank volume based on the collector area for a
solar hot water collector. The collector area is summed for all the collectors in the model and each tank
is sized for the total. The collector area is determined from input for Solar Collectors defined elsewhere
in the input file.
Number of bedrooms
This field is used to enter the number of bedrooms in the model. It is only required if the Design mode is 2-
Residential HUD-FHA minimum.
Number of bathrooms
This field is used to enter the number of bathrooms in the model. It is only required if the Design mode is 2-
Residential HUD-FHA minimum.
- 800 -
Solar Hot Water
Number of units
This field is used to enter the number of Units for use in sizing on per-Unit basis with the next two fields. The
Number of units data only required if the Design mode is 5-Per unit. This can be used to account for any
arbitrary item such as lodging rooms, desks, water fixtures, restrooms, etc.
- 801 -
There is an option on the solar collector dialog to allow you to select which collector will act as the sensor for
the thermostat. The outlet temperature from the water heater is used as the location for the other thermostat
sensor.
- 802 -
Solar Hot Water
Note: If the two temperature differences on the solar collector dialog are too close, it is possible for the
system to turn on and off rapidly without much useful heat gain. This can also occur if the flow rate through the
collector is too high. Without flow the fluid in the collector heats up more quickly; when high flow is turned on,
all of the hot fluid is removed and the temperature drops, forcing the system off again.
Freeze Prevention
In climates with a cold season, the solar heating system must be designed to avoid the risk of fluid freezing in
the solar collector or exposed pipes and causing damage. There are several strategies that can minimise the
risk.
1. Seasonal schedule. The simplest strategy is to not use the system during the cold season. However,
this is problematic because it requires the collector to be manually drained of all fluid. The benefits of
the solar heating system are also lost during this time. This can be simulated using an appropriate
pump flow schedule for the collector system.
2. Antifreeze. The freezing point of the liquid is decreased by adding antifreeze (glycol) to the water or
using a different heat transfer liquid with a lower freezing point. This can be achieved by selecting a
glycol fluid for the loop fluid type on the solar loop dialog, this is the default setting.
3. Drain-back system. This strategy automatically empties the collector when the pump is not running.
This scenario is modelled by default in EnergPylus, although the extra pump energy required to start
the system is not taken into account.
4. Re-circulation system. This strategy automatically re-circulates warm liquid from the storage tank back
through the collector to maintain the system above the freezing point. There are system losses using
this method. This can be simulated by using the Low temperature protection setting on the solar loop
dialog to force the system to turn on when the outdoor air temperature or collector outlet temperature
falls below a specified minimum.
- 803 -
Additional Controls
In addition to freeze prevention, it is also necessary to prevent the system from becoming too hot. This is
usually a safety issue for the water heater. For this case it is important to have a high temperature cut-off to
stop the pump before damaging the water heater. This is accomplished using the High temperature protection
setting on the solar loop dialog (see above).
This ratio is the minimum system air flow rate divided by the maximum system air flow rate. The value must be
between 0 and 1. For constant volume systems the ratio should be set to 1. Note that this ratio should be set
to reflect what the user expects the system flow rate to be when maximum heating demand occurs. This ratio
is used in calculating the central system heating capacity. Thus if the system is VAV with the zone VAV
dampers held at minimum flow when there is a zone heating demand, this ratio should be set to the minimum
flow ratio. If the zone VAV dampers are reverse action and can open to full flow to meet heating demand, this
ratio should be set to 1.
Used in:
SolarCollector:FlatPlate:Water
• Solar hot water loop, demand side
- 804 -
Solar Collector Data
Solar hot water collectors are thermal devices that convert solar energy into thermal energy by raising the
temperature of a circulating heat transfer fluid (which must be water in current versions of EnergyPlus). The
fluid is used to heat water for DHW usage and/or space heating. In EnergyPlus solar collectors are
components that are connected to a solar plant loop. A solar heating system can be constructed with a
combination of solar collectors, pumps, and hot water tanks.
The EnergyPlus model is based on the equations found in the ASHRAE standards and Duffie and Beckman
(1991). This model applies to glazed and unglazed flat-plate collectors, as well as banks of tubular, i.e.
evacuated tube, collectors.
The solar collector object references a solar collector surface which is defined in the building model and
defines the gross area, position, orientation and tilt of the collector allowing it to participate normally in detailed
solar and shading calculations if either of the 2-Full exterior or 3-Full interior and exterior Solar distribution
options are selected. Solar radiation incident on the collector surface includes beam and diffuse radiation, as
well as radiation reflected from the ground and adjacent surfaces. Shading of the collector by other surfaces,
such as nearby buildings or trees, is also taken into account. Likewise, the collector surface can shade other
surfaces, for example, reducing the incident radiation on the roof beneath it.
The thermal and optical properties of the collector module can be loaded from a Solar collector template.
General
Name
The unique name of the Solar hot water collector.
Control
Performance
Solar collector performance template
A Solar collector performance template which defines the thermal and optical properties of the collector.
DesignBuilder provides a database of Solar collector templates containing the thermal and optical
performance parameters for a single collector module. These parameters are based on the testing
methodologies described in ASHRAE Standards 93 and 96. The Solar Rating and Certification Corporation
(SRCC) applies these standards in their rating procedures of solar collectors. The coefficients for the energy
conversion efficiency and incident angle modifier allow first order (linear) or second order (quadratic)
correlations. To use a first order correlation, the second order coefficient must be set to zero.
- 805 -
In order for the model to work correctly, the test conditions for which the performance coefficients were
measured must be specified in the fields: Test flow rate, and Test correlation type. Currently, only water is
allowed as the Test Fluid.
More detailed information about the performance coefficients, can be found in the EnergyPlus Engineering
Reference Document.
Gross area
The gross area of the collector module (in m2 or ft2). This value is mainly for reference. The area of
the associated solar collector surface is used in all calculations.
Tempering Valve
A tempering valve may be used for cases where plant flow control is needed to make efficient use of thermal
storage and is required in solar hot water loops to prevent the DHW loop thermal storage tank from becoming
warmer than is necessary or allowable for safe use of the hot water. Although real installations of a tempering,
or anti-scald valve, would more commonly mix a new stream of mains water with the hot water to achieve a
desired outlet temperature, this is difficult to model directly within EnergyPlus because plant loops need to be
closed circuits. For installations where the water entering the splitter is directly from the mains, such as make
up water entering a water heater tank, the modelling provided with this object will be thermodynamically
equivalent.
- 806 -
Plant And Condenser Loop Equipment Data
The Tempering valve models a temperature-controlled diversion valve on a bypass pipe that can open to
divert flow around one or more plant components. It can only be used on one of two branches between a
Splitter and a Mixer. The figure below shows the use of the tempering valve with a Water heater component
on “Stream 2.” The tempering valve acts to divert flow through the branch it is on in order to adjust the
temperature at the outlet of the mixer. If the temperature at Stream 2 Source Node is warmer than the setpoint
and the inlet flow is cooler than the setpoint, then a controller determines how much flow should bypass the
storage tank to achieve the desired setpoint.
Boilers
Used in:
Boiler:HotWater
• Hot water loop, supply side
- 807 -
Boilers provide hot water to hot water heating coils, hot water radiators, heated floors, baseboards etc. The
fuel consumed by the boiler is based on a nominal thermal efficiency value. A normalised efficiency
performance curve can additionally be used to more accurately represent the performance of non-electric
boilers, but is not a required input.
Boilers can be placed using the Add Boiler tool when you are located in a hot water supply loop.
To edit an existing boiler go to the Hot water supply loop (HVAC System > Hot water loop > Supply loop)
level where the boiler is placed, click on the boiler icon to highlight it then either right click and select the Edit
selected component menu option or, when using Learning mode, click on the Edit icon in at the top of the
info panel.
General
Name
The auto-generated name of the boiler can be edited.
Boiler template
Use this browse option to select a boiler from the EnergyPlus boilers database.
Fuel type
Select the type of fuel used by the boiler. The fuel type can be one of:
• 1-Natural gas,
• 2-Electricity,
• 3-Propane gas,
• 4-Fuel oil 1,
• 5-Fuel oil 2,
• 6-Coal,
• 7-Diesel,
• 8-Gasoline,
• 9-Other fuel 1
• 10-Other fuel 2
9-Other fuel 1 and 10-Other fuel 2 can be used for representing biofuels such as biomass and biogas for
example.
Nominal capacity
This numeric field contains the nominal operating capacity of the boiler (in W or Btu/h). The boiler nominal
capacity may be autosized.
• 1-Constant flow is the default option for constant volume chilled water loops and is useful for constant
speed pumping arrangements where the boiler’s request for flow is stricter and can increase the overall
loop flow.
• 2-Leaving setpoint modulated changes the boiler model to internally vary the flow rate so that the
temperature leaving the boiler matches a setpoint.
• 3-Not modulated is the default option for variable volume hot water loops and is useful for either
variable or constant speed pumping arrangements where the boiler is passive in the sense that
although it makes a nominal request for its design flow rate, it can operate at varying flow rates.
- 808 -
Boilers
In all cases the operation of the external plant system can also impact the flow through the boiler - for example
if the relative sizes and operation are such that flow is restricted and the requests cannot be met.
For variable flow chilled water loops these options are available:
For constant flow chilled water loops these options are available:
The type of loop (variable/constant flow) can be changed by modifying the Plant loop flow type on the Hot
water plant loop dialog.
Note: When the 2-Leaving setpoint modulated option is selected then you must add an extra Setpoint
manager immediately downstream of the boiler hot water outlet to define the temperature of the water
supplied.
Sizing factor
The sizing factor is used when the boiler design inputs are autosized. In this case the autosizing results are
multiplied by this additional sizing factor. The usual value to enter is 1.0.
The inputs that would be altered by the sizing factor are: Nominal capacity and Design water flow rate.
The most common use of the sizing factor is for sizing boilers to meet only part of the design load while
continuing to use the autosizing feature. For example when a set of boilers is chained together to supply hot
water to a plant loop, this sizing factor can be used to indicate the proportion of the load to be met by each
boiler.
Efficiency
Fuel Used = Theoretical Fuel Consumption / Normalised Boiler Efficiency Curve Output
- 809 -
set) thermal efficiency is based on the lower heating value (LHV) of the fuel, multiply the thermal efficiency by
the lower-to-higher heating value ratio. For example, assume a fuel’s lower and higher heating values are
approximately 45,450 and 50,000 kJ/kg, respectively. For a manufacturers thermal efficiency rating of 0.90
(based on the LHV), the nominal thermal efficiency entered here is 0.82 (i.e. 0.9 multiplied by 45,450/50,000).
Note: The overall boiler efficiency used during the simulation will be the product of the Nominal thermal
efficiency and the output of Normalized boiler efficiency performance curve (below).
• 1-Leaving boiler which indicates that the efficiency curves will be evaluated using the temperature at
the boiler outlet.
• 2-Entering boiler which indicates that the efficiency curves will be evaluated using the temperature at
boiler inlet node
This field is only used if type of curve is one that uses temperature as a independent variable.
The graph below (reproduced with permission from CIBSE) illustrates the range of typical efficiency for
different types of boiler.
- 810 -
Boilers
Water Outlet
- 811 -
Warning: The Water outlet upper temperature limit must be at least 5°C higher than the design supply loop
outlet heating setpoint temperature to avoid the boiler cutting out during the simulation. Using temperatures
equal to the supply loop design outlet temperature typically prevents boiler operation completely. You are
advised to leave this setting at 100°C even when supplying hot water at much lower temperatures.
Boiler Outputs
HVAC,Average,Boiler Heating Output Rate [W]
HVAC,Sum,Boiler Heating Output Energy [J]
Zone,Meter,Boilers:EnergyTransfer [J]
HVAC,Average,Boiler Water Inlet Temp [C]
HVAC,Average,Boiler Water Outlet Temp [C]
HVAC,Average,Boiler Water Mass Flow Rate [kg/s]
HVAC,Average,Boiler Parasitic Electric Power [W]
HVAC,Sum,Boiler Parasitic Electric Consumption [J]
HVAC,Average,Boiler Part-Load Ratio
- 812 -
Boilers
Zone,Meter,Heating:FuelOil#1 [J]
- 813 -
District Heating
Used in:
DistrictHeating
• Hot water loop, supply side
The district heating component is used to provide heat to the supply side of a hot water loop. It can be used to
model these systems:
General
Name
The auto-generated name of the district cooling system can be edited.
Nominal capacity
This numeric field contains the nominal demand (in W or Btu/h) that the district heating will meet. This field is
autosizable.
Chillers
Chillers provide chilled water to cooling coils, chilled beams and cooled ceilings. They can be placed using the
Add Chiller command when you are located in a Chilled water supply loop.
When using Detailed HVAC, to edit an existing chiller go to the Chilled water supply loop (HVAC System >
Chilled water loop > Supply loop) level where the chiller is placed, click on the chiller icon to highlight it then
either right click and select the Edit selected component menu option or, when using Learning mode, click
on the Edit icon in at the top of the info panel.
• 1-Constant CoP - a simple model with constant efficiency and no performance curves.
• Chiller - EIR - a more detailed model using 3 performance curves to determine cooling capacity and
CoP from the chiller load and outside air temperature.
• 3-Reformulated EIR - an empirical model similar to the Chiller EIR model.
• 4-Absorption - the basic absorption chiller model.
• 5-Indirect absorption -a more advanced absorption chiller model with more flexible performance
curves and ability to model the effect of varying evaporator, condenser, and generator temperatures.
- 814 -
Chiller - Constant CoP
Used in:
Chiller:ConstantCOP
• Chilled water loop, supply side
This chiller model is based on a simple, constant COP simulation of the chiller. In this case, performance does
not vary with chilled water temperature or condenser conditions. Such a model can be useful when detailed
performance data is not available.
General
Name
The auto-generated name of the chiller can be edited.
Chiller type
The type of chiller can be one of these options:
• 1-Constant CoP - the simple constant CoP model described on this page.
• 2-Chiller EIR - a more detailed model using 3 performance curves to determine cooling capacity
and CoP from the chiller load and outside air temperature as described on this page.
• 3-Reformulated EIR - an empirical model similar to the EIR model
• 4-Absorption - the basic absorption chiller model
• 5-Indirect absorption -a more advanced absorption chiller model with more flexible performance
curves and ability to model the effect of varying evaporator, condenser, and generator temperatures.
Note: The Chiller type cannot be edited directly. To help you to ensure that appropriate performance
curves are used, you must either load a new chiller template of the type required or add a new chiller,
selecting the appropriate type from the drop list.
Nominal capacity
This numeric field contains the nominal cooling capacity of the chiller (in W or Btu/h). Alternatively, this field
can be autosized.
Nominal COP
This numeric field contains the chiller’s coefficient of performance to be used for all operating conditions in the
simulation. Unlike Chiller EIR, the CoP entered for Constant CoP chillers should include the energy consumed
by the condenser fans for air and evaporatively cooled chillers.
• 1-Constant flow is the default option for constant volume chilled water loops and is useful for constant
speed pumping arrangements where the chiller’s request for flow is stricter and can increase the overall
loop flow.
• 2-Leaving setpoint modulated is the default option for variable volume chilled water loops and
changes the chiller model to internally vary the flow rate so that the temperature leaving the chiller
matches a setpoint at the evaporator outlet.
- 815 -
• 3-Not modulated is useful for either variable or constant speed pumping arrangements where the
chiller is passive in the sense that although it makes a nominal request for its design flow rate, it can
operate at varying flow rates.
In all cases the operation of the external plant system can also impact the flow through the chiller - for
example if the relative sizes and operation are such that flow is restricted and the requests cannot be met.
For variable flow chilled water loops these options are available: 2-Leaving setpoint modulated and 3-Not
modulated.
For constant flow chilled water loops these options are available: 1-Constant flow and 3-Not modulated.
The type of loop (variable/constant flow) can be changed by modifying the Plant loop flow type on the Chilled
water plant loop dialog.
Note: When the 2-Leaving setpoint modulated option is selected then you must add an extra Setpoint
manager immediately downstream of the chiller chilled water outlet to define the temperature of the water
supplied.
Sizing factor
The sizing factor is used when the chiller design inputs are autosized. In this case the autosizing results are
multiplied by this additional sizing factor. The usual value to enter is 1.0.
The inputs that would be altered by the sizing factor are: Nominal capacity, Design chilled water flow rate and
Design condenser water flow rate.
The most common use of the sizing factor is for sizing chillers to meet only part of the design load while
continuing to use the autosizing feature. For example when a set of chillers is chained together to supply
chilled water to a plant loop, this sizing factor can be used to indicate the proportion of the load to be met by
each chiller.
Condenser
Condenser type
The condenser type determines what type of condenser will be included with this chiller. Valid condenser
types are:
• 1-Air cooled,
• 2-Water cooled,
• 3-Evaporatively cooled
The default is 2-Water cooled which requires the full specification of the Condenser loop and its associated
equipment. 1-Air cooled and 3-Evaporatively cooled do not require a Condenser loop to be specified.
Flow Rates
Design chilled water flow rate
For a variable flow chiller this is the maximum water flow rate and for a constant flow chiller this is the design
water flow rate through the chiller’s evaporator. The units are (in m3/s or gal/min). This numeric input field
must be greater than zero, or it can be autosized.
- 816 -
Chiller - Constant CoP
This field is not used Air cooled and Evaporatively cooled Condenser types.
Basin Heater
Basin heater capacity
This numeric field contains the capacity of the DX coil’s electric evaporative cooler basin heater in (W/K or
Btu/h-F). This field only applies for Condenser type = Evaporatively cooled. This field is used in conjunction
with the Basin Heater Setpoint Temperature described in the following field. The basin heater electric power is
equal to this field multiplied by the difference between the basin heater set point temperature and the outdoor
dry-bulb temperature. The basin heater only operates when the chiller is off, regardless of the basin heater
schedule described below. The basin heater capacity must be greater than or equal to zero.
- 817 -
HVAC,Average,Chiller Cond Air Inlet Temp [C]
The following three outputs are only available for water-cooled chillers:
For the engine driven chiller and combustion turbine chiller, the output variable is renamed as Chiller Fuel
COP to clarify that the primary energy input to the chiller is a gaseous or liquid fuel (natural gas, diesel,
gasoline, etc.). The divisor is the appropriate fuel consumption rate (Chiller [fuel type] Consumption Rate).
For the direct fired absorption chiller, this variable is renamed as Direct Fired Absorption Chiller Cooling Fuel
COP and the divisor is Direct Fired Absorption Chiller Cooling Gas Consumption Rate.
Note that this variable is reported as zero when the chiller is not operating. When reported for frequencies
longer than "detailed" (such as timestep, hourly, daily, monthly or environment), this output will only be
meaningful when the chiller is operating for the entire reporting period. To determine an average COP for a
longer time period, compute the COP based on total evaporator heat transfer divided by total electric or fuel
input over the desired period.
- 818 -
Chiller - Constant CoP
- 819 -
Chiller Lube Heat Recovery Rate [W]
Chiller Lube Heat Recovery [J]
Chiller EIR
Used in:
Chiller:Electric:EIR
• Chilled water loop, supply side
- 820 -
Chiller EIR
The Chiller EIR model is the empirical model used in the DOE-2.1 building energy simulation program. It uses
performance information at reference conditions along with three curve fits for cooling capacity and efficiency
to determine chiller operation at off-reference conditions. Chiller performance curves can be generated by
fitting manufacturer’s catalog data or measured data. Performance curves for more than 300 chillers, including
the default DOE-2.1E reciprocating and centrifugal chillers, are provided as templates for selection within the
chiller dialog. This data comes from in the EnergyPlus Reference DataSets (Chillers.idf).
Note: Chiller EIR components and their associated performance curve objects are developed using
performance information for a specific chiller and should normally be used together for an EnergyPlus
simulation. Changing the object input values, or swapping performance curves between chillers, should be
done with caution.
General
Name
The auto-generated name of the chiller can be edited.
Chiller template
Use this browse option to select a chiller from the EnergyPlus chiller database whose performance data you
wish to copy to your chiller.
Chiller type
The type of chiller can be one of these options:
• 1-Constant CoP - a simple model with constant efficiency and no performance curves.
• 2-Chiller EIR- a more detailed model using 3 performance curves to determine cooling capacity and
CoP from the chiller load and outside air temperature as described on this page.
• 3-Reformulated EIR - an empirical model similar to the Chiller EIR model.
• 4-Absorption - the basic absorption chiller model.
• 5-Indirect absorption -a more advanced absorption chiller model with more flexible performance
curves and ability to model the effect of varying evaporator, condenser, and generator temperatures.
Note: The Chiller type cannot be edited directly. To help you to ensure that appropriate performance
curves are used, you must either load a new chiller template of the type required or add a new chiller,
selecting the appropriate type from the drop list.
Reference capacity
This numeric field contains the reference cooling capacity of the chiller (in W or Btu/h). This should be the
capacity of the chiller at the reference temperatures and water flow rates defined below. Alternatively, this field
can be autosized.
Reference COP
This numeric field contains the chiller’s coefficient of performance which is multiplied by the output of the
chiller performance curves described below. This value should not include energy use due to pumps, evap-
- 821 -
cooled or air-cooled condenser fans, or cooling tower fans. This COP should be at the reference temperatures
and water flow rates defined below.
• 1-Constant flow is the default option for constant volume chilled water loops and is useful for constant
speed pumping arrangements where the chiller’s request for flow is stricter and can increase the overall
loop flow.
• 2-Leaving setpoint modulated is the default option for variable volume chilled water loops and
changes the chiller model to internally vary the flow rate so that the temperature leaving the chiller
matches a setpoint at the evaporator outlet.
• 3-Not modulated is useful for either variable or constant speed pumping arrangements where the
chiller is passive in the sense that although it makes a nominal request for its design flow rate, it can
operate at varying flow rates.
In all cases the operation of the external plant system can also impact the flow through the chiller - for
example if the relative sizes and operation are such that flow is restricted and the requests cannot be met.
For variable flow chilled water loops these options are available: 2-Leaving setpoint modulated and 3-Not
modulated.
For constant flow chilled water loops these options are available: 1-Constant flow and 3-Not modulated.
The type of loop (variable/constant flow) can be changed by modifying the Plant loop flow type on the Chilled
water plant loop dialog.
Note: When the 2-Leaving setpoint modulated option is selected then you must add an extra Setpoint
manager immediately downstream of the chiller chilled water outlet to define the temperature of the water
supplied.
Sizing factor
The sizing factor is used when the chiller design inputs are autosized. In this case the autosizing results are
multiplied by this additional sizing factor. The usual value to enter is 1.0.
The inputs that would be altered by the sizing factor are: Reference capacity, Reference chilled water flow
rate and Reference condenser water flow rate.
The most common use of the sizing factor is for sizing chillers to meet only part of the design load while
continuing to use the autosizing feature. For example when a set of chillers is chained together to supply
chilled water to a plant loop, this sizing factor can be used to indicate the proportion of the load to be met by
each chiller.
- 822 -
Chiller EIR
Condenser
Condenser type
The condenser type determines what type of condenser will be included with this chiller. Valid condenser
types are:
• 1-Air cooled,
• 2-Water cooled,
• 3-Evaporatively cooled
The default is 2-Water cooled which requires the full specification of the Condenser loop and its associated
equipment. 1-Air cooled and 3-Evaporatively cooled do not require a Condenser loop to be specified.
Note: Condenser type cannot be edited directly. To help you to ensure that appropriate performance
curves are used, load a chiller of the correct type from the Chiller template.
During the simulation the condenser fan power for air-cooled or evaporatively cooled chillers is calculated as
total chiller power consumption multiplied by this ratio.
Temperatures
Reference leaving chilled water temperature
This numeric field contains the chiller’s reference leaving chilled water temperature (in °C or °F). The default
value is 6.67°C.
Flow Rates
- 823 -
Reference condenser fluid flow rate
This numeric field contains the chiller’s operating condenser water flow rate (in m3/s or gal/min). This field can
be autosized.
Note: For water cooled chillers, EnergyPlus sets the condenser fluid flow rate to the maximum value
whenever the chiller is operating. The Chiller flow mode only affects the chiller evaporator flow rate.
Performance Curves
Cooling capacity function of temperature curve (CAPFT)
The Bi-quadratic performance curve parameterizes the variation of the cooling capacity as a function of the
leaving chilled water temperature and the entering condenser fluid temperature. The output of this curve is
multiplied by the reference capacity to give the cooling capacity at specific temperature operating conditions
(i.e., at temperatures different from the reference temperatures). The curve should have a value of 1.0 at the
reference temperatures and flow rates specified above. The bi-quadratic curve should be valid for the range of
water temperatures anticipated for the simulation.
Electric input to cooling output ratio function of part load ratio curve
(EIRPLR)
The Quadratic performance curve parameterizes the variation of the energy input ratio (EIR) as a function of
the part-load ratio. The EIR is the inverse of the COP, and the part-load ratio is the actual cooling load divided
by the chiller’s available cooling capacity.
This curve is generated by dividing the operating electric input power by the available full-load capacity (do not
divide by load) at the specific operating temperatures. The curve output should decrease from 1 towards 0 as
part-load ratio decreases from 1 to 0. The output of this curve is multiplied by the reference full-load EIR
(inverse of the reference COP) and the Electric input to cooling output ratio function of temperature curve
(EIRFT) to give the EIR at the specific temperatures and part-load ratio at which the chiller is operating. This
curve should have a value of 1.0 when the part-load ratio equals 1.0.
An ideal chiller with the same efficiency at all part-load ratio’s would use a performance curve that has a value
of 0 when the part-load ratio equals 0 (i.;e., a line connecting 0,0 and 1,1 when plotted as EIR versus PLR),
however, actual systems can have part-load EIR’s slightly above or below this line (i.e., part-load efficiency
often differs from rated efficiency). The quadratic curve should be valid for the range of part-load ratios
anticipated for the simulation.
Tip: If you cannot obtain manufacturers data for this curve then a reasonable estimate can be obtained by
using a straight line from 0,0 to 1,1. That is for the quadratic curve, C 0 = 0, C1 = 1 and C2 = 0.
- 824 -
Chiller EIR
Where CAPFT, EIRFT and EIRPLR are the outputs from the 3 curves above.
If you have manufacturers data you can generate the inputs for these 3 curves using the spreadsheet
provided free by EnergyPlus called Chiller_PerformanceCurve_Coefficients.xls. When using this
spreadsheet to generate inputs for EIRPLR note that the coefficients are read from the spreadsheet into the
DesignBuilder Quadratic Curve dialog as follows:
Of course the performance and capacity of a chiller depends on various factors, the most important of these
being part load and temperature chilled water and the Chiller EIR provides an accurate representation taking
these factors into account. However in some cases you may only have summary manufacturers data. For
example you may only have information on the variation of CoP with part load ratio. In this case you can
define the EIRPLR curve in the usual way using your summary manufacturer’s data and use constant values
for the CAPFT and EIRFT curves which both generate a constant value of 1.0. Because CAPFT and EIRFT
are both Bi-quadratic curves you cannot use a constant Linear curve here so you must choose inputs to a
special simple Bi-quadratic curve that generates an output of 1 regardless of inputs. To achieve this simply
create and select a new Bi-quadratic curve with Coefficient 1 = 1 and all other coefficients = 0 for CAPFT and
EIRFT.
- 825 -
Part Load Settings
Minimum part load ratio
This numeric field contains the chiller’s minimum part-load ratio. The expected range is between 0 and 1.
Below this part-load ratio, the compressor cycles on and off to meet the cooling load. The Minimum part load
ratio must be less than or equal to the Maximum part load ratio. The default value is 0.1.
Note: Setting the Minimum part load ratio to zero for air cooled chillers, will cause the condenser fan to
run constantly even at zero load which is likely to lead to high chiller fan consumption. This happens because
the condenser fan cannot cycle off even at zero chiller load.
False loading
Different chiller types (reciprocating, centrifugal etc) have very different operating characteristics. The point at
which they switch off at low load (cycle on and off to meet small loads) will vary between about 0.25 for older
reciprocating chillers and 0.1 for modern centrifugal chillers which have much better part-load performance.
Sometimes a manufacturer or installer may need to introduce a mechanism to stop the chiller cycling on and
off too frequently (frequent cycling causes excessive wear and reduces the equipment life). To stop this
happening some of the hot gas from the compressor outlet can be re-injected back into the return side of the
compressor so that the compressor inlet senses a higher return gas temperature and is ‘fooled’ into thinking
that there is a higher cooling load on the system than there actually is (this basically mimics a higher
evaporator leaving temperature) so it needs to work a little harder to meet the load and the load is therefore
maintained above the point at which the compressor would normally switch off. This strategy is called false-
loading and it is clear that bypassing hot gas from the discharge to the suction side of the compressor results
in higher energy consumption so is generally not considered to be an acceptable control strategy and actually
contravenes some energy codes (e.g. Part L2 in UK). This strategy is sometimes used to overcome poor
design and control problems.
You can avoid false loading in your model by setting the Minimum unloading ratio equal to the Minimum
part load ratio, so when the chiller reaches its minimum part-load ratio it just switches off and false-loading
cannot occur.
- 826 -
Chiller EIR
Heat Recovery
Heat recovery
For water cooled chillers, if heat is to be recovered from the condenser check this checkbox and ensure that a
heat recovery loop is specified and attached to the chiller.
Note: Use the Add Chiller heat recovery loop command at HVAC system level to create a DHW loop
that can be connected to a water-cooled chiller with heat recovery. This allows the waste heat from the chiller
to be used to heat up a water tank which can be used to provide hot water for DHW, zone heaters or any
other heating applications.
- 827 -
HVAC,Sum,Chiller Cond Heat Trans [J]
Zone,Meter,HeatRejection:EnergyTransfer [J]
HVAC,Average,Chiller COP [W/W]
The following three outputs are only available for water-cooled chillers:
For the engine driven chiller and combustion turbine chiller, the output variable is renamed as Chiller Fuel
COP to clarify that the primary energy input to the chiller is a gaseous or liquid fuel (natural gas, diesel,
gasoline, etc.). The divisor is the appropriate fuel consumption rate (Chiller [fuel type] Consumption Rate).
For the direct fired absorption chiller, this variable is renamed as Direct Fired Absorption Chiller Cooling Fuel
COP and the divisor is Direct Fired Absorption Chiller Cooling Gas Consumption Rate.
Note that this variable is reported as zero when the chiller is not operating. When reported for frequencies
longer than "detailed" (such as timestep, hourly, daily, monthly or environment), this output will only be
- 828 -
Chiller EIR
meaningful when the chiller is operating for the entire reporting period. To determine an average COP for a
longer time period, compute the COP based on total evaporator heat transfer divided by total electric or fuel
input over the desired period.
- 829 -
Chiller Lube Heat Recovery Rate [W]
Chiller Lube Heat Recovery [J]
- 830 -
Chiller:Electric:EIR Technical Description
ChillerCapFTemp
This is the output of the curve object Cooling Capacity Function of Temperature Curve.
ChillerEIRFTemp
This is the output of the curve object Electric Input to Cooling Output Ratio Function of Temperature Curve.
ChillerEIRFPLR
This is the output of the curve object Electric Input to Cooling Output Ratio Function of Part Load Curve.
Overview
This model (EnergyPlus name Chiller:Electric:EIR) simulates the performance of an electric liquid chiller.
The model is based on the compression chiller model (COMREF) in the DOE-2.1 building energy simulation
program. The EnergyPlus model contains all of the features of the DOE-2.1 chiller model, plus additional
abilities for modelling evaporatively-cooled condensers and heat recovery for water heating.
This model simulates the thermal performance of the chiller and the power consumption of the compressor(s).
It also models the power consumption of condenser fans if modelling an air-cooled or evaporatively-cooled
condenser. This model does not simulate the thermal performance or the power consumption of associated
pumps or cooling towers.
- 831 -
Model Description
The chiller model uses user-supplied performance information at reference conditions along with three
performance curves (curve objects) for cooling capacity and efficiency to determine chiller operation at off-
reference conditions. The three performance curves are:
where:
ChillerCapFTemp = cooling capacity factor, equal to 1 at reference conditions
Tcw,l = leaving chilled water temperature, ˚C
Tcond,e = entering condenser fluid temperature, ˚C. For a water-cooled condenser this will be the water
temperature returning from the condenser loop (e.g., leaving the cooling tower). For air- or evap-cooled
condensers this will be the entering outdoor air dry-bulb or wet-bulb temperature, respectively.
where:
ChillerEIRFTemp = energy input to cooling output factor, equal to 1 at reference conditions
Tcw,l = leaving chilled water temperature, ˚C
Tcond,e = entering condenser fluid temperature, ˚C. For a water-cooled condenser this will be the water
temperature returning from the condenser loop (e.g., leaving the cooling tower). For air- or evap-cooled
condensers this will be the entering outdoor air dry-bulb or wet-bulb temperature, respectively.
- 832 -
Chiller - Reformulated EIR
where:
ChillerEIRFPLR = energy input to cooling output factor, equal to 1 at reference conditions
PLR = part-load ratio = (cooling load) / (chiller’s available cooling capacity)
All three of the performance curves are accessed through EnergyPlus’ built-in performance curve equation
manager (curve:quadratic and curve:biquadratic). It is not imperative that the user utilize all coefficients in the
performance curve equations if their performance equation has fewer terms (e.g., if the user’s ChillerEIRFPLR
performance curve is linear instead of quadratic, simply enter the values for a and b, and set coefficient c
equal to zero).
Note: Chiller:Electric:EIR objects and their associated performance curve objects are developed using
performance information for a specific chiller and should normally be used together for an EnergyPlus
simulation. Changing the object input values, or swapping performance curves between chillers, should be
done with caution.
For any simulation time step, the chiller’s available cooling capacity is calculated as follows:
where:
Qref = chiller capacity at reference conditions (reference temperatures and flow rates defined by the user), W
Q avail = available chiller capacity adjusted for current fluid temperatures, W
The model then calculates the evaporator heat transfer rate required to bring the entering chilled water
temperature down to the leaving chilled water setpoint temperature (established using a Setpoint manager
and referenced in the Plant loop). If this calculated heat transfer rate is greater than the heat transfer rate
being requested by the plant equipment operation scheme, then the evaporator heat transfer rate is reset to
the requested cooling rate.
The evaporator heat transfer rate is then compared to the available capacity. If the available chiller capacity is
sufficient to meet the evaporator heat transfer rate, the leaving chilled water temperature is set equal to the
chilled water setpoint temperature. If the requested evaporator heat transfer rate is larger than the available
capacity the chilled water leaving the evaporator is allowed to float upward. For this case, the exiting chilled
water temperature is calculated based on the water temperature entering the evaporator, the available cooling
capacity, and the evaporator mass flow rate.
Used in:
Chiller:Electric:ReformulatedEIR
• Chilled water loop, supply side
The Reformulated EIR chiller is an empirical model similar to the Chiller EIR. The model uses performance
information at reference conditions along with three curve fits for cooling capacity and efficiency to determine
chiller operation at off-reference conditions. The model has the same capabilities as the Chiller EIR, but can
potentially provide significant accuracy improvement for variable-speed compressor drive and variable
condenser water flow applications. Chiller performance curves can be generated by fitting manufacturer’s
catalog data or measured data.
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Tip: Performance curves developed from manufacturer’s performance data are provided in the Chiller
templates.
This chiller model can be used to predict the performance of various chiller types (e.g., reciprocating, screw,
scroll, and centrifugal) with water-cooled condensers. The main difference between this model and the Chiller
EIR model is the condenser fluid temperature used in the associated performance curves: the Chiller
Reformulated EIR model uses the leaving condenser water temperature while the Chiller EIR model uses the
entering condenser water temperature. Although this model can provide more accurate prediction than the
Chiller EIR model, it requires more performance data to develop the associated performance curves (at least
12 points from full-load performance and 7 points from part-load performance).
Note: Reformulated Chiller EIR components and their associated performance curve objects are
developed using performance information for a specific chiller and should normally be used together for an
EnergyPlus simulation. Changing the object input values, or swapping performance curves between chillers,
should be done with caution. For example, if the user wishes to model a chiller size that is different from the
reference capacity, it is highly recommended that the reference flow rates be scaled proportionately to the
change in reference capacity.
General
Name
The auto-generated name of the chiller can be edited.
Chiller template
Use this browse option to select a chiller from the EnergyPlus chiller database whose performance data you
wish to copy to your chiller.
Chiller type
The type of chiller can be one of these options:
• 1-Constant CoP - a simple model with constant efficiency and no performance curves.
• 2-Chiller EIR- a more detailed model using 3 performance curves to determine cooling capacity
and CoP from the chiller load and outside air temperature as described on this page.
• 3-Reformulated EIR - an empirical model similar to the EIR model described on this page.
• 4-Absorption - the basic absorption chiller model
• 5-Indirect absorption -a more advanced absorption chiller model with more flexible performance
curves and ability to model the effect of varying evaporator, condenser, and generator temperatures.
Note: The Chiller type cannot be edited directly. To help you to ensure that appropriate performance
curves are used, you must either load a new chiller template of the type required or add a new chiller,
selecting the appropriate type from the drop list.
Reference capacity
This numeric field contains the reference cooling capacity of the chiller (in W or Btu/h). This should be the
capacity of the chiller at the reference temperatures and water flow rates defined below. Alternatively, this field
can be autosized.
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Chiller - Reformulated EIR
Reference COP
This numeric field contains the chiller’s coefficient of performance which is multiplied by the output of the
chiller performance curves described below. This value should not include energy use due to pumps or
cooling tower fans. This COP should be at the reference temperatures and water flow rates defined below.
• 1-Constant flow is the default option for constant volume chilled water loops and is useful for constant
speed pumping arrangements where the chiller’s request for flow is stricter and can increase the overall
loop flow.
• 2-Leaving setpoint modulated is the default option for variable volume chilled water loops and
changes the chiller model to internally vary the flow rate so that the temperature leaving the chiller
matches a setpoint at the evaporator outlet.
• 3-Not modulated is useful for either variable or constant speed pumping arrangements where the
chiller is passive in the sense that although it makes a nominal request for its design flow rate, it can
operate at varying flow rates.
In all cases the operation of the external plant system can also impact the flow through the chiller - for
example if the relative sizes and operation are such that flow is restricted and the requests cannot be met.
For variable flow chilled water loops these options are available: 2-Leaving setpoint modulated and 3-Not
modulated.
For constant flow chilled water loops these options are available: 1-Constant flow and 3-Not modulated.
The type of loop (variable/constant flow) can be changed by modifying the Plant loop flow type on the Chilled
water plant loop dialog.
Note: When the 2-Leaving setpoint modulated option is selected then you must add an extra Setpoint
manager immediately downstream of the chiller chilled water outlet to define the temperature of the water
supplied.
Sizing factor
The sizing factor is used when the chiller design inputs are autosized. In this case the autosizing results are
multiplied by this additional sizing factor. The usual value to enter is 1.0.
The inputs that would be altered by the sizing factor are: Reference capacity, Reference chilled water flow
rate and Reference condenser water flow rate.
The most common use of the sizing factor is for sizing chillers to meet only part of the design load while
continuing to use the autosizing feature. For example when a set of chillers is chained together to supply
chilled water to a plant loop, this sizing factor can be used to indicate the proportion of the load to be met by
each chiller.
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Temperatures
Reference leaving chilled water temperature
This numeric field contains the chiller’s reference leaving chilled water temperature (in °C or °F). The default
value is 6.67°C.
Flow Rates
Reference chilled water flow rate
For a variable flow chiller this is the maximum water flow rate and for a constant flow chiller this is the
operating water flow rate through the chiller’s evaporator. The units are (in m3/s or gal/min). This numeric
input field must be greater than zero, or it can be autosized.
Note: For water cooled chillers, EnergyPlus sets the condenser fluid flow rate to the maximum value
whenever the chiller is operating. The Chiller flow mode only affects the chiller evaporator flow rate.
Performance Curves
Cooling capacity function of temperature curve (CAPFT)
The Bi-quadratic performance curve parameterizes the variation of the cooling capacity as a function of the
leaving chilled water temperature and the leaving condenser fluid temperature. The output of this curve is
multiplied by the reference capacity to give the cooling capacity at specific temperature operating conditions
(i.e., at temperatures different from the reference temperatures). The curve should have a value of 1.0 at the
reference temperatures and flow rates specified above. The bi-quadratic curve should be valid for the range of
water temperatures anticipated for the simulation.
Electric input to cooling output ratio function of part load ratio curve
type
Note: This option is not shown on the DesignBuilder dialog but may be in the future.
In EnergyPlus this option determines which type of the Electric Input to Cooling Output Ratio Function of Part
Load Ratio Curve is used in the chiller modelling. Two curve types are available:
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Chiller - Reformulated EIR
The output of this curve is multiplied by the reference EIR (inverse of the reference COP) to give the EIR at
specific temperature operating conditions (i.e., at temperatures different from the reference temperatures).
The curve should have a value of 1.0 at the reference temperatures and flow rates specified above. The curve
should be valid for the range of water temperatures anticipated for the simulation (otherwise the program
issues warning messages).
Electric input to cooling output ratio function of part load ratio curve
(EIRfTPLR)
This Bi-quadratic performance curve parameterizes the variation of the energy input ratio (EIR) as a function
of the leaving condenser water temperature and the part-load ratio (EIRfTPLR). The EIR is the inverse of the
COP, and the part-load ratio is the actual cooling load divided by the chiller’s available cooling capacity.
This curve is generated by dividing the operating electric input power by the available full-load capacity (do not
divide by load) at the specific operating temperatures. The curve output should decrease from 1 towards 0 as
part-load ratio decreases from 1 to 0. The output of this curve is multiplied by the reference full-load EIR
(inverse of the reference COP) and the Energy Input to Cooling Output Ratio Function of Temperature Curve
to give the EIR at the specific temperatures and part-load ratio at which the chiller is operating. This curve
should have a value of 1.0 at the reference leaving condenser water temperature with the part-load ratio equal
to 1.0.
An ideal chiller with the same efficiency at all part-load ratio’s would use a performance curve that has a value
of 0 when the part-load ratio equals 0 (i.;e., a line connecting 0,0 and 1,1 when plotted as EIRfTPLR versus
PLR), however, actual systems can have part-load EIR’s slightly above or below this line (i.e., part-load
efficiency often differs from rated efficiency). The bicubic curve should be valid for the range of condenser
water temperatures and part-load ratios anticipated for the simulation (otherwise the program issues warning
messages).
Note: Although a bicubic curve requires 10 coefficients, coefficients 7, 9 and 10 are typically not used in
the performance curve described here and should be entered as 0 unless sufficient performance data and
regression accuracy exist to justify the use of these coefficients. Additionally, coefficients 2, 3, and 6 should
not be used unless sufficient temperature data is available to accurately define the performance curve (i.e.,
negative values may result from insufficient data).
Where CAPFT, EIRFT and EIRPLR are the outputs from the 3 curves above.
If you have manufacturers data you can generate the inputs for these 3 curves using the spreadsheet
provided free by EnergyPlus called Chiller_PerformanceCurve_Coefficients.xls. When using this
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spreadsheet to generate inputs for EIRPLR note that the coefficients are read from the spreadsheet into the
DesignBuilder Quadratic Curve dialog as follows:
Of course the performance and capacity of a chiller depends on various factors, the most important of these
being part load and temperature chilled water and the Chiller EIR provides an accurate representation taking
these factors into account. However in some cases you may only have summary manufacturers data. For
example you may only have information on the variation of CoP with part load ratio. In this case you can
define the EIRPLR curve in the usual way using your summary manufacturer’s data and use constant values
for the CAPFT and EIRFT curves which both generate a constant value of 1.0. Because CAPFT and EIRFT
are both Bi-quadratic curves you cannot use a constant Linear curve here so you must choose inputs to a
special simple Bi-quadratic curve that generates an output of 1 regardless of inputs. To achieve this simply
create and select a new Bi-quadratic curve with Coefficient 1 = 1 and all other coefficients = 0 for CAPFT and
EIRFT.
Note: Setting the Minimum part load ratio to zero for air cooled chillers, will cause the condenser fan to
run constantly even at zero load which is likely to lead to high chiller fan consumption. This happens because
the condenser fan cannot cycle off even at zero chiller load.
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Chiller - Reformulated EIR
False loading
Different chiller types (reciprocating, centrifugal etc) have very different operating characteristics. The point at
which they switch off at low load (cycle on and off to meet small loads) will vary between about 0.25 for older
reciprocating chillers and 0.1 for modern centrifugal chillers which have much better part-load performance.
Sometimes a manufacturer or installer may need to introduce a mechanism to stop the chiller cycling on and
off too frequently (frequent cycling causes excessive wear and reduces the equipment life). To stop this
happening some of the hot gas from the compressor outlet can be re-injected back into the return side of the
compressor so that the compressor inlet senses a higher return gas temperature and is ‘fooled’ into thinking
that there is a higher cooling load on the system than there actually is (this basically mimics a higher
evaporator leaving temperature) so it needs to work a little harder to meet the load and the load is therefore
maintained above the point at which the compressor would normally switch off. This strategy is called false-
loading and it is clear that bypassing hot gas from the discharge to the suction side of the compressor results
in higher energy consumption so is generally not considered to be an acceptable control strategy and actually
contravenes some energy codes (e.g. Part L2 in UK). This strategy is sometimes used to overcome poor
design and control problems.
You can avoid false loading in your model by setting the Minimum unloading ratio equal to the Minimum
part load ratio, so when the chiller reaches its minimum part-load ratio it just switches off and false-loading
cannot occur.
Heat Recovery
Heat recovery
If heat is to be recovered from the water-cooled condenser check this checkbox and ensure that a heat
recovery loop is specified and attached to the chiller.
Note: Use the Add Chiller heat recovery loop command at HVAC system level to create a DHW loop
that can be connected to a water-cooled chiller with heat recovery. This allows the waste heat from the chiller
to be used to heat up a water tank which can be used to provide hot water for DHW, zone heaters or any
other heating applications.
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Condenser heat recovery relative capacity fraction
This field is used to describe the physical size of the heat recovery portion of a split bundle condenser section.
This fraction describes the relative capacity of the heat recovery bundle of a split condenser compared to the
nominal, full load heat rejection rate of the chiller. This fraction will be applied to the full heat rejection when
operating at nominal capacity and nominal COP to model a capacity limit for the heat rejection. The default
capacity fraction is 1.
Chiller - Absorption
Used in:
Chiller:Absorption
• Chilled water loop, supply side
The Absorption Chiller is nearly identical to the more sophisticated Absorption indirect chiller model. Since
these absorption chiller models are nearly identical (i.e., the performance curves of the enhanced model can
be manipulated to produce similar results to the Absorption Chiller model), it is quite probable that the
Absorption Chiller model will be deprecated in a future release of EnergyPlus.
Note: Absorption Chillers and their associated performance curve objects are developed using
performance information for a specific chiller and should normally be used together for an EnergyPlus
simulation. Changing the object input values, or swapping performance curves between chillers, should be
done with caution.
General
Name
The auto-generated name of the chiller can be edited.
Chiller template
Use this browse option to select a chiller from the EnergyPlus chiller database whose performance data you
wish to copy to your chiller.
Chiller type
The type of chiller can be one of these options:
• 1-Constant CoP - a simple model with constant efficiency and no performance curves.
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Chiller - Absorption
• 2-Chiller EIR- a more detailed model using 3 performance curves to determine cooling capacity and
CoP from the chiller load and outside air temperature.
• 3-Reformulated EIR - an empirical model similar to the EIR model
• 4-Absorption - the basic absorption chiller model as described on this page.
• 5-Indirect absorption -a more advanced absorption chiller model with more flexible performance
curves and ability to model the effect of varying evaporator, condenser, and generator temperatures.
Note: The Chiller type cannot be edited directly. To help you to ensure that appropriate performance
curves are used, you must either load a new chiller template of the type required or add a new chiller,
selecting the appropriate type from the drop list.
Nominal capacity
This numeric field contains the nominal cooling capability of the chiller (in W or Btu/h).
• 1-Constant flow is the default option for constant volume chilled water loops and is useful for constant
speed pumping arrangements where the chiller’s request for flow is stricter and can increase the overall
loop flow.
• 2-Leaving setpoint modulated is the default option for variable volume chilled water loops and
changes the chiller model to internally vary the flow rate so that the temperature leaving the chiller
matches a setpoint at the evaporator outlet. For the absorption chiller, this mode also affects the flow
rate on the generator connection.
• 3-Not modulated is useful for either variable or constant speed pumping arrangements where the
chiller is passive in the sense that although it makes a nominal request for its design flow rate, it can
operate at varying flow rates. This flow mode does not impact the condenser loop connection.
In all cases the operation of the external plant system can also impact the flow through the chiller - for
example if the relative sizes and operation are such that flow is restricted and the requests cannot be met.
For variable flow chilled water loops these options are available: 2-Leaving setpoint modulated and 3-Not
modulated.
For constant flow chilled water loops these options are available: 1-Constant flow and 3-Not modulated.
The type of loop (variable/constant flow) can be changed by modifying the Plant loop flow type on the Chilled
water plant loop dialog.
Note: When the 2-Leaving setpoint modulated option is selected then you must add an extra Setpoint
manager immediately downstream of the chiller chilled water outlet to define the temperature of the water
supplied.
Sizing factor
This optional numeric field allows the user to specify a sizing factor for this component. The sizing factor is
used when the component design inputs are autosized: the autosizing calculations are performed as usual
and the results are multiplied by the sizing factor. For this component the inputs that would be altered by the
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sizing factor are: Nominal Capacity, Nominal Pumping Power, Design Chilled Water Flow Rate, Design
Condenser Water Flow Rate and Design Generator Fluid Flow Rate. Sizing factor allows the user to size a
component to meet part of the design load while continuing to use the autosizing feature.
Condenser
Condenser type
The condenser type determines what type of condenser will be included with this chiller. Valid condenser
types are:
• 1-Air cooled,
• 2-Water cooled,
• 3-Evaporatively cooled
The default is 2-Water cooled which requires the full specification of the Condenser loop and its associated
equipment. 1-Air cooled and 3-Evaporatively cooled do not require a Condenser loop to be specified.
Note: Condenser type cannot be edited directly. To help you to ensure that appropriate performance
curves are used, load a chiller of the correct type from the Chiller template.
Temperatures
Flow Rates
Design chilled water flow rate
For variable volume chiller this is the maximum flow and for constant flow chiller this is the design flow rate.
The units are m3/s or gal/min.
Note: For water cooled chillers, EnergyPlus sets the condenser fluid flow rate to the maximum value
whenever the chiller is operating. The Chiller flow mode only affects the chiller evaporator flow rate.
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Chiller - Absorption
GeneratorInputRatio=C1*PLR+C2+C3∗PLR
The following three fields contain the coefficients for the equation.
ElectricInputRatio=C1+C2∗PLR+C3∗PLR2
The following three fields contain the coefficients for the equation.
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Coefficient 2 of the pump electric use part load ratio curve
C2 in the Pump Electric Use Part Load Ratio Curve. This value is obtained by fitting manufacturers’
performance data to the curve.
Used in:
Chiller:Absorption:Indirect
• Chilled water loop, supply side
The Absorption Indirect Chiller is an enhanced version of the absorption chiller model found in the Building
Loads and System Thermodynamics (BLAST) program. This enhanced model is nearly identical to the
Absorption Chiller model with the exceptions that:
1. The enhanced indirect absorption chiller model provides more flexible performance curves, and,
2. Chiller performance includes the impact of varying evaporator, condenser, and generator temperatures.
Since these absorption chiller models are nearly identical (i.e., the performance curves of the enhanced model
can be manipulated to produce similar results to the Absorption Chiller model), it is quite probable that the
Absorption Chiller model will be deprecated in a future release of EnergyPlus.
Note: Absorption Indirect Chillers and their associated performance curve objects are developed using
performance information for a specific chiller and should normally be used together for an EnergyPlus
simulation. Changing the object input values, or swapping performance curves between chillers, should be
done with caution.
General
Name
The auto-generated name of the chiller can be edited.
Chiller template
Use this browse option to select a chiller from the EnergyPlus chiller database whose performance data you
wish to copy to your chiller.
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Chiller - Absorption Indirect
Chiller type
The type of chiller can be one of these options:
• 1-Constant CoP - a simple model with constant efficiency and no performance curves.
• 2-Chiller EIR- a more detailed model using 3 performance curves to determine cooling capacity
and CoP from the chiller load and outside air temperature as described on this page.
• 3-Reformulated EIR - an empirical model similar to the Chiller EIR model.
• 4-Absorption - the basic absorption chiller model.
• 5-Indirect absorption -a more advanced absorption chiller model with more flexible performance
curves and ability to model the effect of varying evaporator, condenser, and generator temperatures, as
described on this page.
Note: The Chiller type cannot be edited directly. To help you to ensure that appropriate performance
curves are used, you must either load a new chiller template of the type required or add a new chiller,
selecting the appropriate type from the drop list.
Nominal capacity
This numeric field contains the nominal cooling capability of the chiller (in W or Btu/h).
• 1-Constant flow is the default option for constant volume chilled water loops and is useful for constant
speed pumping arrangements where the chiller’s request for flow is stricter and can increase the overall
loop flow.
• 2-Leaving setpoint modulated is the default option for variable volume chilled water loops and
changes the chiller model to internally vary the flow rate so that the temperature leaving the chiller
matches a setpoint at the evaporator outlet. For the absorption chiller, this mode also affects the flow
rate on the generator connection.
• 3-Not modulated is useful for either variable or constant speed pumping arrangements where the
chiller is passive in the sense that although it makes a nominal request for its design flow rate, it can
operate at varying flow rates. This flow mode does not impact the condenser loop connection.
In all cases the operation of the external plant system can also impact the flow through the chiller - for
example if the relative sizes and operation are such that flow is restricted and the requests cannot be met.
For variable flow chilled water loops these options are available: 2-Leaving setpoint modulated and 3-Not
modulated.
For constant flow chilled water loops these options are available: 1-Constant flow and 3-Not modulated.
The type of loop (variable/constant flow) can be changed by modifying the Plant loop flow type on the Chilled
water plant loop dialog.
Note: When the 2-Leaving setpoint modulated option is selected then you must add an extra Setpoint
manager immediately downstream of the chiller chilled water outlet to define the temperature of the water
supplied.
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Sizing factor
This optional numeric field allows the user to specify a sizing factor for this component. The sizing factor is
used when the component design inputs are autosized: the autosizing calculations are performed as usual
and the results are multiplied by the sizing factor. For this component the inputs that would be altered by the
sizing factor are: Nominal Capacity, Nominal Pumping Power, Design Chilled Water Flow Rate, Design
Condenser Water Flow Rate and Design Generator Fluid Flow Rate. Sizing factor allows the user to size a
component to meet part of the design load while continuing to use the autosizing feature.
Condenser
Condenser type
The condenser type determines what type of condenser will be included with this chiller. Valid condenser
types are:
• 1-Air cooled,
• 2-Water cooled,
• 3-Evaporatively cooled
The default is 2-Water cooled which requires the full specification of the Condenser loop and its associated
equipment. 1-Air cooled and 3-Evaporatively cooled do not require a Condenser loop to be specified.
Note: Condenser type cannot be edited directly. To help you to ensure that appropriate performance
curves are used, load a chiller of the correct type from the Chiller template.
Temperatures
Flow Rates
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Chiller - Absorption Indirect
Note: For water cooled chillers, EnergyPlus sets the condenser fluid flow rate to the maximum value
whenever the chiller is operating. The Chiller flow mode only affects the chiller evaporator flow rate.
Correction Curves
Condenser temperature capacity correction
Check this option if you would to model the chiller’s evaporator capacity as a function of condenser entering
water temperature.
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Chilled water temperature capacity correction
Check this option if you would like to correlate the chiller’s evaporator capacity as a function of evaporator
leaving water temperature.
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District Cooling
District Cooling
Used in:
DistrictCooling
• Chilled water loop, supply side
The district cooling component is used to provide cooling to the supply side of a chilled water loop. It can be
used to model these systems:
General
Name
The auto-generated name of the district cooling system can be edited.
Nominal capacity
This numeric field contains the nominal demand (in W or Btu/h) that the district cooling will meet. This field is
autosizable.
Cooling Towers
Used in:
CoolingTower:SingleSpeed
• Condenser loop, supply side
CoolingTower:TwoSpeed
CoolingTower:VariableSpeed:Merkel
CoolingTower:VariableSpeed
Cooling towers are placed on the supply side of condenser loops. The cooling tower is modelled as a counter-
flow heat exchanger with options for single-speed, two-speed or variable-speed fan. Specifically, 4 types of
cooling tower are available:
• Single Speed
• Two Speed
• Variable Speed (Merkel)
• Variable Speed
Cooling towers here are “wet” and consume water through evaporation, drift, and blow-down. The model can
be used to predict water consumed by the towers.
The cooling tower seeks to maintain the temperature of the water exiting the cooling tower at (or below) a set
point. The set point schedule value is defined by the condenser loop outlet setpoint manager:
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The Condenser Loop Tutorial includes a useful description of cooling tower operating principles and the
Cooling tower dialog
The schematic diagrams below (reproduced with permission from CIBSE) illustrate the various types of Direct
& Indirect Heat Rejection used in cooling towers. The condenser process takes the fluid from saturated vapour
(point 5) to saturated liquid (point 6) on the graph below.
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Cooling Tower - Single Speed And Two Speed
Used in:
CoolingTower:SingleSpeed
• Condenser loop, supply side
CoolingTower:TwoSpeed
Cooling towers are placed on the supply side of condenser loops. The cooling tower is modelled as a counter-
flow heat exchanger with a single-speed or two-speed fan (induced draft configuration) based on Merkel’s
theory. Tower performance is defined via one of two methods: a) design heat transfer coefficient-area product
(UA) and design water flow rate, or b) nominal tower capacity at a specific rating point. Regardless of which
method is chosen, the design airflow rate and corresponding fan power must be specified (at both high and
low speeds when using the two-speed model). The model will also account for tower performance in the “free
convection” regime, when the tower fan is off but the water pump remains on and heat transfer still occurs
(albeit at a low level). To account for “free convection”, you must specify the corresponding airflow rate and
heat transfer coefficient-area product (UA), or the nominal tower capacity during this mode of operation.
The Condenser Loop Tutorial includes a useful description of cooling tower operating principles and the
Cooling tower dialog.
The model first checks to determine the impact of “free convection”, if specified by the user, on the tower
exiting water temperature.
Model Description - Single Speed Cooling Tower
If the exiting water temperature based on “free convection” is at or below the set point, then the tower
fan is not turned on. If the exiting water temperature based on “free convection” is below the set point,
the tower will operate in Fluid bypass mode whereby a portion of the water goes through the tower
media and gets cooled while the remaining water flow gets bypassed, two water flows then mix
together trying to meet the water setpoint temperature. If the exiting water temperature remains above
the set point after “free convection” is modelled, then the tower fan is turned on to reduce the exiting
water temperature to the set point. If the capacity control is 1-Fan cycling, the model assumes that
part-load operation is represented by a simple linear interpolation between two steady-state regimes
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(i.e. the tower fan is on for the entire simulation time-step and the tower fan is off for the entire
simulation time-step). Cyclic losses are not taken into account. If the capacity control is 2-Fluid
bypass, the model determines the fraction of water flow to be bypassed while the remaining water
goes through the tower cooling media and gets cooled, then the two water flows mix to meet the
setpoint temperature. In this case, the fan runs at full speed for the entire time-step.
Model Description - Two Speed Cooling Tower
If the exiting water temperature based on “free convection” is at or below the set point, then the tower
fan is not turned on. If the exiting water temperature remains above the set point after “free convection”
is modelled, then the tower fan is turned on at low speed to reduce the exiting water temperature. If
operating the tower fan at low speed does not reduce the exiting water temperature to the set point,
then the tower fan is increased to its high speed. The model assumes that part-load operation is
represented by a simple linear interpolation between two steady-state regimes (i.e., tower fan at high
speed for the entire simulation timestep and tower fan at low speed for the entire simulation timestep,
or tower fan at low speed for the entire simulation timestep and tower fan off for the entire simulation
timestep). Cyclic losses are not taken into account.
Cooling towers here are “wet” and consume water through evaporation, drift, and blow-down. The model can
be used to predict water consumed by the towers.
For the operation of multi-cell towers, the first step is to determine the number of cells to operate based on the
cell control method, between the minimum number of cells subject to the maximum water flow rate fraction per
cell and maximum number of cells subject to the minimum water flow rate fraction per cell. If the calculated
cells do not meet the loads, additional cells will be operating to help meet the loads. Inside each cell, the
existing capacity controls still apply.
For multi-cell towers, the following inputs are assumed to be for the entire tower including all cells:
• Design water flow rate; Design air flow rate; Fan power at design air flow rate;
• Air flow rate in free convection regime; Nominal capacity; Free convection capacity
• Basin heater a common basin is assumed
General
Name
This is the name that you assign to the cooling tower which should be unique. If the supplied name is not
unique, the software will automatically append a backslash and integer to ensure that there are no duplicate
names.
• 1-Saturated exit or
• 2-Loss factor.
The default is 1-Saturated exit. The user-defined loss factor is entered under Evaporation loss factor,
below. By assuming that the air leaving the tower is saturated, the evaporation can be directly calculated
- 852 -
Cooling Tower - Single Speed And Two Speed
using moist air engineering calculations with data available within the cooling tower model (and does not
require additional user input).
Sizing factor
This setting allows the user to specify a sizing factor for this component. The sizing factor is used when the
component design inputs are auto-sized. In this case the auto-sizing calculations are performed as usual and
the results are multiplied by the sizing factor. Sizing factor allows the user to size a component to meet part of
the design load while continuing to use the auto-sizing feature. For this component the inputs that would be
altered by the sizing factor are:
Airflow
Design air flow rate
This numeric field contains the design air flow rate induced by the tower fan (in m 3/s or ft3/min). A value of
greater than zero must be defined regardless of the tower performance input method. Alternately, this field
can be autosized. If autosized, the design air flow rate is calculated as follows:
In which a fan pressure rise of 190 Pa and total fan efficiency of 0.5 are assumed.
Note: For the Two Speed Cooling tower there are 2 Design air flow rates to enter, one for each of the fan
speeds.
- 853 -
Design fan power
This is the fan power (W) at the design air flow rate specified under Design air flow rate. A value of greater
than zero must be specified regardless of the tower performance input method, or alternatively, this field can
be autosized. If autosized, the fan power is calculated as follows:
If Performance input method is specified as 1-Nominal capacity, then the fan power is obtained from:
If Performance input method is specified as 2-UA and Design water flow rate, then the fan power is obtained
from:
Note: For the Two Speed Cooling tower there are 2 Fan power at design air flow rate settings to enter,
one for each of the fan speeds.
• 1-Nominal Capacity where the Nominal capacity and Free convection capacity must be entered as
described below
• 2-UA and design water flow rate where you must enter design UA values, design water flow rates
and air flow rates
Water Flow
Design water flow rate
This is the design water flow rate through the tower (in m3/s or gal/min). This value is the flow rate of the
condenser loop water being cooled by the tower (not the flow rate of water being sprayed on the outside of the
heat exchange coil). If the Performance input method is specified as 2-UA and design water flow rate, then
a water flow rate greater than zero must be defined or the item can be autosized. If autosized, the design
water flow rate is derived from the design load to be rejected by the condenser loop and the design loop
temperature difference. If Performance input method is specified as 1-Nominal capacity, then the model
automatically assumes a water flow rate of 5.382E-8 m3/s per W of tower capacity.
- 854 -
Cooling Tower - Single Speed And Two Speed
Note: For the Two Speed Cooling tower there are 2 UA at design air flow rate settings to enter, one for
each of the fan speeds.
Capacity
Nominal capacity
Used when the Performance input method is specified as 1-Nominal capacity, this is the “nominal” heat
rejection capacity of the cooling tower (in W or Btu/h), with entering water at 35°C (95°F), leaving water at
29.4°C (85°F), entering air at 25.6°C (78°F) wet-bulb and 35°C (95°F) dry-bulb temperatures. The design
water flow rate is assumed to be 5.382E-8 m3/s per watt of nominal capacity (3 gpm/ton). 125% of this
nominal tower capacity gives the actual tower heat rejection at these operating conditions (based on historical
assumption that the tower must dissipate 0.25W of compressor heat for every watt of heat removed by the
evaporator).
Temperature
Design inlet air dry-bulb temperature
This numeric field specifies the inlet air dry-bulb temperature (in ˚C or °F) at design conditions. This design
temperature should correspond with the design values for range temperature, approach temperature, water
flow rate, and air flow rate specified on this dialog. The minimum value for this field is 20˚C and the default
value is 35˚C.
- 855 -
Free Convection Regime
Free convection nominal capacity
This is the “nominal” heat rejection capacity of the cooling tower (in W or Btu/h) when the tower is in the “free
convection” regime (water flow exists but tower fan is turned off), with entering water at 35°C (95°F), leaving
water at 29.4°C (85°F), entering air at 25.6°C (78°F) wet-bulb and 35°C (95°F) dry-bulb temperatures. The
design water flow rate is assumed to be 5.382E-8 m3/s per watt of nominal tower capacity (input field above).
125% of this free convection tower capacity gives the actual tower heat rejection at these operating conditions
(based on historical assumption that the tower must dissipate 0.25W of compressor heat for every watt of heat
removed by the evaporator). The value specified under this setting must be less than the value specified for
the field Nominal capacity. If you do not wish to model “free convection”, then this field should be set to 0.0. If
you specify a value greater than zero, then the Air flow rate in free convection regime setting must contain a
value greater than zero.
- 856 -
Cooling Tower - Single Speed And Two Speed
Blowdown
Blow-down calculation mode
This setting specifies which method is used to determine blow-down rates. There are two options:
• 1-Concentration ratio or
• 2-Scheduled rate.
The choice will determine which of the two models below is used. The default is 1-Concentration ratio.
Capacity Control
Capacity control
This is the cooling capacity control for the cooling tower. Two choices are available:
During part-load conditions, there are two ways to maintain the exiting water temperature at the setpoint:
either cycling the tower fan, or bypassing a portion of the tower water with a three-way valve. For 2-Fluid
bypass, the tower fan still runs at full speed for the entire time-step, but only a portion of the water flow goes
- 857 -
through the cooling tower media to get cooled while the remaining portion of the water flow gets bypassed,
consequently, two water flows then mix at the common water sump to meet the setpoint temperature.
Number of cells
This is the number of cells in the multi-cell cooling tower.
Cell control
This specifies the method used to control the number of cells used to meet the load, the two choices are:
• 1-Minimal cell - the program will use the minimal number of cells needed, all other cells will be shut
down with no water flow. It will attempt to use as few cells as possible to cool the fluid. In no case,
however, will the flow per cell be allowed to exceed its maximum value defined by the Cell maximum
water flow rate fraction.
• 2-Maximal cell - as many cells as possible will be turned on. In no case, however, will the flow per cell
be allowed to drop below its minimum value specified by the Cell minimum water flow rate fraction.
Used in:
CoolingTower:VariableSpeed:Merkel
• Condenser loop, supply side
The variable speed (Merkel) tower model is based on Merkel’s theory and is similar to the single-speed and
two-speed tower models. The open wet cooling tower is modelled as a counter flow heat exchanger with a
variable-speed fan drawing air through the tower (induced-draft configuration). The model also includes a “free
convection” regime where cooling tower performance modelled with the fan off.
For this model, Merkel’s theory is modified to include adjustments developed by Scheier to alter the heat
transfer effectiveness based on current wetbulb, air flow rates, and water flow rates. The input requires
performance curves or lookup tables to describe these three adjustment factors.
For multi-cell towers, capacity and air/water flow rate inputs are for the entire tower.
- 858 -
Cooling Tower - Variable Speed Merkel
General
Name
This is the name that you assign to the cooling tower which should be unique. If the supplied name is not
unique, the software will automatically adjust the name to avoid duplicate names.
• 1-Single speed
• 2-Two speed
• 3-Variable speed (Merkel) (described on this help page)
• 4-Variable speed
• 1-Saturated exit or
• 2-Loss factor.
The default is 1-Saturated exit. The user-defined loss factor is entered under Evaporation loss factor,
below. By assuming that the air leaving the tower is saturated, the evaporation can be directly calculated
using moist air engineering calculations with data available within the cooling tower model (and does not
require additional user input).
Sizing factor
This field allows you to specify a sizing factor for this component to be applied when the component design
inputs are autosized. The autosizing calculations are performed as usual and the results are multiplied by the
sizing factor. This allows you to size a component to meet part of the design load while continuing to use the
autosizing feature.
Airflow
- 859 -
Design air flow rate per unit of nominal capacity
This is the sizing factor to use when auto-calculating the design air flow rate from the nominal capacity, in
units of m3/s/W. The default is 2.76316*105.
• 1-Nominal Capacity where the Nominal capacity and Free convection nominal capacity must be
entered.
• 2-UA and design water flow rate where you must enter design UA values, design water flow rates
and air flow rates
Water Flow
Design water flow rate
This is the design water flow rate through the tower (in m3/s or gal/min). This value is the flow rate of the
condenser loop water being cooled by the tower (not the flow rate of water being sprayed on the outside of the
heat exchange coil). If the Performance input method is specified as 2-UA and design water flow rate, then
a water flow rate greater than zero must be defined or the item can be autosized. If autosized, the design
water flow rate is derived from the design load to be rejected by the condenser loop and the design loop
temperature difference. If Performance input method is specified as 1-Nominal capacity, then the model
automatically assumes a water flow rate of 5.382E-8 m3/s per W of tower capacity.
- 860 -
Cooling Tower - Variable Speed Merkel
Capacity
Nominal capacity
Used when the Performance input method is specified as 1-Nominal capacity, this is the “nominal” heat
rejection capacity of the cooling tower (in W or Btu/h), with entering water at 35°C (95°F), leaving water at
29.4°C (85°F), entering air at 25.6°C (78°F) wet-bulb and 35°C (95°F) dry-bulb temperatures.
The Heat rejection capacity and nominal capacity sizing ratio (below) is applied to this nominal tower capacity
to give the actual tower heat rejection at these operating conditions. This field can be autosized.
Fan Power
Design fan power
This numeric field contains the fan power (in W) at the design (maximum) air flow rate through the tower. A
value greater than zero must be specified or this field can be autocalculated. When the field is autocalculated
the following input field is used to size the fan power based on nominal capacity.
- 861 -
Fan power modifier function of air flow rate ratio curve
Select the curve that describes fan power ratio (fan power/design fan power) as a function of air flow rate ratio
(air flow rate/design air flow rate). The curve must be for one independent variable, typically a cubic, and
should be normalized to 1.0 at an air flow rate ratio of 1.0.
Temperature
Design inlet air dry-bulb temperature
This numeric field specifies the inlet air dry-bulb temperature (in ˚C or °F) at design conditions. This design
temperature should correspond with the design values for range temperature, approach temperature, water
flow rate, and air flow rate specified on this dialog. The minimum value for this field is 20˚C and the default
value is 35˚C.
If you do not wish to model “free convection”, then this capacity should be set to 0.0. If you set a value greater
than zero, then the Air flow rate in free convection regime must also have a value greater than zero. This field
may be autocalculated, in which case it is set to a fraction of the Nominal capacity determined using the
following field.
Warning: Due to a known bug in EnergyPlus 8.9, when using the 2-UA and Design water flow rate
Performance input method option and UA at design air flow rate is set to "Autosize" you must set Free
convection nominal capacity input to “Autocalculate”. You will need to change the Performance input
- 862 -
Cooling Tower - Variable Speed Merkel
method to 1-Nominal capacity to see it, but remember to change it back again to 2-UA and design water
flow rate after checking.
If you do not wish to model “free convection” and are using the Performance input method 2-UA and Design
water flow rate option, then this field should be set to 0.0. On the other hand, if you set the UA at free
convection air flow rate or Free convection nominal capacity to a value greater than zero, then the free
convection air flow rate must also be greater than 0.0.
- 863 -
and water is not flowing through the tower. This set point temperature must be greater than or equal to 2˚C,
and the default value is 2˚C.
Blowdown
• 1-Concentration ratio or
• 2-Scheduled rate.
The choice will determine which of the two models below is used. The default is 1-Concentration ratio.
Number of cells
This is the number of cells in the multi-cell cooling tower.
Cell control
This specifies the method used to control the number of cells used to meet the load, the two choices are:
• 1-Minimal cell - the program will use the minimal number of cells needed, all other cells will be shut
down with no water flow. It will attempt to use as few cells as possible to cool the fluid. In no case,
- 864 -
Cooling Tower - Variable Speed
however, will the flow per cell be allowed to exceed its maximum value defined by the Cell maximum
water flow rate fraction.
• 2-Maximal cell - as many cells as possible will be turned on. In no case, however, will the flow per cell
be allowed to drop below its minimum value specified by the Cell minimum water flow rate fraction.
Used in:
CoolingTower:VariableSpeed
• Condenser loop, supply side
The variable speed tower model is based on empirical curve fits of manufacturer’s performance data or field
measurements. Tower performance can be specified at design conditions, and empirical curves are used to
determine the approach temperature and fan power at off-design conditions. Tower performance is specified
by entering the inlet air wet-bulb temperature, tower range, and tower approach temperature at the design
conditions. The corresponding water flow rate (within ±25% of the tower’s rated water mass flow rate), air flow
rate, and fan power must also be specified. The model will account for tower performance in the “free
convection” regime, when the tower fan is off but the water pump remains on and heat transfer still occurs
(albeit at a low level). Basin heater operation and makeup water usage (due to evaporation, drift, and
blowdown) are also modelled.
The model first checks to determine the impact of “free convection” on the tower exiting water temperature. If
the exiting water temperature based on “free convection” is at or below the set point, then the variable-speed
tower fan is not turned on. If the exiting water temperature is above the set point after “free convection” is
modelled, then the variable-speed tower fan is turned on to reduce the exiting water temperature. Tower fan
power is calculated based on the tower air flow rate required to achieve the exiting water set point
temperature. Cooling towers here are “wet” and consume water through evaporation, drift, and blowdown. The
model can be used to predict water consumed by the towers.
For multi-cell towers, capacity and air/water flow rate inputs are for the entire tower.
General
Name
This is the name that you assign to the cooling tower which should be unique. If the supplied name is not
unique, the software will automatically adjust the name to avoid duplicate names.
• 1-Single speed
• 2-Two speed
- 865 -
• 3-Variable speed (Merkel)
• 4-Variable speed (described on this help page)
• 1-Saturated exit or
• 2-Loss factor.
The default is 1-Saturated exit. The user-defined loss factor is entered under Evaporation loss factor,
below. By assuming that the air leaving the tower is saturated, the evaporation can be directly calculated
using moist air engineering calculations with data available within the cooling tower model (and does not
require additional user input).
Sizing factor
This field allows you to specify a sizing factor for this component to be used when the component design
inputs are autosized. The autosizing calculations are performed as usual and the results are multiplied by the
sizing factor. The Sizing factor allows you to size a component to meet part of the design load while continuing
to use the autosizing feature.
For this component the inputs that would be altered by the sizing factor are:
Airflow
Design air flow rate
This numeric field contains the design (maximum) air flow rate through the tower in m3/s. A value greater than
zero must be specified or this field can be autosized. When autosizing the design air flow rate is assumed to
be the design fan power multiplied by a total fan efficiency of 0.5 and divided by a fan pressure rise of 190
Pascals. A correction for altitude is also included as follows:
- 866 -
Cooling Tower - Variable Speed
Model Type
Model type
This setting allows you to select the type of empirical model used to simulate the tower’s thermal performance
(approach temperature). Options are:
1-Cool tools cross flow and 2-York calc are empirical models with the equation form and model coefficients
already defined within EnergyPlus.
If 3-Cool tools user defined or 4-York calc user defined are selected, the user must specify a valid Model
Coefficient option in the next input field to reference an appropriate cooling tower performance component.
Model coefficient
Select the Cooling tower performance component that defines the details of the performance characteristics of
the cooling tower.
If 3-Cool tools user defined is selected then a component from the Cool tools category should be selected.
Otherwise if the model type is 4-York calc user defined then a component from the York calc category must
be selected.
Water Flow
This value is the flow rate of the condenser loop water being cooled by the tower. A value greater than zero
must be specified or this field can be autosized in which case the design water flow rate is derived from the
design load to be rejected by the condenser loop and the design loop delta T. The design water flow rate
should correspond with the design values specified for the inlet air wet-bulb temperature, approach
temperature, range temperature, and air flow rate. When this field is not autosized, the condenser loop flow
rate specified in other objects should be within ±25% of the tower’s rated water flow rate. A different range is
permissible if the Model type is user defined.
- 867 -
Fan Power
Design fan power
This is the fan power (in W) at the design (maximum) air flow rate through the tower. A value greater than zero
must be specified or this field can be autosized. If autosized, the fan power is calculated as follows:
Temperature
Design inlet air wet-bulb temperature
This numeric field specifies the inlet air wet-bulb temperature (in ˚C or °F) at design conditions. This design
temperature should correspond with the design values for range temperature, approach temperature, water
flow rate, and air flow rate specified on this dialog. The minimum value for this field is 20˚C and the default
value is 25.6˚C.
- 868 -
Cooling Tower - Variable Speed
Blowdown
Blow-down calculation mode
This setting specifies which method is used to determine blow-down rates. There are two options:
• 1-Concentration ratio or
• 2-Scheduled rate.
The choice will determine which of the two models below is used. The default is 1-Concentration ratio.
- 869 -
Multi-Cell Tower Settings
Multi-cell tower
This setting is used to enable a multi-cell tower to be defined.
Number of cells
This is the number of cells in the multi-cell cooling tower.
Cell control
This specifies the method used to control the number of cells used to meet the load, the two choices are:
• 1-Minimal cell - the program will use the minimal number of cells needed, all other cells will be shut
down with no water flow. It will attempt to use as few cells as possible to cool the fluid. In no case,
however, will the flow per cell be allowed to exceed its maximum value defined by the Cell maximum
water flow rate fraction.
• 2-Maximal cell - as many cells as possible will be turned on. In no case, however, will the flow per cell
be allowed to drop below its minimum value specified by the Cell minimum water flow rate fraction.
Cool Tools
The empirical CoolTools tower correlation uses a set of 35 coefficients to model the thermal performance
(approach temperature) of a cooling tower based on four independent variables. If you specify the Model type
as 3-Cool Tools cross flow on the Cooling Tower dialog for a Variable Speed object, then the 35 coefficients
derived for the CoolTools simulation model are used and these coefficients are already defined within
EnergyPlus. If on the other hand you select the 3-Cool Tools user defined option, then you must also select
a Cool tools Cooling Tower Performance component to define the 35 coefficients that will be used by the
CoolTools correlation.
To specify the valid range for which the model coefficients were derived, it is necessary to enter the minimum
and maximum values for: inlet air wet-bulb temperature, range temperature, approach temperature, and water
mass flow rate ratio . For all of these variables, the program issues warnings if the actual values are beyond
the minimum/maximum values specified. For inlet air wet-bulb temperature and water mass flow rate ratio, the
values of these variables used in the calculation of approach temperature are limited to be within the valid
minimum/maximum range specified. For approach and range, the warnings are issued if the values are
beyond the specified minimum/maximum range but the actual values are still used.
- 870 -
Cooling Tower - Model Coefficients
The CoolTools correlation has four independent variables: inlet air wet-bulb temperature (Twb), tower range
temperature (Tr), water flow rate ratio (FRwater), and air flow rate ratio (FRair). Temperatures are in units of
˚C and flow rate ratios are dimensionless (actual flow rate divided by design flow rate). Using these
independent variables, tower approach temperature (˚C) is calculated as follows:
It is recommended that a broad set of cooling tower performance data be used to generate these model
coefficients. The data set used to create the model coefficients should cover the entire range of water and air
flow rate ratios and inlet air wet-bulb, range, and approach temperatures expected during the simulation.
Name
Enter a unique name for the cooling tower performance data.
Source
Enter a description of the source of the data.
Category
This must be Cool tools for entering user-defined Cool tools data.
- 871 -
Maximum range temperature
This numeric field contains the maximum range temperature (in Delta °C or Delta °F) (inlet water temperature
minus outlet water temperature) to be used by the empirical model. If the range temperature is greater than
this value the actual range temperature is still passed to the empirical model but a warning will be issued.
Coefficient 1 to 35
These numeric fields contain the coefficients to be used by the CoolTools approach temperature correlation
shown above.
York Calc
The empirical YorkCalc tower correlation uses a set of 27 coefficients to model the thermal performance
(approach temperature) of a variable speed cooling tower based on three independent variables. If you
specify the Model type as 2-York calc on the Cooling Tower dialog for a Variable Speed object, then the 27
coefficients derived for the YorkCalc simulation model are used and these coefficients are already defined
within EnergyPlus. If on the other hand you select the Model type as 4-York calc user defined then you must
also select a Cooling Tower Performance object from the York calc category to define the 27 coefficients that
will be used by the YorkCalc correlation.
To specify the valid range for which the model coefficients were derived, it is necessary to enter the minimum
and maximum values for inlet air wet-bulb temperature, range temperature, approach temperature, and water
mass flow rate ratio. It is also necessary to specify the maximum valid liquid-to-gas ratio. For all of these
variables, the program issues warnings if the actual values are beyond the minimum/maximum values
specified. For inlet air wet-bulb temperature and water mass flow rate ratio, the values of these variables used
in the calculation of approach temperature are limited to be within the valid minimum/maximum range
specified. For approach, range, and liquid-to-gas ratio the warnings are issued if the values are beyond the
specified minimum/maximum range but the actual values are still used.
The YorkCalc correlation has three independent variables: inlet air wet-bulb temperature (Twb), tower range
temperature (Tr), and the liquid-to-gas ratio (ratio of water flow rate ratio to air flow rate ratio = LGRatio).
- 872 -
Cooling Tower - Model Coefficients
Temperatures are in units of ˚C and liquid-to-gas ratio is dimensionless. Using these independent variables,
an approach temperature (˚C) is calculated as follows:
It is recommended that a broad set of cooling tower performance data be used to generate these model
coefficients. The data set used to create the model coefficients should cover the entire range of water and air
flow rate ratios and inlet air wet-bulb, range, and approach temperatures expected during the simulation.
Name
Enter a unique name for the cooling tower performance data.
Source
Enter a description of the source of the data.
Category
This must be York calc for entering user-defined York calc data.
- 873 -
Minimum approach temperature
This numeric field contains the minimum approach temperature (in Delta °C or Delta °F) (outlet water
temperature minus inlet air wet-bulb temperature) to be used by the empirical model. If the calculated
approach temperature is less than this value then the calculated value is still used but a warning will be
issued.
Coefficient 1 to 27
These numeric fields contain the coefficients to be used by the YorkCalc approach temperature correlation
shown above.
Fluid Cooler
Fluid coolers (aka dry coolers) are used to reject heat from condenser loops in a similar way to cooling towers
but with much reduced water consumption. The Fluid cooler is modelled as a cross flow heat exchanger (both
streams unmixed) with either single-speed or two-speed fans (induced draft configuration).
Fluid cooler performance is defined through one of the two methods: design heat transfer coefficient-area
product (UA) and design water flow rate, or nominal fluid cooler capacity at a specific rating point. Regardless
of which method is chosen, the design airflow rate and corresponding fan power must be specified.
- 874 -
Fluid Cooler
The fluid cooler seeks to maintain the temperature of the water exiting the fluid cooler at (or below) a set point.
The set point schedule value is defined by the SPM downstream of the condenser supply sub loop.
The single-speed model assumes that part-load operation is represented by a simple linear interpolation
between two steady-state regimes (i.e., fluid cooler fan on for the entire simulation timestep and fluid cooler
fan off for the entire simulation timestep). Cyclic losses are not taken into account.
The two speed model first runs at low speed and calculates the fluid cooler exiting water temperature. If the
exiting water temperature based on “low speed” is at or below the set point, then the fluid cooler fan runs at
this speed or below this speed. If the exiting water temperature remains above the set point after “low speed”
is modelled, then the fluid cooler fan runs at high speed to reduce the exiting water temperature. The model
assumes that part-load operation is represented by a simple linear interpolation between two steady-state
regimes (i.e. fluid cooler fan at high and low speeds for the entire simulation timestep). Cyclic losses are not
taken into account.
General
Name
This alpha field contains the identifying name for the Fluid Cooler.
Nominal capacity
This numeric input field contains the “nominal” heat rejection capacity of the fluid cooler (in W or Btu/hr),
Nominal conditions i.e. entering air dry-bulb temperature, entering air wet-bulb temperature and Entering
water temperature should be provided in the input.
- 875 -
zero must be defined or the field can be autosized. If autosized the sizing data on the Plant loop dialog is used
and the design water flow rate is derived from the design load to be rejected by the condenser loop and the
design loop delta T.
Fan Settings
Performance input method
Select the method to be used to specify fluid cooler performance:
• 1-Nominal-capacity, or,
• 2-UA and design water flow rate
Single-speed fan
Two-Speed Fan
- 876 -
Fluid Cooler
then this field is not available since the model automatically calculates the fluid cooler UA based on the High
speed nominal capacity and nominal conditions specified below.
- 877 -
Note: There are some restrictions with autosizing Fluid coolers with E+ v8.3 and v8.4. For more
information on this please contact the DesignBuilder Support Desk.
Pumps
These pump types are available within Detailed HVAC:
Used in:
Pump:ConstantSpeed
Plant and Condenser loops
General
Name
The auto-generated name for the pump.
Type
The type of the variable speed pump is fixed as:
• 2-Constant speed
To change from constant speed to variable speed you most open the parent Plant or Condenser loop dialog
and change the Plant loop flow type to 1-Variable flow.
Pump Settings
- 878 -
Pump - Constant Speed
Important Note: The default pump head provided by the Plant and Condenser Loop templates is 20,000
Pa. This may be suitable for a small building, but it is important that you enter the correctly sized pump head if
you wish to simulate pump energy consumption accurately in your model.
Motor efficiency
This numeric field contains the pump’s motor efficiency in decimal form (0 = 0%, 1 = 100%).
• 1-Continuous or
• 2-Intermittent.
The operation of a constant speed pump is fairly straightforward. If the user designates a constant speed
pump that is operating continuously, the pump will run regardless of whether or not there is a load. This may
have the net effect of adding heat to the loop if no equipment is turned on. If the pump is constant speed and
operates intermittently, the pump will run at its capacity if a load is sensed and will shut off if there is no load
on the loop.
- 879 -
Pump Outlet Temp [C]
Pump Mass Flow Rate [kg/s]
These outputs are the water outlet temperature and mass flow rate.
Used in:
Pump:VariableSpeed
Plant and Condenser loops
General
Name
The auto-generated name for the pump.
Type
The type of the variable speed pump is fixed as:
• 2-Variable speed
To change from variable speed to constant speed you most open the parent Plant or Condenser loop dialog
and change the Plant loop flow type to 1-Constant flow.
Pump Settings
Important Note: The default pump head provided by the Plant and Condenser Loop templates is 20,000
Pa. This may be suitable for a small building, but it is important that you enter the correctly sized pump head if
you wish to simulate pump energy consumption accurately in your model.
- 880 -
Pump - Variable Speed
Motor efficiency
This numeric field contains the pump’s motor efficiency in decimal form (0 = 0%, 1 = 100%).
• 1-Continuous or
• 2-Intermittent.
A variable speed pump is defined with maximum and minimum flow rates that are the physical limits of the
device. If there is no load on the loop and the pump is operating intermittently, then the pump can shutdown.
For any other condition such as the loop having a load and the pump is operating intermittently or the pump is
continuously operating (regardless of the loading condition), the pump will operate and select a flow
somewhere between the minimum and maximum limits. In these cases where the pump is running, it will try to
meet the flow request made by demand side components.
Pump Coefficients
The fraction of full load power is determined during the simulation by the cubic equation:
where C1to C4are the coefficients described below and PLR is the Part Load Ratio.
- 881 -
Pump - Variable Speed Outputs
HVAC,Average,Pump Electric Power [W]
HVAC,Sum,Pump Electric Consumption [J]
HVAC,Average,Pump Shaft Power [W]
HVAC,Average,Pump Heat To Fluid [W]
HVAC,Sum,Pump Heat To Fluid Energy [J]
HVAC,Average,Pump Outlet Temp [C]
HVAC,Average,Pump Mass Flow Rate [kg/s]
• 1-Vertical (boreholes),
• 2-Pond,
• 3-Surface.
The Drop down list on the DesignBuilder ground heat exchanger dialog allows you to select the ground heat
exchanger type.
Autosizing
The Ground Heat Exchanger components do not offer an autosize option and so flow rates and other sizing
information must be obtained using the method described in Step 6 of the GSHP Case Study. An inaccurately
sized heat exchanger component can cause GSHP systems to generate inaccurate results.
Tip: You are advised to work through the GSHP Case Study before attempting to model these systems for
the first time.
- 882 -
Ground Heat Exchanger - Vertical
The EnergyPlus Ground Heat Exchanger (GHE) is a condenser component serving the condenser supply side
alongside cooling towers and other condensing components.
Technical
The heat exchanger response is defined by a G-function. This is a non-dimensional function that is used to
calculate the response to square heat pulses of different duration. (This function is not the same as ‘G-factors’
referred to in the ASHRAE Applications Handbook).
This continuous function is specified by a series of data pairs (LNTTSi, GFNCi) where:
The G-function is different for each borehole field configuration (i.e. a 4x4 field has a different response than a
80x80 field) and the borehole thermal resistance. It is also dependant on the ratio of borehole spacing to
depth. G-function values, for accurate simulation, have to be calculated for each specific heat exchanger
design. This can be done using some commercial ground loop heat exchanger design tool and the like. A
reference data set, containing examples input data for 1x2, 4x4 and 8x8 configurations and for both standard
and thermally enhanced grout, have also been provided. These data are provided as examples
only.
- 883 -
Murugappan, A. Implementing Ground Source Heat Pump and Ground Loop Heat Exchanger Models in the
EnergyPlus Simulation Environment. M.S. Thesis, Oklahoma State University, December 2002.
General
Name
This alpha field contains the identifying name for the ground heat exchanger.
Template
You can use this control to load data to the dialog from a pre-defined Ground heat exchanger template as a
starting point for your particular component.
Note: After loading a Ground heat exchanger template it is important to make sure to update the Design
and Maximum heat exchanger flow rates as the sum of connected heat pump rated flow rates.
Type
DesignBuilder provides 3 different ground heat exchanger types:
• 1-Vertical (boreholes)
• 2-Pond
• 3-Surface
The Type drop down list allows you to select the ground heat exchanger model to be used in this component.
Flow Rate
Design flow rate
This numeric field contains the design volume flow rate of the GHE (in m3/s or gal/min). The Design flow rate
should normally have the same value as the Maximum flow rate below.
Note: The maximum flow rate for vertical ground heat exchangers should normally be set to the sum of
rated flow rates from all connected water to water heat pumps. Add rated flows for all heat pump - heating
and heat pump - cooling components that are connected to this heat exchanger.
- 884 -
Ground Heat Exchanger - Vertical
U-Tube distance
This numeric field contains the distance between the two legs of the U-tube (in m or in).
Pipe thickness
This numeric field contains the outer diameter of the U-tube (pipe) (in m or in).
• If the G-Functions have not had a correction applied, then the G-Functions are still based on a
reference of 0.0005, so use a value of 0.0005 in this field. EnergyPlus will adjust the G-Functions
internally to create the properly referenced G-Function.
• If the correction has already been applied, then the input G-Functions are based on a reference to the
actual (physical) radius/length ratio, so enter the physical radius/length in this field. Entering the actual
value will nullify any internal corrections, which will avoid re-basing the G-Function set.
- 885 -
The software GLHEPRO has been making this “pre-correction” to the data sets since version 3.1 of that
software, so this input field should match the actual (physical) radius/length ratio.
Example data:
- 886 -
Ground Heat Exchanger - Vertical
Then load the "U-Tube 76m xx-boreholes" vertical ground heat exchanger template with the corresponding
number of boreholes from the template library. These templates include parameters pre-calculated based on a
typical rectangular geometry and property settings (see left red-box in the figure below). Each includes a
corresponding set of g-function data. For very different a bolehole layouts or when any of the ground or other
parameter deviates significantly from these typical settings then you should use the Detailed design sizing
method described below.
- 887 -
Detailed design sizing
The net heating or cooling capacity of the ground over each season depends on the accumulated heat
rejection/extraction, and therefore on the building loads throughout the whole year (not only the peak loads
mentioned above), which might be available through simulation perhaps based on a simple HVAC setting in
DesignBuilder.
Ground loop heat exchanger tools such as GLHEPRO and GLD (which are not supplied by DesignBuilder or
EnergyPlus) are able to carry out a more detailed and accurate sizing calculation taking into account specific
borehole layouts and ground properties. These tools can export calculated G-function data in the form of IDF
files which can be loaded to the DesignBuilder Ground Heat Exchanger dialog as described below.
- 888 -
Ground Heat Exchanger - Pond
The corresponding g-function data will be loaded along with the rest of the data required on the dialog and
can be viewed on the G Function Data tab.
This type of heat exchanger is intended to be connected to the supply side of a condenser loop, and can be
used with any type of plant loop. The pond may be specified as the only heat exchanger on the condenser
loop (as shown in top figure below) or it may be connected in parallel with other condenser loop heat
exchangers (such as cooling towers, ground surface heat exchangers) as shown in the second figure below.
- 889 -
Pond heat exchanger as only heat exchanger on condenser loop
Technical
The pond model uses a ‘lumped parameter’ method where the pond is represented by a single node with
thermal mass. The pond surface temperature is the same as the temperature at this node, i.e. the surface
temperature is the same as the bulk temperature. A first order differential equation is solved in the model to
calculate the pond temperature at each time step. This type of heat rejecter is modelled as several circuits
connected in parallel.
- 890 -
Ground Heat Exchanger - Pond
Heat transfer takes place by surface convection, long-wave radiation to the sky, absorption of solar energy,
ground heat transfer and heat exchange with the fluid. A heat exchanger analogy is used to calculate the heat
transfer between the heat transfer fluid and the pond.
General
Name
This alpha field contains the identifying name for the outside pond heat exchanger.
Template
You can use this control to load data to the dialog from a pre-defined Ground heat exchanger template as a
starting point for your particular pond component.
Type
DesignBuilder provides 3 different ground heat exchanger types:
• 1-Vertical (boreholes)
• 2-Pond
• 3-Surface
The Type drop down list allows you to select the ground heat exchanger model to be used in this component.
Pond depth
This numeric field contains the pond depth (in m or ft).
Pond area
This numeric field contains the pond area (in m2 or ft2).
- 891 -
Ground Heat Exchanger - Surface
Surface heat exchangers include pavement surfaces with embedded pipes for snow-melting or heat rejection
from hybrid ground source heat pump systems. The heat exchanger may be ground coupled or not and when
not ground coupled the bottom surface is exposed to the wind but not solar gains.
This type of heat exchanger is intended to be connected to the supply side of a condenser loop, and can be
used with any type of plant loop. The surface heat exchanger may be specified as the only heat exchanger on
the condenser loop (as shown in the first figure below) or it may be connected in parallel with other condenser
loop heat exchangers (such as cooling towers, ground surface heat exchangers) as shown in the second
figure below.
- 892 -
Ground Heat Exchanger - Surface
Surface Ground Heat Exchanger with other heat exchangers on condenser loop
Technical description
The Surface ground heat exchanger model is based on the QTF (Quadratic Transfer Function) formulation of
heat transfer through building elements with embedded heat sources/sinks. The model uses a heat exchanger
analogy to relate the inlet fluid temperature to the net heat transfer rate and consequently outlet temperature.
The model is entirely passive, i.e. it does not set any flow rates or incorporate any controls. In order to deal
with the non-linear boundary conditions at the top surface due to the presence of ice/snow fluxes have to be
calculated by the QTF model and temperature calculated from the surface heat balance. This requires some
iteration. Note, top surface variables correspond to ‘outside’ variables in standard CTF/QTF definition
(CTF=Conduction Transfer Functions). Bottom surface variables correspond to ‘inside’ variables.
General
Name
This alpha field contains the identifying name for the outside panel heat exchanger.
Template
You can use this control to load data to the dialog from a pre-defined Ground heat exchanger template as a
starting point for your particular pond component.
Type
DesignBuilder provides 3 different ground heat exchanger types:
• 1-Vertical (boreholes)
• 2-Pond
• 3-Surface
- 893 -
Ground Heat Exchanger - Surface
Construction
The Construction selected here defines the layers of materials used to make the heat exchange surface.
Note: The construction must include an Internal Source to accommodate the heat exchange pipes.
If you select a construction with large thickness to represent the ground you may need to use the 2-Finite
difference Solution algorithm either for this construction only or for the whole model.
Surface length
This numeric field contains the surface length (in m or ft).
Surface width
This numeric field contains the surface width (in m or ft).
Used in:
AirConditioner:VariableRefrigerantFlow
VRF Loop
There are two common types of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heat pump systems:
The VRF outdoor unit supports air-, evaporatively-, or water-cooled condenser equipment. Throughout this
section, the term “condenser” refers to the outdoor unit where the compressor is located.
- 894 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - General Tab
• General
• Cooling
• Heating
• Heat Recovery
General
Note on terminology: The terms VRF "condenser", "outdoor unit" and "heat pump" are used interchangeably in
the this section. Likewise the terms VRF indoor unit and terminal unit are used interchangeably.
Name
Enter the name of the VRF outdoor unit.
Fuel type
This field determines the type of fuel that this variable refrigerant flow system uses. This field has seven
choices:
• 1-Natural gas,
• 2-Electricity,
• 3-Propane gas,
• 4-FuelOil#1,
• 5-FuelOil#2,
• 6-Coal,
• 7-Diesel,
• 8-Gasoline,
• 9-OtherFuel1,
• 10-OtherFuel2.
The default is 2-Electricity. The use of alternate fuel types assumes an engine drives the variable speed
compression system and also accounts for condenser air flow (i.e., a fan attached to the engine provides air
flow through the outdoor condenser.
- 895 -
cooling or heating demand. The minimum value for this field is 0. If this field is left blank, the default value is
0.15. When the heat pump compressor cycles, the heating part-load fraction correlation curve is used to
determine cycling losses.
Availability schedule
Select the schedule that defines when the heat pump operates during a given time period. A schedule value
equal to 0 denotes that the heat pump must be off for that time period. A value other than 0 denotes that the
heat pump is available to operate during that time period. This schedule may be used to completely disable
the heat pump (and all of its terminal units) as required.
Control
• 1-Load priority where the total zone load is used to choose the operating mode as either cooling or
heating.
• 2-Zone priority where the number of zones requiring cooling or heating determines the operating
mode.
• 3-Thermostat offset priority, in which the zone farthest from the thermostat set point determines the
operating mode.
• 4-Master thermostat priority which operates the system according the zone load where the master
thermostat is located.
• 5-Scheduled where the heat pump is scheduled to operate in either cooling or heating mode.
Piping
Equivalent piping length used for piping correction factor in cooling
mode
This field defines the equivalent pipe length (in m or ft) between the farthest terminal unit and the heat pump
condenser. It includes the gas refrigerant line length (for both horizontal and vertical distances), fitting losses,
pipe bends, and other connections that contribute to piping losses. This field is used to calculate the piping
correction factor in cooling mode. It defines the head losses due to the pipe length between the farthest
terminal unit and the heat pump condenser and impacts the maximum available capacity in cooling mode.
- 896 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - General Tab
unit below the condenser enter the difference between the highest and lowest terminal units as a positive
distance, otherwise enter this difference as a negative distance.
For example, if the distance from the heat pump condenser to the highest terminal unit above the condenser
is 10 m and the distance from the heat pump condenser to the lowest terminal unit below the condenser is -15
m, then enter a value of -5 m in this field. This head loss impacts the maximum available capacity in cooling
mode.
The figure below from a manufacturer provides this information in the tilted vertical lines on the chart, which
shows that the correction factor decreases by about 0.11 when the terminal unit is 110 m above the
condenser. This means that the correction factor for height is -0.11 / 110 m or -0.001.
- 897 -
Piping correction factor for length in heating mode
This field defines the linear, quadratic, or cubic curve used to calculate the piping correction factor for length in
heating mode. Piping losses are a function of piping length. If sufficient piping loss information is available
where piping losses are also a function of combination ratio (i.e., in addition to length), a biquadratic
performance curve may be used.
Compressor
Crankcase heater power per compressor
This numeric field defines the electrical power consumed by the crankcase heater (in W or Btu/h) for each
compressor. This crankcase heater power is consumed when the outdoor temperature is below the maximum
outdoor dry-bulb temperature for crankcase heater operation. The minimum value for this field is 0. Crankcase
heater electrical consumption is applied only when the compressor is off or is applied during the off cycle
when the compressor is cycling below the Minimum heat pump part-load ratio. This field is only used to
calculate crankcase heater power and has no impact on heat pump performance.
Number of compressors
This field defines the number of compressors in the heat pump condensing unit and is used exclusively to
determine the operating characteristics of the crankcase heater. For example, if the number of compressors is
3, one crankcase heater will operate when the heat pump condensing unit’s part-load ratio is less than or
equal to 0.67 (when the ratio of compressor size to total compressor capacity input is 0.33) and the outdoor
temperature is below the maximum outdoor temperature for crankcase heater operation. Similarly, two
crankcase heaters will operate when the heat pump condensing unit’s PLR is less than or equal to 0.33 and
the outdoor temperature is below the maximum outdoor temperature for crankcase heater operation. If the
heat pump condensing unit is off, all 3 crankcase heaters will operate if the outdoor temperature is below the
maximum outdoor temperature for crankcase heater operation. The minimum value for this field is 1. This field
is only used to calculate crankcase heater power and has no impact on heat pump performance.
Defrost
Defrost strategy
This alpha field has two choices:
Defrost can be disabled by entering a resistive defrost strategy using a timed defrost control, a 0 defrost time
period fraction and a 0 resistive defrost heater capacity in the following inputs fields. This method is used
when the Maximum outdoor dry-bulb temperature for defrost operation value is greater than the expected
minimum outdoor dry-bulb temperature simulated in the weather file.
- 898 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - General Tab
Defrost control
This field has two choices:
• 1-Timed where the defrost time period is calculated based on a fixed value of compressor runtime
whether or not frost has actually accumulated. For timed defrost control, the fractional amount of time
the unit is in defrost is entered in the input field Defrost time period fraction described below.
• 2-On-demand where the defrost time period is calculated based on outdoor weather (humidity ratio)
conditions.
Regardless of which defrost control is selected, defrost does not occur above the user specified outdoor
temperature entered in the Maximum outdoor dry-bulb temperature for defrost operation.
Condenser
Condenser type
This choice field defines the configuration of the heat pump condenser. Valid choices are:
• 1-Air cooled,
• 2-Evaporatively cooled, and
• 3-Water cooled. In this case the outlet of the water cooled condenser unit is connected to the demand
side of a condenser loop as shown in the example HVAC layout diagram below.
- 899 -
Example of VRF system where waste heat is recovered from water-cooled outdoor unit for preheating
DHW
For details on evaporatively cooled systems see below under Evaporative condenser effectiveness.
where:
Tcond inlet = the temperature of the air entering the condenser coil (°C)
Twbo = the wet-bulb temperature of the outdoor air (°C)
Tdbo = the dry-bulb temperature of the outdoor air (°C)
The resulting condenser inlet air temperature is used by the Cooling capacity ratio modifier function of
temperature curve and the Cooling energy input ratio (EIR) modifier function of temperature curve. The default
value for this field is 0.9, although valid entries can range from 0.0 to 1.0.
To model an air cooled condenser specify Condenser type = 1-Air cooled. In this case the Cooling capacity
ratio modifier function of temperature curve and the Cooling energy input ratio (EIR) modifier function of
temperature curve should be defined as a function of outdoor dry-bulb temperature.
- 900 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - General Tab
To model an evaporative-cooled condenser where you have performance curves that are a function of the
wet-bulb temperature of air entering the condenser coil, then you should specify Condenser type = 2-
Evaporatively cooled. In this case the evaporative condenser effectiveness value should be entered as 1.0
and the Cooling capacity ratio modifier function of temperature curve and the Cooling energy input ratio (EIR)
modifier function of temperature curve should both be defined as a function of the wet-bulb temperature of air
entering the condenser coil.
To model an air-cooled condenser that has evaporative media placed in front of it to cool the air entering the
condenser coil, specify Condenser type = 2-Evaporatively cooled and enter the appropriate evaporative
effectiveness for the media. In this case, the Cooling capacity ratio modifier function of temperature curve and
the Cooling energy input ratio (EIR) modifier function of temperature curve should both be defined as function
of outdoor dry-bulb temperature. Be aware that the evaporative media will significantly reduce the dry-bulb
temperature of the air entering the condenser coil, so the Cooling Capacity and Cooling EIR Modifier Curves
must be valid for the expected range of dry-bulb temperatures that will be entering the condenser coil.
- 901 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - Cooling Tab
General
Rated total cooling capacity
This field defines the total cooling capacity (sensible + latent) of the heat pump at rated conditions in W or
Btu/h. The cooling capacity must be greater than 0 or set to autosize.
When the VRF outdoor unit is not autosized, the sum of the VRF terminal unit coils (autosized or not) and the
VRF outdoor unit capacity are used to calculate the combination ratio for both cooling and heating. For a fully
autosized system, the combination ratio = 1, but when the system is not fully autosized, the resulting sizes of
the terminal unit coils and the outdoor unit are used to calculate a combination ratio.
• 1-Single where the whole relation is defined in a single cooling capacity ratio modifier function of
temperature curve, or,
• 2-Multiple.
- 902 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - Cooling Tab
• 1-Single where the whole relation is defined in a single cooling EIR function of temperature curve, or,
• 2-Multiple.
- 903 -
Cooling energy input ratio (EIR) modifier function of low part-load ratio
curve
This curve defines how the cooling EIR modifier varies as a function of part-load ratio when PLR is less than
or equal to 1. It is a linear, quadratic or cubic equation with cooling part-load ratio used as the independent
variable. The cooling energy input ratio modifier curve is normalized to 1 at a part-load ratio of 1 and is used
only when the operating part-load ratio is less than or equal to 1.
Cooling energy input ratio (EIR) modifier function of high part-load ratio
curve
This curve defines how the cooling EIR modifier varies as a function of part-load ratio when PLR is greater
than 1. It is a linear, quadratic or cubic equation with cooling part-load ratio used as the independent variable.
The cooling energy input ratio modifier curve is normalized to 1 at a part-load ratio of 1 and is used only when
the operating part-load ratio is greater than 1.
Other Curves
General
Rated total heating capacity
This numeric field defines the total heat pump heating capacity at rated conditions in watts. The nominal heat
pump heating capacity must be greater than 0 or set to autosize.
When the outdoor unit Rated total heating capacity (above) is autosized this ratio is used to scale the
heating capacity of the outdoor unit to the Rated total cooling capacity of the outdoor unit regardless of the
capacities of the DX heating coils in the indoor units.
The zone indoor units heating coils are also sized using this ratio unless they are hard-sized in the indoor unit.
- 904 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - Heating Tab
When the VRF outdoor unit is not autosized, the sum of the VRF terminal unit coils (autosized or not) and the
VRF outdoor unit capacity are used to calculate the combination ratio for both cooling and heating. For a fully
autosized system, the combination ratio = 1, but when the system is not fully autosized, the resulting sizes of
the terminal unit coils and the outdoor unit are used to calculate a combination ratio.
• 1-Wet-bulb temperature.
• 2-Dry-bulb temperature and
The default value is 1-Wet-bulb temperature. Manufacturers will typically provide heating performance data
as a function of outdoor air wet-bulb temperatures. This means that the performance (e.g., capacity and
energy input ratio) curves will use outdoor wet-bulb temperature as one of the independent variables. At
times, manufacturers will only provide performance data as a function of outdoor dry-bulb temperatures. In
this case, all performance curves shall be developed using outdoor dry-bulb temperature and this field shall be
selected as 2-Dry-bulb temperature.
• 1-Single where the whole relation is defined in a single heating capacity ratio modifier function of
temperature curve, or,
• 2-Multiple.
- 905 -
Heating capacity ratio modifier function of low temperature curve
Available only when using multiple heating capacity ratio modifier function of temperature curves this field
defines the heating capacity ratio modifier at low outdoor temperatures. This curve is a bi-quadratic equation
with a weighted average indoor dry-bulb temperature (i.e., the indoor terminal units weighted average inlet
temperatures) and condenser entering air dry-bulb or wet-bulb temperature as the independent variables.
Since manufacturers may provide performance data using either outdoor dry-bulb or wet-bulb temperatures,
either of these temperature types may be used for heating performance curves as specified in Heating
performance curve outdoor temperature type.
• 1-Single where the whole relation is defined in a single heating EIR function of temperature curve, or,
• 2-Multiple.
- 906 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - Heating Tab
temperature types may be used for heating performance curves as specified by Heating performance curve
outdoor temperature type.
Heating energy input ratio (EIR) modifier function of high part-load ratio
curve
This curve defines how the heating energy input ratio (EIR) modifier varies as a function of part-load ratio
when PLR is greater than 1. It is a linear, quadratic, or cubic equation with heating part-load ratio used as the
independent variable. The heating energy input ratio modifier curve is normalized to 1 at a part-load ratio of 1
and is used only when the part-load ratio is greater than 1.
Other Curves
- 907 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - Heat Recovery Tab
Refer to the VRF heat pump model section in the engineering reference for details on the transition from
cooling only mode to heat recovery mode.
General
Heat pump waste heat recovery
Check this checkbox if heat recovery is to enabled and the heat pump can independently cool and heat
different zones. Otherwise the heat pump is only able to either cool or heat for any given time step.
All of the rest of the fields described below are only available when this checkbox is checked.
Tip: Refer to the VRF heat pump model section in the engineering reference for details on the transition
from cooling only/heating only mode to heat recovery mode.
Cooling
- 908 -
VRF Outdoor Unit - Heat Recovery Tab
period is not to be modelled, this field must be set to 1. This input is only used when the system changes from
cooling only mode to heat recovery mode.
This modifier is applied only when heat recovery mode is active and when the system changes from cooling
only mode to heat recovery mode.
This input is only used when the system changes from cooling only mode to heat recovery mode.
Heating
Initial heat recovery heating capacity fraction
This field defines the fraction of heating capacity available when the system changes from heating only
operation to simultaneous heating and cooling. It is common for the heating capacity to decrease before the
system recovers. If this field is left blank, a default value of 0.5 is used (50% reduction in heating capacity at
the start of heat recovery mode). The system will recover according to the time constant entered in Heat
recovery heating capacity time constant below.
This input is only used when the system changes from heating only mode to heat recovery mode.
- 909 -
as 5 time constants. If this field is left blank, a default value of 0.083 is used. If the transition period will not be
modeled, the Initial Heat Recovery Heating Capacity Fraction field must be set to 1.
This input is only used when the system changes from heating only mode to heat recovery mode.
This input is only used when the system changes from heating only mode to heat recovery mode.
If the transition period is not to be modelled, the Initial heat recovery heating capacity fraction field must be set
to 1.
This input is only used when the system changes from heating only mode to heat recovery mode.
This input is only used when the system changes from heating only mode to heat recovery mode.
This modifier is applied only when heat recovery mode is active and when the system changes from heating
only mode to heat recovery mode.
- 910 -
Fluid To Fluid Heat Exchanger
Used in:
HeatExchanger:FluidToFluid
• Plant and condenser loops, supply and
demand side
The fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger component (aka heat exchanger or HX) is designed to couple the supply
side of one plant or condenser loop to the demand side of another plant or condenser loop. The heat
exchanger is a fairly general component and can be configured for use in a situation where any two loops
need to be connected together. The only constraints are that one side must be connected to the supply side of
one loop and the other side connected to the demand side of a different loop.
Note: The adopted convention is that the heat exchanger must always be placed in a supply sub-loop.
Because the heat exchanger is intended to be generic, its two sides are distinguished by the nature of the
loop side being connected. One side is called the “Loop Supply Side” to indicate that side of the heat
exchanger connected to the supply side of a loop. The other side is called the “Loop Demand Side” to indicate
it is connected to the demand side of a loop. The heat exchanger is intended to act as a supply component for
the loop connected to it as the “Loop Supply Side” and as a demand component for the loop connected to it
as the “Loop Demand Side”. From the point of view of the heat exchanger model itself, the Loop Demand Side
- 911 -
fluid serves as the source/sink to supply heating/cooling to the fluid in the Loop Supply Side. The “Loop
Supply Side” or “Loop Demand Side” connections of the heat exchanger are automatically enabled and
disabled depending on which sub-loop is currently active to facilitate correct connection, i.e. to connect the
supply side of the heat exchanger you must first navigate to the supply sub-loop in which the heat exchanger
has been located and similarly navigate to the demand sub-loop of the loop to which the demand side of the
heat exchanger is to be connected.
Various options are available for the heat exchanger component. The heat transfer between the two sides can
be modelled using one of seven different models for different types of heat exchangers. Heat transfer is
calculated and reported using a sign convention from chilled water applications where positive heat transfer
indicates energy was extracted from the Loop Supply Side and added to the Loop Demand Side. A range of
options are available for controlling the heat exchanger. One general type of control is “On/off” where the flow
through the heat exchanger is either fully on or fully off. Another type of control is “Modulated” where the flow
through the Loop Demand Side is controlled to try and meet a target setpoint or load on the Loop Supply Side.
Applications
The fluid to fluid heat exchanger can be used for a wide variety of applications including chilled water, hot
water, condenser, ground source, primary-secondary systems, etc.
- 912 -
Fluid To Fluid Heat Exchanger
- 913 -
HX Example Application: Water Cooled VRF with Heat Recovery for DHW
- 914 -
Fluid To Fluid Heat Exchanger
HX Example Application: Supply Hot Water at Different Temperatures from the same Boiler
General
Name
Enter a unique identifying name for this heat exchanger.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select an availability schedule to be used for supervisory control of the device. The heat exchanger is
available for use whenever the schedule value is greater than zero. The heat exchanger is not available
whenever the schedule value is zero or less.
- 915 -
Loop supply side design flow rate
This field specifies the design flow rate (in m3/s or gal/min) of the fluid passing through the heat exchanger on
the Loop Supply Side. This field is autosizable. When autosized, this design flow rate is set equal to the
overall design flow rate of the loop that is connected. If a sizing factor is entered, then it is used to multiply this
design flow rate.
• 1-Counter flow. Specifies a counter-flow shell and tube heat exchanger. The effectiveness is
calculated using a counter-flow shell and tube heat exchanger correlation.
• 2-Cross flow both unmixed. Specifies a single-pass, cross-flow heat exchanger. The effectiveness is
calculated using a cross-flow heat exchanger correlation for both streams unmixed.
• 3-Cross flow both mixed. Specifies a single-pass, cross-flow heat exchanger. The effectiveness is
calculated using a cross-flow heat exchanger correlation for both streams mixed.
• 4-Cross flow supply mixed demand unmixed. Specifies a single-pass, cross-flow heat exchanger.
The effectiveness is calculated using a cross-flow heat exchanger correlation for flow mixed on the
Loop Supply side and flow unmixed on the Loop Demand Side.
• 5-Cross flow supply unmixed demand mixed. Specifies a single-pass, cross-flow heat exchanger.
The effectiveness is calculated using a cross-flow heat exchanger correlation for flow unmixed on the
Loop Supply side and flow mixed on the Loop Demand Side.
• 6-Parallel flow. Specifies a parallel-flow shell and tube heat exchanger. The effectiveness is calculated
using a parallel-flow shell and tube heat exchanger correlation.
• 7-Ideal. Specifies an ideal heat exchanger. The effectiveness is set to 1 and the specified UA is
ignored. The heat transfer rate is calculated as the maximum possible heat transfer rate.
Control type
This option is used to specify how the heat exchanger is to be controlled during operation. Different
applications for connecting two loops will require different control behavior and different control options are
needed depending on the desired behaviour. There are a range of options to choose from:
• 1-Cooling differential on/off. This control mode is applicable to situations where the Loop Demand
Side can provide useful cooling to the Loop Supply Side. This mode is similar to 8-Cooling setpoint
on/off except that it ignores any cooling setpoint and its control is based only on the temperature
difference between Loop Demand Side and the Loop Supply Side. The inlet temperatures must differ
by more than the value set in the Minimum temperature difference to activate heat exchanger field for
the heat exchanger to operate.
• 2-Uncontrolled on. This control mode is applicable to situations where the heat exchanger is passively
running all the time and always transfers as much heat as possible between the fluid streams. Note that
the HX will only request flow on the Loop Demand Side when there is non-zero flow into the heat
exchanger on the Loop Supply Side.
• 3-Operation scheme modulated. This control mode is applicable to situations where the heat
exchanger is controlled by a plant loop operation scheme. When using this control mode the heat
exchanger must be listed in the list of equipment on the Plant Equipment Operation tab of the Plant or
Condenser loop and it serves as a supply component. The operation scheme will dispatch a load
request to the heat exchanger which it will try meet by conditioning the fluid stream connected as the
Loop Supply Side. If the heat exchanger could exceed the load request, then the flow through the fluid
stream connected as the Loop Demand Side will be modulated to just meet the load request.
- 916 -
Fluid To Fluid Heat Exchanger
• 4-Operation scheme on/off. This control mode is applicable to situations where the heat exchanger is
controlled by a plant loop operation scheme. When using this control mode the heat exchanger must be
listed in the list of equipment on the Plant Equipment Operation tab of the Plant or Condenser loop and
it serves as a supply component. The operation scheme will dispatch a load request to the heat
exchanger which it will use as an on/off signal to decide if the heat exchange should run or not. If it
runs, it will run at full capacity and may exceed the load request.
• 5-Heating setpoint modulated. This control mode is applicable to situations where the Loop Demand
Side can provide useful heating to the Loop Supply Side. For this control type, an SPM must be placed
on the supply side outlet of the HX which is used to define the heating setpoint temperature for the HX.
If the setpoint and inlet temperatures are such that heat exchanger could transfer heat from the Loop
Demand Side to the Loop Supply Side to meet the heating setpoint, then the heat exchanger will run.
The inlet temperatures must differ by more than the value set in Minimum temperature difference to
activate heat exchanger for the heat exchanger to operate. If the heat exchanger could overshoot the
setpoint, then the flow through the fluid stream connected as the Loop Demand Side will be modulated
to just meet the setpoint.
• 6-Heating setpoint on/off. This control mode is applicable to situations where the Loop Demand Side
can provide useful heating to the Loop Supply Side. For this control type, an SPM must be placed on
the supply side outlet of the HX which is used to define the heating setpoint temperature for the HX. If
the setpoints and inlet temperatures are such that heat exchanger could transfer heat from the Loop
Demand Side to the Loop Supply Side to meet the heating setpoint, then the heat exchanger will run.
The inlet temperatures must differ by more than the value set in Minimum temperature difference to
activate heat exchanger for the heat exchanger to operate. If it runs, it will run at full capacity and may
overshoot the setpoint.
• 7-Cooling setpoint modulated. This control mode is applicable to situations where the Loop Demand
Side can provide useful cooling to the Loop Supply Side. For this control type, an SPM must be placed
on the supply side outlet of the HX which is used to define the cooling setpoint temperature for the HX.
If the setpoints and inlet temperatures are such that heat exchanger could transfer heat from the Loop
Supply Side to the Loop Demand Side to meet the cooling setpoint, then the heat exchanger will run.
The inlet temperatures must differ by more than the value set in Minimum temperature difference to
activate heat exchanger for the heat exchanger to operate. If the heat exchanger could undershoot the
setpoint, then the flow through the fluid stream connected as the Loop Demand Side will be modulated
to just meet the setpoint.
• 8-Cooling setpoint on/off. This control mode is applicable to situations where the Loop Demand Side
can provide useful cooling to the Loop Supply Side. For this control type, an SPM must be placed on
the supply side outlet of the HX which is used to define the cooling setpoint temperature for the HX. If
the setpoints and inlet temperatures are such that heat exchanger could transfer heat from the Loop
Supply Side to the Loop Demand Side to meet the cooling setpoint, then the heat exchanger will run.
The inlet temperatures must differ by more than the value set in Minimum temperature difference to
activate heat exchanger for the heat exchanger to operate. If it runs, it will run at full capacity and may
undershoot the setpoint. This control mode is suitable for use with waterside economisers.
• 9-Dual deadband setpoint modulated. This control mode is applicable to situations where the Loop
Demand Side can provide either useful cooling or heating to the Loop Supply Side. For this control
type, an SPM must be placed on the supply side outlet of the HX which is used to define the dual
deadband setpoint temperature for the HX. If the setpoints and inlet temperatures are such that heat
exchanger could transfer heat from the Loop Demand Side to the Loop Supply Side to meet the lower
setpoint, then the heat exchanger will run. If the setpoints and inlet temperatures are such that heat
exchanger could transfer heat from the Loop Supply Side to the Loop Demand Side to meet the high
setpoint, then the heat exchanger will run. The inlet temperatures must differ by more than the value
set in Minimum temperature difference to activate heat exchanger for the heat exchanger to operate. If
the heat exchanger could overshoot the lower setpoint, or undershoot the higher setpoint, then the flow
through the fluid stream connected as the Loop Demand Side will be modulated to just meet the
deadband setpoint.
• 10-Dual deadband setpoint on/off. This control mode is applicable to situations where the Loop
Demand Side can provide either useful cooling or heating to the Loop Supply Side. For this control
type, an SPM must be placed on the supply side outlet of the HX which is used to define the dual
deadband setpoint temperature for the HX. If the setpoints and inlet temperatures are such that heat
exchanger could transfer heat from the Loop Demand Side to the Loop Supply Side to meet the lower
setpoint, then the heat exchanger will run. If the setpoints and inlet temperatures are such that heat
exchanger could transfer heat from the Loop Supply Side to the Loop Demand Side to meet the high
setpoint, then the heat exchanger will run. The inlet temperatures must differ by more than the value
- 917 -
set in Minimum temperature difference to activate heat exchanger for the heat exchanger to operate. If
the heat exchanger runs, it will run at full capacity and may overshoot the lower setpoint or undershoot
the higher setpoint.
• 1- Free cooling,
• 2-Heat recovery,
• 3-Heat rejection,
• 4-Heat recovery for cooling,
• 5-Heat recovery for heating
• 6-Loop to loop.
Temperature Limits
Sizing Factor
Sizing factor
When the Sizing factor checkbox is checked this field can be used to modify the results of autosize
calculations. This sizing factor is used for this heat exchanger and modifies sizing results by multiplying them
by the factor entered here. This factor is applied to the Loop Supply Side Design Flow rate and in turn affects
the heat exchanger UA and the loop demand side flow rate which are derived from that flow rate. This allows
fine control over the size of the heat exchanger when using autosize in those fields.
Used in:
ThermalStorage:ChilledWater:Mixed Supply side of Chilled Water Loops
ThermalStorage:ChilledWater:Stratified
- 918 -
Chilled Water Storage
Chilled water storage tanks are typically placed on the supply side of a primary chilled water loop in parallel
with one or more chillers. Operation is controlled through chiller and storage tank setpoints along with
corresponding plant operation schemes. The way that the cooling load is shared and the timing of storage
charging is typically controlled through a Scheduled SPM on the chiller outlet node.
• Chilled water is normally generated using off-peak energy supply, stored in chilled water storage tanks
then distributed for use during peak hours. The economic benefits of chilled water storage systems
therefore generally rely on lower off-peak electrical rates.
• Chillers running at lower ambient temperatures which are typical of off-peak use tend to have higher
efficiencies.
• It is usually possible to install smaller chillers, heat rejection equipment and pumps when stored chilled
water is used to meet peak cooling loads.
Chilled water storage requires a difference in setpoint temperature between the source (charge) side and use
side:
• Source side (lower): Primary CHW loop setpoint temperature, e.g. 6°C (set in the loop SPM);
• Use side (higher): Chilled water storage setpoint temperature, e.g. 7.5°C (set on the chilled water
storage dialog).
- 919 -
In the example below the secondary chilled water loop setpoint temperature is set to 10°C, but it could be set
lower, down to 6°C.
The chiller provides 6°C chilled water while the chilled water storage tank setpoint is 7.5°C (cut-in temperature
is 7.5°C+2.0°C=9.5°C). The secondary chiller SPM temperature should be set the temperature of the chilled
water to be supplied to the equipment such as cooling coils etc.
Charging is normally done at night-time while tariffs are lower. This can be defined through the chilled water
storage source side availability schedule (see screenshot below). Likewise, use side time can be set as
required, typically for day-time only, through the use side availability schedule. The use side availability can be
set using the On 24/7 schedule in many cases.
- 920 -
Chilled Water Storage
Chilled water storage setpoint temperature and source side availability schedule
Above settings provide tank cooling setpoint temp of 7.5degC, charging at night only and use side available
anytime.
Plant equipment operation scheme should give a higher priority for chilled water storage, and a lower priority
for chiller (screenshot below).
- 921 -
Single chilled water loop
This section covers use of chilled water storage tanks in a single parallel chiller arrangement as shown in the
screenshot below.
As with the primary-secondary loop configuration, the single chilled water loop needs a difference in setpoint
temperatures between source (charge) side and use side:
• Source side (lower): CHW loop setpoint temperature, e.g. 6°C (through loop SPM);
• Use side (higher): Chilled water storage setpoint temperature, e.g. 7.5°C (set on chilled water storage
dialog).
For a single chilled water loop configuration, the plant equipment operation needs to set up differently to the
primary secondary loops described above. The day-time and night-time operation is defined separately using
one item of equipment for each scheme (see screenshot below).
- 922 -
Chilled Water Storage
Plant equipment operation settings for single chilled water loop arrangement
• 1-Mixed,
• 2-Stratified.
The 1-Mixed type simulates a well-mixed, single-node water tank. The 2-Stratified type simulates a stratified,
multi-node water tank. Both storage tanks share similar features, such as thermal losses to the zone,
however, each type has its advantages which may make one more appropriate than the other depending on
the application.
• better modelling of thermal storage applications which rely on stratification to improve heat transfer
performance.
- 923 -
Chilled Water Storage - Mixed
Used in:
ThermalStorage:ChilledWater:Mixed
Supply side of Chilled Water Loops
The Chilled water storage mixed object analytically solves the differential equation governing the energy
balance of the water tank. The chilled water is “used” by drawing from the “Use Side” of the water tank. The
tank is indirectly charged by circulating cold water through the “Source Side” of the water tank. Control is
based on cycling flow through the source side. When the tank temperature rises above a “cut-in” temperature,
source side flow is requested. Source side flow will continue until the tank is cooled to below the tank set point
or “cut-out” temperature.
For heat gains from the ambient environment, the ambient air temperature can be taken from a schedule, a
zone, or the exterior. When used with a zone, the skin gains are removed from the zone heat balance as
negative internal heat gains.
See also:
General
Name
The name of the Chilled water storage tank.
Type
Select the type of Chilled water storage tank from the list:
• 1-Mixed,
• 2-Stratified.
For a discussion of the applications, advantages and disadvantages of the two water heater types see the
Chilled Water Storage overview topic.
- 924 -
Chilled Water Storage - Mixed
Tank volume
The volume of the storage tank (in m3 or gal).
Temperature Settings
• 1-Schedule where the Ambient temperature schedule provides the values for ambient temperature.
• 2-Zone, where the zone air temperature of the zone specified in the Ambient temperature zone
provides the ambient temperature, or,
• 3-Outdoors, where the outdoor dry-bulb air temperature provides the ambient temperature.
- 925 -
Use side availability schedule
Select the availability schedule for the use side of the water tank. If the schedule’s value is 0.0, then the use
side is not available and flow will not be requested. If the schedule’s value is not equal to 0.0 (usually 1 is
used), the use side is available.
Used in:
ThermalStorage:ChilledWater:Stratified Supply side of Chilled Water Loops
The Stratified Chilled Water Storage component divides the water tank into multiple nodes of equal volume.
The nodes are coupled by vertical conduction effects, internode fluid flow, and temperature inversion mixing. It
simultaneously solves the differential equations governing the energy balances on the nodes using a
numerical method. The system timestep is divided into many small substeps that allow the simulation to
capture events that occur on a very short time scale. The chilled water is “used” by drawing from the “Use
Side” of the water tank. The tank is indirectly charged by circulating cold water through the “Source Side” of
the water tank. Control is based on cycling flow through the source side. When the tank temperature rises
above a “cut-in” temperature, source side flow is requested. Source side flow will continue until the tank is
cooled to below the tank set point or “cut-out” temperature.
For heat gains from the ambient environment, the ambient air temperature can be taken from a schedule, a
zone, or the exterior. When used with a zone, the skin gains are removed from the zone heat balance as
negative internal heat gains.
See also:
- 926 -
Chilled Water Storage - Stratified
General
Name
The name of the Chilled water storage tank.
Type
Select the type of Chilled water storage tank from the list:
• 1-Mixed,
• 2-Stratified.
For a discussion of the applications, advantages and disadvantages of the two water heater types see the
Chilled Water Storage overview topic.
Tank volume
The volume of the storage tank (in m3 or gal).
Tank height
The height of the tank (in m or in).
For the 2-Horizontal cylinder tank shape (see below) the height of the tank is the measure in the axial
direction, i.e., the height if you were to stand the cylinder up on its end. This field is autosizable.
Tank shape
The tank shape determines the size and skin losses of the stratified nodes. There are two options:
Temperature Settings
Setpoint temperature schedule
Select the schedule which specifies the chilled water temperature setpoint (in °C). This setting is also known
as the “cut-out” temperature.
- 927 -
Deadband temperature difference
The delta temperature difference (in Delta °C or Delta °F) between the setpoint and the “cut-in” temperature at
which the storage tank will request cooling. In other words, the “cut-in” temperature is Setpoint + Deadband.
• 1-Schedule where the Ambient temperature schedule provides the values for ambient temperature.
• 2-Zone, where the zone air temperature of the zone specified in the Ambient temperature zone
provides the ambient temperature, or,
• 3-Outdoors, where the outdoor dry-bulb air temperature provides the ambient temperature.
- 928 -
Chilled Water Storage - Stratified
Inlet Mode
Inlet Mode
The inlet mode of entering fluid from the use and source sides. There are two options:
• 1-Fixed where the fluid enters at the fixed heights specified above, or,
• 2-Seeking where the fluid “seeks out” the stratified node that is closest to the inlet temperature and
adds all flow to that node. This mode provides maximum stratification.
- 929 -
Stratification Settings
Additional destratification conductivity
An additional destratification conductivity (in W/m-K or Btu-in/h-ft2-°F) is added to the fluid conductivity of
water (0.6 W/m-K) to account for vertical conduction effects along the inside of the tank wall, and perhaps
other vertical components such as a dip tube pipe or anode rod.
Used in:
ThermalStorage:Ice:Simple
• Chilled water loop, supply side
ThermalStorage:Ice:Detailed
Ice thermal storage systems allow use of off-peak electricity to "charge" a storage tank of ice or other fluid and
use that as a source of cooling to help reduce peak loads during periods of cooling demand. Two types of ice
thermal storage systems can be modelled in DesignBuilder, simple and detailed, the latter option providing
options to control the charge/discharge performance using curves.
General
Name
This alpha field contains the identifying name for the ice storage tank.
Type
Two types of ice thermal storage systems can be modelled in DesignBuilder:
• 1-Simple, which is based on a simple simulation of an ice storage tank with a fixed capacity. The tank
is charged or frozen in an ice-on-coil configuration where ice builds up on the outside of the tubes
carrying the brine or glycol solution from the chiller. There are two discharge (melt) options, internal or
external. Internal melt uses the same fluid tubes for charging and discharging. External melt uses a
separate fluid path for discharge such that the outer layers of ice melt first. The ice storage model
includes an implied 3-way valve to control the amount of charge/discharge based on the incoming
water temperature and the outlet node setpoint temperature. The storage tank is assumed to be fully
charged (full of ice) at the beginning of each environment. The tank is then allowed to charge and
discharge during the warmup days of the environment. The tank is best controlled using the 4-
Component Setpoint plant operation scheme which requires that a setpoint be placed by a Setpoint
manager on the ice storage Plant Outlet Node.
• 2-Detailed, which can simulate ice storage tanks more closely based on specific manufacturers’
published performance data. This is possible through the use of curve fits to simulate the performance
of the ice storage unit during charging and discharging. In this implementation, both charging and
- 930 -
Ice Thermal Storage
discharging are a function of the fraction charged/discharged as well as the log mean temperature
difference across the storage unit.
All parameters below apply to the 2-Detailed option apart from Ice storage type below. The 1-Simple option
only requires Name, Ice storage type and Capacity.
Capacity
Enter the maximum amount of latent thermal storage available in the ice storage system in GJ (Giga is 109) or
ton-hrs. The removal or addition of sensible energy from the tank is not modelled, so the tank is always
assumed to be at the freezing temperature of the storage material.
• 1-Outside melt where the ice melts from the outside, leaving ice still on the charging surface when
charging begins.
• 2-Inside melt where the the charging process starts with a bare coil or no ice left on the charging
surface even though there is still ice stored in the tank. An example of such a system is sometimes
referred to as an ice-on-coil inside melt system.
For systems that have a charging process that does not vary significantly with fraction charged you can safely
ignore this input by accepting the default value. The default value is 1-Outside melt.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the schedule that determines whether or not the ice storage system is available during a particular time
period. This allows the system to be turned off during a particular season. A value of less than or equal to zero
indicates that the ice storage system is not available. Any value greater than zero indicates that the system is
available.
- 931 -
Curve Timestep
Timestep of the curve data
This field defines what timestep was used to produce the curve fits named in the previous inputs.
Note: This parameter is important because the curve fit is non-dimensional, so the data used to develop
the curve fits were based on a specific length of time. In many cases, this is probably one hour or 1.0. The
units for this parameter are hours.
Charging Settings
Charging curve
Select the curve to be used to model the charging process of the detailed ice storage system.
Discharging Settings
Discharging curve object type
The detailed ice storage model uses the performance curves to model performance. Currently, the only two
allowed curve fit types for the detailed ice storage model are:
Discharging curve
Select the curve to be used to model the discharging process of the detailed ice storage system.
- 932 -
Ice Thermal Storage
The parallel case should normally include two chillers, with one being the main chiller to operate during peak
cooling time and the other being the chiller used to charge the tank during specified off peak time as long as
conditions are favourable. The main chiller works in lower priority to the ice thermal storage and tops up
cooling demand once ice thermal storage reaches its maximum capacity during discharging. Generally the
charging chiller can be thought of as a "dummy" component because it does not physically exist in the real
building and the main and charging chillers actually represent one single chiller.
For the series case, the chiller can be either upstream or downstream of the ice thermal storage. In both
cases the ice tank can help reduce peak chiller demand:
• Chiller upstream: chiller works first with ice thermal storage to top up when needed and chiller size can
be reduced, and
• Chiller downstream: ice thermal storage will operate first with chiller to top up when required.
Note: for upstream chillers, the capacity of the chiller is an especially important setting. When the chiller
has a high capacity, it can meet the full cooling demand and the ice thermal storage does not need to operate.
In this case, to see the effect of ice thermal storage, the chiller capacity must be relatively low. However the
chiller size must be high enough to allow the chiller to deliver low enough outlet CHW temperature to charge
the ice thermal storage tank.
• 4-Component Setpoint, requires various setpoint managers, temperature schedules, etc. to allow the
system to operate. As complex definitions are possible for this scheme, it allows the possibility of more
accurate and flexible modelling, for instance, setting hourly variation of setpoint temperatures at the
outlet of each piece of equipment. The screenshot below shows how to use Setpoint managers to
control an upstream chiller with ice thermal storage series configuration with the scheme operation type
set to 4-Component Setpoint.
- 933 -
• 5-Energy Thermal Storage this scheme operation type internally creates the setpoint managers
required by the equipment and so allows a simple and convenient approach by eliminating the need for
both setpoint manager and schedule for each piece of equipment. The only data required is a charging
setpoint temperature and a discharging setpoint temperature. The screenshots below shows how to
control a downstream chiller with ice thermal storage series configuration with the scheme operation
type set to 5-Energy Thermal Storage.
- 934 -
Zone Unit Data
- 935 -
Air Distribution Units
To edit the data associated with an air distribution unit (ADU), you first need to select it by moving the mouse
cursor over it and then clicking the mouse button to select it. You can then access the edit dialog by right-
clicking the mouse and selecting the Edit selected component option or alternatively, select the Edit selected
component tool from the toolbar.
Target Tab
When editing the attributes associated with an ADU it is possible to apply the same changes to ADUs in other
zones in the same HVAC Zone group. To do this select the ADUs on the Target tab of the ADU edit dialog as
shown below.
- 936 -
Constant Volume No Reheat ADU
The CAV No Reheat ADU allows central system air to be supplied directly to a zone without any reheat. The
data required for the unit consists of the unit name, availability (on/off) schedule, and a maximum flow rate.
Settings to control outdoor air provision can also be made.
For the units to work correctly, it is important in any systems including CAV No Reheat ADUs for the sum of
the maximum zone air flow rates to be equal to the maximum central system flow rate. The central air system
flow rate is specified in the air loop AHU data.
Important Note: In spite of its name, the CAV No Reheat ADU can be used in HVAC zones connected to
either constant or variable air volume air loops. When used in a VAV loop the supply flow provided by the unit
will be fixed at the value of the Maximum air flow rate setting.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
Outdoor Air
Control on outdoor air flow
If this option is selected, the terminal unit will increase flow as needed to meet the outdoor air requirement
specified on the HVAC zone dialog. If Outdoor air flow per person is non-zero, then the outdoor air
requirement will be calculated by the software based on the current number of occupants in the zone. At no
time will the supply air flow rate exceed the value for Maximum air flow rate. If this option is not selected,
then the terminal unit will not be controlled for outdoor air flow.
- 937 -
number of people as affected by time-varying occupancy schedules, or on the constant value for the
maximum number of people. Choose one of:
• 1-Current occupancy where outdoor air ventilation rates are based on the current number of people
including the effect of time-varying occupancy schedules.
• 2-Design occupancy where the constant value for the maximum number of people is used.
Note: this setting is only used when outdoor air ventilation rates are calculated when based on a per
person rate.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep .
The unit contains a single heating coil which can be edited to change the type to 1-Water, 2-Electric or 3-
Gas.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
- 938 -
Variable Air Volume With Reheat ADU
Heating Coil
This section is visible only if the heating coil sub-component of this ADU has Type 1-Water.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep .
Advanced
Convergence tolerance
The coil is controlled by knowing the zone demand determined by the zone thermostat and setting the outlet
conditions to meet this demand. For the electric and gas coils, this is set exactly since the coil model solution
can be inverted. With the hot water coil that uses an effectiveness-NTU method, the solution cannot be
inverted directly. Therefore, to determine the correct mass flow rate for the hot water the solution is solved for
by iteration. The iterative solution uses an interval halving routine and needs a termination criterion that is set
with the Convergence Tolerance parameter. This control offset is set to a decimal fraction of the zone demand
as the criteria, i.e. 0.001. The default for the field is 0.001.
VAV systems can be used for interior or perimeter zones with a common fan system, air temperature control,
and reheating devices. The VAV concept may vary according to the VAV box locations, air temperature
controls and types of heating elements. Heating can usually be provided by use of reheat coils or thermostatic
baseboard.
The unit contains a single heating coil which can be edited to change the type to 1-Water, 2-Electric or 3-
Gas.
- 939 -
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
With 1-Normal (the default) action, the damper will remain at the minimum air flow rate during heating
operation. As the heating load increases, the water flow rate in the reheat coil will be increased to maintain
temperature in the zone until the maximum water flow rate is reached or the user-specified maximum reheat
air temperature is reached.. This is sometimes called the single maximum control logic as illustrated below.
With 2-Reverse, as the heating load increases, the unit starts at minimum air flow and minimum hot water
flow. The hot water flow is increased until it reaches maximum flow or the user-specified maximum reheat air
temperature is reached, then the air damper starts to open to meet the load. This option is used if the
minimum air flow rate is not adequate to serve the peak heating load. This is sometimes called the dual
- 940 -
Variable Air Volume With Reheat ADU
maximum control logic as illustrated in the following figure. For an electric heating coil, the reverse action
works the same as the normal action – always keeping the air flow at the minimum during heating.
Air Flow
• 1-Constant where the value entered for Constant minimum air flow fraction will be used.
• 2-Fixed flow rate, the value entered for Fixed minimum air flow rate is used.
• 3-Scheduled then the software will obtain the value for minimum flow fraction from the schedule
selected from Minimum air flow fraction schedule.
• 1-None,
• 2-Constant minimum air flow fraction and
• 3-Fixed minimum air flow rate.
- 941 -
If 1-None is selected, then the air flow rates used for sizing normal-action reheat coils is the average of the
minimum and maximum values in this schedule. The air flow rate used for reheat coil sizing is reported with
other component sizing information as Reheat coil sizing air volume flow rate.
Heating Coil
This section is visible only if the heating coil sub-component of this ADU has Type 1-Water.
• 1-None,
• 2-Maximum flow per zone floor area during reheat and
• 3-Maximum flow fraction during reheat.
These methods are used to calculate the maximum allowable air flow rate during reheat operation. If 1-None
is selected, the maximum flow will not be limited. If Control on outdoor air flow is selected, the limit
established through a 2-Maximum flow control during reheat option may be increased by the software to
meet the outdoor air flow rate requirement. At no time will the maximum flow rate calculated here exceed the
value for Maximum air flow rate.
This limit is active only when the zone thermostat requests heating and the VAV box damper is reverse acting.
- 942 -
Variable Air Volume With Reheat And Variable Speed Fan ADU
Outdoor Air
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each hour of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the hour. A value
less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the hour
Advanced
Convergence tolerance
The coil is controlled by knowing the zone demand determined by the zone thermostat and setting the outlet
conditions to meet this demand. For the electric and gas coils, this is set exactly since the coil model solution
can be inverted. With the hot water coil that uses an effectiveness-NTU method, the solution cannot be
inverted directly. Therefore, to determine the correct mass flow rate for the hot water the solution is solved for
by iteration. The iterative solution uses an interval halving routine and needs a termination criterion that is set
with the Convergence tolerance parameter. This control offset is set to a decimal fraction of the zone
demand as the criteria, i.e. 0.001. The default for the field is 0.001.
- 943 -
For cooling, control is maintained simply by varying the fan speed. For heating, the unit first tries to meet the
heating load by varying the heating coil output while keeping the air flow at minimum (fan off). If this is not
adequate the fan turns on and operates in variable flow mode up to the heating maximum flow rate. This unit
is modelled in EnergyPlus as a compound component – a variable speed fan and a heating coil in series in
the air stream. The unit is blow through – the fan is upstream of the heating coil.
The heating coil can be edited to change the type to 1-Water, 2-Electric or 3-Gas.
Note: When using the VAV with VS fan and reheat coil ADU, the associated AHU must have the extract fan
option switched OFF.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
Air Flow
Maximum cooling air flow rate
This is the maximum volumetric air flow rate (in m3/s or ft3/min) through the unit when the thermostat is calling
for cooling. Normally this is the same as the unit’s fan maximum volumetric flow rate.
Heating Coil
This section is visible only if the heating coil sub-component of this ADU has Type 1-Water.
- 944 -
Variable Air Volume With No Reheat ADU
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep .
Advanced
Heating convergence tolerance
This is the control tolerance for the unit heating output. The unit is controlled by matching the unit output to the
zone demand. The model must be numerically inverted to obtain a specified output. The convergence
tolerance is the error tolerance used to terminate the numerical inversion procedure. Basically this is the
fraction:
VAV systems can be used for interior or perimeter zones with a common fan system and air temperature
control. The VAV concept may vary according to the VAV box locations and air temperature controls. Heating
can be provided if necessary by use of baseboard.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
- 945 -
Zone minimum air flow method
This is used to select how the software will determine the minimum flow rate to the zone while the system is
operating. There are 5 choices for selecting how the minimum flow rate is specified:
• 1-Constant where the value entered for Constant minimum air flow fraction will be used.
• 2-Fixed flow rate, the value entered for Fixed minimum air flow rate is used.
• 3-Scheduled then the software will obtain the value for minimum flow fraction from the schedule
selected from Minimum air flow fraction schedule.
• 4-Sum used to provide the summation of all entered inputs
• 5-Maximum used to either provide the maximum of all entered inputs
Outdoor Air
Control on outdoor air flow
If this option is selected, the terminal unit will increase flow as needed to meet the outdoor air requirement
specified on the HVAC zone dialog. If Outdoor air flow per person is non-zero, then the outdoor air
requirement will be calculated by the software based on the current number of occupants in the zone. At no
time will the supply air flow rate exceed the value for Maximum air flow rate. If this option is not selected,
then the terminal unit will not be controlled for outdoor air flow.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
- 946 -
Series Powered Induction Unit With Reheat ADU
temperature that satisfies the cooling load for the zone being served. Induction units generally have higher
capital and maintenance costs and also the potential for increased noise levels.
The EnergyPlus series powered induction unit (PIU) is an air system terminal unit that mixes varying amounts
of secondary (re-circulated) air and primary (conditioned supply) air to produce a fixed flow of air to a zone.
The unit contains a small fan that acts to induce the secondary air and a heating coil for heating the mixed
secondary and primary air. The fan runs at a constant volume flow rate whenever the unit is on. The fan is
downstream of the primary and secondary air inlets. The variable mixing is accomplished by a damper in the
unit’s primary air supply inlet duct. This damper can move from fully open (100% primary air, 0% secondary
air) to a minimum stop that is specified in the input description. At full cooling the damper will be fully open. At
minimum cooling and for heating the damper will be at the minimum stop and the secondary air flow will be at
its maximum.
The EnergyPlus model of the series PIU terminal unit is composed of three components: a zone mixer, a
constant volume fan, and a heating coil (water, electric, or gas).
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
Air Flow
Maximum air flow rate
This is the maximum volumetric air flow rate through the unit (in m3/s or ft3/min). Since this is a constant air
volume unit, this is also the design, rated air flow rate of the unit.
Heating Coil
This section is visible only if the heating coil sub-component of this ADU has Type 1-Water.
- 947 -
Maximum hot water flow rate
The maximum hot water volumetric flow rate in (m3/s or gal/min) through the unit’s heating coil if a water coil
has been selected. This value may be auto-sized.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
Advanced
Convergence tolerance
This is the control tolerance for the unit heating output. The unit is controlled by matching the unit output to the
zone demand. For units with water coils, the model must be numerically inverted to obtain a specified output.
The convergence tolerance is the error tolerance used to terminate the numerical inversion procedure.
Basically this is the fraction:
The EnergyPlus parallel powered induction unit (PIU) is an air system terminal unit that mixes varying
amounts of secondary (re-circulated) air and primary (conditioned supply) air to produce a variable total flow
of air to a zone. The unit contains a small fan that acts to induce the secondary air and a heating coil for
heating the mixed secondary and primary air. The secondary and primary air streams enter the unit in parallel.
The fan sits in the secondary air stream and runs only when secondary air is needed. The primary air inlet
contains a damper that can move from fully open (maximum primary air) to a minimum stop (minimum primary
air).
At full cooling load the primary air damper is fully open and the fan is off. The primary air flow is at maximum
and there is little or no secondary air flow. As the cooling load decreases, the primary air damper gradually
closes and the secondary air flow remains close to zero. At some point, usually when the primary air flow has
reached the minimum, the fan switches on and secondary air is induced. The heating coil will switch on as
needed to meet any heating demand.
The EnergyPlus model of the parallel PIU terminal unit is composed of three components: a constant volume
fan, a zone mixer, and a heating coil (water, electric or gas):
- 948 -
Parallel Powered Induction Unit With Reheat ADU
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
Heating Coil
This section is visible only if the heating coil sub-component of this ADU has Type 1-Water.
- 949 -
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep .
Advanced
Convergence tolerance
This is the control tolerance for the unit heating output. The unit is controlled by matching the unit output to the
zone demand. For units with water coils, the model must be numerically inverted to obtain a specified output.
The convergence tolerance is the error tolerance used to terminate the numerical inversion procedure.
Basically this is the fraction:
The EnergyPlus model of the four pipe induction terminal unit is a compound component consisting of a hot
water heating coil, a chilled water cooling coil, and an air mixer. The unit has two inlet air streams: the
centrally conditioned supply air and the induced air from the zone. The induced air passes first through the
heating coil, then through the cooling coil and finally through the mixer. The central supply air goes directly
into the mixer. The water flow through the hot or cold water coil is varied to meet the zone air conditioning
requirement. Note that EnergyPlus models the four pipe induction terminal unit as having separate heating
and cooling coils whereas real units have only a single coil used for both heating and cooling. Note also that
the four pipe induction unit model can be used to model a two pipe unit by simply adjusting the heating and
cooling coil schedules so that the heating coil is off when the cooling coil is on and vice versa.
- 950 -
Four Pipe Induction Unit ADU
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
Induction ratio
The ratio of induced air flow rate to primary supply air flow rate. The default is 1.0 –the supply air induces an
equal amount of zone air.
Heating Coil
This section is visible only if the heating coil sub-component of this ADU has Type 1-Water.
Cooling Coil
Maximum cold water flow rate
The maximum cold water volumetric flow rate (in m3/s or ft3/min) through the unit’s cooling coil. This value
may be auto-sized.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep .
- 951 -
Advanced
Heating convergence tolerance
This is the control tolerance for the unit heating output. The unit is controlled by matching the unit output to the
zone demand. For units with water coils, the model must be numerically inverted to obtain a specified output.
The convergence tolerance is the error tolerance used to terminate the numerical inversion procedure.
Basically this is the fraction:
The total airflow to each room is kept constant while the proportion of hot air to cold air is adjusted to maintain
the temperature in each zone at the desired level.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
- 952 -
Dual Duct Variable Air Volume ADU
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep .
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep .
- 953 -
Cooled Beam
Cooled beams are long rectangular finned tubes mounted at high level at regular intervals within a space.
They provide quiet draught-free cooling with capacities up to about 150 W/m2. As the cooled beams cool the
surrounding air, it falls into the occupied area below due its greater density. The beams are typically arranged
at regular intervals above, or partly below, a false ceiling. A relatively small ceiling void depth is required.
It is important to ensure good air flow and so any ceiling tiles positioned below beams must have openings
within the tiles equivalent to at least 50% of their area. In some cases beams are suspended below the
ceiling.
Cooled beam systems require a separate constant volume ventilation system to supply fresh air to the space.
The EnergyPlus Cooled Beam system is a mixed air-hydronic system.. A central constant volume air system
supplies conditioned ventilation air to the zones. Chilled water circulates through ceiling mounted cooled
beam units at a rate suitable for meeting the zone sensible cooling load. Any dehumidification is done by the
central ventilation air system. Heating is usually accomplished with hot water radiators/baseboards.
Thermodynamically, the cooled beam system resembles the four-pipe induction unit.
To model a typical cooled beam system a conventional central constant volume forced air system can be
used. This system will normally be 100% outside air delivered at a fixed supply temperature (which could be
reset by schedule or by outside air temperature). On the supply side of this air loop there will be the usual
central AC equipment: outside air mixer, fan, heating and cooling coil.
The cooled beam equipment in a zone is treated by the program as a single terminal unit, however the actual
installation will have multiple beams in each zone. EnergyPlus calculates how many beams of what length are
needed to meet the zone design load during its sizing calculation for the system.
The images below (reproduced with permission from CIBSE) illustrate the difference between the chilled
ceilings described here and cooled beams.
- 954 -
Cooled Beam
- 955 -
CIBSE Guide H Fig 5.79
Important Note: If an air loop is exclusively supplying cooled beams, the Air loop Type of load to size on
setting should be set to 2-Ventilation requirement, otherwise the system air flow rate will be sized on the
zone sensible load and the resulting flow rate may be too high for the cooled beams to maintain the zone
setpoint temperatures.
Tip: A useful resource on chilled ceilings and cooled beams can be found at
https://www.feta.co.uk/uploaded_images/files/CBCA/Chilled%20Beams%20Brochure_Final%207%20%28web
%29.pdf
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
• 1-Active where primary air is supplied through the beam, inducing some secondary zone air into
contact with the coil. This unit acts as an active convector.
• 2-Passive in which is simply a passive, finned convector unit. Primary air is supplied through a normal
diffuser.
- 956 -
Cooled Beam
Number of beams
The number of individual cooled beam units in the zone. Normally this unit would be auto-sized by the
program based upon the previous field and the nominal flow rate for a single beam unit (set by the program to
0.07 kg/s).
Beam length
This is the length of an individual beam in metres. Normally this will be auto-sized by the program based upon
the number of beam units and the zone design sensible cooling load. 1 to 4 meters is a typical length range.
Performance Parameters
The following inputs are parameters used to characterize the performance of the chilled beam units. Values
for a given unit can be obtained from the manufacturer. The parameters are used in the following equations.
Where:
ΔT is the room air – water temperature difference (average water temperature is used) in °C.
ω is the water velocity in m/s.
qpr is the supply air flow rate per unit length m3/ (s-m)
Model parameter α
This is α in the above equations. The default is 15.3
- 957 -
Model parameter n1
This is n1 in the above equations. The default is 0.
Model parameter n2
This is n2 in the above equations. The default is 0.84.
Model parameter n3
This is n3 in the above equations. The default is 0.12.
Model parameter α0
This is α0 in the above equations. It is the free area of the coil in plan view (for the air flow) per unit beam
length. The units are square meters per meter. The default is 0.171.
Model parameter K1
This is K1 in the above equations. The default is 0.005.
Model parameter n
This is n in the above equations. The default is 0.4.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep .
The terminal unit is meant for systems regulating outdoor air based only on demand control or code minimum
settings and not on economizer operation. This air terminal does not have heating coils and is not configured
for conditions zones that need heat. Additional ZoneHVAC equipment, such as baseboards or fan coil units,
are needed to provide heating to the zone.
- 958 -
Radiant Surface Data
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the ADU is located.
• 1-Current occupancy where outdoor air ventilation rates are based on the current number of people
including the effect of time-varying occupancy schedules.
• 2-Design occupancy where the constant value for the maximum number of people is used.
Note: this setting is only used when outdoor air ventilation rates are calculated when based on a per
person rate.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the unit is available for each timestep of the simulation. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the timestep . A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
Note an important advantage of the EnergyPlus variable flow radiant surface over the constant flow
equivalent is that it is fully autosizable, which makes it much quicker to set up, especially for large models.
When using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data option, radiant surface systems will only
control based on the radiant system controls defined for the component itself and not via the standard zone
- 959 -
thermostat defined on the HVAC zone dialog. If the radiant system is serving a zone with forced air
equipment, the radiant system will follow the priority order established by the zone thermostat but will still base
its response on the controls defined by the user for the radiant system.
When using the 1-Simple HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data option, radiant surfaces are controlled using the
usual HVAC zone heating setpoint temperature controls.
Note: In zones in which radiant systems are included, at least one surface must be assigned a
construction with an internal source defined, which incorporates details of the embedded tubing system. See
Internal Source under Constructions for further details.
Radiant surface HVAC components are placed, edited and deleted at HVAC zone level. To edit the data
associated with a radiant surface, you first need to select it by moving the mouse cursor over it and then
clicking the mouse button to select it. You can then access the edit dialog by right-clicking the mouse and
selecting the Edit selected component option or alternatively, select the Edit selected component tool from the
toolbar.
Important Note 1: The internal source must be placed thermally closer to the inside surface than to the
outside surface of the construction to allow it to be considered for inclusion in a zone's radiant surface system.
In other words, if the thermal resistance between the inside surface and the internal source is less than the
resistance to the outside surface then the surface is considered to be a valid radiant surface to be included
with the zone next to the inside surface and will be simulated as such. This point applies to external as well as
internal surfaces.
Important Note 2: Internal radiant surfaces cannot control heating/cooling delivery to both adjacent
zones. The radiant surface will be associated with the control system of the adjacent zone that is thermally
closest to the internal source. The zone next to the outside surface (thermally furthest from the internal
source) will of course still receive some heating/cooling from the source but the heat flow will not be
controlled.
Tip: To define which side of an internal surface is internal and which is external see under Layer order on
the Constructions Layer data page.
Heated Floors
These systems typically use low flow temperatures of around 40-55°C compared with around 80°C for
traditional low temperature hot water heating systems using radiators and convectors. Lower return
temperatures enable more efficient operation using condensing boilers and heat pumps.
Tip: Heated floor radiant surfaces can be connected to hot water loops fed by boiler, GSHP or district
heating systems. Note that when connected to GSHP systems heated floors can offer a very efficient system
as the low delivery temperatures they require (typically 35°C) are well matched to the optimal operating
conditions for GSHP systems.
DesignBuilder EnergyPlus can realistically model heated floor systems and so many of the issues that apply
to real systems such as slow response, floor mass, control, floor insulation, effect of different upper surface
materials can be investigated using DesignBuilder. However heated floors can take a little bit of care to set up
and to achieve good temperature control. If you are having trouble with this you may find the answer to the
problem is the list below.
- 960 -
Radiant Surface Data
1. Missing Internal Source Error report. Each zone with a heated floor added to its HVAC zone must
include at least one floor surface (or floor sub-surface) having a construction with an internal source. If
no such internal source surface is found, DesignBuilder will generate an error message to this effect
before attempting to run the simulation.
2. Unresponsive control. Heated floor systems have relatively slow response times as the heating pipes
provide indirect heating via the floor surface. This can result in zone temperatures deviating from set-
point temperatures if the heating or cooling loads in the zone change quickly, through solar gain or
natural ventilation cooling for example. The slow response is due to the high thermal mass of the floor
causing heat to continue to be emitted even when the room thermostat has stopped calling for heating
and the pump has stopped moving hot water through the embedded pipes. Overheating in such high
mass heated floors can be a common problem on days where a high demand exists on a cold morning
(for example) but then high solar (or other) gains in the day add to the uncontrolled heat continuing to
be emitted from the floor.
3. Throttling range. Less of a factor than point 2 is variable flow heated floors work using a throttling
range to control flow of water through the embedded floor water pipes. This acts like a deadband and
means that even without the thermal mass lag issues, there will be a temperature control range rather
than a fixed zone temperature.
4. Underheating can also be a common issue with heated floors. Likely causes are listed below.
5. Large heat loss. A useful rule of thumb is that it is not usually possible to supply more than about 100
W/m2 of heating with heated floors due to the thermal resistance of floor surfaces and maximum
acceptable floor temperatures of around 29°C, though higher surface temperatures are possible in
bathrooms. Typical maximum outputs are approximately 100 W/m2 for concrete, reducing to 70 W/m2
for timber floors and less for carpet and coverings with insulating properties. Zones having higher levels
of heat loss will require supplementary heating to achieve comfortable conditions. This is true of real
world systems and with DesignBuilder EnergyPlus heated floor models. The easiest way to check the
heat loss against this rule is by using the Normalise display option which shows results per floor area.
6. Intermittent heating. Running heated floors on an intermittent basis requires a higher design sizing
factor to be set for the HVAC zone. This is because of the thermal mass of the floor construction.
Consider a building unoccupied over a cold weekend which then needs to be heated to operating
temperatures on Monday morning. With the default sizing factor of 1.25 the heating system will have
been sized to achieve the heating setpoint under steady-state winter outdoor design condition plus a
margin of 25%. However this 25% margin will not be adequate if the heating is to switched on at say
6am and expected to raise the zone temperature to comfortable levels in time for occupancy a few
hours later. To deal with intermittent operation, either much higher design factors are required (e.g. 2)
or the system should be run continuously (perhaps at a lower level during unoccupied periods) to avoid
the need for a rapid warmup in the mornings. Of course if the heating is to be operated continuously the
building fabric will need to be very well insulated to avoid waste.
7. Incorrect position of the source. A common error with setting up the heated floor definition is to
select the wrong position for the heated floor source (i.e. the hot water pipes). In a well designed
system the pipes will normally be buried just below the first construction layer. If you position the tubes
at the wrong side of the construction, then the wrong zone (or the ground or exterior) will be heated! A
tool is provided on the Constructions dialog to make it easy to position the source just below the
innermost layer.
8. Conductive upper layer. Heated floors provide the most efficient and responsive control when the
uppermost layer is low mass and conductive. While ceilings can be constructed using a thin metal layer
between source and the room, this is rarely possible for heated floors which are required to provide a
strong and comfortable surface to walk on as well as an efficient heat transfer path from heating pipes
to the zone. Clearly, if the top layer is an (insulating) thick pile carpet then the heated floor will struggle
to provide adequate heating to the room. More advice on floor coverings suitable for heated floors is
provided below.
9. Insulation. Without good insulation below the heated floor source, much of the heat will not find its way
into the intended zone. Instead the heat will be either lost to the zone below in an uncontrolled way, to
outside or to the ground. There will consequently be less heat available to heat the intended zone and
underheating will occur.
10. Sizing error (general HVAC modelling issue). It is important to consider heating and cooling sizing
when setting up schedules. In particular, a common mistake is to include internal gains in heating sizing
calculations. This has the effect of heating being undersized causing significant underheating (or no
heating).
- 961 -
11. When used in combination with a chilled ceiling in zone below, heated floors will cause EnergyPlus
to generate an error. This is because EnergyPlus only allows one "source" object per surface and so a
heated floor cannot be located in the same surface as a chilled ceiling. There are 2 possible
workarounds to this.
a. Export the DesignBuilder model to EnergyPlus and using the IDF Editor combine the heated
floor and chilled ceiling into a single source component.
b. Insert a very thin "dummy zone" between the heated floor above and the chilled ceiling below.
Include half of the true floor mass in the upper surface (heated floor in upper zone) and the other
half in the lower surface (chilled ceiling in lower zone).
12. You may need a separate high-grade heat generator for DHW if using a low-temperature heat source
for heating.
Tip: To help diagnose some of the above problems and to check that maximum temperatures are
compatible with the surface material (below) it can help to view hourly inside and outside surface
temperatures and heat fluxes by selecting these output options: Surface heat transfer incl. solar
(gives heat flux for floors) or Inside surface temperature (to check the surface temperature of the
heated floor).
• Ceramic tiles - Due to their high thermal conductivity and slim profile, ceramic tiles are one of the best
floor finishes for use with underfloor heating.
• Polished screed - Very conductive and good for use with underfloor heating.
• Limestone - Stone is the most thermally conductive of all floor coverings allowing energy from the UFH
to transfer quickly to the room.
• Slate - An extremely conductive natural finish, ideal for use with underfloor heating.
• Flagstones - A thicker stone finish that exhibits very good thermal conductivity but beware of adding
too much thermal inertia.
• Marble - An good heat conductor available in varying thicknesses.
• Engineered timber - The best timber floor finish for use with heated floors, offering good heat transfer
and structural stablity.
• Solid hardwood - Good heat transfer and best when specified in narrow board widths.
• Softwood - Suitable only in narrow board widths to reduce movement
• Parquet - Offers good heat transfer when securely glued to the sub-floor
• Bamboo - Usually similar in construction to engineered timber, making it very suitable for UFH
- 962 -
Radiant Surface Data
output, which is adequate in most situations. These products have low thermal mass so heat up and cool
down quickly in comparison to stone and timber.
• Vinyl - good heat transfer, often subject to a recommended maximum surface temperature
• Amtico - practical, high-quality finish that transfers heat well
• Linoleum & Marmoleum - thin natural products that are suited to use with underfloor heating
• Laminate tiles - Thin and thermally conductive making them perfect for use with UFH
• Rubber - A relatively thermally conductive material that can successfully be used with underfloor
heating
Materials to avoid
While not ideal from the efficiency point of view, carpet and underlay with a combined Tog value of up to 2.5
can be used effectively with underfloor heating. Thicker carpets act as an insulator and stop sufficient heat
reaching the room.
• Carpet - A maximum Tog value of 2.5 is recommended for carpet and underlay when used with
underfloor heating
• Cork - A maximum thickness of 10mm is advised as cork is an efficient insulator
• Coir - A natural product similar to carpet that is subject to a maximum recommended Tog value of 2.5
You should bear in mind that some flooring manufacturers stipulate a maximum floor temperature for their
product. Note also that EN 1264 states that underfloor heating should not operate at more than 29˚C.
Chilled Ceilings
Chilled ceilings are mounted within the ceiling to provide quiet, draft free cooling of the space below. Each unit
is made up of a small bore chilled water pipe arranged in an S-shape and attached to the upper surface of a
ceiling panel. Ceiling panels are typically of thin metallic construction but can simply be plasterboard. In some
systems the chilled water pipes are embedded within the ceiling panel.
During operation, the panel is cooled through contact with the chilled-water pipework allowing it to cool the
space through a combination of convective and radiant output (up to 40% radiant). An insulating mat is often
placed above the chilled water pipework and panel to minimise uncontrolled cooling of the area above. It is up
to the user to include any such insulation in the construction definition.
One advantage of chilled ceilings is that they can be placed in a shallow ceiling void enabling them to be used
in buildings with low floor to ceiling heights. However, their limited cooling output makes them unsuitable for
areas with moderate to high heat gains. The maximum capacity of chilled ceiling systems is in the order of 70
W/m2.
Chilled-ceiling systems require a separate ventilation system for fresh air supply.
Condensation of room air on and within the chilled ceiling can be avoided by shutting of chilled water flow
based on room dew point temperature.
Tip: Chilled ceilings can be connected to chilled water loops fed by chillers , district cooling or GSHP
systems.
- 963 -
CIBSE KS03 Figure 12
- 964 -
Radiant Surface Data
Tip: A useful resource on chilled ceilings and cooled beams can be found at
https://www.feta.co.uk/uploaded_images/files/CBCA/Chilled%20Beams%20Brochure_Final%207%20%28web
%29.pdf
The DesignBuilder EnergyPlus ceiling model is able to realistically model the operation of chilled ceiling
systems and many of the issues that apply to real systems such as intermittency, thermal mass, control,
ceiling insulation, effect of different interior surface materials can be investigated using DesignBuilder.
However chilled ceilings can take a little bit of care to set up and to achieve good temperature control. If you
are having trouble with this you may find the answer to the problem is the list below.
1. Missing Internal Source Error report. Each zone with a chilled ceiling added to its HVAC zone must
include at least one ceiling surface (or ceiling sub-surface) having a construction with an internal
source. If no internal source surface is found, DesignBuilder will provide an error message to this effect
before attempting to run the simulation.
2. Unresponsive control. Chilled ceilings in real buildings tend to give less responsive control than air or
other radiant systems. This is because the relatively high thermal mass of the ceiling causes zone heat
to continue to be absorbed even when the room thermostat has stopped calling for cooling and the
pump has stopped moving chilled water through the embedded pipes.
3. Throttling range. Less of a factor than point 2 is variable flow chilled ceilings work using a throttling
range to control flow of water through the embedded floor water pipes. This acts like a deadband and
means that even without the thermal mass lag issues, there will be a temperature control range rather
than a fixed zone temperature.
4. Inadequate cooling can also a common issue with chilled ceilings. Likely causes are listed below.
5. High levels of internal gains. A useful rule of thumb is that it is not usually possible to supply more
than about 70 W/m2 of cooling with chilled ceilings. Zones having higher levels of gains will require
supplementary cooling to achieve comfortable conditions. This is true of real world systems and with
DesignBuilder EnergyPlus chilled ceiling models. The easiest way to check the internal gains against
this rule is by using the Normalise display option which shows results per floor area.
6. Intermittent cooling. Running chilled ceilings on an intermittent basis can require a higher design
sizing factor to be set for the HVAC zone. This is because the thermal mass of the ceiling construction
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causes a lag in cooling provided to the coils and cooling provided to the room. Consider a building
unoccupied over a warm weekend which then needs to be cooled to operating temperatures on
Monday morning. With the default sizing factor of 1.15 the cooling system will have been sized to
achieve the cooling setpoint under "periodic steady-state" summer design condition plus a margin of
15%. However this 15% margin will not be adequate if the cooling is to switched on at say 6am and
expected to lower the zone temperature to comfortable levels in time for occupancy a few hours later.
To deal with intermittent operation, either much higher design factors are required (e.g. 2) or the
system should be run continuously (perhaps at a lower level during unoccupied periods) to avoid the
need for a rapid cooling down in the mornings. Of course if the cooling is to be operated continuously
then the building fabric will need to be very well insulated to avoid waste.
7. Incorrect position of the source. A common error with setting up the chilled ceiling definition is to
select the wrong position for the chilled ceiling source (i.e. the chilled water pipes). In a well designed
system the pipes will normally be buried just below the first construction layer. If you position the tubes
at the wrong side of the construction, then the wrong zone (or the ground or exterior) will be cooled! A
tool is provided on the Constructions dialog to make it easy to position the source just above the
innermost layer.
8. Conductive lower layer. Chilled ceilings provide the most efficient and responsive control when the
uppermost layer is low mass and conductive. Chilled ceilings panels are often constructed using a thin
metal layer between source and the room to provide an efficient heat transfer path from cooling pipes
to the zone. Clearly, if the inside layer is an (insulating) ceiling tile for example then the chilled ceiling
will struggle to provide adequate cooling to the room.
9. Insulation. Without good insulation above the chilled ceiling source, much of the cooling will not find its
way into the intended zone. Instead the cooling will be either lost to the zone above in an uncontrolled
way, to outside or to the ground. There will consequently be less cooling available to cool the intended
zone and under-cooling will occur.
10. When used in combination with a heated floor in zone above, chilled ceilings will cause EnergyPlus
to generate an error. This is because EnergyPlus only allows one "source" object per surface and so a
chilled ceiling cannot be located in the same surface as a heated floor. There are 2 possible
workarounds to this.
a. Export the DesignBuilder model to EnergyPlus and using the IDF Editor combine the heated
floor and chilled ceiling into a single source component.
b. Insert a very thin "dummy zone" between the heated floor above and the chilled ceiling below.
Include half of the true floor mass in the upper surface (heated floor in upper zone) and the other
half in the lower surface (chilled ceiling in lower zone).
Tip: To help diagnose some of the above problems it can help to view hourly inside and outside
surface temperatures and heat fluxes by selecting these output options: Surface heat transfer incl.
solar (gives heat flux for floors) or Inside surface temperature (to check the surface temperature of the
chilled ceiling).
In some cases it may be necessary to model a heated floor heating a zone above with a chilled ceiling on the
same surface cooling a different zone below. However, EnergyPlus does not allow more than one internal
source per surface, so in this case it would be necessary to create a fictitious zone between the 2 surfaces
allowing the heated floor and chilled ceiling to be created in their respective zones and to be controlled
individually. and satisfying the requirement of no more than one internal source per surface. Note that the
restrictions referred to above apply equally to radiant surfaces used to model heated floors and chilled ceiling
as to the specific heated floor and chilled ceiling components.
Target Tab
When editing the attributes associated with a radiant surface component it is possible to apply the same
changes to units in other zones in the same HVAC Zone group. To do this select the components on the
Target tab of the edit dialog as required.
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Radiant Surface - Constant Flow
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the heated floor is located.
Type
There are two types of radiant surface available:
Along with setpoint (control) and water schedules, this setting allows you to specify how the radiant surface is
to be controlled. The temperature denoted in the setpoint schedule can refer to one of five different
temperatures: the zone mean air temperature, the zone mean radiant temperature, the zone operative
temperature, the outdoor dry-bulb temperature, or the outdoor wet-bulb temperature. The choice of
temperature is controlled by the temperature control type. The user must select from the following options:
Operative temperature for heated floor controls is the average of Mean Air Temperature and Mean Radiant
Temperature. See the control temperature schedule settings below for more information.
Tube Settings
Hydronic tubing inside diameter
This is the inside diameter of the tubes through which water is circulated (in m or in). The inside diameter is
used to determine the convective heat transfer from the water to the inside surface of the hydronic tubing.
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Note: With the constant flow radiant surface, this length is not autosizable.
Number of circuits
This input allows you to choose between modelling each surface in the radiant system as a single hydronic
circuit or to allow the program to divide the surface into multiple parallel hydronic circuits based on the Circuit
length (below). The corresponding options are:
It is recommended that 2-Calculate from circuit length be chosen for new models. The default is 1-One per
surface for backward compatibility with older versions of DesignBuilder.
Circuit length
The length (in m or ft) of each parallel hydronic circuit in a surface. This data is only used when the Number
of circuits (above) is set to 2-Calculate from circuit length. The default is 106.7 meters (350 feet), which is
the maximum circuit length allowed in Title 24.
Flow Settings
Rated flow rate
This is the maximum flow rate of water through the heated floor (in m3/sec or gal/min). This flow rate is held
constant by the local component pump, but you have the option of varying this flow rate via a schedule (see
Pump Flow Rate Schedule). The constant flow system will accept this flow rate and control the inlet
temperature based on the control and water temperature schedules defined below.
Pump Settings
Pump flow rate schedule
This schedule modifies the maximum flow rate of water through the radiant surface (in m3/s only). Note that
the values for this schedule must be between zero and one.
Motor efficiency
This is the pump efficiency in decimal form (0 = 0%, 1 = 100%).
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Radiant Surface - Constant Flow
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that denotes whether the component can run during a given timestep. A schedule value
greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit is available and can be on during the timestep. A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is not available and must be off for the
timestep.
Heating
Has heating element
If this radiant surface is connected to a hot water loop for heating then this checkbox should be checked.
Note: Either the Has cooling element or the Has heating element (or both) must be checked.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) heating capacity of the unit is entered, or
the program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design heating capacity, if Autosize is
specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design heating capacity from a user
specified heating capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design heating
capacity from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design heating capacity.
Control
Heating high water temperature schedule
This schedule specifies the high water temperature (in °C only) for the temperature control of the
constant flow heated floor. Water and control temperatures for heating work together to provide a linear
function that determines the water temperature sent to the heated floor. The current control
temperature (see Temperature Control Type above) is compared to the high and low control
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temperatures at the current time. If the control temperature is above the high temperature, then the
system will be turned off and the water mass flow rate will be zero. If the control temperature is below
the low temperature, then the inlet water temperature is set to the high water temperature. If the control
temperature is between the high and low value, then the inlet water temperature is linearly interpolated
between the low and high water temperature values.
Cooling
Has cooling element
If this radiant surface is connected to a chilled water loop for cooling then this checkbox should be checked.
Note: Either the Has cooling element or the Has heating element (or both) must be checked.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) cooling capacity of the unit is entered, or
the program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design cooling capacity, if Autosize is
specified.
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Radiant Surface - Constant Flow
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design cooling capacity from a user
specified cooling capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design cooling
capacity from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design cooling capacity.
Control
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Cooling low water temperature schedule
This schedule specifies the low water temperature (in °C only) for the temperature control of the
constant flow chilled ceiling. For more information on its interpretation, see Cooling high water
temperature schedule above.
Condensation Control
Condensation control type
With a chilled ceiling, there is the possibility that condensation will occur on the surface that is being
cooled. This is due to the fact that the surface temperature may drop below the dew-point temperature
of the space. When this occurs, condensation on the surface will occur. There are two options for
handling this situation:
If you choose the 2-Off option, EnergyPlus will not do anything other than produce a warning message
when condensation is predicted to occur. The simulation will simply proceed; no moisture will be
removed from the zone air and there will be no adjustment of the surface temperature as a result of the
condensation. When the 1-Simple off option is selected, EnergyPlus will predict cases where
condensation will occur and shut-off the chilled ceiling to avoid this situation. With this latter option, you
also have the opportunity to adjust when the system will shut down. This is specified with the
Condensation Control Dew-point Offset, below.
When this parameter is positive, the radiant system will shut down when the surface is this value
above the dew-point temperature. This allows some extra safety to avoid condensation. When this
parameter is negative, the chilled ceiling will shut down when the surface temperature is this value
below the dew-point temperature. While not recommended, this strategy allows the user to simulate a
situation where small amounts of condensation are tolerable.
Note: This value is an offset not an absolute temperature. A typical value might be 0-2°C.
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Radiant Surface - Variable Flow
Note An important advantage of the EnergyPlus variable flow radiant surface over the constant flow
equivalent is that it is fully autosizable.
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the radiant surface is located.
Type
There are two types of radiant surface available:
Along with setpoint (control) and water schedules, this setting allows you to specify how the radiant surface is
to be controlled. The temperature denoted in the setpoint schedule can refer to one of five different
temperatures: the zone mean air temperature, the zone mean radiant temperature, the zone operative
temperature, the outdoor dry-bulb temperature, or the outdoor wet-bulb temperature. The choice of
temperature is controlled by the temperature control type. The user must select from the following options:
Operative temperature for radiant surface controls is the average of Mean Air Temperature and Mean Radiant
Temperature. See the control temperature schedule settings below for more information.
Tube Settings
Hydronic tubing inside diameter
This is the inside diameter of the tubes through which water is circulated (in m or in). The inside diameter
should be entered in metres and is used to determine the convective heat transfer from the water to the inside
surface of the hydronic tubing.
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Number of circuits
This input allows you to choose between modelling each surface in the radiant system as a single hydronic
circuit or to allow the program to divide the surface into multiple parallel hydronic circuits based on the Circuit
length (below). The corresponding options are:
It is recommended that 2-Calculate from circuit length be chosen for new models. The default is 1-One per
surface for backward compatibility with older versions of DesignBuilder.
Circuit length
The length (in m or ft) of each parallel hydronic circuit in a surface. This data is only used when the Number
of circuits (above) is set to 2-Calculate from circuit length. The default is 106.7 meters (350 feet), which is
the maximum circuit length allowed in Title 24.
Heating
Has heating element
If this radiant surface is connected to a hot water loop for heating then this checkbox should be checked.
Note: Either the Has cooling element or the Has heating element (or both) must be checked.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) heating capacity of the unit is entered, or
the program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design heating capacity, if Autosize is
specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design heating capacity from a user
specified heating capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design heating
capacity from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design heating capacity.
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Radiant Surface - Variable Flow
autosized capacity. EnergyPlus calculates the heating capacity from the design autosized heating
capacity and this fraction. The default value is 1.0.
Control
Heating control temperature schedule
This option is only available when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data
The Heating control temperature schedule specifies the heating setpoint or control temperature for the
radiant surface (in °C only). Used in conjunction with the Throttling range, it defines whether or not the
system is running and the current flow rate. Water flow rate to the system is varied linearly around the
setpoint temperature based on the Throttling range and the Maximum heating flow rate parameters
(see above). It should be noted that this control schedule will allow different setpoint temperatures
throughout the year for heating. The control of the radiant surface is based solely on the values in this
schedule, and the Temperature control type described above. The radiant surface will not use the
HVAC zone thermostat that might be used by other systems serving the zone in which the component
resides.
Throttling range
This is the range of temperature (°C) which the radiant surface throttles from zero flow rate up to the
maximum defined by the Maximum hot water flow rate described above. The throttling range parameter
is used in conjunction with the control temperature to define the response of the system to various zone
conditions. The heating control temperature schedule specifies the setpoint temperature where the flow
rate to the system is at half of the maximum flow rate. For example, if the heating control temperature
setpoint is currently 15°C and the heating throttling range is 2°C, the water flow rate to the system will
be zero when the controlling temperature (see Temperature Control Type below) is at or above 16°C
and the maximum flow rate when the controlling temperature is at or below 14°C. This represents a
throttling range of 2°C around the setpoint of 15°C. In between 14°C and 16°C, the flow rate to the
radiant system is varied linearly.
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Cooling
Has cooling element
If this radiant surface is connected to a chilled water loop for cooling then this checkbox should be checked.
Note: Either the Has cooling element or the Has heating element (or both) must be checked.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) cooling capacity of the unit is entered, or
the program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design cooling capacity, if Autosize is
specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design cooling capacity from a user
specified cooling capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design cooling
capacity from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design cooling capacity.
Control
This schedule specifies the cooling setpoint or control temperature for the radiant surface (in °C only)
when in cooling mode. Used in conjunction with the Throttling range, it defines whether or not the
system is running and the current flow rate. Water flow rate to the system is varied linearly around the
setpoint temperature based on the Throttling range and the Maximum cooling flow rate parameters
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Radiant Surface - Variable Flow
(see above). This control schedule will allow different setpoint temperatures throughout the year for
cooling. The control of the radiant surface is based solely on the temperature values in this schedule,
and the Temperature control type listed above. The radiant surface will not use any thermostats
defined on the HVAC zone dialog that might be used by other systems serving the zone in which the
component resides.
Tip: Some users have found it helpful to give the radiant surface priority by setting slightly lower
cooling setpoint temperatures than the setpoints on the HVAC zone dialog used to control a
supplementary air system.
Throttling range
This is the range of temperature (in °C or °F) over which the radiant surface throttles from zero flow
rate up to the maximum defined by the Maximum Cold Water Flow Rate described above. The throttling
range parameter is used in conjunction with the control temperature to define the response of the
system to various zone conditions. The cooling control temperature schedule specifies the setpoint
temperature where the flow rate to the system is at half of the maximum flow rate. For example, if the
cooling control temperature setpoint is currently 25°C and the cooling throttling range is 2°C, the water
flow rate to the radiant system will be zero when the controlling temperature (see Temperature Control
Type below) is at or below 24°C and the maximum flow rate when the controlling temperature is at or
above 26°C. This represents a throttling range of 2°C around the setpoint of 25°C. In between 24°C
and 26°C, the flow rate to the radiant system is varied linearly.
Condensation Control
Condensation control type
With a chilled ceiling, there is the possibility that condensation will occur on the surface that is being
cooled. This is due to the fact that the surface temperature may drop below the dew-point temperature
of the space. When this occurs, condensation on the surface will occur. There are two options for
handling this situation:
If you choose the 2-Off option, EnergyPlus will not do anything other than produce a warning message
when condensation is predicted to occur. The simulation will simply proceed; no moisture will be
removed from the zone air and there will be no adjustment of the surface temperature as a result of the
condensation. When the 1-Simple off option is selected, EnergyPlus will predict cases where
condensation will occur and shut-off the radiant surface to avoid this situation. With this latter option,
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you also have the opportunity to adjust when the system will shut down. This is specified with the
Condensation Control Dew-point Offset, below.
When this parameter is positive, the radiant system will shut down when the surface is this value
above the dew-point temperature. This allows some extra safety to avoid condensation. When this
parameter is negative, the radiant surface will shut down when the surface temperature is this value
below the dew-point temperature. While not recommended, this strategy allows the user to simulate a
situation where small amounts of condensation are tolerable.
Note: This value is an offset not an absolute temperature. A typical value might be 0-2°C.
Operation
Availability Schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the component is available for each timestep of the
simulation. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the
timestep. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
Heated Floor
Heated floors are low temperature radiant systems with hot water pipes embedded in the floor construction.
They use large surface area and relatively low surface temperature.
These systems typically use low flow temperatures of around 40-55°C compared with around 80°C for
traditional low temperature hot water heating systems using radiators and convectors. Lower return
temperatures enable more efficient operation using condensing boilers and heat pumps.
Note one advantage of the EnergyPlus variable flow heated floor over the constant flow heated floor is
that it is fully autosizable.
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Heated Floor
When using the Detailed HVAC activity option, heated floors will only control based on the radiant system
controls defined for the component itself and not via the standard zone thermostat defined on the HVAC zone
dialog. If the radiant system is serving a zone with forced air equipment, the radiant system will follow the
priority order established by the zone thermostat but will still base its response on the controls defined by the
user for the radiant system.
When using the Simple HVAC activity option, heated floors are controlled using the usual HVAC zone heating
setpoint temperature controls.
Note: In zones in which heated floors are included, at least one floor construction must have a
construction with internal source defined, which incorporates details of the embedded tubing system. See
Internal Source under Constructions for further details.
Heated floor HVAC components are placed, edited and deleted at HVAC zone level. To edit the data
associated with a heated floor, you first need to select it by moving the mouse cursor over it and then clicking
the mouse button to select it. You can then access the edit dialog by right-clicking the mouse and selecting
the Edit selected component option or alternatively, select the Edit selected component tool from the toolbar.
Tip: Heated floors can be connected to hot water loops fed by either boiler or GSHP systems. Note that
when connected to GSHP systems heated floors can offer a very efficient system as the low delivery
temperatures they require (typically 35°C) are well matched to the optimal operating conditions for GSHP
systems.
Target Tab
When editing the attributes associated with a Heated floor component it is possible to apply the same
changes to units in other zones in the same HVAC Zone group. To do this select the components on the
Target tab of the edit dialog as required.
1. Missing Internal Source Error report. Each zone with a heated floor added to its HVAC zone must
include at least one floor surface (or floor sub-surface) having a construction with an internal source. If
no such internal source surface is found, DesignBuilder will generate an error message to this effect
before attempting to run the simulation.
2. Unresponsive control. Heated floor systems have relatively slow response times as the heating pipes
provide indirect heating via the floor surface. This can result in zone temperatures deviating from set-
point temperatures if the heating or cooling loads in the zone change quickly, through solar gain or
natural ventilation cooling for example. The slow response is due to the high thermal mass of the floor
causing heat to continue to be emitted even when the room thermostat has stopped calling for heating
and the pump has stopped moving hot water through the embedded pipes. Overheating in such high
mass heated floors can be a common problem on days where a high demand exists on a cold morning
(for example) but then high solar (or other) gains in the day add to the uncontrolled heat continuing to
be emitted from the floor.
3. Throttling range. Less of a factor than point 2 is variable flow heated floors work using a throttling
range to control flow of water through the embedded floor water pipes. This acts like a deadband and
means that even without the thermal mass lag issues, there will be a temperature control range rather
than a fixed zone temperature.
4. Underheating can also be a common issue with heated floors. Likely causes are listed below.
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5. Large heat loss. A useful rule of thumb is that it is not usually possible to supply much more than
about 100 W/m2 of heating with heated floors due to the thermal resistance of floor surfaces and
maximum acceptable floor temperatures of around 29°C, though higher surface temperatures are
possible in bathrooms. Typical maximum outputs are approximately 100 W/m2 for concrete, reducing to
70 W/m2 for timber floors and less for carpet and coverings with insulating properties. Zones having
higher levels of heat loss will require supplementary heating to achieve comfortable conditions. This is
true of real world systems and with DesignBuilder EnergyPlus heated floor models. The easiest way to
check the heat loss against this rule is by using the Normalise display option which shows results per
floor area.
6. Intermittent heating. Running heated floors on an intermittent basis requires a higher design sizing
factor to be set for the HVAC zone. This is because of the thermal mass of the floor construction.
Consider a building unoccupied over a cold weekend which then needs to be heated to operating
temperatures on Monday morning. With the default sizing factor of 1.25 the heating system will have
been sized to achieve the heating setpoint under steady-state winter outdoor design condition plus a
margin of 25%. However this 25% margin will not be adequate if the heating is to switched on at say
6am and expected to raise the zone temperature to comfortable levels in time for occupancy a few
hours later. To deal with intermittent operation, either much higher design factors are required (e.g. 2)
or the system should be run continuously (perhaps at a lower level during unoccupied periods) to avoid
the need for a rapid warmup in the mornings. Of course if the heating is to be operated continuously the
building fabric will need to be very well insulated to avoid waste.
7. Incorrect position of the source. A common error with setting up the heated floor definition is to
select the wrong position for the heated floor source (i.e. the hot water pipes). In a well designed
system the pipes will normally be buried just below the first construction layer. If you position the tubes
at the wrong side of the construction, then the wrong zone (or the ground or exterior) will be heated! A
tool is provided on the Constructions dialog to make it easy to position the source just below the
innermost layer.
8. Conductive upper layer. Heated floors provide the most efficient and responsive control when the
uppermost layer is low mass and conductive. While ceilings can be constructed using a thin metal layer
between source and the room, this is rarely possible for heated floors which are required to provide a
strong and comfortable surface to walk on as well as an efficient heat transfer path from heating pipes
to the zone. Clearly, if the top layer is an (insulating) thick pile carpet then the heated floor will struggle
to provide adequate heating to the room. More advice on floor coverings suitable for heated floors is
provided below.
9. Insulation. Without good insulation below the heated floor source, much of the heat will not find its way
into the intended zone. Instead the heat will be either lost to the zone below in an uncontrolled way, to
outside or to the ground. There will consequently be less heat available to heat the intended zone and
underheating will occur.
10. Sizing error (general HVAC modelling issue). It is important to consider heating and cooling sizing
when setting up schedules. In particular, a common mistake is to include internal gains in heating sizing
calculations. This has the effect of heating being undersized causing significant underheating (or no
heating).
11. When used in combination with a chilled ceiling in zone below, heated floors will cause EnergyPlus
to generate an error. This is because EnergyPlus only allows one "source" object per surface and so a
heated floor cannot be located in the same surface as a chilled ceiling. There are 2 possible
workarounds to this.
a. Export the DesignBuilder model to EnergyPlus and using the IDF Editor combine the heated
floor and chilled ceiling into a single source component.
b. Insert a very thin "dummy zone" between the heated floor above and the chilled ceiling below.
Include half of the true floor mass in the upper surface (heated floor in upper zone) and the other
half in the lower surface (chilled ceiling in lower zone).
12. You may need a separate high-grade heat generator for DHW if using a low-temperature heat source
for heating.
Tip: To help diagnose some of the above problems and to check that maximum temperatures are
compatible with the surface material (below) it can help to view hourly inside and outside surface
temperatures and heat fluxes by selecting these output options: Surface heat transfer incl. solar
(gives heat flux for floors) or Inside surface temperature (to check the surface temperature of the
heated floor).
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Heated Floor
• Ceramic tiles - Due to their high thermal conductivity and slim profile, ceramic tiles are one of the best
floor finishes for use with underfloor heating.
• Polished screed - Very conductive and good for use with underfloor heating.
• Limestone - Stone is the most thermally conductive of all floor coverings allowing energy from the UFH
to transfer quickly to the room.
• Slate - An extremely conductive natural finish, ideal for use with underfloor heating.
• Flagstones - A thicker stone finish that exhibits very good thermal conductivity but beware of adding
too much thermal inertia.
• Marble - An good heat conductor available in varying thicknesses.
• Engineered timber - The best timber floor finish for use with heated floors, offering good heat transfer
and structural stablity.
• Solid hardwood - Good heat transfer and best when specified in narrow board widths.
• Softwood - Suitable only in narrow board widths to reduce movement
• Parquet - Offers good heat transfer when securely glued to the sub-floor
• Bamboo - Usually similar in construction to engineered timber, making it very suitable for UFH
• Vinyl - good heat transfer, often subject to a recommended maximum surface temperature
• Amtico - practical, high-quality finish that transfers heat well
• Linoleum & Marmoleum - thin natural products that are suited to use with underfloor heating
• Laminate tiles - Thin and thermally conductive making them perfect for use with UFH
• Rubber - A relatively thermally conductive material that can successfully be used with underfloor
heating
Materials to avoid
While not ideal from the efficiency point of view, carpet and underlay with a combined Tog value of up to 2.5
can be used effectively with underfloor heating. Thicker carpets act as an insulator and stop sufficient heat
reaching the room.
• Carpet - A maximum Tog value of 2.5 is recommended for carpet and underlay when used with
underfloor heating
• Cork - A maximum thickness of 10mm is advised as cork is an efficient insulator
• Coir - A natural product similar to carpet that is subject to a maximum recommended Tog value of 2.5
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You should bear in mind that some flooring manufacturers stipulate a maximum floor temperature for their
product. Note also that EN 1264 states that underfloor heating should not operate at more than 29˚C.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the heated floor is located.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) heating capacity of the unit is entered, or the
program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design heating capacity, if Autosize is specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design heating capacity from a user
specified heating capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design heating capacity
from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design heating capacity.
Type
There are two types of heated floor available:
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Heated Floor - Constant Flow
• 2-Variable flow
Tube Settings
Hydronic tubing inside diameter
This is the inside diameter of the tubes through which water is circulated (in m or in). The inside diameter is
used to determine the convective heat transfer from the water to the inside surface of the hydronic tubing.
Note: With the constant flow heated floor, this length is not autosizable.
Number of circuits
This input allows you to choose between modelling each surface in the radiant system as a single hydronic
circuit or to allow the program to divide the surface into multiple parallel hydronic circuits based on the Circuit
length (below). The corresponding options are:
It is recommended that 2-Calculate from circuit length be chosen for new models. The default is 1-One per
surface for backward compatibility with older versions of DesignBuilder.
Circuit length
The length (in m or ft) of each parallel hydronic circuit in a surface. This data is only used when the Number
of circuits (above) is set to 2-Calculate from circuit length. The default is 106.7 meters (350 feet), which is
the maximum circuit length allowed in Title 24.
Flow Settings
Rated flow rate
This is the maximum flow rate of water through the heated floor (in m3/sec or gal/min). This flow rate is held
constant by the local component pump, but you have the option of varying this flow rate via a schedule (see
Pump Flow Rate Schedule). The constant flow system will accept this flow rate and control the inlet
temperature based on the control and water temperature schedules defined below.
Pump Settings
Pump flow rate schedule
This schedule modifies the maximum flow rate of water through the heated floor (in m3/s only). Note that the
values for this schedule must be between zero and one.
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Rated power consumption
This is the pump rated power consumption (W).
Motor efficiency
This is the pump efficiency in decimal form (0 = 0%, 1 = 100%).
Control
Temperature control type
This option is only available when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data
Along with setpoint (control) and water schedules, this setting allows you to specify how the heated floor is to
be controlled. The temperature denoted in the setpoint schedule can refer to one of five different
temperatures: the zone mean air temperature, the zone mean radiant temperature, the zone operative
temperature, the outdoor dry-bulb temperature, or the outdoor wet-bulb temperature. The choice of
temperature is controlled by the temperature control type. The user must select from the following options:
Operative temperature for heated floor controls is the average of Mean Air Temperature and Mean Radiant
Temperature. See the control temperature schedule settings below for more information.
- 984 -
Heated Floor - Variable Flow
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that denotes whether the component can run during a given timestep. A schedule value
greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit is available and can be on during the timestep. A
value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is not available and must be off for the
timestep.
Note An important advantage of the EnergyPlus variable flow heated floor over the constant flow heated
floor is that it is fully autosizable.
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the heated floor is located.
- 985 -
Heating design capacity method
There are 3 ways to define the heating capacity of the unit as selected from the following list of options:
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) heating capacity of the unit is entered, or the
program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design heating capacity, if Autosize is specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design heating capacity from a user
specified heating capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design heating capacity
from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design heating capacity.
Type
There are two types of heated floor available:
Tube Settings
Hydronic tubing inside diameter
This is the inside diameter of the tubes through which water is circulated (in m or in). The inside diameter
should be entered in metres and is used to determine the convective heat transfer from the water to the inside
surface of the hydronic tubing.
Number of circuits
This input allows you to choose between modelling each surface in the radiant system as a single hydronic
circuit or to allow the program to divide the surface into multiple parallel hydronic circuits based on the Circuit
length (below). The corresponding options are:
- 986 -
Heated Floor - Variable Flow
It is recommended that 2-Calculate from circuit length be chosen for new models. The default is 1-One per
surface for backward compatibility with older versions of DesignBuilder.
Circuit length
The length (in m or ft) of each parallel hydronic circuit in a surface. This data is only used when the Number
of circuits (above) is set to 2-Calculate from circuit length. The default is 106.7 meters (350 feet), which is
the maximum circuit length allowed in Title 24.
Flow Settings
Control
Temperature control type
This option is only available when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data
Along with setpoint (control) and water schedules, this setting allows you to specify how the heated floor is to
be controlled. The temperature denoted in the setpoint schedule can refer to one of five different
temperatures: the zone mean air temperature, the zone mean radiant temperature, the zone operative
temperature, the outdoor dry-bulb temperature, or the outdoor wet-bulb temperature. The choice of
temperature is controlled by the temperature control type. The user must select from the following options:
Operative temperature for heated floor controls is the average of Mean Air Temperature and Mean Radiant
Temperature. See the control temperature schedule settings below for more information.
The Heating control temperature schedule specifies the heating setpoint or control temperature for the heated
floor (in °C only). Used in conjunction with the Throttling range, it will define whether or not the system is
running and the current flow rate. Water flow rate to the system is varied linearly around the setpoint
temperature based on the Throttling range and the Maximum heating flow rate parameters (see above). It
should be noted that this control schedule will allow different setpoint temperatures throughout the year for
heating. The control of the heated floor is based solely on the values in this schedule, and the Temperature
control type described above. The heated floor will not use the HVAC zone thermostat that might be used by
other systems serving the zone in which the component resides.
Throttling range
This is the range of temperature (°C) which the heated floor throttles from zero flow rate up to the maximum
defined by the Maximum hot water flow rate described above. The throttling range parameter is used in
conjunction with the control temperature to define the response of the system to various zone conditions. The
heating control temperature schedule specifies the setpoint temperature where the flow rate to the system is
- 987 -
at half of the maximum flow rate. For example, if the heating control temperature setpoint is currently 15°C
and the heating throttling range is 2°C, the water flow rate to the system will be zero when the controlling
temperature (see Temperature Control Type below) is at or above 16°C and the maximum flow rate when the
controlling temperature is at or below 14°C. This represents a throttling range of 2°C around the setpoint of
15°C. In between 14°C and 16°C, the flow rate to the radiant system is varied linearly.
Operation
Availability Schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the component is available for each timestep of the
simulation. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the
timestep. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
Chilled Ceiling
Chilled ceilings are mounted within the ceiling to provide quiet, draft free cooling of the space below. Each unit
is made up of a small bore chilled water pipe arranged in an S-shape and attached to the upper surface of a
ceiling panel. Ceiling panels are typically of thin metallic construction but can simply be plasterboard. In some
systems the chilled water pipes are embedded within the ceiling panel.
During operation, the panel is cooled through contact with the chilled-water pipework allowing it to cool the
space through a combination of convective and radiant output (up to 40% radiant). An insulating mat is often
placed above the chilled water pipework and panel to minimise uncontrolled cooling of the area above. It is up
to the user to include any such insulation in the construction definition.
One advantage of chilled ceilings is that they can be placed in a shallow ceiling void enabling them to be used
in buildings with low floor to ceiling heights. However, their limited cooling output makes them unsuitable for
areas with moderate to high heat gains. The maximum capacity of chilled ceiling systems is in the order of 70
W/m2.
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Chilled Ceiling
Chilled-ceiling systems require a separate ventilation system for fresh air supply.
Condensation of room air on and within the chilled ceiling can be avoided by shutting of chilled water flow
based on room dew point temperature.
Tip: Chilled ceilings can be connected to chilled water loops fed by either chillers or GSHP systems.
- 989 -
CIBSE KS03 Figure 12
- 990 -
Chilled Ceiling
Note one advantage of the EnergyPlus variable flow chilled ceiling over the constant flow chilled ceiling
is that it is fully autosizable.
When using the Detailed HVAC activity option, chilled ceilings will only control based on the radiant system
controls defined for the component and not via a zone thermostat such as is used for forced air systems. If the
radiant system is serving a zone with forced air equipment, the radiant system will follow the priority order
established by the zone thermostat but will still base its response on the controls defined by the user for the
radiant system.
When using the Simple HVAC activity option, chilled ceilings are controlled using the usual HVAC zone
cooling setpoint temperature controls.
Important Note: At least one ceiling/roof construction in zones in which chilled ceilings are included must
have a special internal source construction which incorporates details of the embedded tubing system. See
Internal Source under Constructions for further details.
Chilled ceiling HVAC components are placed, edited and deleted at HVAC zone level. To edit the data
associated with a chilled ceiling, you first need to select it by moving the mouse cursor over it and then
clicking the mouse button to select it. You can then access the edit dialog by right-clicking the mouse and
selecting the Edit selected component option or alternatively, select the Edit selected component tool from the
toolbar.
Tip: A useful resource on chilled ceilings and cooled beams can be found at
https://www.feta.co.uk/uploaded_images/files/CBCA/Chilled%20Beams%20Brochure_Final%207%20%28web
%29.pdf
- 991 -
Target Tab
When editing the attributes associated with a Chilled ceiling it is possible to apply the same changes to units
in other zones in the same HVAC Zone group. To do this select the components on the Target tab of the edit
dialog as required.
1. Missing Internal Source Error report. Each zone with a chilled ceiling added to its HVAC zone must
include at least one ceiling surface (or ceiling sub-surface) having a construction with an internal
source. If no internal source surface is found, DesignBuilder will provide an error message to this effect
before attempting to run the simulation.
2. Unresponsive control. Chilled ceilings in real buildings tend to give less responsive control than air or
other radiant systems. This is because the relatively high thermal mass of the ceiling causes zone heat
to continue to be absorbed even when the room thermostat has stopped calling for cooling and the
pump has stopped moving chilled water through the embedded pipes.
3. Throttling range. Less of a factor than point 2 is variable flow chilled ceilings work using a throttling
range to control flow of water through the embedded floor water pipes. This acts like a deadband and
means that even without the thermal mass lag issues, there will be a temperature control range rather
than a fixed zone temperature.
4. Inadequate cooling can also a common issue with chilled ceilings. Likely causes are listed below.
5. High levels of internal gains. A useful rule of thumb is that it is not usually possible to supply much
more than about 70 W/m2 of cooling with chilled ceilings. Zones having higher levels of gains will
require supplementary cooling to achieve comfortable conditions. This is true of real world systems and
with DesignBuilder EnergyPlus chilled ceiling models. The easiest way to check the internal gains
against this rule is by using the Normalise display option which shows results per floor area.
6. Intermittent cooling. Running chilled ceilings on an intermittent basis can require a higher design
sizing factor to be set for the HVAC zone. This is because the thermal mass of the ceiling construction
causes a lag in cooling provided to the coils and cooling provided to the room. Consider a building
unoccupied over a warm weekend which then needs to be cooled to operating temperatures on
Monday morning. With the default sizing factor of 1.15 the cooling system will have been sized to
achieve the cooling setpoint under "periodic steady-state" summer design condition plus a margin of
15%. However this 15% margin will not be adequate if the cooling is to switched on at say 6am and
expected to lower the zone temperature to comfortable levels in time for occupancy a few hours later.
To deal with intermittent operation, either much higher design factors are required (e.g. 2) or the
system should be run continuously (perhaps at a lower level during unoccupied periods) to avoid the
need for a rapid cooling down in the mornings. Of course if the cooling is to be operated continuously
then the building fabric will need to be very well insulated to avoid waste.
7. Incorrect position of the source. A common error with setting up the chilled ceiling definition is to
select the wrong position for the chilled ceiling source (i.e. the chilled water pipes). In a well designed
system the pipes will normally be buried just below the first construction layer. If you position the tubes
at the wrong side of the construction, then the wrong zone (or the ground or exterior) will be cooled! A
tool is provided on the Constructions dialog to make it easy to position the source just above the
innermost layer.
8. Conductive lower layer. Chilled ceilings provide the most efficient and responsive control when the
uppermost layer is low mass and conductive. Chilled ceilings panels are often constructed using a thin
metal layer between source and the room to provide an efficient heat transfer path from cooling pipes
to the zone. Clearly, if the inside layer is an (insulating) ceiling tile for example then the chilled ceiling
will struggle to provide adequate cooling to the room.
9. Insulation. Without good insulation above the chilled ceiling source, much of the cooling will not find its
way into the intended zone. Instead the cooling will be either lost to the zone above in an uncontrolled
way, to outside or to the ground. There will consequently be less cooling available to cool the intended
zone and under-cooling will occur.
- 992 -
Chilled Ceiling - Constant Flow
10. When used in combination with a heated floor in zone above, chilled ceilings will cause EnergyPlus
to generate an error. This is because EnergyPlus only allows one "source" object per surface and so a
chilled ceiling cannot be located in the same surface as a heated floor. There are 2 possible
workarounds to this.
a. Export the DesignBuilder model to EnergyPlus and using the IDF Editor combine the heated
floor and chilled ceiling into a single source component.
b. Insert a very thin "dummy zone" between the heated floor above and the chilled ceiling below.
Include half of the true floor mass in the upper surface (heated floor in upper zone) and the other
half in the lower surface (chilled ceiling in lower zone).
Tip: To help diagnose some of the above problems it can help to view hourly inside and outside
surface temperatures and heat fluxes by selecting these output options: Surface heat transfer incl.
solar (gives heat flux for floors) or Inside surface temperature (to check the surface temperature of the
chilled ceiling).
Used in:
ZoneHVAC:LowTemperatureRadiant:VariableFlow
• HVAC Zones
The constant flow chilled ceiling keeps flow rate constant via a local circulation pump and varies the water
temperature that is sent to the ceiling. This is accomplished with a mixing valve that is controlled by a sensor.
The constant flow chilled ceiling type has a built-in local secondary loop. It will re-circulate flow coming out of
the system and mix this with flow from the loop to arrive at the desired inlet temperature to the ceiling (note
that this chilled ceiling model has the temperature sensor after the pump to ensure proper inlet temperature to
the ceiling). The local loop also contains a pump which is assumed to be upstream of the component and after
the mixing valve. So, the local loop can have some recirculation. The flow from the main loop may also bypass
the component if more than enough flow is available and the main loop is also a constant flow system.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the chilled ceiling is located.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) cooling capacity of the unit is entered, or the
program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design cooling capacity, if Autosize is specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design cooling capacity from a user
specified cooling capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design cooling capacity
from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design cooling capacity.
- 993 -
Cooling design capacity per floor area
Enter the cooling capacity per unit floor area (in W/m2 or W/ft2) of the unit. This data is only available when
the Cooling design capacity method is 2-Capacity per floor area.
The program calculates the cooling capacity from floor area of the zone served by the unit and the cooling
capacity per unit floor area value specified here.
Type
There are two types of chilled ceiling available:
Tube Settings
Hydronic tubing inside diameter
This is the inside diameter (in m or in) of the tubes through which water is circulated. The inside diameter is
used to determine the convective heat transfer from the water to the inside surface of the hydronic tubing.
Note: With the constant flow chilled ceiling, this length is not autosizable.
Number of circuits
This input allows you to choose between modelling each surface in the radiant system as a single hydronic
circuit or to allow the program to divide the surface into multiple parallel hydronic circuits based on the Circuit
length (below). The corresponding options are:
It is recommended that 2-Calculate from circuit length be chosen for new models. The default is 1-One per
surface for backward compatibility with older versions of DesignBuilder.
Circuit length
The length (in m or ft) of each parallel hydronic circuit in a surface. This data is only used when the Number
of circuits (above) is set to 2-Calculate from circuit length. The default is 106.7 meters (350 feet), which is
the maximum circuit length allowed in Title 24.
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Chilled Ceiling - Constant Flow
Flow Settings
Rated flow rate
This is the maximum flow rate of water through the chilled ceiling (in m3/s or gal/min). This flow rate is held
constant by the local component pump, but you have the option of varying this flow rate via a schedule (see
Pump flow rate schedule below). The constant flow system will accept this flow rate and control the inlet
temperature based on the control and water temperature schedules defined below.
Pump Settings
Pump flow rate schedule
This schedule modifies the maximum flow rate of water through the chilled ceiling (in m 3/s only). Note that the
values for this schedule must be between zero and one.
Motor efficiency
This is the pump efficiency in decimal form (0 = 0%, 1 = 100%).
Control
Temperature control type
This option is only available when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data
Along with setpoint (control) and water schedules, this setting allows you to specify how the chilled ceiling is to
be controlled. The temperature denoted in the setpoint schedule can refer to one of five different
temperatures: the zone mean air temperature, the zone mean radiant temperature, the zone operative
temperature, the outdoor dry-bulb temperature, or the outdoor wet-bulb temperature. The choice of
temperature is controlled by the temperature control type. Select from the following options:
Operative temperature for chilled ceiling controls is the average of Mean air temperature and Mean radiant
temperature. See the control temperature schedule settings below for more information.
- 995 -
Temperature control type above) is compared to the high and low control temperatures at the current time. If
the control temperature is above the high temperature, then the inlet water temperature is set to the low water
temperature. If the control temperature is below the low temperature, then system will be turned off and the
water mass flow rate will be zero. If the control temperature is between the high and low value, then the inlet
water temperature is linearly interpolated between the low and high water temperature values.
Condensation Control
Condensation control type
With a chilled ceiling, there is the possibility that condensation will occur on the surface that is being cooled.
This is due to the fact that the surface temperature may drop below the dew-point temperature of the space.
When this occurs, condensation on the surface will occur. There are two options for handling this situation:
If you choose the 2-Off option, EnergyPlus will not do anything other than produce a warning message when
condensation is predicted to occur. The simulation will simply proceed; no moisture will be removed from the
zone air and there will be no adjustment of the surface temperature as a result of the condensation. When the
1-Simple off option is selected, EnergyPlus will predict cases where condensation will occur and shut-off the
chilled ceiling to avoid this situation. With this latter option, you also have the opportunity to adjust when the
system will shut down. This is specified with the Condensation Control Dew-point Offset, below.
- 996 -
Chilled Ceiling - Variable Flow
When this parameter is positive, the radiant system will shut down when the surface is this value above the
dew-point temperature. This allows some extra safety to avoid condensation. When this parameter is
negative, the chilled ceiling will shut down when the surface temperature is this value below the dew-point
temperature. While not recommended, this strategy allows the user to simulate a situation where small
amounts of condensation are tolerable.
Note: This value is an offset not an absolute temperature. A typical value might be 0-2°C.
Operation
Availability schedule
This schedule that denotes whether the component can run during a given hour. A schedule value greater
than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit is available and can be on during the hour. A value less than
or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is not available and must be off for the hour.
Used in:
ZoneHVAC:LowTemperatureRadiant:VariableFlow
• HVAC Zones
Similar to the constant flow chilled ceiling but control of the variable flow chilled ceiling is accomplished by
throttling the chilled water flow to the unit.
Note An important advantage of the EnergyPlus variable flow chilled ceiling over the constant flow
chilled ceiling is that it is fully autosizable.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the chilled ceiling is located.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) cooling capacity of the unit is entered, or the
program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design cooling capacity, if Autosize is specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design cooling capacity from a user
specified cooling capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
- 997 -
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design cooling capacity
from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design cooling capacity.
Type
There are two types of chilled ceiling available:
Tube Settings
Hydronic tubing inside diameter
This is the inside diameter of the tubes through which water is circulated (in m or in). The inside diameter is
used to determine the convective heat transfer from the water to the inside surface of the hydronic tubing.
Number of circuits
This input allows you to choose between modelling each surface in the radiant system as a single hydronic
circuit or to allow the program to divide the surface into multiple parallel hydronic circuits based on the Circuit
length (below). The corresponding options are:
It is recommended that 2-Calculate from circuit length be chosen for new models. The default is 1-One per
surface for backward compatibility with older versions of DesignBuilder.
Circuit length
The length (in m or ft) of each parallel hydronic circuit in a surface. This data is only used when the Number
of circuits (above) is set to 2-Calculate from circuit length. The default is 106.7 meters (350 feet), which is
the maximum circuit length allowed in Title 24.
- 998 -
Chilled Ceiling - Variable Flow
Flow Settings
Maximum cold water flow rate
This is the maximum flow rate of cold water through the chilled ceiling (in m3/s or gal/min). The controls for the
ceiling will vary the flow rate of hot water through the surface(s) using zero flow and the maximum flow rate
specified in this field as the lower and upper bounds, respectively. This value is auto-sizable.
Control
Temperature control type
This option is only available when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data
Along with setpoint (control) and water schedules, this setting allows you to specify how the chilled ceiling is to
be controlled. The temperature denoted in the setpoint schedule can refer to one of five different
temperatures: the zone mean air temperature, the zone mean radiant temperature, the zone operative
temperature, the outdoor dry-bulb temperature, or the outdoor wet-bulb temperature. The choice of
temperature is controlled by the temperature control type. Select from the following options:
Operative temperature for chilled ceiling controls is the average of Mean air temperature and Mean radiant
temperature. See the Throttling range and Cooling control temperature schedule settings for more information.
This schedule specifies the cooling setpoint or control temperature for the chilled ceiling (in °C only). Used in
conjunction with the Throttling range, it will define whether or not the system is running and the current flow
rate. Water flow rate to the system is varied linearly around the setpoint temperature based on the Throttling
range and the Maximum cooling flow rate parameters (see above). This control schedule will allow different
setpoint temperatures throughout the year for cooling. The control of the chilled ceiling is based solely on the
temperature values in this schedule, and the Temperature control type listed above. The chilled ceiling will
not use any thermostats defined on the HVAC zone dialog that might be used by other systems serving the
zone in which the component resides.
Tip: Some users have found it helpful to give the chilled ceiling priority by setting slightly lower cooling
setpoint temperatures than the setpoints on the HVAC zone dialog used to control a supplementary air
system.
Throttling range
This is the range of temperature (in °C or °F) over which the chilled ceiling throttles from zero flow rate up to
the maximum defined by the Maximum Cold Water Flow Rate described above. The throttling range
parameter is used in conjunction with the control temperature to define the response of the system to various
zone conditions. The cooling control temperature schedule specifies the setpoint temperature where the flow
rate to the system is at half of the maximum flow rate. For example, if the cooling control temperature setpoint
is currently 25°C and the cooling throttling range is 2°C, the water flow rate to the radiant system will be zero
when the controlling temperature (see Temperature Control Type below) is at or below 24°C and the
maximum flow rate when the controlling temperature is at or above 26°C. This represents a throttling range of
- 999 -
2°C around the setpoint of 25°C. In between 24°C and 26°C, the flow rate to the radiant system is varied
linearly.
Condensation Control
Condensation control type
With a chilled ceiling, there is the possibility that condensation will occur on the surface that is being cooled.
This is due to the fact that the surface temperature may drop below the dew-point temperature of the space.
When this occurs, condensation on the surface will occur. There are two options for handling this situation:
If you choose the 2-Off option, EnergyPlus will not do anything other than produce a warning message when
condensation is predicted to occur. The simulation will simply proceed; no moisture will be removed from the
zone air and there will be no adjustment of the surface temperature as a result of the condensation. When the
1-Simple off option is selected, EnergyPlus will predict cases where condensation will occur and shut-off the
chilled ceiling to avoid this situation. With this latter option, you also have the opportunity to adjust when the
system will shut down. This is specified with the Condensation Control Dew-point Offset, below.
When this parameter is positive, the radiant system will shut down when the surface is this value above the
dew-point temperature. This allows some extra safety to avoid condensation. When this parameter is
negative, the chilled ceiling will shut down when the surface temperature is this value below the dew-point
temperature. While not recommended, this strategy allows the user to simulate a situation where small
amounts of condensation are tolerable.
Note: This value is an offset not an absolute temperature. A typical value might be 0-2°C.
- 1000 -
Radiative-Convective Heater Data
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the component is available for each hour of the
simulation. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the
hour. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the hour.
Target Tab
When editing the attributes associated with a Radiative-convective unit it is possible to apply the same
changes to units in other zones in the same HVAC Zone group. To do this select the components on the
Target tab of the edit dialog as shown below.
- 1001 -
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the convector is located.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) heating capacity of the unit is entered, or the
program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design heating capacity, if Autosize is specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design heating capacity from a user
specified heating capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design heating capacity
from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design heating capacity.
Where, q is the heat transferred from water to the air in watts ,Twater, avg is the average water temperature (°C)
and Tair, avg is the average air temperature (°C). Or the LMTD temperature difference can be used.
Convergence tolerance
This is the control tolerance for the convector output. The convector is controlled by matching the convector
output to the zone demand. The model must be numerically inverted to obtain a specified output. The
convergence tolerance is the error tolerance used to terminate the numerical inversion procedure. Basically
this is the fraction:
- 1002 -
Electric Convector
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the component is available for each timestep of the
simulation. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the
timestep. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
Electric Convector
The electric convector is controlled to meet any remaining zone load not met by any other item of equipment
in the zone that has a higher heating priority. The control is accomplished by taking the remaining zone load
and dividing by the efficiency of the baseboard.
The HVAC Zone Equipment Tutorial contains a description of how to use the Electric convector system
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the convector is located.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) heating capacity of the unit is entered, or the
program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design heating capacity, if Autosize is specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design heating capacity from a user
specified heating capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design heating capacity
from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design heating capacity.
- 1003 -
The program calculates the heating capacity from floor area of the zone served by the unit and the heating
capacity per unit floor area value specified here.
Efficiency
This is the overall electrical efficiency of the convector. The zone load met by this unit is divided by the
electrical efficiency to obtain the total electric energy used.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the component is available for each timestep of the
simulation. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the
timestep. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the radiator is located.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) heating capacity of the unit is entered, or the
program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design heating capacity, if Autosize is specified.
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design heating capacity from a user
specified heating capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized heating capacity which means the program calculates the design heating
capacity from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design heating capacity.
- 1004 -
Hot Water Radiator
Note: If you are setting a heating design capacity (above) you must enter a corresponding Rated water
mass flow rate here to ensure that you obtain the expected capacity in the simulation. Leaving this setting in
default state could result in significant under or oversizing of the radiator. You can obtain maximum flow rates
from the EnergyPlus Summary output as a guide.
Fraction radiant
This field specifies what fraction of the power input to the radiator is actually transferred to the space as
radiant heat. The fraction should be between 0 and 1. This is the portion of the total power that is modelled as
radiation. The portion that is radiant heat transfer from the radiator is distributed to people and specific
surfaces using the remaining fields.
- 1005 -
Note: The remaining fraction is divided across all of the surfaces of the zone in which the radiator is
located.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the component is available for each timestep of the
simulation. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the
timestep. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
Advanced
Convergence tolerance
This is the control tolerance for the radiator output. The radiator is controlled by matching the radiator output
to the zone demand. The model must be numerically inverted to obtain a specified output. The convergence
tolerance is the error tolerance used to terminate the numerical inversion procedure. Basically this is the
fraction:
Electric Radiator
The zone electric radiator model calculates the convective and radiant heat transfer from the device to the
people and the surfaces within a zone so that surface heat balances can take into account the radiant heat
transfer to the surfaces and thus enhance the accuracy of thermal comfort predictions within the space. The
component is controlled to meet any remaining zone load not met by other zone equipment and the total
electric consumption of the radiator is calculated by dividing the load by the efficiency of the radiator.
General
Name
This is a read-only label that is automatically generated by the software and which incorporates the name of
the zone in which the radiator is located.
• 1-Design capacity where the maximum (or nominal) heating capacity of the unit is entered, or the
program calculates the maximum (or nominal) design heating capacity, if Autosize is specified.
- 1006 -
Electric Radiator
• 2-Capacity per floor area where EnergyPlus calculates the design heating capacity from a user
specified heating capacity per floor area and floor area of the zone served by the unit.
• 3-Fraction of autosized capacity which means the program calculates the design heating capacity
from user specified fraction and the auto-sized design heating capacity.
Efficiency
This is the overall electrical efficiency of the radiator. The zone load met by this unit is divided by the electrical
efficiency to obtain the total electric energy used.
Fraction radiant
This field specifies what fraction of the power input to the radiator is actually transferred to the space as
radiant heat. The fraction should be between 0 and 1. This is the portion of the total power that is modelled as
radiation. The portion that is radiant heat transfer from the radiator is distributed to people and specific
surfaces using the remaining fields.
Note: The remaining fraction is divided across all of the surfaces of the zone in which the radiator is
located.
Operation
Availability schedule
This is the schedule that determines whether or not the component is available for each timestep of the
simulation. A schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during the
timestep. A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off for the timestep.
- 1007 -
Zone Forced Air Units
These zone forced air units are available within Detailed HVAC:
Target Tab
When editing the attributes associated with a Zone forced air unit it is possible to apply the same changes to
units in other zones in the same HVAC Zone group. To do this select the components on the Target tab of the
edit dialog as shown below.
Used in:
ZoneHVAC:FourPipeFanCoil
HVAC Zones
The EnergyPlus Fan coil unit (FCU) is an in-room forced-convection hydronic unit. Typically these units are
small (200 – 1200 cfm) and self-contained. They are mostly used in exterior zones, usually in hotels,
apartments, or offices. They may be connected to ducted outside air, or have a direct outside air vent, but they
do not have outside air economizers.
The heating or cooling output of the unit ventilator is controlled by varying the air flow rate, the water flow rate,
or both. Air flow rate can be controlled by cycling the fan on/off or with a variable speed fan drive. The most
common setup is a two or three speed fan with the speed selected by hand. The fan then cycles on/off to
control heating / cooling output. The controls are often a wall mounted thermostat with hand selection of
heating/cooling and fan speed (off/low/medium/high). These controls may also be mounted on the unit.
Fan coil units are objects made up of other components. Each FCU consists all of these fixed components:
- 1008 -
Fan Coil Unit - Four Pipe
Default settings are assigned to these components at the point the FCU is created and these can be
overridden by editing the individual component properties.
The fan coil unit is connected to a hot water loop (demand side) through its hot water coil and to a chilled
water loop (demand side) through its cooling coil.
Fan
A fan component is one of the components of a fan coil unit. See above under Fan type for details of fan types
that are used.
Terminology
Like many HVAC terms, “fan coil unit” is used rather loosely. Sometimes it is used for terminal units that would
be better described as powered induction units. Carrier and others use the term for the room side of
refrigerant-based split systems.
Real world fan coil units can be 4-pipe or 2-pipe. For 4-pipe units there are 2 supply pipes and 2 return pipes.
For 2-pipe units there is a single supply pipe and a single return pipe. Change-over systems enable you to
switch the supply between hot and chilled water depending on the season. DesignBuilder provides only a 4-
pipe unit, but the 4-pipe model can be used to model 2-pipe units simply by using the heating and cooling coil
availability schedules to make sure that either hot or chilled water is exclusively available.
Units with outside air economizers are marketed (in the United States) as unit ventilators. Unit ventilators are
typically bigger than fan coils and are widely used in classrooms or other applications where ventilation is a
priority. If a zonal unit with an outside economizer is required, ZoneHVAC:UnitVentilator should be used (not
yet implemented in DesignBuilder Detailed HVAC).
Name
A unique system-assigned name for an instance of a Fan Coil unit. Any reference to this Fan Coil unit by
another object will use this name.
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines whether the fan coil unit can run during a given time period. A schedule value greater
than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the fan coil unit can be on during a given time period. A value less
than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the fan coil unit is off.
• 1-Constant fan variable water flow - the fan speed is held constant to produce a fixed air flow rate
whenever the unit is scheduled on. The hot water or chilled flow rate is varied so that the unit output
matches the zone heating or cooling requirement. When this method is selected, the fan type can be
defined, see below.
• 2-Cycling fan - the fan speed is chosen so that the unit capacity is greater than or equal to the heating
/ cooling load and the fan is cycled to match unit output with the load. Cycling fans can have 3 speeds,
Low, Medium and High speed and the ratio of supply air to the maximum supply rate is defaulted to
0.33, 0.66 and 1.00 for these speeds respectively. Custom values can be entered in Low speed supply
air flow ratio and Medium speed supply air flow ratio described below.
- 1009 -
• 3-Variable fan variable water flow where both air and water flow rates are varied to match the load.
• 4-Variable fan constant water flow where the water flow rate is at full flow and the fan speed varies to
meet the load.
This data is only required if the capacity control method selected is 2-Cycling fan.
This data is only required if the capacity control method selected is 2-Cycling fan.
Fan type
When the Capacity control method is set to 1-Constant fan variable flow you can select the type of fan.
Choose from:
• 1-On/off fan
• 2-Constant volume fan
For the other types of Capacity control method the fan type is fixed internally based on the method. For 2-
Cycling fan, an On/off fan is used and for 3-Variable fan variable flow or 4-Variable fan constant flow a
Variable volume fan will be used.
Cooling Coil
A cooling coil is another component of the fan coil unit. Only the standard water cooling coil type is available.
- 1010 -
Fan Coil Unit - Four Pipe
Heating Coil
Heating coil component also make up part of the fan coil unit. Only the standard water heating coil type can
be used.
Advanced
(Qfan coil out - Qzone load) / Qzone load <= Cooling Convergence Tolerance
(Qfan coil out - Qzone load) / Qzone load <= Heating Convergence Tolerance
- 1011 -
Fan Coil Total Cooling Rate[W]
This field is the total (sensible and latent) heat extraction rate of the fan coil unit from the zone it is serving in
Watts. This is determined by the outlet and zone conditions and the mass flow rate through the unit.
Fan Speed
This field is indicates the speed chosen for the fan in the CyclingFan capacity control method. A value of '0'
means that the unit is off, '1' the fan is running at its low speed, '2' medium speed, and '3' high speed
(maximum). This variable is defined only for the CyclingFan capacity control method.
Used in:
ZoneHVAC:PackagedTerminalHeatPump
HVAC Zones
The packaged terminal heat pump (PTHP) is a compound object made up of other components. Each PTHP
consists of these fixed components:
- 1012 -
Packaged Terminal Heat Pump
Default settings are assigned to these components at the point the PTHP is created and these can be
overridden by editing the individual component properties.
The packaged terminal heat pump coordinates the operation of these components and is modelled as a type
of zone equipment.
Note: The details of the DX cooling system including compressor, condenser, CoP, part-load performance
etc are entered on the DX cooling coil dialog.
Name
A unique system-assigned name for an instance of a packaged terminal heat pump. Any reference to this heat
pump by another object will use this name.
Fan
A constant volume fan component is included as a component of the PTHP. Note that the fan’s maximum flow
rate should be greater than or equal to the maximum supply air flow rate for the PTHP.
Fan placement
There are 2 fan placement options:
- 1013 -
• 1-Blow through where the unit consists of an outdoor air mixer followed by a fan followed by the DX
coils and supplemental heating coil. The fan “blows through” the cooling and heating coils.
• 2-Draw through where the unit consists of an outdoor air mixer followed by the DX coils followed by a
fan, with the supplemental heater located at the outlet of the fan. The fan “draws air through” the DX
coils.
• 1-Cycling where the Supply air fan operating mode schedule (below) determines the flow regime.
• 2-Continuous where the fan delivers a constant flow rate through the unit regardless of whether the
unit is heating, cooling and/or providing fresh air. Continuous fans don't use the Supply air fan
operating mode schedule (below).
The default schedule is Fan operation mode - Cycling with a constant value of 0, i.e. that the supply fan runs
with an AUTO configuration. To obtain the continuous fan configuration, select the Fan operation mode -
Continuous schedule which has a constant value of 1.
To set up a time-varying fan operation mode, create and select a schedule with values of 0 and 1 to define the
way the fan operation mode varies in time.
If the heat pump’s supply air fan operating mode schedule specifies continuous fan operation and this value is
set to zero, then the model assumes that the supply air flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed is equal
to the supply air flow rate when the cooling or heating coil was last operating (for cooling operation or heating
operation).
- 1014 -
Packaged Terminal Heat Pump
Note that the outdoor air flow rate during cooling operation is fixed; it cannot change during the simulation. In
addition, the outdoor air flow rate during cooling operation cannot be greater than the heat pump’s supply air
volumetric flow rate during cooling operation.
Note that the outdoor air flow rate during heating operation is fixed; it cannot change during the simulation. In
addition, the outdoor air flow rate during heating operation cannot be greater than the heat pump’s supply air
volumetric flow rate during heating operation.
Note that the outdoor air flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed is fixed; it cannot change during the
simulation. In addition, the outdoor air flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed cannot be greater than the
heat pump’s supply air volumetric flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed. This field is only used when
the heat pump’s supply air fan operating mode schedule specifies continuous fan operation. If the heat
pump’s supply air fan operating mode schedule specifies continuous fan operation and the field ‘Supply air
volumetric flow rate when no cooling or heating is needed’ is set to zero or is left blank, then the model
assumes that the outdoor air flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed is equal to the outdoor air flow rate
when the cooling or heating coil was last operating (for cooling operation [i.e., Outdoor air flow rate during
cooling operation] or heating operation [i.e., Outdoor air flow rate during heating operation]) and this field is
not used.
Compressor
Minimum outdoor dry-bulb temperature for compressor operation
This numeric field defines the minimum outdoor dry-bulb temperature (in °C or °F)elsius for PTHP compressor
operation. The compressor will not operate (for DX heating or DX cooling) when outdoor dry-bulb
temperatures fall below this value. The minimum value must be greater than or equal to -20°C. The default
value is -8°C. This temperature should match the minimum compressor operating temperature specified for
the heat pump’s DX heating coil (if they don’t match, the highest of the two temperatures will be the cut-off
temperature for compressor operation).
Supplemental Heater
The supplemental heating coil used by this PTHP is fixed as Electric. The supplemental heating coil default
settings can be overridden by editing the coil properties.
- 1015 -
Maximum supply air temperature from supplemental heater
This numeric field defines the maximum supply air temperature (in °C or °F) exiting the heat pump
supplemental heater coil. The supplemental heater will be controlled so that its supply air temperature does
not exceed this value. This field is autosizable.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the Schedule that defines whether the heat pump operates during a given time period. A schedule
value equal to 0 denotes that the heat pump must be off for that time period. A value greater than 0 denotes
that the heat pump is available to operate during that time period. This schedule may be used to completely
disable the heat pump (all of its coils and the supply air fan) as required.
Advanced
Cooling convergence tolerance
This numeric field defines the convergence tolerance for the unit’s cooling output. This field allows the user
some control over how closely the heat pump will control the air-side conditions. The relative size of this
parameter relates directly to the closeness of the control. A very small value in this field will result in tight
control and will probably result in larger numbers of iterations. A large value in this field will result in looser
controls and could result in unsatisfactory fluctuations in zone air temperature. Initial experience with this
parameter lends to the recommendation of using 0.001 as the starting point.
The heat pump is controlled by matching its sensible (temperature) cooling output to the zone sensible load
(demand). Because the performance of the DX cooling coil is frequently nonlinear, the heat pump model must
call the DX cooling coil model several times (iterate) to determine the proper run time fraction to meet the
zone load. The cooling convergence tolerance is the error tolerance used to terminate the iteration procedure
when the following equation is satisfied:
( Qzone load - Qheat pump out ) / Qzone load <= Cooling Convergence Tolerance
The maximum number of iterations is limited, with a warning message generated if the above equation is not
satisfied within the maximum number of iterations.
( Qzone load - Qheat pump out) / Qzone load <= Heating Convergence Tolerance
- 1016 -
Packaged Terminal Heat Pump
The maximum number of iterations is limited, with a warning message generated if the above equation is not
satisfied within the maximum number of iterations.
- 1017 -
each HVAC system timestep being simulated, and the results (heating only) are averaged for the timestep
being reported.
- 1018 -
Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner
Used in:
ZoneHVAC:PackagedTerminalAirConditioner
HVAC Zones
The packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) is a compound object made up of other components. Each
PTAC consists all of these fixed components:
To change the type of heating coil you should edit the heating coil component and select the required coil type
from the Heating coil dialog.
Note: The details of the DX cooling system including compressor, condenser, CoP, part-load performance
etc are entered on the DX cooling coil dialog.
Default settings are assigned to these components at the point the PTAC is created and these can be
overridden by editing the individual component properties.
While the figure below shows the PTAC with draw through fan placement, blow through fan placement can
also be modelled by positioning the supply air fan between the outdoor air mixer and the DX cooling coil. The
- 1019 -
packaged terminal air conditioner coordinates the operation of these components and is modelled as a type of
zone equipment.
Schematic of a Packaged terminal air conditioner with draw through fan placement
Name
A unique system-assigned name for an instance of a packaged terminal air conditioner. Any reference to this
air conditioner by another object will use this name.
Fan
Fan placement
There are 2 fan placement options:
• 1-Blow through where the unit consists of an outdoor air mixer followed by a fan followed by the DX
cooling coil and heating coil. The fan “blows through” the DX cooling coil and the heating coil.
• 2-Draw through where the unit consists of an outdoor air mixer followed by the DX cooling coil and
heating coil with the fan located at the outlet of the PTAC. The fan “draws air through” the DX cooling
coil and the heating coil.
• 1-Cycling where the Supply air fan operating mode schedule (below) determines the flow regime.
• 2-Continuous where the fan delivers a constant flow rate through the unit regardless of whether the
unit is heating, cooling and/or providing fresh air. Continuous fans don't use the Supply air fan
operating mode schedule (below).
- 1020 -
Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner
The default schedule is Fan operation mode - Cycling with a constant value of 0, i.e. that the supply fan runs
with an AUTO configuration. To obtain the continuous fan configuration, select the Fan operation mode -
Continuous schedule which has a constant value of 1.
To set up a time-varying fan operation mode, create and select a schedule with values of 0 and 1 to define the
way the fan operation mode varies in time.
Outdoor Air
Outdoor air supply
If the PTAC provides outdoor air then check this option.
- 1021 -
Outdoor air flow rate when no cooling or heating is needed
This numeric field defines the outdoor air flow rate through the air conditioner (in m3/s or ft3/min) when neither
cooling nor heating is required (i.e., cooling and heating coils are off but the supply air fan operates). Values
must be greater than or equal to 0, or this field is autosizable.
Note that the outdoor air flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed is fixed; it cannot change during the
simulation. In addition, the outdoor air flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed cannot be greater than the
air conditioner’s supply air volumetric flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed. This field is only used
when the air conditioner’s supply air fan operating mode schedule specifies continuous fan operation. If the air
conditioner’s supply air fan operating mode schedule specifies continuous fan operation and the field ‘Supply
air volumetric flow rate when no cooling or heating is needed’ is set to zero or is left blank, then the model
assumes that the outdoor air flow rate when no cooling/heating is needed is equal to the outdoor air flow rate
when the cooling or heating coil was last operating (for cooling operation [i.e., Outdoor air Flow rate during
cooling operation] or heating operation [i.e., Outdoor air flow rate during heating operation]) and this field is
not used.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the Schedule that defines whether the air conditioner can run during a given time period. A schedule
value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the air conditioner can be on during a given time period.
A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the air conditioner is off. This schedule may be
used to completely disable the air conditioner (all of its coils and the supply air fan) as required.
- 1022 -
Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner
HVAC simulation timestep. This value is calculated for each HVAC system timestep being simulated, and the
results (enthalpy addition only) are summed for the timestep being reported.
- 1023 -
Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner Latent Zone Heating Energy[J]
This output field is the latent heat addition (humidification) of the packaged terminal air conditioner to the zone
it is serving in Joules over the timestep being reported. This value is calculated as the difference between the
total energy delivered to the zone and the sensible energy delivered to the zone by the packaged terminal air
conditioner. This value is calculated for each HVAC system timestep being simulated, and the results (latent
heat addition only) are summed for the timestep being reported.
- 1024 -
Zone Water To Air Heat Pump
Application
The diagram below shows the setup and connection of the heat pump for the source side and load side for a
ground heat exchanger configuration.
- 1025 -
Note that on the load side, the cooling coil is always placed before the heating coil.
- 1026 -
Zone Water To Air Heat Pump
Note the use of a HX component to provide free cooling from a cooling tower from a connected condenser
loop to a mixed water loop which can provide either heating or cooling depending on the zone loads. The HW
loop used to supply the Zone water to air heat pump was configured as follows:
• A Dual setpoint SPM added to the supply side to apply different setpoints depending on whether the
plant loop is supporting a heating or cooling load.
• On the HW loop dialog:
a. Set the Plant loop demand calculation scheme to 2-DualSetPointDeadband.
b. Set up Two Plant equipment operation schemes to switch in either the boiler or the cooling tower
depending on the load on the loop:
- 1027 -
The HX component is controlled using the 1-Cooling differential on/off Control type.
General
Name
A unique system-assigned name for this zone system heat pump. Any reference to this unit by another object
will use this name.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the schedule that defines when the heat pump is able to operate. A schedule value equal to 0 means
that the heat pump is off at that time and a value greater than 0 denotes that it is available to operate. This
schedule may be used to completely disable the heat pump (all of its coils and the supply air fan) as required.
Fan
- 1028 -
Zone Water To Air Heat Pump
• 1-Blow through where the supply air fan is before both the heat pump cooling/heating coils and the
supplementary heating coil.
• 2-Draw through where the supply fan is between the heat pump cooling/heating coils and the
supplementary heating coil.
- 1029 -
Outdoor air flow rate when no cooling or heating is needed
This numeric field defines the outdoor air flow rate through the heat pump (in m3/s or ft3/s) when neither
cooling or heating is required (i.e., DX coils and supplemental heater are off but the supply air fan operates).
Values must be greater than or equal to 0, or this field is autosizable. Note that the no load outdoor air flow
rate cannot change during the simulation. In addition, the no load outdoor air flow rate cannot be greater than
the heat pump’s no load supply air flow rate. This field is only used when the heat pump’s supply air fan
operating mode schedule specifies continuous fan operation. If the heat pump’s supply air fan operating mode
schedule specifies continuous fan operation and the field Supply air flow rate when no heating or cooling
needed set to zero, then the model assumes that the no load outdoor air flow rate is equal to the outdoor air
flow rate when the cooling or heating coil was last operating (for cooling operation [i.e., Cooling outdoor air
flow rate] or heating operation [i.e., Heating outdoor air flow rate]) and this field is not used.
Cooling Coil
Cooling coil time constant
This numeric field contains the time constant for the cooling coil’s capacity to reach steady state after startup.
Suggested values are shown below (Henderson et al. 1999):
Compressor
Maximum cycling rate
This numeric field contains the maximum on-off cycling rate for the compressor, which occurs at 50% run time
fraction. Suggested values are shown below (Henderson et al. 1999):
Supplemental Heater
- 1030 -
VRF Indoor Unit
Note: This setting is not available yet for selection. DesignBuilder provides a constant value of 1 in the
simulation, i.e. the fan will run continuously while the coils cycle to meet the load.
• 1-Cycling varies water flow through the coil based on the heat pump Part Load Ratio. This control
method is appropriate for modeling heat pumps that are outfitted with a soleniod valve which allows
water to flow through the coil only when the compressor is active. This is the default option.
• 2-Constant provides a constant water flow regardless of heat pump operation. Remember that
EnergyPlus has two coils (a heating coil and a cooling coil) to approximate the operation of one coil that
can operate in either heating mode or cooling mode. Therefore, when the water flow mode is constant,
there will be full flow through either the heating coil or the cooling coil, but not both at the same time.
• 3-Constant on demand provides full flow through the coil whenever there is a load. When there is no
load, there is zero flow through the coil.
Note: This field is only used when WatertoAirHeatPump:EquationFit coils are used.
Used in:
ZoneHVAC:TerminalUnit:VariableRefrigerantFlow HVAC Zones
VRF Indoor units with variable refrigerant flow DX coils are used exclusively with variable refrigerant flow
(VRF) systems. Indoor units operate to satisfy a heating or cooling load in a zone based on a zone thermostat
temperature set point. Direct-expansion (DX) cooling and DX heating coils are specified and used depending
on the operating mode required. Although a DX cooling and a DX heating coil are included in the terminal unit,
only one may be used at any one time.
Outdoor ventilation air is modelled with the use of an optional outside air mixer object. Outside air can be
provided to the zone in one of two ways: either only when the coil is operating, or continuously even when the
- 1031 -
coil is not operating. A supply air fan is also included and it can be modelled as either draw through or blow
through.
The zone terminal unit will typically be the first equipment operating for both cooling and heating (i.e.,
Sequence = 1 on the Heating and Cooling Calculation Sequence tab of the HVAC zone group dialog). Other
Zone HVAC equipment may be used in the same zone and should be sequenced to operate after the zone
terminal units (i.e., sequence = 2 or higher).
General
Name
The name of the VRF indoor unit is defined internally and cannot be changed.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the schedule that defines when the terminal unit is able to operate. A schedule value equal to 0 means
that the unit is off at that time and a value greater than 0 denotes that it is available to operate. This schedule
may be used to completely disable the unit as required.
- 1032 -
VRF Indoor Unit
Supply Fan
Fan type
This choice field contains the identifying type of supply air fan specified for the indoor unit. Fan type must be
one of:
• 1-On/off fan used when the fan cycles on and off with the cooling or heating coil (i.e. Supply air fan
operating mode schedule values are at times 0).
• 2-Constant volume fan used when the Supply air fan operating mode schedule values are never 0
and the fan operates continuously.
• 1-Blow through which means that the unit consists of a fan followed by the DX coils. The fan “blows
through” the cooling and heating coils. If an outside air mixer is used, the fan inlet connects to the
outside air mixer’s mixed air node. If an outside air mixer is not used, the fan inlet connects to the zone
exhaust node. For this configuration, the fan outlet always connects to the DX cooling coil inlet node (or
if a DX cooling coil is not used, the DX heating coil inlet node).
• 2-Draw through. which means that the unit consists of the DX coil(s) followed by a fan. The fan “draws
air through” the DX coil(s). In this case the fan inlet always connects to the DX heating coil outlet node
(or if a DX heating coil is not use, the DX cooling coil outlet node) and the fan outlet node always
connects to the zone inlet node.
- 1033 -
Supply air fan operating mode schedule
Schedule values equal to 0 denote cycling fan/cycling coil operation. All other schedule values denote
constant fan/cycling coil operation.
Heating Capacity
Heating Coils
These heating coil types are available within Detailed HVAC:
- 1034 -
Heating Coil - Water
Used in:
Coil:Heating:Water
• Air Handling Units
• Demand loops of Dual duct systems
• Air Distribution Units
The simple water heating coil model provides sensible heating of the air. The calculations use the
Effectiveness-NTU algorithm and assume a cross-flow heat exchanger.
General
Name
An auto-generated name for the heating coil.
Type
The type of a hot water coil must be:
• 1-Water
In all cases it will also be possible to select 2-Electric in which case the Electric heating coil is used or 3-Fuel
where the Fuel heating coil is used instead.
If the 2-UA and Design water flow rate option is selected, you must input values for UA of the Coil and Max
water flow rate of the Coil. If 1-Nominal capacity is chosen you must input a Rated capacity and UA of the
Coil.
Rated capacity is defined as the heating capacity in watts of the coil at the rating points (i.e. the rated inlet and
outlet water/air temperatures defined below). The rated capacity is used to calculate a water mass flow rate
and a UA for the coil. The default is 1-Nominal capacity.
To autosize the capacity, choose 2-UA and Design water flow rate and use autosize as the inputs for UA,
Maximum water flow rate, and Rated capacity. EnergyPlus will use the Sizing inputs to size the coil. The
rated temperatures (see below) are not used in autosizing. These are used only when the user is specifying
coil performance using the 1-Nominal capacity input method.
- 1035 -
Maximum water flow rate
The maximum possible water flow rate (m3/sec or gal/min) through the coil. This field is used when
Performance input method = 2-UA and Design water flow rate. This field is autosizable.
UA (U-Factor x Area)
Enter the UA value for the coil needed for the Effectiveness-NTU heat exchanger model. An estimate of the
UA can be obtained from:
where:
Rated capacity
The heating capacity of the coil (in W or Btu/h) at the rated inlet and outlet air and water temperatures. This
field is used when the Performance input method = 1-Nominal capacity. This field is autosizable. The rating
points are given in the four subsequent input fields.
Water Temperatures
Rated inlet water temperature
The inlet water temperature (°C or °F) corresponding to the rated heating capacity. The default is 82.2°C
(180°F).
Air Temperatures
Rated inlet air temperature
The inlet air temperature (°C or °F) corresponding to the rated heating capacity. The default is 16.6°C (60°F)..
- 1036 -
Heating Coil - Water
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines when the coil is available, i.e. whether the coil can run during a given time period. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a given time period.
A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off.
Controller
Control variable
The Control variable defines how the coil is controlled. Temperature control is currently the only option.
• 1-Temperature control is used for air temperature control and is normally specified for the coil’s outlet
air node.
Action
The Action determines how the controlled variable (e.g. mass flow rate through a water coil) is changed based
on the control signal. In a heating coil where water mass flow rate is to be controlled, the mass flow rate
through the coil is increased when more heating is required, which increases the value of heat transfer from
the water to the air stream. So this is considered a "normal" action controller and so the value of this field is
fixed as 1-Normal.
Actuator variable
This was again meant to be more generic but currently has only been used to control the water mass flow rate
of a heating or cooling coil. This actuator variable is fixed as 1-Flow to control the water mass flow rate.
The convergence tolerance is the maximum difference between the actual temperature at the setpoint node
and the setpoint temperature. This control offset is typically set to a small temperature difference, such as
0.01°C. The default is Autosize.
- 1037 -
where is the fin efficiency
h is the surface convection heat transfer coefficient
A is the surface area
Used in:
Coil:Heating:Electric
• Air Handling Units
• Demand loops of Dual duct systems
• PTAC
• PTHP
• Unitary Heat Cool
• Unitary Heat Pump
The electric heating coil is a simple capacity model with a user-defined efficiency. In most cases, the efficiency
for the electric coil will be 100%. Depending on where it is used this coil may be either temperature or capacity
controlled. If used in the air loop simulation it will be controlled to a specified temperature scheduled from the
Setpoint Manager. If it is used in zone equipment, it will be controlled from the zone thermostat by meeting the
zone demand.
General
Name
A unique auto-generated name for the coil.
Type
The type is fixed as:
• 2-Electric.
- 1038 -
Heating Coil - Fuel
In Generic AHUs and ADUs it will also be possible to select 1-Hot water or 3-Fuel as the heating coil type, in
which case a Water heating coil or Fuel heating coil is used instead.
Efficiency
This is user-inputted efficiency (fraction, not percent) and can account for any loss. In most cases for the
electric coil, this will be 100% (enter a value of 1).
Nominal capacity
This is the maximum capacity of the coil (in W). This controlled coil will only provide the needed capacity to
meet the control criteria whether it is temperature or capacity controlled. This field is autosizable.
Operation
Available schedule
The schedule that denotes whether the heating coil can run during a given time period. A schedule value
greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the coil can be on during a given time period. A value less
than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the coil must be off.
Used in:
Coil:Heating:Fuel
• Air Handling Units
• Demand loops of Dual duct systems
• Air Distribution Units
- 1039 -
The fuel heating coil is a simple capacity model with a user inputted burner efficiency. The default for the
burner efficiency is 80%. The coil can be used in air loops or in zone equipment as a reheat coil. Depending
on where it is used determines whether this coil is temperature or capacity controlled. If used in the air loop
simulation it will be controlled to a specified temperature scheduled from the Setpoint manager. If it is used in
zone equipment, it will be controlled from the zone thermostat by meeting the zone demand.
Name
A unique identifying name for each coil.
Type
The type of a fuel coil must be:
• 3-Fuel
In all cases it will also be possible to select 2-Electric in which case the Electric heating coil is used or 1-
Water where the Water heating coil is used instead.
Fuel
Select the fuel to be used for supplying heat to the coil from the list:
• 1-Gas,
• 2-Natural gas,
• 3-Propane,
• 4-Diesel,
• 5-Gasoline,
• 6-Fuel oil 1,
• 7-Fuel oil 2,
• 8-Other fuel 1,
• 9-Other fuel 2
Efficiency
This is user inputted burner efficiency (decimal, not percent) and is defaulted to 0.8 (80%).
Nominal capacity
This is the maximum capacity of the coil (in W). This controlled coil will only provide the needed capacity to
meet
- 1040 -
Heating Coil - DX
The part-load fraction correlation should be normalized to a value of 1.0 when the part load ratio equals 1.0
(i.e., no efficiency losses when the heating coil runs continuously for the simulation timestep). For PLR values
between 0 and 1 ( 0 <= PLR < 1), the following rules apply:
PLF >= 0.7 and PLF >= PLR If PLF < 0.7 a warning message is issued, the program resets the PLF value to
0.7, and the simulation proceeds. The runtime fraction of the heating coil is defined a PLR/PLF. If PLF < PLR,
then a warning message is issues and the runtime fraction of the coil is limited to 1.0.
A typical part load fraction correlation for a conventional gas heating coil (e.g., residential furnace) would be:
Operation
Available schedule
Schedule that defines when the coil is available.
Heating Coil - DX
Used in:
Coil:Heating:DX:SingleSpeed
• PTAC,
• PTHP,
• Generic AHU,
• Unitary Heat Pump AHU
The single speed heating DX coil model uses performance information at rated conditions along with curve fits
for variations in total capacity, energy input ratio and part load fraction to determine performance at part-load
conditions. The impacts of various defrost strategies (reverse cycle, resistive, timed or on-demand) are
modelled based on a combination of user inputs and empirical models taken from the air-to-air heat pump
algorithms in DOE-2.1E.
General
Name
This alpha field defines a unique user-assigned name for an instance of a DX heating coil. Any reference to
this DX heating coil by another object will use this name.
- 1041 -
greater than 0. Capacity should not include supply air fan heat. Rated total heating capacity should be within
20% of the Rated total cooling capacity, otherwise a warning message is issued.
Rated COP
This numeric field defines the coefficient of performance (COP=heating power output in watts divided by
electrical power input in watts) of the DX heating coil unit at rated conditions (outdoor air dry-bulb temperature
of 8.33°C, outdoor air wet-bulb temperature of 6.11°C, coil entering air dry-bulb temperature of 21.11°C, coil
entering air wet-bulb temperature of 15.55°C, and a heating coil air flow rate defined by field “rated air flow
volume rate” below). The value entered here must be greater than 0. The input power includes power for the
compressor(s) and outdoor fan(s) but does not include the power consumption of the indoor supply air fan.
The heating power output is the value entered above in the field Rated total heating capacity.
Compressor
Minimum outdoor dry-bulb temperature for compressor operation
This numeric field defines the minimum outdoor air dry-bulb temperature (in °C or °F) where the heating coil
compressor turns off. The temperature for this input field must be greater than or equal to –20°C. The default
value is -8°C.
Defrost
Defrost strategy
Choose from two options:
• 1-Reverse-cycle or
• 2-Resistive.
If the reverse-cycle strategy is selected, the heating cycle is reversed periodically to provide heat to melt frost
accumulated on the outdoor coil. If a resistive defrost strategy is selected, the frost is melted using an electric
resistance heater. The default defrost strategy is reverse-cycle.
Defrost control
Choose from two options:
• 1-Timed or
• 2-On-demand.
If timed control is selected, the defrost time period is calculated based on a fixed value or compressor runtime
whether or not frost has actually accumulated. For timed defrost control, the fractional amount of time the unit
is in defrost is entered in the input field Defrost time period fraction described below. If on-demand defrost
control is selected, the defrost time period is calculated based on outdoor weather (humidity ratio) conditions.
Regardless of which defrost control is selected, defrost does not occur above the user specified outdoor
temperature entered in the input field Maximum outdoor dry-bulb temperature for defrost operation described
above.
- 1042 -
Heating Coil - DX
Performance Curves
The DX Cooling coil requires up to 6 curves be selected from the Curves database to define coil performance
depending on the defrost strategy selected.
- 1043 -
EIR modifier curve (function of temperature) to give the EIR at the specific temperature and air flow conditions
at which the coil is operating. This curve is normalised to a value of 1.0 when the actual air flow rate equals
the rated air flow rate.
1. The part load fraction correlation curve coefficients need to be defined so that the output of the curve
equals 1.0 when the PLR is 1.0, e.g.
PLF=0.85+0.15(PLR)
So the associated quadratic would have Coefficient 1 = 0.85 and Coefficient 2 = 0.15 with a maximum x
= 1.0.
2. When 0.0 <= PLR < 1.0, the PLF must be >= 0.7 which is guaranteed as long as Coefficient 1 of the
PLF curve is > 0.7. Also, in this PLR range, the PLF must be less than the PLR which is also
guaranteed as long as the coil capacity is always greater than the demand. If the demand is greater
than the coil capacity and PLF becomes greater than PLR, the software automatically limits the runtime
fraction (PLR/PLF) to 1.0.
Crankcase Heater
Crankcase heater capacity
This numeric field defines the crankcase heater capacity (in W). When the outdoor air dry-bulb temperature is
below the value specified in the input field Maximum outdoor dry-bulb temperature for crankcase heater
operation” (described below), the crankcase heater is enabled during the time that the compressor is not
running. If this heating coil is used as part of an air-to-air heat pump (Ref. UnitarySystem:HeatPump:AirToAir
or PackageTerminal: HeatPump:AirToAir), the crankcase heater defined for this DX heating coil is enabled
during the time that the compressor is not running for either heating or cooling (and the crankcase heater
power defined in the DX cooling coil object is disregarded in this case). The value for this input field must be
greater than or equal to 0. The default value is 0. To simulate a unit without a crankcase heater, enter a value
of 0.
- 1044 -
Heating Coil - DX
Operation
Availability schedule name
The schedule that denotes whether the DX heating coil can run during a given time period. A schedule value
greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a given time period. A value less
than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off.
- 1045 -
DX Heating Coil Crankcase Heater Consumption[J]
This is the electricity consumption of the DX coil compressor’s crankcase heater in Joules for the timestep
being reported. This output is also added to a report meter with Resource Type = Electricity, End Use Key =
Miscellaneous, Group Key = System (ref. Report Meter).
The VRF DX heating coil input requires an availability schedule, the gross rated heating capacity and the
rated air volume flow rate. The rated air volume flow rate should be between 0.00008056 m3/s and
0.00002684 m3/s per W of gross rated heating capacity.
Two performance curves are required. The first performance curve defines the heating capacity as a function
of indoor air dry-bulb and outdoor condenser entering air wet-bulb temperature. This curve is specified in the
variable refrigerant flow air-to-air heat pump object. The second performance curve is specific to each VRF
DX heating coil and defines the change in heating capacity as a function of air flow fraction. These
performance curves are further discussed below.
1. Heating capacity modifier curve (function of temperature, specified in Heat Pump). The heating
capacity modifier curve (function of temperature) can be a function of both the outdoor wet-bulb
temperature and indoor air dry-bulb temperature. Users have the choice of a bi-quadratic curve with
two independent variables or a tri-quadratic curve with three independent variable. The tri-quadratic
curve is recommended if sufficient manufacturer data is available as it provides sensitivity to the
combined total capacity of all indoor units connected to the heat pump condenser and a more realistic
output. The output of this curve is multiplied by the gross rated heating capacity to give the gross
heating capacity at specific temperature operating conditions (i.e. at an outdoor or indoor air
temperature different from the rating point temperature) and the combination ratio of the installed
system.
2. Heating capacity modifier curve (function of flow fraction, specified in DX coil). The heating
capacity modifier curve (function of flow fraction) is a quadratic or cubic curve with the independent
variable being the ratio of the actual air flow rate across the heating coil to the rated air flow rate (i.e.,
fraction of full load flow). The output of this curve is multiplied by the gross rated heating capacity and
the heating capacity modifier curve (function of temperature) to give the gross heating capacity at the
specific temperature and air flow conditions at which the coil is operating.
General
Name
A unique auto-assigned name for an instance of a VRF DX heating coil. Any reference to this DX coil by
another object will use this name.
- 1046 -
Heating Coil - VRF - DX
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the DX heating coil availability schedule. Schedule values of 0 mean that the DX heating coil is off. A
schedule value greater than 0 indicates that the coil can operate during the time period.
Airflow
Rated air flow rate
This numeric field defines the volume air flow rate (in m3/s or ft3/s) across the DX heating coil at rated
conditions. The value entered here must be greater than 0. The rated air volume flow rate should be between
0.00004027 m3/s and 0.00006041 m3/s per W of gross rated heating capacity. The gross rated heating
capacity and the gross rated COP should be performance information for the unit with outside air dry-bulb
temperature of 8.33 C, outside air wet-bulb temperature of 6.11 C, heating coil entering air dry-bulb
temperature of 21.11 C, heating coil entering air wet-bulb temperature of 15.55 C, and the rated air volume
flow rate defined here.
Capacity
Note: The choice of using either outdoor dry-bulb temperature or outdoor wet-bulb temperature as the
independent variable in this performance curve is set in the parent object VRF Outdoor Unit.
- 1047 -
Heating Coil - Water To Air Heat Pump
Used in:
The Water to Air Heating Equation Fit Coil is a simple curve-fit model that requires coefficients generated from
heat pump catalog data. This is an equation-fit model that resembles a black box with no usage of heat
transfer equations. The performance of the heat pump is modeled using curves fitted from the catalog data. A
detailed description of the equation-fit model is available in the following reference: Tang,C. C. 2005.
Modeling Packaged Heat Pumps in Quasi-Steady State Energy Simulation Program. M.S. Thesis. Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University. It is also downloadable from
www.hvac.okstate.edu.
General
Name
A unique auto-assigned name identifying name for the coil. Any reference to this coil by another object
(typically a Zone Water To Air Heat Pump) will use this name.
- 1048 -
Cooling Coils
Cooling Coils
These cooling coil types are available within Detailed HVAC:
Used in:
The water cooling coil provides detailed output with simplified inputs without the need for complex coil
geometry definition. Instead the coil is sized in terms of auto-sizeable thermodynamic inputs such as
temperatures, mass flow rates and humidity ratios.
Coil heat transfer (UA) values are calculated from the design conditions. A rough estimate of the coil area is
provided along with percentage of surface wet and/or dry. This model uses the NTU-effectiveness approach to
model heat transfer and has two types of flow arrangements cross-flow or counter-flow.
See section “Cooling Coil Model” in the EnergyPlus Engineering Document for further details on this model.
General
Name
A unique name for an instance of a cooling coil which is predetermined by DesignBuilder.
- 1049 -
Design inlet water temperature
The inlet water temperature for the design flow (°C or °F). This value is autosizable and the default is
Autosize.
Type of analysis
The coil has two modes of operation:
• 1-Simple analysis
• 2-Detailed analysis
The difference between the two modes being, the simple mode reports the value of surface area fraction wet
of the coil as dry or wet. The detailed mode give the exact value, however the execution time in detailed mode
is noticeably higher.
Air-conditioning systems generally use cross flow heat exchangers, hence the default is set to 1-Cross flow.
Operation
Availability schedule
Schedule that defines when the coil is available, i.e. whether the coil can run during a given time period. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a given time period.
A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit is off.
Controller
The controller allows the flow of water through the coil to be controlled based on temperature and/or humidity
ratio typically downstream of the coil.
Control variable
The Control variable defines how the coil is controlled. Select one of:
- 1050 -
Cooling Coil - Water
• 1-Temperature control is used for air temperature control and is normally specified for the coil’s outlet
air node
• 2-Humidity ratio control is used for humidity control and would normally be specified for a dehumidifier
outlet node
• 3-Temperature and humidity ratio control is used for controlling both air temperature and high
humidity levels, and is normally specified for a cooling coil’s outlet air node.
Options 2 and 3 (the control variables involving humidity ratio) both have these requirements:
Action
The Action determines how the controlled variable (mass flow rate through a water coil) is changed based on
the control signal. In a coil where water mass flow rate is to be controlled, the mass flow rate through the coil
is increased when more cooling is requested. In a cooling coil, an increase in water mass flow rate through the
coil decreases the value of heat transfer from the water to the air stream (absolute value increases, but since
cooling is traditionally described as a negative number, an increase in absolute value results in a decrease in
the actual heat transfer value). Thus the cooling coil controller has Reverse action since an increase in flow
rate results in a decrease in heat transfer.
Actuator variable
The actuator variable must currently be use the keyword 1-Flow to control the water mass flow rate.
The convergence tolerance is the maximum difference between the actual temperature at the setpoint node
and the setpoint temperature. This control offset is typically set to a small temperature difference, such as
0.01°C.
- 1051 -
HVAC,Average,Total Water Cooling Coil Rate[W]
HVAC,Average,Sensible Water Cooling Coil Rate[W]
HVAC,Average,Cooling Coil Area Wet Fraction
HVAC,Average,Cooling Coil Condensate Volumetric Flow Rate [m3/s]
Zone,Meter,OnSiteWater:Facility [m3]
Zone,Meter,OnSiteWater:HVAC [m3]
Zone,Meter,Condensate:OnSiteWater [m3]
HVAC,Sum,Cooling Coil Condensate Volume [m3]
n addition, if a Water Storage Tank is used to collect coil condensate, then the following outputs will be
available.
Used in:
Coil:Cooling:DX:SingleSpeed
• PTAC,
• PTHP,
• Unitary Heat Cool AHU,
• Unitary Heat Pump AHU,
• Generic AHU
The DX single speed cooling coil model and data are quite different from that for the heating and cooling
water coils. The simple water coils use an NTU-effectiveness heat exchanger model. The single speed DX coil
- 1052 -
Single Speed DX Cooling Coil
model uses performance information at rated conditions along with curve fits for variations in total capacity,
energy input ratio and part-load fraction to determine performance at part-load conditions. Sensible/latent
capacity splits are determined by the rated sensible heat ratio (SHR) and the apparatus dewpoint/bypass
factor (ADP/BF) approach. This approach is analogous to the NTU-effectiveness calculations used for
sensible-only heat exchanger calculations, extended to a cooling and dehumidifying coil.
This DX cooling coil input requires an availability schedule, the rated total cooling capacity, the rated SHR, the
rated COP, and the rated air volume flow rate. The latter 4 inputs determine the coil performance at the rating
point (air entering the cooling coil at 26.7°C dry-bulb/19.4°C wet-bulb and air entering the outdoor condenser
coil at 35°C dry-bulb/23.9°C wet-bulb). The rated air volume flow rate should be between .00004027 m3/s and
.00006041 m3/s per watt of rated total cooling capacity (300 to 450 cfm/ton).
See section “DX Cooling Coil Model” in the EnergyPlus Engineering Document for further details regarding
this model.
Important Note: When a Single speed DX cooling coil is placed in an AHU upstream from a heating coil,
it is important to include an extra SPM immediately downstream of the cooling coil. The extra SPM should
include all of the same settings as the SPM downstream of the AHU. See screenshot below. This use of a
duplicate SPM in this way is the workaround recommended by the EnergyPlus support team for an issue
which is expected to be fixed in versions of E+ after v8.5.
General
Name
A unique auto-assigned name for an instance of a DX cooling coil. Any reference to this DX coil by another
object will use this name.
- 1053 -
Gross rated total cooling capacity
The total, full load cooling capacity (sensible plus latent) (in W or Btu/h) of the DX coil unit at rated conditions.
These are: air entering the cooling coil at 26.7°C dry-bulb/19.4°C wet-bulb, air entering the outdoor condenser
coil at 35°C dry-bulb/23.9°C wet-bulb (The 23.9°C wet-bulb temperature condition is not applicable for air-
cooled condensers which do not evaporate condensate), and a cooling coil air flow rate fan heat is NOT
included. When used in a heat pump, the rated total cooling capacity should be within 20% of the rated total
heating capacity, otherwise a warning message is issued.
Note: The Gross rated total cooling capacity is not the same as the net "rated capacity" value shown in
manufacturer literature because it includes the fan heat per the AHRI standard. To calculate the gross value
from the net manufacturer value use the formula:
- 1054 -
Single Speed DX Cooling Coil
Operation
Availability schedule
The name of the schedule that denotes whether the DX cooling coil can run during a given time period. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the unit can be on during a given time period.
A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the unit must be off.
Performance Curves
The DX Cooling coil requires 5 curves be selected from the Curves database to define coil performance:
- 1055 -
1. The part load fraction correlation curve coefficients need to be defined so that the output of the curve
equals 1.0 when the PLR is 1.0, e.g.
PLF=0.85 + 0.15(PLR)
So the associated quadratic would have Coefficient 1 = 0.85 and the Coefficient 2 = 0.15 with a
maximum x = 1.0.
2. When 0.0 <= PLR < 1.0, the PLF must be >= 0.7 which is guaranteed as long as the Coefficient 1 of
the PLF curve is > 0.7. Also, in this PLR range, the PLF must be less than the PLR which is also
guaranteed as long as the coil capacity is always greater than the demand. If the demand is greater
than the coil capacity and PLF becomes greater than PLR, the software automatically limits the runtime
fraction (PLR/PLF) to 1.0.
The fan operating mode is determined in the parent object and is considered to either be constant (e.g.
AirLoopHVAC:UnitaryCoolOnly) or can be scheduled (e.g. AirLoopHVAC:UnitaryHeatCool). When scheduled,
the schedule value must be greater than 0 to calculate degradation of latent cooling capacity. At times when
the parent object’s supply air fan operating mode schedule is 0, latent degradation will be ignored. When
modelling latent capacity degradation, these next four input fields must all have positive values.
Ratio of initial moisture evaporation rate and steady state latent capacity
The ratio of the initial moisture evaporation rate from the cooling coil (when the compressor first turns off (in
W) and the coil's steady-state latent capacity (W) at rated airflow and temperature conditions. Suggested
value is 1.5; zero value means the latent degradation model is disabled. The default value for this field is zero.
The supply air fan operating mode must be continuous (i.e., the supply air fan operating mode may be
specified in other ”parent” objects and is assumed continuous in some objects (e.g.,
AirloopHVAC:UnitaryCoolOnly) or can be scheduled in other objects [e.g., AirloopHVAC:UnitaryHeatCool]);
and this field, the previous field and the next two fields must have positive values in order to model latent
capacity degradation.
- 1056 -
Single Speed DX Cooling Coil
and this field, the previous two fields and the next field must have positive values in order to model latent
capacity degradation.
Condenser
Condenser type
The type of condenser used by the DX cooling coil. Valid choices for this input field are:
• 1-Air cooled, or
• 2-Evaporatively cooled.
Evaporative Condenser
The data below is required only for Condenser type = Evaporatively cooled.
where:
Tcond inlet = the temperature of the air entering the condenser coil (°C)
Twbo = the wet-bulb temperature of the outdoor air (°C)
Tdbo = the dry-bulb temperature of the outdoor air (°C)
The resulting condenser inlet air temperature is used by the Total Cooling Capacity Modifier Curve
(function of temperature) and the Energy Input Ratio Modifier Curve (function of temperature). The
default value for this field is 0.9, although valid entries can range from 0.0 to 1.0. This field is not used when
Condenser Type = Air Cooled.
If the user wants to model an air-cooled condenser, they should simply specify an air cooled Condenser Type.
In this case, the Total Cooling Capacity Modifier Curve (function of temperature) and the Energy Input
Ratio Modifier Curve (function of temperature) input fields for this object should reference performance
curves that are a function of outdoor dry-bulb temperature.
If you wish to model an evaporative-cooled condenser AND have performance curves that are a function of
the wet-bulb temperature of air entering the condenser coil, then you should specify Condenser Type =
Evaporatively cooled and the evaporative condenser effectiveness value should be entered as 1.0. In this
case, the Total Cooling Capacity Modifier Curve (function of temperature) and the Energy Input Ratio
Modifier Curve (function of temperature) input fields for this object should reference performance curves
that are a function of the wet-bulb temperature of air entering the condenser coil.
If you wish to model an air-cooled condenser that has evaporative media placed in front of it to cool the air
entering the condenser coil, then you should specify Condenser Type = Evaporatively cooled. You must also
- 1057 -
enter the appropriate evaporative effectiveness for the media. In this case, the Total Cooling Capacity
Modifier Curve (function of temperature) and the Energy Input Ratio Modifier Curve (function of
temperature) input fields for this object should reference performance curves that are a function of outdoor
dry-bulb temperature. Be aware that the evaporative media will significantly reduce the dry-bulb temperature
of the air entering the condenser coil, so the Total Cooling Capacity and EIR Modifier Curves must be valid for
the expected range of dry-bulb temperatures that will be entering the condenser coil.
Crankcase Heater
Crankcase heater capacity
This numeric field defines the crankcase heater capacity (in W). When the outdoor air dry-bulb temperature is
below the value specified in the input field “Maximum Outdoor Dry-bulb Temperature for Crankcase Heater
Operation” (described below), the crankcase heater is enabled during the time that the compressor is not
running. If this cooling coil is used as part of an air-to-air heat pump (Ref. UnitarySystem:HeatPump:AirToAir
or PackageTerminal: HeatPump:AirToAir), the crankcase heater defined for this DX cooling coil is ignored and
the crankcase heater power defined for the DX heating coil (Ref. Coil:Heating:DX:SingleSpeed) is enabled
during the time that the compressor is not running for either heating or cooling. The value for this input field
must be greater than or equal to 0, and the default value is 0. To simulate a DX cooling coil without a
crankcase heater, enter a value of 0.
Basin Heater
Basin heater capacity
This numeric field contains the capacity of the DX coil’s electric evaporative cooler basin heater in (W/K or
Btu/h-F). This field only applies for Condenser type = Evaporatively cooled. This field is used in conjunction
with the Basin Heater Setpoint Temperature described in the following field. The basin heater electric power is
equal to this field multiplied by the difference between the basin heater set point temperature and the outdoor
dry-bulb temperature. The basin heater only operates when the DX coil is off, regardless of the basin heater
schedule described below. The basin heater capacity must be greater than or equal to zero.
- 1058 -
Single Speed DX Cooling Coil
Run Settings
For DX cooling coils located in a unitary system the run settings can be controlled.
DOAS Settings
Use DX cooling coil for DOAS
This checkbox should be checked if the DX coil is to be placed in an AHU used for DOAS. In this case the
Rated air flow rate to Rated cooling capacity ratio for 100% dedicated outdoor air (DOAS) application DX
cooling coils should be between 0.00001677 (m3/s)/W (125 cfm/ton) and 0.00003355 (m3/s)/W (250 cfm/ton).
Evaporative-cooled condenser:
- 1059 -
HVAC,Average,DX Cooling Coil Basin Heater Electric Power[W]
HVAC,Sum,DX Cooling Coil Basin Heater Electric Consumption[J]
- 1060 -
Cooling Coil - Two Stage With Humidity Control DX
Used in:
Coil:Cooling:DX:TwoStageWit
hHumidityControlMode • DX cooling coils in Air handling units when Two stage
with dehumidification option used
CoilPerformance:DX:Cooling
The multimode DX coil is functionally equivalent to the single-speed DX cooling coil but with multiple
performance modes available. It is capable of modelling two-stage DX units and units with an enhanced
dehumidification mode such as coil bypass or subcool reheat. It can have up to 4 performance modes to
accommodate a 2-stage 2-mode unit.
General
Name
A unique user-assigned name for an instance of a DX cooling coil. Any reference to this DX coil by another
object will use this name. This name is fixed and cannot be changed by the user.
The default is 1-None. For all dehumidification controls, the max humidity setpoint on the control node is used.
This must be set using a Zone humidistat and a downstream setpoint manager of type:
- 1061 -
• 7-Multi zone humidity maximum, or,
• 9-Single zone humidity maximum
When extra dehumidification is required, the equipment may not be able to meet the humidity setpoint if its full
capacity is not adequate.
Operation
Availability schedule
The name of the schedule that denotes whether the DX cooling coil can run during a given time period. A
schedule value greater than 0 (usually 1 is used) indicates that the coil can be on during a given time period.
A value less than or equal to 0 (usually 0 is used) denotes that the coil must be off.
The data items for Normal Mode Stage 1 Coil Performance are described under Cooling Coil - Single Speed
DX coils.
The data items for Normal Mode Stage 1+2 Coil Performance are described under Cooling Coil - Single
Speed DX coils.
The data items for Dehumidification Mode 1 Stage 1 Coil Performance are described under Cooling Coil -
Single Speed DX coils.
The data items for Dehumidification Mode 1 Stage 1+2 Coil Performance are described under Cooling Coil
- Single Speed DX coils.
Crankcase Heater
Crankcase heater capacity
This numeric field defines the crankcase heater capacity (in W). When the outdoor air dry-bulb temperature is
below the value specified in the input field “Maximum Outdoor Dry-bulb Temperature for Crankcase Heater
Operation” (described below), the crankcase heater is enabled during the time that the compressor is not
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Cooling Coil - Two Stage With Humidity Control DX
running. The value for this input field must be greater than or equal to 0, and the default value is 0. To
simulate a DX cooling coil without a crankcase heater, enter a value of 0.
Basin Heater
Basin heater capacity
This numeric field contains the capacity of the DX coil’s electric evaporative cooler basin heater (in W/K or
Btu/h-F). This field only applies for Condenser type = Evaporatively cooled. This field is used in conjunction
with the Basin Heater Setpoint Temperature described in the following field. The basin heater electric power is
equal to this field multiplied by the difference between the basin heater set point temperature and the outdoor
dry-bulb temperature. The basin heater only operates when the DX coil is off, regardless of the basin heater
schedule described below. The basin heater capacity must be greater than or equal to zero.
Run Settings
For DX cooling coils located in a unitary system the run settings can be controlled.
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DX Cooling Coil Outputs
See Outputs section under Cooling Coil - Single Speed DX coils.
General
Name
A unique auto-assigned name for an instance of the VRF DX cooling coil. Any reference to this DX coil by
another object will use this name.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the DX cooling coil availability schedule. Schedule values of 0 mean that the DX cooling coil is off. A
schedule value greater than 0 indicates that the coil can operate during the time period.
Airflow
Rated air flow rate
The air volume flow rate (in m3/s or ft3/s) across the DX cooling coil at rated conditions. The rated air volume
flow rate should be between 0.00004027 m3/s and 0.00006041 m3/s per watt of rated total cooling capacity
(300 to 450 cfm/ton). The gross rated total cooling capacity and gross rated SHR should be performance
information for the unit with at this rated air volume flow rate.
Capacity
Gross rated total cooling capacity
This numeric field defines the gross rated total cooling capacity of the DX cooling coil (in W or btu/hr). The
total cooling capacity should be a gross , i.e., the effect of supply air fan heat NOT accounted for.
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Cooling Coil - Water To Air Heat Pump
average inlet air wet-bulb temperatures). Without specific manufacturers data indicating otherwise, the use of
a single independent variable is recommended for this coil type. If, however, the user has reason to believe
the cooling capacity is both a function of indoor wet-bulb temperature and outdoor dry-bulb temperature (and
has manufacturers data to create the performance curve), a bi-quadratic equation using weighted average
indoor wet-bulb temperature and condenser entering air dry-bulb temperature as the independent variables
may be used. See the Engineering Reference for more discussion on using this input field.
Used in:
The Water to Air Heat Pump Cooling Coil uses a simple curve-fit model that requires coefficients generated
from heat pump catalogue data. This is an equation-fit model that resembles a black box with no usage of
heat transfer equations. The performance of the heat pump is modelled using curves fitted from the catalogue
data. A detailed description of the equation-fit model is available in the following reference: Tang,C. C. 2005.
Modeling Packaged Heat Pumps in Quasi-Steady State Energy Simulation Program. M.S. Thesis. Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University. It is also downloadable from
www.hvac.okstate.edu.
General
Name
A unique auto-assigned name identifying name for the coil. Any reference to this coil by another object
(typically a Zone Water To Air Heat Pump) will use this name.
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otherwise a warning message is issued. The gross rated total cooling capacity shouldnot account for the effect
of supply air fan heat.
Others
Nominal time for condensate removal to begin
This numeric field defines the nominal time (in seconds) after startup for condensate to begin leaving the coil’s
condensate drain line at the coil’s rated airflow and temperature conditions, starting with a dry coil. Nominal
time is equal to the ratio of the energy of the coil’s maximum condensate holding capacity (J) to the coil’s
steady-state latent capacity (W). Suggested value is 1000; zero value means the latent degradation model is
disabled. The default value for this field is zero.
Ratio of initial moisture evaporation rate and steady state latent capacity
This numeric field defines ratio of the initial moisture evaporation rate from the cooling coil (when the
compressor first turns off, in Watts) and the coil’s steady-state latent capacity (Watts) at rated airflow and
temperature conditions. Suggested value is 1.5; zero value means the latent degradation model is disabled.
The default value for this field is zero.
Generators
DesignBuilder generators enable the simulation of cogeneration systems, aka Combined Heat and Power
(CHP), and also trigeneration systems, aka Combined Cooling, Heat and Power (CCHP).
Generators consume a fuel such as natural gas or diesel to turn an engine or turbine which drives an electric
generator to produce electricity. Water is used to cool the generator and is heated to provide a useful source
of hot water. In terms of energy conversion, chemical energy in the fuel is converted to mechanical energy in
the engine or turbine, which is converted to electrical energy in the electric generator. The use of the
generated electricity is coordinated during the simulation through use of one or more Electric load centres.
The system needs to be configured for cogeneration through connections to hot water or domestic hot water
(DHW) plant loops in the detailed HVAC system. DesignBuilder currently supports the Internal combustion
engine and Micro turbine generators.
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Generator - Internal Combustion Engine
Tip: to model a trigeneration system, where hot and chilled water and electricity are all generated, the
generator hot water loop should be connected to an absorption chiller. An HVAC template is provided to
illustrate this system.
Used in:
Generator:InternalCom
• Hot water loop, supply side
bustionEngine
• DHW loop, supply side
The Internal Combustion (IC) Engine generator uses a modified Otto cycle. This generator model uses the
electrical load and rated engine generator size to compute part-load ratios (PLR). Fuel energy input and
recoverable jacket and lube oil heat are then computed. Finally, the recoverable exhaust heat is calculated.
Manufacturer’s curves must be obtained for IC engine generators to derive the equipment performance
parameters that are specified in the quadratic curve fits. Note that simple transformation of the form of the
manufacturer’s curves may be required. Electric energy output/fuel energy input is related to the part-load
ratio (i.e., electric/load generator capacity) with a polynomial. Recoverable jacket heat/fuel energy equipment,
recoverable lube oil heat/fuel energy input equipment performance, total exhaust heat/fuel energy input
equipment, exhaust gas temperature/fuel energy input equipment performance parameters are all specified
with a quadratic curve fit.
When the heat recovery curve fits = 0.0, this means that no heat recovery is done on the IC engine generator
exhaust gas; and no heat recovery is specified.
General
Name
This alpha field contains the identifying name for the IC engine generator.
Type
Select the type of generator from the list:
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the schedule that defines the times that the generator can operate.
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Note: The way that this Availability schedule interacts with the Plant equipment operation, Scheme
schedule for the attached Plant loop, depends on the Electric load centre, Generator operation scheme type
setting as follows:
For the 1-Base load scheme type the generator availability schedule overrides the Plant equipment operation
scheme schedule, so the generator can run whenever this schedule has a value > 0 regardless of the scheme
schedule value.
For the 5-Follow thermal or 6-Follow thermal limit electrical scheme types, both this Availability schedule
and the Plant equipment operation scheme schedule must have a value > 0 for the generator to operate.
Power Output
Rated thermal to electric power ratio
This setting allows you to define the ratio of the rated thermal output to the rated electric output. This nominal
ratio is only used for control and dispatch decisions and should be generally consistent with the more detailed
performance input in the rest of this dialog, but it is not used in the component model. It is only used if the
operation scheme is set on the Electric Load centre dialog is set to 5-Follow thermal or 6-Follow thermal
limit electrical.
a. The design nominal capacity of the generator (in W or Btu/hr) for the component simulation and,
b. Nominal electric power output to be requested from the generator for supervisory control and generator
dispatch for electric load centres. More specifically, it defines how much a generator is loaded (i.e.
requested electric power output) and can also impact the operation of an electric storage unit if one is
selected on the associated Electric load centre. Search for "Electrical Storage" in the EnergyPlus
Engineering Reference for more details on this input and its relationship with electric storage.
Fuel
Fuel type
This alpha field determines the type of fuel that the generator uses. The default is 3-Diesel. Valid values are:
• 1-Natural gas,
• 2-Propane gas,
• 3- Diesel,
• 4-Gasoline,
• 5-Fuel oil 1,
• 6-Fuel oil 2,
• 7-Other fuel 1,
• 8-Other fuel 2.
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Generator - Internal Combustion Engine
Exhaust
Design minimum exhaust temperature
This is the design engine stack saturated steam temperature (in °C or °F).
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Exhaust U-Factor Times Area Curve
The UA curve applies to the exhaust gas heat exchanger. The curve is an equation that determines the
overall heat transfer coefficient for the exhaust gases with the stack. The heat transfer coefficient ultimately
helps determine the exhaust stack temperature. The defining equation is:
The following two fields contain the coefficients for the equation.
Heat Recovery
- 1070 -
Generator - Micro Turbine
Used in:
Generator:MicroTurbi
• Hot water loop, supply side
ne
• DHW loop, supply side
Micro Turbine generators are small combustion turbines that produce electricity on a relatively small scale
(e.g., 25kW to 500kW). This model uses nominal performance at reference conditions along with several
modifier curves to determine electrical power output and fuel use at non-reference conditions. Standby and
ancillary power can also be taken into account. Energy recovery from exhaust air can be used to heat water.
Similar to electrical power output, thermal power (heat recovery) output is calculated using nominal
performance at reference conditions with modifier curves to account for variations at non-reference conditions.
General
Name
This alpha field specifies a unique user-defined name to identify this generator. This is a required input.
Type
Select the type of generator from the list:
Reference elevation
This numeric field specifies the reference elevation relative to sea level (in m or ft). The value entered must be
greater than or equal to -300.0m. The default value is 0.
Operation
Availability schedule
Select the schedule that defines the times that the generator can operate.
Note: The way that this Availability schedule interacts with the Plant equipment operation, Scheme
schedule for the attached Plant loop, depends on the Electric load centre, Generator operation scheme type
setting as follows:
For the 1-Base load scheme type the generator availability schedule overrides the Plant equipment operation
scheme schedule, so the generator can run whenever this schedule has a value > 0 regardless of the scheme
schedule value.
For the 5-Follow thermal or 6-Follow thermal limit electrical scheme types, both this Availability schedule
and the Plant equipment operation scheme schedule must have a value > 0 for the generator to operate.
- 1071 -
Power Output
Rated power output
This setting is used to define:
a. The design nominal capacity of the generator (in W or Btu/hr) for the component simulation and,
b. Nominal electric power output to be requested from the generator for supervisory control and generator
dispatch for electric load centres. More specifically, it defines how much a generator is loaded (i.e.
requested electric power output) and can also impact the operation of an electric storage unit if one is
selected on the associated Electric load centre. Search for "Electrical Storage" in the EnergyPlus
Engineering Reference for more details on this input and its relationship with electric storage.
Power Consumption
Standby power
This setting specifies the standby electric power consumed by the generator (in W or Btu/h). The standby
power is the electrical power consumed by the generator (e.g., air fans and controls) when the generator is
available to operate but the generator electrical power output is zero (power output is not being requested by
- 1072 -
Generator - Micro Turbine
the electric load centre). The value specified for this field must be greater than or equal to zero. The default
value is 0.
Ancillary power
This numeric field specifies the ancillary electric power consumed by the generator (in W or Btu/h). The
ancillary power is the electrical power consumed by other associated equipment (e.g., external fuel
pressurization pumps) when the generator is operating. Specify this input as 0.0 if the Reference electrical
power output and the Reference electrical efficiency using lower heating value input fields and associated
modifier curves reflect the net electrical power output from the generator (i.e., ancillary power already
deducted from the generator s gross electrical power output). A value greater than zero indicates that this
electrical power is consumed whenever the generator is operating and will be deducted from the generator's
overall electrical power output (Generator Produced Electric Power). The value specified for this field must be
greater than or equal to zero. The default value is 0.
Fuel
Fuel type
Select the type of fuel used by the generator from the list:
Electrical Efficiency
Reference electrical efficiency using lower heating value
This numeric field contains the electrical efficiency of the generator at reference conditions, based on the
lower heating value of the fuel. The electrical efficiency is the electric power output divided by the fuel energy
consumption rate (LHV basis). The reference conditions are defined via additional input fields for this object
(see below). This is a required input, and the value entered in this field must be greater than zero and less
than or equal to 1.0.
- 1073 -
temperature, and the curve should be valid for the range of inlet air temperatures anticipated for the simulation
period.
Combustion Air
Reference combustion air inlet temperature
This numeric field specifies the reference temperature for the combustion inlet air (in °C or °F). The default
value is 15°C.
Exhaust
Reference exhaust air mass flow rate
This numeric field is the reference exhaust air mass flow rate (in kg/s or lb/s). Entered values must be greater
than zero.
- 1074 -
Generator - Micro Turbine
Nominal exhaust air outlet temperature to give the exhaust air temperature at non-reference combustion air
inlet temperatures. This curve should be normalized to have a value of 1.0 at the Reference combustion air
inlet temperature, and the curve should be valid for the range of inlet air temperatures anticipated for the
simulation period.
Heat Recovery
Heat recovery water flow operating mode
This field is used to choose between different modes of controlling the mass flow rate of water being heated
by energy recovered from exhaust air. There are two options available:
• 1-Plant control which indicates that the heat recovery water flow rate through the generator is
determined externally (by the wider balance of plant). In this case, the generator will request the
Reference Heat Recovery Water Flow Rate whenever it operates but the actual flow rate may be
limited by other plant components (e.g., pump).
• 2-Internal control which indicates that the flow of water is controlled inside the generator based on
current operating conditions. In this case the generator should generally include a bypass branch when
connecting to the plant loop.
- 1075 -
Maximum heat recovery water temperature
This field sets the maximum water temperature (in °C or °F) that this generator can produce via heat recovery.
This temperature limit puts an upper bound on the recovered heat and limits the max temperatures leaving the
component. As temperatures in the water loop approach this maximum temperature, the temperature
difference between the entering water and the surfaces in generator s heat recovery heat exchanger becomes
smaller. For the given heat recovery flow rate and that temperature difference the amount of heat recovered
will be reduced, and eventually there will be no heat recovered when the entering water temperature is equal
to the maximum temperature specified by the user in this field. The amount of heat recovered will diminish if
the inlet water temperature approaches the maximum temperature, and this will show up in the reporting.
Heat recovery water flow rate function of temperature and power curve
Select a bi-quadratic performance curve that parameterises the variation of heat recovery water flow rate as a
function of the inlet water temperature and net electrical power output. This data is only used if the Heat
recovery water flow operating mode is 2-Internal control. The output of this curve is multiplied by the
Reference heat recovery water flow rate to give the water flow rate at the specific inlet water temperature and
net power operating conditions. This curve should be normalized to have a value of 1.0 at the reference
conditions, and the curve should be valid for the range of inlet water temperatures and net electrical power
output anticipated for the simulation period.
- 1076 -
Generators - Modelling Guide
1. Add and configure generators in a detailed HVAC model, typically in hot water or DHW supply sub-loops or
condenser demand sub loops (see screenshots below).
Note: To model a generator that works alongside a boiler as a backup heating source you should use the
series configuration where the boiler is placed on the supply sub-loop outlet branch instead of the usual
branch that connects between the splitter and the mixer (see screenshot below). The parallel arrangement
does not work as expected in EnergyPlus v8.9 and is not recommended.
The arrangement of A DHW loop hot water tank heated by a hot water loop with generator(s) integrated and
acting as a heating source is another tried and tested system (see below). The hot water tank has an internal
built-in gas (or electric) boiler that provides backup heating to top up the building heat demand if the heat
delivered from the generator(s) is not sufficient to meet the heating load.
- 1077 -
Generator acts as a heating source to a hot water tank
Tip: Both of the systems described above can be loaded from DesignBuilder Detailed HVAC templates.
An alternative arrangement is where the generator is placed on the demand sub-loop of a condenser loop and
the condenser loop uses a fluid cooler for heat rejection. The recovered heat from the generator is supplied to
a hot water loop through a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger (HX) that is in parallel to a boiler. The HX is set at
higher priority than boiler in hot water loop equipment operation scheme.
- 1078 -
Generators - Modelling Guide
Note: In the above case, the operation scheme for the electric load centre that contains this generator
should be set to 1-Base load to allow the generator to operate and for waste heat to be recovered. The
requirement to use the 1-Base load scheme applies because the generator located in the demand sub-loop
cannot be included in the plant equipment definition, and therefore cannot obtain the heat demand signal from
the heating zone. If the heat exchanger reaches operating conditions, i.e., there is available heat that can be
transferred from the demand side to the supply side, and also the heating zone has a heat demand, it will
operate.
2. After adding generators into HVAC loops, make sure to enable/include them by checking the corresponding
checkbox on the Plant equipment operation tab of the plant loop dialog (screenshot below).
- 1079 -
Enable generators in plant equipment operation equipment list
3. The generator type, one of 1-Internal combustion engine or 2-Micro turbine, can be selected from the
generator dialog (screenshot below) along with the other generator attributes.
4. Ensure that the Include electric load centres checkbox is checked at building level (on Generation tab)
and enter the number of electric load centres for the model, which must contain all the HVAC generators
modelled in the HVAC system. The selection can be done on the Generator List tab on the Electric load centre
dialog when one of the alternating current Electrical buss type is selected (screenshot below). Both type and
number of generators defined in electric load centres should match those modelled in the detailed HVAC
system, and there should not be any duplicated entries. In other words each generator defined in the Detailed
HVAC system must be selected exactly once on a load centre generator list.
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Generators - Modelling Guide
5. If the generators list defined in electric load centres does not match the number and type of generators
modelled in the Detailed HVAC system, then the following error message will be displayed when attempting to
run a simulation:
6. Operation schemes are selected on the General tab of the electric load centre dialog. The commonly used
operation schemes for generators are: 1-Base load, 5-Follow thermal or 6-Follow thermal limit electrical.
The 1-base load scheme operates the generators at their rated electric power output whenever the generator
is scheduled on, and treats the produced thermal energy as ‘by-product’. In contrast, the 5-Follow thermal
and 6-Follow thermal limit electrical schemes operate the generators to meet building’s thermal demand,
and treat the produced electric energy as ‘by-product’.
- 1081 -
Electric load centre operation schemes
7. After the simulation, the fuel consumption breakdown and electricity generation can be displayed at building
level (screenshot below).
Model Options
- 1082 -
Data - Model Options (Building)
All Model Options are stored in the DesignBuilder dsb file and so any changes you make to the model
configuration will not affect other models.
All Model Options are stored in a single dialog but the options you can access depend on where you are in the
model hierarchy.
• Options on the Data, Advanced, Heating design, Cooling design, Simulation tabs
So if you open the Model Options dialog when you are at building level you will not be able to access the
Block Model Options. Likewise if you are at site level you will only be able to access the Display and Drawing
tools tabs.
Use this dialog to customise the Model Data Options for the current building.
You can edit the amount of detail in various aspects of the model:
The descriptions to the right of the sliders, taken together, provide a summary of the current model options.
- 1083 -
Construction And Glazing Model Option
Data tab on Model Options dialog.
• 1-Sensor groups the default option where a single sensor sensing exterior incident solar radiation can
be used to control multiple windows. In this case the signal from a single sensor window is used to
control all windows with the associated SageGlass® window shading system applied.
• 2-Individual sensors where each window has its own built in sensor and there is no need to define
control connections between windows and sensors.
- 1084 -
Gains Data Model Option
Gains data
There are three levels of gains model detail:
• Lumped - all internal gains including occupancy, computer, office equipment, miscellaneous, catering
process and lighting gains are lumped together into a single value. Solar gains are still calculated in the
usual way.Note that with Lumped gains you cannot generate Temperature distribution and Comfort
simulation output data.
Note: When using the Lumped Gains model option, Comfort data is not generated because in
EnergyPlus the request for comfort calculations is made in the People statement and this is not
generated by DesignBuilder when Lumped gains is set.
• Early - gains can be defined separately under various categories. This is the default and is normally the
preferred option for design and energy assessment work.
• Detailed - gains are specified by defining each individual item of equipment in each zone on the
Equipment tab. If you select this option then DesignBuilder will automatically set the Timing model
option to Schedules. Note that this option was developed for creating very detailed models of existing
buildings based on survey data. Entering this data for a large building is very time-consuming and in
most cases you will be better served by the Early gains option above.
Important Note: The Detailed gains option is included for legacy models only and may be
discontinued in future versions of the software.
• 1-Globally in model options where a single set of settings is applied globally across the model. In this
case the settings below for Occupancy method, Occupancy latent gains, Equipment gain units and
Lighting gain units can be selected on the model options dialog as described below.
• 2-Zone by zone in model data where the definition methods for Occupancy method, Occupancy latent
gains, Equipment gain units and Lighting gain units are set in model data and can be different for each
zone.
Occupancy method
When the Gain definition level option is set to 1-Globally in model options, select the occupancy definition
method from the following options:
• 1-People/area - the default option where occupancy is defined as occupancy density (in people / m2 or
people / ft2).
• 2-Area per person - is sometimes preferred as an inverse occupancy density. Note that when
switching between this option and occupancy density the definitions on the Activity tab zone level are
translated accordingly. This is not the case when the number of people option below is selected.
- 1085 -
• 3-Number of people - used when detailed zone by zone survey or design data is available. Unless you
need to enter specific known occupancy gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it increases
the amount of work involved
Note: When using the 3-Number of people option, the number of people in each room is entered zone by
zone as values inherited from building and block levels will typically not be correct.
• 1-Dynamic calculation - where the latent fraction of occupancy gains is calculated within EnergyPlus
at runtime based on internal temperatures and metabolic rate. In this case the ratio of sensible to total
occupancy gain will reduce as the internal temperature in the zone increases and at temperatures
much above 30°C all of the occupancy gain will be latent (occupants sweating).
• 2-Fixed fraction - where the latent fraction of occupancy gains is constant regardless of internal
conditions and defined on the Activity tab under the Occupancy header.
Note: The total occupancy gain (sensible + latent) is not affected by this option, only the split of sensible
vs latent gain.
• 1-Power density where zone equipment gains are entered as a power density, i.e. as a power per
zone floor area in W/m2 or W/ft2. This option is usually the most convenient method for most general
purpose modelling as the data is normalised by area and so can be inherited from levels above in the
model hierarchy and can be effectively loaded from Activity template.
• 2-Absolute zone power where zone equipment gains are entered as a power value in W. This option
is usually used when detailed zone by zone survey or design data is available. Unless you need to
enter specific known lighting equipment gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it increases
the amount of work involved due to the inheritance mechanism not working effectively for gains that are
not normalised by floor area.
Note: When using the 2-Absolute zone power option, the equipment gains data is normally entered
individually for each zone because values inherited from building and block levels will typically not be correct.
When the Gain definition level option is set to 1-Globally in model options, select the Light gain units. There
are 3 ways to define General lighting gains in DesignBuilder:
• 1-Power density - where the General lighting gains are defined per floor area. This method has the
advantage that the level of gains can clearly be understood by looking at W/m2 values and floor area.
However it can cause problems when loading data from lighting templates in that if the activity is
changed subsequently with a different illuminance requirement, the lighting power density is not
updated. This issue has led to the introduction of the second option.
• 2-Normalised power density - Although the units for Normalised power density (W/m2-100 lux or
W/ft2-fc) may seem quite obscure, this method of defining lighting gains has advantages over using
simple Power density. Namely that the actual lighting level is associated with the lighting system type
- 1086 -
Timing Model Option
without the need to refer to the zone activity and hence illuminance requirement. So if a particular
lighting system type is installed throughout a building, but the building has a range of activities each
with different illuminance requirements, it will usually be possible to enter the lighting Normalised
power density value once only at building level, set the activity for each zone and obtain realistic
lighting gains. See General lighting gains for details on the calculation of lighting gains from Normalised
power density, floor area and illuminance requirements.
• 3-Absolute zone power - where the lighting gains are defined as W without reference to the zone floor
area. This option is used when the actual absolute lighting gains levels are known in W. Unless you
need to enter specific known lighting equipment gains zone by zone, this option is best avoided as it
increases the amount of work involved due to the inheritance mechanism not working effectively for
gains that are not normalised by floor area.
Note: When using the 3-Absolute zone power option, the lighting gains data is normally entered
individually for each zone because values inherited from building and block levels will typically not be correct.
• Typical workday - where the timing is defined by a start time, end time, working days per week and
seasonal variation. This approach is intended for easy early stage modelling of non-domestic buildings.
This option is not available when using Detailed HVAC or Detailed gains.
• Schedules - where Schedules can either be defined for each day of the week and each month of the
year using daily Profiles or by using Compact Schedule format. Schedules are more flexible and can be
used in other projects but they take longer to set up.
Generally if you start to find the Typical workday timing mode too restrictive you should switch to Schedules
mode.
Note that HVAC operation data can modify the HVAC operation even when Timing HVAC + natural
ventilation operates with occupancy is set. For example:
• Simple HVAC - Mechanical ventilation, Heating and Cooling operation have additional Days / week
and seasonal operation data. Heating operation also has Preheat hours and Cooling operation also has
Precool hours.
These differences are applied as 'modifiers' to the basic occupancy schedule because HVAC systems
generally switch on and off based on the occupancy time but with differences. e.g. Heating systems are often
switched off in summer, they may operate during weekends when the building is unoccupied and they will
often have a preheat period to get the building up to temperature before occupancy.
- 1087 -
Internal gains operate with occupancy
Select this option if lighting and other internal gains operation follows occupancy. If you wish to enter specific
schedules for lighting and/or other internal gains you should uncheck this option. For example there may be
low levels of emergency lighting and some IT equipment usage while the building is unoccupied.
• Simple HVAC where the heating/cooling system is simulated using the basic EnergyPlus
ZoneHVAC:IdealLoadsAirSystem method. This supplies hot/cold air to meet heating and cooling loads.
See topics on Heating and Cooling for more on defining the condition of the supply air. Mechanical
ventilation loads are calculated locally for each zone. With Simple HVAC, fuel energy consumption for
heat generation (typically a boiler or heat pump) and chiller is calculated from zone heating and cooling
loads as a post-process using simple seasonal efficiency factors.
• Detailed HVAC where the HVAC system is modelled in full detail using EnergyPlus air and water-side
components linked together on a schematic layout drawing (e.g. below). In this case HVAC data is
accessed by clicking on the <HVAC System> navigator node. This method requires more effort in
setting up the HVAC model description and a greater knowledge of HVAC systems than the Simple
HVAC option.
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HVAC Model Options
• 1-Simple HVAC Data where zone temperature and humidity setpoints, ventilation requirements and
hot water consumption rates for simulations are taken from the Activity and HVAC model data tabs.
The advantage of this option is that the Activity-related HVAC data will typically already be set up
based on the activity selection and so a) there is less work involved in setting up the setpoints etc and
b) the simulation outputs will be more comparable with any previous Simple and Detailed HVAC
simulations carried out. The downside is some loss of flexibility in setpoints (only 2 temperature
setpoints per zone can be used - Setpoint and Setback temperatures).
See the Detailed HVAC Activity Data and Zone Groups Tutorial
• 2-Detailed HVAC Data where the activity-related HVAC data is entered on Detailed HVAC dialogs.
This option provides increased flexibility but at the expense of extra work in setting up the setpoints etc,
especially for large models. For example it is possible to have a range of different heating and cooling
setpoint values set up using schedules for different times of the day or year. It is also possible to apply
different setpoints for Chilled ceilings and other cooling equipment and likewise for Heated floors.
The tables below show specifically where each item of Activity-related HVAC data is entered for the 2 options.
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Note: The tables above summarise the location of the various setpoints, fresh air, schedules etc for the 2
Detailed HVAC activity data options. For heating and cooling design calculations the humidity and
temperature setpoints and ventilation requirement data comes from the Activity and HVAC tabs as described
in the 1-Simple HVAC table, regardless of the Detailed HVAC Activity Data setting.
This option might be switched off for early design stage architectural use to simplify the HVAC data entry. If
you switch this option off then any heating or cooling is assumed to be entirely convective.
This option is additionally available when using Detailed HVAC, in which case it has a similar effect to that for
Simple HVAC, but in this case it applies to data on the HVAC tab that is only used for Heating and Cooling
design calculations. When using Detailed HVAC you should only uncheck this option if you do not plan to use
Heating and Cooling design calculations.
• 0-None - Auxiliary energy is not calculated. This option is typically used at early design stages where
HVAC modelling may not be not required.
• 1-NCM - This option models auxiliary energy as a fixed annual energy consumption per floor area, with
default values stored in the HVAC templates coming from the UK NCM.
• 2-Separate fans and pumps - This option allows you to use the EnergyPlus fan energy consumption
calculation and a basic W/m2 + schedule approach to modelling pumps and control equipment.
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HVAC Model Options
• 1-Adequate
• 2-Manual
• 3-Autosize
• 4-Autosize when not set
Note: In Heating and Cooling design calculations, heating and cooling loads are always met and so this
option does not apply - it only applies to Simulations.
Adequate
The effect of this option depends on the HVAC model option. When using Simple HVAC, equipment is
modelled as having unlimited capacity allowing it to meet any heating or cooling demand and setpoint
temperatures are always maintained. This option can cause extremely large peaks in heating and cooling
delivery to zones and will tend to over-predict heating and cooling energy and under predict discomfort hours.
When using Detailed HVAC this option is equivalent to 3-Autosize and the EnergyPlus HVAC autosizing
mechanism is used to size the components and flow rates to ensure that the required comfort conditions are
met.
No heating and cooling autosizing calculations are required before simulations in this case.
Manual
Heating and cooling capacity Model data must be entered manually on the HVAC Model data tab. Choose this
option if you have specific heating and cooling capacity data you wish to use and do not want it to be
overwritten when model data or model options change.
Autosize
Autosize is the default option where heating and cooling capacities are always calculated prior to each
simulation and the heating and cooling capacity model data is not displayed. When using Simple HVAC the
heating and cooling design calculations will be run as required before the simulation to calculate the required
sizes. The autosizing calculation method is defined through the Simple HVAC autosizing method model option
described below.
When using Detailed HVAC any autosized components and flow rates are sized using the EnergyPlus
autosizing mechanism to ensure that the required design comfort conditions are met. In this case heating and
cooling autosizing calculations are done internally within EnergyPlus and no extra autosizing calculations are
carried out by DesignBuilder.
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You should be aware that when using the 4-Autosize when not set option, the heating/cooling zone capacity
model data is not treated the same way as other calculated results. In general, calculated results are deleted
when any edit is made to the building model, but this is not the case for zone capacity model data. This is
only updated when:
1. There is no heating/cooling capacity data (the value is either blank or zero when heating/cooling is
switched on) and a simulation is requested. In this case the appropriate design calculations are carried
out to fill in the capacity data, before the simulation.
2. The appropriate design calculation is carried out by clicking on the Heating/Cooling design tab.
3. Model Options change. In this case zone HVAC capacity is deleted.
If you always want the heating capacity to be kept up-to-date with your model and do not have any specific
capacity sizes you wish to use, you should normally use the default 3-Autosize option. This will cause
autosizing to be carried out prior to every simulation.
You can change heating capacities by hand if you wish but you should bear in mind that, if Model options
change, all heating and cooling capacities are reset to zero. Set the option to 2-Manual to avoid this
happening.
• 1-EnergyPlus where EnergyPlus autosizing pre-simulations are carried out as part of the main
simulation using the EnergyPlus built-in autosizing function, in the same way as autosizing for
autosizing for Compact and Detailed HVAC. This is the default option.
• 2-DesignBuilder, where Heating design and Cooling design calculations are run first to calculate the
size of heating and cooling plant to use in the main simulation. This option involves 3 separate
simulations of the building: 2 for the autosizing design calculations plus 1 for the main simulation.
The 1-EnergyPlus option is recommended as the fastest way to carry out autosizing calculations. With this
option, simulation times tend to be much shorter, particularly for short simulation periods. However, one
advantage of the 2-DesignBuilder alternative option is that it provides the results of the 2 autosizing
simulations on the Heating design and Cooling design screens. These results will be consistent with the plant
sizes used in the simulation.
With the 1-EnergyPlus option the autosizing simulation outputs are generated in the EnergyPlus autosizing
spreadsheet output files:
Natural ventilation
Natural ventilation (and infiltration) can either be 'Scheduled' or 'Calculated'.
• Scheduled - the ventilation rates are predefined using a maximum air change rate modified by
operation schedules.
• Calculated - the ventilation rates are calculated using wind and buoyancy-driven pressure, opening
sizes and operation, crack sizes etc. using the EnergyPlus Airflow Network.
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BIM Surfaces
You should generally use the Scheduled natural ventilation model option because it is quicker and easier to
enter the related model data and also because the simulations run more quickly. However if you need to
calculate natural ventilation rates which can be achieved with a particular configuration then you should use
the Calculated option.
Note: This natural ventilation setting also affects the way that infiltration is treated. It isn't possible to
calculate infiltration as a constant (or scheduled) value while using the EnergyPlus Airflow Network for
Calculated natural ventilation.
Infiltration units
There are 4 different ways to specify infiltration in calculations not using the AirflowNetwork (Heating and
Cooling design and Simulation with Scheduled natural ventilation):
• 1-ac/h - the default option where infiltration is defined in air changes per hour (ac/h), i.e. zone volume
per hour under normal operating pressures.
• 2-m3/h-m2 at 50 Pa infiltration is defined as flow rate per unit exposed surface area, when the
pressure difference between inside and outside is 50 Pa. Unit commonly used in the UK.
• 3-m3/h-m2 at 4 Pa infiltration is defined as flow rate per unit exposed surface area, when the pressure
difference between inside and outside is 4 Pa. Units commonly used in France and Belgium.
• 4-n50 (ac/h at 50 Pa)- infiltration is defined in air changes per hour (ac/h), i.e. zone volume per hour,
when the pressure difference between inside and outside is 50 Pa.
The selection made here will affect the units of the infiltration data prompted for on the Constructions tab
under Airtightness.
The infiltration defined when using options 2, 3 and 4 is converted to ac/h at standard operating pressure for
input to EnergyPlus. The conversion from these options to ac/h uses the methods described in EN 12831.
Airtightness method
When the Calculated natural ventilation method is selected there are 2 ways to define the airtightness of the
building:
• 1-Template slider, where 5 predefined airtightness settings are available. This method is most suitable
for more early stage analysis.
• 2-Crack template, where custom crack templates can be defined and selected. This method provides
more control over the airtightness settings used.
BIM Surfaces
Shade surfaces
This checkbox defines whether any shading plane surface objects imported from a BIM model via gbXML
should be applied to the DesignBuilder model. Enabled shade surfaces will be listed in the Navigator,
displayed on the Edit screen as planes of various colours, rendered on the Visualisation screen and included
in Radiance daylighting and EnergyPlus simulations as shading surfaces. The only type of surface currently
supported are shading plane surfaces.
Shade surfaces that are not selected are not removed from the model entirely and can be displayed again by
changing the selection on this dialog.
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Note: When shade surface planes are being shown, the Component block shades and reflects option on
the Constructions tab can be unchecked to prevent all or just particular planes from being included in the
EnergyPlus simulations.
• Simplification - options to allow zones to be merged and for controlling lumping of similar windows,
openings and cracks and eliminating unnecessary zones and elements from the model.
• Adjacency settings - options to control the way that DesignBuilder calculates the adjacency for
neighbouring surfaces.
• Natural ventilation - options to control the operation of natural ventilation.
• Lighting - options for lighting.
• Filters - excluding elements from the model.
• Component Blocks - options related to component blocks
Simplification
Advanced tab on Model Options dialog.
You can simplify and speed up simulations (sometimes quite significantly) by lumping zones, walls and
windows and/or eliminating unnecessary zones and elements from the model. The following options are
available:
Tip: The recommended way to merge zones is through the Merge zones by selection option below as it
gives a greater degree of control over which zone is used as the parent.
- 1094 -
Adjacency Settings
EnergyPlus to multiply up the window heat flows so that, overall, the simulation behaves as if all of the window
had been included. For models having surfaces with many similar windows this option can provide a
worthwhile reduction in simulation times.
Important Note: With Calculated natural ventilation you should not use this option if you have repeated
windows having same size, glazing type and shading on a surface but different Window Operation and Free
Aperture data such as % Glazing opens, Opening position, Discharge coefficient and/or Operation schedule,
because any differences in these natural ventilation settings are not accounted for when checking for similar
windows on a surface.
You should also switch this option off if you are running simulations to generate boundary conditions for CFD
or for graphical data plotting.
DesignBuilder does not allow a multiplier for windows to be used for zones with daylight lighting control or if
the 3-Full interior and exterior Solar distribution option is set. This is because for daylight control or Full
interior and exterior Solar distribution, EnergyPlus must know where each of the individual windows is
located to properly calculate the distribution of solar and visible light transmitted.
This is currently the only 'Simplification' option switched on by default for new models.
Adjacency Settings
Advanced tab on Model Options dialog.
Note: By default in cases where a component block is positioned closer to an external wall than this
tolerance, windows on the external wall will be removed. If you would like to allow component blocks to be
positioned closer to the window than the default tolerance of 0.5m then enter a smaller value here.
This setting applies to all model geometry but is particularly important when importing BIM geometry which
often includes gaps between zones. You might enter a value higher than the default 0.5m if the adjacent
spaces are separated by very large gaps due to thick partitions or ceiling/floor voids being excluded from any
gbXML data imported. For example if the largest gap between spaces that are to be modelled as adjacent is
0.6m then enter 0.6m here.
The Adjacency tolerance can also be set from the Import BIM/gbXML Model dialog before finalising the
import.
- 1095 -
Standard component block adjacencies
Ground and Adiabatic component blocks always have adjacencies with any neighbouring building blocks
(when closer than the Adjacency separation tolerance) and so will cause any openings to be lost on shared
adjacency surfaces when placed next to walls. By default Standard component blocks do not do this and they
can be placed close to (or touching) walls without windows etc being lost. However it is possible to cause
Standard component blocks to behave like other component blocks in this respect by checking this option.
Tip: Unchecking this data can be a quick way to model all virtual partitions in the model as standard
partitions.
The discharge coefficient for windows is defined in model data on the Openings tab.
The value of the Factor used in the above calculation depends on the type of opening as follows:
See also:
- 1096 -
Lighting
Note: An internal airflow path (IDF ZoneMixing object) will only be added if both zones are have the 1-
Standard Zone type (1-Conditioned for ASHRAE 90.1 models) set.
Lighting
Advanced tab on Model Options dialog.
Daylighting method
The options for calculating daylighting in EnergyPlus are:
• 1-Detailed where the zone daylighting illuminance levels are calculated and then used to determine
how much the electric lighting can be reduced. The daylight illuminance level in a zone depends on
many factors, including sky condition; sun position; calculation point; location, size, and glass
transmittance of windows; window shading devices; and reflectance of interior surfaces. Reduction of
electric lighting depends on daylight illuminance level, illuminance set point, fraction of zone controlled
and type of lighting control. This is the default method implementing the EnergyPlus
Daylighting:Controls object.
• 2-DElight. The DElight method of analysing daylighting in buildings is very similar to that used in the
Detailed method. For each point in time, DElight calculates the interior daylighting illuminance at
specified reference points and then determines how much the electric lighting can be reduced while still
achieving a combined daylighting and electric lighting illuminance target. The daylight illuminance level
in a zone depends on many factors, including exterior light sources; location, size, and visible light
transmittance of simple and complex fenestration systems; reflectance of interior surfaces; and location
of calculation reference points. The subsequent reduction of electric lighting depends on daylight
illuminance level, illuminance set point, fraction of zone controlled, and type of lighting control. There
are two primary differences between the Detailed and DElight methods of calculating interior
illuminance levels. The first is that DElight includes the capability of analysing complex fenestration
systems that include geometrically complicated shading systems (e.g., roof monitors) and/or optically
complicated glazings (e.g., prismatic or holographic glass). The second key difference is that DElight
uses a radiosity method to calculate the effects of light reflection inside a zone. These methods are
discussed in more detail in the engineering documentation. There are other important differences
between the two methods. One is the inability of DElight to perform the type of dynamic shading
controls possible using the Detailed method at each point in time during the thermal simulation (e.g.,
changes in electrochromic glazing transmittances and blind slat angles). Another is the DElight ability to
include more than two reference points in its interior illuminance and electric lighting reduction
calculations. A third is the current lack of visual quality (e.g., glare) calculations performed by DElight.
Fourth, the modeling of interior obstructions is different in the two methods. In the DElight method
interior obstructions block inter-reflections but do not block the intial direct illuminance. In the Detailed
method, interior obstructions block the initial direct illuminance but do not block inter-reflections. Input
for invoking the DElight method involves three object types: Daylighting:DELight:Controls,
Daylighting:DELight:ReferencePoint, and Daylighting:DELight:ComplexFenestration.
DesignBuilder uses the first 2 of these.
Warning: Because of the above-mentioned limitations and because generally we believe that the 1-Detailed
method is much more widely used and better tested, we strongly recommend that you avoid using the DElight
option unless you have very good reason to do otherwise.
Filters
Advanced tab on Model Options dialog.
- 1097 -
Exclude surface elements smaller than
You can also filter out very small surfaces from the simulations (and from the Navigator panel) by defining a
minimum area.
Experience suggests that a value of 0.05 is a good default. If you set the limit much lower than this you will run
the risk of including very small surface slivers in the calculations. These can cause problems with EnergyPlus.
The method used to define which component block surface(s) are used to represent flat component blocks
can be entered on the Construction tab under the Component Block header in Flat surface position.
Data on this tab allows you to control the Heating Design calculations.
All of the above data apart from Winter Design Day is also available on the Heating Design Calculation
Options dialog.
• General - include general purpose schedules in Detailed HVAC heating autosizing calculations - on by
default.
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Calculation Options - Heating Design
For example, occupancy gains should normally be excluded when sizing heating plant to ensure that the
design heating plant meets all heating loads itself. So leave the Occupancy check box unchecked. Heating
and cooling demand schedules must be included to ensure the system operates so the Heating demand and
Cooling demand options should normally left selected.
Important Note: This system of categories can be confusing and so generally you are advised to use either
the 2-Profiles option where the schedule operation during heating and cooling are defined explicitly using a
profile or use compact schedules where again heating and cooling design operation is defined explicitly.
Calculation Options
Calculation description
Enter some text to identify the calculation. This will be used in reports and in the filename for automatically
generated ESO files.
Temperature control
Heating and cooling systems control internal temperatures to meet the setpoint temperatures specified on the
Activity tab. These setpoint temperatures can be interpreted as air, operative or some other radiant fraction
and DesignBuilder provides corresponding options to allow HVAC systems to be controlled by:
• 1-Air temperature - control the zone mean air temperatures to the heating and cooling setpoint
temperatures specified on the Activity tab.
• 2-Operative temperature - control the room temperature using 0.5 radiant fraction. See notes of
operative temperature control below if you plan to use this option.
• 3-Other- you can enter the radiant temperature control fraction.
When using the 3-Other option the radiant fraction should be less than 0.9 and the minimum is 0.0. A value of
0.0 is the same as controlling on only zone air temperature. If air velocities are higher than 0.2 m/s, then lower
values for radiative fraction might apply. Niu and Burnett (1998) cite International Standard ISO 77300 in
recommending the values for this fraction listed in the following table.
- 1099 -
Note: The temperature control settings used in heating design and cooling design will also apply in
simulation autosizing calculations for the winter and summer design days respectively.
Reference: J. Niu and J. Burnett. 1998. Integrating Radiant/Operative Temperature Controls into Building
Energy Simulations. ASHRAE Transactions Vol. 104. Part 2. page 210. ASHRAE. Atlanta, GA.
Note: This option does not affect natural and mechanical ventilation setpoints - these always use air
temperature set points.
Tip: See the equivalent topic for Simulation for an advanced discussion on Operative vs Air temperature
control.
System Sizing
Design margin
The Heating Design margin is used to multiply calculated steady state heating loads in each zone to give a
recommended heating system size. It accounts for the additional heat required to bring the building up to
temperature in a reasonably short preheat period and allows you to be confident that comfort conditions will
be maintained in all but the most extreme winter conditions.
The default design margin is 1.25 which results in heating systems being oversized by 25% relative to the
steady state load calculated by EnergyPlus.
Cooling design output options apply to the whole building and are only visible at building level when accessed
from the Outputs model data tab.
• No occupancy and,
• No cooling and,
• No heating and,
• No mechanical ventilation
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Advanced Calculation Options - Heating Design
Note: if you uncheck this option and all zones in the model are unoccupied then you will get a 'Zero floor
area error' message
Warning: Use the surface and opening output options with caution on large models as, when selected, they
will cause large amounts of data to be stored.
General Solution
Convergence of the simultaneous heat balance/HVAC solution is reached when both the loads and
temperature criteria are satisfied. Both tolerances work the same way, one looks at temperatures and one
looks at heating and cooling loads. After the second warm-up day, the program compares the maximum
temperature experienced in a space with the maximum temperature from the previous day. If those two
temperatures are within the tolerance, then it has passed the first warm-up check. It does a similar
comparison with lowest temperatures experience within all the zones. If the current simulation day and the
previous day values are within the tolerance, then it has passed the second warm-up check. A similar
comparison is carried out with the loads tolerance and the maximum heating and cooling loads that are
experienced within the spaces. Those are compared individually to the values for the previous day. If they are
both in tolerance, then the simulation has passed the third and fourth warm-up check. The simulation stays in
the warm-up period until ALL FOUR checks have been passed.
- 1101 -
Inside and Outside convection algorithms
You can select from a range of EnergyPlus inside convection algorithms for calculating the convection
between internal zone surfaces and the rest of the zone air in the simulation calculations. More details on this
and external convection can be found under Constructions Model Data > Surface Convection header.
Other
Note: 'surfaces contained within a zone' are frequently generated when one of the zone merging options
is used where a partition or floor which would have separated two zones actually sits within the merged zone.
These surfaces do not refer to hanging partitions which are modelled using Internal thermal mass.
Data on this tab allows you to control the Cooling Design calculations:
• Calculation Options
• Summer Design Day
• Cooling system sizing
• Solar Options
• Output Options
• Advanced Calculation Options
Calculation Description
Enter some text to identify the calculation. This will be used in reports and in the filename for automatically
generated ESO files. The Calculation description is only available on the Cooling design calculation options
dialog.
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Calculation Options - Cooling Design
Calculation Options
Temperature control
Heating and cooling systems control internal temperatures to meet the setpoint temperatures specified on the
Activity tab. These setpoint temperatures can be interpreted as air, operative or some other radiant fraction
and DesignBuilder provides corresponding options to allow HVAC systems to be controlled by:
• 1-Air temperature - control the zone mean air temperatures to the heating and cooling setpoint
temperatures specified on the Activity tab.
• 2-Operative temperature - control the room temperature using 0.5 radiant fraction. See notes of
operative temperature control below if you plan to use this option.
• 3-Other- you can enter the radiant temperature control fraction.
When using the 3-Other option the radiant fraction should be less than 0.9 and the minimum is 0.0. A value of
0.0 is the same as controlling on only zone air temperature. If air velocities are higher than 0.2 m/s, then lower
values for radiative fraction might apply. Niu and Burnett (1998) cite International Standard ISO 77300 in
recommending the values for this fraction listed in the following table.
Note: The temperature control settings used in heating design and cooling design will also apply in
simulation autosizing calculations for the winter and summer design days respectively.
Reference: J. Niu and J. Burnett. 1998. Integrating Radiant/Operative Temperature Controls into Building
Energy Simulations. ASHRAE Transactions Vol. 104. Part 2. page 210. ASHRAE. Atlanta, GA.
Note: This option does not affect natural and mechanical ventilation setpoints - these always use air
temperature set points.
Tip: See the equivalent topic for Simulation for an advanced discussion on Operative vs Air temperature
control.
- 1103 -
Exclude all zone mechanical ventilation
Select this option if you wish to exclude the zone mechanical ventilation load from the cooling loads in all
zones. The option is useful in cases where the AHU is to meet mechanical ventilation loads and these loads
are to be calculated separately when sizing the AHU coil capacity.
Day
Select the day of the month for the design day. The default day is 15, i.e. the middle of the month.
This data is only used to define the solar path over the design day and does not affect temperatures etc which
are defined at site level.
Note: This same day of the month will be used for all months selected below when using the 2-Multiple
design months Design temperature period.
When a single month is being used, the default design month will be 1 month after the month of mid-summer
by default (July in the Northern Hemisphere, January in the Southern Hemisphere). When multiple months are
being used, the default start month is the mid-summer month and the end month is 2 months later. This
covers most design cases where peak conditions may occur significantly later after mid summer, especially
when there are large amounts of South-facing glazing (in the Northern Hemisphere).
Important Note: If you are using the default 1-Single design month Design temperature period option
the design temperature and humidity values used in the calculations will be the “Yearly” design temperatures
set at site level under Summer Design Weather Data. This is true regardless of the month and day of month
selected on the Cooling design calculation options dialog. You will therefore find that the outdoor air
temperatures won’t change when changing the month with this option set. You must use the to 2-Multiple
design months option to see seasonal variations of design outside air conditions.
Day of week
This selection is used to identify the appropriate daily profile within the schedules to use for the Cooling
design calculations. The day type should be the day when the most extreme conditions and highest cooling
loads are expected. You should normally keep the 9-SummerDesignDay default option, especially when also
running simulations. Select the day of week from the options:
• 1-Sunday - not recommended if the cooling system does not operate on Sundays.
• 2-Monday,
• 3-Tuesday,
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Cooling System Sizing
• 4-Wednesday,
• 5-Thursday,
• 6-Friday,
• 7-Saturday - not recommended if the cooling system does not operate on Saturdays.
• 8-Holiday - not recommended if the cooling system does not operate on holidays.
• 9-SummerDesignDay - the default recommended setting.
• 10-WinterDesignDay - not recommended.
• 11-CustomDay1,
• 12-CustomDay2
Design margin
The Cooling Design margin is a 'safety factor' used to multiply calculated cooling loads in each zone to give a
recommended maximum cooling equipment capacity. It accounts for the additional cooling which might be
required to cool the building down in a reasonably short pre-cool period and allows you to be confident that
comfort conditions will be maintained in all but the most extreme summer conditions. The risk depends on the
Summer Design Weather Data options selected at site level.
The default design margin is 1.15 which means that the cooling system will be oversized by 15%. This is value
comes from ASHRAE recommendations.
Sizing method
Sizing methods available are:
• 1-Sensible only the default option where the airflow rate is simply calculated from the cooling load, the
supply air temperature and the zone air temperature setpoint. This method is widely used in the
industry to calculate the airflow rate in cases where the latent load is a relatively low proportion of the
total.
Design flow rate = SizingFactor . DesignCoolingLoad / (Tzoneairdb - Tsupplyair) . CPair . Densityair
where:
• 2-Sensible + latent where a similar enthalpy calculation is used. This method may be adopted in some
cases where latent loads predominate:
Design flow rate = SizingFactor . DesignCoolingLoad / (Ezoneair - Esupplyair) . Densityair
where:
- 1105 -
Esupplyair is the supply air enthalpy
• No economiser,
• No heat recovery,
• No heating,
• Zero pressure rise fan,
• No humidification/dehumidification,
• Zone plenums will not be used if specified,
• Outside airflow rate and operation schedule defined by the data under the Mechanical Ventilation and
Natural ventilation headers on the HVAC tab at the zone level,
• Cooling coil availability defined by the schedule under the Cooling header on the HVAC tab at the zone
level,
• Zone design cooling temperature setpoints are defined by the data under Environmental Control on the
Activity tab.
Each zone has it's own Unitary system with a fan (generating no pickup), a DX cooling coil, an outside air
controller and a damper to reduce supply air flow. More specifically:
• No economiser,
• No heat recovery,
• No heating coil,
• Zero pressure rise fan,
• No humidification/dehumidification,
• Zone plenums will be used if specified,
• Outside airflow rate and operation schedule defined by the data under the Mechanical Ventilation and
Natural ventilation headers on the HVAC tab at the zone level,
• Cooling coil availability defined by the schedule under the Cooling header on the HVAC tab at the zone
level,
• Zone design cooling temperature setpoints are defined by the data under Environmental Control on the
Activity tab.
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Solar Options - Cooling Design
Note: Unitary DX will tend to calculate higher latent loads than the other 3 cooling sizing methods and the
zone air humidity will generally be lower. This is because DX coils run colder than water-cooled coils and will
condense out more water from the supply air. Unitary DX can be used to provide a conservative calculation for
the latent cooling loads.
Solar Options allow you to control aspects of the model related to solar gains.
Note: there is no way to simulate more than 1 building at a time. All external surfaces in buildings other
than the current one are modelled as shading surfaces. If you need to model the adjacency of another
building in contact with the current one, you can use the adiabatic adjacency option to model the touching
surfaces.
Note: if one or more 'other buildings' are large/complex then you could generate a large number of
shading elements and the simulation could be slow (even if the current building being simulated is simple).
Solar distribution
See help for equivalent topic for simulation.
Cooling design output options apply to the whole building and are only visible at building level when accessed
from the Outputs model data tab.
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Include unoccupied zones in block and building averages and totals
By default, data for unoccupied zones is excluded from block and building totals and averages. Check this
option to include data for unoccupied zones.
• No occupancy and,
• No cooling and,
• No heating and,
• No mechanical ventilation
Note: if you uncheck this option and all zones in the model are unoccupied then you will get a 'Zero floor
area error' message
Warning: Use the surface and opening output options with caution on large models as, when selected, they
will cause large amounts of data to be stored.
- 1108 -
Advanced Calculation Options - Cooling Design
General Solution
Convergence of the simultaneous heat balance/HVAC solution is reached when both the loads and
temperature criteria are satisfied. Both tolerances work the same way, one looks at temperatures and one
looks at heating and cooling loads. After the second warm-up day, the program compares the maximum
temperature experienced in a space with the maximum temperature from the previous day. If those two
temperatures are within the tolerance, then it has passed the first warm-up check. It does a similar
comparison with lowest temperatures experience within all the zones. If the current simulation day and the
previous day values are within the tolerance, then it has passed the second warm-up check. A similar
comparison is carried out with the loads tolerance and the maximum heating and cooling loads that are
experienced within the spaces. Those are compared individually to the values for the previous day. If they are
both in tolerance, then the simulation has passed the third and fourth warm-up check. The simulation stays in
the warm-up period until ALL FOUR checks have been passed.
Convection
Inside and Outside convection algorithms
You can select from a range of EnergyPlus inside convection algorithms for calculating the convection
between internal zone surfaces and the rest of the zone air in the simulation calculations. More details on this
and external convection can be found under Constructions Model Data > Surface Convection header.
Shading
Note: entering a small value here can speed up simulations in complex buildings. If you plan to use
Maximum shadow overlaps below the default value of 15000 you should check accuracy of solar gains
relative to results using default value
- 1109 -
• 1-Sutherland Hodgman (default)
• 2-Convex Weiler Atherton
Theoretically, Sutherland-Hodgman is a simpler algorithm but it works well in cases where receiving surfaces
(of shadows) are non-convex. The Weiler-Atherton implementation is only accurate where both casting and
receiving surfaces are convex. Warnings/severe errors are displayed when necessary. More details on
polygon clipping are contained in the Engineering Reference.
Other
Surfaces within zone treated as adiabatic
EnergyPlus support recommend modelling surfaces wholly contained within a zone as adiabatic and this
option allows you to follow this advice. We have found that in practice this option does not make much
difference in results or in simulation speed so for most cases you can leave it in its default state.
Note: 'surfaces contained within a zone' are frequently generated when one of the zone merging options
is used where a partition or floor which would have separated two zones actually sits within the merged zone.
These surfaces do not refer to hanging partitions which are modelled using Internal thermal mass.
• Simulation Period
• Calculation options
• Solar options
• Advanced Calculation Options
• Output options
This data is also shown before simulations in the Simulation Calculation Options dialog.
Calculation Description
Enter some text to identify the calculation. This will be used in reports, on Simulation Manager dialog and in
the filename for automatically generated ESO files.
Simulation Period
Select the start and end days for the simulation by selecting the start day and month and the end day and
month.
- 1110 -
General Settings - Simulation
Alternatively select a typical period using the links on the Info panel:
Note: The above typical simulation periods are derived from the Statistics data from the currently selected
Hourly weather data. If the hourly weather data was loaded from a custom weather file that did not include
statistics data (the .stat file) then data may not be available to allow these links to typical periods to work. In
this case you must select the dates manually.
Number of years
When the Run simulation for multiple years checkbox is checked you must enter the number of years to be
simulated. Enter a number 2 or greater.
Note: When simulating multiple years it is only possible to run for a whole number of years, each of which
start in January and end in December. So it isn't possible to simulate from May one year to June 3 years later
for example.
- 1111 -
Warning: selecting output at hourly or sub-hourly intervals can produce large amounts of data which slows
processing, results in large file sizes and in extreme cases can cause DesignBuilder to fail when attempting to
load results back into the model for reporting. If you want to generate hourly or sub-hourly data you may wish
to consider switching off some of the Output options to ensure you are only generating the data you require.
The user’s choice for Number of timesteps per hour must be evenly divisible into 60 and the allowable choices
are 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 30, and 60.
The choice made for this field has important implications for modelling accuracy and the overall time it takes to
run a simulation. Here are some considerations when choosing a value:
• The solution technique used in EnergyPlus has been designed to be stable with zone timesteps of up
to sixty minutes (Number Timesteps in Hour = 1). However, 60 minutes is considered a “long” timestep
and it should only be used in rare occasions where there is no HVAC system, accuracy is not a
concern, and short run times are critical. Such long timesteps are not recommended to use because
simulation results are more accurate for shorter timesteps, of say 10 minutes or less (Number of
timesteps per hour of 6 or more). Shorter zone timesteps improve the numerical solution of the Zone
Heat Balance Model because they improve how models for surface temperature and zone air
temperature are coupled together. Longer timesteps introduce more lag and lead to more a dampened
dynamic response.
• Simulation run time increases with shorter timesteps or larger values for Number of timesteps per hour.
The effect varies with the nature of the model. The user can test out different values on their particular
model to understand the implications for his or her particular case. Sometimes large models with
multizone HVAC and Plant systems execute nearly as fast with 15 minute timesteps as with 60 minute
timesteps because fewer iterations are required in the system modelling since the prior timestep’s
results are close to the final outcome of next timestep.
• The weather data files usually have 60-minute (or hourly) data. However, it does not follow that this
should be used as the basis for choosing the zone timestep because:
o EnergyPlus carefully interpolates the weather data between data points for use at shorter
timesteps.
o Many aspects of a model have time scales that differ from the that of the weather data. A goal of
the modelling is to predict how the building will respond to the weather. However, the building’s
response is not governed by the time scale that the weather data are available at, but rather the
time scales of the dynamic performance of the thermal envelope as well as schedules for
internal gains, thermostats, and equipment availability.
• If the model will also be used to calculate the cost of electricity then you should be aware that many
electric utility tariffs base charges on demand windows of a specified length of time. If the choice of
Number of timesteps per hour is not consistent with the demand window, then unexpected results may
be obtained. For reasonable prediction of the maximum rates for electricity use for in calculating
demand charges, the length of the zone timestep needs to be consistent with the tariff’s demand
window. The following table lists what values are consistent with various demand windows.
- 1112 -
Calculation Options - Simulation
There is also second type of timestep inside EnergyPlus that is known as the System or HVAC timestep. This
is a variable-length timestep that governs the driving timestep for HVAC and Plant system modelling. The user
cannot directly control the system timestep (except by use of the Convergence limits data). When the HVAC
portion of the simulation begins its solution for the current zone timestep, it uses the zone timestep as its
maximum length but then can reduce the timestep, as necessary, to improve the solution. The technical
details of the approach are explained in the Engineering Documentation under "Integrated Solution Manager".
Advanced EnergyPlus users can obtain and view data at intervals of the HVAC time step used if they select
the 'detailed' option on an HVAC report variable when working directly with IDF data.
Though many buildings can be successfully simulated with 1 or 2 time steps per hour, EnergyPlus
suggest a minimum of 4 for non-HVAC simulations and 6 for simulations with HVAC.
20 Timesteps per hour is the minimum when using the Finite difference solution method.
Green roof simulations may also require more timesteps.
Note 1: In general, increasing the number of time steps improves accuracy but slows the simulation (and
generates more data if output is requested at the 'sub-hourly' interval).
Note 2: When using 1 time steps per hour you will not be able to access Temperature distribution
results
Temperature control
Heating and cooling systems control internal temperatures to meet the setpoint temperatures specified on the
Activity tab. These setpoint temperatures can be interpreted as air, operative or some other radiant fraction
and DesignBuilder provides corresponding options to allow HVAC systems to be controlled by:
• 1-Air temperature - control the zone mean air temperatures to the heating and cooling setpoint
temperatures specified on the Activity tab.
• 2-Operative temperature - control the room temperature using 0.5 radiant fraction. See notes of
operative temperature control below if you plan to use this option.
• 3-Other- you can enter the radiant temperature control fraction.
• 4-Fanger comfort - this option is only available when using Detailed HVAC. It allows you to control
zone comfort conditions using Fanger PMV heating and cooling comfort setpoints instead of the usual
temperature setpoints. The PMV setpoint values are defined under the Environmental control header
on the Activity tab when using the default 1-Simple HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data option.
Alternatively, when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data option, time-varying PMV
setpoints for heating and cooling are defined by Fanger PMV comfort schedules selected on the HVAC
zone dialog .
When using the 3-Other option the radiant fraction should be less than 0.9 and the minimum is 0.0. A value of
0.0 is the same as controlling on only zone air temperature. If air velocities are higher than 0.2 m/s, then lower
values for radiative fraction might apply. Niu and Burnett (1998) cite International Standard ISO 77300 in
recommending the values for this fraction listed in the following table.
- 1113 -
Note: When the 2-DesignBuilder Simple HVAC autosize method is selected, the temperature control
settings used in heating design and cooling design will also apply in simulation autosizing calculations for the
winter and summer design days respectively.
Reference: J. Niu and J. Burnett. 1998. Integrating Radiant/Operative Temperature Controls into Building
Energy Simulations. ASHRAE Transactions Vol. 104. Part 2. page 210. ASHRAE. Atlanta, GA.
Note: This option is overridden when using radiant heating systems by the radiant heating system control
setting.
Note: This option does not affect natural and mechanical ventilation setpoints - these always use air
temperature set points.
The disadvantage of Operative temperature control is that start up loads can be unrealistically high due to the
lag in thermal response of the walls, floor, ceilings. The slow temperature response of the building fabric part
governs the output of the operative thermostat and hence the operation of the heating/cooling equipment. If
this effect dominates it can lead to an overestimate of the required design cooling load. You should be familiar
with this issue before using operative temperature control to size heating and cooling equipment. In our
experience using Operative temperature control usually leads to higher peak loads in Heating and Cooling
design calculations and higher heating and cooling energy consumption in Simulations.
Caution: Operative temperature control can cause EnergyPlus Error 3 when using Simple HVAC, or Cooling
design calculations with Operative control in zones with strong radiant heat gains causing high radiant
temperatures (e.g. uninsulated roof or zone is highly glazed). The error is caused by the fixed supply air
temperature being higher than the zone air temperature required to give the operative setpoint (.e.g. 24°C).
The solution may be to use Air temperature control and to manage the high radiant temperatures using solar
shading/insulation as appropriate.
Air temperature control is easier to use as none of the aforementioned problems apply, but it can lead to
inadequate equipment sizes peak loads in Heating and Cooling design calculations when not used with a
design safety factor. This is especially true when radiant temperatures are very different from air temperatures
for example in poorly insulated buildings, buildings with large unshaded glazing areas or high ventilation rates.
Generally using air temperature control in Simulations of such buildings will underestimate energy
consumption.
- 1114 -
Solar Options - Simulation
This equation works because the temperature of the air in the zone can safely be assumed to be the zone
cooling set point and so there is fixed difference in temperature between zone air and supply air. Calculating
the design supply cooling airflow rate in this way does not work for operative temperature control because the
air temperatures in the space are often much lower than the zone cooling setpoint temperature and
sometimes in zones having very high radiant temperatures, the air temperature in the zone approaches the
supply air temperature. In other words the difference in temperature between zone air and supply air in the
simulated system becomes very low and therefore very large airflow rates are required to meet cooling loads.
So in order to account for this DesignBuilder assumes a Delta T of 1K in the above calculation when operative
temperature control is in use.
Tip: As a general rule you should prioritise checking building comfort levels when using Air temperature
control and realistic plant operation (oversized equipment, supply temperatures very low) when using
Operative temperature control.
Solar Options allow you to control aspects of the model related to solar gains.
Note: there is no way to simulate more than 1 building at a time. All external surfaces in buildings other
than the current one are modelled as shading surfaces. If you need to model the adjacency of another
building in contact with the current one, you can use the adiabatic adjacency option to model the touching
surfaces.
Note: if one or more 'other buildings' are large/complex then you could generate a large number of
shading elements and the simulation could be slow (even if the current building being simulated is simple).
- 1115 -
Model all external reflections and shading of ground reflected solar
When this option is selected, the program calculates the beam and sky solar radiation that is reflected from
exterior surfaces and then strikes the building.
The above schematic shows solar reflection from various surface types. Solid arrows are beam solar
radiation; dashed arrows are diffuse solar radiation. (a) Diffuse reflection of beam solar radiation from the top
of an overhang (point 1 below). (b) Diffuse reflection of sky solar radiation from the top of an overhang (point 1
below). (c) Beam-to-beam (specular) reflection from the façade of an adjacent highly-glazed building
represented by a vertical shadowing surface (point 2 below).
1. Shadowing surfaces. These are surfaces of objects like overhangs, component blocks, assemblies and
shading planes. These surfaces have diffuse reflectance derived from the associated material properties.
2. Exterior building surfaces. In this case one section of the building reflects solar radiation onto another
section (and vice-versa). See schematic below. The building surfaces are assumed to be diffusely reflecting if
they are opaque (walls, for example) and specularly reflecting if they are windows (or glass doors defined as
windows). The reflectance values for opaque surfaces are calculated by the program from the Solar
Absorptance and Visible Absorptance of the outer material layer of the surface’s construction. The reflectance
values for windows and glass doors are calculated by the program from the reflectance properties of the
individual glass layers that make up surface’s construction assuming no shading device is present and taking
into account inter-reflections among the layers.
Solar reflection from building surfaces onto other building surfaces. In this example beam solar reflects from a
vertical section of the building onto a roof section. The reflection from the window is specular. The reflection
from the wall is diffuse.
3. The ground surface. Reflection from the ground is calculated even if the Model all external reflections
and shading of ground reflected solar option is not used. In this case the shadowing of the ground by the
building itself or by obstructions such as neighbouring buildings is ignored. However if the reflections option is
used then:
- 1116 -
Solar Options - Simulation
• Shadowing of ground reflected solar radiation by louvres, component blocks etc is taken into account,
and,
• Shadowing from the building affects beam solar reflection from the ground. Beam-to-diffuse reflection
from the ground onto the building occurs only for sunlit areas, A and C, not from shaded area, B.
Solar distribution
This option determines how EnergyPlus treats beam solar radiation and reflectance from exterior surfaces that
strike the building and, ultimately, enter the zone. There are 3 choices:
1-Minimal shadowing - In this case, there is no exterior shadowing except from window and door reveals. All
beam solar radiation entering the zone is assumed to fall on the floor, where it is absorbed according to the
floor's solar absorptance. Any reflected by the floor is added to the transmitted diffuse radiation, which is
assumed to be uniformly distributed on all interior surfaces. If no floor is present in the zone, the incident
beam solar radiation is absorbed on all interior surfaces according to their absorptances. The zone heat
balance is then applied at each surface and on the zone's air with the absorbed radiation being treated as a
flux on the surface.
2-Full Exterior - in this case, shadow patterns on exterior surfaces caused by detached shading, wings,
overhangs, and exterior surfaces of all zones are computed. As for Minimal shadowing, shadowing by window
and door reveals is also calculated. Beam solar radiation entering the zone is treated as for 'Minimal
shadowing' - all beam solar radiation entering the zone is assumed to fall on the floor, where it is absorbed
according to the floor's solar absorptance. Any reflected by the floor is added to the transmitted diffuse
radiation, which is distributed among interior surfaces according to view factors. If no floor is present in the
zone, the incident beam solar radiation is absorbed on all interior surfaces according to their absorptance.
Note: If you use 2-Full Exterior you should make sure that all of your zones have a floor. If your building
model has any zones of unusual shape without floors then the EnergyPlus simulation may not work because it
will not have a surface to apportion solar gains to.
3-Full interior and exterior - this is the same as Full exterior except that instead of assuming all transmitted
beam solar falls on the floor the program calculates the amount of beam radiation falling on each surface in
the zone, including floor, walls and windows, by projecting the sun's rays through the exterior windows, taking
into account the effect of exterior shadowing surfaces and window shading devices. If this option is used, you
should be sure that the surfaces of the zone totally enclose a space. This can be determined by viewing the
eplusout.dxf file with an external DXF viewer program.
You should also be sure that the zone is convex. Examples of convex and non-convex zones are shown
below. The most common non-convex zone is an L-shaped zone. A formal definition of convex is that any
straight line passing through the zone intercepts at most two surfaces. Another definition is that a zone is
convex if every surface in a zone can 'see' every other surface - no surfaces a 'round the corner' from each
other. If the zone’s surfaces do not fully enclose a space or if the zone is not convex you should use Full
exterior instead.
- 1117 -
If you use 3-Full Interior and exterior the program will also calculate how much beam radiation falling on the
inside of an exterior window (from other windows in the zone) is absorbed by the window, how much is
reflected back into the zone, and how much is transmitted to the outside. In this calculation the effect of a
shading device, if present, is accounted for.
Note: You must use 3-Full Interior and exterior to account for direct solar and light transmission through
internal windows.
One common reason for the strict DesignBuilder check to flag a zone as being non-convex even when at first
sight it is convex is the use of block connection geometry. In the above example of a double skin facade
(DSF) cavity zone, you can see when zooming right in on the corner of a set of block connection surfaces that
these surfaces cause obtuse angles to the zone geometry resulting in very slight non-convex geometry. These
are exactly the sort of small deviations from convex that the DesignBuilder checker will fail and the
EnergyPlus checks will pass. In this case it is perfectly safe to switch off this check to allow EnergyPlus
calculations to proceed.
- 1118 -
Solar Options - Simulation
Shadow Calculations
The shadow calculation options are used to control some details of EnergyPlus’ solar, shadowing and
daylighting models. There are two basic methods available for the calculations. In order to speed up the
calculations, shadowing calculations (sun position, etc.) for the default 1-Average over days in frequency
method are performed over a period of days defined by the Shadowing interval.
Choose from:
Enter 1 if you want shadowing to be calculated every day (for greater detail but slower calculations).
• 1-Simple sky diffuse modelling, the default option performs a one-time calculation for sky diffuse
properties.
• 2-Detailed sky diffuse modelling, the required setting if you have shadowing surfaces with changing
transmittance (i.e. not all opaque or not all transparent) during the year. The program checks to see if
this might be the case and automatically selects this option if the shading transmittance varies. When
this option is selected, a warning is generated if the Shadowing interval (above) is > 1. In general (and
you should also read the previous field description), if shadowing surfaces are used with the
transmittance property, you should be careful to synchronize this calculation with the scheduled
occurrence of the transmittance (if any), or use 1, which will be the most accurate but will cause more
time in the calculations.
This field only applies to the 1-Average over days in frequency Shadow calculation method. When the 2-
Timestep frequency method is used, the 2-Detailed sky diffuse modelling option is always used.
- 1119 -
Advanced Calculation Options - Simulation
Simulation tab on Model Options dialog and Options tab on Simulation Options dialog
General Solution
Solution Algorithm
This option controls the overall algorithm used for all the surfaces in the simulation apart from any that may be
overriden through use of the construction Simulation solution algorithm selection for particular surfaces. Select
from:
• 1-CTF - The default method used in EnergyPlus for CTF calculations is known as the state space
method (Ceylan and Myers 1980; Seem 1987; Ouyang and Haghighat 1991). CTF is a sensible heat
only solution not taking into account moisture storage or diffusion in the construction elements.
• 2-Finite difference - This solution technique uses a 1-D finite difference solution in the construction
elements . It is a sensible heat only solution and does not take into account moisture storage or
diffusion in the construction elements. This option is required for PCM simulations and may improve
accuracy for sheet metal material layers in constructions and for chilled ceilings.
• 4-Combined Heat And Moisture Finite Element (HAMT) - A coupled heat and moisture transfer and
storage solution uses a one dimensional finite difference solution in the construction elements. It
requires further moisture transfer property data inputs which are defined in the "Moisture Transfer" on
page 1192 component.
• 5-Moisture Penetration Depth Conduction Transfer Function (EMPD) - A sensible heat diffusion
and an inside surface moisture storage algorithm that also needs additional moisture material property
data inputs which are defined in the "Moisture Transfer" on page 1192 component.
Difference Scheme
This field determines the solution scheme used by the Conduction Finite Difference model. There are two
options:
• 1-Fully implicit first order scheme which is first order in time and is more stable over time. But it may
be slower than option 2.
• 2-Crank Nicholson 2nd order which is second order in time and may be faster than option 1 but it can
be unstable over time when boundary conditions change abruptly and severely.
Δx = (CαΔt)0.5
Where:
- 1120 -
Advanced Calculation Options - Simulation
The default is 3. Typical values are from 1 to 3. Lower values for this constant lead to more nodes and finer-
grained space discretisation.
Relaxation factor
The finite difference solver includes under-relaxation for improved stability for interactions with the other
surfaces. This input field can optionally be used to modify the starting value for the relaxation factor. Larger
numbers may solve faster, while smaller numbers may be more stable. The default is 1.0. If the program
detects numerical instability, it may reduce the value entered here to something lower and more stable.
Airflow Network
Maximum iterations
Enter the maximum number of iterations allowed in finding an Airflow Network solution. If the number of
iterations at each simulation timestep is above the maximum number of iterations defined by this field, the
program could not find the solution and a Severe error is issued and the program is aborted. The default value
is 1000.
Note: In cases where a large opening exists (in particular horizontal openings) this value and the absolute
airflow convergence below may need to be increased by a factor of 10 or more to allow convergence to take
place.
Convection
- 1121 -
Warmup
Warmup or pre-conditioning is the process of repeatedly simulating the first day before the simulation proper
starts to ensure that the temperatures in the building fabric are realistic. Warmup continues until temperatures
and heat flows in each zone have converged. If convergence does not occur then simulation continues for the
maximum number of days as specified in the calculation option below.
Value to use
Research into the minimum number of warmup days indicates that 6 warmup days is generally enough on the
minimum end of the spectrum to avoid false predictions of convergence and thus to produce enough
temperature and flux history to start EnergyPlus simulation. This was based on a study that used a set of
benchmark reference buildings. It also was observed that convergence performance improved when the
number of warmup days increased. As a result, the default value for the minimum warmup days has been set
to 6. You should decrease this number only if you have knowledge that a specific model converges more
quickly than 6 days. You may wish to increase the value in certain situations when, based on review of
simulation outputs, it is determined that EnergyPlus has not converged. While this parameter should be less
than the previous parameter, a value greater than the value entered in the field Maximum number of
warmup days above may be used when users wish to increase warmup days more than the previous
maximum number of days. In this particular case, the maximum value will be automatically reset to the value
entered here and EnergyPlus will run exactly the number of warmup days specified here.
This error is usually caused by using very thick constructions (e.g. ground floors). You may need to increase
the Maximum number of warmup days to get convergence, but some anomalous buildings may still not
converge.
Convergence of the simultaneous heat balance/HVAC solution is reached when both the loads and
temperature criteria are satisfied. Both tolerances work the same way, one looks at temperatures and one
- 1122 -
Advanced Calculation Options - Simulation
looks at heating and cooling loads. After the second warm-up day, the program compares the maximum
temperature experienced in a space with the maximum temperature from the previous day. If those two
temperatures are within the tolerance, then it has passed the first warm-up check. It does a similar
comparison with lowest temperatures experience within all the zones. If the current simulation day and the
previous day values are within the tolerance, then it has passed the second warm-up check. A similar
comparison is carried out with the loads tolerance and the maximum heating and cooling loads that are
experienced within the spaces. Those are compared individually to the values for the previous day. If they are
both in tolerance, then the simulation has passed the third and fourth warm-up check. The simulation stays in
the warm-up period until ALL FOUR checks have been passed.
Note: The maximum number of warmup days will override the above convergence criteria, i.e. the
simulation proper will start even if convergence has not occurred after the maximum number of warmup days.
Shading
Maximum number of shadow overlaps
Enter the maximum number of figures per shadow overlap. The shadow overlaps is a measure of the amount
of complexity in the shading calculation and this maximum value allows you to limit the amount of time spent
in the solar initialisation calculations.
Note: entering a small value here can speed up simulations in complex buildings. If you plan to use
Maximum shadow overlaps below the default value of 15000 you should check accuracy of solar gains
relative to results using default value
Theoretically, Sutherland-Hodgman is a simpler algorithm but it works well in cases where receiving surfaces
(of shadows) are non-convex. The Weiler-Atherton implementation is only accurate where both casting and
receiving surfaces are convex. Warnings/severe errors are displayed when necessary. More details on
polygon clipping are contained in the Engineering Reference.
For example if you needed to access output reports data not normally provided by DesignBuilder such as
"Time Heating Setpoint Not Met While Occupied" then you might save a small IDF file in the DesignBuilder
EnergyPlus folder called Reports Variables Database.idf containing this data:
- 1123 -
After the simulation is finished the above setpoint not met monthly data would be included in the eso file which
can be viewed outside DesignBuilder to obtain the extra outputs.
Note: A more flexible way to include IDF is available through the EMS system. EMS includes the IDF data
within the dsb file so it is more portable. Also you can store and manage a list of various IDF datasets with
EMS which makes it easier to switch various models and/or outputs in and out very easily.
Other
Note: 'surfaces contained within a zone' are frequently generated when one of the zone merging options
is used where a partition or floor which would have separated two zones actually sits within the merged zone.
These surfaces do not refer to hanging partitions which are modelled using Internal thermal mass.
Output Data
You can control the data generated from simulations by making selections on the Simulation tab of the Model
options dialog, on the Output tab of the Simulation calculation options dialog or on the Outputs model data
tab.
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Output Options - Simulation
Note: It is not possible for DesignBuilder to display block level results when any type of zone merging has
been enabled regardless of this setting.
• No occupancy and,
• No cooling and,
• No heating and,
• No mechanical ventilation
The way building and block averages are calculated is described in the Comfort Analysis section.
Note: if you uncheck this option and all zones in the model are unoccupied then you will get a 'Zero floor
area error' message
When this option is switched off the "*" character is used in the Output:Variable IDF data to mean "all objects",
instead of specifying outputs for each object one by one. Because of the way that EnergyPlus is structured
this results in much more efficient processing.
• The Simulation output options on the Outputs model data tab can only be selected at building level and
building level options apply to all zones.
• Glazing results aren't displayed on the Heat Balance output graph on the Simulation Screen.
Tip: For very large models it is usually best to uncheck this option to reduce simulation times.
- 1125 -
Graphable Outputs - Energy
Surface heat transfer
Select this option to generate heat flow at surface boundaries. Note that selecting this option results in large
amounts of data being generated as EnergyPlus must generate output for every surface and window in the
zone and you should only select it if you need to look at the zone heat balance.The following EnergyPlus
reports are generated:
Latent loads
Select this option to include output of latent gains from occupants and other internals gains.
• 1-All periods - the default option where data is generated for all periods including times when the zone
is unoccupied.
• 2-Just occupied periods - data is only output during times when the zone is occupied so daily and
monthly comfort statistics become more meaningful.
• 3-User-defined schedule - data is only output during times when the value of the Reporting schedule
selected below has a value greater than zero.
Note that temperature distribution outputs (below) are unaffected by this setting as they have their own
specific reporting period and schedule options.
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Output Options - Simulation
Reporting schedule
Select the schedule to be used to restrict outputs when the Reporting period (above) is set to 3-User-
defined schedule.
Environmental
This option generates temperatures and humidity data. The following EnergyPlus reports are generated:
• Zone Thermal Comfort ASHRAE 55 Adaptive Model 80% Acceptability Status - Reports whether
the operative temperature falls into the 80% acceptability limits of the adaptive comfort in ASHRAE 55-
2010. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, i.e. the zone operative temperature is no more
than 2.5°C from than the ASHRAE 55 Adaptive model temperature. A value of 0 means outside the
limits (i.e. uncomfortable), and a value of -1 means not applicable, i.e. the running average outdoor air
temperature is below 10°C.
• Zone Thermal Comfort ASHRAE 55 Adaptive Model 90% Acceptability Status - Reports whether
the operative temperature falls into the 90% acceptability limits of the adaptive comfort in ASHRAE 55-
2010. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, i.e. the zone operative temperature is no more
than 3.5°C from than the ASHRAE 55 Adaptive model temperature. A value of 0 means outside the
limits (i.e. uncomfortable), and a value of -1 means not applicable, i.e. the running average outdoor air
temperature is below 10°C.
• Zone Thermal Comfort ASHRAE 55 Adaptive Model Running Average Outdoor Air Temperature -
the running average of the daily average outdoor dry-bulb temperatures of the previous 30 days.
• Zone Thermal Comfort ASHRAE 55 Adaptive Model Temperature - the ideal indoor operative
temperature, or comfort temperature, as determined by the ASHRAE-55 adaptive comfort model. The
80% acceptability limits for indoor operative temperature are defined as no greater than 2.5°C from the
adaptive comfort temperature. The 90% acceptability limits are defined as no greater than 3.5°C from
the adaptive comfort temperature.
Note: ASHRAE 55 Adaptive outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are not available on
DesignBuilder Simulation screen.
Note: Since valid ASHRAE 55 Adaptive outputs are only generated when the running mean outside air
temperature is higher than 10°C, they apply mainly to summer overheating comfort analyses and so do not
pick up winter underheating.
- 1127 -
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Category I Status - reports whether the
operative temperature falls into the Category I (90% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the
European Standard EN15251-2007. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means
outside the limits, and a value of -1 means not applicable.
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Category II Status - reports whether the
operative temperature falls into the Category II (80% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the
European Standard EN15251-2007. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means
outside the limits, and a value of -1 means not applicable.
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Category III Status - reports whether the
operative temperature falls into the Category III (65% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the
European Standard EN15251-2007. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means
outside the limits, and a value of -1 means not applicable.
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Running Average Outdoor Air Temperature -
reports the weighted average of the outdoor air temperature of the previous five days, an input
parameter for the CEN-15251 adaptive comfort model.
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Temperature - reports the ideal indoor operative
temperature, or comfort temperature, as determined by the CEN-15251 adaptive comfort model.
Category I, II, and II limits for indoor operative temperature are defined as no greater than 2, 3, and 4°C
from this value respectively.
Note: CEN Standard 15251 Adaptive outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are not
available on DesignBuilder Simulation screen.
CIBSE TM52
Select this option to generate TM52 outputs.
Building category
Select the building category. See "Comfort Analysis" on page 1389 for more details.
Note: CIBSE TM52 outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are currently not available on
DesignBuilder Simulation screen.
CIBSE TM59
Select this option to generate TM59 overheating analysis outputs. When this option is checked the following
further options can be selected.
Note: CIBSE TM59 outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are currently not available on
DesignBuilder Simulation screen.
Mechanical ventilation
Selecting this output will add results according to TM59 chapter 4.3, as described in the TM59 section.
Vulnerable occupants
Selecting this output will change the building category for predominantly naturally ventilated buildings
according to TM59 chapter 4.2 as described in the TM59 section.
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Output Options - Simulation
Corridors
Selecting this output will produce results according to TM59 chapter 4.5 as described in the TM59
section.
Note: Please be sure to read the detailed discussion on this option in the TM59 temperature control
section before selecting it, especially if you plan to the use the model for energy analysis as well as for
TM59 overheating analysis.
Fanger
Select this option to generate Fanger PPD and PMV outputs.
Note: PMV outputs should only be viewed on a zone by zone basis at hourly or sub-hourly intervals.
When viewing averages over longer intervals the meaning of this output can easily become distorted. For
example consider a simple case where there is extreme overheating in the summer (e.g. average PMV = +3)
and similarly extreme underheating in the winter (e.g. average PMV = -3). The average over the year might be
close to zero, but that does not mean that the building was comfortable throughout the year! For similar
reasons the building average PMV should be used with extreme caution.
Pierce 2-Node
Select this option to generate the following Pierce 2-Node outputs:
Temperature distribution
Select this option to generate Temperature distribution data for each zone.
Reporting period
You can restrict the outputs for simulation temperature distribution only in 2 ways using the options:
• 1-All periods - data is included for all periods including times when the zone is unoccupied.
• 2-Just occupied periods - the default option where data is only included for times when the
zone is occupied.
• 3-User-defined schedule - data is only included for times when the value of the Reporting
schedule selected below has a value greater than zero.
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Reporting schedule
Select the schedule to be used to restrict outputs when the Reporting period (above) is set to 3-User-
defined schedule.
Details of this report are shown in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.
Daylight factor data is written to the .eio file and the daylight illuminance and glare data is written to the eso
file for viewing in the Results Viewer.
Daylight factors
Daylight factors are ratios of interior illuminance at a specific location to exterior horizontal illuminance. In
EnergyPlus, they are pre-calculated hourly for every shadow calculation day for every exterior window of a
daylight zone. The pre-calculated daylight factors are interpolated between hours and for the actual sky
conditions in the time-step calculation of the daylighting performance of daylight zones.
EnergyPlus reports the daylight factors for four sky types (clear, turbid clear, intermediate, and overcast) at
noon time (12:00pm) for each exterior windows (base window without shading) in the eio file when the daylight
factors are first calculated. This reports all hourly pre-calculated daylight factors.
Details of this report are shown in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.
Miscellaneous Outputs
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Output Options - Simulation
SQLite output
Output from EnergyPlus can be written to SQLite files for manipulation outside of DesignBuilder using
standard spreadsheet tools and/or Results Viewer. When this option is selected all of the predefined database
tables as well as time series related data is included in the SQLite output. The description for SQLite outputs
is described fully in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.
RDD File
Select this option is you would like an RDD file to be generated. The RDD file includes a list of all EnergyPlus
output reports that could be selected for the simulation.
It also impacts table report "Annual Building Utility Performance Summary" sub-table "Comfort and Setpoint
Not Met Summary".
It also impacts table report "Annual Building Utility Performance Summary" sub-table "Comfort and Setpoint
Not Met Summary".
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Display - Model Options (Site)
Display tab on Model Options dialog
Analysis type
DesignBuilder user interface adapts to the currently selected Analysis type as set under Show Data for
Calculations. This ensures that the Model data and other UI elements are relevant to the calculation results.
You can change the Analysis type for the model at any time to carry out different calculations.
The list of Analysis type options available will depend on the Location of the site. For example when the site is
located in the UK, it possible to set the Analysis type to 2-SBEM or 10-DSM for simplified or more detailed
EPC and Part-L compliance checking modes.
Edit Screen
Display tab on Model Options dialog.
Dynamics
By default the full rendered image is displayed during dynamic view operations such as orbiting, zooming and
panning . However on systems with slower graphics display you may prefer to switch to using the wire frame
option for a more "snappy" response. Options are:
• 1-Rendered - the default setting where the whole building image is retained during the operation. For
a large models/slow graphic adapters, this can result in a jerky motion in which case you should use...
• 2-Wire-frame - where the building is represented using a wire frame which moves smoothly even for
large models/slow graphic adapters.
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Edit Screen
Note: This option is different from the others on the Display tab in that any setting you make while at
block level or below is stored independently for that block. This allows you to make different settings on
different blocks depending on the size of the zones in that block. Any setting made while at building level
will be applied as a default for all blocks in the building that have not had their own label size setting
made. This allows you to set a label size while at building based on the size of most zones in the model, but
override that setting for blocks that may have larger or smaller zones than most in the building.
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Display zone inner surfaces OFF
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Edit Screen
By default the option is switched off and the zone inner surfaces are only represented by a dotted line on the
floor plane when at block level. To get a clearer picture of where all of the zone inner surfaces are, you can
switch this option on.
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Display filled external walls OFF
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Edit Screen
Generally for standard extruded blocks it is best to show external walls to help reference locations within the
block with respect to existing openings etc.
For Pitched roof blocks and General block forms the external walls can obscure the internal space and so the
default for these block types is to hide the external walls when at block level in the modeller. You can override
this default behaviour using this option.
Note: It can be useful to switch off external wall display when drawing partitions in roof blocks.
- 1137 -
Display zone filled external walls OFF
When the Display zone filled walls option is switch on the display of zones looks similar to blocks but the
information referred to above is lost. See screenshot below.
- 1138 -
Edit Screen
- 1139 -
Display zone inner volume floors ON
- 1140 -
Edit Screen
- 1141 -
Display zone inner floor perimeters OFF
Tip: It is particularly important to switch this option on when using an imported elevation to show the
position of windows, doors etc.
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Edit Screen
Show windows
You can speed up display in the edit screen by switching off window display. Windows are shown by default.
Tip: A more convenient way to control the visibility of other blocks in the current building, when at block
level, is to through the Surrounding block/zone display toolbar icon.
Tip: A more convenient way to control the visibility of other zones in the block, when at zone level, is to
through the Surrounding block/zone display toolbar icon.
• 1-Activity Template, where zone floors are shaded according to the Activity Template selection
allowing different areas of the block to be easily identified.
• 2-HVAC Template, where zone floors are shaded according to the HVAC Template selection to show
the distribution of HVAC systems in the block.
• 3-None
The image below illustrates shading by Activity Template.
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Automatic HVAC network break
When using Detailed HVAC, the branches on the layout diagram will often need to cross each other without
making any actual connections. When this option is on, DesignBuilder helps to clarify complex layouts by
inserting "breaks" where pipes and ducts cross each other so that they don't appear connected. For very large
complicated HVAC layouts, the calculations that determine where to make breaks can be very time
consuming. This option allows you to switch off the automatic breaks display feature to help speed up
program operation when editing complex HVAC layouts. The option only affects the HVAC layout display and
does not impact at all on calculations.
Visualisation Display
Display tab on Model Options dialog.
Dynamics
This option affects the display of the model when orbiting, zooming, panning etc in the Visualisation Screen:
• 1-Rendered - the default setting where the whole building image is retained during the operation. For
a large models/slow graphic adapters, this can result in a jerky motion in which case you should use...
• 2-Wire-frame - where the building is represented using a wire frame which moves smoothly even for
large models/slow graphic adapters.
Show shadows
Use this option to display shadows in the Visualisation screen.
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Drawing Tools - Model Options (Site)
Note: when displayed, the ground plane extends just beyond the x-y size of the model and hides any
other building object situated at or below z=0.
View
Enter the angular field of view. 50° is the default. For a wide-angle view use a larger value. This can be useful
inside a building where you need to capture more of the space in the view. For a "telephoto" effect, with
reduced perspective effects, use a smaller value.
Antialiasing
Antialiasing is the process used to remove 'jaggy' edges of lines which are not horizontal or vertical. Most
modern medium-high-end graphics adapters allow effective antialiasing to be automatically applied to
OpenGL screens using hardware acceleration. If you have one of these cards you should be getting sharp
lines already and you can switch the DesignBuilder software antialiasing off. See hardware requirements for
more on this.
If you switch on software antialiasing you can select a quality setting from 1-4 where 4 gives the smoothest
edges and takes longest time to generate.
Note: some low-end graphics adapters are not suited to software antialiasing because they lack hardware
acceleration for this feature.
Options for:
• Draw Block
• Direction Snaps
• Point Snaps
• Drawing Guides
• Object Rotation
• Protractor
• Miscellaneous Edit
To learn more about Drawing Tools go to the Block Creation Options and Snaps, Drawing Guides & Protractor
sections.
Draw Block
Drawing Tools tab on Model Options dialog.
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Direction Snaps
Drawing Tools tab on Model Options dialog.
See Direction Snaps entry under Snaps, Drawing Guides & Protractor.
Point Snaps
Drawing Tools tab on Model Options dialog.
See Point Snaps entry under Snaps, Drawing Guides & Protractor.
Drawing Guides
Drawing Tools tab on Model Options dialog.
See Drawing Guides entry under Snaps, Drawing Guides & Protractor.
Object Rotation
Drawing Tools tab on Model Options dialog.
You can change the rotation increment to control the angular increments for the object rotation process.
Protractor Tool
Drawing Tools tab on Model Options dialog.
Miscellaneous Edit
Drawing tools tab on Model Options dialog.
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Block - Model Options (Block)
outline partitions that do not connect at both ends (known in DesignBuilder as hanging partitions) will remain
in blue even after the Rezone block command.
Alternatively, to convert all outline partitions in the building to standard partitions and hence rezone the whole
building you can use the Rebuild command. This will take longer to process than the Rezone block command
as it recalculates the surface and adjacency geometry as well rezoning.
Note: switching Automatic block zoning off also prevents rezoning following other partition edit
commands such as delete, copy and undo/redo.
You can edit certain aspects of a building block geometry by clicking on the Model options icon while at the
block level. This opens the Model Options dialog box with the Block tab open.
Note: This tab is only enabled when the Model options dialog is opened at Block level in the model
Block Geometry
Active
Keep this checkbox checked if the block is to be accessible for editing etc, i.e. it is not "ghosted". However,
there may be times when it is helpful to ghost the block so that it becomes semi-transparent allowing blocks
behind to be accessed, selected and edited. In this case this checkbox can be unchecked.
Tip: It is usually more convenient to control the ghosting of blocks through the "Ghost Blocks" on page 95
toolbar icon while at building level.
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Form
Once a block has been created its Form can be changed retrospectively by making a selection from the drop
list. Options are typically:
• 1-Extruded, where the block geometry is generated by extruding the floor plan by a user-defined
height setting.
• 2-Sloped walls where the block geometry is generated by applying uniformly sloping walls to a block
perimeter drawn on a horizontal plane, or
• 3-Pitched roof in which a pitched roof form is automatically generated from a block perimeter drawn on
a horizontal plane, or
If the block has 5-General block form due to a previous block edit operation, then only these block form
options are available:
• 2-Sloped walls or
• 3-Pitched roof or
• 5-General - the form will be automatically set to this form when it is has been edited in some way, for
example by using the cutting or boolean geometry tools so that it takes on a general form.
Tip: When you change the form of a block from 1-Extruded to 3-Pitched Roof or 2-Sloping Walls the
original form will be remembered so that even if you have edited the block by cutting it or dragging a face,
when you convert the form back to 1-Extruded, the original modified form will be restored.
Slope
For blocks of 2-Sloping wall form only, enter the slope angle between horizontal and the sloping walls. A
slope of 10° means a shallow slope and 80° means a steep slope.
Height
The height setting is used for the 1-Extruded and 2-Sloping wall block forms to create the block geometry. It
can be retrospectively changed here.
Gable roof
For blocks of 3-Pitched roof form only, check this option if the pitched roof should be generated using a
gable, where possible.
Roof overhang
For blocks of 3-Pitched roof form only, enter the extent of the pitched roof overhang (in m or ft).
Roof slope
For blocks of 3-Pitched roof form only, enter the slope angle between horizontal and the sloping pitched roof
elements. A slope of 10° means a shallow slope and 80° means a steep slope.
Transition Angles
Allow pitched roof construction
If pitched roof constructions are to be differentiated from external wall and flat roof constructions for the
current block then this checkbox should be checked. This is the default setting and enables two further
settings (below) to control how DesignBuilder classifies block surfaces as being external wall, pitched roof or
flat roof. Alternatively, you can force all non-horizontal surfaces to be walls by unchecking this option.
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Project Details - Model Options (Building)
Use the Notes tab to record General information about the building model:
• Project Details
• Owner Details
• Analyst Details
• Notes
The Project, Owner and Analyst Details data is used as a header in UK Part-L2 Compliance Check reports.
Project Details
Enter the building Sector, Project name and address.
Owner Details
Enter the name and contact details for the building owner/client.
Analyst Details
Enter your own name and contact details.
Notes
You can enter any information about the building model in free text format.
Note: If you want to add hard carriage returns in the text you should hold the <Ctrl> key down while
pressing <Enter>. Pressing <Enter> on its own will save and close the dialog.
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Carbon - Model Options (Building)
Carbon tab on Model Options dialog
LCA
LCA time of study
Enter the number of years over which the optimisation LCA (Simple) optimisation KPI should be calculated.
Note that this setting does not affect One Click LCA outputs or any of the embodied carbon outputs on the
Cost and Carbon screen.
Note: This extra coating factor is currently only applied to low emissivity coatings. Assessment is based
on assumptions built into DesignBuilder which compare the glazing U-value with that of a typical unit without
Lo-e coating.
Interzone Airflow
The Interzone Airflow dialog can be accessed from the Tools menu when the Scheduled natural
ventilation model option is set.
Interzone Airflow provides simplified treatment of air exchange between zones when working with the
Scheduled natural ventilation model option. For example, when extracting air from a corridor zone it is may be
necessary to model the flow of "make-up" air from various adjacent occupied spaces such as offices due to
the reduced pressure in the corridor. The Interzone Airflow dialog allows time-varying flows between the
various zones to be defined so that EnergyPlus can calculate the flow rate at each time step in the simulation.
Flows on the Interzone Airflow dialog are applied to Simulations as well as Heating and Cooling design
calculations.
Note: Interzone airflows only affect the energy balance of the receiving zone. There is no effect on the
source zone. Interzone airflows can be complementary and include multiple zones, but the balancing of
flows between zones is left to the user’s discretion.
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Interzone Airflow
Tip: More advanced interzone airflow calculations are possible using Calculated natural ventilation for
multi-zone airflow with or without HVAC system operation.
Units
If you are using SI units then you can select the airflow units using the drop list on the right side of the dialog.
Choose from the following options:
• m3/hr
• l/s
• m3/s
If you are using IP units then the airflow rate units are ft3/min.
The Add New Airflow Path dialog, allows you to define each airflow path as it is added by selecting the
source and destination zones and entering the flow rate and a schedule to define how the flow varies with
time. A delta temperature can also be entered to provide a simple temperature-based control option.
Source zone
Select the “source” zone that exhausts the Interzone airflow. To select the zone, click on the ellipsis on the
right, highlighted in the screenshot below.
- 1151 -
Destination zone
Select the “destination” zone that receives the Interzone airflow. To select the zone, click on the ellipsis on the
right, highlighted in the screenshot below.
Flow rate
Enter the full design volume flow rate using the units selected on the main Interzone Airflow dialog. The
design volume flow rate is the maximum amount of mixing air expected. The design value is modified by the
schedule fraction (below).
Delta temperature
This setting controls when air from the source zone moves into the receiving zone. It is a delta temperature (in
delta C or delta F). If the value is positive, the temperature of the zone from which the air is being drawn
(source zone) must be Delta temperature warmer than the receiving zone air or else no mixing occurs. If this
value is negative, the temperature of the source zone must be Delta temperature cooler than the receiving
zone air or else no mixing occurs. If this parameter is zero, mixing occurs regardless of the relative zone
temperatures.
Schedule
Select the schedule that modifies the maximum design flow rate parameter. Values in the schedule should be
between 0.0 and 1.0.
To delete an Airflow path, select its line in the grid and click on the Remove button on the right of the
Interzone Airflow dialog.
Outputs
The thermal impact of interzone airflows can be viewed on the DesignBuilder results screen through the
Internal Natural Ventilation output.
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Components
Components
Components represent individual building elements and can be referenced from other components, templates
or model data. The following components are available:
• Constructions
• Glazing
• Materials
• Panes
• Schedules
• "Simulation Hourly Weather Data" on page 1216
• Profiles
• Textures
• Window gas
• "Metabolic Rates" on page 1230
• Local shading
• Window blinds
• Vents
• Holidays
• "Ground Domain" on page 1245
• "Moisture Transfer Data" on page 1262
• "Fuel Emission Factors" on page 1268
Library components are loaded into the model at the time the file is created and from then on they are
associated specifically with the model and so are known as Model components. Any later change made to
the Library components does not affect existing building models because they reference their own set of
Model components.
1. Add, Edit, Delete, Import and Export Component library data from the Opening Screen - Component
Library tab.
2. If a model file is loaded you can edit Model components from the Components tab in the Navigator
panel (Learning mode switched off) or by using the Data management panel on the right of the screen
(Learning mode switched on).
3. In either case, to add a component open up the component type you wish to define by clicking on the
+ to the left of the component icon, then click on the category of component you wish to define. Now
click on the Green '+' to add a component of the selected category.
4. Import/export Model component using the File > Export > Library data menu command to create a
.ddf file with the .dsb model file open.
5. To import the previously exported Model component data to the Component library close the .dsb file
and import the .ddf file to the library.
6. Load the latest library components into your model using the Import library components and
templates to model command from the Tools menu when a model is loaded. Any new data that has
been added to the library since the model file was created will be imported to the model. Also if there
have been any changes to library component data, this new data will overwrite the original data.
Important Note: any component you add while a model is open will be added to Model components and
not to the Component library. It will only be added to the library and hence to new models if you export the
new component model data in .ddf form and import the .ddf file to the library before creating the new model.
- 1153 -
Note: As well as importing DDF files created directly by DesignBuilder more advanced users can also
create their own component and template data sets (outside DesignBuilder) for importing. See the Importing
Custom Templates and Components topic for more information on the process involved.
Colour codes
Components are coded by colour in all selection lists as follows:
• Red shows user data, i.e. data that was not supplied by DesignBuilder.
• Green indicates that the data is derived from a reputable national or international source (e.g.
ASHRAE, CIBSE).
• Blue indicates that the data is generated internally by DesignBuilder.
• Black is used for all other data.
Construction Components
The thermal properties of the construction are calculated based on layers, each layer having a material
reference and thickness. The combination of thickness and material gives the thermal characteristics of the
layer. Layers can include repeating thermal bridges.
Construction components also store derived data on the thermal properties of the overall layered construction
for example U-value, convective heat transfer coefficients etc.
• Layers
• Surface Properties
• Image
• Calculated
• Internal Source
• Condensation Analysis
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the construction icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting constructions from a list.
General
Name
Enter a unique name for this construction.
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Construction Layer Data
Source
A text field where you can enter the source of the construction data. For example if it came from a national
energy code or certification scheme then it might be useful to say something about that here.
Category
Choose a category for the construction.
Region
If the construction is only relevant in a particular region then select that region here.
Colour
The colour selected here is used to shade any surfaces that use this construction on the Constructions and
Glazing Model Data Visualisation screen.
Definition
You can select the way you would like to define the construction. The options depend on whether you are
using EnergyPlus or SBEM Analysis type and whether it is a construction from the Floor (ground) or Below
grade wall categories.
• 1-Layers where the construction is defined by specifying layers each having a material and thickness.
• 5-C-factor when the category is Below grade wall
• 6-F-factor when the category is Floor (ground)
Calculation Settings
Simulation solution algorithm
Some constructions may need a particular solution algorithm to obtain most realistic results. For example
PCMs require a finite difference solution. However simulations may run slowly if all surfaces are simulated
using the finite difference solution method. This option allows you to override the overall simulation solution
algorithm for any surfaces using this construction.
Options are:
• 1-Default where surfaces using this construction receives no special treatment and is simulated using
the default solution algorithm.
• 2-CTF where surfaces using this construction are simulated using the CTF algorithm regardless of the
general solution method selected.
• 3-Finite difference where surfaces using this construction are simulated using the finite difference
algorithm regardless of the general solution method selected.
• 4-HAMT where surfaces using this construction are simulated using the Combined Heat And
Moisture Finite Element (HAMT) solution method. This coupled heat and moisture transfer and
storage solution uses a one dimensional finite difference solution in the construction elements. It
requires further moisture transfer properties which are defined in the "Moisture Transfer" on page 1192
component.
• 5-EMPD where surfaces using this construction are simulated using the Moisture Penetration Depth
Conduction Transfer Function (EMPD) solution method. This sensible heat diffusion and an inside
surface moisture storage algorithm also needs additional moisture material property information defined
in the "Moisture Transfer" on page 1192 component.
You may wish to use this option to select the 2-Finite difference option for constructions which have one or
more of:
- 1155 -
• Phase change materials (PCMs) - these can be simulated with the CTF option but the phase change
characteristics will be ignored so any construction using PCMs would normally have the 3-Finite
difference option set.
• We understand that Detailed HVAC Chilled ceilings may benefit from use of the finite difference
algorithm.
• Constructions using thin sheets of metal may not be treated accurately by the default CTF algorithm
and for most accurate treatment you may wish to use finite difference for such constructions.
Bear in mind that the simulation times will increase when using the finite difference option even for just a few
surfaces. If you are in doubt, you may find it worthwhile experimenting with the 2 solution methods, comparing
hourly results, to see the effect of changes. Depending on the case, it may or may not be worth the extra
simulation time required by the finite difference option.
Note 1: Any settings made here will only take effect if the Allow individual constructions to override
solution method model option is checked.
Note 2: This setting only applies to simulations. Heating and Cooling design calculations use the CTF
algorithm for all surfaces.
Constructions involving metal cladding are roof or wall systems where metal forms an integral part of the
construction, such as metal twin skin systems where the insulation is located between the metal skins and
where the metal skins are typically in the range 0.4 mm to 1.2 mm. Cladding with z-spacers would come into
this category as would composite metal panel systems.
If the metal is simply used as an external shield against weather, such as a rainscreen, this is not classed, for
the purposes of calculations as "metal cladding".
Metal cladding systems are divided into two broad categories, these being:
a. built up metal cladding systems involving rail and bracket or z-spacer systems with insulation within the
panels
b. composite panel metal cladding systems with insulation inside the panels
Layers
Set the number of layers first, then select the material and thickness for each layer. Use the Controls in the
Info Panel to insert and delete layers. For example to delete a layer, first click on the material for the layer to
identify which layer you want to delete, then click on Delete layer.
Note: You should not include surface resistance (film coefficient) layers to represent the
resistance of the air films adjacent to the inner and outer surfaces. These are included automatically
by DesignBuilder.
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Construction Layer Data
Layer order
You should define the layers in the same order they appear in the actual construction starting with the
outermost layer and finishing with the innermost. The outermost layer will be positioned adjacent to outside (or
in the case of Semi-exposed walls) adjacent to the Semi-exterior unconditioned zone.
For interior partition surfaces the order of the layers is not defined directly from the usage of the construction
in a surface, so in this case the layer order is determined through a series of checks to see which zone is
relatively ‘more external’. For example, if one zone is unconditioned and the other not then the partition layers
are ordered so that the outermost layer is next to the unconditioned zone. When both zones are occupied, a
similar check is made using heating and cooling setpoint temperatures. If after all these checks the zones are
still both equally ‘internal’ then the direction of the layers will be set up in an arbitrary way.
Tip: When modelling an asymmetric partition between 2 zones that have identical zone type and heating
and cooling setpoints and you need to specify the exact order of the partition layers, you can make a small
difference in heating or cooling setpoint temperature between the 2 zones. For example, consider the case of
an occupied atrium zone adjacent to an office zone and the partition between the 2 has a thermal mass layer
that must be adjacent to the atrium. This situation could be modelled for example by setting the heating
setpoint of the atrium to be 0.1°C lower than the office (or if the heating setpoints are the same then the
cooling setpoint could be set 0.1°C higher) and by making the thermal mass layer to be the outermost layer in
the construction layer definition.
DesignBuilder sets up the layer order for asymmetric partitions such that the outermost layer is next to the
zone which it considers to be the more "external" of the two zone. The method used to decide which of the
zones is relatively more external is as follows:
Step 1. Check whether zones are heated or not (Heating checkbox on the HVAC tab).
a. If only one zone has heating switched on then the outermost layer is set to be next to the unheated
zone.
b. If both zones are heated then the Heating setpoint temperatures are checked for both zones. The zone
with the lower heating temperature setpoint is considered to be the most external and the outermost
layer is set next to it.
c. If both zones are heated and have the same heating setpoint temperature then go to Step 2.
d. If both zones are unheated then go to Step 2.
Step 2. Check whether cooling is active in the zones (Cooling checkbox on the HVAC tab).
a. If only one zone has cooling switched on then the outermost layer is set to be next to the uncooled
zone.
b. If both zones are cooled then the Cooling setpoint temperatures are checked for both zones. The zone
with the higher cooling setpoint temperature is considered to be the most external and the outermost
layer is set next to it.
c. If both zones are cooled and have the same cooling setpoint temperature then go to Step 3.
d. If both zones don't have cooling then go to Step 3.
Step 3. Both zones are considered to be "equally external" and the direction of the layers are set up in an
arbitrary way.
Note: The above checks are carried out before the simulation starts and scheduled setpoint values are
not used. The setpoints referred to above are the "headline" setpoint values entered under the Environmental
control header on the Activity tab.
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Thickness
This field characterizes the thickness of the material layer. This is the dimension of the layer in the direction
perpendicular to the main path of heat conduction.
Note: Modelling layers thinner (less) than 0.003 m is not normally recommended; rather, add those
properties to one of the adjacent layers.
If the material referenced is defined as a simple R-value then the layer thickness does not affect the thermal
performance of the construction.
If the material is defined as having a fixed thickness then the layer thickness is loaded automatically when the
material is selected and the thickness does not have to be entered and cannot be edited.
Photovoltaic Panel
When the Building Integrated Photovoltaics Construction category is selected, you can define the
properties of a BIPV panel below the data for the outermost layer.
Tip: See "Photovoltaic (PV) Systems" on page 462 for a description of the process involved in modelling
BIPV systems.
Performance type
Select from:
• 1-Simple, and
• 2-Equivalent One-Diode.
Depending on the selection you will be able to select from either a simple or equivalent one-diode definition of
the panel.
Tip: BIPV panels are included in the electrical generation side of the model by specifying them on the
Generator list tab of the Electric load centre dialog when one of the d.c. Buss types is selected.
Performance model
Choose the component to be used to define the performance of the collector. When the 1-Simple
performance type is selected, select from the list of previously defined Simple Photovoltaic components, or
when 2-Equivalent One-Diode is selected then choose from one of the Equivalent One-Diode components.
• 1-Decoupled, where the cell temperature of modules in the array is computed based on an energy
balance relative to NOCT conditions.
• 2-Decoupled Ulleberg Dynamic, where the cell temperature is calculated based on a dynamic model
developed by Ulleberg12.
• 3-Integrated Surface Outside Face where the cell temperature is obtained from the outside face of
the surface. Energy exported by the module is removed from the heat transfer surface.
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Construction Layer Data
• 4-Integrated Exterior Vented Cavity The cell temperature is obtained from the exterior baffle
temperature in the naturally ventilated exterior cavity model. Energy exported by the module is
removed from the exterior baffle surface.
To model PV panels that are integrated in some way with the underlying construction, choose one of the
integrated heat transfer mode options. Otherwise, the decoupled options will have a similar effect as drawing
a separate PV panel on top of the surface at building level.
Modules in parallel
This field is the number of series-wired strings of PV modules that are in parallel to form the PV array. The
product of this field and the next field should equal the total number of modules in the array.
The Modules in parallel and Modules in series data are only used for 2-Equivalent One-Diode PV arrays.
Modules in series
This field is the number of modules wired in series (on each string) to form the PV array. The product of this
field and the previous field should equal the total number of modules in the array.
Bridging
You can add repeating thermal bridging to any layer to model the effect of a relatively more conductive
material bridging a less conductive material. For example wooden joists bridging an insulation layer.
Note: bridging effects are not yet used directly in EnergyPlus, but are used in energy code compliance
checks requiring U-values to be calculated according to BS EN ISO 6946. However see below for a
workaround to this limitation.
Although EnergyPlus cannot allow repeating bridging directly in simulations it is possible to approximate the
effect of bridging by adjusting the thickness of the insulation to a value that gives the same U-value as the
bridged construction calculated using BS EN ISO 6946. This is easily achieved by following these steps:
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2. Note the construction bridged U-value on the Calculated tab, see below.
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Construction Layer Data
3. Going back to the layers tab, switch off all bridging and set the U-value to the bridged U-value by
clicking on the Set U-value link in the Info panel.
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4. Enter the recorded bridged U-value (0.397 W/m2-K in this case) on the dialog and press OK.
EnergyPlus provides a simplified approach to create equivalent constructions and model the ground heat
transfer through below-grade walls and slab-on-grade floors for the building energy code compliance
calculations. The approach taken behind the scenes in EnergyPlus is to create constructions based on the
user-defined C-factor or F-factor with two layers: one concrete layer (0.15 m thick) with thermal mass, and one
fictitious insulation layer with no thermal mass. So it is only necessary to set up C-factor and F-factor
construction input settings and allow EnergyPlus to take care of the details.
ASHRAE 90.1 defines below-grade wall, which needs to use C-factor construction, as the portion of a wall in
the building envelope that is entirely below the finish grade and in contact with the ground. C-factor
constructions differ from the usual wall constructions in that they describe an entire construction rather than
individual layers. This object is used when only the wall height (depth to the ground) and the C-factor are
available.
ASHRAE 90.1 defines slab-on-grade floor, which needs to use F-factor construction, as the portion of a slab
floor of the building envelope that is in contact with the ground and that is either above grade or is slightly
below the grade (less than or equal to 24 inch, or 600 mm, below the final elevation of the nearest exterior
grade). The F-factor represents the heat transfer through the floor, induced by a unit temperature difference
between the outside and inside air temperature, on per linear length of the exposed perimeter of the floor.
Both C-factor and F-factor constructions exchange heat on their outer boundary with the ground temperature
which is defined by the site level monthly Ground > FCfactorMethod ground temperatures and which can be
accessed from the site details section at site level in DesignBuilder. During the simulation these C-factor and
F-factor surfaces exchange heat with the FCFactor ground temperatures only. These FCfactorMethod ground
temperatures can be either read from the header of the hourly weather file used or taken from user’s manual
input.
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Surface Properties
Note: Basement ground floors were introduced into DesignBuilder in order to distinguish floors from slab-
on-grade floors and are normally outside the scope of slab-on-grade floor definition described in ASHRAE
90.1 and are not regulated by the 90.1 Standard. The baseline model takes the same construction for
basement ground floor as that used in the proposed model, where a standard layered floor construction is
normally used.
C-Factor
C-Factor is the time rate of steady-state heat flow through unit area of the construction, induced by a unit
temperature difference between the body surfaces. The C-Factor unit is W/m2·K. The C-factor does not
include soil or air films. ASHRAE Standard 90.1 and California Title 24 specify maximum C-factors for
underground walls depending on space types and climate zones.
The area of the slab-on-grade or underground floor and the exposed perimeter length (direct contact with
ambient air) are both calculated automatically by DesignBuilder behind the scenes.
F-Factor
F-Factor represents the heat transfer through the floor, induced by a unit temperature difference between the
outside and inside air temperature, on the per linear length of the exposed perimeter of the floor. The unit for
this input is W/m·K. ASHRAE Standard 90.1 and California Title 24 specify maximum F-factors for slab-on-
grade or underground floors depending on space types and climate zones.
Surface Properties
Surface properties tab on Constructions Dialog.
Data on this tab allows the inside and outside surface convection properties of the construction to be set to
fixed values. This may be useful where specific known convection properties are to be used or for validation
exercises where DesignBuilder outputs are to be compared with those for other software in which particular
convection coefficients have been used.
In most cases you should leave the check boxes on this tab unchecked.
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To fix the outside convection heat transfer coefficient for all surfaces using this construction, check the Fix
convective heat transfer coefficient check box under the Outside Surface header and enter the coefficient.
Likewise for inside properties.
Note that if the SimpleCombined Outside convection option has been selected at building level on the
Constructions tab under Surface Convection or on the Calculation options or Model options dialogs the
outside convective heat transfer coefficients set will actually be used as a combined convective plus radiation
coefficient.
Construction Image
Image tab on Constructions Dialog.
This tab shows the construction to scale (except for very thin layers) using material textures as specified.
This tab provides further information on the heat transmission properties of the construction.
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Construction Cost Data
U-values and R-Values are shown including and excluding the effect of surface resistance and are calculated
with and without bridging effects.
Note that when working with library constructions, the outer surface resistance is calculated assuming a
'typical' exposure to wind. When working with model constructions the outer surface resistance is calculated
using the wind exposure as defined on the Location tab at site level.
Cost type
There are 2 ways to define the cost per area of a construction:
• 1-Auto calculate where the cost per surface area of the construction is calculated based of the cost of
the layers used in the construction, or,
• 2-Manual entry where the cost per surface area of the construction is entered manually.
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Internal Source
Internal Source tab on Constructions Dialog.
The internal source tab is visible only when the model is set to use Detailed HVAC. It allows data on the
position and nature of any heating or cooling pipes included within the construction. Internal sources are
associated with one of these components:
• Heated floors or Chilled ceiling components by virtue of the construction being selected as the
floor/ceiling in a zone with heated floor or chilled ceiling defined. For example in the case of a heated
floor the heated floor component must be added to the appropriate HVAC zones, but also a floor
construction with an internal source must be associated with at least one floor surface in that building
zone. If you set up a model with a heated floor added to an HVAC zone whose equivalent building zone
has any floor surfaces with a floor construction selected not having an internal source then an error will
be generated.
• Ground loop heat exchangers of the type 3-Surface to define the location of the heat exchanger pipes.
Internal source
Check this option if the construction includes a heating or cooling source.
Dimensions
This field refers to the detail level of the calculation. Select from the 2 options below for a 1-D or 2-D solution:
• 1-D is the default choice for a one-dimensional calculation. This is appropriate for hydronic
heating/cooling when water heater/cooler performance is relatively unaffected by return and supply
water temperatures.
• 2-D triggers a two-dimensional solution. With 2-D solutions, the calculation of the conduction transfer
functions (CTF) is fairly intensive and requires extra simulation time. Note that with the 2-D option the
solution regime is two-dimensional internally but it has a one-dimensional boundary condition imposed
at the inside and outside surface (i.e., surface temperatures are isothermal).
Note: Because the 1-D solution method does not allow the return water temperature to be accurately
calculated it is not recommended for when accurate plant energy consumption outputs are required. In this
case choose the 2-D option.
The 2-D solution method generally takes about 20% longer to run a simulation relative to the 1-D option.
Tube spacing
This field defines how far apart (in m or in) the hydronic tubing are spaced in the direction perpendicular to the
main direction of heat transfer. This parameter is only used when the 2-D solution is selected (above).
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Condensation Analysis
Condensation Analysis
Condensation analysis tab on Constructions Dialog.
DesignBuilder Condensation Analysis allows you to generate reports on the occurrence of interstitial and
surface condensation based on the ISO 13788 standard.
The analysis is accessed from the Condensation analysis tab on the Constructions dialog. Controls are
provided under the Options header to control the outputs generated and there are also tools to allow you to
set internal and external boundary conditions for the condensation calculations.
The moisture vapour resistance properties for each material used in the construction layers must be entered
on the materials dialog for accurate condensation analysis results.
Options
Data under the Options header allows you to set various calculation and display options for the condensation
analysis.
Month
When viewing a Glaser diagram select the month from the drop list. The default option is 13-Worst
case month where DesignBuilder displays results for the month with the worst case of moisture build
up.
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Interface
If you requested interstitial condensation details then you should enter the interface number here. The
definition of each interface with condensation is given under the Condensation Interfaces heading in
the report.
Environment source
Select from:
• 1-Maintained internal environment, where you can enter fixed values for internal air and RH
• 2-Maintained internal air temperature,
• 3-Boundary data,
In all cases monthly external conditions are defined in the Boundary data.
Fixed internal RH
Humidity class
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Condensation Analysis
Example Output
An example report generated by the Condensation analysis tool is shown below.
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Boundary Data
The Boundary data dialog can be accessed from the link on the info panel of the Condensation analysis tab.
Materials
Material data contains data accessed from these tabs:
• General thermo-physical and "Moisture Transfer" on page 1192 data on the building material.
• Surface Properties - data on the surface characteristics of the material.
• Green Roof - if the material is a green roof enter the data on the corresponding here.
• Embodied Carbon - data on embodied carbon contained the material.
• Phase Change - dynamic thermo-physical properties for Phase Change Materials (PCM).
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the material icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting a material from a list.
Materials are used to define the properties of construction layers. There are 2 types of material:
1. Detailed properties including the thermophysical properties, surface properties and visual appearance
for the material.
2. Simple resistive material with no thermal mass. This option will typically be used to model air gaps.
When a Material is used for the Construction of a building surface, care should be taken to not attempt to
model assemblies that were not included in the intended scope of applicability for the underlying heat transfer
models. The building surface models are for normal applications to building energy efficiency where the main
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Material Thermophysical Properties
focus is on assemblies with some thermal resistance. Extremely thin and/or highly conductive material layers
should be neglected from the Construction rather than included because they will not contribute to the
assembly’s overall thermal resistance or heat capacity. For some cases, thin and/or highly conductive
materials are a serious problem for the heat transfer modelling and the values for thickness, conductivity,
density and specific heat are checked for appropriateness. This check calculates the Material’s thermal
diffusivity from the inputs for conductivity, density, and specific heat and compares it to a maximum threshold
of 1.E-5 (m2/s). If the diffusivity is above this threshold, then the program checks if the layer is sufficiently thick
and may issue a warning if it is too thin and highly conductive.
Material Thickness
Force thickness
If the material should only be used in layers of a particular thickness then check this box and enter the
material thickness that applies below. When materials having this option set are selected on the Constructions
dialog the layer thickness will be fixed with the material thickness described below.
This option may be useful for materials such as bricks, tiles, insulation and PCMs which are usually supplied
with a particular thickness.
Material thickness
The fixed layer thickness of the material (in m or in) when selected.
This should be the dimension of the layer in the direction perpendicular to the main path of heat conduction.
Modelling layers thinner (less) than 0.003 m is not normally recommended; rather, add those properties to one
of the adjacent layers.
Detailed Properties
Thermal bulk properties
Thermal conductivity
This field is used to enter the thermal conductivity of the material layer. Thermal conductivity must be greater
than zero.
This field is used to enter the thermal conductivity of the material layer (in W/m-K or Btu-in/h-ft2-F). Thermal
conductivity must be greater than zero. Modelling layers with conductivity higher than 5.0 W/(m-K) is not
normally recommended.
Specific heat
This field represents the specific heat of the material layer (in J/kg-K or Btu/lb-F).
Note: EnergyPlus uses scientific SI units but data reported in textbooks and references will often use
kJ/kg-K or J/g-K instead. Take care!
Only values of specific heat of 100 or larger are allowed. Typical ranges are from 800 to 2000 J/kg-K.
Density
This field is used to enter the density of the material layer in (kg/m3 or lb/ft3). Density must be a
positive quantity.
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Note: Some textbooks and references may use units of g/m3. Take care!
Simple Resistance
Thermal resistance
This field is used to enter the thermal resistance (R-value) of the material layer (in m2-K/W or ft2-F-hr/Btu).
Note: Materials defined using an R-value do not contribute to construction (and hence building) thermal
mass in the calculations and so should be used with care, especially if you plan to use the model for dynamic
thermal simulations. You are especially advised not to use R-value materials on the innermost layer of
constructions and you should not generally use them for representing materials that have mass. They are best
used for modelling air gaps and insulation layers.
Vapour Resistance
You can enter vapour diffusion properties here if the material is to be used within a construction which is have
a condensation analysis carried out. Otherwise this data does not have to be entered for general simulations.
Note: The moisture diffusion data provided in the literature tends to be very approximate, much more so
than for thermal properties. This is due to large variations in these properties that have been measured in lab
tests.
Vapour factor
Enter the vapour factor for the material. There are no units.
Vapour resistivity
Enter the vapour resistivity, a property of the bulk material (in MNs/g.m).
Surface Properties
Surface properties tab on Materials Dialog
Surface properties are only used in simulations when the material is located on an inner or outer surface of
the construction.
Note: The absorptance values in this object impart surface properties to the construction and should be
applied to the thermally significant inner and outer layers in the overall assembly. Attempting to trick the
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Surface Properties
program by modelling thin “paint” layers to apply surface properties is not a good idea; the models were not
intended to support such strategies.
Solar absorptance
The solar absorptance field in the Material input syntax represents the fraction of incident solar radiation that
is absorbed by the material. Solar radiation includes the visible spectrum as well as infrared and ultraviolet
wavelengths. This parameter is used when calculating the amount of incident solar radiation absorbed by
various surfaces and affects the surface heat balances (both inside and outside as appropriate). Values for
this field must be between 0.0 and 1.0.
Visible absorptance
The visible absorptance field in the Material input syntax represents the fraction of incident visible wavelength
radiation that is absorbed by the material. Visible wavelength radiation is slightly different than solar radiation
in that the visible band of wavelengths is much more narrow while solar radiation includes the visible spectrum
as well as infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.
In EnergyPlus, this parameter is used when calculating the amount of incident visible radiation absorbed by
various surfaces and affects the surface heat balances (both inside and outside as appropriate) as well as the
daylighting calculations.
In Radiance daylighting calculations, the surface reflectance for visible light is calculated as 1 - Visible
absorptance.
It is very important to check the surface reflectance values used in Radiance and EnergyPlus daylighting
calculations because any library values used will be generic and the actual surface reflectance will typically
depend more on any surface finish such as paint than on the material itself.
Tip: You can calculate Visible absorptance from a surface Light Reflectance Value (LRV) by dividing the
LRV by 100 and subtracting from 1.
Note: Specularity settings must also be made to complete surface reflectance data for Radiance.
Roughness
This field is a character string that defines the relative roughness of a particular material layer. This parameter
only influences the the calculated exterior convection coefficient. A special keyword is expected in this field
with the options being “VeryRough”, “MediumRough”, “Rough”, “Smooth”, “MediumSmooth”, and
“VerySmooth” in order of roughest to smoothest options.
Colour
The colour data is used for display purposes when the texture is not available for any reason. It is not used in
any of the calculations.
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Texture
The texture is used to represent this material when it is specified as either the inside or outside material of a
construction which is selected in the building model. It is also used to represent the material in diagrams of
any construction using this material.
Daylighting
Specularity
Enter a specularity value for the material surface to define the way that light reflects from it. The value entered
must be between 0 and 1. A value of 0 provides purely diffuse reflection, while a value of 1 gives no diffusion,
representing mirror-like behaviour.
Note: the Visible absorptance must also be adjusted to complete the surface property behaviour for
Radiance and Daysim calculations.
Specular reflection is the mirror-like reflection of light from a surface where each incident ray is reflected, with
the reflected ray having the same angle to the surface normal as the incident ray. Some devices used to
enhance daylighting performance such as light shelves and blinds with directional reflection properties require
a non-zero value of specularity.
Material class
The material class defines how the material is defined in Radiance and Daysim daylighting simulations. The
options are:
• 1-Plastic, the default option uses the Radiance "Plastic" material option
• 2-Metal, uses the Radiance "Metal" material option.
DesignBuilder tests suggest that this setting doesn't make any observable difference to daylight results for
typical simulations but it is provided for the sake of completeness.
Green Roof
Green roof tab Materials Dialog
1. Create a green roof material using data on the Green roof tab of the material dialog.
2. Create a roof construction using the green roof material as the outermost layer.
3. Specify the green roof construction on roof surfaces as appropriate.
The green roof can receive water during the simulation from an irrigation system and/or from site precipitation
(defined separately from the hourly weather data). The initial properties of the soil layer (day 0 of the
simulation) are defined on the Green roof tab of the Materials dialog.
EnergyPlus documentation states: "This model was developed for low-sloped exterior surfaces (roofs). It is
not recommended for high-sloped exterior surfaces (e.g., walls)." However it may be possible to
approximately model green walls, though we are not yet aware of any validation of the underlying EnergyPlus
model and certainly the irrigation would have to be treated differently to roofs as walls will not naturally trap
much precipitation.
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Green Roof
Tip: EnergyPlus documentation suggests that green roofs may require "more timesteps" than normal
simulations.
Note: Specifying a green roof material as the material for a component block will not work - these only use
materials for their reflective properties.
Background
From A green roof model for building energy simulation programs, D.J. Sailor, Portland State
University:
A green roof (aka ecoroof or vegetated roof) is a roof that contains a soil (growing media) and vegetation layer
as its outermost surface. The construction between the growing media and the roof structure varies, but
typically includes a drainage layer, a root barrier, and a waterproof membrane. Green roof growing media
depth is typically between 10 and 30 cm, although some implementations (referred to as intensive green
roofs) have deeper soils capable of sustaining large shrubs and even trees. The thinner implementations
(typically < 20 cm), known as extensive green roofs, are more common, but can only sustain smaller plants
and ground cover.
While green roofs have been in use for centuries, there recently has been a surge in interest in installing
green roofs in both retrofit and new construction applications. Potential benefits of green roofs include
aesthetic appeal, habitat, storm water reduction, and energy savings."
There is widespread recognition and a growing literature of measured data that suggest green roofs can
reduce building energy consumption. The EnergyPlus Green Roof capability can assist developers and
architects in assessing the likely magnitude of energy savings associated with various implementation options
(e.g., soil type/depth, irrigation options, plant type). It provides a quantitative and physically-based building
energy simulation tool that represents the effects of green roof constructions and facilitates more rapid spread
of green roof technologies and make it possible to account for green roof benefits in state energy codes and
related energy efficiency standards such as LEED.
• Long wave and short wave radiative exchange within the plant canopy,
• Plant canopy effects on convective heat transfer,
• Evapotranspiration from the soil and plants, and
• Heat conduction (and storage) in the soil layer
The ability to track moisture-dependent thermal properties is not implemented yet due to stability issues in the
CTF scheme, but is under development for use with the finite difference solution scheme made available in
EnergyPlus starting in version 2. As implemented in EnergyPlus the green roof module allows the user to
specify “ecoroof” as the outer layer of a rooftop construction. The user can then specify various aspects of the
green roof construction including growing media depth, thermal properties, plant canopy density, plant height,
stomatal conductance (ability to transpire moisture), and soil moisture conditions (including irrigation). The
model formulation includes the following:
• Simplified moisture balance that allows precipitation, irrigation, and moisture transport between two soil
layers (top and root zone).
• Soil and plant canopy energy balance based on the Army Corps of Engineers’ FASST vegetation
models (Frankenstein and Koenig), drawing heavily from BATS (Dickenson et al.) and SiB (Sellers et
al.).
• Soil surface (Tg) and foliage (Tf) temperature equations are solved simultaneously each time step,
inverting the CTF to extract heat flux information for the energy balance calculation. The detailed
energy balance analysis and resulting equations, being rather complicated, are summarized here. The
interested reader is referred to the FASST documentation cited herein for the complete development.
The end result is a set of two simultaneous equations for temperature—one for the soil surface and the
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other for the foliage.
The energy budget analysis follows the Fast All Season Soil Strength (FASST) model developed by
Frankenstein and Koenig for the US Army Corps of Engineers. FASST was developed, in part, to determine
the ability of soils to support manned and unmanned vehicles and personnel movement. In order to
accomplish this, however, FASST tracks the energy and moisture balance (including ice and snow) within a
vegetated soil. It is a one-dimensional model that draws heavily from other plant canopy models including
BATS (Dickinson et al.) and SiB (Sellers et al.). FASST is implemented in EnergyPlus with only a few
modifications to adapt it for use with a relatively thin soil layer.
• 1-Simple is the original Ecoroof model - based on a constant diffusion of moisture through the soil. This
model starts with the soil in two layers. Every time the soil properties update is called, it will look at the
two soils moisture layers and asses which layer has more moisture in it. It then takes moisture from the
higher moisture layer and redistributes it to the lower moisture layer at a constant rate.
• 2-Advanced is the later Ecoroof model. If you use it, you will need to increase your number of
timesteps in hour for the simulation with a recommended value of 20. This moisture transport model is
based on a project which looked at the way moisture transports through soil. It uses a finite difference
method to divide the soil into layers (nodes). It redistributes the soil moisture according the model
described in
Marcel G Schaap and Martinus Th. van Genuchten, 2006, ‘A modified Maulem-van Genuchten
Formulation for Improved Description of the Hydraulic Conductivity Near Saturation’, Vadose
Zone Journal 5 (1), p27-34.
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Green Roof
Height of Plants
The average height of plants in the green roof.
The table below is reproduced from Global Leaf Area Index Data from Field Measurements, 1932-2000
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The table below is reproduced from the PhD Thesis of Chen Yu entitled The intervention of plants in the
conflicts between buildings and climate - A case study in Singapore
Plant description Mean Leaf Area Index (LAI) Picture
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Green Roof
- 1179 -
Plant description Mean Leaf Area Index (LAI) Picture
"Fern-like" 6.59
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Green Roof
- 1181 -
Plant description Mean Leaf Area Index (LAI) Picture
- 1182 -
Green Roof
- 1183 -
Plant description Mean Leaf Area Index (LAI) Picture
Tree 1.69
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Embodied Carbon
Leaf Reflectivity
The fraction of incident solar radiation that is reflected by the individual leaf surfaces. Solar radiation includes
the visible spectrum as well as infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. Values for this field must be between 0.1
and 0.4.
Leaf Emissivity
This field is the ratio of thermal radiation emitted from leaf surfaces to that emitted by an ideal black body at
the same temperature. This parameter is used when calculating the long wavelength radiant exchange at the
leaf surfaces. Values for this field must be between 0.8 and 1.0 (with 1.0 representing “black body”
conditions).
Embodied Carbon
Embodied Carbon tab on Materials Dialog.
You can enter data on the embodied carbon that is associated with the material. This definition for embodied
energy is provided on the Bath ICE website:
Embodied energy may be taken as the total primary energy consumed during resource extraction,
transportation, manufacturing and fabrication of a product... to separate it from operational impacts.
Likewise embodied carbon is the carbon released in the above processes. It has become common practice
to specify the embodied carbon as ‘Cradle to Gate’, which includes all carbon until the product leaves the
factory gate. The final boundary condition is ‘Cradle to Site’, which includes all of the carbon emitted until the
product has reached the point of use (i.e. the building site).
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Embodied carbon
Enter the amount of embodied carbon associated with the material. When using SI units, the units are
kgCO2/kg.
Source
The source of the data in text form. Much of the data provided by DesignBuilder is derived from the Bath ICE
database.
• Cradle to Gate - the carbon emitted to bring the material to the factory gate (but not to transport it to
the building site)
• Cradle to Site - as above but additionally includes consideration of transport from factory to the
building site.
Equivalent carbon
Equivalent carbon is similar to Embodied carbon (above) but also includes the effects of other greenhouse
gases so as to provide an equivalent amount of CO2 that would cause the same amount of global warming as
the actual greenhouse gases (which may include sulphur dioxide, methane etc) emitted by the processes
involved in production of the material.
Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are often impregnated into gypsum board, plaster, concrete or other
materials in order to increase the thermal storage capacity of ceilings, walls and floors. Some PCM
manufactures also provide mats of pure PCM "pockets" which can be included as layers within constructions.
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Phase Change Materials
By completing a transition between solid and liquid phases PCMs can absorb large quantities of latent heat.
The high latent heat storage capacity of these materials works to effectively increase thermal mass which
tends to moderate interior temperatures and improve comfort conditions. PCMs are frequently used to reduce
the need for mechanical cooling, peak load shifting and improving solar energy utilisation.
DesignBuilder allows you to enter manufacturers phase change properties in the form of a temperature -
enthalpy curve on the Phase change tab of the Materials dialog. A set example PCM datasets is provided with
the materials database that comes with DesignBuilder.
Solution Algorithm
Important note: The Finite Difference solution algorithm must be used to include the effect of material
phase change properties in simulations. If you use the CTF algorithm the material will behave as if its
PCM option were not selected. Note also that the CTF solution algorithm is the only option available for
Heating and Cooling design so the phase change effect of the material will not be seen in these calculations.
An error message to this effect will be generated for PCM simulations where the CTF solution method is
selected.
Tip: With Learning mode active, the Info panel for the Phase change tab includes a Set PCM Simulation
options link which allows a set of default simulation properties recommended for PCM analyses to be quickly
loaded.
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12 (higher values should increase accuracy at the expense of
Timestep
longer simulation times)
Solution algorithm 2-Finite difference
Difference scheme 1-Fully implicit first order
Space discretisation constant 3
Relaxation factor 1
Inside face surface temperature 0.01 (lower values should increase accuracy at the expense of
convergence criteria longer simulation times)
• 1-Basic the method described in this section where the same melting/freezing temperature/enthalpy
curve is used
• 2-Hysteresis which allows the melting/freezing process to follow different temperature/enthalpy curves,
representing an effect that is commonly seen in actual building envelope phase change material
applications.
k = ko + k1(Ti − 20)
where:
ko is the 20°C value of Thermal conductivity entered on the Material properties tab of the Materials dialog.
k1 is the change in conductivity per degree temperature difference from 20°C (this field).
Temperature-Enthalpy Curves
The temperature – enthalpy set of inputs specify a two column tabular temperature-enthalpy function for the
basic material. Sixteen pairs can be specified. Specify only the number of pairs necessary. The tabular
function must cover the entire temperature range that will be seen by the material in the simulation. It is
suggested that the function start at a low temperature (-20°C is typical), and extend to 100°C. Note that the
function has no negative slopes and the lowest slope that will occur is the base material specific heat.
Enthalpy contributions of the phase change are always added to the enthalpy that would result from a
constant specific heat base material. Examples of simple generic enthalpy temperature function and also
manufacturers data is shown below.
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Phase Change Material - Basic
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Number of points on the curve
Select a number from 1 to 16. The number of points selected here will determine the number of points
available for data entry below.
Temperature x
This field is used to specify the temperature of the temperature-enthalpy function for the material. Units are °C
or °F.
Enthalpy x
This field specifies the enthalpy that corresponds to the previous temperature of the temperature-enthalpy
function. Units are J/kg or Btu/lb.
• 1-Basic where the same temperature/enthalpy curve is used for both melting and freezing.
• 2-Hysteresis the method described in this section where the melting and freezing processes follow
different temperature/enthalpy curves, representing an effect that is commonly seen in actual building
envelope phase change material applications.
Liquid State
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Phase Change Material - Hysteresis
Melting Curve
Solid State
Solid state thermal conductivity
This is the constant thermal conductivity used while the material is fully solid (in W/m-K or Btu-in/h-ft2-°F).
Freezing Curve
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Moisture Transfer
General tab on Materials Dialog.
Data for moisture transfer is associated with a material component by checking the Include moisture
transfer settings checkbox under the Moisture Transfer header on the Materials dialog and selecting a
Moisture transfer data component.
Cost type
You can define the cost of each material used in the building fabric in one of 3 ways through the cost type
setting:
• 1-Cost per surface area where the material cost is defined per area of the construction surface. This is
the most commonly used way to define costs for most materials of low to medium thickness.
• 2-Cost per mass where the cost of the material is defined based on mass (cost per kg or lb)
• 3-Cost per volume where the cost of the material is defined based on volume (cost per m3 or ft3). This
option is often used to define the cost for poured construction layers such as cast concrete.
Glazing Components
Glazing systems are simulated in EnergyPlus according to the ISO 15099 2003 standard.
There are 2 ways to enter Glazing component data depending on the Definition method setting:
1. Material Layers - where the properties of the glazing component is defined in detail through selection
of a number of glazing layers (Panes) separated from each other by window gas layers. In this case
there are two tabs on the Glazing data dialog:
• Layers where the glazing panes and window gas layers are entered
• Calculated where derived calculated data on the glazing system is displayed
• Cost where the cost of the glazing system is defined per area of glazing.
2. Simple - the glazing properties for the overall glazing system are defined using summary U-value,
Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) and Visible transmittance (VT) data. This approach is
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Glazing Layer Data
recommended when only manufacturers summary glazing performance data is available or where only
whole assembly glazing data is available. If more detailed data on the constituent panes is available
then the more accurate Layers method should be used.
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the glazing icon on the Openings tab in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting glazing components from a list.
General
Name
Enter a unique name for this glazing component.
Description
An optional description of the glazing component.
Source
A text field where you can enter the source of the glazing data. For example if it came from a national energy
code or certification scheme then it might be useful to say something about that here.
Category
Choose a category for the glazing component.
Note: If the glazing includes integrated photovoltaic generation or thermochromic shading then it is
important to select the appropriate category to make further settings available.
Region
If the glazing component is only relevant in a particular region then select that region here.
Colour
The colour selected here is used to shade any windows that use this glazing on the Constructions and
Glazing Model Data Visualisation screen.
Definition Method
Definition method
Glazing performance can be defined using 2 methods:
• 1-Material layers where glazing pane and window gas layers are selected.
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• 2-Simple where the performance of the overall glazing component is defined using 3 main global
parameters: U-value, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) and Visible transmittance (VT).
The rest of this page describes the definition of glazing performance by the 1-Material layers method.
Layers
Number layers
The DesignBuilder glazing data consists of layers of panes interspersed with 1 or more layers of window gas.
Set the number of glazing layers first (e.g. 2 = double glazing, 3 = triple glazing etc), then select the Pane and
Window gas material for each layer.
When the Thermochromic category has been set, each pane layer can be defined as either a Pane group or
as a single Pane, depending on the Pane definition selection.
Pane definition
When using the Thermochromic category, you can choose to define the properties of each glazing layer either
using a pane of constant properties or a pane group which allows temperature-varying properties to be
defined. Select from:
Note: Low emissivity glazing systems can be defined by specifying an appropriate 'LoE' Pane type for
the Innermost Pane. You can find some typical low emissivity panes under the 'Clear ' Panes category.
When using the 1-Material layers method, a set of summary derived data for the overall glazing system such
as internal and external surface heat transfer coefficients, U-values etc is displayed on the Calculated tab.
Flip layer
Check this checkbox to reverse the direction of the associated glazing layer so that the inside face becomes
the outside face and vice-versa.
Photovoltaic Panel
When the Glazing Integrated Photovoltaics Glazing category is selected, you can define the properties of a
BIPV film (which is assumed to be associated with the window outer surface) below the data for the outermost
layer.
Tip: See "Photovoltaic (PV) Systems" on page 462 for a description of the process involved in modelling
BIPV systems.
Performance type
Select from:
• 1-Simple, and
• 2-Equivalent One-Diode.
Depending on the selection you will be able to select from either a simple or equivalent one-diode definition of
the panel.
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Glazing Layer Data
Tip: BIPV panels are included in the electrical generation side of the model by specifying them on the
Generator list tab of the Electric load centre dialog when one of the d.c. Buss types is selected.
Performance model
Choose the component to be used to define the performance of the collector. When the 1-Simple
performance type is selected, select from the list of previously defined Simple Photovoltaic components, or
when 2-Equivalent One-Diode is selected then choose from one of the Equivalent One-Diode components.
Modules in parallel
This field is the number of series-wired strings of PV modules that are in parallel to form the PV array. The
product of this field and the next field should equal the total number of modules in the array.
The Modules in parallel and Modules in series data are only used for 2-Equivalent One-Diode PV arrays.
Modules in series
This field is the number of modules wired in series (on each string) to form the PV array. The product of this
field and the previous field should equal the total number of modules in the array.
Radiance Daylighting
If the glazing is to be used to model diffusing glazing in a Radiance daylighting simulation then the relevant
parameters can be defined here.
Diffusing
Check this checkbox if the glazing should diffusely scatter transmitted light in Radiance daylighting
simulations. Checking this option exposes the following 3 items.
Specularity
Enter a value between 0 and 1 to define the specularity of the glazing.
Roughness
Enter a value between 0 and 1 to define the roughness of the glazing.
Transmitted specularity
Enter a value between 0 and 1 to define the fraction of transmitted light that is not diffusely scattered.
The sample outputs below show illuminance maps for the same simple test cell with varying degrees of
diffusing glazing with a sunny clear sky applied.
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Specular (Non-Diffusing) Glazing: The Diffusing option is switched off. Note the fairly clean projection of the
window shape on the floor. The dividers can just about be seen.
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Glazing Layer Data
Part Diffusing Glazing. The diffusion option is switched on and the transmitted specularity is set to 0.5. The
projection of the window onto the working plane can still be made out but it is no longer clear due to the
diffusion of light.
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Fully Diffusing Glazing. The Diffusing option is switched on and the transmitted specularity is set to 0 to
give pure diffuse transmission. The projection of the window onto the working plane can no longer be seen
due to the perfect diffusion of light.
The Calculated data on the Glazing tab is based on the Layer data on the previous tab as well as some
assumptions about the surface heat transfer properties. The calculated data can be used as indicative data for
reporting and comparison with other glazing components. It can also be used to help set up glazing model
descriptions in cases where global glazing system data is known rather than data on individual panes and
window gases.
Two different U-values are provided. The first uses the ISO 10292 / EN 673 standard method and the second,
displayed in bold on the dialog uses the ASHRAE method.
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Simple Glazing Definition
Note: The U-values displayed on this tab are provided as indicative data for reporting and comparison
with other glazing components. It is important to understand that these values are not used during
EnergyPlus simulations, where the heat transfer through windows is calculated using more sophisticated
algorithms based on dynamically varying convective heat transfer coefficients as well as physics-based
simulation of heat transfer through the gas and pane layers.
For the ASHRAE calculation, the U-value is determined by EnergyPlus through a heat balance calculation on
the glazing layers using the following standard ASHRAE winter conditions to calculate the convective heat
transfer coefficients. These boundary conditions are based on the values used in the WINDOW program:
The Total solar transmission (SHGC) (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) is the fraction of incident beam solar
radiation that enters the zone. This includes the transmitted solar radiation and the inward flowing heat from
the solar radiation that is absorbed by the glazing. SHGC applies only to the centre of the glazed part of a
window construction; it does not include the effect of beam solar radiation absorbed by a window frame or
divider. SHGC is calculated for the following standard summer condition:
Tip: You can manually refresh the Calculated data by clicking on the Update link in the Info panel on the
right of the dialog. This causes EnergyPlus to be run behind the scenes to calculate the ASHRAE U-value,
which is read into DesignBuilder from the .eio file.
• U-value,
• Solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and,
• Visible transmittance (VT) data.
You can read details of the method used behind the scenes in EnergyPlus to represent the simple glazing
definitions in the report Modeling Windows in Energy Plus with Simple Performance Indices by Dariush
Arasteh, Christian Kohler and Brent Griffith.
U-Value
This field describes the value for window system U-Factor, or overall heat transfer coefficient. Units are in
W/m2K. This is the rated (NFRC) value for U-factor under winter heating conditions. The U-factor is assumed
to be for vertically mounted products.
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Tip: You can find some detailed information about the U-value to use and how the NFRC and EU format U-
values differ on the DesignBuilder b.i.g. website
g-values and SHGC values ranges from 0 to 1, a lower value representing less solar gain. Shading coefficient
values are calculated using the sum of the primary solar transmittance (T-value) and the secondary
transmittance. Primary transmittance is the fraction of solar radiation that directly enters a building through a
window compared to the total solar insolation, the amount of radiation that the window receives. The
secondary transmittance is the fraction of inwardly flowing solar energy absorbed in the window again
compared to the total solar insolation.
Source Wiki Solar Gain
Visible transmittance
Enter the visible transmittance for the glazing coefficient, a fractional value from 0 to 1. It is the rated (NFRC)
value for visible transmittance at normal incidence.
Frame
Simple glazing data can either include or exclude the effect of the frame. If the glazing data includes the frame
then you should make sure to switch off frames in the openings model data to ensure that they are not
double-counted.
Note: When using the simple glazing definition it is important to understand that there may be significant
differences in performance between the simple window system and the usual more detailed model. This
option should therefore only be used when detailed layered data is not available.
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Pane Components
Pane Components
Pane components holds data on the thermal, solar, visible and infrared properties of individual window panes.
• General
• Thermal
• Solar
• Visible
• Infra-red
• Spectral data
Tip: The Info Panel on the right of the Dialog contains information on the naming convention is used with
EnergyPlus glazing data.
Note: DesignBuilder provides an option to load Glass data directly from WINDOW6 mdb files through a
link on the Info panel.
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting panes from a list.
Panes - General
General tab on Panes Dialog.
Enter the name, description and category of the pane. Also enter the source of the data.
Data type
The Data type allows you to define whether the glazing pane has solar transmission and reflectance data in
spectral or broadband form. The options are:
• 1-Broadband - where transmission and reflection data is averaged across all wavelengths,
• 2-Spectral - the more accurate option where solar transmission and reflectance data is defined for a
range of wavelengths between 0.1 and 4 microns on the Spectral data tab of the dialog.
Note: Where possible you should use glazing panes which have Spectral data defined because the
calculations in EnergyPlus are more accurate accounting for the way solar transmission varies with
wavelength. In particular, the results for glazing systems using spectral data can be significantly more
accurate relative to the equivalent broadband data for panes with selective coatings e.g. low-e glass.
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amongst other things, detailed spectral data for around 2500 manufacturers glazing pane products from
around the world.
Thickness
Enter the thickness of the pane.
Thermal conductivity
This field is used to enter the thermal conductivity of the material layer. Thermal conductivity must be greater
than zero.
For uncoated glass, when alternative optical properties are available—such as thickness, solar index of
refraction, and solar extinction coefficient—they can be converted to equivalent solar transmittance and
reflectance values using the equations given in Glass Optical Properties Conversion.
Solar transmittance
The solar transmittance for the pane at normal incidence averaged over the solar spectrum.
Solar reflectance
The inside (back-side) and outside (front-side) solar reflectance properties of the pane at normal incidence
averaged over the solar spectrum.
Note, For uncoated glass, when alternative optical properties (thickness, solar index of refraction, and solar
extinction coefficient) are available, they can be converted to equivalent solar transmittance and reflectance
values using the equations given in 'Conversion from Alternative Specification of Glass Optical Properties' in
the EnergyPlus documentation).
For uncoated glass, when alternative optical properties are available—such as thickness, solar index of
refraction, and solar extinction coefficient—they can be converted to equivalent solar transmittance and
reflectance values using the equations given in Glass Optical Properties Conversion.
Visible transmittance
The visible transmittance for the pane at normal incidence averaged over the solar spectrum, and weighted by
the response of the human eye.
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Panes - Long-wave (Infra-red) Properties
Visible reflectance
The inside (back-side) and outside (front-side) visible reflectance properties of the pane at normal incidence
averaged over the solar spectrum, and weighted by the response of the human eye.
Long-wave transmittance
The long wave transmittance at normal incidence.
Note that although EnergyPlus data input allows a range of inputs between 0 and 1 the only value that is
allowed in the calculations is zero so this value is now fixed at zero.
Emissivity
Enter the inside (back-side) and outside (front-side) hemispherical emissivity properties of the pane. Note that
emissivity is 1 minus the infra red reflectance value.
Spectral Data
Spectral data tab on Panes Dialog.
Solar transmission and reflectance data is entered for a range of wavelengths between 0.1 and 4 microns.
This data will generally have been extracted from the IGDB (International Glazing Database) and supplied by
DesignBuilder.
The data is arranged in comma-separated table form with a single line per wavelength, each line having 4
columns:
1. Wavelength (microns)
2. Solar transmittance (Tsol)
3. Solar reflectance, front (Rsol1)
4. Solar reflectance, back (Rsol2)
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In cases where the pane layer has been flipped in the Glazing dialog then the last 2 columns (front and back
reflectance) will be reversed in the data supplied to EnergyPlus for the pane layer.
Note: DesignBuilder allows spectral data to be edited either at library level or within the model.
The optical properties of uncoated glass are sometimes specified by index of refraction, n, and transmittance
at normal incidence, T. The following equations show how to convert from this set of values to the
transmittance and reflectance values required by DesignBuilder and EnergyPlus. These equations apply only
to uncoated glass, and can be used to convert either spectral-average solar properties or spectral-average
visible properties (in general, n and T are different for the solar and visible). Note that since the glass is
uncoated, the front and back reflectances are the same and equal to the R that is solved for in the following
equations.
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Load Glass Data From WINDOW6
DesignBuilder provides an option to load Glass data directly from a WINDOW6 mdb file into the current Pane
dataset. The option is accessed either from the Import button at the bottom of the Panes dialog , or when
using Learning mode, from a link on the Info panel. When selecting the Import option you will be prompted for
the name of the mdb file containing the data to be loaded. Having selected the mdb filename a list of the
Glass types is presented as shown in the screenshot below.
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Select the Glass type to be imported by clicking on the appropriate row of data and pressing the OK button. All
Glass data supported by DesignBuilder, including spectral data, will be loaded from the database into the
currently open Pane dialog.
Data is grouped by Manufacturer by default, but other column headers can be selected as the grouping
category instead by dragging the existing group header back to the column header row and dragging the new
grouping column category header to the group box. The screenshot below shows the data grouped by the
IGDB version number (when the product was introduced) instead.
Buttons are provided to the right of the screen to allow you to expand or collapse all of the group headings.
You can sort the data by any column by clicking on the appropriate column header. Click again to toggle
between ascending and descending sort order.
Note: There is no direct way to import data directly the IGDB database. The data must be imported as a
2-stage process: IGDB to WINDOW6 then WINDOW6 to DesignBuilder.
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Schedules
To define a pane group, first set the Number of bands to be used to define varying performance. Each band
has a Temperature below which the simulated pane layer should use the properties of the corresponding
pane.
The pane associated with a particular band becomes active when the temperature of the thermochromic layer
rises above the band midpoint temperature. In the example below the performance of the thermochromic
glazing is defined using 5 bands. Each band defines the transmission characteristics of a pane layer for a
particular temperature range. When the temperature is at or below the first band mid-point (24 + 34) / 2 =
29°C, the pane LBNL Thermochromic1_24... is used to define the glazing layer characteristics. For
temperatures between the first band mid-point and the second band mid-point (29°C to 41°C) the pane LBNL
Thermochromic1_34... is used etc.
Flip layer
You can use the Flip layer checkboxes to reverse the direction of the associated glazing layer so that the
inside face becomes the outside face and vice-versa.
Schedules
Schedules are used in DesignBuilder to define:
• Occupancy times
• Equipment, lighting HVAC operation
• Heating and Cooling temperature setpoints
• Transparency of component blocks (usually seasonal)
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Apart from their use for defining Transparency of component blocks, Schedules are only used in simulations
when the Timing model option is set to 'Schedules'
• 7/12 Schedules - where each day of the week and each month of the year has a unique daily variation
defined using profiles.
• Compact Schedules - more flexible definition using EnergyPlus Schedule:Compact text-based data
format.
• Day schedules - special type of schedule defining the profile for a single day. Used for defining Cooling
design day range multipliers.
Use the Schedule type drop list on the Schedules dialog to make the selection.
Tip: You can visualise all schedules used in the model by adding the following line to your IDF:
Then after a simulation has been run you can use the Results Viewer to view the schedule values output by
EnergyPlus.
Extra IDF can be added using one of two methods: EMS scripting or the Include IDF data option.
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the schedules icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting schedules from a list.
7/12 Schedules reference Profiles of daily variation, one Profile for each day of the week and for each month
of the year (hence 7/12).
You can select multiple rows (months) or columns (days) and edit the data by clicking on the Edit selected
cells link in the Info Panel. Likewise, you can select individual profiles by clicking on the appropriate cell and
clicking Edit selected cells.
Design days
Winter and summer design day simulations are carried out when required for autosizing heating and cooling
equipment prior to a Detailed HVAC simulation.
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7/12 Schedules - Defined Using Profiles
1. End-use defaults
When the End use defaults option is selected you should define the intended use for the schedule
using the options below and DesignBuilder controls whether the schedule is active during heating
design using the options set on the Heating Design tab of the model options dialog:
• General - include general purpose schedules in Detailed HVAC heating autosizing calculations .
• Occupancy - defines occupancy
• Lighting - Schedule to be used for lighting
• Equipment - defines operation of equipment.
• Heating demand - defines operation of heating equipment
• Cooling demand - defines operation of cooling equipment
• HVAC - defines operation of general HVAC equipment
• Natural ventilation demand - defines operation of window opening and/or natural ventilation
airflow operation
• DHW - defines operation of hot water equipment
It is also necessary to apply the behaviour for each category as defined on the Heating design tab of
the Model options dialog.
Behaviour of the schedule during the Summer design day when autosizing cooling systems is simply
taken from the profile for Wednesday, i.e. for any particular month, the schedule has the same
behaviour during the cooling design day as it has for Wednesdays.
Note that if the schedule is to used for heating or cooling operation then it is especially important to
select the appropriate setting.
Warning: This system of categories can be confusing and has been underlying cause of many queries
on the DesignBuilder Support Desk related to undersized HVAC systems. We therefore now
recommend that you to use either the 2-Profiles option where the schedule operation during heating
and cooling are defined explicitly using a profile or use Compact schedules where again heating and
cooling design operation is defined explicitly.
2. Profiles
In this option both heating and cooling design day operation are defined explicitly as a Profile. This is
more flexible and clearer than End-use defaults and is the preferred choice.
• Heating design day profile - the profile defining the schedule output during the heating
autosizing design day.
• Cooling design day profile - the profile defining the schedule output during the cooling
autosizing design day.
Important Note: When setting up schedules that will be used in Compact or Detailed HVAC
simulations it is important to consider whether the schedule will be active or inactive during the heating
and cooling sizing simulations used for autosizing equipment. Generally internal gains must be
excluded from heating sizing. So you should make sure to select the "Off" schedule for the Heating
design day profile if the schedule is to be applied to internal gains, occupancy, lighting etc.
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• Select all weekdays
• Select all weekends
• Set all weekends 'Off'
• Select all
• Deselect all
Compact Schedules
General tab on Schedules Dialog.
Compact Schedules are defined using a slightly modified version of the standard EnergyPlus
Schedule:Compact format documented below.
Using the Compact Schedule definition all the features of the schedule components are accessed in a single
command.
Name
This field is for your own use and is replaced by DesignBuilder with the name of the Schedule when
generating data for EnergyPlus.
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Compact Schedules
ScheduleType
ScheduleType should generally be Fraction even for schedules to be used for temperature setpoint definition.
You can enter Any Number to enter values greater than 1 but please bear in mind:
• The maximum gains values (e.g. people/m2) are multiplied by the values in the schedule to obtain the
actual value to use at each time step in the simulation. So if you enter large schedule values the actual
maximum value in the simulation will be higher than the 'maximum' value entered in DesignBuilder.
There is no problem with this, just a possible concern that if the DesignBuilder interface indicates that
the maximum occupancy density is say 0.1 people/m2 but the schedule has values > 1 then the
simulation results will, at first sight, appear incorrect. If you come back to the model 6 months later you
may not remember the reason.
• Temperature set-point schedules should only have values 0, 0.5 or 1.0.
So generally we recommend using Fraction Compact schedules for clarity.
Through
This field starts with 'Through:' and contains the ending date for the schedule period. You may define multiple
schedule periods in this way, for example to define seasonal variations. If there are no seasonal variations
then enter: Through: 31 Dec, to indicate that the data that follows applies to the whole year.
Note 1: each Compact Schedule must cover all the days for a year and it must have values for all 24
hours and all values for all day types.
Note 2: The dates in the Through fields must be provided consecutively, starting at the beginning of the
year and finishing at the end of the year.
For
This field starts with 'For: ' and contains the applicable days. Multiple choices may be combined on the line.
Choices are:
• Weekdays,
• Weekends,
• Holidays,
• Alldays,
• SummerDesignDay,
• WinterDesignDay,
• Sunday,
• Monday,
• Tuesday,
• Wednesday,
• Thursday,
• Friday,
• Saturday,
• CustomDay1,
• CustomDay2.
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In fields after the first 'For', 'AllOtherDays' may also be used.
Note: EnergyPlus has limit of line length of about 60 characters so lines like:
For: AllDays,
Interpolate (optional)
Schedule values are input to the simulation at the zone time step, so there is also a possibility of 'interpolation'
from the entries used in this object to the value used in the simulation. This field, if used, starts with
'Interpolate:' and contains the word 'Yes' or 'No'.
Until
This field contains the ending time for the current days and day schedule being defined. The data should
represent clock time (standard) in the format HH:MM. 24 hour clock format (i.e. 1pm is 13:00). Note that 'Until:
7:00' includes all times up through 07:00 (7am). The time is followed by a comma and the value the schedule
takes until the given time. See note above on usual values. Generally you should enter values between zero
and 1.
Value
Finally, the value field is the schedule value for the specified time interval.
Note: you can use 0 for Temperature type Compact Schedules to indicate that the heating/cooling system
is switched off during the specified period. See Example 2 below.
SCHEDULE:COMPACT,
Office_CellOff_Light,
Fraction,
Through: 31 Dec,
For: Weekdays SummerDesignDay,
Until: 07:00, 0,
Until: 19:00, 1,
Until: 24:00, 0,
For: Weekends,
Until: 24:00, 0,
For: Holidays WinterDesignDay AllOtherDays,
Until: 24:00, 0;
This schedule is intended to be used to describe the lighting operation in an office. It indicates:
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Compact Schedules
SCHEDULE:COMPACT,
Bedroom_Cool,
Temperature,
Through: 31 Dec,
For: Weekdays SummerDesignDay,
Until: 05:00, 0.5,
Until: 09:00, 1,
Until: 17:00, 0.5,
Until: 24:00, 1,
For: Weekends,
Until: 05:00, 0.5,
Until: 24:00, 1,
For: Holidays WinterDesignDay AllOtherDays,
Until: 24:00, 0;
This schedule is intended to be used to describe the cooling temperature setpoint and setback in a bedroom.
It indicates:
IMPORTANT NOTE: even if you are using IP units for the main interface you must use SI units for
compact schedule values as these are passed directly to EnergyPlus.
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The general point is to be aware of the dates(s) used for winter and summer design days and to ensure that
the values are set as required in the schedules, ideally for all Through sections so that if the design day dates
change the schedule will still be valid.
SCHEDULE:COMPACT,
Heating Sch,
Fraction,
Through: 6 Jan,
For: Weekdays,
Until: 06:00, 0,
Until: 18:00, 1,
Until: 24:00, 0,
For: Weekends,
Until: 24:00, 0,
For: WinterDesignDay,
Until: 24:00, 1,
For: AllOtherDays,
Until: 24:00, 0,
Through: 31 Jan,
For: Weekdays,
Until: 06:00, 0,
Until: 18:00, 1,
Until: 24:00, 0,
For: Weekends,
Until: 24:00, 0,
For: AllOtherDays,
Until: 24:00, 0,
... etc
Day Schedule
General tab on Schedules Dialog.
Day schedules are a special type of schedule covering only a single day. They have format similar to that of
Compact schedules but because they only cover one day they don't include Through: and For: statements as
shown below.
Schedule:Day:Interval,
Daily range multipliers for Design Days,
Any Number,
Yes
Until: 1:00, 0.88 ,
Until: 2:00, 0.92,
Until: 3:00, 0.95,
Until: 4:00, 0.98,
Until: 5:00, 1.00,
Until: 6:00, 0.98,
Until: 7:00, 0.91,
Until: 8:00, 0.74,
Until: 9:00, 0.55,
Until: 10:00, 0.38,
Until: 11:00, 0.23,
Until: 12:00, 0.13,
Until: 13:00, 0.05,
Until: 14:00, 0.00,
Until: 15:00, 0.00,
Until: 16:00, 0.06,
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Defining Setpoint Temperature And RH Schedules
The syntax of Day schedule data is not checked by DesignBuilder in the same way as it is for Compact
schedules, so it is important to check the data carefully before pressing OK on the Schedules dialog.
Note: Day schedules are only used for defining Range multipliers in cooling design data.
Notes
1. When using 7/12 Schedules, for 0.5 read 50% etc.
2. When using 2-Single period profiles with 7/12 Schedules to generate temperature setpoints the 'Off'
periods are modelled using setback temperatures, i.e. the system is not switched off. If you wish the
system to switch off outside main heating/cooling hours use the 3-Custom profile type.
3. If the setback temperature set does not appear to affect results, this may be because the
heating/cooling operation schedule selected uses only 0 and 1, not the 0.5 required to access setback
temperature (see table above).
This data is used to generate both the heating/cooling availability schedule and the temperature setpoint
schedule used in the simulations.
The equipment is switched on between the On and Off times (8am and 6pm in the example below). During
this time the equipment is controlled using the main temperature setpoint (Activity tab). At other times and
during weekends the equipment is controlled using the setback temperature setpoint. Weekends are defined
on the Activity tab at the building level under Occupancy by setting the number of working days per week.
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The Seasonal control data allows you to set times when the equipment is switched off altogether. For
example the heating system data shown below indicates that the heating system will be switched on during
the winter only and switched off in the summer.
Cooling design calculations are of course dynamic and so schedules are required for these. It is possible to
select the day type to be used for Cooling design calculations on the Calculation options dialog. By default the
Compact schedule day type is SummerDesignDay for Cooling design calculations. For cooling sizing
calculations carried out before Compact and Detailed HVAC simulations the SummerDesignDay day type is
always used.
More specific advise on this can be found in the 7/12 schedules and Compact schedules sections.
More general advise on HVAC autosizing can be found in the Autosizing HVAC Components section.
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Hourly Weather Data - General
Because hourly weather data is not always available for every location, it is often necessary to use weather
data for a nearby location which represents the weather of the actual site.
The DesignBuilder hourly weather data has been obtained from the Weather section of the EnergyPlus
website and processed using the DesignBuilder weather data translator, but you can use any weather data
provided it is in the correct format.
See also:
When editing an hourly weather data component there are two tabs on the Hourly Weather Data dialog:
• General
• Statistics
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
Select the Hourly weather data filename and the rest of the data is loaded directly from the .epw and .stat
files.
Each file is named using the ISO standard three-letter country abbreviation (i.e. CUB for Cuba), followed by
the location name, and the source format (CityUHK, CSWD, CTYW, CTZ2, CWEC, ISHRAE, IWEC, IGDG,
INETI, KISR, SWEC, SWERA, TMY2, or TMY).
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Thus, CUB_Havana_IWEC.epw is the EnergyPlus weather file (epw) from the ASHRAE International
Weather for Energy Calculations (IWEC) data for Havana, Cuba (CUB).
Note: the above hourly weather data and associated statistics files are located in the Weather data folder.
The statistics displayed are generated by the EnergyPlus weather data translation utility.
• Summer start month, Summer end month define the summer simulation period in mmm format.
• Winter start month, Winter end month define the winter simulation period in mmm format.
• Extreme hot week, starting defines the first day of the hottest week of the year.
• Typical hot week, starting defines the first day of a typical summer week.
• Extreme cold week, starting defines the first day of the coldest week of the year.
• Typical cold week, starting defines the first day of a typical winter week.
Note: week starting dates must be in the format mmm dd - any other format will generate an error when
clicking on the links in the Simulation Options dialog.
This data can be accessed from the Simulation Calculation options dialog to set up typical simulation periods
(screenshot right) .
The processes described on this page are also covered in a Video tutorial.
1. Copy the EnergyPlus format hourly weather data .epw file to the weather data folder (File > Folders >
Weather data). If you have it, copy the .stat file there too.
2. From the Opening screen click on the Component libraries tab.
3. Click on the + to the left of Hourly weather data to open up the list of countries.
4. Select the country of the location (or a location within the country).
5. Add a new Hourly weather data set by clicking on the green + icon in the Toolbar.
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Add New Hourly Weather Data
6. Select the epw file and enter any extra information in the dialog as described below. Note that the
location and other statistics are automatically loaded from the .stat and .epw files when you select the
file.
7. Click OK to save the new Hourly weather data.
See further below for the alternative steps to follow if you have a file open and wish to create a new hourly
weather data set just for that model.
Note 1: Any custom hourly weather epw file you select in your model will be saved with the dsb file so
that the model can be used on other computers without the need to copy weather files manually.
Note 2: Although DesignBuilder can been used with any valid epw data sets, you are strongly advised to
process the data first to ensure that each hourly record has year 2002. This ensures that daily, hourly and
sub-hourly data generated by EnergyPlus is correctly synchronised with the DesignBuilder graphics display. If
you do not set the year to 2002 it will not affect the results but it will affect the day of the week display in
DesignBuilder graphic output. In particular, daily, hourly and sub-hourly data will not necessarily show the
correct day of the week in the results display graphics.
In the Hourly weather data, enter the details of the location and select the EnergyPlus epw filename as shown
below.
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Once the epw has been selected, DesignBuilder loads the Latitude, Longitude and WMO station identifier.
It also searches for the equivalent .stat file and if it is found (in the weather data folder) the data on the
Statistics tab is also loaded (below).
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Add New Hourly Weather Data
Note: If a stat is not available you should enter the information on the Statistics tab by hand in the format
shown above. The stat file is automatically generated by the Hourly weather data translation process.
When you click on the OK button you will be able to select this new Hourly weather data from:
1. Copy the EnergyPlus format hourly weather data epw file to the weather data folder (File > Folders >
Weather data). If you have it, copy the .stat file there too.
2. Go to site level, Location tab, open the Simulation Weather Data header and click on the currently
selected Hourly weather data selection.
3. In Learning mode, select the country of the location (or a location within the country) in the Info, data
panel on the right of the screen.
4. Add a new Hourly weather data set by clicking on the green + icon in the Toolbar.
5. Select the epw file and enter any extra information in the dialog as described above.
6. Click OK to save the new Hourly weather data.
In this case you will need to export the hourly weather data you have just created from this model and reload
the ddf file to the library if you wish to use the weather data in other models.
Note: When you export your own hourly weather data through ddf files the hourly weather data
component will be exported but not the epw file itself.
If you don't have the data in epw format yet then it can be translated from a range of formats using the inbuilt
DesignBuilder weather data translation tool or if the format is not supported then you can use the EnergyPlus
translation tool that supports all weather formats. Obtain this from the EnergyPlus website. The documentation
can be found in the Auxiliary Programs document. It can be worth contacting EnergyPlus support about
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obtaining weather data for particular locations as they have a lot of contacts and sometimes can provide data
that is not on the main website.
• Each line to represent one hour - shorter time intervals are not supported.
• Each file must have exactly 8760 records, one for each hour of the year, starting on Jan 1 and ending
Dec 31. The years do not have to be consecutive but should ideally be set to 2002.
• Convert EnergyPlus epw data to be compatible with DesignBuilder day of week results for daily, hourly
and sub-hourly output (set the year to 2002).
• Translate weather data in other formats to the epw format so that it can be used in DesignBuilder.
• Generating modified weather data sets for investigating climate change scenarios.
Note: The Rocky Mountain Institute now provides a free .epw hourly weather data editing and translation
tool called Elements. Users may find this to be a more convenient way to edit epw files than the processor
built into DesignBuilder. It provides a spreadsheet environment and allows individual values to be edited or
ranges of data can be pasted in from an external spreadsheet program. For more information see the Big
Ladder downloads page
Translation Overview
Use this dialog to convert weather data to and from a range of file formats.
1. Select the folder containing the file(s) using the browse box at the top of the left-hand side of the
screen. All relevant weather data files are then loaded into the table on the left.
2. Check the check box next to each file that is to be converted.
3. Ensure that the correct options have been set on the Options tab.
4. Press the Convert button to start the process.
Converted files are stored in the Weather data folder. You can access these files by clicking on the
Edit/Review tab.
Input Data
On Input data tab you can select the name(s) of the source file (s) to be converted by checking in the
checkboxes.
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Edit / Translate Hourly Weather Data
Use the Select all and Select none buttons for widespread changes.
Options
On the Options tab you can select various options to be used during the conversion.
Error reporting
Change filename
You can apply the standard convention used by DesignBuilder to rename the output file. If you select this
option the output file will be named using the Country_Location_Source convention.
Modify
You can make some changes in the weather data as follows.
Fix year
You can fix the year to 2002. This is a recommended step for cases where you would like to view daily, hourly
or sub-hourly EnergyPlus results within DesignBuilder or within the Results Viewer. The reasons for this are
explained on the Add new hourly weather data page.
Modify climate
You can set the number of heating and/or cooling degree days or add a fixed delta to the dry-bulb outdoor air
temperature values in the weather data. If you select the degree day option DesignBuilder adds or subtracts
the same temperature difference to/from all dry-bulb outdoor air temperature values in the weather data so as
to give the requested heating and cooling degree day values based on the supplied base temperature. The
algorithm used is as follows:
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If Tdb < TDDBaseHeat Then
Tdb = Tdb - HeatAdj
Else If Tdb > TDDBaseCool Then
Tdb = Tdb - CoolAdj
where:
HeatDDCount is the number of hours in the year where Tdb < TDDBaseHeat
HeatDD is the user defined required heating degree days
OldHeatDD is the number of heating degree days in the source data
CoolDDCount is the number of hours in the year where Tdb > TDDBaseCool
CoolDD is the user defined required cooling degree days
OldCoolDD is the number of cooling degree days in the source data
Edit/Review
You can view all files in the current hourly weather data folder on this tab. You can open any of the files for
viewing/editing by clicking on the Open selected file link on the info panel or by double-clicking on it.
1. Use the custom option where the format of the source data is defined in a .def file located in the same
folder with the same filename stem. For example, if the input file is called London.dat then the .def file
should be called London.def and stored in the same folder as London.dat. See EnergyPlus help for
detailed descriptions on the .def file format.
2. The second option is to use an existing epw file as a template and copy columns of data across from
your weather data source file using the csv spreadsheet format.
The rest of this section provides details on the second of these methods.
To translate weather data from any format follow these instructions. Note that as a starting point you will need
to have the main data required by EnergyPlus stored in a csv format file or spreadsheet. The data required is:
• Air temperature
• Dew point temperature
• Relative Humidity
• Atmospheric pressure
• Global horizontal solar radiation
• Diffuse Horizontal solar radiation
• Direct normal radiation
• Wind Speed
• Wind Direction
• Cloud cover
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Sources Of EnergyPlus Hourly Weather Data
If any of the above parameters are missing and you are unsure about how to derive them, you may wish to
consider using the EnergyPlus custom weather translator instead which has built-functions to derive some
missing parameters based on other equivalent data. e.g. Direct normal radiation can be derived based on
known solar position and global and diffuse horizontal radiation.
If you do have all the required data in columns of a csv file then you are ready. The process is as follows:
1. To start the process, generate a template for a similar location in csv format. To do this use the weather
data translation tool, selecting the 'EnergyPlus 'comma separated values' files' output option on the
Options tab.
2. Load the csv file created in step 1 into a spreadsheet to use as the template.
3. In a separate spreadsheet load the new data.
4. Copy and paste the data column by column from the new data spreadsheet into the equivalent columns
in template spreadsheet. A 'missing value indicator' value can be entered in any of the places
EnergyPlus doesn't use the data. The 'missing value indicator' value is different for each field and
details can be found in the Auxiliary Programs Guide.
5. Check that the header data at the top of the template spreadsheet is correct.
6. Ensure the year is set to 2002 in all rows.
7. Save the template as a csv file.
8. Use the weather file translator to translate the template csv file to epw format.
9. Rename the epw file as required.
10. Check that the data has been copied correctly by loading the file into DesignBuilder and clicking on the
Simulation tab when at site level. You'll need to set up a new Hourly weather data component
referencing the new epw file and select this first.
11. Check carefully that data output from simulations that use the new weather file makes sense. Pay
particular attention to solar radiation. To do this you could check hourly incident solar radiation on a few
surfaces in a model.
Note 1: If your regional settings aren't like UK/US, you could run into a couple of problems, such as the
spreadsheet program changing the DataPeriods line from 1/1, 12/31 to 01-Jan -- you'd need to hand edit that
before step 7
Note 2: Be aware that specific year data is not usually deemed appropriate for Energy Analysis. See this
document for more information on selecting weather data:
Drury B. Crawley. 1998. "Which Weather Data Should You Use for Energy Simulations of Commercial
Buildings?" in ASHRAE Transactions, pp. 498-515, Vol. 104, Pt. 2. Atlanta: ASHRAE.
https://energyplus.net/weather
But with the year changed to 2002 as described in Add new hourly weather data.
Many of these weather files are composite files from multiple years. Each month has been selected to be
representative of that month for the period of record. Data is representative of the normal patterns for that
month and is not intended to be the average. The selection of months is usually based on a weighting of
temperature, humidity, wind, and solar. There are some variations among the weighting, most are similar to
the TMY2 done in the US in the 1990s:
https://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/pubs/tmy2/
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You can find the details of the file format in the AuxiliaryPrograms EnergyPlus document.
Other Sources
Other sources of hourly weather data and associated tools are listed below.
International sources
• Climate.OneBuilding - service established in 2015 as an unfunded project by Linda Lawrie and Dru
Crawley. See: https://climate.onebuilding.org/
• White Box Technologies - typical year and historical year weather files created from weather reports
of over 10,000 official weather stations around the world. See
https://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com/
• Meteonorm - a software application that can generate synthetic hourly weather data in epw format for
a wide range of locations. See https://meteonorm.com/
National sources
• UK - CIBSE TRY, DSY and future climate scenario data is available from the DesignBuilder CIBSE
Weather Data webpage.
• Germany - DWD, TRY 2010 weather data for Germany can be downloaded free of charge from the
Europe page on the https://climate.onebuilding.org website.
• Australia and new Zealand - NATHers, Latest hourly weather data for Australia and New Zealand can
be downloaded from NATHers at no cost. The link depends on your browser. Copy the links below into
the address bar of your browser.
• Internet Explorer: ftp://rNatHERS:MDkflWeZ@ftp.niwa.co.nz/ftp/NatHERS
• Chrome/Firefox: ftp://rNatHERS:MDkflWeZ@ftp.niwa.co.nz
• Portugal - LNEG, Download a free spreadsheet which can generate hourly weather data for the
various Portuguese regions. See: https://www.lneg.pt/servicos/328/2263/.
Profiles
Profiles define the variation in occupancy, equipment usage or temperature over the course of a single day.
They are used as building blocks in the definition of Schedules.
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Textures
1. Constant - has the same value all day. Enter the constant value for the profile
2. Single period - define the 'on' period by setting the start and end times for the profile using the mouse.
The operation is assumed to be 'off' for the rest of the day
3. Custom - the profile is defined by a number of intervals, each of which can have a different value.
There are two ways to set interval values:
a. To change the value for a single interval (single histogram bar) select the top of the histogram
bar and drag up/down using the LEFT mouse button.
b. To apply a constant value over a range of intervals select the top of the histogram bar which has
the required value and drag left/right over the range of intervals to be set using the RIGHT
mouse button.
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting profiles from a list in the Schedules dialog.
Textures
Textures are used to represent the external surface of building constructions in the rendered views in the
Visualisation Screen.
Select the texture file and the real-world width and height represented by the texture. Textures are associated
with materials and used to render the model in the Visualisation Screen.
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Note: If an image does not appear under the Image header this means that the selected file is not
installed.
Important note: Textures in bitmap and jpeg format have been found to work best. Although
DesignBuilder does allow other formats these can be unreliable.
The texture file you've just added will be stored in the dsb file itself so the texture will be available if you open
the model on any other computer.
Note: When you export your own textures the texture component will be included in the DDF file but the
texture file will not. So on its own, DDF export is not an ideal way to transfer texture data to another computer.
To get round this you can follow these steps on the second computer:
1. Open a dsb file that contains the texture(s). This copies the custom texture files from the dsb file to the disk
of the second computer.
2. Close the dsb file.
3. Import the DDF that contains the texture component(s) to any model. You should now have both the texture
component and the file as required for visualisation.
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the texture icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting textures from a list.
Window Gas
Window Gas component data is used to define the thermal properties of the cavity fill gas between window
Panes in Glazing components.
The gas which fills the inter-glazing cavity affects the heat transfer through the assembly but has almost no
effect on the solar heat gain or the visible light transmission. Air, of course, is the most common cavity fill gas,
but the use of an inert gas (typically argon or krypton) can significantly reduce window heat transfer. Krypton
and argon are colourless, odourless and non-toxic. Argon is the most commonly-used fill gas because it offers
good thermal performance at low cost. Krypton is more effective at reducing heat loss, but is roughly 200
times more expensive than argon per unit volume. Because krypton works best at smaller pane spacings (8
mm), it is often used in triple and quadruple-glazed windows to minimize the overall thickness of the unit.
Other types of gases are used (e.g. sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and carbon dioxide (CO2)) to reduce sound
transmission, but these gases do not offer the improved thermal performance of the inert gases.
Category
This is the gas type. Select from:
• Air
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Window Gas
• Argon
• CO2
• Krypton
• Other
• SF6
• Xenon
The window gas you are defining does not fit with the available options select Other. Select Air for an air gap.
Thickness
Enter the thickness of the inter-glazing cavity.
For CO2, Other and SF6 you must enter custom properties.
Conductivity Coefficient A
The A coefficient for gas conductivity (W/m-K).
Conductivity Coefficient B
The B coefficient for gas conductivity (W/m-K2).
Viscosity Coefficient A
The A coefficient for gas viscosity (kg/m-s).
Viscosity Coefficient B
The B coefficient for gas viscosity (kg/m-s-K).
Molecular Weight
The molecular weight (mass) of the gas (Kg/kmol).
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting window gases from a list.
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Metabolic Rates
Metabolic rate data defines a category of human metabolic output. The metabolic rate can be selected in
Model data on the Activity tab by choosing a Metabolic rate component.
The metabolic rate per person data is supplied to EnergyPlus which multiplies it by the number of people in
the zone as the starting point for occupancy heat emission calculations.
Metabolic rate data can be found in the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, Chapter 8, Table 5.
DesignBuilder data is derived from this data and is for adult males having typical surface area of 1.8m2. For
women multiply the adult male value by 0.85 and for children multiply by 0.75.
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting window gases from a list.
Background
Heat is generated in the human body by oxidation at a rate called the metabolic rate. This heat is dissipated
from the body surface and respiratory tract by a combination of radiation, convection and evaporation. The
relative proportions of sensible and latent heat from people is a complex function of the metabolic rate and the
environmental conditions.
EnergyPlus uses a polynomial function to divide the heat gain into sensible and latent portions.
More details can be found in the EnergyPlus EngineeringDoc.pdf documentation.
Local Shading Components are used to define simple generic shading devices to apply to the Windows in the
model.
Enter the name and category for the local shading data set.
Overhangs, louvres and sidefins can be specified either individually (e.g. just overhangs) or in combination
(e.g. sidefins combined with louvres).
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Local Shading - General
Local Shading component data can be selected from the Openings tab in Model Data and is applied to all
windows on the surface, including custom windows.
The data applies only to external glazing - roof and internal glazing do not use local shading data.
Overhang, louvre and sidefin blades are all assumed to be 100% opaque and made of the material specified
on this tab.
Note: the DesignBuilder Local shading devices allow a range of different overhangs, side fins and louvres
to be defined, but if you need to model a shading device not covered by the standard mechanism, you can
draw custom shading devices using Component blocks.
• General
• Louvres
• Sidefins
• Overhangs
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the local shading icon on the Openings tab in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting local shading devices from a list.
Enter the name, category and source for this Local shading data set.
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The number of louvres is a maximum value and if the window is not high enough to accommodate the
requested number of louvres blades, any louvres blades which would be positioned below the window are not
added.
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Local Shading - Overhangs
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Window Blinds
Window blind components can be selected for external glazing, roof glazing and interior glazing from the
Openings tab in the Model Data.
There are five types of window blinds, as selected in the Category data on the General tab:
• Slat - slatted blinds which have different transmission properties with solar position.
• Shade - assumed perfectly diffusing.
• Transparent insulation - transparent insulation material to be positioned on the outer surface of an
external wall.
• Electrochromic switching - switchable visible and solar properties based on solar gain.
• SageGlass electrochromic - multi-state electrochromic glazing systems.
Note: In the case where a Window blind is applied mid-pane, any dividers that may have been specified
for the window will not be applied in the model. EnergyPlus will generate a warning to this effect.
Window blind component data can be selected from the window shading data on the Openings tab in Model
Data and is applied to all windows on the surface, including custom windows.
The data applies only to external and roof glazing, internal windows cannot have window blinds.
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the window blinds icon on the Openings tab in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting window blinds from a list.
Enter the name, category and source for this Window blinds data set.
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Window Blinds - Slat Data
This object specifies the properties of a window blind consisting of flat, equally-spaced slats. Unlike window
shades, which are modelled as perfect diffusers, window blinds have solar and visible transmission and
reflection properties that strongly depend on slat angle and angle of incidence of solar radiation. When in
place, the blind is assumed to cover all of the glazed part of the window, including dividers; it does not cover
any of the window frame, if present. The plane of the blind is assumed to be parallel to the glazing. When the
blind is retracted it is assumed to cover none of the window. The solar and thermal effects of the blind’s
support strings, tapes or rods are ignored. Slat curvature, if present, is ignored.
Side Elevation
The slat angle is the angle between the glazing outward normal to the slat outward normal. A slat angle of 0°
sets slats to be vertical and an angle of 90° sets them to be horizontal.
A slatted blind can be applied 1-Inside, 2-Outside or 3-Mid-pane by selecting the appropriate Position on the
Openings tab.
Slat Properties
Blind to Glass Distance
For interior and exterior blinds, the distance from the mid-plane of the blind to the adjacent glass (m). See
schematic above. Not used for between-glass blinds. As for window shades this distance is used in calculating
the natural convective air flow between glass and blind that is produced by buoyancy effects.
Slat Orientation
The choices are Horizontal and Vertical. “Horizontal” means the slats are parallel to the bottom of the window;
this is the same as saying that the slats are parallel to the X-axis of the window. “Vertical” means the slats are
parallel to Y-axis of the window.
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Slat Width
The width of the slat measured from edge to edge.
Note: If the Blind is to be applied mid-pane then the gap between the inner pane and the second pane
must be at least large enough to accommodate the slat width. The gap thickness is defined by the Window
gas selected in the Glazing component.
Slat Separation
The distance between the front of a slat and the back of the adjacent slat.
Slat Thickness
The distance between the faces of a slat.
Slat Angle
The angle (degrees) between the glazing outward normal and the slat outward normal, where the outward
normal points away from the front face of the slat (degrees).
Note: When using slatted blinds additional Slat angle control parameters also need to be set on the
Openings tab to define how the slat angle varies (if at all).
Slat Conductivity
The thermal conductivity of the slat.
- 1236 -
Window Blinds - Slat Data
- 1237 -
Slat Infra Red Properties
Slat Infrared Hemispherical Transmittance
The slat Infrared transmittance. It is zero for solid metallic, wooden or glass slats, but may be non-zero in
some cases (e.g., thin plastic slats).
Openings
The openings data allows you to define the distance between the blind and the window and also define the
fraction of the blind surface that is open to air flow on each side of the blind. The following opening multipliers
are defined in the same way as for window shades. Unlike window shades, there is no input for Air-Flow
Permeability; this is automatically calculated by the program from slat angle, width and separation.
Note: The opening multiplier data affects the flow of air through the cavity between the blind and the
window. This flow is used in the calculation of the thermal resistance of the blind as part of the overall window
/ blind assembly resistance. Note in particular that blinds do not affect any Calculated natural ventilation
flows through the window during the simulation.
Shade blinds can be used for diffusing materials such as drapery and translucent roller shades. For slat-type
shading devices, like Venetian blinds, that have a strong angular dependence of transmission, absorption and
reflection, it is better to use the Slat option.
You can specify the properties of window shade materials. Reflectance and emissivity properties are assumed
to be the same on both sides of the shade. Shades are considered to be perfect diffusers (all transmitted and
reflected radiation is hemispherically-diffuse) with transmittance and reflectance independent of angle of
- 1238 -
Window Blinds - Shade Data
incidence. When in place, the shade is assumed to cover all of the glazed part of the window, including
dividers; it does not cover any of the window frame, if present. The plane of the shade is assumed to be
parallel to the glazing.
Transmittance and reflectance values for drapery material with different colour and openness of weave can be
obtained from manufacturers or determined from 2001 ASHRAE Fundamentals, Chapter 30, Fig. 31.
A diffusing blind can be applied 1-Inside, 2-Outside or 3-Mid-pane by selecting the appropriate Position on
the Openings tab.
Shade Properties
Thickness
Thickness of the shade material (in m or in). If the shade is not flat, such as for pleated pull-down shades or
folded drapery, the average thickness normal to the plane of the shade should be used.
Tip: If you plan to apply the shade mid-pane then you should enter a very low thickness value such as
0.0001m. In this case, if the shade performs an important insulation function (as well as shading) then you
should adjust the conductivity accordingly. For example, in the case where the shade to be modelled is
actually 0.025m thick and has conductivity 0.040 W/m-K you should enter the thickness as 0.0001m and the
conductivity as 0.04 x (0.001 / 0.025) = 0.00016 W/m-K.
Conductivity
Shade material conductivity (in W/m-K or BTU-in/h-ft2-F).
Solar transmittance
Transmittance averaged over the solar spectrum. Assumed independent of incidence angle.
Solar reflectance
Reflectance averaged over the solar spectrum. Assumed same on both sides of shade and independent of
incidence angle.
Visible transmittance
Transmittance averaged over the solar spectrum and weighted by the response of the human eye. Assumed
independent of incidence angle.
Visible reflectance
Reflectance averaged over the solar spectrum and weighted by the response of the human eye. Assumed
same on both side of shade and independent of incidence angle.
- 1239 -
Thermal transmittance
Effective long-wave transmittance. Assumed independent of incidence angle. We can approximate this
effective long-wave transmittance, τeff, as follows. Let η be the “openness” the shade, i.e., the ratio of the
area of openings in the shade to the overall shade area. Let the long-wave transmittance of the shade
material be τ. Then
Teff ≈ η +T.(1 − η)
For most materials τ is very close to zero, which gives
Teff ≈ η
Openings
The openings data allows you to define the distance between the shade and the window and also define the
fraction of the shade surface that is open to air flow on each side of the blind. The opening multipliers below
are defined in a similar way as for window blinds.
Note: The opening multiplier data affects the flow of air through the cavity between the shade and the
window. This flow is used in the calculation of the thermal resistance of the shade as part of the overall
window / shade assembly resistance. Note in particular that shade do not affect any Calculated natural
ventilation flows through the window during the simulation.
- 1240 -
Window Blinds - Shade Data
Vertical section (a) and perspective view (b) of glass and interior shade layers showing variables used in the
gap air flow analysis. In (b), the air-flow opening areas Abot, Atop, Al, Ar and Ah are shown schematically.
See Engineering Manual for definition of thermal variables.
- 1241 -
Examples of air-flow openings for an interior shade covering glass of height H and width W. Not to scale.
(a) Horizontal section through shade with openings on the left and right sides (top view).
(b) Vertical section through shade with openings at the top and bottom (side view).
In (a) Left-Side Opening Multiplier = Al /sH = min(l/s,1) and Right-Side Opening Multiplier = Ar /sH =
min(r/s,1). In (b) Top Opening
Multiplier = Atop /sW = t/s and Bottom Opening Multiplier = Abot /sW = b/s.
Note: The opening multiplier data affects the flow of air through the cavity between the blind and the
window. This flow is used in the calculation of the thermal resistance of the blind as part of the overall window
/ blind assembly resistance. Note in particular that blinds do not affect any Calculated natural ventilation
flows through the window during the simulation.
This pane will be used in place of the standard outer glazing pane according to the control data in the Model
Data.
- 1242 -
SageGlass Electrochromic
Note: that the blind position in Openings Model Data must be 'Switchable' to use electrochromic
switchable shading
SageGlass Electrochromic
Help on SageGlass Electrochromic systems can be found in the DesignBuilder SageGlass Modelling Guide.
Vent Components
Vent Components have a coefficient of discharge and a texture (used to represent a vent in the rendered
view). They can be selected from the Openings tab when the Calculated natural ventilation model option is
selected.
• General
• Airflow
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the vent icon on the Openings tab in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting vents from a list.
Vents - General
General tab on Vents Dialog.
The Zone Exhaust Fans category is a special category used with a corresponding Zone exhaust fan when
using Detailed HVAC with Calculated natural ventilation.
Vents - Airflow
Airflow tab on Vents Dialog.
- 1243 -
Coefficient of Discharge
Enter the discharge coefficient for this vent component. The velocity of the air moving through the vent is
given by the standard orifice equation:
Where:
v: Velocity
Cd: Discharge coefficient
P: Pressure either side of the vent
ρ density of the air going through the opening
You can select this vent from the Openings model data.
Note: The discharge coefficient is only used in thermal simulations when the Natural ventilation Model
option is set to Calculated.
Holiday Schedule
A 'Holiday schedule' is a list of intervals of one or more day which identify the days the building may be
unoccupied. The holiday intervals are listed in order, with holidays most likely to be taken at the top of the list.
The Holidays per year Model data on the Activities tab at building level defines how many holidays are taken
and this 'Holiday schedule' defines which days are holidays. Days are selected from the top of the list working
downwards. The data is used to specify EnergyPlus 'SpecialDayPeriods'.
• General
• List
• from the Components tab on the opening screen (to view/edit library components if no file is open),
• from the Components tab in the Navigator panel (to view/edit model components if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the holidays icon on the Activity tab in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting holidays from a list.
Holidays are selected from the top of the list, so holidays which are most likely to be taken should be defined
first (so they are positioned at the top of the list).
- 1244 -
Ground Domain
Use the controls in the Info panel to add, edit and delete holidays.
Valid holiday date formats are defined in Compact Schedules: EnergyPlus Date Definition
Ground Domain
Ground domain components are defined at site level under the Site Details > Ground > Ground Domain
headers. The adjacency between ground domain components and the corresponding zone surface in the
model is defined by selections made at surface level on the Construction tab under the Ground Domain
header.
Name
Enter a unique name for the ground domain component.
Category
You can select 2 types of ground domain objects:
• Slab is a horizontal slab sitting either on or just below ground level. Slabs are used to simulate ground
coupled heat transfer with horizontal building surfaces. Horizontal ground surfaces interact with the slab
ground domain objects through adjacencies defined at surface level on the Construction tab. Multiple
horizontal ground floor surfaces can be coupled to the same ground domain object. Alternatively each
horizontal surface may also have its unique ground domain, however, runtime will be adversely
affected in this case.
Slab ground domain objects are equipped to model 2 different scenarios: in-grade slabs, and on-grade
slabs. This selection is made in the Slab section below.
- 1245 -
In Grade Slab
On Grade Slab
• Basement - for underground zones with underground wall and floors adjacent to the ground. Horizontal
and vertical ground insulation are simulated by the ground domain and therefore should not be
included in the wall and floor construction objects. Vertical wall surfaces and horizontal floor surfaces
- 1246 -
Ground Domain - General Tab
adjacent to ground interact with the basement ground domain objects by through connections made at
surface level on the Construction tab.
Note: When defining a basement ground domain it is important to define at least one wall and one
ground floor as being adjacent to any particular basement domain object.
Please refer to the above diagrams when reading about the various dimensions described below
Aspect ratio
This is the of ratio of the slab or basement length to width (when viewed in plan), used to determine the aspect
ratio of the overall domain. This field along with the total slab or basement floor area, which is taken as the
combination of all surfaces connected to the floor of the basement, are used to determine the size and shape
of the domain. Aspect ratios and the inverse of aspect ratios should produce identical results. i.e. Aspect ratio
= 2 is equivalent to Aspect ratio = 0.5.
Perimeter offset
The distance from the slab/basement perimeter to the domain perimeter (in m or ft).
Simulation timestep
Selection indicating whether the domain will update temperatures at each zone timestep, or at hourly intervals.
Options are:
• 1-Hourly
• 2-Timestep
- 1247 -
Slab
Slab location
The slab location indicates whether the slab is in-grade (top surface level with ground surface) or on-grade
(bottom surface level with ground surface). Options include:
• 1-On grade which is used to simulate situations where the lower slab surface is near the ground
surface level. In this situation, the entire floor must be included within the floor construction object.
Vertical insulation is modelled by the Ground domain in this scenario. Horizontal insulation can only be
modelled as covering the full horizontal surface.
• 2-In grade which is used to simulate situations when the upper slab surface is near the ground surface
level. For this situation, slab’s upper surface must interact with the zone via a boundary which is
specified at surface level. Because of this, the Floor construction object for the zone floor surface must
include a thin layer of the upper floor material. Horizontal and vertical insulation are modelled by the
Ground domain in this scenario. Horizontal insulation can be modelled as covering the full horizontal
surface, or it can be limited to the perimeter regions only. In the latter case, the perimeter insulation
width must be specified.
Slab material
Select the material component representing the slab material thermal properties. Only required for in-grade
situations.
Thickness
Thickness of the slab (in m or ft). Only required for in-grade situations.
Basement
Basement depth
Depth of basement floor surface referenced from the ground surface (in m or ft). This domain should be the
distance from the ground surface down to the basement floor surface. In cases where the ground surface is
below the main above-ground building level, a separate wall surface should be employed between the
basement walls and the main level walls.
On this tab you can select the Material defining the ground thermal properties and enter moisture content of
the ground. The thermal properties of the material are used in calculation of the undisturbed ground
temperatures as well as general heat conduction from building ground-adjacent surfaces connected to the
ground domain object.
- 1248 -
Ground Domain - Ground Undisturbed Temperatures
During the simulation EnergyPlus needs to have access to the distribution of temperatures in the
"undisturbed" ground at the site. This means the temperature that would exist in the ground over the year if
the building(s) were not present. EnergyPlus provides three ways to calculate these undisturbed ground
temperatures:
More information on these options is provided below. Note that all of the calculation methods also require the
ground thermal properties as defined by the soil material on the Soil tab.
Finite Difference
The Finite Difference method uses a 1-D finite difference heat transfer model which uses the weather file to
obtain surface boundary conditions. An annual simulation is run on the ground model during it’s initialization
until the annual ground temperature profile has reached steady periodic behaviour. Once steady periodic
behaviour is reached, the ground temperatures are cached for retrieval during the rest of the simulation.
Technical
This model uses a 1-D implicit finite difference heat transfer model to determine the steady periodic annual
ground temperature. The model, which uses a daily timestep, is run through an annual simulation using the
user provided weather file to determine daily averages for global horizontal radiation, air temperature, relative
humidity, and wind speed. Once the steady-periodic ground temperature has been determined, the
temperatures are cached for use later in the simulation. The basis for the model was taken from Xing, 2014,
however, the numerical methods were adapted from those described in Lee, 2013; the latter uses an implicit
numerically stable finite difference method, whereas the former utilized an explicit, conditionally stable
method. Surface heat balance boundary conditions are similar what is described in Herb et al., 2008.
Evapotranspiration is considered as described by Allen et al., 1998. Soil freezing given the assumed stagnant
- 1249 -
soil moisture content is also considered. The model does not consider the effects of vegetative canopy layers,
snow cover, ground water flow, ground moisture transport, or surface runoff.
Kusuda-Achebach
The Kusuda-Achebach method provides an undisturbed ground temperature based on the correlation
developed by Kusuda T. and P. Achenbach. 1965. The correlation uses three parameters for ground
temperature at the surface to define a correlation for undisturbed ground temperatures as a function of depth
and time. If one thinks of the ground temperature for a given depth as a sinusoid, the average ground
temperature, amplitude (average difference between maximum ground temperature and minimum ground
temperature), and the phase shift (day of minimum surface temperature) are all required to define the
correlation.
Technical
Where:
T(z, t) is the undisturbed ground temperature as a function of time and depth.
Ts is the average annual soil surface temperature, in °C.
Δ Ts is the amplitude of the soil temperature change throughout the year, in °C.
ϴ is the phase shift, or day of minimum surface temperature.
α is the thermal diffusivity of the ground.
τ is the time constant, 365.
Xing
This model uses the correlation developed by Xing, 2014 to predict undisturbed ground temperature. The
correlation is a 5 parameter, 2 harmonic model based on the work of Lord Kelvin (Thomson, 1862). The
average soil surface temperature and two sets of surface temperature amplitude and phase shift must be
provided.
Technical
Parameters for 4000+ international locations can be found in Xing, 2014. Thomson, W. 1862. ‘On the
Reduction of Observations of Underground Temperature, with applications to Professor Forbes’ Edinburgh
Observations and the continued Calton Hill Series.’ Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. IV: 342-
346. Xing, L. 2014. Estimations of Undisturbed Ground Temperatures using Numerical and Analytical
Modeling. Ph.D. Diss. Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK.
The parameters were first determined by creating and validating a finite difference numerical model which
used local weather data for boundary conditions. From the numerical model, the correlation parameters were
determined to provide for this simplified design model.
- 1250 -
Ground Domain - Insulation
Where:
T(z,t) is the undisturbed ground temperature as a function of time and depth
Ts is the average annual soil surface temperature, in deg C
Δ Ts,n is the n-th amplitude of the soil temperature change throughout the year, in °C
n is the n-th phase shift, or day of minimum surface temperature
α is the thermal diffusivity of the ground.
τ is the time constant, 365.
On this tab you can define whether there is horizontal and vertical insulation present and if so the extent and
position of the insulation and its thermal properties.
Horizontal Insulation
Horizontal insulation is only applicable to in-grade situations.
Material
Where horizontal insulation is present, select the material representing the horizontal slab insulation thermal
properties.
- 1251 -
Thickness
Enter the thickness of the horizontal insulation material layer (in m or in).
Extent
Droplist selection indicating whether the horizontal slab insulation extends to cover the full horizontal area of
the slab, or only covers the slab perimeter. Options are:
• 1-Full and
• 2- Perimeter
Vertical Insulation
Include horizontal insulation
Checkbox indicates whether vertical insulation is present. When it is checked the data below must be entered.
Material
Select the material representing the vertical slab insulation.
Thickness
Enter the thickness of the vertical insulation material layer (in m or in).
Depth
The depth measured (in m or ft) from the ground surface to which the vertical perimeter insulation extends.
Valid range is from > Slab thickness to < Domain depth.
Kiva Foundation
This data is available in v6.2 and later.
Kiva foundation objects describe boundary conditions for ground-coupled foundation surfaces when one of the
Kiva Ground modelling methods have been selected (2-Kiva Basic or 4-Kiva Full).
The inputs from Kiva foundation objects are translated into Kiva’s foundation heat transfer model. Kiva
generates a two-dimensional heat transfer calculation to represent heat flow between a zone and the adjacent
ground. Kiva foundation surfaces do not use the same Solution Algorithm (e.g. CTF, Finite difference etc) as
the rest of the model.
Kiva foundation objects are used to describe the two-dimensional features that cannot be captured by the
typical one-dimensional constructions used in EnergyPlus. The figure below illustrates Kiva’s two-dimensional
context for a basement where the basement slab and wall both refer to “Foundation” as the Outside Boundary
Condition, the ceiling of the basement and the exterior wall of the zone above the basement refer to “Surface”
(or “Zone”) and “Outdoors”, respectively.
- 1252 -
Kiva Foundation
Note: Not all of the foundation wall surface needs to be below grade (see the Wall height above grade
field below). Any part above grade is modelled in Kiva’s two-dimensional heat transfer calculations. The non-
foundation surfaces are shown in the figure below for context, but are not part of the Kiva model.
Outside Boundary Conditions for surfaces within Kiva’s Two-dimensional context. Only surfaces
referencing Foundation are simulated in Kiva
This context allows for a finer description of the structural and insulation components of a foundation that
impact heat transfer (see figure below).
Kiva foundation objects define only the aspects of the foundation that are not already defined by the one-
dimensional constructions of the respective surfaces. That is, the footing wall and slab constructions and their
relative dimensions are inferred from the respective Surface objects (see figure below).
- 1253 -
Two-dimensional interpretation of foundation surface data
The depth of the foundation is defined by the height of the wall surfaces that reference the Kiva foundation
boundary condition object. For slab-on-grade foundations, a depth of zero is implied by having no associated
wall surfaces. The figure below shows a slab-on-grade foundation with whole slab insulation. Notice there are
no walls referencing the “Foundation” Outside Boundary Condition. In this case, the under-slab insulation is
modelled as part of the slab construction, while the edge/gap insulation is modelled using the interior vertical
insulation fields of a Kiva foundation object.
Note: Since there are no wall surfaces for slab foundations, the footing wall construction is defined within
the Kiva foundation object.
The width of the floor surface in the two-dimensional context is defined by the area and the exposed perimeter
of the floor surface object. Details on this calculation can be found in the Engineering Reference document.
- 1254 -
Kiva Foundation
Other components of the two-dimensional context are defined by the Kiva foundation settings object and
applied uniformly for all Kiva foundation objects. These components include:
• Far-Field width
• Deep Ground depth (and boundary type)
• Soil and ground surface thermal properties
• Only floors and walls may use Kiva foundation objects boundary conditions.
• At least one floor surface must reference each Kiva foundation object.
General
Name
The unique identifier of the Kiva foundation object.
The following two fields define the placement of this material within Kiva’s two-dimensional context as
illustrated in the figure below.
Width
Extent of insulation as measured from the wall interior to the edge of interior horizontal insulation (in m
or ft).
Depth
Distance from the wall top to the top of interior horizontal insulation (in m or ft).
- 1255 -
Interior Vertical Insulation
Include interior vertical insulation
Check this checkbox if interior vertical insulation is to be included with this Kiva foundation object.
Material
Select the material object associated with the interior vertical insulation.
The following field defines the placement of this material within Kiva’s two-dimensional context as
illustrated in the figure below.
Depth
Extent of insulation as measured from the wall top to the bottom edge of the interior vertical insulation
(in m or ft).
Material
Select the material associated with the exterior horizontal insulation.
The following two fields define the placement of this material within Kiva’s two-dimensional context as
illustrated in the figure below.
- 1256 -
Kiva Foundation
Width
Extent of insulation as measured from the wall exterior to the edge of exterior horizontal insulation (in m
or ft).
Depth
Distance from the wall top to the top of exterior horizontal insulation (in m or ft).
Material
Select the material associated with the exterior vertical insulation.
The following field defines the placement of this material within Kiva’s two-dimensional context as
illustrated in the figure below.
Depth
Extent of insulation as measured from the wall top to the bottom edge of the exterior vertical insulation
(in m or ft).
Wall
Wall height above grade
Distance from the exterior grade to the wall top (in m or ft).
The figure below illustrates the definition of both the Wall height above grade and the following field, Wall
depth below slab.
- 1257 -
Definition of exterior grade and footing wall depth relative to the wall surface
Extending the wall below the slab provides a coarse approximation of the foundation footing. Alternatively,
one may use the the fields “Footing Material Name” and “Footing Depth” to explicitly model the footing.
Note: Explicit modelling of the footing requires a higher spatial discretization and, therefore, longer
computation times.
Footing Wall
Footing wall construction
Defines the construction of the foundation footing wall for slab foundations where the foundation wall is not
exposed to the zone (and has no zone surface to explicitly assign a construction).
By default, this is the same construction as any associated below-grade wall surfaces, or a 0.3 m wide poured
concrete wall (conductivity = 1.95 W/m-K, density = 2,240 kg/m3, specific heat = 900 J/kg-K).
Footing material
Select the material associated with the foundation footing (typically some form of concrete).
The following field defines the placement of this material within Kiva’s two-dimensional context and are
illustrated in the figure below.
- 1258 -
Kiva Foundation
Placement of footing
Footing width
Horizontal width dimension of the footing (in or ft).
Footing depth
Top-to-bottom dimension of the footing (not to be confused with its depth in the ground) (in m or ft).
Custom Blocks
Custom blocks can be used to represent solid materials in the two-dimensional context that are not otherwise
covered by the fields above. Examples of this might include interior finishings and insulation or backfill soil
with different thermal properties (see figures below).
- 1259 -
Number of custom blocks
If custom blocks are to be associated with this Kiva foundation object then select the number of them here.
Any value from 0 to 10 is allowed.
If two or more custom blocks overlap, the final properties are determined by the higher block number (e.g.,
Custom Block 4 in the input object supersedes properties defined by Custom Block 2). All custom blocks
properties are superseded by the elements shown in the figure below.
The following fields defines the placement of this material within Kiva’s two-dimensional context and are
illustrated in the Figure below.
When the Ground modelling method has been set to 2-Kiva Basic or 4-Kiva Full, the Kiva foundation settings
component selected at site level defines the soil thermal and surface properties, the extent of the domain and
some calculation options that are to be applied across all Kiva foundation calculations. Just one Kiva
foundation settings object is required for a simulation.
- 1260 -
Kiva Foundation Settings
General
Name
Enter a unique name for this Kiva foundation settings component.
Soil density
The bulk density of the soil (in kg/m3 or lb/ft3).
Surface Properties
Enter the properties of the ground surface.
Extent
Far-field width
The distance from the wall interior to the zero horizontal heat flux (i.e., adiabatic) far-field boundary (in m or ft).
This distance represents either the distance halfway between this foundation and a similar foundation of a
neighbouring building, or a distance adequately far from the foundation such that it is isolated from the effects
of the boundary (typically >= 40 m).
- 1261 -
Deep-ground depth
The distance from the exterior grade to the deep ground boundary (in m or ft). This distance represents either
the distance to the ground water level, or a distance adequately far from the foundation such that it is isolated
from the effects of the boundary (typically >= 40 m).
The Deep-ground depth setting can be set to Autocalculate in which case Kiva will use a correlation to
estimate how deep the ground water is based on the elevation of your location. If you use this option you
should be aware that ground heat transfer can be very sensitive to the location of the water table which is
much more geospatially variable than the correlation represents (e.g. elevation and water table depth at your
weather station could be very different from your actual building site).
Options
Minimum cell dimension
The minimum cell dimension (in m or ft) used in the Kiva discretisation. Default: 0.02 m.
Simulation timestep
This field allows the user to choose whether to calculate foundation loads on the zone timestep or at hourly
intervals. Hourly intervals will allow for less overall computation time, but with less accuracy. Choices are:
• 1-Hourly and
• 2-Timestep
• 1-Autoselect which applies either of the 2 boundary conditions below depending on the elevation of
the building site (Williams and Williamson, 1989) as shown in the equation below.
• 2-Zero flux in which case the water table is considered to be deep enough that it doesn't impact the
heat loss from the building and Kiva applies a zero vertical heat flux (i.e. adiabatic) boundary condition.
• 3-Ground water which applies a constant temperature boundary condition, with a temperature equal to
the average outdoor air dry-bulb temperature from the environment(s).
Williams and Williamson, 1989 provide this simple correlation to help estimate the depth of the water table, dwt
from the site elevation above sea level, delev:
If dwt <= 40 m., the 3-Ground water boundary is applied, otherwise a 2-Zero flux boundary is applied at 40 m.
If the calculated ground water depth is shallower than any element of the foundation construction, then the 3-
Ground water option is applied at 1m below the lowest element. The default is 1-Autoselect.
- 1262 -
Moisture Transfer Data
DesignBuilder is provided with a database of moisture transfer properties for a small range of representative
materials. The database includes properties for both HAMT and EMPD calculation methods. The HAMT
database is derived from IEA Annex 24 c.1996.
For details on the HAMT algorithms used within EnergyPlus see the Combined Heat and Moisture Transfer
(HAMT) Model section in the Engineering Reference.
General
Name
Enter a unique name for this set of moisture transfer data.
Category
The <All> category is presently the only option.
When either of the 1-EMPD or 3-EMPD and HAMT options are selected the EMPD tab will be shown. If either
of the 2-HAMT or 3-EMPD and HAMT options are selected the following tabs will be shown:
• HAMT Settings
• Sorption Isotherm
• Suction
• Redistribution
• Diffusion
• Thermal Conductivity
EMPD
The Effective Moisture Penetration Depth (EMPD) moisture model will be used when the appropriate EMPD
moisture materials are specified and the Moisture transfer simulation method is one the EMPD options. When
the EMPD option is being used, data on this tab is used to describe the moisture material properties that are
used in the 5-Moisture Penetration Depth Conduction Transfer Function solution algorithm. The EMPD
algorithm is a simplified, lumped moisture model that simulates moisture storage and release from interior
surfaces.
The model uses convective mass transfer coefficients that are determined by existing heat and mass transfer
relationships, e.g. the Lewis relation. The EMPD model includes two fictitious layers of material with uniform
moisture content: a surface layer, which accounts for short-term moisture buffering, and a deep layer, which
accounts for more slowly responding moisture buffering. The model calculates the moisture transfer between
the air and the surface layer and between the surface layer and the deep layer. This moisture transfer impacts
the zone humidity, and also impacts the zone temperature through latent-to-sensible conversion from the heat
of adsorption.
- 1263 -
where δperm,air is the permeability of water vapour in air [kg/m-s-Pa], and δperm is the permeability of water vapour
in the material. The permeability of water vapour in air can be estimated as:
where T is the temperature [C] and Pambient the ambient atmospheric pressure [Pa].
where:
δperm = water vapor permeability in the material, kg/m-s-Pa (see Vapour diffusion resistance factor above)
Psat = saturated vapor pressure at some nominal temperature, Pa
τsurf = cycle period of typical RH variations, s. 24 hours (86,400 s) is often used.
ρmaterial = dry density of material, kg/mˆ3
du/dϕ = slope of moisture soprtion curve, abϕb-1 + cdϕd-1
If this field is set to autocalculate, the above equation will be used to calculate the surface layer penetration
depth assuming a surf of 24 hours. To use a period different than 24 hours, the equation above can be used
to calculate the penetration depth based on a different value of surf . The penetration depth can also be
entered as an empirical value, as in Woods and Winkler, 2016. If calculating dEMPD,surf , the assumed value of
τsurf should not be less than 4x the simulation timestep to ensure an accurate and stable solution.
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Moisture Transfer Data
Each term is the same as for the surface layer, except that the cycle period is different. This is usually on the
order of weeks for the deep layer. If this field is set to autocalculate, the above equation will be used to
calculate the deep layer penetration depth assuming a deep of three weeks. To use a period different than 3
weeks, the equation above can be used to calculate the penetration depth based on a different
value of deep. The penetration depth can also be entered as an empirical value, as in Woods and Winkler,
2016.
U = aφb + cφd
where:
a,b,c,d = Coefficients to define the relationship between the material’s moisture content and the surface
air relative humidity
U = Moisture content defined as the mass fraction of water contained in a material (kg/kg or lb/lb)
φ = Surface air relative humidity [0 to 1].
The next four fields are dimensionless coefficients:
Coefficient a
Coefficient b
Coefficient c
Coefficient d
HAMT Settings
Porosity
The porosity of a material is the maximum fraction, by volume, of a material that can be taken up with water.
The units are m3/m3 or ft3/ft3.
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Water content
Enter the initial water content ratio (in kg/kg or lb/lb). For the HAMT solution algorithm the initial water content
is assumed to be distributed evenly through the depth of the material.
Sorption Isotherm
The Sorption Isotherm data relates the moisture, or water content of a material with the relative humidity (RH).
The water content is expected to increase as relative humidity increases, starting at zero content at 0.0 RH
fraction and reaching a maximum, defined by the porosity, at 1.0 RH fraction, which corresponds to 100%
relative humidity. Relative humidities are entered as fraction ranging from 0.0 to 1.0. These two extremes (0.0
and 1.0) are automatically set by the HAMT solution. However, if they are entered they will be used as extra
data points. Data should be provided with increasing RH and moisture content up to as high an RH as
possible to provide a stable solution.
One possible reason for the following error message may be that a material has a very rapid increase in water
content for a small change in RH, which can happen if the last entered water content point is at a low RH and
the material has a very high porosity.
Data Coordinate n
Moisture content
The Moisture content of the nth coordinate. The units are kg/m3 or lb/ft3
Suction
The suction data relates the liquid transport coefficient, under suction, to the water content of a material. A
data point at zero water content is required. The liquid transport coefficient at the highest entered water
content value is used for all liquid transport coefficient values above this water content. These coefficients are
used by HAMT when the rain flag is set in the weather file.
Suction Pair n
Moisture content n
The moisture content of the xth point. The units are kg/m3 or lb/ft3.
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Moisture Transfer Data
Redistribution
The redistribution data relates the liquid transport coefficient to the water content of a material under normal
conditions. A data point at zero water content is required. The liquid transport coefficient at the highest
entered water content value is used for all liquid transport coefficient values above this water content. These
coefficients are used by the Heat and Moisture Transfer algorithm when the rain flag is NOT set in the weather
file.
Redistribution Point n
Moisture content
The moisture content of the nth point. The units are kg/m3 or lb/ft3.
Diffusion
The MU data relates the vapor diffusion resistance factor (dimensionless) to the relative humidity as fraction
(RH). A data point at zero RH is required. The vapor diffusion resistance factor at the highest entered relative
humidity (RH) value is used for all vapor diffusion resistance factor values above this RH. The relative
humidity maximum value in fraction is 1.0.
Data Pair n
Relative humidity fraction
The moisture content of the nth pair. The relative humidity is entered as fraction, not in percent.
Thermal Conductivity
The thermal data relates the thermal conductivity of a material to the moisture or water content. A data point at
zero water content is required. The thermal conductivity at the highest entered water content value is used for
all thermal conductivity values above this water content.
Thermal Coordinate n
Moisture content
The moisture content of the nth coordinate. The units are kg/m3 or lb/ft3.
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Thermal conductivity
The Thermal conductivity of the nth coordinate. The units are W/m-K or Btu-in/h-ft-°F.
General
Name
Enter the name of the set of fuel factors. This might be the region plus the date the data applies to.
Definition method
Options are:
• 1-Constant where fixed fuel emission factors are provided for each fuel.
• 2-Scheduled where one or more fuel emission factors varies with time. This option might be used
when for example there are seasonal variations (e.g. more hydro-electric generation in the mix during
winter).
Electricity
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Fuel Emission Factors
Source
Enter some text describing the source of the data.
Units of measure
Select from:
Note: If the TDV files are used the value should be 0.293 for electricity and 0.01 for natural gas to account
for the units used in the files. Units of J/J.
Emission Factors
Enter the emission factors for each pollutant (in g/MJ).
CO2
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of carbon dioxide (CO2) released
into the atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. Carbon dioxide gas is naturally produced by animals during
respiration and through decay of biomass, and used by plants during photosynthesis. Although it only
constitutes 0.04 percent of the atmosphere, it is one of the most important greenhouse gases. The
combustion of fossil fuels is increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, which is believed to
be contributing to global warming.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
CO
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of carbon monoxide (CO) released
into the atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and poisonous gas
produced by incomplete fossil fuel combustion. Carbon monoxide combines with the haemoglobin of human
beings, reducing its oxygen carrying capacity, with effects harmful to human beings.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
CH4
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of methane (CH4) released into the
atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. Methane is a colorless, nonpoisonous, flammable gas created by anaerobic
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decomposition of organic compounds and is one of the more potent greenhouse gases. A major component of
natural gas used in the home.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
NOx
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of nitrogen oxides (NOx) released
into the atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. Nitrogen oxides refers to nitric oxide gas (NO) and nitrogen dioxide
gas (NO2) and many other gaseous oxides containing nitrogen. The main source of these gases in urban
areas are motor vehicle exhaust and indoor gas stoves and kerosene heaters. The brown haze sometimes
seen over cities is mainly nitrogen oxides. These gases are also partly responsible for the generation of
ozone, which is produced when nitrogen oxides react with other chemicals in the presence of sunlight.
Exposure to high levels of nitrogen dioxide can interfere with the ability of blood to carry oxygen, leading to
dizziness and shortness of breath. Prolonged exposure can lead to respiratory failure.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
N2O
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of nitrous oxide (N2O) released into
the atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. Relatively inert oxide of nitrogen produced as a result of microbial action
in the soil, use of fertilizers containing nitrogen, burning of timber and coil, chemical industry, and so forth.
This nitrogen compound may contribute to greenhouse and ozone-depleting effects.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
SO2
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of sulfur dioxide (SO2) released into
the atmosphere. The units are in grams per MegaJoule. Sulfur dioxide gas is formed when fuel containing
sulfur, such as coal and oil, is burned, and when gasoline is extracted from oil, or metals are extracted from
ore. Sulfur dioxide reacts with other chemicals in the air to form tiny sulfate particles, associated with
increased respiratory symptoms and disease, difficulty in breathing, and premature death. Sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides react with other substances in the air to form acids, which fall to earth as rain, fog, snow, or
dry particles. Acid rain damages forests and crops, changes the makeup of soil, and makes lakes and streams
acidic and unsuitable for fish. Sulfur dioxide accelerates the decay of building materials and paints.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
PM
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of particulate matter (PM) released
into the atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. PM is the sum of all particular matter emitted, including PM10 and
PM2.5. Particulate matter, or PM, are particles found in the air, including dust, dirt, soot, smoke, and liquid
droplets, which can be suspended in the air for long periods of time. Some particles are large or dark enough
to be seen as soot or smoke. Others are so small that individually they can only be detected with an electron
microscope. Breathing particulate matter is linked to significant respiratory health problems.
PM10
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of particulate matter 10 (PM10)
released into the atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. PM10, includes particles with an aerodynamic diameter of
less than 10 microns. These smaller particles are most likely responsible for the adverse health effects on
humans because particles so small can reach the thoracic or lower regions of the respiratory tract.
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Fuel Emission Factors
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
PM2.5
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5)
released into the atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. EPA’s national air quality standards for fine particles, also
known as “PM2.5 standards,” are levels allowed in the outdoor air for particulate matter 2.5 microns in
diameter or smaller. EPA issued the PM2.5 standards in 1997 to protect human health and the environment.
Studies have linked increased exposure to PM2.5 to increases in premature death as well as a range of
serious respiratory and cardiovascular effects.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
NH3
The Environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of ammonia (NH3) released into the
atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. Ammonia reacts with nitrogen and sulfur compounds in the atmosphere,
mainly nitric and sulfuric acids, to form particulate matter.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
NMVOC
The Environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of non-methane volatile organic
compounds (NMVOC) released into the atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. Non-methane volatile organic
compounds (NMVOC), which include propane, butane, and ethane, are emitted primarily from transportation,
industrial processes, and non-industrial consumption of organic solvents. Volatile organic compounds react
with nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere to form ozone.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
Hg
The Environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of mercury (Hg) released into the
atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. This heavy metal can accumulate in the environment and is highly toxic if
breathed or swallowed. In the US, primary sources of mercury air emissions are coal-fired power plants.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
Pb
The Environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the mass of lead (Pb) released into the
atmosphere. The units are g/MJ. A heavy metal that is hazardous to health if breathed or swallowed. Its use in
gasoline, paints, and plumbing compounds has been sharply restricted or eliminated by federal laws and
regulations.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
Water
The environmental impact coefficient for the fuel for calculating the volume of water (H2O) consumed or
evaporated in the generation of electricity. The units are g/MJ. This is the water consumed in the production of
the energy, ie. electricity off-site evaporated in cooling towers or scrubbers, or in the production or processing
of the fuel itself, i.e., refinery for gasoline or diesel.
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If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
If using the 2-Scheduled Definition method then select the schedule which defines the emission factor using
SI units.
Emissions data for the other fuels is entered in the same way as for electricity.
Outputs
To obtain detailed outputs of pollution caused by fuel consumption use the check boxes on the Region tab at
Site level.
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Templates
Templates
DesignBuilder templates allow you to quickly load data into your model in bulk. If you often work with similar
types of buildings you may find it useful to create your own templates. This will allow you to load the same
data into any models you work with in the future.
DesignBuilder Templates are databases of typical generic data. The following templates are available:
• Activity templates
• Construction templates
• Glazing templates
• Facade templates
• "Lighting Templates" on page 1280
• HVAC templates
• Location Templates
• Crack templates
• Legislative region templates
• Energy code templates
• Sector templates
• Time zones templates
• Wind Pressure coefficient templates
Library Templates are loaded into the model at the time the dsb file is created and from then on, they are
associated specifically with this model and so are known as Model Templates. Any changes made to the
Library Templates do not affect existing building models because they reference their own set of Model
Templates. The latest set of library templates can be loaded into a model using the Import library components
and templates to model command.
Also templates are used for loading data into models, so a change to a template will not affect the model
until the data is loaded.
Note: Templates are loaded to the model in the same way that components are so that any edit to Model
template data will be associated with that model only.
1. Add, Edit, Delete, Import and Export Template library data from the Opening Screen - Template
Libraries tab.
2. If a model file is loaded you can edit Model templates from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel
(Learning mode switched off) or by using the Data management panel on the right of the screen
(Learning mode switched on).
3. In either case, to add a template, open up the template type you wish to define by clicking on the + to
the left of the template icon, then click on the category of template you wish to define. Now click on the
Green '+' to add a template of the selected category.
4. Import/export Model template using the File > Export > Library data menu command to create a .ddf
file with the .dsb model file open.
5. To import the previously exported Model template data to the Template library close the .dsb file and
import the .ddf file to the library.
6. Load the latest library templates into your model using the Import library components and templates
to model command from the Tools menu when a model is loaded. Any new data that has been added
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to the library since the model file was created will be imported to the model. Also if there have been any
changes to library template data, this new data will overwrite the original data.
Note: Any template you add while a model is open will be added to Model templates and not to the
Template library. It will only be added to the library and hence to new models if you export the new component
model data in .ddf form and import the .ddf file to the library before creating the new model.
Note: As well as importing DDF files created directly by DesignBuilder more advanced users can also
create their own component and template data sets (outside DesignBuilder) for importing. See the Importing
Custom Templates and Components topic for more information on the process involved.
Note 1: It is important to understand that the template data itself does not contribute to the model until it is
loaded in.
Note 2: Changes to the model data relative to the data in the template last loaded are highlighted in bold
to show that it overrides the template data previously loaded.
Note 3: Another way to load data to a model from templates is to use the Load Data From Template tool.
Note 4: If you change the data in a template and you would like those changes to be updated to the
model then you should use the Load Data From Template tool. There is an option to Reload templates which
can be useful for this purpose.
Colour codes
Templates are coded by colour in all selection lists as follows:
• Red shows user data, i.e. data that was not supplied by DesignBuilder.
• Green indicates that the data is derived from a reputable national or international source (e.g.
ASHRAE, CIBSE).
• Blue indicates that the data is generated internally by DesignBuilder.
• Black is used for all other data.
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Activity Templates
Activity Templates
Activity templates are used as a source of default activity (building usage) data for building models.
The data covers occupancy, equipment usage and suitable design internal temperatures, illuminance levels
and ventilation rates per person.
The Activity template data provided with DesignBuilder is mainly sourced from the UK National Calculation
Methodology and from ASHRAE 90.1 and 62.1.
• General
• All gains
• Occupancy
• Other gains
• Environmental
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
Enter the name, category, sector and region for this activity template.
Enter the region as 'General' if you want the data to be generally available (i.e. not restricted to a particular
region).
The floor shade colour is used to shade the floor of the model at block and zone levels to give a quick
indication of the usage of the building in various areas.
The lumped gains into the space from people, equipment, lights etc.
Data on this tab is only used when the Gains option is set to 'Lumped'.
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Occupancy levels and times, metabolic activity on this tab is used when the 'Gains' option is set to 'Early' or
'Detailed'.
Set the metabolic rate according to the level of activity within the space. The metabolic factor accounts for
people of various sizes. Enter 1.00 for men, 0.85 for women, 0.75 for children, or you can use an average
value if there is a mix of sizes.
The Workday profile is used when the 'Timing' option is set to 'Typical workday' and the Schedule data is used
when the Timing option is set to '7/12 Schedules'.
Data on this tab is used when the 'Gains' option is set to 'Early'. DHW Data is always used.
The default gains into the space from computers, office equipment, catering, process and miscellaneous
equipment for this activity.
Also hot water consumption rate per person per day and the operation schedules are defined here.
In DesignBuilder the amount of DHW consumed is considered to be a function of the activity. For example,
there is a demand assumed to arise from the occupants of an office for activities such as washing hands and
washing up cups. This demand is associated with the office rather than the toilet or tea room. Thus the
demand from each space needs to be assigned to a DHW system even if the system itself is not present in
the space.
Enter the data related to the environmental and comfort requirements of this activity:
If there is never any heating or cooling, you can leave these set-points.
See Environmental Control under Activity Model Data for more details.
Construction Templates
Construction templates are used as a source of generic construction data for loading into building models.
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Construction Templates - General
The template provides data on the construction of external walls, roofs, floors, partitions, roofs etc and air-
tightness data.
• General
• Simple
• Standard
• Airtightness
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
Enter the name, source, category and region for this construction template.
Data on this tab is used when the Construction model detail is set to Pre-design.
Enter default levels of insulation and thermal mass for this construction type.
Data on this tab is used when the Construction model detail is set to Pre-design or General (i.e. it is always
used).
Select default walls, partitions for exposed and semi-exposed surfaces for this Constructions template.
You can also select the external and internal wall sub-surface constructions here.
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Data on this tab is used when the Construction model detail is set to Pre-design or General (i.e. it is always
used).
Select default constructions for roofs, floors, slabs and ceiling surfaces for this Constructions template.
Data on this tab is used when the Construction model detail is set to Pre-design or General (i.e. it is always
used).
Select default door constructions for internal and external doors for this Constructions template.
You can also select the external and internal wall sub-surface constructions here.
Cracks template
The Cracks template setting indicates the Cracks data template to use as a source for crack data when the
Calculated Natural ventilation model option is selected.
Infiltration
The default infiltration rate used when the 'Natural ventilation' model detail level is 'Simple'.
Data on this tab is used when the Construction model detail is set to Pre-design or General (i.e. it is always
used).
Enter the default thermal mass construction for this construction template.
See Internal Thermal Mass for more information on defining thermal mass in a model.
Glazing Templates
Glazing templates are used as a source of default glazing, frame and shading construction data for building
models.
• General
• Glazing
• Shading
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Glazing Templates - General
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
Enter the name, category and region for this glazing template.
Enter the region as 'General' if you want the data to be generally available (i.e. not restricted to a particular
region). Glazing templates with category '<System>' have their data set up at the time a file is created or when
the Legislative region is changed.
Enter data on the glazing construction, frame and opening area for external glazing, internal glazing and roof
glazing.
Select any shading devices to be applied when this glazing templates is loaded to the model.
• General
• Openings
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
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Facade Templates - General
General tab on Facade Templates Dialog.
Enter the glazing and frame data for the facade. There are a number of standard facade types:
Lighting Templates
Lighting templates data sets are used as a source of generic lighting systems for loading into the building
data.
• General
• Output
• Control
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
Enter the name, category and region for this Lighting Template.
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Lighting Templates - Output
Enter the region as 'General' if you want the data to be generally available (i.e. not restricted to a particular
region).
See also Building Model Lighting Data for more information on the use of this template data in the model.
Enter the lighting energy for task and general lighting in W/m2/100 lux (W/ft2/100 lux). This data is used for
setting up the actual Lighting energy W/m2 data in each zone using:
Lighting energy (W/m2) = Lighting (W/m2/100 lux) x Design lux level (Activity tab) / 100
The 'Output' data is used for generating default lighting loads based on lighting type and required illuminance
levels as set in Activity data.
See General Lighting under Building Model Lighting Data for more information on the use of this template data
in the model.
If the lighting is to be controlled by the availability of natural daylight, check the 'control' option box and select
the type of control.
Continuous Control
For 'continuous' control, the overhead lights dim continuously and linearly from maximum electric power,
maximum light output to minimum electric power, minimum light output as the daylight illuminance increases.
The lights stay at the minimum point with further increase in the daylight illuminance.
The minimum input power fraction for 'continuous' control type is the lowest power the lighting system can dim
down to, expressed as a fraction of maximum input power. For 'continuous/off' lighting control, this is the
power fraction reached just before the light switch off completely.
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The minimum output fraction for 'continuous' control type, is the lowest lighting output the lighting system can
dim down to, expressed as a fraction of maximum light output. This is the fractional light output that the
system produces at minimum input power. For 'continuous/off' lighting control, this is the power fraction
reached just before the light switch off completely.
Continuous/Off Control
'Continuous/off' control is the same as continuous control except that the lights switch off completely when the
minimum dimming point is reached.
Stepped Control
For 'stepped' control, the electric power input and light output vary in discreet, equally spaced steps. The
number of steps can be set.
HVAC Templates
HVAC templates data sets are used as a source of generic heating/cooling and ventilation systems for loading
into the building data.
• General
• Ventilation
• System
• Air temperature distribution
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
Enter the name, category, sector and region for this HVAC template.
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HVAC Templates - Ventilation
Auxiliary energy
This setting defines the energy consumption of fans, pumps and other auxiliary equipment when using the
Simple HVAC model option together with the 1-NCM Simple HVAC auxiliary energy calculations option.
This energy is assumed to be consumed during periods when either heating or cooling systems are operating.
Region
Select the region as General if you want the data to be generally available (i.e. not restricted to a particular
region).
Natural Ventilation
Natural ventilation On
Check the On checkbox under the Natural Ventilation header to activate natural ventilation. This causes the
other natural ventilation data to become accessible.
Rate
Enter the natural ventilation rate in ac/h. Note that this will only be used when the Outside air definition
method on the HVAC model data tab is set to 1-By zone.
Mixed mode
Check this option to enable mixed mode for this template. The other mixed model settings are not accessible
through the HVAC template mechanism.
Mechanical Ventilation
Check the mechanical ventilation checkbox to indicate that outside air and/or re-circulated air is delivered to
the zone. You can use this setting to define mechanical ventilation and air delivered through centrally ducted
air conditioning systems or local fresh air systems. The specification of outside air delivery rates is the same
for both options as described in the Outside air section.
Fan Type
When using Simple HVAC, enter the type of fan. Select from:
• 1-Supply - fan blows outside air into the zone and the zone receives heat from the fan if Fan in air
(below) > 0
• 2-Extract - fan exhausts air from the zone. In this case there is no fan heat pickup. It is assumed that
makeup air comes from outside.
Note that in Simple HVAC the Auxiliary energy data accounts for all electric fan and pump distribution energy
plus controls and any other electrical energy use associated with HVAC that is not already accounted for
elsewhere.
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Fan pressure rise
Enter the pressure rise at full flow and standard conditions. Standard conditions are considered 20°C at sea
level, 101325 Pa.
Economiser
Economisers are used to provide cooling when the outdoor temperature is lower than the indoor temperature.
An economiser is a damper opening that draws up to 100% outside air when the outside air is cooler than the
temperature inside the building, thereby providing free cooling. An outdoor air economy cycle can reduce
cooling energy requirements by some 20% to 30%, or around 5% of the air conditioning energy use and are
often required by energy codes for larger air conditioning units.
• 1-None where no economiser operation will be simulated and outside fresh air is based purely on the
Mechanical ventilation Outside air rate and associated operation schedule.
• 2-Differential dry bulb the economiser increases the outdoor air flow rate above the minimum outdoor
air flow when there is a cooling load and the outdoor air temperature or enthalpy is below the zone
exhaust air temperature.
• 3-Differential enthalpy the economiser increases the outdoor air flow rate above the minimum outdoor
air flow when there is a cooling load and the outdoor air enthalpy is below that of the zone exhaust air.
Note: The economiser works together with the cooling system and if cooling is not selected the
economiser will not operate.
Note: This value is not used a) when the Cooling limit type is set to 2-Limit capacity and b) when the
HVAC Autosize model option is 1-Adequate.
Heat recovery
When heat recovery is active you can choose the type of heat recovery. Select from:
• 1-Sensible which provides sensible heat recovery whenever the zone exhaust air temperature is more
favourable than the outdoor air temperature.
• 2-Enthalpy where latent and sensible heat recovery are provided whenever the zone exhaust air
enthalpy is more favourable than the outdoor air enthalpy.
With the EnergyPlus Ideal loads system used in Simple HVAC heat recovery heating is only available when a
zone is heated, i.e. when the Heated checkbox is checked on the HVAC tab. Likewise cooling heat recovery
will only be available if the Cooled checkbox is checked. That is not to say that heat recovery isn't available
for zones with heating at times when the heating system is not operating - heat recovery heating is available
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HVAC Templates - Heating And Cooling
at any time in this case when the outside air is cooler than zone exhaust air, regardless of whether heating is
operating or not. If you need to model heat recovery for systems without heating then you should use Detailed
HVAC which is more flexible.
Heating
Heating On
If the template includes heating then check this checkbox. When it is checked the rest of the items below
become available.
Heating fuel
Select the type of fuel used to generate the heating energy - choose from:
You should select 1-Electricity from grid you wish the results displayed in DesignBuilder to agree with those
calculated by EnergyPlus directly for District heating and displayed on the Summary tab of the Simulation
screen.
Heating type
There are two heating types available:
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• 1-Convective - the space is heated by an air system and controlled to the air temperature set point.
The system is modelled using the EnergyPlus "Ideal Loads" system.
• 2-Radiative/convective units - used for modelling general systems where a radiant heat is a factor.
Allows modelling of convective systems, hot water radiator systems, underfloor heating systems,
baseboard heating etc. using EnergyPlus 'High Temp Radiant System'.
Cooling
Cooling On
If the template includes cooling then check this checkbox. When it is checked the rest of the items below
become available.
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HVAC Templates - Air Temperature Distribution
• 1-Constant supply humidity ratio means that during heating the supply air will always be at the
Maximum heating supply humidity ratio.
• 2-Humidistat means that the humidity in the zone is controlled using the Humidification setpoint
defined on the Activity tab. The ideal loads system will attempt to meet the humidistat request, i.e. it will
humidify according to the setpoint.
• 1-Constant supply humidity ratio means that during cooling the supply air will always be at the
Minimum cooling supply humidity ratio.
• 2-Humidistat means that the humidity in the zone is controlled using the Dehumidification setpoint
defined on the Activity tab. The ideal loads system will attempt to meet the humidistat request, i.e. it will
dehumidify according to the setpoint.
• 3-Constant sensible heat ratio. means that the ideal loads system will be controlled to meet the
sensible cooling load, and the latent cooling rate will be computed using a constant sensible heat ratio
(SHR).
For 3-Constant sensible heat ratio and 2-Humidistat options, if the mixed air humidity ratio is less than the
target humidity ratio, then the mixed air humidity ratio will be used. For all options, the supply air humidity ratio
will never be allowed to exceed saturation at the supply dry bulb temperature. The selected dehumidification
control type is always applied when the unit is in cooling mode. If the unit is in deadband mode (not actively
heating the supply air) control type Humidistat will be active. If the unit is in heating mode, control type
Humidistat will be active if the Humidification Control Type field below is set to Humidistat or None. This allows
the ideal loads system to heat and dehumidify at the same time.
By default EnergyPlus assumes that air temperature within a zone is completely uniform (i.e. the air is fully
mixed). The data on this tab allows you to set up a temperature gradient which varies dynamically depending
on:
• Outside temperature.
• Inside temperature.
• Inside-outside temperature difference.
• Heating load.
• Cooling load.
See Air Temperature Distribution for more information on defining vertical zone temperature profiles
(temperature gradients).
The HVAC cost is calculated zone by zone by multiplying the zone floor area by the cost per floor area (GIFA)
for the zones on the HVAC tab. This data will normally be loaded to model data from the HVAC template to
ensure that HVAC performance and cost data are consistent.
This cost should include any contributions to the total cost of the building HVAC system from plant
components and not only the components within the particular zone.
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Note: This data is used for both Simple and Detailed HVAC for costing purposes.
Tip: The Cost data help topic provides an overview of the places in DesignBuilder where costs are entered.
Location Templates
Location Templates are a database of locations from around the world based on ASHRAE 2013 design
weather data including daylight savings.
Each Location data set is located within a 'Legislative Region'. Most Regions in Europe include some basic
data on the energy codes which apply.
• Location
• Winter design weather
• Summer design weather
• Simulation weather
Note: There is no direct link between hourly weather data and the ASHRAE design values on the Winter
and Summer design data tabs.
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
DesignBuilder Location Templates are located within 'Legislative Regions'. Most regions in Europe include
some basic data on the energy codes which apply.
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Location Templates - Winter Design Weather
There are options for 99.6 or 99% confidence (i.e. 0.4 or 1% chance of more extreme winter weather
occurring).
Risk can be specified based on dry or wet-bulb temperatures, for 99.6, 99 and 98% confidence (i.e. 0.4, 1 or
2% chance of more extreme weather occurring).
DesignBuilder will only use hourly weather data for simulations (winter and summer design calculations use
design weather data).
Crack Templates
Crack data is used when the 'Calculated' natural ventilation option is set. In this case every surface in the
model has a crack and its size (characterised by flow coefficient and exponent) is determined by Airtightness
as set on the Constructions tab in the Model Data. The value of Airtightness is used as a key to look up
corresponding crack sizes in the Cracks database.
The cracks database has been set up empirically to give typical air change rates for each of the five
Airtightness categories in a range of building types.
• General
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• Openings
• Walls
• Floors/ceilings
• Roofs
A source of information on crack data from AIVC is Numerical Data for Air Infiltration & Natural Ventilation
Calculations.
Enter the characteristics of the cracks around internal and external windows, vents and doors.
Note that the opening crack characteristics are normalised by opening perimeter lengths.
In reality the porosity of walls is caused by a very large number of small cracks and holes.
DesignBuilder models this porosity using a single equivalent crack. Enter the characteristics this equivalent
single crack for internal and external walls.
Note that the crack characteristics are normalised by surface area.
In reality the porosity of floors is caused by a very large number of small cracks and holes.
DesignBuilder models this porosity using a single equivalent crack. Enter the characteristics this equivalent
single crack for internal and external floors.
In reality the porosity of roofs is caused by a very large number of small cracks and holes.
DesignBuilder models this porosity using a single equivalent crack. Enter the characteristics this equivalent
single crack for roofs.
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Legislative Region Templates
The current regions database is only sparsely populated with useful data (most of that is from countries within
Europe). But we expect to expand this in time.
• General
• Standard insulation
• Emissions
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
Enter the name of the Legislative region, the category (country) and a description of the Region.
Data on this type specifies 4 standard insulation levels which apply to this region:
• Uninsulated - typical U-values for buildings in the region which are not insulated
• Stock average - Average (estimated) insulation standards for real buildings in the region. This data is
used in some asset rating calculations.
• Mandatory energy code - Defines the maximum U-values allowed in the energy code/building
regulations in force in the region.
• Best practice - Defines the U-values to be expected in a state-of-the-art building in the region.
- 1291 -
Legislative Region Templates - Emissions
Emissions tab on Legislative Region Templates Dialog.
CO2 Emissions
Emissions factor
The emissions tab contains a single browse selection to define the Fuel emissions factors for each fuel. The
emissions factors define the amount of CO2, CO, CH4, NOx and several other pollutants emitted per unit of
energy consumed for each of the major fuel types in the region. The emission factors depend on the mix of
technology used to generated the electricity, the quality of the fuel and other factors such as production
carbon cost.
CO2 emissions are calculated within DesignBuilder by multiplying simulated fuel consumption by the CO2
emission factor for that fuel. Conversion factors can be made specific to the region by changing the data for
the region.
Note: The emission factors for each fuel are only actually used in the simulation when the corresponding
selection has been made for that fuel type on the Region tab at site level under the Include Fuel Emissions
header.
You can define the type of energy code by making selections on the next 3 tabs.
If this energy code requires for example that minimum component perforance and whole building energy
performance then check both these options.
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
- 1292 -
Energy Code Templates - Envelope (component)
Specifies mandatory maximum U-values through the individual components (walls, windows, roofs etc.).
Sets a limit on the rate of heat transfer through the overall building envelope. The limit is typically set as an
average U-value for the overall building envelope.
Sets a limit on the rate of heat transfer through the overall building envelope. The limit is typically set as an
average U-value for the overall building envelope.
Sector Templates
Sectors are used to categorise buildings according to their use/activity.
A sector is located within a legislative region and can only be accessed if the building is situated within the
region containing the sector.
The 'General' sector is an exception to this rule as it can be accessed from all regions if the 'List region data'
Program Options setting is 'All or 'General+Local'.
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
If the time zone does not have daylight saving then the text N/A is entered in the Daylight saving from field.
The time zone is selected in model data under Time and Daylight Saving on the Location tab at site level.
- 1293 -
Note: you can override daylight savings to be off in the model data by unchecking the Use daylight
saving.
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
DesignBuilder is supplied with a database of wind pressure coefficients based on data from Martin Liddament,
Air Infiltration Calculation Techniques, An Applications Guide, AIVC. The Cp data is buildings of 3 storeys or
less, with square surfaces and for 3 levels of site exposure. The data is given in 45° increments.
Another source of information on wind pressure coefficients from AIVC is Numerical Data for Air Infiltration &
Natural Ventilation Calculations.
Note: The AIVC wind pressure coefficient data provides a good first level of approximation for basic
design purposes. However, ideally you would override this default data with pressure coefficient data specific
to your application. This data might be calculated from CFD simulations or measured from wind tunnel studies
using physical models.
• from the Templates tab on the opening screen (if no file is open),
• from the Templates tab in the Navigator panel (if a file is open),
• by double-clicking on the template icon in the model data,
• by clicking on the Edit button when selecting templates from a list.
Import Components/Templates
Import component/template .DDF files previously exported using the File > Import > Library data menu
command:
• Import the data to the model by selecting the Import menu command with a file open.
• Import to libraries by working from the Opening screen.
Note: As well as importing DDF files created directly by DesignBuilder you can also create your own
component and template data sets (outside DesignBuilder) for importing. See the Importing Custom
Templates and Components topic for more information on the process involved.
- 1294 -
Export Components/Templates
Export Components/Templates
You can export your user DesignBuilder Component/Template libraries by selecting the File > Export >
Library data menu command to create a .DDF file. This file can be shared with other users, imported on other
computers in your office or simply used as a backup.
When exporting a complex set of data, DesignBuilder will check that where user data references other user
components, these referenced components are also selected. For example, if you select a construction for
export which uses your own materials, you must make sure that all materials used in this construction are also
selected. If any required user components are not selected DesignBuilder displays a dialog showing the
missing components. See below.
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Press the OK button to continue with the export automatically including the missing data.
Note: if there is any data that is referenced but does not exist it is flagged with a red '!' icon (above). In
this case you should press the Cancel button and make the necessary edits to ensure that all referenced data
exists. DesignBuilder will not prevent you from continuing so it is possible to create DDF files with missing
data.
When you use the library data Export command with a model data file open, the data exported will be user
Model components/templates, not Library components/templates.
From the Opening screen you can also export entire data tables as csv-spreadsheet files suitable for
viewing in a spreadsheet. This data cannot be read back into DesignBuilder.
Export Limitations
Some components rely on external file resources to complete the data set. In these cases the external file is
not included in the ddf file and must be copied manually. This applies to:
• Textures
• Hourly weather data
For both the above cases the external texture and epw files are included in the dsb file though, so you may
find it easier to save example template dsb models to transfer these datasets.
- 1296 -
Library Management
Library Management
DesignBuilder is supplied with libraries of Templates and Components and these can be managed from the
opening screen (i.e. when no dsb file is loaded).
Tip: you can load the latest library components and templates into your model using the Import library
data to model command from the Tools menu when a model is loaded. Any new data that has been added to
the library since the model file was created will be imported to the model. Also if there have been any changes
to library component and template data, this new data will overwrite the original data.
Note: DesignBuilder keeps separate program options and template and component libraries for each user
on the computer system.
Library Components are automatically loaded into the model at the time the file is created and from then on,
they are associated specifically with this model and so are known as 'Model Components'. Any change made
to the Library Components does not affect existing building models because they reference their own set of
Model Components.
- 1297 -
Add New Component
To add a component:
1. Click on the + to the left of the component type (Glazing in the above screen shot).
2. Click on the category (folder icon) or on a component within a category.
3. Click on the green + on the toolbar to create a new component of the selected category.
4. Fill in the details on the dialog and press OK.
1. Click on the + to the left of the component type (Glazing in the above screen shot).
2. Click on the component you wish to copy.
3. Click on the clone icon on the toolbar to create a new component identical to the selected one. This
creates the copy and selects it,
4. To edit the new component click on the Edit toolbar button
5. Fill in the details on the dialog and press OK.
- 1298 -
Template Library Management
View Component
You can view the details of a component in the Info | Data panel on the right of the screen as shown in the
diagram above. Note that icons in the View panel indicate that you can click on the component to see its'
details. You can also use the Previous and Next Navigation buttons above the Info panel to navigate through
previously viewed components and templates.
You can add, clone (copy), delete, view, edit, import, export, backup, restore library templates as shown
below. You can also save the libraries by clicking on the Save toolbar icon (libraries are also saved when the
program exits)
1. Click on the + to the left of the template type (Activity templates in the above screen shot).
2. Click on the category (folder icon) or on a template within a category.
3. Click on the green + on the toolbar to create a new template of the selected category.
- 1299 -
4. Fill in the details on the dialog and press OK.
1. Click on the + to the left of the template type (Activity templates in the above screen shot).
2. Click on the template you wish to copy.
3. Click on the clone icon on the toolbar to create a new template identical to the selected one. This
creates the copy and selects it,
4. To edit the new template click on the Edit toolbar button
5. Fill in the details on the dialog and press OK.
View Template
You can view the details of a template in the Info | Data panel on the right of the screen as shown in the
diagram above. Note that icons in the View panel indicate that you can click on the template to see its' details.
You can also use the Previous and Next Navigation buttons above the Info panel to navigate through
previously viewed components and templates.
Note: You can work with templates with a file open from the Templates tab on the Navigator panel but in
this case you're working with Model Templates, i.e. templates specifically associated with a particular model
not the library.
Back up your Component and Template libraries by clicking on the Backup toolbar icon. Backups created in
this way are stored in the 'Backup\Manual' folder beneath the rest of the library data.
As well as backing up the compiled .dbt files, DesignBuilder also exports the files in .dat format and packages
the whole backup into a zip file. If you have problems with your libraries you may find it helpful to send this zip
file to DesignBuilder Support for analysis.
You can use this data as a backup of your library data and can restore it at a later date using the Restore
libraries command.
Click on the Restore icon to open the Restore Data dialog which allows you to Restore previously backed up
Component/Template libraries. Select the source of the restore - you can either restore the libraries to their
state when you first installed DesignBuilder or you can restore library data from a previous backup (if one
exists). In the screenshot below, no backup had been made so the Previous backup option is not available.
- 1300 -
Restore Component/Template Libraries
If you choose to restore libraries supplied with installation you can use the Restore custom data (clear to
delete all custom data) option to either:
1. Restore the custom data which existed on the computer at the time the software was installed, or,
2. Clear all custom data to keep only the data supplied by DesignBuilder.
Note to restore the libraries supplied with the installation and clear any custom data select Restore
libraries supplied with installation and uncheck the Restore custom data (clear to delete all custom
data) option.
- 1301 -
Outputs And Calculations
Display Options in the Panel in the bottom left of the screen allow you to change the data displayed and the
presentation style.
Results can be exported in a variety of file formats or they can added as a Report topic.
- 1303 -
Visualisation
Visualisation
The Visualisation screen provides various ways to visualise the model inputs either using false colours to
represent the various option settings and also with full 3-D rendering including textures, glazing shading etc.
The screenshot below shows a typical external view of the constructions and glazing model data visualisation.
- 1305 -
The legend on the left of the view provides the list of constructions and glazing components and the colour
associated with each. In large models the list can be long and in this case you may find a scroll arrow at the
bottom and/or top of the legend list to allow you to access the next/previous page.
Tip: The Constructions and Glazing dialogs both allow you to select a colour to represent that component
when applied to surfaces and openings. This is the colour used to shade surfaces and windows on this view.
- 1306 -
Visualisation - Model Data
Surface removal
You can remove surfaces to allow internal surface data to be viewed by clicking with the mouse on any
external or internal surface that you would like to be removed. You can use this tool to selectively expose data
deep within a building without losing other data that you might also wish to view.
To restore a surface that was removed hold the <Ctrl> key down and click with the mouse again on the space
where the removed surface should be.
The example screenshot below shows the same model as above but with some of the roof surfaces removed
as described above to reveal internal surfaces.
- 1307 -
Note: Removing surfaces in this way only affects the model data visualisation view and does not affect
the model itself.
Section cut
The Section cut tool can be used to cut a slice through the model to allow internal data to be viewed. This tool
can be especially useful for viewing data across a whole floor, or across a whole façade.
The example screenshot below shows the application of the section cut tool to allow the construction and
glazing properties of internal constructions on the top floor to be viewed, as well as those for external
surfaces.
- 1308 -
Visualisation - Rendered View
• Access a realistic rendered view of the model showing surfaces with textures.
• View the effects of solar shading for any day of the year
• Export rendered images in various formats
• Generate AVI movies of the scene.
Visualisation Controls
_Ref-1191382001
• "Sunpath" on page 1310
• Show shadows
• Show North arrow
• "Show Ground Plane" on page 1315
• "Field Of View" on page 1316
• Antialiasing
• Dynamics
- 1309 -
These controls are accessed from the Display Options panel on the Visualisation screen:
• View Rotation
• Orbit
• Zoom
• Fit view
• Pan view
• Zoom window
• "Section Cut" on page 1320
Sunpath
Display options on Visualisation screen
You can display a Sunpath diagram for the building at its current location by checking the Show Sunpath
diagram Display option and pressing the Apply button. This will display a Sunpath diagram similar to that
shown below.
- 1310 -
Sunpath
The Sunpath diagram provided in DesignBuilder can be a very useful way to view the paths taken by the sun
as it moves through the sky at all times of the year.
When both the Show Sunpath diagram and Show shadows Display options are set, the Change solar
position tool becomes available. This allows you to move the sun around the diagram. To do this first click on
the Change solar position toolbar icon (above). When this tool is active the cursor become a cross and you
can use it to click on a junction of time/month sunpath lines to set the new solar position. You can continue to
move the sun around the sky by clicking on the diagram in the same way. An alternative way to use this tool is
to drag the sun around the sky. You will notice that the Time of day and Month data in the Display options
panel are updated along with shadows as the sun moves through the sky.
When you have finished press the <Escape> key to return to Select mode.
Tip: You can use the Sunpath diagram with the Create movie tool to show the sun moving through the sky
for the current design month. To do this select the 2-Shading for design day option on the Movie options
data dialog box
- 1311 -
Show Shadows, Time, Day, Month
Display options on Visualisation screen
You can incorporate solar shading within the rendered model view by switching the Show shadows check
box on and then clicking on the Apply button:
After clicking on the Apply button, a progress control appears to inform of shadow generation and then the
view is updated:
- 1312 -
Show Shadows, Time, Day, Month
If you want to look at more detailed shading, you can include the window frame dividers in the shading
calculations by checking the Show window frame shadows check box and clicking the Apply button:
- 1313 -
Period
The month, day and time-of-day can be controlled using the controls under the Period header. Note that the
time specified here is local mean time excluding any daylight saving. You can account for daylight saving time
by adding 1 hour to the local mean time during summer months to see shading for clock time.
Note: Time is defined in decimal hours, e.g. '10.5' is the same as 10:30 a.m..
In the screenshot below the time has been changed to 10:00 and the shadows adjust accordingly.
- 1314 -
Show North Arrow
Use this control to switch the display of the North direction arrow on or off.
Check this option to see the ground plane on the Visualisation screen, or uncheck it to remove the ground
plane. It can sometimes be useful to remove the ground plane to gain a clearer view of basement blocks.
Hiding the ground plane can also make it easier to obtain a "building only" view, allowing images taken from
the model to be placed on top of custom backgrounds using image processing software.
- 1315 -
Ground plane displayed
Field Of View
Display options on Visualisation screen
The Field of view is the extent of the rendered model that is seen on the display at any given moment. It
affects perspective in the view. A low Field of view value such as 10° is similar in effect to using a telephoto
lens which "flattens" perspective, giving an effect more like the isometric view used on the model edit screen.
A high value like 90° allows more of the model to be seen on the screen at any one time which can be
- 1316 -
Field Of View
especially useful for interior views. However this does exaggerate the effect of perspective giving distorted
angles. These effects can be seen in the screenshots below.
- 1317 -
Field of view = 90° (wide angle with exaggerated perspective)
Antialiasing
Display options on Visualisation screen
The antialiasing option can be used to improve image quality. You may need to experiment with antialiasing to
confirm whether or not the graphics card fitted to your computer will facilitate this feature - with some earlier
cards, antialiasing can be very slow.
Tip: more advanced graphics cards can provide hardware antialiasing and in this case this software
antialiasing option may only provide marginal benefit.
To enable antialiasing, switch the Antialiasing check box on and click on the Apply button:
- 1318 -
Dynamics
You can improve the quality of the image using the Increasing Quality slider control:
Bear in mind that as you increase image quality, the display speed will decrease.
Dynamics
Display option on Visualisation screen
- 1319 -
With larger and more complex models, orbit and zoom control speed can be increased very significantly by
selecting 'Wireframe' from the 'Dynamics' control drop list.
Visualisations are based on the same model as that used for the calculations but you may notice some slight
differences in the way the model is displayed vis-a-vis the floor constructions and Zone volume calculation
options.
1. DesignBuilder uses a single floor 'slab' for each block even when some floors in the block may
have different constructions. This is done for simplicity and also to ensure the most realistic images
are produced without step changes in the floor level throughout the block. So there is only limited
scope for adjusting the height of floor level in the visualisation.
2. Where the Ground floor construction is below ground and is not subtracted from zone
volume option is selected, the top of the ground floor will be shown in the visualisation screen as
being at ground level - this is consistent with the data. However you will not be able to see the
ground construction below the ground if you adjust the camera level to be below ground.
Section Cut
Accessible from the Visualisation, CFD and Simulation Data Visualisation screens.
The Section cut tool can be used to create a slice through the building to allow the inside of the model to be
viewed.
You can continue to use other view tools with the cut in place.
To subsequently change the position or direction of the cut press the <Esc> key and repeat the steps above
to select the new cut position and direction.
You can change the direction of the section cut by using the Section Cut, Orientation setting at the top of the
Display Options panel when the Section cut command is active.
Note: with the cut in place you can view the shading (rendered view) and other results (data visualisation
view) within the building. The section cut does not affect shading or other results - it just affects the view that
you have on the model.
- 1320 -
Show Surface Edge Lines
- 1321 -
Show internal surface edges: Off
- 1322 -
Show Surface Edge Lines
Note: When a model includes external surfaces with zero thickness surfaces, it can be better to uncheck
this option when viewing from the outside to avoid any lines from internal surfaces such as partitions bleeding
through to the outside. See screenshots below.
- 1323 -
Show internal surface edges: On
- 1324 -
Show Surrounding Blocks/Zones/Surfaces
- 1325 -
Show surrounding surfaces
When at surface or opening level you can check the Show surrounding surfaces checkbox to view other
surfaces in the same zone in wire-frame as shown below.
- 1326 -
Creating Movies
Creating Movies
When on the Visualisation or CFD screens you can create AVI movies of your model. To create a video file
from a rendered view, click on the Generate AVI movie tool which opens the Movie options data dialog box:
- 1327 -
Use the Type drop list to select either:
• 1-Orbit - 360° orbit movie. This option generates a series of images, one for each angular Orbit
increment and then allows you stitch them together to create an AVI file.
• 2-Shading for design day - fixed camera position, varying the solar position over the design day as
specified on the Visualisation Display options panel.
Tip: The 2-Shading for design day option works particularly well with the Sunpath diagram
displayed
Click on the OK button to generate the movie. After the movie generation has completed, a file save dialogue
will be displayed to allow you to save the movie file to any required location.
Note: smaller Shading time increments and Orbit increments can generate a lot of data and take a
long time to complete movie generation, especially for large models when software antialiasing is switched on.
Click on the Heating design Screen tab to view Heating Design data. If the necessary data has not yet been
generated, a Heating Design calculation is automatically started to generate the data.
• Constant (Steady-state) external temperature set to the winter design external temperature.
• Wind speed and direction set to design values.
• No solar gain.
• No internal gains (lighting, equipment, occupancy etc).
• Heated zones are heated constantly to achieve the heating temperature set point using a simple
convective heating system.
• Includes consideration of heat conduction and convection between zones of different temperatures.
• Schedules are not used for Heating design calculations which are based on a steady state analysis
which does not account for timing.
Simulation continues until temperatures/heat flows in each zone have converged. If convergence does not
occur then simulation continues for the maximum number of days as specified in the calculation options.
The simulation calculates heating capacities required to maintain the temperature set points in each zone and
displays the total heat loss broken down as:
• Glazing
• Walls
• Partitions
- 1328 -
Heating Design Calculation Options Dialog
• Solid floors
• Roofs
• External infiltration
• Internal natural ventilation (i.e. heat lost to other cooler adjacent spaces through windows, vents, doors,
holes)
The total heat loss in each zone is multiplied by a Safety factor (1.5 by default) to give a recommended
heating Design Capacity. This heating capacity can be written directly into the Heating capacity model data
depending on the setting of the Plant sizing model option on the Data tab under HVAC.
Customise the data displayed and display style using the Display Options panel.
Note: heating design calculations do not use any Calculated natural ventilation data that may have been
set up, however they can be set up to use Scheduled natural ventilation data through the Sizing zone
equipment > Natural ventilation load setting on the HVAC tab.
• Calculation Options
• "Output Options - Heating Design" on page 1100
• Advanced Calculation Options
Calculation Options
Calculation description
Enter some text to identify the calculation. This will be used in reports and in the filename for automatically
generated ESO files.
Temperature control
Heating and cooling systems control internal temperatures to meet the setpoint temperatures specified on the
Activity tab. These setpoint temperatures can be interpreted as air, operative or some other radiant fraction
and DesignBuilder provides corresponding options to allow HVAC systems to be controlled by:
• 1-Air temperature - control the zone mean air temperatures to the heating and cooling setpoint
temperatures specified on the Activity tab.
• 2-Operative temperature - control the room temperature using 0.5 radiant fraction. See notes of
operative temperature control below if you plan to use this option.
• 3-Other- you can enter the radiant temperature control fraction.
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When using the 3-Other option the radiant fraction should be less than 0.9 and the minimum is 0.0. A value of
0.0 is the same as controlling on only zone air temperature. If air velocities are higher than 0.2 m/s, then lower
values for radiative fraction might apply. Niu and Burnett (1998) cite International Standard ISO 77300 in
recommending the values for this fraction listed in the following table.
Note: The temperature control settings used in heating design and cooling design will also apply in
simulation autosizing calculations for the winter and summer design days respectively.
Reference: J. Niu and J. Burnett. 1998. Integrating Radiant/Operative Temperature Controls into Building
Energy Simulations. ASHRAE Transactions Vol. 104. Part 2. page 210. ASHRAE. Atlanta, GA.
Note: This option does not affect natural and mechanical ventilation setpoints - these always use air
temperature set points.
Tip: See the equivalent topic for Simulation for an advanced discussion on Operative vs Air temperature
control.
System Sizing
Design margin
The Heating Design margin is used to multiply calculated steady state heating loads in each zone to give a
recommended heating system size. It accounts for the additional heat required to bring the building up to
temperature in a reasonably short preheat period and allows you to be confident that comfort conditions will
be maintained in all but the most extreme winter conditions.
The default design margin is 1.25 which results in heating systems being oversized by 25% relative to the
steady state load calculated by EnergyPlus.
Cooling design output options apply to the whole building and are only visible at building level when accessed
from the Outputs model data tab.
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Advanced Calculation Options - Heating Design
• No occupancy and,
• No cooling and,
• No heating and,
• No mechanical ventilation
Note: if you uncheck this option and all zones in the model are unoccupied then you will get a 'Zero floor
area error' message
Warning: Use the surface and opening output options with caution on large models as, when selected, they
will cause large amounts of data to be stored.
General Solution
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Convergence of the simultaneous heat balance/HVAC solution is reached when both the loads and
temperature criteria are satisfied. Both tolerances work the same way, one looks at temperatures and one
looks at heating and cooling loads. After the second warm-up day, the program compares the maximum
temperature experienced in a space with the maximum temperature from the previous day. If those two
temperatures are within the tolerance, then it has passed the first warm-up check. It does a similar
comparison with lowest temperatures experience within all the zones. If the current simulation day and the
previous day values are within the tolerance, then it has passed the second warm-up check. A similar
comparison is carried out with the loads tolerance and the maximum heating and cooling loads that are
experienced within the spaces. Those are compared individually to the values for the previous day. If they are
both in tolerance, then the simulation has passed the third and fourth warm-up check. The simulation stays in
the warm-up period until ALL FOUR checks have been passed.
Other
Note: 'surfaces contained within a zone' are frequently generated when one of the zone merging options
is used where a partition or floor which would have separated two zones actually sits within the merged zone.
These surfaces do not refer to hanging partitions which are modelled using Internal thermal mass.
To update the data using different calculation options, click Update (Ctrl-U).
The General tab on the Display Options panel provides options for controlling the data displayed in the
Heating design data display screen. General Display Options are grouped under three headers:
The Detailed tab on the Display Options panel provides controls which allow you to select exactly the data
items you wish to display.
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Reviewing Heating Design Output
Data Options
Data
Select an option to indicate the data you wish to display:
• 1-All - fabric and ventilation heat gains/losses, internal gains (not Heating Design), temperatures and
outside dry-bulb air temperature.
• 2-Site data - all site data.
• 3-Comfort - inside air, the radiant and comfort temperatures.
• 4-Internal gains - internal gains including equipment, lighting, occupancy, solar and HVAC
heating/cooling delivery.
• 5-Fabric and ventilation - heat gains to the space from the surface element (walls, floors, ceilings etc.)
and ventilation. Negative values indicate heat loss from the space.
Tip: to update the data using different calculation options, click Update (Ctrl-U).
Show as
You can display the data in one of four ways:
• Graph
• Grid
• Graph and table
• Table
Note: you must select the Grid option to export data in spreadsheet format.
Normalise by area
Check this option if you wish building, block and zone data to be displayed 'per floor area', i.e. /m2 or /ft2, and
surface and opening data to be displayed 'per surface or opening area'.
At building, block or zone level you can select the floor area to use as the denominator from the options:
Note: you can only select 1-All areas if the building and block data includes occupied areas as set in
Include unoccupied zones in block and building totals and averages option in Heating design Output
options, Likewise you can only select 2-Occupied area if the building and block data excludes occupied
areas.
Y-Axis Options
These options give you control over how the Y-axis is displayed.
Lock min/max
This option locks the extent of the Y-axes so that they keep their current maximum and minimum values. This
allows consistent comparison with the future results display.
The Y-axis keeps its current settings until you unlock it again.
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You can achieve the same effect by clicking on the 'Lock Y-axis min/max values' toolbar command
When you lock the Y-axis the current settings are stored and displayed for each of the available Y-axes. You
can edit any of these to get a more precise setting. Remember to click on the Apply button when you are
ready to register a change to any numeric display option data.
Separate axes
Check this option to add a vertical space between each of the displayed axes.
Appearance
You can control the details of the presentation of the graphical output by making selections on the Display
Options panel under the Appearance header.
EnergyPlus Script
You can view the input data script used to calculate these results by selecting the 'Tools | Display simulation
input script' menu option. If you do not have the EnergyPlus IDF editor installed, then you should associate
the .idf file extension with a text editor to make this option work.
Note: this shows the script stored with the model just before the simulation not the _Ref-600109359in.idf
file stored in the EnergyPlus folder.
• Comfort temperature - The mean of the internal air and radiant temperatures (also known as the
'operational' temperature)
• Steady-state heat loss - same as 'Heating delivered' on the Steady State tab - heat delivered to
maintain the internal heating design temperature.
• Design capacity - is the Steady-state heat loss multiplied by the Design margin to give the design
heating capacity of the equipment.
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Heat Loss Breakdown Results
Tip: Use the Export command to export this data in spreadsheet format.
For more on how the output is calculated see: Calculation of DesignBuilder Output from EnergyPlus Report
Variables.
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Note: The Heating delivered is the sum of the component heat loss values.
Surface heat loss data (walls, ceilings, floors etc) refers to heat transfer from the zone to the inside surface of
the building elements.
You can also customise the data displayed and display style using the Display Options panel.
Click on the Cooling design Screen tab to view Cooling Design data. If the necessary data has not yet been
generated, a Cooling Design calculation is automatically started to generate the data.
• Periodic steady-state external temperatures calculated using maximum and minimum design summer
weather conditions.
• No wind.
• Includes solar gains through windows and scheduled natural ventilation.
• includes internal gains from occupants, lighting and other equipment.
• Includes consideration of heat conduction and convection between zones of different temperatures.
For buildings situated in the Northern Hemisphere, Cooling Design calculations are made for the month of July
and for buildings in the Southern Hemisphere they are made for the month of January.
Simulation continues until temperatures/heat flows in each zone have converged. If convergence does not
occur then simulation continues for the maximum number of days as specified in the calculation options.
The simulation calculates half-hourly temperatures and heat flows for each zone and determines cooling
capacities required to maintain any cooling temperature set points in each zone.
The maximum cooling load in each zone is multiplied by a Safety factor (1.3 by default) to give a Design
Cooling Capacity. This design cooling capacity can be written directly into the Cooling capacity model data
depending on the setting of the Plant sizing model option on the Data tab under HVAC.
Customise the data displayed and display style using the Display Options panel.
Note: Cooling Design calculations use Scheduled Natural ventilation model data set on the HVAC tab
even when the Calculated natural ventilation option is set. This is to help you to document the input data for
your Cooling Design calculations. Calculated natural ventilation data input is too complex to be adequately
summarised.
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Cooling Design Calculation Options Dialog
Calculation description
Enter some text to identify the calculation. This will be used in reports and in the filename for automatically
generated ESO files.
Calculation Description
Enter some text to identify the calculation. This will be used in reports and in the filename for automatically
generated ESO files. The Calculation description is only available on the Cooling design calculation options
dialog.
Calculation Options
Temperature control
Heating and cooling systems control internal temperatures to meet the setpoint temperatures specified on the
Activity tab. These setpoint temperatures can be interpreted as air, operative or some other radiant fraction
and DesignBuilder provides corresponding options to allow HVAC systems to be controlled by:
• 1-Air temperature - control the zone mean air temperatures to the heating and cooling setpoint
temperatures specified on the Activity tab.
• 2-Operative temperature - control the room temperature using 0.5 radiant fraction. See notes of
operative temperature control below if you plan to use this option.
• 3-Other- you can enter the radiant temperature control fraction.
When using the 3-Other option the radiant fraction should be less than 0.9 and the minimum is 0.0. A value of
0.0 is the same as controlling on only zone air temperature. If air velocities are higher than 0.2 m/s, then lower
values for radiative fraction might apply. Niu and Burnett (1998) cite International Standard ISO 77300 in
recommending the values for this fraction listed in the following table.
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Note: The temperature control settings used in heating design and cooling design will also apply in
simulation autosizing calculations for the winter and summer design days respectively.
Reference: J. Niu and J. Burnett. 1998. Integrating Radiant/Operative Temperature Controls into Building
Energy Simulations. ASHRAE Transactions Vol. 104. Part 2. page 210. ASHRAE. Atlanta, GA.
Note: This option does not affect natural and mechanical ventilation setpoints - these always use air
temperature set points.
Tip: See the equivalent topic for Simulation for an advanced discussion on Operative vs Air temperature
control.
Day
Select the day of the month for the design day. The default day is 15, i.e. the middle of the month.
This data is only used to define the solar path over the design day and does not affect temperatures etc which
are defined at site level.
Note: This same day of the month will be used for all months selected below when using the 2-Multiple
design months Design temperature period.
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Cooling System Sizing
When a single month is being used, the default design month will be 1 month after the month of mid-summer
by default (July in the Northern Hemisphere, January in the Southern Hemisphere). When multiple months are
being used, the default start month is the mid-summer month and the end month is 2 months later. This
covers most design cases where peak conditions may occur significantly later after mid summer, especially
when there are large amounts of South-facing glazing (in the Northern Hemisphere).
Important Note: If you are using the default 1-Single design month Design temperature period option
the design temperature and humidity values used in the calculations will be the “Yearly” design temperatures
set at site level under Summer Design Weather Data. This is true regardless of the month and day of month
selected on the Cooling design calculation options dialog. You will therefore find that the outdoor air
temperatures won’t change when changing the month with this option set. You must use the to 2-Multiple
design months option to see seasonal variations of design outside air conditions.
Day of week
This selection is used to identify the appropriate daily profile within the schedules to use for the Cooling
design calculations. The day type should be the day when the most extreme conditions and highest cooling
loads are expected. You should normally keep the 9-SummerDesignDay default option, especially when also
running simulations. Select the day of week from the options:
• 1-Sunday - not recommended if the cooling system does not operate on Sundays.
• 2-Monday,
• 3-Tuesday,
• 4-Wednesday,
• 5-Thursday,
• 6-Friday,
• 7-Saturday - not recommended if the cooling system does not operate on Saturdays.
• 8-Holiday - not recommended if the cooling system does not operate on holidays.
• 9-SummerDesignDay - the default recommended setting.
• 10-WinterDesignDay - not recommended.
• 11-CustomDay1,
• 12-CustomDay2
Design margin
The Cooling Design margin is a 'safety factor' used to multiply calculated cooling loads in each zone to give a
recommended maximum cooling equipment capacity. It accounts for the additional cooling which might be
required to cool the building down in a reasonably short pre-cool period and allows you to be confident that
comfort conditions will be maintained in all but the most extreme summer conditions. The risk depends on the
Summer Design Weather Data options selected at site level.
The default design margin is 1.15 which means that the cooling system will be oversized by 15%. This is value
comes from ASHRAE recommendations.
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Sizing method
Sizing methods available are:
• 1-Sensible only the default option where the airflow rate is simply calculated from the cooling load, the
supply air temperature and the zone air temperature setpoint. This method is widely used in the
industry to calculate the airflow rate in cases where the latent load is a relatively low proportion of the
total.
Design flow rate = SizingFactor . DesignCoolingLoad / (Tzoneairdb - Tsupplyair) . CPair . Densityair
where:
• 2-Sensible + latent where a similar enthalpy calculation is used. This method may be adopted in some
cases where latent loads predominate:
Design flow rate = SizingFactor . DesignCoolingLoad / (Ezoneair - Esupplyair) . Densityair
where:
• No economiser,
• No heat recovery,
• No heating,
• Zero pressure rise fan,
• No humidification/dehumidification,
• Zone plenums will not be used if specified,
• Outside airflow rate and operation schedule defined by the data under the Mechanical Ventilation and
Natural ventilation headers on the HVAC tab at the zone level,
• Cooling coil availability defined by the schedule under the Cooling header on the HVAC tab at the zone
level,
• Zone design cooling temperature setpoints are defined by the data under Environmental Control on the
Activity tab.
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Unitary DX Cooling Sizing
Each zone has it's own Unitary system with a fan (generating no pickup), a DX cooling coil, an outside air
controller and a damper to reduce supply air flow. More specifically:
• No economiser,
• No heat recovery,
• No heating coil,
• Zero pressure rise fan,
• No humidification/dehumidification,
• Zone plenums will be used if specified,
• Outside airflow rate and operation schedule defined by the data under the Mechanical Ventilation and
Natural ventilation headers on the HVAC tab at the zone level,
• Cooling coil availability defined by the schedule under the Cooling header on the HVAC tab at the zone
level,
• Zone design cooling temperature setpoints are defined by the data under Environmental Control on the
Activity tab.
Note: Unitary DX will tend to calculate higher latent loads than the other 3 cooling sizing methods and the
zone air humidity will generally be lower. This is because DX coils run colder than water-cooled coils and will
condense out more water from the supply air. Unitary DX can be used to provide a conservative calculation for
the latent cooling loads.
Solar Options allow you to control aspects of the model related to solar gains.
Note: there is no way to simulate more than 1 building at a time. All external surfaces in buildings other
than the current one are modelled as shading surfaces. If you need to model the adjacency of another
building in contact with the current one, you can use the adiabatic adjacency option to model the touching
surfaces.
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Note: if one or more 'other buildings' are large/complex then you could generate a large number of
shading elements and the simulation could be slow (even if the current building being simulated is simple).
Solar distribution
See help for equivalent topic for simulation.
Cooling design output options apply to the whole building and are only visible at building level when accessed
from the Outputs model data tab.
• No occupancy and,
• No cooling and,
• No heating and,
• No mechanical ventilation
Note: if you uncheck this option and all zones in the model are unoccupied then you will get a 'Zero floor
area error' message
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Advanced Calculation Options - Cooling Design
Warning: Use the surface and opening output options with caution on large models as, when selected, they
will cause large amounts of data to be stored.
General Solution
Convergence of the simultaneous heat balance/HVAC solution is reached when both the loads and
temperature criteria are satisfied. Both tolerances work the same way, one looks at temperatures and one
looks at heating and cooling loads. After the second warm-up day, the program compares the maximum
temperature experienced in a space with the maximum temperature from the previous day. If those two
temperatures are within the tolerance, then it has passed the first warm-up check. It does a similar
comparison with lowest temperatures experience within all the zones. If the current simulation day and the
previous day values are within the tolerance, then it has passed the second warm-up check. A similar
comparison is carried out with the loads tolerance and the maximum heating and cooling loads that are
experienced within the spaces. Those are compared individually to the values for the previous day. If they are
both in tolerance, then the simulation has passed the third and fourth warm-up check. The simulation stays in
the warm-up period until ALL FOUR checks have been passed.
- 1343 -
Convection
Inside and Outside convection algorithms
You can select from a range of EnergyPlus inside convection algorithms for calculating the convection
between internal zone surfaces and the rest of the zone air in the simulation calculations. More details on this
and external convection can be found under Constructions Model Data > Surface Convection header.
Shading
Maximum number of shadow overlaps
Enter the maximum number of figures per shadow overlap. The shadow overlaps is a measure of the amount
of complexity in the shading calculation and this maximum value allows you to limit the amount of time spent
in the solar initialisation calculations.
Note: entering a small value here can speed up simulations in complex buildings. If you plan to use
Maximum shadow overlaps below the default value of 15000 you should check accuracy of solar gains
relative to results using default value
Theoretically, Sutherland-Hodgman is a simpler algorithm but it works well in cases where receiving surfaces
(of shadows) are non-convex. The Weiler-Atherton implementation is only accurate where both casting and
receiving surfaces are convex. Warnings/severe errors are displayed when necessary. More details on
polygon clipping are contained in the Engineering Reference.
Other
Surfaces within zone treated as adiabatic
EnergyPlus support recommend modelling surfaces wholly contained within a zone as adiabatic and this
option allows you to follow this advice. We have found that in practice this option does not make much
difference in results or in simulation speed so for most cases you can leave it in its default state.
Note: 'surfaces contained within a zone' are frequently generated when one of the zone merging options
is used where a partition or floor which would have separated two zones actually sits within the merged zone.
These surfaces do not refer to hanging partitions which are modelled using Internal thermal mass.
- 1344 -
Cooling Design Detailed Results
For more on how the output is calculated see: Calculation of DesignBuilder Output from EnergyPlus Report
Variables.
For windows without an interior shading device this heat flow is equal to:
+ [Convective heat flow to the zone from the zone side of the glazing]
+ [Net IR heat flow to the zone from zone side of the glazing]
– [Short-wave radiation from zone transmitted back out the window]
+ [Conduction to zone from window frame and divider, if present]
Here, short-wave radiation is that from lights and diffuse interior solar radiation.
For windows with an interior shading device this heat flow is equal to:
[Convective heat flow to the zone from the air flowing through the gap between glazing and shading
device]
+ [Convective heat flow to the zone from the zone side of the shading device]
+ [Net IR heat flow to the zone from the zone side of the glazing]
+ [Net IR heat flow to the zone from the zone side of the shading device]
– [Short-wave radiation from zone transmitted back out the window]
+ [Conduction to zone from window frame and divider, if present]
• Walls - heat gain due to conduction through all external walls, including the effect of solar radiation and
longwave radiation to the sky.
• Roofs - heat gain due to conduction through all external roofs, including the effect of solar radiation
and longwave radiation to the sky.
• Ceilings (int) - heat conduction gain through internal ceilings (e.g. zone above is colder).
• Floors (int) - heat conduction gain through internal floors (e.g. zone below is colder).
• Floors (ext) - heat conduction gain through external floors (not ground floor, e.g. floor in cantilevered
space, roof eaves etc).
• Ground floors - heat conduction gain through ground floors.
• Partitions (int) - heat conduction gain due to heat conduction through all internal partitions from
adjacent zones at different temperatures.
• Doors and vents - conduction heat gain through doors and vents.
• External Infiltration - heat gain through air infiltration (non-unintentional air entry through cracks and
holes in building fabric).
• External Vent - heat gain due to the entry of outside air through natural and mechanical ventilation (as
defined on the HVAC tab). You can exclude mechanical ventilation from the cooling design calculations
by unchecking the 'Mechanical ventilation On' Model data.
• Internal Natural Ventilation - heat gain from other zones due to air exchange through open internal
windows, doors, vents, holes and virtual partitions.
• Task Lighting - heat gain due to task lighting.
• General Lighting - heat gain due to general lighting.
• Miscellaneous - heat gain due to miscellaneous equipment.
• Process - heat gain due to process equipment.
• Catering - heat gain due to cooking.
• Computer and Equipment - heat gain due to computer and other IT-related equipment.
• Occupancy - sensible gain due to occupants. Please note that this can vary depending on the internal
conditions. With very high temperatures the sensible gain can drop to zero with all cooling effects
taking place through latent heat transfer.
- 1345 -
• Solar Gains Exterior Windows - (used to be called 'Transmitted solar gains'). Short-wave solar
radiation transmission through external windows. For a bare window, this transmitted radiation consists
of solar radiation passing through the glass and diffuse radiation from solar reflected from the outside
window reveal, if present. For windows with a shade, this transmitted radiation is totally diffuse (shades
are assumed to be perfect diffusers). For windows with a blind, this transmitted radiation consists of
beam + diffuse radiation that passes between the slats and diffuse radiation from beam-to-diffuse
reflection from the slats. Solar re-reflected back out of the external window and transmitted through
interior windows is not subtracted.
Solar Gains Interior Windows - Total beam + diffuse solar radiation transmission through interior
windows. Requires the 3-Full interior and exterior solar model option to be set.
• Zone Sensible Cooling - is the sensible cooling effect on the zone of any air introduced into the zone
through the HVAC system. It includes any 'free cooling' due to introduction of relatively cool outside air.
Cooling always shows as a negative heat gain in the results. It is best thought of as part of the zone
heat balance.
Airflow
• Mech Vent + Nat Vent + Infiltration - The sum of outside air (in ac/h) flowing into the zone through:
• The HVAC air distribution system +
• Infiltration +
• Natural ventilation
• Zone Heating - energy supplied by local room heaters and reheat coils to maintain room internal
heating temperature setpoint temperature when using Detailed HVAC data.
• Total Cooling - depending on the Sizing method:
• for the default ASHRAE sizing method Total Cooling is the rate at which total energy (sensible
and latent) is removed from the mixed outside and return air stream in order to bring the mixed
air stream to the specified temperature and humidity ratio of the supply air stream.
• for the 2-Unitary DX Sizing method - at building level: sensible + latent cooling transfer to the
supply air from the AHU cooling coil + any single zone unitary and fan coil units in the building.
At zone level: sensible + latent cooling transfer to the supply air from a single zone unitary or fan
coil unit.
• Sensible Cooling - depending on the Sizing method:
• for the default ASHRAE sizing method Sensible Cooling is the rate at which sensible energy is
removed from the mixed outside and return air stream in order to lower its temperature to the
specified temperature of the supply air stream. Any energy needed for moisture addition or
removal is ignored.
• for the 2-Unitary DX Sizing method Sensible Cooling is sensible only cooling heat transfer
from the cooling coil to the supply air. Latent coil heat can be calculated as the difference: Total
Cooling - Sensible Cooling.
Surface heat gain data refers to heat transfer from the inside surface of the building elements to the zone.
You can also customise the data and the way it is displayed using the Display Options panel.
• Detailed results - half-hourly heat balance and inside conditions displayed on 'Analysis' tab.
• Summary table - cooling capacity data for each zone on the Summary tab.
To update the data using different calculation options, click Update (Ctrl-U).Data Options
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Reviewing Cooling Design Output
The General tab on the Cooling design Display options panel provides options for controlling the data
displayed in the Simulation data display screen. General Display options are grouped under three headers:
The Detailed tab on the Display Options panel provides controls which allow you to select exactly the data
items you wish to display.
Data Options
Data
Select an option to indicate the data you wish to display:
• 1-All - fabric and ventilation heat gains/losses, internal gains (not Heating Design), temperatures and
outside dry-bulb air temperature.
• 2-Site data - all site data.
• 3-Comfort - inside air, the radiant and comfort temperatures, relative humidity, ASHRAE 55 and
various comfort indices.
• 4-Internal gains - internal gains including equipment, lighting, occupancy, solar and HVAC
heating/cooling delivery.
• 5-Fabric and ventilation - heat gains to the space from the surface element (walls, floors, ceilings etc.)
and ventilation. Negative values indicate heat loss from the space.
Tip: to update the data using different calculation options, click Update (Ctrl-U).
Show as
You can display the data in one of four ways:
• Graph
• Grid
• Graph and table
• Table
Note: you must select the Grid option to export data in spreadsheet format.
Show month
If you ran cooling design calculations for more than 1 month then you can select the month to view detailed
results from the droplist. The first item on the droplist of available months is 0-Peak which, when selected, is
used by DesignBuilder to automatically select the month of peak cooling load. In this case a further Peak
definition option is displayed allowing you to select how the peak month is defined. See below.
Peak definition
When the 0-Peak month has been selected in the Show month droplist (above) and you are at zone level or
below, this additional selection is displayed to allow you to define whether "peak month" refers to the peak for
the current zone or for the whole building. Select from:
• 1-Building peak where data for the month of the building peak sensible cooling load is displayed.
• 2-Zone peak where data for the month of the currently selected zone peak sensible cooling load is
displayed.
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Normalise by floor area
Check this option if you wish building, block and zone data to be displayed 'per floor area', i.e. /m2 or /ft2, and
surface and opening data to be displayed 'per surface or opening area'.
At building, block or zone level you can select the floor area to use as the denominator from the options:
Note: you can only select 1-All areas if the building and block data includes occupied areas as set in
Include unoccupied zones in block and building totals and averages option in Cooling design Output
options, Likewise you can only select 2-Occupied area if the building and block data excludes occupied
areas.
Y-Axis Options
These options give you control over how the Y-axis is displayed.
Lock min/max
This option locks the extent of the Y-axes so that they keep their current maximum and minimum values. This
allows consistent comparison with the future results display. The Y-axis keeps its current settings until you
unlock it again.
You can achieve the same effect by clicking on the 'Lock Y-axis min/max values' toolbar command.
When you lock the Y-axis the current settings are stored and displayed for each of the available Y-axes. You
can edit any of these to get a more precise setting. Remember to click on the Apply button when you are
ready to register a change to any numeric display option data.
Separate axes
Check this option to add a vertical space between each of the displayed axes.
Appearance
You can control the details of the presentation of the graphical output by making selections on the Display
Options panel under the Appearance header.
EnergyPlus Script
You can view the input data script used to calculate these results by selecting the 'Tools | Display simulation
input script' menu option. If you do not have the EnergyPlus IDF editor installed, then you should associate
the .idf file extension with a text editor to make this option work.
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Summary Cooling Design Table
Note: this shows the script stored with the model just before the simulation not the _Ref-600109359in.idf
file stored in the EnergyPlus folder.
Data
Summary results can be displayed either for the time and month of the overall maximum building cooling load
or for the individual zone.
• 1-Non-coincident - Summary results are for the time and month of maximum cooling load for each
zone.
• 2-Coincident - All summary results are for the time and month of the maximum building total cooling
load.
Summary Results
The Summary screen, 1-Zones display option shows design cooling loads and flow rates for each zone plus
other related data.
• Design Capacity (kW or kBtu/h), shown in bold, is the maximum value of Total Cooling Load and
Sensible multiplied by the Design margin to give the design cooling capacity of the equipment. This
value is written into the Cooling capacity Model data on the HVAC tab if the appropriate Plant sizing
Model Option is set.
• Design Flow Rate (kW or kBtu/h), shown in bold, is the flow rate required to deliver the Sensible
cooling load using the Design supply temperature and the zone air temperature at the time of the
maximum load multiplied by the Design margin.
• Total Cooling Load (kW or kBtu/h) is the total maximum Sensible + Latent loads for the zone at the
time of maximum Sensible Cooling load. If latent load is negative then it is ignored here and the Total
Cooling Load is the same as the Sensible load.
• Sensible (kW or kBtu/h) is the maximum Sensible Cooling load for the zone in the Design day.
• Latent (kW or kBtu/h) is the latent load for the zone at the time of maximum Sensible load, calculated
as Total Cooling - Sensible Cooling.
• Air Temperature (°C or °F) is the Air temperature in the zone at the time of maximum Sensible load.
• Humidity (%) is the humidity in the zone at the time of maximum Sensible load.
• Time of Max Cooling - the time at which the maximum sensible cooling occurs.
• Max Op Temp in Day (°C or °F) is the maximum operative temperature in the zone (using radiant
fraction = 0.5) over the design day including periods when the zone may be unconditioned.
• Floor area is the floor area of the zone.
• Volume (m3 or ft3) is the volume of the zone.
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• Flow/Floor area (l/s-m2 or MBH/ft2) is the Design Flow Rate divided by the Floor area of the zone. It
provides a useful check for the flow rates calculated.
• Design Cooling Load Per Floor Area (W/m2) is the Design Capacity divided by the Floor area of
the zone. It provides a useful check for the design capacities calculated.
• Outside Temperature (°C or °F) is the outside temperature at the time of maximum Sensible load.
• Glazing Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are the gains through windows (excluding solar gains) at the time of
maximum Sensible load.
• Wall Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are the gains through all wall surfaces at the time of maximum Sensible
load.
• Floor Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are the gains through all floor surfaces at the time of maximum Sensible
load.
• Roof and Ceiling Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are the gains through all roof + ceiling surfaces at the time of
maximum Sensible load.
• Ventilation Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are the mechanical + natural ventilation gains at the time of
maximum Sensible load.
• Infiltration Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are the infiltration gains at the time of maximum Sensible load.
• Electric Equipment Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are gains due to electric equipment (Computers, Office
equipment, Miscellaneous, Catering, Process) at the time of maximum Sensible load.
• Lighting Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are gains due to lighting (General + Task) at the time of maximum
Sensible load.
• People Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are the sensible gains due to people at the time of maximum Sensible
load.
• Solar Gains (kW or kBtu/h) are the short and long wave solar gains through windows at the time of
maximum Sensible load.
Tip: Use the Export command to export summary data to spreadsheet format.
Click on the Simulation Screen tab to view simulation data. If the necessary data has not yet been generated,
a simulation is automatically started to generate the data.
• Weather data comes from the selected Hourly weather data file.
• Includes consideration of heat conduction and convection between zones of different temperatures.
• Includes solar gain through windows.
• Simulation of HVAC equipment (options)
• Includes one or more 'warmup' (or pre-conditioning) days to ensure correct distribution of heat in
building thermal mass at the start of the simulation. Warmup continues until temperatures/heat flows in
each zone have converged. If convergence does not occur then simulation continues for the maximum
number of days as specified in the calculation options.
You can customise the data displayed and display style using the Display Options panel.
• Calculation Options
• "Simulation Manager" on page 1373
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Simulation Calculation Options Dialog
• Display Options
• Detailed Results
• Comfort Analysis
• Summary Output
• Parametric Analysis
• EnergyPlus Daylight Map Output
• Optimisation
• "ASHRAE 90.1 Reporting" on page 1552
• "Data Visualisation" on page 1552
Auto-Update
This dialog is always shown when you select the Update toolbar icon and will also be shown before all
simulations if the Don't show this dialog checkbox at the bottom of the dialog is cleared.
Calculation Description
Enter some text to identify the calculation. This will be used in reports, on Simulation Manager dialog and in
the filename for automatically generated ESO files.
Simulation Period
Select the start and end days for the simulation by selecting the start day and month and the end day and
month.
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Alternatively select a typical period using the links on the Info panel:
Note: The above typical simulation periods are derived from the Statistics data from the currently selected
Hourly weather data. If the hourly weather data was loaded from a custom weather file that did not include
statistics data (the .stat file) then data may not be available to allow these links to typical periods to work. In
this case you must select the dates manually.
Number of years
When the Run simulation for multiple years checkbox is checked you must enter the number of years to be
simulated. Enter a number 2 or greater.
Note: When simulating multiple years it is only possible to run for a whole number of years, each of which
start in January and end in December. So it isn't possible to simulate from May one year to June 3 years later
for example.
Warning: selecting output at hourly or sub-hourly intervals can produce large amounts of data which slows
processing, results in large file sizes and in extreme cases can cause DesignBuilder to fail when attempting to
load results back into the model for reporting. If you want to generate hourly or sub-hourly data you may wish
to consider switching off some of the Output options to ensure you are only generating the data you require.
Options - Simulation
Simulation tab on Model Options dialog and Options tab on Simulation Options dialog.
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Calculation Options - Simulation
On the Options tab of the Simulation options dialog you can enter settings for the following.
The user’s choice for Number of timesteps per hour must be evenly divisible into 60 and the allowable choices
are 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 30, and 60.
The choice made for this field has important implications for modelling accuracy and the overall time it takes to
run a simulation. Here are some considerations when choosing a value:
• The solution technique used in EnergyPlus has been designed to be stable with zone timesteps of up
to sixty minutes (Number Timesteps in Hour = 1). However, 60 minutes is considered a “long” timestep
and it should only be used in rare occasions where there is no HVAC system, accuracy is not a
concern, and short run times are critical. Such long timesteps are not recommended to use because
simulation results are more accurate for shorter timesteps, of say 10 minutes or less (Number of
timesteps per hour of 6 or more). Shorter zone timesteps improve the numerical solution of the Zone
Heat Balance Model because they improve how models for surface temperature and zone air
temperature are coupled together. Longer timesteps introduce more lag and lead to more a dampened
dynamic response.
• Simulation run time increases with shorter timesteps or larger values for Number of timesteps per hour.
The effect varies with the nature of the model. The user can test out different values on their particular
model to understand the implications for his or her particular case. Sometimes large models with
multizone HVAC and Plant systems execute nearly as fast with 15 minute timesteps as with 60 minute
timesteps because fewer iterations are required in the system modelling since the prior timestep’s
results are close to the final outcome of next timestep.
• The weather data files usually have 60-minute (or hourly) data. However, it does not follow that this
should be used as the basis for choosing the zone timestep because:
o EnergyPlus carefully interpolates the weather data between data points for use at shorter
timesteps.
o Many aspects of a model have time scales that differ from the that of the weather data. A goal of
the modelling is to predict how the building will respond to the weather. However, the building’s
response is not governed by the time scale that the weather data are available at, but rather the
time scales of the dynamic performance of the thermal envelope as well as schedules for
internal gains, thermostats, and equipment availability.
• If the model will also be used to calculate the cost of electricity then you should be aware that many
electric utility tariffs base charges on demand windows of a specified length of time. If the choice of
Number of timesteps per hour is not consistent with the demand window, then unexpected results may
be obtained. For reasonable prediction of the maximum rates for electricity use for in calculating
demand charges, the length of the zone timestep needs to be consistent with the tariff’s demand
window. The following table lists what values are consistent with various demand windows.
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Demand Window Applicable Number of timesteps per hour
Quarter Hour 4, 12, or 60
Half Hour 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 30, or 60
Full Hour, Day, Week Any
There is also second type of timestep inside EnergyPlus that is known as the System or HVAC timestep. This
is a variable-length timestep that governs the driving timestep for HVAC and Plant system modelling. The user
cannot directly control the system timestep (except by use of the Convergence limits data). When the HVAC
portion of the simulation begins its solution for the current zone timestep, it uses the zone timestep as its
maximum length but then can reduce the timestep, as necessary, to improve the solution. The technical
details of the approach are explained in the Engineering Documentation under "Integrated Solution Manager".
Advanced EnergyPlus users can obtain and view data at intervals of the HVAC time step used if they select
the 'detailed' option on an HVAC report variable when working directly with IDF data.
Though many buildings can be successfully simulated with 1 or 2 time steps per hour, EnergyPlus
suggest a minimum of 4 for non-HVAC simulations and 6 for simulations with HVAC.
20 Timesteps per hour is the minimum when using the Finite difference solution method.
Green roof simulations may also require more timesteps.
Note 1: In general, increasing the number of time steps improves accuracy but slows the simulation (and
generates more data if output is requested at the 'sub-hourly' interval).
Note 2: When using 1 time steps per hour you will not be able to access Temperature distribution
results
Temperature control
Heating and cooling systems control internal temperatures to meet the setpoint temperatures specified on the
Activity tab. These setpoint temperatures can be interpreted as air, operative or some other radiant fraction
and DesignBuilder provides corresponding options to allow HVAC systems to be controlled by:
• 1-Air temperature - control the zone mean air temperatures to the heating and cooling setpoint
temperatures specified on the Activity tab.
• 2-Operative temperature - control the room temperature using 0.5 radiant fraction. See notes of
operative temperature control below if you plan to use this option.
• 3-Other- you can enter the radiant temperature control fraction.
• 4-Fanger comfort - this option is only available when using Detailed HVAC. It allows you to control
zone comfort conditions using Fanger PMV heating and cooling comfort setpoints instead of the usual
temperature setpoints. The PMV setpoint values are defined under the Environmental control header
on the Activity tab when using the default 1-Simple HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data option.
Alternatively, when using the 2-Detailed HVAC Detailed HVAC Activity data option, time-varying PMV
setpoints for heating and cooling are defined by Fanger PMV comfort schedules selected on the HVAC
zone dialog .
When using the 3-Other option the radiant fraction should be less than 0.9 and the minimum is 0.0. A value of
0.0 is the same as controlling on only zone air temperature. If air velocities are higher than 0.2 m/s, then lower
values for radiative fraction might apply. Niu and Burnett (1998) cite International Standard ISO 77300 in
recommending the values for this fraction listed in the following table.
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Calculation Options - Simulation
Note: When the 2-DesignBuilder Simple HVAC autosize method is selected, the temperature control
settings used in heating design and cooling design will also apply in simulation autosizing calculations for the
winter and summer design days respectively.
Reference: J. Niu and J. Burnett. 1998. Integrating Radiant/Operative Temperature Controls into Building
Energy Simulations. ASHRAE Transactions Vol. 104. Part 2. page 210. ASHRAE. Atlanta, GA.
Note: This option is overridden when using radiant heating systems by the radiant heating system control
setting.
Note: This option does not affect natural and mechanical ventilation setpoints - these always use air
temperature set points.
The disadvantage of Operative temperature control is that start up loads can be unrealistically high due to the
lag in thermal response of the walls, floor, ceilings. The slow temperature response of the building fabric part
governs the output of the operative thermostat and hence the operation of the heating/cooling equipment. If
this effect dominates it can lead to an overestimate of the required design cooling load. You should be familiar
with this issue before using operative temperature control to size heating and cooling equipment. In our
experience using Operative temperature control usually leads to higher peak loads in Heating and Cooling
design calculations and higher heating and cooling energy consumption in Simulations.
Caution: Operative temperature control can cause EnergyPlus Error 3 when using Simple HVAC, or Cooling
design calculations with Operative control in zones with strong radiant heat gains causing high radiant
temperatures (e.g. uninsulated roof or zone is highly glazed). The error is caused by the fixed supply air
temperature being higher than the zone air temperature required to give the operative setpoint (.e.g. 24°C).
The solution may be to use Air temperature control and to manage the high radiant temperatures using solar
shading/insulation as appropriate.
Air temperature control is easier to use as none of the aforementioned problems apply, but it can lead to
inadequate equipment sizes peak loads in Heating and Cooling design calculations when not used with a
design safety factor. This is especially true when radiant temperatures are very different from air temperatures
for example in poorly insulated buildings, buildings with large unshaded glazing areas or high ventilation rates.
Generally using air temperature control in Simulations of such buildings will underestimate energy
consumption.
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Autosizing simple HVAC convective systems with operative temperature control
Another issue to bear in mind with operative temperature control is that in simple HVAC convective systems,
autosized cooling systems use a different algorithm to calculate the maximum supply airflow rate used in the
EnergyPlus Ideal Loads system. In convective systems the equation used is:
This equation works because the temperature of the air in the zone can safely be assumed to be the zone
cooling set point and so there is fixed difference in temperature between zone air and supply air. Calculating
the design supply cooling airflow rate in this way does not work for operative temperature control because the
air temperatures in the space are often much lower than the zone cooling setpoint temperature and
sometimes in zones having very high radiant temperatures, the air temperature in the zone approaches the
supply air temperature. In other words the difference in temperature between zone air and supply air in the
simulated system becomes very low and therefore very large airflow rates are required to meet cooling loads.
So in order to account for this DesignBuilder assumes a Delta T of 1K in the above calculation when operative
temperature control is in use.
Tip: As a general rule you should prioritise checking building comfort levels when using Air temperature
control and realistic plant operation (oversized equipment, supply temperatures very low) when using
Operative temperature control.
Solar Options allow you to control aspects of the model related to solar gains.
Note: there is no way to simulate more than 1 building at a time. All external surfaces in buildings other
than the current one are modelled as shading surfaces. If you need to model the adjacency of another
building in contact with the current one, you can use the adiabatic adjacency option to model the touching
surfaces.
Note: if one or more 'other buildings' are large/complex then you could generate a large number of
shading elements and the simulation could be slow (even if the current building being simulated is simple).
- 1356 -
Solar Options - Simulation
The above schematic shows solar reflection from various surface types. Solid arrows are beam solar
radiation; dashed arrows are diffuse solar radiation. (a) Diffuse reflection of beam solar radiation from the top
of an overhang (point 1 below). (b) Diffuse reflection of sky solar radiation from the top of an overhang (point 1
below). (c) Beam-to-beam (specular) reflection from the façade of an adjacent highly-glazed building
represented by a vertical shadowing surface (point 2 below).
1. Shadowing surfaces. These are surfaces of objects like overhangs, component blocks, assemblies and
shading planes. These surfaces have diffuse reflectance derived from the associated material properties.
2. Exterior building surfaces. In this case one section of the building reflects solar radiation onto another
section (and vice-versa). See schematic below. The building surfaces are assumed to be diffusely reflecting if
they are opaque (walls, for example) and specularly reflecting if they are windows (or glass doors defined as
windows). The reflectance values for opaque surfaces are calculated by the program from the Solar
Absorptance and Visible Absorptance of the outer material layer of the surface’s construction. The reflectance
values for windows and glass doors are calculated by the program from the reflectance properties of the
individual glass layers that make up surface’s construction assuming no shading device is present and taking
into account inter-reflections among the layers.
Solar reflection from building surfaces onto other building surfaces. In this example beam solar reflects from a
vertical section of the building onto a roof section. The reflection from the window is specular. The reflection
from the wall is diffuse.
3. The ground surface. Reflection from the ground is calculated even if the Model all external reflections
and shading of ground reflected solar option is not used. In this case the shadowing of the ground by the
building itself or by obstructions such as neighbouring buildings is ignored. However if the reflections option is
used then:
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• Shadowing of ground reflected solar radiation by louvres, component blocks etc is taken into account,
and,
• Shadowing from the building affects beam solar reflection from the ground. Beam-to-diffuse reflection
from the ground onto the building occurs only for sunlit areas, A and C, not from shaded area, B.
Solar distribution
This option determines how EnergyPlus treats beam solar radiation and reflectance from exterior surfaces that
strike the building and, ultimately, enter the zone. There are 3 choices:
1-Minimal shadowing - In this case, there is no exterior shadowing except from window and door reveals. All
beam solar radiation entering the zone is assumed to fall on the floor, where it is absorbed according to the
floor's solar absorptance. Any reflected by the floor is added to the transmitted diffuse radiation, which is
assumed to be uniformly distributed on all interior surfaces. If no floor is present in the zone, the incident
beam solar radiation is absorbed on all interior surfaces according to their absorptances. The zone heat
balance is then applied at each surface and on the zone's air with the absorbed radiation being treated as a
flux on the surface.
2-Full Exterior - in this case, shadow patterns on exterior surfaces caused by detached shading, wings,
overhangs, and exterior surfaces of all zones are computed. As for Minimal shadowing, shadowing by window
and door reveals is also calculated. Beam solar radiation entering the zone is treated as for 'Minimal
shadowing' - all beam solar radiation entering the zone is assumed to fall on the floor, where it is absorbed
according to the floor's solar absorptance. Any reflected by the floor is added to the transmitted diffuse
radiation, which is distributed among interior surfaces according to view factors. If no floor is present in the
zone, the incident beam solar radiation is absorbed on all interior surfaces according to their absorptance.
Note: If you use 2-Full Exterior you should make sure that all of your zones have a floor. If your building
model has any zones of unusual shape without floors then the EnergyPlus simulation may not work because it
will not have a surface to apportion solar gains to.
3-Full interior and exterior - this is the same as Full exterior except that instead of assuming all transmitted
beam solar falls on the floor the program calculates the amount of beam radiation falling on each surface in
the zone, including floor, walls and windows, by projecting the sun's rays through the exterior windows, taking
into account the effect of exterior shadowing surfaces and window shading devices. If this option is used, you
should be sure that the surfaces of the zone totally enclose a space. This can be determined by viewing the
eplusout.dxf file with an external DXF viewer program.
You should also be sure that the zone is convex. Examples of convex and non-convex zones are shown
below. The most common non-convex zone is an L-shaped zone. A formal definition of convex is that any
straight line passing through the zone intercepts at most two surfaces. Another definition is that a zone is
convex if every surface in a zone can 'see' every other surface - no surfaces a 'round the corner' from each
other. If the zone’s surfaces do not fully enclose a space or if the zone is not convex you should use Full
exterior instead.
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Solar Options - Simulation
If you use 3-Full Interior and exterior the program will also calculate how much beam radiation falling on the
inside of an exterior window (from other windows in the zone) is absorbed by the window, how much is
reflected back into the zone, and how much is transmitted to the outside. In this calculation the effect of a
shading device, if present, is accounted for.
Note: You must use 3-Full Interior and exterior to account for direct solar and light transmission through
internal windows.
One common reason for the strict DesignBuilder check to flag a zone as being non-convex even when at first
sight it is convex is the use of block connection geometry. In the above example of a double skin facade
(DSF) cavity zone, you can see when zooming right in on the corner of a set of block connection surfaces that
these surfaces cause obtuse angles to the zone geometry resulting in very slight non-convex geometry. These
are exactly the sort of small deviations from convex that the DesignBuilder checker will fail and the
EnergyPlus checks will pass. In this case it is perfectly safe to switch off this check to allow EnergyPlus
calculations to proceed.
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Shadow Calculations
The shadow calculation options are used to control some details of EnergyPlus’ solar, shadowing and
daylighting models. There are two basic methods available for the calculations. In order to speed up the
calculations, shadowing calculations (sun position, etc.) for the default 1-Average over days in frequency
method are performed over a period of days defined by the Shadowing interval.
Choose from:
Enter 1 if you want shadowing to be calculated every day (for greater detail but slower calculations).
• 1-Simple sky diffuse modelling, the default option performs a one-time calculation for sky diffuse
properties.
• 2-Detailed sky diffuse modelling, the required setting if you have shadowing surfaces with changing
transmittance (i.e. not all opaque or not all transparent) during the year. The program checks to see if
this might be the case and automatically selects this option if the shading transmittance varies. When
this option is selected, a warning is generated if the Shadowing interval (above) is > 1. In general (and
you should also read the previous field description), if shadowing surfaces are used with the
transmittance property, you should be careful to synchronize this calculation with the scheduled
occurrence of the transmittance (if any), or use 1, which will be the most accurate but will cause more
time in the calculations.
This field only applies to the 1-Average over days in frequency Shadow calculation method. When the 2-
Timestep frequency method is used, the 2-Detailed sky diffuse modelling option is always used.
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Advanced Calculation Options - Simulation
General Solution
Solution Algorithm
This option controls the overall algorithm used for all the surfaces in the simulation apart from any that may be
overriden through use of the construction Simulation solution algorithm selection for particular surfaces. Select
from:
• 1-CTF - The default method used in EnergyPlus for CTF calculations is known as the state space
method (Ceylan and Myers 1980; Seem 1987; Ouyang and Haghighat 1991). CTF is a sensible heat
only solution not taking into account moisture storage or diffusion in the construction elements.
• 2-Finite difference - This solution technique uses a 1-D finite difference solution in the construction
elements . It is a sensible heat only solution and does not take into account moisture storage or
diffusion in the construction elements. This option is required for PCM simulations and may improve
accuracy for sheet metal material layers in constructions and for chilled ceilings.
• 4-Combined Heat And Moisture Finite Element (HAMT) - A coupled heat and moisture transfer and
storage solution uses a one dimensional finite difference solution in the construction elements. It
requires further moisture transfer property data inputs which are defined in the "Moisture Transfer" on
page 1192 component.
• 5-Moisture Penetration Depth Conduction Transfer Function (EMPD) - A sensible heat diffusion
and an inside surface moisture storage algorithm that also needs additional moisture material property
data inputs which are defined in the "Moisture Transfer" on page 1192 component.
Difference Scheme
This field determines the solution scheme used by the Conduction Finite Difference model. There are two
options:
• 1-Fully implicit first order scheme which is first order in time and is more stable over time. But it may
be slower than option 2.
• 2-Crank Nicholson 2nd order which is second order in time and may be faster than option 1 but it can
be unstable over time when boundary conditions change abruptly and severely.
Δx = (CαΔt)0.5
Where:
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• α is the thermal diffusivity of the material layer, in m2/s
• Δt is the length of the timestep in seconds.
• C is a constant set by this field.
The default is 3. Typical values are from 1 to 3. Lower values for this constant lead to more nodes and finer-
grained space discretisation.
Relaxation factor
The finite difference solver includes under-relaxation for improved stability for interactions with the other
surfaces. This input field can optionally be used to modify the starting value for the relaxation factor. Larger
numbers may solve faster, while smaller numbers may be more stable. The default is 1.0. If the program
detects numerical instability, it may reduce the value entered here to something lower and more stable.
Airflow Network
Maximum iterations
Enter the maximum number of iterations allowed in finding an Airflow Network solution. If the number of
iterations at each simulation timestep is above the maximum number of iterations defined by this field, the
program could not find the solution and a Severe error is issued and the program is aborted. The default value
is 1000.
Note: In cases where a large opening exists (in particular horizontal openings) this value and the absolute
airflow convergence below may need to be increased by a factor of 10 or more to allow convergence to take
place.
Convection
- 1362 -
Advanced Calculation Options - Simulation
Warmup
Warmup or pre-conditioning is the process of repeatedly simulating the first day before the simulation proper
starts to ensure that the temperatures in the building fabric are realistic. Warmup continues until temperatures
and heat flows in each zone have converged. If convergence does not occur then simulation continues for the
maximum number of days as specified in the calculation option below.
Value to use
Research into the minimum number of warmup days indicates that 6 warmup days is generally enough on the
minimum end of the spectrum to avoid false predictions of convergence and thus to produce enough
temperature and flux history to start EnergyPlus simulation. This was based on a study that used a set of
benchmark reference buildings. It also was observed that convergence performance improved when the
number of warmup days increased. As a result, the default value for the minimum warmup days has been set
to 6. You should decrease this number only if you have knowledge that a specific model converges more
quickly than 6 days. You may wish to increase the value in certain situations when, based on review of
simulation outputs, it is determined that EnergyPlus has not converged. While this parameter should be less
than the previous parameter, a value greater than the value entered in the field Maximum number of
warmup days above may be used when users wish to increase warmup days more than the previous
maximum number of days. In this particular case, the maximum value will be automatically reset to the value
entered here and EnergyPlus will run exactly the number of warmup days specified here.
This error is usually caused by using very thick constructions (e.g. ground floors). You may need to increase
the Maximum number of warmup days to get convergence, but some anomalous buildings may still not
converge.
Convergence of the simultaneous heat balance/HVAC solution is reached when both the loads and
temperature criteria are satisfied. Both tolerances work the same way, one looks at temperatures and one
- 1363 -
looks at heating and cooling loads. After the second warm-up day, the program compares the maximum
temperature experienced in a space with the maximum temperature from the previous day. If those two
temperatures are within the tolerance, then it has passed the first warm-up check. It does a similar
comparison with lowest temperatures experience within all the zones. If the current simulation day and the
previous day values are within the tolerance, then it has passed the second warm-up check. A similar
comparison is carried out with the loads tolerance and the maximum heating and cooling loads that are
experienced within the spaces. Those are compared individually to the values for the previous day. If they are
both in tolerance, then the simulation has passed the third and fourth warm-up check. The simulation stays in
the warm-up period until ALL FOUR checks have been passed.
Note: The maximum number of warmup days will override the above convergence criteria, i.e. the
simulation proper will start even if convergence has not occurred after the maximum number of warmup days.
Shading
Maximum number of shadow overlaps
Enter the maximum number of figures per shadow overlap. The shadow overlaps is a measure of the amount
of complexity in the shading calculation and this maximum value allows you to limit the amount of time spent
in the solar initialisation calculations.
Note: entering a small value here can speed up simulations in complex buildings. If you plan to use
Maximum shadow overlaps below the default value of 15000 you should check accuracy of solar gains
relative to results using default value
Theoretically, Sutherland-Hodgman is a simpler algorithm but it works well in cases where receiving surfaces
(of shadows) are non-convex. The Weiler-Atherton implementation is only accurate where both casting and
receiving surfaces are convex. Warnings/severe errors are displayed when necessary. More details on
polygon clipping are contained in the Engineering Reference.
For example if you needed to access output reports data not normally provided by DesignBuilder such as
"Time Heating Setpoint Not Met While Occupied" then you might save a small IDF file in the DesignBuilder
EnergyPlus folder called Reports Variables Database.idf containing this data:
- 1364 -
Output Options - Simulation
After the simulation is finished the above setpoint not met monthly data would be included in the eso file which
can be viewed outside DesignBuilder to obtain the extra outputs.
Note: A more flexible way to include IDF is available through the EMS system. EMS includes the IDF data
within the dsb file so it is more portable. Also you can store and manage a list of various IDF datasets with
EMS which makes it easier to switch various models and/or outputs in and out very easily.
Other
Note: 'surfaces contained within a zone' are frequently generated when one of the zone merging options
is used where a partition or floor which would have separated two zones actually sits within the merged zone.
These surfaces do not refer to hanging partitions which are modelled using Internal thermal mass.
Output Data
You can control the data generated from simulations by making selections on the Simulation tab of the Model
options dialog, on the Output tab of the Simulation calculation options dialog or on the Outputs model data
tab.
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Building and block output of zone data
This option causes average and total zone data to be generated for building and blocks. For example average
temperatures, comfort conditions, total solar radiation, internal gains, fabric transmission losses etc. It does
not affect the generation of energy consumption and CO2 data at the building level.
Note: It is not possible for DesignBuilder to display block level results when any type of zone merging has
been enabled regardless of this setting.
• No occupancy and,
• No cooling and,
• No heating and,
• No mechanical ventilation
The way building and block averages are calculated is described in the Comfort Analysis section.
Note: if you uncheck this option and all zones in the model are unoccupied then you will get a 'Zero floor
area error' message
When this option is switched off the "*" character is used in the Output:Variable IDF data to mean "all objects",
instead of specifying outputs for each object one by one. Because of the way that EnergyPlus is structured
this results in much more efficient processing.
• The Simulation output options on the Outputs model data tab can only be selected at building level and
building level options apply to all zones.
• Glazing results aren't displayed on the Heat Balance output graph on the Simulation Screen.
Tip: For very large models it is usually best to uncheck this option to reduce simulation times.
- 1366 -
Output Options - Simulation
Latent loads
Select this option to include output of latent gains from occupants and other internals gains.
• 1-All periods - the default option where data is generated for all periods including times when the zone
is unoccupied.
• 2-Just occupied periods - data is only output during times when the zone is occupied so daily and
monthly comfort statistics become more meaningful.
• 3-User-defined schedule - data is only output during times when the value of the Reporting schedule
selected below has a value greater than zero.
Note that temperature distribution outputs (below) are unaffected by this setting as they have their own
specific reporting period and schedule options.
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Reporting schedule
Select the schedule to be used to restrict outputs when the Reporting period (above) is set to 3-User-
defined schedule.
Environmental
This option generates temperatures and humidity data. The following EnergyPlus reports are generated:
• Zone Thermal Comfort ASHRAE 55 Adaptive Model 80% Acceptability Status - Reports whether
the operative temperature falls into the 80% acceptability limits of the adaptive comfort in ASHRAE 55-
2010. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, i.e. the zone operative temperature is no more
than 2.5°C from than the ASHRAE 55 Adaptive model temperature. A value of 0 means outside the
limits (i.e. uncomfortable), and a value of -1 means not applicable, i.e. the running average outdoor air
temperature is below 10°C.
• Zone Thermal Comfort ASHRAE 55 Adaptive Model 90% Acceptability Status - Reports whether
the operative temperature falls into the 90% acceptability limits of the adaptive comfort in ASHRAE 55-
2010. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, i.e. the zone operative temperature is no more
than 3.5°C from than the ASHRAE 55 Adaptive model temperature. A value of 0 means outside the
limits (i.e. uncomfortable), and a value of -1 means not applicable, i.e. the running average outdoor air
temperature is below 10°C.
• Zone Thermal Comfort ASHRAE 55 Adaptive Model Running Average Outdoor Air Temperature -
the running average of the daily average outdoor dry-bulb temperatures of the previous 30 days.
• Zone Thermal Comfort ASHRAE 55 Adaptive Model Temperature - the ideal indoor operative
temperature, or comfort temperature, as determined by the ASHRAE-55 adaptive comfort model. The
80% acceptability limits for indoor operative temperature are defined as no greater than 2.5°C from the
adaptive comfort temperature. The 90% acceptability limits are defined as no greater than 3.5°C from
the adaptive comfort temperature.
Note: ASHRAE 55 Adaptive outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are not available on
DesignBuilder Simulation screen.
Note: Since valid ASHRAE 55 Adaptive outputs are only generated when the running mean outside air
temperature is higher than 10°C, they apply mainly to summer overheating comfort analyses and so do not
pick up winter underheating.
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Output Options - Simulation
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Category I Status - reports whether the
operative temperature falls into the Category I (90% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the
European Standard EN15251-2007. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means
outside the limits, and a value of -1 means not applicable.
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Category II Status - reports whether the
operative temperature falls into the Category II (80% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the
European Standard EN15251-2007. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means
outside the limits, and a value of -1 means not applicable.
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Category III Status - reports whether the
operative temperature falls into the Category III (65% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the
European Standard EN15251-2007. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means
outside the limits, and a value of -1 means not applicable.
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Running Average Outdoor Air Temperature -
reports the weighted average of the outdoor air temperature of the previous five days, an input
parameter for the CEN-15251 adaptive comfort model.
• Zone Thermal Comfort CEN 15251 Adaptive Model Temperature - reports the ideal indoor operative
temperature, or comfort temperature, as determined by the CEN-15251 adaptive comfort model.
Category I, II, and II limits for indoor operative temperature are defined as no greater than 2, 3, and 4°C
from this value respectively.
Note: CEN Standard 15251 Adaptive outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are not
available on DesignBuilder Simulation screen.
CIBSE TM52
Select this option to generate TM52 outputs.
Building category
Select the building category. See "Comfort Analysis" on page 1389 for more details.
Note: CIBSE TM52 outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are currently not available on
DesignBuilder Simulation screen.
CIBSE TM59
Select this option to generate TM59 overheating analysis outputs. When this option is checked the following
further options can be selected.
Note: CIBSE TM59 outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are currently not available on
DesignBuilder Simulation screen.
Mechanical ventilation
Selecting this output will add results according to TM59 chapter 4.3, as described in the TM59 section.
Vulnerable occupants
Selecting this output will change the building category for predominantly naturally ventilated buildings
according to TM59 chapter 4.2 as described in the TM59 section.
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Corridors
Selecting this output will produce results according to TM59 chapter 4.5 as described in the TM59
section.
Note: Please be sure to read the detailed discussion on this option in the TM59 temperature control
section before selecting it, especially if you plan to the use the model for energy analysis as well as for
TM59 overheating analysis.
Fanger
Select this option to generate Fanger PPD and PMV outputs.
Note: PMV outputs should only be viewed on a zone by zone basis at hourly or sub-hourly intervals.
When viewing averages over longer intervals the meaning of this output can easily become distorted. For
example consider a simple case where there is extreme overheating in the summer (e.g. average PMV = +3)
and similarly extreme underheating in the winter (e.g. average PMV = -3). The average over the year might be
close to zero, but that does not mean that the building was comfortable throughout the year! For similar
reasons the building average PMV should be used with extreme caution.
Pierce 2-Node
Select this option to generate the following Pierce 2-Node outputs:
Temperature distribution
Select this option to generate Temperature distribution data for each zone.
Reporting period
You can restrict the outputs for simulation temperature distribution only in 2 ways using the options:
• 1-All periods - data is included for all periods including times when the zone is unoccupied.
• 2-Just occupied periods - the default option where data is only included for times when the
zone is occupied.
• 3-User-defined schedule - data is only included for times when the value of the Reporting
schedule selected below has a value greater than zero.
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Output Options - Simulation
Reporting schedule
Select the schedule to be used to restrict outputs when the Reporting period (above) is set to 3-User-
defined schedule.
Details of this report are shown in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.
Daylight factor data is written to the .eio file and the daylight illuminance and glare data is written to the eso
file for viewing in the Results Viewer.
Daylight factors
Daylight factors are ratios of interior illuminance at a specific location to exterior horizontal illuminance. In
EnergyPlus, they are pre-calculated hourly for every shadow calculation day for every exterior window of a
daylight zone. The pre-calculated daylight factors are interpolated between hours and for the actual sky
conditions in the time-step calculation of the daylighting performance of daylight zones.
EnergyPlus reports the daylight factors for four sky types (clear, turbid clear, intermediate, and overcast) at
noon time (12:00pm) for each exterior windows (base window without shading) in the eio file when the daylight
factors are first calculated. This reports all hourly pre-calculated daylight factors.
Details of this report are shown in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.
Miscellaneous Outputs
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HVAC System humidity ratios
Check this option if you would like DesignBuilder to generate humidity ratio output for each air node in the
HVAC system. This output data cannot be displayed directly in DesignBuilder but can be viewed in the
separate Results Viewer application.
SQLite output
Output from EnergyPlus can be written to SQLite files for manipulation outside of DesignBuilder using
standard spreadsheet tools and/or Results Viewer. When this option is selected all of the predefined database
tables as well as time series related data is included in the SQLite output. The description for SQLite outputs
is described fully in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.
RDD File
Select this option is you would like an RDD file to be generated. The RDD file includes a list of all EnergyPlus
output reports that could be selected for the simulation.
It also impacts table report "Annual Building Utility Performance Summary" sub-table "Comfort and Setpoint
Not Met Summary".
It also impacts table report "Annual Building Utility Performance Summary" sub-table "Comfort and Setpoint
Not Met Summary".
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Simulation Manager
Simulation Manager
The DesignBuilder Simulation Manager (SM) allows you to run and control multiple parallel simulations and
access the results. Some advantages of using the Simulation Manager are:
• It allows you to run multiple simulations in parallel on your local machine, on a local network machine or
on the cloud using the JESS online system, while you continue to work on your model or close the
DesignBuilder application down.
• A single user interface is used for displaying and managing all of your simulations and see their
progress and status.
• Access the model and continue with your DesignBuilder work while the simulations run.
• Access to 64-bit versions of EnergyPlus which can run larger models and execute much faster for large
models compared with the 32-bit DLL versions, which are used when running EnergyPlus directly in
DesignBuilder without the Simulation Manager.
• Convenient way to store, access and compare simulation results, either via the Results Viewer or by
loading results into the main DesignBuilder application.
Note: Design optimisation, ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G PRM and UK DSM simulations are always run
using the Simulation Manager to take advantage of the parallel simulation capability, giving you the fastest
possible simulation times.
The Simulation Manager can also be accessed from the Optimisation Calculation options dialog.
Server
By default the localhost server is selected, which is the option to use the Simulation Manager installed on the
local machine. Choosing this allows you to run and control simulations from DesignBuilder, continue to work
on the model or another model or even close DesignBuilder down and the simulations will continue to run
unaffected. If the local machine is put into hibernate or sleep then the simulations will be suspended too and
will resume when the machine is switched on again. If the machine is shut down while simulations are running
then those simulations will be lost but should start again (from the beginning) when the machine is started up
again.
Another option is to select a server on a different machine on the network from the drop down list. To enable
other servers to appear on the list for selection you should first follow the steps on the Install Simulation
Server page. When running simulations on a server, as well as the advantages already mentioned above for
the localhost, you can also:
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• Close your machine down and the simulations will continue to run unaffected. You must of course be
connected to the server over the network to start the simulation and to retrieve results, but the
connection can be disconnected while the simulation runs.
• Frees the machine running DesignBuilder giving it more processor and memory resources for the input
file generation process, which further reduces the overall wait time for results.
Note: If the selected server is not available for any reason, DesignBuilder will revert to using the first
server on the list of active servers, typically localhost. This can happen when, for example, a simulation
model set up by modeller A to run on a dedicated simulation server is sent to a modeller B who does not have
access to that server.
Tip: With a good internet connection at both ends and a VPN service you can run simulations on an office
network server from your laptop when away from the office. Note that in this case there will be a transmission
overhead as input files are uploaded to the server and results are downloaded. This is of course more of an
issue for larger models, especially when large datasets are generated.
Some advantages of using a dedicated simulation server for your EnergyPlus simulations are:
• You can close the computer running DesignBuilder down once the job is submitted and the
simulation(s) will continue to run. This can be especially useful for long simulations. Results can be
retrieved later by opening the Simulation Manager dialog.
• If you choose a powerful multi-core server with plenty of memory you can run many simulations more
quickly and simultaneously.
• The processor of the computer running DesignBuilder doesn't get overloaded while you are working on
the model.
Tip: You can obtain a high-performance simulation server configured and ready to run from Ensims.
• EnergyPlus - the default option where the Simulation Manager runs EnergyPlus directly. When this
option is selected you will see a progress bar for each simulation in the SM dialog.
• JEPlus - select this option if you have an account on the JESS online service and would like the
Simulation Manager to run simulations via JEPlus and the JESS server. When this option is selected,
an "indeterminate" progress bar is used for each simulation in the SM dialog because the SM does not
know the actual percentage progress of the simulation on the JESS server until the simulation is
complete.
Accelerate
When the JEPlus EnergyPlus server method is selected, you can choose to speed up annual simulations
using a special build of EnergyPlus where all 12 months are simulated in parallel at the same time. Running
"split simulations" in this way can save a lot of time for large models. Time savings can be up to 10X for large
models, but are usually smaller than this due to the overheads involved in each simulation (preconditioning,
autosizing, copying files etc). For small models you are unlikely to see any worthwhile benefits in using this
option.
Important Warnings
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Simulation Manager Dialog
1. The accelerated version of EnergyPlus will produce slightly different results compared with simulations
run without the Accelerate option selected. This is because each month is simulated separately and
therefore the building thermal mass does not include an accurate history of heat stored from the
previous month. When the Accelerate option is not selected the results produced by JEPlus
match exactly with those generated when using the EnergyPlus server method.
2. Particular cases where the Accelerate option should not be used include:
3. A reduced selection of summary outputs are generated for the accelerated version and are formatted
differently.
4. TM52 and TM59 calculations are not supported by the accelerated option.
Version Of EnergyPlus
The version of EnergyPlus to be used in all simulations is set on the EnergyPlus tab of the Program options
dialog. The Simulation Manager will choose the appropriate version of EnergyPlus given the version number
selected. If the machine on which the simulations are to be run is running a 64-bit Windows OS then the 64-bit
version of EnergyPlus is used, likewise if it is a 32-bit version of Windows then the 32-bit version of
EnergyPlus is used.
Note: Access to 64-bit versions of EnergyPlus is one of the reasons for using the Simulation Manager.
Otherwise, when not using the Simulation Manager, the 32-bit DLL version of EnergyPlus is always used. 64-
bit EnergyPlus should generally be used for large models as they run much faster and are less likely
to fail due to insufficient memory being available.
See also:
The SM dialog can be accessed from within DesignBuilder using the toolbar icon or from outside
DesignBuilder from the Start button > All programs > DesignBuilder > Simulation Manager. When
opening the Simulation Manager dialog you will see something like the screenshot below.
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Or when a batch of optimisation simulations is running:
Behaviour is different depending on whether the application is loaded from within DesignBuilder and if so
whether you are at building level or below. In the latter case, only the simulation results for the current building
are displayed. Alternatively if you start the SM dialog from outside DesignBuilder or from site level with a
model open or when no model is open from the Opening screen then all simulations (sometimes referred to as
"jobs") are displayed.
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Simulation Manager Dialog
selected simulation to be loaded to the DesignBuilder Simulation screen. You must go the Simulation screen
to actually view the results.
Tip: To load multiple result sets to the same Results Viewer session you should first select multiple
simulation jobs before clicking on the View results in DesignBuilder Results viewer toolbar icon. This
allows you to view results from a number of simulations on the same graph.
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From here you can save a file to disk or open it using the application currently associated with the file
extension.
Settings
The Settings command provides access to the Simulation Server Settings dialog which allows you to view and
control some of the settings used by the Simulation Manager on local and network machines.
You can view the status of each of the connected servers as well as the machine-dependent maximum
possible number of parallel simulations and also the maximum number of parallel simulations. There is also a
checkbox to allow servers to be selected/deselected. When a server on the list is deselected then its jobs do
not appear in the main SM window.
You can access all settings for the server by clicking on the Simulation Server Settings toolbar icon to open
a dialog. Depending on your Windows privileges you may or may not be able to edit the following settings:
• Current parallel simulations - the maximum number of parallel simulations that can be run. This can
be any number up to the limit on the server.
• Logging enabled - tick this to enable logging to help track down any issues. You may be asked to use
this option by the Support Desk if you run into any problems with the SM.
• EnergyPlus logging enabled - tick this to enable logging of EnergyPlus simulation messages to help
track down any issues. You may be asked to use this option by the Support Desk if you run into any
problems with the SM.
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Simulation Manager Dialog
Depending on what else the machine is being used for you should be careful not to allow the simulations to
use all of the processing capacity of the machine. The maximum value allowed is 1 less than the number of
processors on the machine. For powerful machines the number of processors will typically be equal to the
number of physical cores x 2, so for a 4 core machine with 8 virtual processors you cannot enter a value here
greater than 7 which would allow you to run up to 7 parallel simulations. If the machine is being used for other
applications as well as DesignBuilder you should leave at least 2 processors. For quad core machines with 8
virtual processors a good upper limit will be between 4 and 6.
You can also use this dialog to stop and restart the localhost server.
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You may notice that simulations take a little longer to carry out the first time as EnergyPlus needs to be
downloaded. After this EnergyPlus is cached and the download is not necessary.
The first time you request a simulation in the Simulation Manager for a particular version of EnergyPlus (or
after clearing the cache) you must have an Internet connection to allow EnergyPlus to be downloaded.
Tip: You can read about some of the advantages of using a dedicated simulation server this on the main
Simulation Manager page.
a. Download the Simulation Manager (JobServer.msi) from the Download > Software > Server
Software area of the website.
b. On the dedicated server run the JobServer.msi installer and this should be enough to set the Windows
service running
Note: The maximum number of parallel simulations for each server can be edited in the Simulation
Manager user interface from the Simulation Servers dialog.
2. Ensure incoming connections to the server are allowed and not blocked by a firewall. To do this you should
create an exception for the executable, DBJobServer.exe (not a particular port).
Note: The .NET Framework v4.6 or later must be installed on the server for the service to run correctly.
The client machine needs to be configured to run jobs on the dedicated server. This is done by editing
JobServers.txt on each user computer at C:\ProgramData\DesignBuilder\Simulation Manager
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Simulation Display Options
DesignBuilder comes with a pre-installed pre-defined host called localhost.which is the first line in the above
file. The second line points to a simulation server running on the network on host ensims-X3290 on port
27042 with username "User" and password "123456".
Note: In current versions you must only change the server IP address and port and keep the default
username and password ("User" and 123456 respectively).
If you edit JobServers.txt you must reopen the Simulation Calculation Options dialog or the Simulation
Manager to see the effects.
The Detailed tab on the Display Options panel provides controls which allow you to select exactly the data
items you wish to display.
Data Options
Interval
Select an interval from the list:
Note: be aware that requesting Hourly and Sub-hourly results in large buildings and/or long simulation
periods can result in very large data sets which take a long time to read in after the simulation.
See also:
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Data
Select an option to indicate the data you wish to display:
• 1-All - fabric and ventilation heat gains/losses, internal gains (not Heating Design), temperatures and
outside dry-bulb air temperature.
• 2-Site data - all site data.
• 3-Comfort - inside air, the radiant and comfort temperatures, relative humidity, ASHRAE 55 and
various comfort indices. If you set Interval to 6-Distribution you get temperature distribution curves.
• 4-Internal gains - internal gains including equipment, lighting, occupancy, solar and HVAC
heating/cooling delivery.
• 5-Fabric and ventilation - heat gains to the space from the surface element (walls, floors, ceilings etc.)
and ventilation. Negative values indicate heat loss from the space.
• 6-Fuel breakdown - fuel consumption broken down by system category (building level only).
• 7-Fuel totals - fuel consumption broken down by fuel (building level only)
• 8-CO2 production - CO2 production by weight (building level only)
Tip: to update the data using different calculation options, click Update (Ctrl-U).
Show as
You can display the data in one of four ways:
• Graph
• Grid
• Graph and table
• Table
Note: you must select the Grid option to export data in spreadsheet format.
Note: you can use the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the graph to see simulation results not
currently displayed.
At building, block or zone level you can select the floor area to use as the denominator from the options:
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Simulation Detailed Results
Note: you can only select 1-All areas if the building and block data includes occupied areas as set in
Include unoccupied zones in block and building totals and averages option in Simulation Output options,
Likewise you can only select 2-Occupied area if the building and block data excludes occupied areas.
Y-Axis Options
These options give you control over how the Y-axis is displayed.
Lock min/max
This option locks the extent of the Y-axes so that they keep their current maximum and minimum values. This
allows consistent comparison with the future results display. The Y-axis keeps its current settings until you
unlock it again.
You can achieve the same effect by clicking on the 'Lock Y-axis min/max values' toolbar command.
When you lock the Y-axis the current settings are stored and displayed for each of the available Y-axes. You
can edit any of these to get a more precise setting. Remember to click on the Apply button when you are
ready to register a change to any numeric display option data.
Separate axes
Check this option to add a vertical space between each of the displayed axes.
Appearance
You can control the details of the presentation of the graphical output by making selections on the Display
Options panel under the Appearance header.
The 'Analysis' tab has detailed simulation results (displayed as a line graph by default).
For more on how the output is calculated see: Calculation of DesignBuilder Output from EnergyPlus Report
Variables.
Environmental/Comfort Output
• Air Temperature - the calculated average temperature of the zone air.
• Radiant Temperature - the (area * emissivity) weighted average of the zone inside surface
temperatures.
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• Operative Temperature - the mean of the zone air and radiant temperatures.
• Outside Dry-Bulb Temperature.
• Relative Humidity - the calculated average relative humidity of the air.
• Fanger PMV - Fanger Predicted Mean Vote calculated according to ISO 7730.
• Pierce PMV ET - the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) calculated using the effective temperature and the
Pierce two-node thermal comfort model.
• Pierce PMV SET - the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) calculated using the 'Standard' effective
temperature and the Pierce two-node thermal comfort model.
• Pierce Discomfort Index (DISC) - the Discomfort index calculated using the Pierce two-node thermal
comfort model.
• Pierce Thermal Sens. Index (TSENS) - the Thermal Sensation Index (PMV) calculated using the
Pierce two-node thermal comfort model.
• Kansas Uni TSV - the Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) calculated using the KSU two-node thermal
comfort model.
• Discomfort hrs (summer clothing) - the time when the zone is occupied that the combination of
humidity ratio and operative temperature is not in the ASHRAE 55-2004 summer clothes region.
• Discomfort hrs (winter clothing) - the time when the zone is occupied that the combination of
humidity ratio and operative temperature is not in the ASHRAE 55-2004 winter clothes region.
• Discomfort hrs (all clothing) - the time when the zone is occupied that the combination of humidity
ratio and operative temperature is not in the ASHRAE 55-2004 summer or winter clothes region.
For windows without an interior shading device this heat flow is equal to:
+ [Convective heat flow to the zone from the zone side of the glazing]
+ [Net IR heat flow to the zone from zone side of the glazing]
– [Short-wave radiation from zone transmitted back out the window]
+ [Conduction to zone from window frame and divider, if present]
Here, short-wave radiation is that from lights and diffuse interior solar radiation.
For windows with an interior shading device this heat flow is equal to:
[Convective heat flow to the zone from the air flowing through the gap between glazing and shading
device]
+ [Convective heat flow to the zone from the zone side of the shading device]
+ [Net IR heat flow to the zone from the zone side of the glazing]
+ [Net IR heat flow to the zone from the zone side of the shading device]
– [Short-wave radiation from zone transmitted back out the window]
+ [Conduction to zone from window frame and divider, if present]
• Walls - Sum of heat gains to the zone from external wall inner surfaces.
• Roofs - Sum of heat gains to the zone from external roof inner surfaces.
• Ceilings - Sum of heat gains to the zone from ceiling inner surfaces.
• Floors - Sum of heat gains to the zone from internal floor inner surfaces.
• Floors (ext) - Sum of heat gains to the zone from external floor inner surfaces (e.g. floor in cantilevered
space, roof eaves etc, not ground floors).
• Ground floors - Sum of heat gains to the zone from ground floor inner surfaces.
• Partitions - Sum of heat gains to the zone from internal partition inner surfaces.
• Doors and Vents - Sum of heat gains to the zone from door and vent inner surfaces.
• External Infiltration - heat gain through air infiltration (non-unintentional air entry through cracks and
holes in building fabric) when using Scheduled natural ventilation option.
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Simulation Detailed Results
• External Natural Ventilation - heat gain due to the entry of outside air through natural ventilation, as
defined on the HVAC tab, when using Simple natural ventilation option.
• Internal Natural Ventilation - heat gain from other zones due to air exchange through open internal
windows, doors, vents, holes and virtual partitions. This output also includes the thermal impact of any
Interzone Airflow paths.
• External Mechanical Ventilation - heat gain due to the entry of outside air through the air distribution
system. You can exclude mechanical ventilation from the cooling design calculations by unchecking
the 'Air Distribution On' Model Data.
• External Air - heat gain due to the entry of outside air through external windows, vents, doors, holes
and cracks when using Calculated natural ventilation option.
• Mixing Air - heat gain due to the entry of inside mixing air through internal windows, vents, doors and
holes when using Scheduled natural ventilation option.
Note: Surface conduction data for Walls, Roofs, Ceilings, Floors, Partitions and Doors and Vents
represents the heat conduction flow just below the surface of the construction and so includes all surface heat
transfer mechanisms (convection, long and short-wave radiation).
Airflow
• Mech Vent + Nat Vent + Infiltration - The sum of outside air (in ac/h) flowing into the zone through:
• The HVAC air distribution system +
• Infiltration +
• Natural ventilation +
• Airflow through earth tubes (mechanically or naturally driven)
Note: You will usually see a small difference in air changes per hour (ac/h) between the sum of
mechanical and natural ventilation and infiltration values you entered on in model data and the values
reported in simulation results. This is caused by the method used to calculate and report ac/h in
EnergyPlus. ac/h is reported including consideration of the air density and the exact values displayed
will depend on the density of the outside air being introduced into the building relative to the density of
the zone air. Cooler air is of course more dense than warmer air. More specifically, the design volume
flow rate entered in ac/h is converted to mass flow (kg/s) during the simulation using the current
outdoor air density. The simulated mass flow rate is then reported back out in indoor air density (for
infiltration and natural ventilation) or EnergyPlus standard air density for HVAC system outside air,
neither of which will ever (or extremely rarely) match the outdoor air density. So, the ac/h outputs will
never exactly match the inputs. The difference between input and reported ac/h will normally be less
than +/- 10%. At times when the outside air is cooler than inside there will be an underestimate of ac/h
and when it is warmer there will be an overestimate. The difference between input and output values is
in proportion to the difference in inside and outside air temperature.
Internal Gains
• Task Lighting - heat gain due to task lighting.
• General Lighting - heat gain due to general lighting.
• Miscellaneous - heat gain due to miscellaneous equipment.
• Process - heat gain due to process equipment.
• Catering - heat gain due to cooking.
• Computer and Equipment - heat gain due to computer and other IT-related equipment.
• Occupancy - sensible gain due to occupants. Please note that this can vary depending on the internal
conditions. With very high temperatures the sensible gain can drop to zero with all cooling effects
taking place through latent heat transfer.
• Solar Gains Exterior Windows - (used to be called 'Transmitted solar gains'). Short-wave solar
radiation transmission through all external windows. For a bare window, this transmitted radiation
consists of solar radiation passing through the glass and diffuse radiation from solar reflected from the
outside window reveal, if present. For windows with a shade, this transmitted radiation is totally diffuse
(shades are assumed to be perfect diffusers). For windows with a blind, this transmitted radiation
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consists of beam + diffuse short-wave radiation that passes between the slats and diffuse radiation
from beam-to-diffuse reflection from the slats. The heating effect of solar radiation on opaque roofs and
walls is accounted for in the Roofs and Walls fabric heat conduction data. Solar re-reflected back out of
the external window and transmitted through interior windows is not subtracted.
• Solar Gains Interior Windows - Total beam + diffuse solar radiation transmission through interior
windows. Requires the 3-Full interior and exterior solar model option to be set.
• Zone Sensible Cooling - is the overall sensible cooling effect on the zone of any air introduced into
the zone through the HVAC system. It includes any 'free cooling' due to introduction of relatively cool
outside air and the heating effect of any fans present. Cooling always shows as a negative heat gain in
the results. It is therefore not the same as a cooling coil energy delivery when mechanical ventilation is
involved. It is best thought of as the overall HVAC cooling contribution to the zone heat balance.
More on this below.
• Zone Sensible Heating - is the overall sensible heating effect of any air introduced into the zone
through the HVAC system including any 'free heating' due to introduction of relatively warm outside air
and the heating effects of fans. It is therefore not the same as a heating coil energy delivery when
mechanical ventilation is involved. It is best thought of as the overall HVAC heating contribution to
the zone heat balance. More on this below.
Surface heat gain data refers to heat transfer from the inside surface of the building elements to the zone.
Note: taken together the Internal gains and the Fabric and ventilation data above give an approximate
Zone Heat Balance, i.e. the data represents all of the heat flows into and out of the zone.
Technical Note
It is important to understand when looking at the Zone heat balance data that the values do not necessarily
add to exactly to zero. Factors which have a bearing on this are:
1. Solar radiation values reported by EnergyPlus are gross values and do not account for the radiation re-
reflected back out of internal and external windows. EnergyPlus tracks solar radiation in full detail but
does not report all of the calculated values. It is not currently possible to generate net solar radiation
gains from EnergyPlus.
2. Also bear in mind that solar and some internal gains are mostly radiative gains and find their way into
the fabric whereas the cooling is to the air. In thermal modelling terms it is not possible to make a
simple heat balance of heat which is added to different parts of the thermal network.More specifically,
heat transfer gains between the zone and the surfaces cannot be added directly to ventilation gains
because they are to different 'points' in the zone heat balance (surface heat transfer is to the 'rad-air'
point and ventilation is to the 'air' point).
3. Minor EnergyPlus inaccuracy in reporting of conduction through window frames causes a minor error
(~1%) in Glazing heat gain reported values. This does not affect the rest of the simulation, it is just in
the Glazing heat gain report.
4. There are issues such as heat conduction through walls, floors, roofs etc and diurnal storage of heat in
thermal mass, especially in thermally massive buildings to take into account. When doing heat
balances make sure to view data over a reasonable period (> week) to avoid such thermal storage
issues.
• Zone Heating - energy supplied by local room heaters and reheat coils to maintain room internal
heating temperature setpoint temperature when using Detailed HVAC data.
• Radiant + Convective Heating - energy provided by heated floors to the floor construction. Check the
Ground Floors and Internal Floors zone heat balance outputs to see the heat transfer from the floor
to the zone itself.
Total Cooling is the rate at which total energy (sensible and latent) is removed from the mixed outside
and return air stream in order to bring the mixed air stream to the specified temperature and humidity
ratio of the supply air stream. Total Cooling also includes any cooling energy provided by radiant
cooling systems.
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Simulation Detailed Results
• Sensible Cooling is the rate at which sensible energy is removed from the mixed outside and return
air stream in order to lower its temperature to the specified temperature of the supply air stream. Any
energy needed for moisture addition or removal is ignored.
"What is the difference between Zone Sensible Heating/Cooling (on the Heat Balance graph) and
Zone Heating, Sensible/Total Cooling (on the System Energy graph)?" The Zone Sensible Heating is the
heating effect of the HVAC system action on the zone heat balance, or in other words, the heating effect of
introducing air that is warmer than the zone air. Likewise Zone Sensible Cooling is the cooling effect of the
HVAC system on the zone. Note that these are not always directly related to heating and cooling coil energy
delivery, especially because of the effect of free cooling from outside air. So for example even if there is no
cooling coil operational at a particular time, the Zone Sensible Cooling output on the Heat Balance graph can
be high due to introduction of relatively cooler outside air into the space through mechanical ventilation. These
Zone Sensible Heating/Cooling outputs will also include a component due to fans (if operational) which will
tend to warm air that moves through it. The Zone Heating data in the System energy graph is the energy
provided by zone heating equipment such as reheat coils and radiators/baseboard units. Likewise Sensible
and Total Cooling report the sensible and total energy transferred by cooling coils to the air stream.
• Zone Heating - energy supplied by local room heaters and reheat coils to maintain room internal
heating temperature setpoint temperature when using Detailed HVAC data.
• Preheat - energy supplied by preheat coils to temper the outside air before it enters the outside air
mixing box when using Detailed HVAC data.
• AHU Heating - energy supplied by the AHU heating coil when using Detailed HVAC data.
• Chiller Load - cooling energy supplied by the chiller.
• Total Cooling - at building level: sensible + latent cooling transfer to the supply air from the AHU
cooling coil + any single zone unitary and fan coil units in the building. At zone level: sensible + latent
cooling transfer to the supply air from a single zone unitary or fan coil unit. Note that any differences
between Total Cooling and Chiller Load outputs are typically caused by the thermal inertia of the
water in the chilled water loops. These differences will be most noticeable for data at hourly and sub-
hourly intervals.
• Sensible Cooling - sensible only cooling transfer from the cooling coil to the supply air. Latent coil heat
can be calculated as the difference: Total Cooling - Sensible Cooling.
• Heat Recovery Sensible Cooling - the sensible cooling rate of the supply air by the heat exchanger.
This rate is determined using the supply air mass flow rate through the heat exchanger unit, the supply
air inlet and outlet conditions, and the specific heat of the inlet supply air. A positive value is reported if
the supply air is cooled by the heat exchanger, else the rate is set to zero.
• Heat Recovery Total Cooling - the total cooling rate of the supply air by the heat exchanger. This rate
is determined using the supply air mass flow rate through the heat exchanger unit, and the enthalpy of
the supply air entering and leaving the unit. A positive value is reported if the enthalpy of the supply air
is decreased by the heat exchanger, else the rate is set to zero.
• Heat Recovery Sensible Heating - the sensible heating rate of the supply air by the heat exchanger.
This rate is determined using the supply air mass flow rate through the heat exchanger unit, the supply
air inlet and outlet conditions, and the specific heat of the inlet supply air. A positive value is reported if
the supply air is heated by the heat exchanger, else the rate is set to zero.
• Heat Recovery Total Heating - the total heating energy added to the supply air by the heat exchanger.
• Heating - total fuel consumption due to operation of heat generators such as boilers and heat pumps.
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• Cooling- total chiller fuel consumption plus any fuel consumption due to DX cooling coils, air-cooled
chiller condenser fans and evaporative coolers.
• Heat rejection - cooling tower fan electric consumption.
• Fans - total electrical energy consumed by HVAC fans (only available in Simple HVAC when using the
Separate fans and pumps model option).
• Pumps - total electrical energy consumed by HVAC pumps (only available in Simple HVAC when using
the Separate fans and pumps model option).
• Auxiliary Energy - total electrical energy consumed by HVAC fans and pumps (Simple HVAC only and
only when using the NCM model option).
• Preheat - heating energy transferred from main plant preheat coils to HVAC system air when using
Detailed HVAC data.
• Lighting - electricity consumed by general and task/display lights.
• Room Electricity - electricity consumed by room equipment other than lights (computers, equipment,
process etc).
• Room Gas - gas consumed by room equipment (miscellaneous, process and catering)
• Room Oil - oil consumed by room equipment (miscellaneous, process and catering)
• Room Solid - solid fuel (such as coal) consumed by room equipment (miscellaneous, process and
catering)
• Room Bottled gas - bottled gas (propane) consumed by room equipment (miscellaneous, process and
catering)
• Room Other - other fuel consumed by room equipment (miscellaneous, process and catering)
Fuel totals
Total fuel consumption for building, data available at building level only:
CO2 emissions
Total carbon dioxide emission for building, data available at building level only:
• CO2 emissions - total CO2 emissions mass. This is calculated from fuel consumption totals (above)
and the fuel emission factors for the region.
Note: Although Site weather data is stored at the Site level, it can be displayed at Building, Block, Zone,
Surface and Opening levels too. When at Building level or lower the site weather reported by EnergyPlus is
displayed, but at site level, the data stored in the epw file itself is displayed. You will therefore notice small
differences in site weather data when viewing at site level compared with other levels.
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Comfort Analysis
Note: If the data in the hourly weather file itself is changed then the corresponding simulation site weather
within DesignBuilder must be manually updated for correct display at site level. You can do this at site level by
pressing the Update button or by pressing <Ctr>l-U.
Note also that the x-axis times in the results refer to "standard" time without any daylight saving correction
applied and not the "clock" time used in schedules. This means that when viewing gains results (for example)
in the summer periods with an hour of daylight saving time applied you will see the gains starting an hour
earlier than in the winter.
Time values that appear in schedules refer to clock time and, while the gains would be simulated as starting at
the same (clock) times as defined in the schedules in summer and winter, you may see what at first sight
seem like discrepancies between scheduled start/end times and outputs until you consider the points above.
Comfort Analysis
DesignBuilder EnergyPlus simulations can generate extensive data on environmental conditions within the
building and resultant occupant comfort levels. The following comfort-related output is available:
The above data can be displayed at all time increments. In addition, air, radiant and operative temperatures
can be displayed as distribution curves (below).
You can find more detailed information about Fanger, Pierce and Kansas State University Thermal comfort
prediction algorithms in the EnergyPlus Background Section.
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The Mech Vent + Nat Vent + Infiltration data is the sum of fresh air delivered through the HVAC system,
infiltration and natural ventilation outside airflow in air changes per hour (ac/h). When used together with the
other environmental output it can be very useful in checking for occupant discomfort.
Note 1: It is possible to display comfort data for occupied periods only by selecting 2-Just occupied
periods as Zone environmental and comfort reports on the Output tab of the simulation options dialog.
This option applies to all data described in this Comfort Analysis help section.
Note 2: Comfort data are not generated when the Gains data model option is set to Lumped. This is
because in EnergyPlus the request for comfort calculations is made in the 'PEOPLE' statement and this is not
used with Lumped gains.
Block average Air temperature (Ta) = (A1 x Taz1 + A1 x Taz2 + A3 x Taz3 + ...) / (A1 + A2 + A3 + ...)
Where:
There is one exception, Mech Vent + Nat Vent + Infiltration, which is calculated in a similar way but using
volume-weighted averages, i.e. using zone volumes instead of floor areas in the above equation.
Building data is calculated in the same way but including all blocks.
if the Include unoccupied zones in block and building totals and averages option is not set then
unoccupied zones are not included in the above equation.
Note: if all zones in the block/building are unoccupied and the option is not set the denominator is zero
and an error message is shown and results are deleted.
Temperature Distribution
Summary description
To view temperature distribution graphs follow this procedure:
1. Select the Temperature distribution option on the Output tab of the Simulation options dialog before
running the simulation.
2. If, as is common, you need temperature distribution data for occupied periods only, then you should
select the 2-Just occupied periods option for Zone environmental and comfort reports on the Output
tab of the Simulation options dialog, again before the simulation. Note that if you do this and the zone is
always unoccupied then you won't see any output.
3. Run the simulation for the period of interest. There is no need to select sub-hourly, hourly, daily or
monthly output data if temperature distribution data is all you require.
4. Navigate to the zone of interest (you must be at zone level to view temperature distribution data).
5. Set the Interval option in the Display Options panel to Distribution and the Data option to Comfort
6. View the temperature distribution chart.
Detailed description
If you requested Temperature distribution data prior to the simulation, you can generate temperature
distribution curves showing 'hours at', 'hours below' and 'hours above' temperature levels in 1°C temperature
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Comfort Analysis
intervals during the occupied period. Bins include data for the labelled temperature through to that
temperature + 1°C, so for example, the bin labelled '12°C' holds data for all temperatures in the range 12°C
<= T < 13°C.
The temperature distribution result set is calculated using sub-hourly data generated during the simulation
regardless of whether sub-hourly or hourly results were requested for output. You should therefore expect to
see slightly different distribution results between runs if you change the timesteps per hour setting.
To view temperature distribution data set the Interval option in the Display Options panel to Distribution and
the Data option to Comfort. This data can be useful for getting an overview of the levels of comfort (or
otherwise) provided by the building over time. The results can be compared with benchmark comfort criteria.
For example, CIBSE provides recommended benchmark summertime peak temperatures and overheating
criteria as follows:
Offices, schools, dwellings (living areas) should have no more than 1% of the annual occupied hours over
operative temperature of 28°C. Bedrooms in dwellings should have no more than 1% of the annual occupied
hours over operative temperature of 26°C.
UK DfES Building Bulletin BB87 recommends an allowable overheating criteria of 80 occupied hours in a year
over and air temperature of 28°C.
Note 2: This data is not available when using Lumped gains model option as the data is tied in with the
EnergyPlus 'People' data set and this is not generated for Lumped gains.
Note 3: This data is not available if the 1 time step per hour option is selected
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In some cases you may find a large number of discomfort hours for a particular zone even though the air
temperature in the space is within normal ranges. If this happens you should check:
1. Operative temperatures which can be very different in highly glazed spaces in the summer or poorly
insulated spaces in the winter.
2. Humidity levels are within range - you may find very high or very low humidity caused by inadequate
ventilation. Note that the minimum comfort temperature with winter clothes when the air is very dry is
21.7°C / 71°F which may be lower than some heating temperature setpoints. Likewise in the summer
when the air is very humid operative temperatures above 26.8°C / 80.2°F are considered too hot with
summer clothes.
Winter Clothes
Summer Clothes
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CIBSE TM52 Overheating Assessments
Note: in ASHRAE 55 comfort assessments the criteria can be exceeded, regardless of the temperature, if
the relative humidity is too high.
You can also determine distributed comfort levels using CFD Comfort Calculations.
The Discomfort hrs data displayed by DesignBuilder is similar to the "Time Not Comfortable Based on
Simple ASHRAE 55-2004" data displayed in the Summary report, but EnergyPlus uses a different method to
DesignBuilder for calculating building level discomfort hours. "Time not comfortable Based on Simple
ASHRAE 55-2004" is the summation of the number of hours over the year when one or more zones in the
building fail the ASHRAE 55 comfort criteria. DesignBuilder on the other hand calculates discomfort hours at
building level in the same way as other building average values as the floor area-weighted average of all
zones.
• Criterion 1: The first criterion sets a limit for the number of hours that the operative temperature can
exceed the threshold comfort temperature (upper limit of the range of comfort temperature) by 1 K or
more during the occupied hours of a typical non-heating season (1 May to 30 September).
• Criterion 2: The second criterion deals with the severity of overheating within any one day, which can
be as important as its frequency, the level of which is a function of both temperature rise and its
duration. This criterion sets a daily limit for acceptability.
• Criterion 3: The third criterion sets an absolute maximum daily temperature for a room, beyond which
the level of overheating is unacceptable.
A room or building that fails any two of the three criteria is classed as overheating. Further information on
these criteria can be found in TM52: 2013, Section 6.1.2.
Important Note: CIBSE TM52 outputs are only generated for zones without active cooling.
DesignBuilder automatically excludes results from unoccupied periods and from periods in the heating season
(October - March).
Procedure:
Suggested
Building Category Explanation Acceptable Range
(K)
High level of expectation only used for spaces
I 2
occupied by very sensitive and fragile persons
Normal expectation (for new buildings and
II 3
renovations) - CIBSE recommendation
A moderate expectation (used for existing
III 4
buildings)
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3. Run the simulation for at least the period 1 May - 30 September.
4. Open either the .eso or .drb output file using the Results Viewer.
5. Access summary results on the CIBSE TM52 tab as explained in Example TM52 Outputs below.
For example:
Criterion 2 is passed in Block1:Zone1 if no Daily output Block1:Zone1 Criterion 2 CIBSE_TM52 has a value
of greater than 6.
Note: 2 out of the 3 criteria must be passed for an overall pass for the zone.
Tip: You can generate TMax adaptive comfort and the deltaT intermediate values used in the TM52
calculations by selecting timestep outputs as well as TM52 outputs. These outputs can be viewed in the
Results Viewer along with the other TM52 outputs. TMax CIBSE_TM52 is the name of the report for the
maximum adaptive comfort temperature.
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CIBSE TM59 - Modelling And Analysis Guide
Overview
This guide summarises the key points in the CIBSE TM59 methodology and provides a commented example
of the DesignBuilder TM59 analysis workflow. It is divided into the following sections:
The modelling example starts after the model geometry has been completed (including construction and
opening assignment).
Note: this guide does not include all of the details required to build, simulate and assess a model
according to TM59 and it’s still necessary to refer to the TM59 Design methodology for the assessment of
overheating risk in homes standard itself.
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TM59 Modelling Process
Weather data
DSY weather data files required for the simulations can be imported using the approach described on the Add
new hourly weather data help page.
Tip: You can obtain CIBSE weather files suitable for use in TM59 analyses from the DesignBuilder CIBSE
weather file page.
Exposure type
The appropriate site exposure type can be set at site level on the Location tab > Site Details > Exposure to
wind.
Also, according to TM59 chapter 3.6, the modelled air speed should be set to 0.1 m/s. The Air velocity for
comfort calculations can be set on the Model options dialog, Simulation tab under the Other header.
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CIBSE TM59 - Modelling And Analysis Guide
Selecting the right Activity template ensures that the correct TM59 reports are generated for each zone and
avoids unnecessary outputs from being generated.
The "TM59 Lighting" Lighting template is also provided to allow appropriate lighting loads to be set, according
to TM59 chapter 5.2. This can be selected on the Lighting tab.
Tip: The Load data from template tool can help speed up the Activity and Lighting template assignment
process. See screenshot below.
1. Open the Load data tab and choose the Activity to be applied.
2. Open the Target tab and select all the relevant zones (be aware that when selecting Building or Block
level, the inheritance process still works as usual).
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An example of afully assigned floor could look something like:
Tip: When naming a large number of zones, it can be helpful to use the Double-click to navigate site
hierarchy Program option. This allows you to quickly and easily change the name of zones at Block level by
clicking and editing the zone name in the Navigator without unnecessarily navigating to the Zone level. This
leaves you ready to change the name of the next zone without having to navigate back up to block level
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CIBSE TM59 - Modelling And Analysis Guide
When using the Calculated Natural Ventilation model option, the input is defined in the following sections of
the Model data.
Activity Tab
• Ventilation setpoint temperature set at Activity tab > Environmental control > Ventilation Setpoint
Temperatures.
Openings Tab
• Operation – when using default templates, this input field should use the Occupancy schedule (so
window opening is allowed only when the room is occupied). Set at Openings tab > External Windows
> Operation.
• Free Aperture – the window openable area can be modified using % Glazing area opens (this input will
typically have a significant impact on the natural ventilation fresh air flow rates). Set Openings tab >
External Windows > Free Aperture.
HVAC Tab
• Wind factor – When carrying out conservative design assessment, it might be appropriate to reduce the
effect of wind. HVAC tab > Natural Ventilation > Options > Wind factor.
• Control mode – when 2-Temperature mode is selected, opening control will automatically aim to
maintain the minimum ventilation setpoint temperature defined on the Activity tab.
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The TM59 standards states that:
“Windows in each room should be controlled separately and modelled as open when both the internal
dry bulb temperature exceeds 22 °C and the room is occupied”.
To avoid opening of window when the zone is not occupied and temperature is below 22° C, pre-defined
TM59 Activity templates have Natural ventilation setpoint temperature set to 22° C and use default TM59
occupancy schedule.
Note, that the 2-Temperature Control mode provides idealised control in that when the outdoor air conditions
are not favourable, openings are closed. i.e. openings are closed when T outdoor > Tindoor to prevent introduction of
warm air into the controlled zone. This may not be compliant with the TM59 standard because this type of an
advanced control mechanism is not described in the standard which states simply that windows should be
opened when Tindoor > 22° C and the room is occupied.
In summary TM59 requires that windows are open when the room is occupied and:
Tindoor > 22°C
Whereas the default DesignBuilder rule opens windows when:
Toutdoor < Tindoor > 22°C
Because the default DesignBuilder natural ventilation control rules do not comply exactly with the TM59
requirements, a TM59 natural ventilation control override rule is provided to guarantee that the openings stay
open even when the outdoor conditions are not favourable. The TM59 natural ventilation rules override can be
applied from the “Edit calculation Options” dialog > “Graphable outputs” > “Comfort and Environmental” >
“CIBSE TM59” > “Apply TM59 natural ventilation rules”. See screenshot below.
Note that by default, the override will be applied only to zones using TM59 Activity template (excluding
corridors). Note also that the override only applies when using the Calculated natural ventilation model option.
Internal openings
According to the TM59 standard:
“Internal doors can be included and left open in the model in the daytime, but should be assumed to be
closed when the occupants are sleeping.”
To improve the flow of air through the airflow network, it will normally be beneficial to include internal openings
such as doors, set to open based on the TM59 rules.
For any other details, guidance or restrictions regarding window and door opening refer to TM59 chapter 3.3.
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CIBSE TM59 - Modelling And Analysis Guide
Temperature control
Default TM59 activity temperature set points and schedules are based on the UK NCM data. Heating set point
schedules have been modified to use heating setback temperature instead of set point in a period from May to
September.
The environmental controls will typically be configured based on the building design.
To reduce a simultaneous heating and window opening, a control mechanism is implemented through the
Apply TM59 natural ventilation rules calculation option. See discussion above under HVAC tab.
Important note: The TM59 requirement to open the windows when the internal temperature rises above
22°C can easily lead to simultaneous heating and window opening. This is more likely to occur when:
- Heating setpoint temperature is close to the Ventilation setpoint temperature- Large openable areas are
present in the zone
- Lower “Time steps per hour” is used for simulation
In general, to avoid simultaneous heating and venting, the heating setpoint temperatures should not be
greater than 21°C.
Bear in mind that the purpose of a TM59 analysis is to assess the risk of overheating and that because of the
specific ventilation requirements of TM59, the same model might not generate accurate energy consumption
results. To help avoid any such issues, the Apply TM59 natural ventilation rules calculation option should
generally be switched off when running simulations where energy consumption is an important output.
- 1401 -
Note: To continue working in DesignBuilder or to run another simulation, the Simulation Manager dialog
must first be closed.
Drawing from TM52 and CIBSE Guide A, compliance is based on passing both Criteria 1 and 2 as follows.
• CIBSE TM52 Criterion 1: Hours of exceedance (dT ≥ 1K shall not be more that 3% of occupied
periods during the period May to September) must be passed.
This criterion is reported for occupied, non-cooled zones using the following Activity templates:
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CIBSE TM59 - Modelling And Analysis Guide
• TM59_1/2/3-BedKitchen,
• TM59_1/2/3-BedLiving,
• TM59_1/2/3-BedLivingKitchen,
• TM59_Studio,
• TM59_Single_Bedroom,
• TM59_DoubleBedroom.
b) For bedrooms only:
• CIBSE TM59 chapter 4.2: Operative temperature in the bedroom from 10 pm to 7 am shall not exceed
26 °C for more than 1% of annual hours. Note that 1% of the annual hours between 22:00 and 07:00
for bedrooms is 32 hours, so 33 or more hours above 26 °C will be considered as a fail.
This criterion is reported for occupied, non-cooled zones using following “Activity” templates:
• TM59_Studio,
• TM59_Single_Bedroom,
• TM59_DoubleBedroom.
Criteria 2 and 3 of CIBSE TM52 may fail to be met, but both (a) and (b) above must both be passed for all
relevant rooms. In particular, bedrooms must pass both Criteria 1 and 2.
To obtain results for Criteria 2 and 3 of CIBSE TM52 it is necessary to select TM52 outputs (results for TM52
and TM59 can be selected simultaneously).
By default, in TM59 calculations, the building category (based on CIBSE TM52 definitions) is Cat. II.
Selecting this output will add results according to TM59 chapter 4.3 as described below.
All occupied rooms should not exceed an operative temperature of 26 ˚C for more than 3% of the annual
occupied annual hours (CIBSE Guide A (2015a)).
This criterion is only reported for occupied, non-cooled zones using the following Activity templates:
• TM59_1/2/3-BedKitchen,
• TM59_1/2/3-BedLiving,
• TM59_1/2/3-BedLivingKitchen,
• TM59_Studio,
• TM59_Single_Bedroom,
• TM59_DoubleBedroom.
All zones passing the above filtration are reported, regardless of the Mechanical ventilation settings on the
HVAC tab
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CIBSE TM59 Vulnerable Occupants
Selecting this output will change the building category for predominantly naturally ventilated buildings
according to TM59 chapter 4.2 as described below.
Selecting this output will produce results according to TM59 chapter 4.5 as described below.
• TM59_CommonCirculationAreas
• TM59_CirculationAreas.
TM59 Outputs
TM59 results must be viewed in the DesignBuilder Results Viewer which can be accessed either from within
DesignBuilder or from the Simulation Manager.
It is possible to use either of the following access routes implemented in the DB interface to open the file:
1. Navigating to the EnergyPlus folder (File > Folders > EnergyPlus folder) and double-clicking on the eso
file to open it in the Results Viewer.
2. Using the toolbar icon on the Simulation screen.
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CIBSE TM59 - Modelling And Analysis Guide
• From within the Results Viewer use the File > Open eso/data set menu command
• By making the appropriate selection on the Program options dialog, DesignBuilder will offer to open the
.eso results file at the end of the simulation.
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(a) For living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms:
• CIBSE TM52 Criterion 1: Hours of exceedance (dT ≥ 1K shall not be more that 3% of occupied
periods during the period May to September) must be passed.
In the example output above Zone TypicalFlat:LivingRoomXKitchen fails to pass Criterion A because Hours
of exceedance are greater than 3%.
• Operative temperature in the bedroom from 10 pm to 7 am shall not exceed 26 °C for more than 1% of
annual hours. (Note: 1% of the annual hours between 22:00 and 07:00 for bedrooms is 32 hours, so 33
or more hours above 26 °C will be recorded as a fail).
In the above example both bedrooms pass Criterion B because the operative temperature is exceeded for
less than 32 hours.
Parametric Analysis
DesignBuilder can automatically run multiple simulations automatically adjusting up to 2 variables to create
design curves. Design curves can be very useful at conceptual stages of the design process to understand
how building performance is affected by variations. DesignBuilder allows you to generate curves to show how
performance parameters like carbon emissions and comfort vary as key elements of the building design vary.
You can select up to 2 design variables. For example you might want to plot the cooling energy consumption
for the base design with a range of window to wall % and glazing types variations. The selection of the design
variables is done using the Variables tab of the Optimisation and Parametric Analysis Settings dialog. Click on
the Parametric tab to carry out parametric simulations.
The design curves are generated by automatically running multiple simulations of the base design (i.e. the
model defined on the edit screen) with variations applied at the building level.It is important to take into
account how this data will be inherited to down to blocks, zones etc to ensure you are testing the design
variants you think you are. For example if the Window to wall % was hard set at block level then changes in
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Parametric Analysis
this data at building level would not influence the surfaces of the design variants and the results will indicate
that the Window to wall % does not influence results (see Troubleshooting below).
Because there is no visual check on the state of the design variants the parametric function would normally be
carried out on:
• Well structured and checked models that have been set up to be compatible with parametric analysis,
that is allowing the appropriate data to inherit from the building level parametric changes, or,
• Smaller models where it is easy to see how data inherits.
The number of design variants that are tested for 2 variable tests is the number of variants for the first variable
multiplied by the number for the second variable. The variations in the above example would be different
combinations of Glazing type and Window to wall %. In all, 6 x 5 = 30 simulations would be required to
generate the design curves in this example.
Tip: Parametric simulations can take a long time to complete and DesignBuilder can keep grabbing focus
away from the window you are working in as it refreshes the progress bar. To avoid this you can minimise the
main DesignBuilder window. If you have a multi-core processor, you should now be able to continue working
while the simulations continue.
The graph above shows the diminishing returns with extra louvre projection from 0.5m to 1.5m.
- 1407 -
The image above shows a parametric analysis of total annual carbon emissions where glazing percentage is
varied in a building with lighting control, heating and cooling for 4 different glazing types. It illustrates how
optimum configurations can be identified using this approach.
• Generating design curves to assist with decision making at early design stages.
• As a teaching aid to help students understand the impact of variations in the design.
• To help communicate concepts with non-experts in building simulation, clients, architects etc.
Architects often particularly appreciate the visual nature of the parametric data.
• Design optimisation
Available KPIs
The following Key Performance Indicator (KPI) outputs are available for selection on the Data setting in the
Display options panel:
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Parametric Analysis
• 5-Pierce PMV ET - average Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) calculated using the effective temperature
and the Pierce two-node thermal comfort model.
• 6-Pierce PMV SET - average Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) calculated using the 'Standard' effective
temperature and the Pierce two-node thermal comfort model.
• 7-Pierce DISC - the average Discomfort index calculated using the Pierce two-node thermal comfort
model.
• 8-Pierce TSENS - the average Thermal Sensation Index (PMV) calculated using the Pierce two-node
thermal comfort model.
• 9-KsuTSV - the average Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) calculated using the KSU two-node thermal
comfort model.
• 10-Transmitted Solar Gains - total solar gains transmitted
• 11-Discomfort (all clo) - the total time when the zone is occupied that the combination of humidity
ratio and operative temperature is not in the ASHRAE 55-2004 summer or winter clothes region. At
building level this is the zone area weighted average of the zone discomfort hours.
• 12-Heating load - sensible heating load (in most cases = total heating load)
• 13-Cooling load - total cooling load (sensible + latent)
• 14-Total energy consumption - sum of all onsite fuel consumption energy, available for the whole
building only.
• 15-Total CO2 - sum of operational carbon emissions for the building due to all building fuel
consumption, available for the whole building only.
For detailed definitions of the above outputs see Detailed Results. The outputs either refer to averages or
totals over the analysis period (i.e. the period set on the Simulation options dialog). The results cover the
whole building, when viewing results at building level or just the currently selected zone, when viewing results
at zone level. Note that outputs 14 and 15 are available only at building level.
Also note that the comfort-based outputs (PMV etc) are only available if Comfort outputs were requested on
the Output tab of the Simulation options dialog.
Troubleshooting
A common question from beginners with the parametric simulations goes something like this:
Q: "Why do I get a flat line variation of energy consumption/CO2/max temperature when running parametric
analyses"
A: The usual reason for parametric analysis generating a flat line variation is that there is no clear data
inheritance path from the building level (where the parametric changes are applied) down to the individual
zones/surfaces. For example, when using Window to wall% as a variable, you should make sure that:
• The Window to wall% value is not hard set at block, zone or surface level in positions in the building
where you wish the parametric changes to be applied.
• Likewise, you are not using custom openings, whose opening areas cannot be modified as part of the
parametric variation.
• You have one of the Facade types set that can accurately calculate window areas based on % glazing
(Preferred height and Continuous horizontal) and that this data is inherited from building down to
surface level.
Q: "Is it possible to change the intervals for variables? For example is it possible to change "Window operation
%" range from 20, 40, 60... to 10, 20, 30, 40..."
A: In the current version of the software there is no way to modify the intervals but this will be allowed in future
versions.
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Optimisation
Optimisation is a technique for efficient searching for and identifying design options that best meet key design
performance objectives. it is similar in many ways to Parametric analysis, a more well-known technique for
analysing how design performance varies with changes in the building configuration through use of design
curves. A parametric analysis would usually consist of 1, 2 or 3 design variables being adjusted in a
systematic way to illustrate trends and find designs with the most favourable characteristics (e.g. low energy
consumption, best comfort etc). With parametric analysis, a maximum of 3 variables is normally used because
a) the results of more than 3 dimensions to a design problem are difficult to visualize and b) the large number
of simulations required with 4 or more design variables would take too long to complete. For example a
designer might want to investigate the impact on carbon emissions of variable levels and types of glazing. The
results would be displayed as a series of parametric design curves. This can be a very useful way to visualise
simple comparisons over a limited range of design options, but is of less use for wider studies and for
optimisation as only a few variables and one key performance indicator can practically be included per
analysis.
In DesignBuilder Optimisation, Genetic Algorithms (GA) (aka Evolutionary Algorithms or EA) are used to
search for optimal design solutions, much more efficiently than is possible with parametric analysis when more
variables are involved. In DesignBuilder, up to 10 design variables can be included in the analysis in
combination with up to 2 objectives, such as "minimise carbon emissions" and "minimising construction costs".
Cost and carbon are a frequently used pair of objectives in building design optimisation analyses because
they allow a study of the trade off between cost and carbon impacts for a large range of designs. For example,
an optimisation study might involve a base design which is to be optimised for cost and carbon emissions with
building orientation, wall and roof construction, glazing amount and type, degrees of shading and HVAC
system type being allowed to vary. The results might be displayed graphically with operational carbon
emissions on one axis and investment cost on the other and the performance of each design option that is
tested as part of the procedure plotted on the graph. The designs with lowest combinations of cost and carbon
form a "Pareto front" of optimal designs along the bottom-left edge of the data point "cloud".
Likewise "minimise carbon emissions" and "minimise discomfort" are often used to analyse the trade off
between carbon emissions and the degree of comfort provided by the design. In the example output below the
control parameters of a changeover mixed mode natural ventilation model is being optimised based on carbon
emissions and discomfort. The outputs indicate the control options resulting in minimal discomfort hours while
at the same having the lowest environmental impact.
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Optimisation
Tip: A good starting point to learn more about design optimisation is follow through the Optimisation Basic
Tutorial.
To get started with an optimisation analysis go to the Simulation screen and click on the Optimisation tab.
From the Simulation Optimisation screen you can:
• Edit the Optimisation Analysis Settings (objectives, constraints and variables). This is a required first
step before running the first analysis.
• Update the Optimisation Analysis which opens the Optimisation Calculation Options Dialog.
• View Optimisation results.
Optimisation Contents
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Parametric, Optimisation And UA/SA Analysis Settings
The Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog can be accessed from the Tools menu
and also from the Simulation screen on the Parametric and Optimisation + UA tabs. The data entered here
can be used for Optimisation, UA/SA and Parametric Analyses.
Optimisation
By entering data on the tabs listed below you can use this dialog to set up the optimisation problem:
• Objectives - set up 1 or 2 objectives for the analysis to define what constitutes a "good design".
• Additional Outputs - optional extra outputs can be used in later analysis to quantify how various aspects
of building performance are affected by the parametric changes to the model.
• Constraints - optional limits on performance to be imposed.
• Design Variables - the elements of the model that are to be allowed to vary during the optimisation
analysis and the new values that these elements may take.
On each of these 3 tabs are tables of objectives, constraints and design variables.
Parametric Analysis
Only 1 tab is used for parametric analysis:
• Design Variables - the elements of the model that are to be allowed to vary during the parametric
analysis and the new values that these elements may take. When used for Parametric Analysis only
the top 2 variables on the list are used as parametric analysis only supports a maximum of 2 variables.
Analysis Type
There are currently 2 types of analysis and these can be set from the first tab on this dialog
Analysis
The analysis to select for optimisation is 2-Optimisation.
Objectives
The Objectives tab allows you to define how the "success" of a particular design is be measured. This is done
by defining either 1 or 2 objectives for the analysis. Typical settings here might include 2 objectives to
investigate the trade off between 2 conflicting objects such as minimising both construction cost and energy
consumption. See screenshot below.
- 1412 -
Parametric, Optimisation And UA/SA Analysis Settings
To add a new Objective click on the Add new link on the info panel. This opens the Objective dialog which
allows you enter information on that objective. Other options are to Edit the currently selected objective or to
Delete the currently selected objective. It is only possible to have 1 or 2 objectives.
The number of objectives (1 or 2) radically affects the nature of the analysis. With a single objective
optimisation there is no trade off between 2 objectives, but simply a requirement to select designs that give
highest or lowest values of the objective KPI.
Additional Outputs
The additional outputs tab allows you to define some extra outputs to be included in the table of results for
each iterative design variation simulated. This can help in the final analysis of results to gain a clearer
understanding of how variations in the design will impact on the building performance.
To add a new Output click on the Add new link on the info panel. This opens the Output dialog which allows
you enter information on that output (name and KPI). Other options are to Edit the currently selected output or
to Delete the currently selected output. Any number of outputs can be added,
Constraints
The Constraints tab allows you to define limits on the performance of the building. Examples of constraints
that might be applied to an optimisation analysis are "Discomfort hours must be less than 200" or
"Construction cost must be greater than $6m".
- 1413 -
To add a new Constraint click on the Add new link on the info panel. This opens the Constraint dialog which
allows you enter information on that constraint. Other options are to Edit the currently selected constraint or to
Delete the currently selected constraint.
Variables
The variables tab allows you to define the elements of the building design that can be allowed to vary as well
as the allowed values that the variable can take on during the analysis. You can select from a wide range of
variables such as Window to wall %, Heating setpoint temperature, HVAC Template, External wall
construction etc.
List data types such as constructions, glazing or templates require a set of options to be selected to define the
allowed variable options.
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Optimisation Analysis Type
To add a new Design Variable click on the Add new link on the info panel. This opens the Variable dialog
which allows you enter information on that variable. Other options are to Edit the currently selected variable or
to Delete the currently selected variable.
Tip: If you aren't sure whether some variables should be included in an optimisation or not, you can include
them and then use Sensitivity Analysis tools to make a statistical assessment of whether the variable has a
meaningful impact on the aspects of building performance that are under consideration. If not then the
variable should be removed from the list and so excluded from future analyses.
Analysis Type
Data on the Analysis Type tab allows you to define the type of analysis.
Analysis
Set Analysis to 2-Optimisation.
Optimisation Objectives
Accessed from Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog
Tip: The Optimisation Objectives dialog should be used with caution because there is no Cancel button,
so once the dialog is opened, any changes made cannot be undone and upon closing of the dialog, the
objective will be saved, replacing the previous one, with the settings currently being shown on the screen. In
the case where you have mistakenly added an objective (or made incorrect changes while editing an existing
- 1415 -
one) you can close the dialog and then delete the incorrect objective on the Objectives tab on the main Edit
Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog. Alternatively if you haven't made any other
changes since opening the main dialog , simply press Cancel on that dialog to lose all changes.
Name
Your name for the objective for your reference, e.g. "Minimise ASHRAE 55 discomfort hours"
Objective KPI
Select the Objective Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the list. You can find more detailed descriptions of
many of these outputs on the "Simulation Detailed Results" on page 1383 page.
Comfort
All comfort outputs are for the whole building using an area-weighted average of discomfort calculated for
each zone. Note that the comfort-related outputs are termed "discomfort" because by convention
DesignBuilder aims to minimise objectives and in the context of standardising optimisation outputs it is better
to minimise discomfort than to maximise comfort.
• Discomfort ASHRAE 55 (sum clo) - total discomfort hours when summer clothes are worn (see
comments below for Discomfort (all clo))
• Discomfort ASHRAE 55 (win clo) - total discomfort hours when winter clothes are worn (see
comments below for Discomfort (all clo))
• Discomfort ASHRAE 55 (all clo) - total discomfort hours when winter or summer clothes are worn
based on ASHRAE 55 method. Note that this objective is not the same as the building level
aggregation method used by EnergyPlus in the Summary output html data which adds up hours in
which any zone in the building is uncomfortable. If you would like to only consider occupied hours in
your comfort analysis then make sure this option is set in the main Simulation options dialog.
• Discomfort Summer ASHRAE 55 Adaptive 80% Acceptability - Reports whether the operative
temperature falls into the 80% acceptability limits of the adaptive comfort in ASHRAE 55-2010 during
summer occupied hours. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, i.e. the zone operative
temperature is no more than 2.5°C from than the ASHRAE 55 Adaptive model temperature. A value of
0 means outside the limits (i.e. uncomfortable), and a value of -1 means not applicable, i.e. the running
average outdoor air temperature is below 10°C.
• Discomfort Summer ASHRAE 55 Adaptive 90% Acceptability - Reports whether the operative
temperature falls into the 90% acceptability limits of the adaptive comfort in ASHRAE 55-2010 during
summer occupied hours. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, i.e. the zone operative
temperature is no more than 3.5°C from than the ASHRAE 55 Adaptive model temperature. A value of
0 means outside the limits (i.e. uncomfortable).
• Discomfort Summer CEN 15251 Adaptive Category I - reports whether the operative temperature
falls into the Category I (90% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the European Standard
EN15251-2007 during occupied hours when the running mean outdoor air temperature is higher than
10°C. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means outside the limits.
• Discomfort Summer CEN 15251 Adaptive Category II - reports whether the operative temperature
falls into the Category II (80% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the European Standard
EN15251-2007 during occupied hours when the running mean outdoor air temperature is higher than
10°C. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means outside the limits.
• Discomfort Summer CEN 15251 Adaptive Category III - reports whether the operative temperature
falls into the Category III (65% acceptability) limits of the adaptive comfort in the European Standard
EN15251-2007 during occupied hours when the running mean outdoor air temperature is higher than
10°C. A value of 1 means within (inclusive) the limits, a value of 0 means outside the limits.
- 1416 -
Optimisation Objectives
Cost
• Capital cost (Building Construction Capex) - The basic cost of the building and site construction .
This is the only construction cost option available when the cost model is set to 1-Basic.
• Capital cost (Building + Design Capex) - The cost of the building + site construction plus the design,
overhead and contractor profit costs. This option should only be used when the cost model is set to 2-
UNIFORMAT II or 3-NRM1.
• Capital cost (Total Capex) - The cost of the building + site construction plus the design, overhead and
contractor profit costs + cost of risk and inflation etc. This option should only be used when the cost
model is set to 2-UNIFORMAT II or 3-NRM1.
• Operational cost (Opex) - annual cost of the fuel used to operate the building. To use the this KPI you
must set up tariff data on the Economics model data tab and have the Detailed HVAC model option set.
• LCC total present value - The life-cycle cost calculated by EnergyPlus including the construction cost
based on the selected cost model. To use the LCC KPI you must set up tariff data as well as
construction cost data in the model. This KPI requires settings on the Economics tab and the Detailed
HVAC model option.
Important note: The Operational cost (Opex) and LCC total present value KPIs both require settings
on the Economics model data tab be made, which in turn requires the Detailed HVAC model option to be
used.
Tip: You can carry out powerful analyses to simultaneously optimise whole life cycle cost and whole life
cycle environmental impact performance using DesignBuilder's optimisation tools. Choose the LCC and LCA
KPIs for this sort of analysis.
Daylight
No daylight-specific KPIs are available in current versions of DesignBuilder.
- 1417 -
• Cooling (Oil) - oil consumption used in cooling
• Cooling (Solid fuel) - solid fuel consumption used in cooling
• Cooling (Bottled Gas) - bottled gas (e.g. propane) consumption used in cooling
• Cooling (Other fuels) - other fuel (e.g. biofuel) consumption used in cooling
• Cooling energy - sensible + latent cooling transfer to the supply air from the AHU cooling coil + any
single zone unitary and fan coil units in the building.
• Cooling load - same as Cooling energy, above.
• Plant cooling - equivalent to the Zone Sensible Cooling output, the overall sensible cooling effect on
the zone of any air introduced into the zone through the HVAC system. It includes any 'free cooling' due
to introduction of relatively cool outside air and the heating effect of any fans present.
• DHW (Electricity) - electricity consumption used in DHW
• DHW (Gas) - gas consumption used in DHW
• DHW (Oil) - oil consumption used in DHW
• DHW (Solid fuel) - solid fuel consumption used in DHW
• DHW (Bottled gas) - bottled gas (e.g. propane) consumption used in DHW
• DHW (Other fuels) - other fuel (e.g. biofuel) consumption used in DHW
• AHU heating energy - energy supplied by the AHU heating coil when using Detailed HVAC data.
• Fans - fan energy consumption
• Pumps - pump energy consumption
• Preheat energy - energy supplied by preheat coils to temper the outside air before it enters the outside
air mixing box when using Detailed HVAC data.
• Reheat energy - total reheat energy
• Radiant heater energy - total radiant heater energy
• DHW - total DHW energy
• Process energy - total process energy to zones
• Catering energy - total catering gains to zones over the simulation period
• Lighting Energy - total lighting energy consumption over the simulation period
• System Fans - System fan energy consumption to zones over the simulation period
• System Pumps - System pump energy consumption
• System Misc - System miscellaneous energy consumption
• Electricity - total annual electricity consumption
• Gas - total annual gas consumption
• Oil - total annual oil consumption
• Solid - total annual solid fuel (typically coal) consumption
• Bot Gas - total annual bottled gas fuel consumption
• Other - total annual other fuel consumption
• Heat Rejection - heat rejection energy by the chillers, e.g. through cooling towers, ground heat
exchangers, fluid coolers.
• Generated Electricity - total electricity generated by solar PV and wind.
• Sys sens heating - total sensible heating provided by HVAC components to the air stream and zones.
• Sys sens cooling - total sensible cooling provided by HVAC components to the air stream and zones.
• Sys lat heating - total latent heating provided by HVAC components to the air stream and zones.
• Sys lat cooling - total latent cooling provided by HVAC components to the air stream and zones.
• Room units -
• Air heating coils -
• Air cooling coils -
• Heat rec sens heat - total sensible heat recovered by heat recovery systems.
• Heat rec total heat - total sensible + latent heat recovered by heat recovery systems.
• Heat rec sens cool - total sensible cooling energy recovered by heat recovery systems.
• Heat rec total cool - total cooling energy recovered by heat recovery systems.
• Chiller load - Net annual chiller load is calculated as Chiller load – Chiller evaporator cooling rate
[kWh]
• Room Electricity - Electric energy consumed by zone equipment such as computers, office equipment
etc.
• Room Gas - Gas energy consumed by Miscellaneous, Catering and Process zone equipment.
• Room Oil - Oil energy consumed by zone equipment.
• Room Solid - Solid fuel energy consumed by zone equipment.
- 1418 -
Optimisation Objectives
Environmental impact
• Operational CO2 emissions - annual operational carbon emissions due to fuel consumption in the
building. Fuel consumption is calculated through an EnergyPlus simulation. Carbon emissions are
calculated from fuel consumption using the Carbon emission factors on the Legislative regions dialog.
• LCA (Simple) - Life Cycle Analysis giving the net total lifetime carbon emissions. The sum of the total
embodied carbon + operational carbon emissions due to burning of fuel minus beneficial impact of on-
site energy generation calculated over the assumed lifetime of the building. Some settings for this
including the LCA time of study can be found on the Carbon tab of the Model data dialog. LCA
(Simple) is calculated simply as Embodied CO2 + Years of study x Annual Operational CO2
emissions.
• Embodied CO2 - total embodied carbon as reported on the Cost and Carbon tab.
Heat gains
• Display lighting gains - total task + display lighting gains to zones over the simulation period
• General lighting gains- total general lighting gains to zones over the simulation period
• Misc gains - miscellaneous gains to zones over the simulation period
• Mach gains - process gains to zones over the simulation period
• Cooking gains - catering gains to zones over the simulation period
• Computer gains - computer gains to zones over the simulation period
• Occupancy gains - occupancy gains to zones over the simulation period
• Solar gains internal Windows - solar gains to zones through interior windows over the simulation
period
• Solar gains external Windows - solar gains to zones through exterior windows over the simulation
period
• Glazing gain - thermal conduction gains through windows
• Walls gain - thermal conduction gains through walls
• Ceilings gain - thermal conduction gains ceilings
• Floors gain - thermal conduction gains through floors
• Solid floors gain - thermal conduction gains through ground floors
• Partitions gain - thermal conduction gains through partitions
• Roofs gain - thermal conduction gains through roofs
• Rooflights gain - thermal conduction gains through rooflights
• Ext floors gain - thermal conduction gains through exterior floors
• Sens cooling energy - sensible only cooling transfer from the cooling coil to the supply air.
• Ext airflow gain - sensible gain due to all external airflow including natural ventilation through
openings and infiltration through cracks when using Calculated natural ventilation.
• Ext infiltration gain - sensible gain due to infiltration air when using scheduled natural ventilation.
• Ext nat vent gain - sensible gain due to natural ventilation air when using scheduled natural
ventilation.
• Ext mech vent gain - sensible gain due to mechanical ventilation air when using scheduled natural
ventilation and Room ventilation model option.
Unmet loads
The unmet load hours KPIs described below are the same values as those reported in the EnergyPlus
Summary report. The Unmet load hours are described in more detail in the "ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G PRM
Reference" on page 1749 topic and also in the DesignBuilder LEED and ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G User
Guide.
• Unmet load hours all - number of hours where the heating or cooling setpoints were not met over the
simulation period for the whole building.
• Unmet load hours heating - as above but for cooling only.
• Unmet load hours cooling - as above but for heating only.
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Custom script
In DesignBuilder v6.2 and later, you can add your own custom script KPIs which allow you to read and, if
necessary post-process, simulation results from any EnergyPlus output file or other source and write it to a
specific database table using the API. You can use either CS-Scripts or Python scripts to do this. Note that the
name you give to your Custom script KPI is important as it will be used to reference it in the script that you
write.
1. In the AfterEnergySimulation hook that is called immediately after the simulation has been completed
and results have been loaded to DesignBuilder, the script must create a new site level table called
"ParamResultsTmp". It is necessary to first remove any existing table of the same name.
2. The "ParamResultsTmp" table has 2 fields.
3. Records should be added to the table, one for each custom script KPI used in the simulation.
4. The first field in each record (index 0) should match the name of the KPI, the second field (index 1)
should be the value to be read for this KPI for the current simulation.
5. DesignBuilder reads the table after the script has finished executing and results are loaded to the
optimisation, UA/SA or parametric analysis system.
The easiest way to understand how the system works is to view an example script:
In the example script linked to above there are 2 Custom script KPIs: "District Heating Energy (kWh)" and
"District Cooling Energy (kWh)". Data for these is read from the "End Uses" table in the eplustbl.csv output file
using the built in EpNet library.
Note: While all simulations will call the AfterEnergySimulation hook, only parametric simulations
processes actually read the ParamResultsTmp table created in the script.
User defined
No user-defined options are currently available.
• Unmet load hours all - number of hours where the heating or cooling setpoints were not met over the
simulation period for the whole building.
• Unmet load hours heating - as above but for cooling only.
• Unmet load hours cooling - as above but for heating only.
Minimise or Maximise
Select whether you wish to maximise or minimise the selected objective. By convention objectives are usually
set up in such a way that the objective is minimised. For example for a comfort-related objective it is usual to
minimise discomfort rather than maximise comfort. Minimising both objectives means that the Pareto Front will
form the lower left portion of the scatter plot showing all results which is the conventional way to display
optimisation results.
Tip: The Edit Analysis Outputs dialog should be used with caution because there is no Cancel button, so
once the dialog is opened, any changes made cannot be undone and upon closing of the dialog, the output
will be saved, replacing the previous one, with the settings currently being shown on the screen. In the case
- 1420 -
Optimisation Constraints
where you have mistakenly added an output (or made incorrect changes while editing an existing one) you
can close the dialog and then delete the incorrect output on the Additional Outputs tab on the main Edit
Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog. Alternatively if you haven't made any other
changes since opening the main dialog , simply press Cancel on that dialog to lose all changes.
Extra outputs can be used in later analysis to quantify how various aspects of building performance are
affected by the parametric changes to the model.
Name
Your name for the output for your reference, e.g. "Total Lighting".
Output KPI
Select the Output Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the browse list. You can view the full list of available
KPIs under "Optimisation Objectives" on page 1415
Optimisation Constraints
Accessed from Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog
Tip: The Optimisation Constraints dialog should be used with caution because there is no Cancel button,
so once the dialog is opened, any changes made cannot be undone and upon closing of the dialog, the
constraint will be saved, replacing the previous one, with the settings currently being shown on the screen. In
the case where you have mistakenly added a constraint (or made incorrect changes while editing an existing
one) you can close the dialog and then delete the incorrect constraint on the Constraints tab on the main
Edit Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog. Alternatively if you haven't made any
other changes since opening the main dialog , simply press Cancel on that dialog to lose all changes.
Optimisation Constraints allow you to impose upper or lower limits on a building Key Performance Indicator
(KPI) such as Cost or Discomfort. Examples of constraints that might be applied to an optimisation analysis
are "Discomfort hours must be less than 200" or "Construction cost must be less than $6m".
Note: The constraint KPI can be the same as a KPI used for an Optimisation Objective.
When viewing optimisation results with constraints applied you will find that some of the results generated
don't respect the constraints. This is normal, however you should also see that many more new points are
generated that do meet constraints because the optimiser favours such design variants when creating new
generations.
Name
Your name for the constraint (e.g. "ASHRAE 55 discomfort hours < 200")
Constraint KPI
Select the Constraint Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the browse list. You can view the full list of
available KPIs under "Optimisation Objectives" on page 1415
- 1421 -
• 1-Less than - the KPI must have a value less than that entered in the next text box.
• 2-Greater than - the KPI must have a value greater than that entered in the next text box.
Value
Enter the upper or lower limit value for the KPI.
Units
Enter text to define the units of the value. This text does not affect the calculations.
Tip: The Edit Variables dialog should be used with caution because there is no Cancel button, so once the
dialog is opened, any changes made cannot be undone and upon closing of the dialog, the variable will be
saved, replacing the previous one, with the settings currently being shown on the screen. In the case where
you have mistakenly added a variable (or made incorrect changes while editing an existing one) you can close
the dialog and then delete the incorrect variable on the design variables tab on the main Edit Parametric,
Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog. Alternatively if you haven't made any other changes
since opening the main dialog , simply press Cancel on that dialog to lose all changes.
Design Variable
Variable type
Select the variable type from the browse list.
Natural ventilation/infiltration
• Natural ventilation rate - Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to Scheduled.
• Nat vent set-point temp - Requires a Natural ventilation system to have been included in the base
model.
• Nat vent max temp difference - Requires a Natural ventilation system to have been included in the
base model.
• Infiltration - Scheduled natural ventilation only. When this variable is applied infiltration is automatically
activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Model infiltration model option is switched off in the
base model.
• Airtightness - Value range between 0 and 4 to cover the 5 Airtightness slider settings when using
Calculated natural ventilation. When this variable is applied infiltration is automatically activated in the
optimisation simulations even if the Model infiltration model option is switched off in the base model.
• Crack template - Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to Calculated. When this
variable is applied infiltration is automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Model
infiltration model option is switched off in the base model.
• % External window opens - Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to Calculated.
• % Roof window opens - Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to Calculated.
• Vent area - the area of the auto-generated external vents (does not affect custom drawn vents) - Used
only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to Calculated.
• Internal vent area - the area of the auto-generated internal vents (does not affect custom drawn vents)
- Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to Calculated.
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Optimisation Design Variables
• Roof vent area - the area of the auto-generated roof vents (does not affect custom drawn vents) -
Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to Calculated.
• Mixed mode switch off when raining - When this variable is applied the Mixed mode natural
ventilation option is automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Mixed Mode Zone
Equipment > Mixed mode on model option is switched off in the base model. Note however that the
Natural Ventilation > On model option must still be manually set in the base model for mixed mode
setting to be applied in the simulation.
• Mixed mode max wind speed - When this variable is applied the Mixed mode natural ventilation
option is automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Mixed Mode Zone
Equipment > Mixed mode on model option is switched off in the base model. Note however that the
Natural Ventilation > On model option must still be manually set in the base model for mixed mode
setting to be applied in the simulation.
• Mixed mode min temperature - When this variable is applied the Mixed mode natural ventilation
option is automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Mixed Mode Zone
Equipment > Mixed mode on model option is switched off in the base model. Note however that the
Natural Ventilation > On model option must still be manually set in the base model for mixed mode
setting to be applied in the simulation.
• Mixed mode max temperature - When this variable is applied the Mixed mode natural ventilation
option is automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Mixed Mode Zone
Equipment > Mixed mode on model option is switched off in the base model. Note however that the
Natural Ventilation > On model option must still be manually set in the base model for mixed mode
setting to be applied in the simulation.
• Mixed mode min enthalpy - When this variable is applied the Mixed mode natural ventilation option is
automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Mixed Mode Zone Equipment >
Mixed mode on model option is switched off in the base model. Note however that the Natural
Ventilation > On model option must still be manually set in the base model for mixed mode setting to
be applied in the simulation.
• Mixed mode max enthalpy - When this variable is applied the Mixed mode natural ventilation option is
automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Mixed Mode Zone Equipment >
Mixed mode on model option is switched off in the base model. Note however that the Natural
Ventilation > On model option must still be manually set in the base model for mixed mode setting to
be applied in the simulation.
• Mixed mode min dew point temperature - When this variable is applied the Mixed mode natural
ventilation option is automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Mixed Mode Zone
Equipment > Mixed mode on model option is switched off in the base model. Note however that the
Natural Ventilation > On model option must still be manually set in the base model for mixed mode
setting to be applied in the simulation.
• Mixed mode max dew point temperature - When this variable is applied the Mixed mode natural
ventilation option is automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Mixed Mode Zone
Equipment > Mixed mode on model option is switched off in the base model. Note however that the
Natural Ventilation > On model option must still be manually set in the base model for mixed mode
setting to be applied in the simulation.
• Nat vent indoor min temp schedule -
• External window operation schedule - Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to
Calculated.
• Internal window operation schedule - Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to
Calculated.
• Roof window operation schedule - Used only when the Natural ventilation model option is set to
Calculated.
• Earth tube ventilation rate - When this variable is applied the earthtube option is automatically
activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Earth Tube > Include earthtube option is switched
off in the base model.
• Limit value of opening nat vent modulation factor -
• Nat vent modulation lower value of Tin-Tout -
• Nat vent modulation upper value of Tin-Tout -
Glazing/shading
• Glazing template -
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• Glazing type -
• Facade type -
• Window to wall % -
• Window frame type -
• Window blind type - When this variable is applied window blinds on external walls are automatically
activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Window shading model option is switched off in the
base model.
• Window shading control schedule - When this variable is applied window blinds on external walls
are automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Window shading model option is
switched off in the base model.
• Local shading type - When this variable is applied local shading on external walls are automatically
activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Local shading model option is switched off in the
base model.
• Internal glazing type -
• Internal facade type -
• % Internal glazing -
• Internal window frame type -
• % Internal window opens -
• Roof glazing type -
• Roof facade type -
• Roof window frame type -
• Roof shading coefficient -
• Roof window blind type - When this variable is applied window blinds on roof surfaces are
automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Roof Window shading model option is
switched off in the base model.
• Roof window shading control schedule - When this variable is applied window blinds on roof
surfaces are automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Roof Window shading
model option is switched off in the base model.
Activity/occupancy/comfort setpoints
• Activity template -
• Occupancy density -
• Occupancy (Days/week) -
• Heating set-point temperature -
• Heating set-back temperature - Note that heating setback temperatures only apply when the Heating
operation schedule includes values of 0.5 to indicate times of setback operation.
• Cooling set-point temperature
• Cooling set-back temperature - Note that heating setback temperatures only apply when the Cooling
operation schedule includes values of 0.5 to indicate times of setback operation.
• Heating set-point PMV - Only applies when using the 4-Fanger comfort option for the Temperature
control option for a Detailed HVAC simulation.
• Heating set-back PMV - Only applies when using the 4-Fanger comfort option for the Temperature
control option for a Detailed HVAC simulation.
• Cooling set-point PMV - Only applies when using the 4-Fanger comfort option for the Temperature
control option for a Detailed HVAC simulation.
• Cooling set-back PMV - Only applies when using the 4-Fanger comfort option for the Temperature
control option for a Detailed HVAC simulation.
• Mech vent set-point temp -
• Mech vent max temp difference -
• Mech vent rate per person -
• Mech vent rate per area -
Constructions
• Construction template -
• Insulation - Pre-design construction and glazing data only. 0=Uninsulated, 1=Typical ref, 2=Energy
code, 3=Best practice.
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Optimisation Design Variables
• Thermal mass - Pre-design construction and glazing data only. 0=Light, 1=Medium, 2=Heavy.
• External wall construction - vary external wall constructions.
• Flat roof construction - vary flat roof constructions.
• Pitched roof construction (occ) -
• Pitched roof construction (unocc) -
• Semi-exposed ceiling construction - vary semi-exposed ceiling constructions between occupied and
semi-exterior unconditioned zones above (e.g. ceilings between occupied zones and roofspaces).
• Semi-exposed floor construction - vary the semi-exposed floor constructions between occupied and
semi-exterior unconditioned zones below (e.g. floors between occupied zones and basements).
• Ground floor construction - vary ground floor constructions.
• External floor construction - vary external floor constructions.
• Internal floor construction - vary internal floor constructions.
• Wall sub-surface construction -
• Partition sub-surface construction -
• Roof sub-surface construction -
• External door construction -
• Internal door construction -
• Internal thermal mass construction - Construction used for hanging partitions and when a non-zero
value has been entered for the zone internal thermal mass exposed area on the Constructions tab
under the Internal Thermal Mass header.
• Component block material -
• Wall below grade construction -
• Partition construction -
• Basement ground floor construction -
Internal gains/lighting
• Computer power density - Used only when the Equipment gain units model option is set to 1-Power
density. When this variable is applied computer gains are automatically activated in the optimisation
simulations even if the Computer > On model option is switched off in the base model.
• Equipment power density - Used only when the Equipment gain units model option is set to 1-Power
density. When this variable is applied Office equipment gains are automatically activated in the
optimisation simulations even if the Office Equipment > On model option is switched off in the base
model.
• Miscellaneous power density - Used only when the Equipment gain units model option is set to 1-
Power density. When this variable is applied Miscellaneous gains are automatically activated in the
optimisation simulations even if the Miscellaneous > On model option is switched off in the base model.
• Catering power density - Used only when the Equipment gain units model option is set to 1-Power
density. When this variable is applied Catering gains are automatically activated in the optimisation
simulations even if the Catering > On model option is switched off in the base model.
• Process power density - Used only when the Equipment gain units model option is set to 1-Power
density. When this variable is applied Process gains are automatically activated in the optimisation
simulations even if the Process > On model option is switched off in the base model.
• Lighting template -
• General lighting power density - Used only when the Lighting gain units model option is set to 1-
Power density. When this variable is applied general lighting gains are automatically activated in the
optimisation simulations even if the General Lighting > On model option is switched off in the base
model.
• General lighting normalised power density - Used only when the Lighting gain units model option is
set to 2-Normalised Power density. When this variable is applied general lighting gains are
automatically activated in the optimisation simulations even if the General Lighting > On model option is
switched off in the base model.
• Task lighting power density - When this variable is applied task lighting gains are automatically
activated in the optimisation simulations even if the Task and Display Lighting > On model option is
switched off in the base model.
• External lighting -
• All gains - Used only when the Gains data model option is set to Lumped.
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HVAC systems
• Simple HVAC template (Simple HVAC) - Simple HVAC only.
• HVAC template (Detailed HVAC) - Detailed HVAC only. Note that Detailed HVAC templates only
support templates with a single HVAC zone group. The way that zones are allocated to the zone group
is as follows. If the building is the target then all zones that don't use the <None> Simple HVAC
template are included in the HVAC zone. Otherwise if individual zones are set as targets then only
those zones are loaded to the HVAC zone group. In this case zones that are not included as targets will
not be assigned an HVAC system and so will be unconditioned.
• Mechanical ventilation rate -
• Auxiliary energy - Simple HVAC only
• Pump etc energy - Simple HVAC only
• Boiler CoP - Simple HVAC only
• Heating system seasonal CoP - Simple HVAC only
• Cooling system CoP - Simple HVAC only
• Cooling system seasonal CoP - Simple HVAC only
• Heating operation schedule -
• Cooling operation schedule -
Location/weather/orientation
• Location template -
• Hourly weather data -
• Site orientation - adjusts the orientation of all objects on the site. See also Building rotation in the
Other category.
Renewables
• Load centre 1 - the load centre variables can be useful for varying the number of PV panels in a study.
Set up and select a number of load centres each one having a different number of PV panels.
• Load centre 2 - see Load centre 1
• Load centre 3 - see Load centre 1
• Load centre 4 - see Load centre 1
• Load centre 5 - see Load centre 1
Other
• Building rotation - adjusts the orientation of the building relative to the site. Building objects are
rotated about the geometric centre point of all building objects. Care should be taken to ensure that
building objects would not intersect with any site objects for all possible building rotations.
Note that component blocks that are part of the wider site are not rotated with the building, but
component blocks that are part of the building are. See under the help for Level setting under
Component block settings. See also Site orientation in the Location/weather/orientation category.
• Zone capacitance multiplier -
Custom EMS
• Custom EMS - a special variable type which acts on IDF variables within EMS scripts. For example a
line of EMS script such as
could be written and if a custom IDF variable with Variable key of SPTemp was included in the
optimisation, then for each iteration of the simulation, the code in angle brackets would be automatically
replaced, behind the scenes, with the currently tested setpoint temperature , e.g.
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Optimisation Design Variables
Custom IDF
• Custom IDF - a special variable type which adds a parametric variation to IDF files through an
Output:PreprocessorMessage statement. This statement can be processed using CS-Script code
together with the EpNet library for example.
Output:PreprocessorMessage,
EpNet Script,
Information,
Variable key,
CurrentValue;
Where Variable key is the setting made on the dialog, matching up with corresponding code in the
scripts and CurrentValue would be automatically replaced with the value of the variable for the current
iteration.
Important Note: You must write extra script to pre-process the IDF
Output:PreprocessorMessage statement to ensure that variables of type Custom IDF have an effect
on the simulations.
Custom Script
• Custom Script - a hook function is called in all active CS-Scripts and plugins to allow your to define
your own custom variants of the model based on current variable values.
Note: All variable options are listed for selection regardless of the state of the model so care must be
taken to select variables that are appropriate. For example, if the Scheduled natural ventilation model option is
used then changes in the % External window opens variable (which only applies to Calculated natural
ventilation) won't affect results.
Min value
The lowest value that this numeric design variable can take on. This option is only visible when a numeric
variable type has been selected (above).
Max value
The highest value that this numeric design variable can take on. This option is only visible when a numeric
variable type has been selected (above).
Step
Not used yet. This option is only visible when a numeric variable type has been selected (above).
Options list
Click on the browse button to open a list of components or templates for selection. Items can be selected by
checking the appropriate checkboxes. Each item selected will be an option that can be applied during the
optimisation process.
When a template is selected as the variable type, one of the selected templates from the list are loaded in
each iteration of the optimisation analysis.
This option is only visible when a list variable type has been selected (above).
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After the list option selection process has been completed the Variable Option Order dialog is displayed. See
below.
An example where the options should be listed in the right order is the case where a variable consists of a list
of glazing components of incrementally varying U-value. For example the list might consist of 4 glazing
systems having U-values 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 W/m2-K respectively. In this case it will help the optimiser to
efficiently identify solutions best meeting objectives if you order the list in sequence of the U-values
(ascending or descending order).
An example of a case where it is less important to list variable options in a particular order is a set of 4
completely different HVAC system templates such as Fan coil units, Hot water radiators with nat vent, VAV
and reversible chilled/heated floor. In this case there is no clear sequence and ordering the list is not so
important for efficient optimisation analysis.
Target
Target objects
This option allows you to select one or more object(s) to which the variations are to be applied.
The object(s) you select here are the places in the model where the variations will actually be applied. Normal
model data inheritance rules apply so if you set the building as the target then the change will set for the
building but will also inherit down to block, zone, surface and opening levels where appropriate. In this case
any hard set data at block or lower levels will prevent inheritance in the normal way.
Key
Variable key
This data is available for variables of the Custom IDF and Custom Script categories. Enter the name of the
variable to be used in one or more corresponding DB Erl / EMS <Var, VarName, DefaultValue> statements.
The variable key entered here corresponds with the VarName value in the DB Erl script.
Note: It is necessary to run the base simulation with monthly/annual outputs before opening the
optimisation tab. The optimisation simulations will all be run using the base calculation and model options. So
the simulation period and all other options used in the optimisation is the same as that defined on the
Simulation calculation options dialog.
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Optimisation Calculation Options Dialog - General
You can learn about the outputs generated on the graph on this dialog during the optimisation:
Optimisation Outputs
Calculation Description
The genetic algorithms (GA) used by DesignBuilder require a number of options to control the way that the
solutions evolve.
Calculation description
Enter a description for the calculation. This text will be used to identify the results on the graph and any other
related outputs.
From
The Start date set up for the base simulation on the analysis screen is displayed but cannot be edited here.
To
The End date set up for the base simulation on the analysis screen is displayed but cannot be edited here.
Optimisation Options
Maximum generations
The maximum number of generations to be used will determine the time and computing resources required to
complete the analysis. The value entered here will usually reflect the size and complexity of the analysis.
Typical values are in the range 50-500 depending on size of the problem, the population size and whether a
Pareto archive is used.
Tip 1: Setting the right number of Maximum generations is not a crucial setting provided you use a large
number such as 100 or more.
Tip 2: When seeking accurate optimal outputs and hence using a large value for Maximum generations it
can be worth experimenting with higher mutation rates to help avoid early convergence.
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The default is 5 generations. Enter a higher number to give you the best chance of finding all possible
solutions, or enter a smaller number if you are less concerned about finding every possible optimum solution.
Alternatively you can enter a very high number (e.g. same as Maximum generations) if you would like to
control convergence manually by using the Stop button.
When using the JEA optimisation engine, this setting works in conjunction with the Max wall time and Max
evaluations settings - whichever limit is reached first will cause the optimisation to stop.
Tip: Initial population size will typically be between 10 and 50 depending on the size of the analysis. For 3
design variables with say 10 options each then choose an initial population size of between 10 and 20. For 10
variables, each with 10 options then choose a value between 20 and 50. Like other settings on this dialog the
best values to use for fastest and most reliable convergence will come from experience. In the meantime a
value of 20 will work well for most typical applications.
Note: All simulations for a generation must complete before the next generation is started so if you have
many parallel cores at your disposal and the time taken to run the simulations is the main bottleneck in
calculations (as opposed to IDF generation) then a higher number here can be helpful.
Note: There is no way to control the exact number of iterations that will be run since the optimiser controls
the population size of each generation.
• 1-Show all points where all points (even those failing constraints) can appear on the Pareto front.
• 2-Apply constraints to Pareto front, the default and recommended option where only feasible
solutions are included on the Pareto front and infeasible solutions are shown in yellow.
• 3-Apply constraints to all graph points where infeasible solutions failing constraints are not
displayed at all.
The Apply constraints to Pareto front selection can be changed during the simulation.
Pause on errors
It is important to understand the cause of any errors that occur during an optimisation. The Pause on errors
option, when checked, causes a message to be displayed and the optimisation is paused. For example if
there is an overlap in heating and cooling setpoint temperatures, in configurations where the heating setpoint
is higher than the cooling setpoint the following error message is displayed:
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Optimisation Calculation Options Dialog - General
This sort of error does not cause a problem for the overall optimisation study. If a particular design variant has
an invalid configuration then it is assigned a penalty using the maximum objective score (assuming objectives
are being minimised). This applies evolutionary pressure to discourage similar invalid design variants from
appearing in future generations.
Once you are clear about the cause of any errors you will normally want to stop seeing reports and allow the
optimisation to continue. To do this simply uncheck the Pause on errors check box. Simulations with errors
are displayed in red in the grid as shown below.
• Invalid combinations of variables such as heating setpoint > cooling setpoint. These errors are trapped
by DesignBuilder before a simulation is run.
• Failure of a simulation due to errors in input that were not trapped by DesignBuilder.
• A severe EnergyPlus error such as simulation instability.
• A failure in the simulation infrastructure, e.g. a network failure when using a network simulation server.
However, if you are running a long analysis and you don't want to be prompted in this way due to a temporary
glitch in the availability of your simulation server then you can check this option. This is similar to pre-selecting
the retry or ignore options in advance.
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Advanced Options
Optimisation engine
Select the engine to use from the options:
• 1-Open Beagle - the original method and the only method available in earlier versions of
DesignBuilder.
• 2-JEA - a more powerful optimisation engine developed by EnSims.
The options for Open Beagle and JEA are different and are therefore explained in their respective sections
below.
The options below are available when the Open Beagle optimisation engine is selected.
Pareto archive
Check this option if the optimisation is to include a Pareto archive to feed previously identified "best so far"
solutions into the population to encourage exploration around previously identified Pareto optimal designs.
This option can help the solution to progress more quickly. On the other hand it can also lead to early
convergence so some experimentation may be required to find the best setting for each new analysis.
The interval size is calculated as (objective max value - objective min value) / (2n - 1).
Tournament size
The “Tournament operator” is used in this implementation of Genetic Algorithm for selecting better solutions
from the current generation. Tournament size means the size of a random sample taken in the current
generation. From this random sample, the best solution will be selected for “reproduction”. Default value is 2.
Crossover rate
This rate is in fact a relative probability (compared to individual mutation probability) of a new solution being
created by crossover. For example, if the crossover rate is 1.0 and individual mutation probability is 0.5, there
are 67% (1.0/1.5) chance that the new solution will be created by crossover, and 33% (0.5/1.5) chance it will
be created by mutation. The default value is 1.0. Typical range is 0.6-1.0
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Optimisation Calculation Options Dialog - General
Low values of Individual mutation probability (e.g. 0.2) can help to avoid wasting time exploring non-optimal
parts of the parameter space which leads to fast convergence; however the results may not be as accurate as
when using higher values. DesignBuilder uses a balanced default of 0.5.
The options below are available when the JEA optimisation engine is selected.
Crossover rate
Crossover is a genetic operator used to combine the genetic information of two parents to generate new
offspring. It is one way to stochastically generate new solutions from an existing population, and analogous to
the crossover that happens during sexual reproduction in biology. JEA uses a "hybrid integer" crossover
method. The crossover rate defines how often the new solutions are created by merging features of existing
solutions. A high value of 1.0 is normally used.
Mutation rate
This setting defines how often random changes are applied to new solutions. A lower value is preferred for
fast convergence and to avoid the algorithm behaving like a random trial and error. On the other hand it is
important to avoid "premature convergence" where the optimisation settles on a Pareto front which is
incomplete or inaccurate. Mutation helps to maintain diversity in the population to ensure that the parameter
space is fully explored which in turn helps to avoid premature convergence and missing the full set of optimal
solutions.
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Low values of mutation rate (e.g. 0.2) can be used to avoid wasting time exploring non-optimal parts of the
parameter space which leads to fast convergence; however the results may not be as accurate as when using
higher values. DesignBuilder uses a balanced default of 0.4.
Tournament size
Tournament selection involves running several "tournaments" among a few individuals chosen at random from
the population. The winner of each tournament (the one with the best fitness) is selected for crossover. With
larger tournament sizes, weak individuals have a smaller chance to be selected, because, if a weak individual
is selected to be in a tournament, there is a higher probability that a stronger individual is also in that
tournament. In other words, the larger the tournament size, the harder the algorithm pushes towards the
desired objectives. A tournament size of 1 is equivalent to random selection. A tournament size of 2 is
normally a good balance.
Objective bias
This setting controls the level of the push for feasibility, i.e. meeting any constraints applied. It controls the
ranking bias between Pareto ranking and constraint infeasibility scores. A value of zero means solutions with
lower infeasibility score is better, regardless of the Pareto ranking result.
Max evaluations
Enter the maximum number of iterations you want the optimisation to run for. If the optimisations are still
running after the number of iterations entered here they will be considered to be completed. This limit works in
conjunction with the Generations for convergence and Max wall time settings - whichever limit is reached first
will cause the optimisation to stop. If you don't want optimisations to be limited by number of iterations then
you should enter a large number here such as 50,000.
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Optimisation Calculation Options - Simulation Manager
Grid Output
Optimisation studies require many hundreds or even thousands of simulations to be carried out in order to
achieve accurate results. DesignBuilder is provided with a Simulation Manager to help run these simulations
as quickly and efficiently as possible. To use the Simulation Manager tick the Use Simulation Manager
checkbox on the Simulation Manager tab and select the appropriate options below. If you don't choose this
option then simulations will be carried out sequentially, which will generally take a lot longer.
Tip: If you are planning to run an optimisation unsupervised for a long period, e.g. overnight, you should
make sure that the machine power settings are such that the machine won't go into sleep or hibernation mode
during the process. If the machine does go into a sleep/hibernate state during an optimisation it can be
continued simply by waking the machine, but of course progress won't have been made while the machine
was inactive.
Server
Select the server from the drop list. DesignBuilder comes with a server called "localhost"and if you haven't
installed a simulation server on your network then this will be the only option available.
Contact DesignBuilder support for information on how to connect to a server running on a Local Area Network.
• EnergyPlus - the normal option to choose which runs the standard version of EnergyPlus per your
select on the EnergyPlus tab of the Program options dialog.
• JEPlus - if you have an account with JESS Online then select this option which will allow you to run
your simulation using JEPlus. The first time you attempt to run JEPlus through this option you will be
prompted for your account details. This option is not available for simulation servers (i.e. when
localhost is not selected as the server).
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Number of jobs per batch
This option allows you to control the number of simulations to be run before results are displayed and can be
used to see results more frequently when testing a large model. Enter a low value (e.g. 2) to see results
displayed as they are generated. This option is only available for multi-objective optimisation.
Tip: To make the most of parallel computing facilities you should either uncheck the Override default
number of jobs per batch option above and allow DesignBuilder to apply a high number of jobs per batch
internally or enter a high value here and not lower than the Initial population size (or Maximum population size
if you are using a Pareto archive).
Optimisation Outputs
The screenshot below illustrates some of the main outputs of the Optimisation analysis.
Optimisation Limitations
Current versions of DesignBuilder have these limitations related to Optimisation:
1. You must run a simulation with monthly/annual output for the model (on the Analysis tab) before
clicking on the optimisation tab. If you don’t have any monthly/annual results on this tab then you must
re-run the base simulation before updating the optimisation analysis.
2. It isn't possible to store multiple optimisation results sets within the DesignBuilder model.
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Optimisation Tips And Troubleshooting
Tips
Speeding up Optimisation
Optimisation studies require hundreds or even thousands of simulations to be carried out and so can be
extremely time/calculation intensive. To help speed simulations, you could consider using one or more of
these techniques:
1. Analyse a single representative zone in the building and apply findings to whole building.
2. Use a representative simulation period instead of the whole annual simulation. For example, in many
climates using the first or second 6 months of the year would be a good approximation to use of the full
12 month simulation. Alternatively if the analysis is mainly related to summer overheating then you
might choose a shorter representative summer period for the simulations.
3. In most cases, the more variables that are defined in the analysis, the more data points that will be
required before convergence of the solution is achieved. Instead of trying to include all possible
optimisation variables in one analysis, you might consider splitting the problem into 2 or more sub
problems. For example it can be easiest to carry out HVAC controls optimisation studies independently
of component selection. Start with the most fundamental design decisions (e.g. window size and
position) and as the design solidifies and study details such optimal selection of system types and
control options later in separate analyses.
4. Use JEPlus or a network simulation server to maximise the number of simulations that are run in
parallel at one time. If you have a simulation server with many cores at your disposal then you might
consider increasing both the population size and Number of job per batch which allows more cases to
be analysed at once.
Troubleshooting
No Pareto Front
Sometimes when running a multi-object optimisation study, when looking at the scatter plot of results, instead
of a nice clean Pareto front, you may see a line formed where the Y-values increase as X-values increase,
something like the plot below.
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This case indicates that the 2 design objectives do not conflict with each other and an optimisation study is not
needed because there is a clear optimum case and no trade off is involved. For example in the above case
the 2 objectives were Operational CO2 emissions and Discomfort hours. The 2 design variables were Window
to Wall % and Building orientation. Here the Window to Wall % dominates over orientation and both objectives
can be met simply by minimising the Window to Wall %.
How It Works
DesignBuilder uses a Genetic Algorithm (GA) (aka Evolutionary Algorithm or EA) based on the NSGA2
method (aka NSGA-II) Deb et al. 2002. This is widely used as a "fast and elitist multi-objective" method
providing a good trade off between a well converged and a well distributed solution set. NSGA2 uses the non-
dominated sorting method, which is proven to be highly effective in ranking competing objectives. One
deficiency of the original NSGA2 is that it does not provide a way for handling constraints efficiently. This is
addressed in JEA using the stochastic ranking method. It works as follows:
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Optimisation Technical Background
Constraints
Constraint implementation in JEA
Constraint handling is a topic that attracts lots of attention from algorithm designers. The efficiency of
constraint handling is measured by not only how quickly feasible solutions are found, but also the quality of
those feasible solutions. If a strategy pushes too hard for meeting the constraints, it may hamper exploration
for better objective values. On the other hand, if it is too lenient, too much time may be wasted on infeasible
solutions. The balance depends on the nature of the problem, so a perfect strategy may not exist. JEA uses
one of the best strategies in terms of robustness of adaptability to different problems called Stochastic
Ranking (Runarsson and Yao, 2000).
Stochastic Ranking is a probabilistic strategy to rank solutions with the different objective and constraint
values. Its original form is designed for one objective against one constraint. In order to make it work with
NSGA-II, the following steps are taken:
1. All constraints are scaled (normalized) and then aggregated so that the infeasibility (constraint
violations) is measured as a value in [0, 1].
2. Infeasibility is used as an additional objective and sorted with Non-dominated Sorting with all other
objectives. This produces an initial ranking order of all solutions.
3. Stochastic Ranking is then applied to the initial rank of each solution (treated as its objective value) and
its aggregated infeasibility value. This produces the final ranking of the solutions.
The benefit of this slightly complex arrangement is that it works well with problems with any number of
objectives (including single objective) and constraints, and unconstrained problems. The user can use a single
Objective bias parameter to control the level of the push for feasibility.
Two configuration parameters directly affect the behaviour of NSGA2 with Stochastic Ranking. Objective bias
controls the ranking bias between Pareto ranking and infeasibility scores. A value of zero means solutions
with lower infeasibility score is better, regardless of the Pareto ranking result. Elitism tolerance controls if
infeasible solutions can be selected as elites (see below) or not. If a positive value is assigned, e.g. 0.1, it
means solutions with infeasibility scores up to 0.1 may be selected as elites.
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Pareto Archived Elitism
Evolutionary algorithms are stochastic in nature. The user has little control over which direction or what
solutions to explore next. Quite often promising solutions may appear in one generation and then disappear
for good in subsequent ones. Elitism is a method for preserving good solutions by selecting cases from a pool
of known optimum solutions and inserting them back into the working population.
In Pareto Archived elitism, all known solutions on the global Pareto front are stored. They form the pool from
which the elitism operator picks “elites”. In JEA, the maximum number of elites and whether they can include
infeasible solutions can be controlled. Global elitism controls the pool from which the elite solutions are
selected. If set to true (default), selection will be made in the global archive; otherwise it is limited to the
current population. Elitism tolerance (explained above) also affects how elitism works.
Bibliography
1. Introduction to Genetic Algorithms:
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_algorithm
• https://www.obitko.com/tutorials/genetic-algorithms/
- 1440 -
Optimisation Basic Tutorial
- 1441 -
Step 3 - Define optimisation problem on Optimisation Analysis Settings
dialog
Once you have a good understanding of how the base model operates, you are ready to start the optimisation
stage. To do this click on the Optimisation tab on the Simulation screen. Because you don't have any results
yet the Optimisation Analysis Settings dialog is displayed. This allows you to define the optimisation
problem, i.e. what it is that you want to achieve from the optimisation study. Use the default settings for this
simple example which request an optimum set of solutions to minimise both operational construction
emissions and discomfort allowing for variations in window to wall ratio and heating and cooling setpoint
temperatures.
Objectives:
Constraints:
None
Design variables:
Allow WWR and cooling and heating setpoints to vary as shown in the screenshot below. Variations are made
at building level for all variables in this case as shown by the Target objects column.
The only change that may be required is to change the minimum Cooling setpoint temperature to have a value
of 23.1. All other settings described so far are defaults for a new model.
- 1442 -
Optimisation Basic Tutorial
While preparing this tutorial we made the judgement that the solution was effectively converged after 76
generations and pressed the Stop button at that point. If the optimisation had been left to continue the red
Pareto front line would probably have been filled in further however this would not provide much extra
information for the purposes of our example test. After pressing Stop the current generation continues to
simulate and once that is finished we see a graph like that below.
Try using some of DesignBuilder's analysis tools to investigate the best settings in this case.
1. Drag the Status header into the dark grey area above the grid where it says "Drag a column header
here to group by that column"
2. Sort the grid data by Discomfort by clicking on the "Discomfort" header. Note steps 1 and 2 are
automatically carried out for the graph on the main screen.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the grid where you will find the optimal "Pareto Front" options coloured
green. These are the design configurations which most successfully achieve the design objectives
(minimise carbon and discomfort in this case). Because you sorted by discomfort you will see results
either in ascending or descending order depending on how many times you clicked on the header. You
- 1443 -
will notice that when the discomfort results are in ascending order the carbon emission results in the
next column are in descending order and vice-versa.
4. All points on the Pareto front have 20% (or a little more) glazing . This is because it was the lowest
allowed value in the analysis and higher values increase both discomfort and cooling loads (hence
carbon emissions).
5. Heating setpoint temperatures range from 18°C (lowest carbon emissions) to 23°C (lowest discomfort).
6. Cooling setpoint temperatures range from 24°C (lowest discomfort) to 27°C (lowest carbon emissions).
7. The easiest way to identify a balanced result is to click on a point on the Pareto Front which gives to
right degree of emphasis to the 2 objectives. The corresponding item is highlighted in the grid giving the
corresponding design settings.
Next steps to learning. Try adding more design variables. Glazing type, shading systems etc. Try using some
other variable types.
Overview
Building performance simulation is a highly complex process. Some or all of the model inputs are often best
available estimates and simplifications that do not necessarily represent reality completely. These
uncertainties in input variables can be due to:
1. Lack of knowledge about the building details in various stages of design process.
2. Spread in the manufacture and assembly quality of the building components.
3. Unpredictable behaviour of the building occupants.
4. Uncertainty in weather prediction under changing climate and uncertain weather data information due
to the use of synthetic weather data.
This uncertainty in the inputs imposes a limit on our confidence in the output of the model, i.e. results of the
simulation model are potentially erroneous. Such errors are quantified in uncertainty analysis which treats the
simulation output as "probabilistic" rather than "deterministic".
A related field to uncertainty analysis is sensitivity analysis. While, uncertainty analysis is a method to quantify
the variability of a model output due to uncertainty in the one or more input variables, sensitivity analysis is the
study of how the uncertainty in each simulation output can be apportioned to various sources of uncertainty in
its inputs.
Good modelling practice requires the modeller to evaluate their confidence in the model. This requires, first
uncertainty analysis, a quantification of the uncertainty in any model results; and second sensitivity analysis,
an evaluation of how much each input is contributing to the output uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis orders by
importance, the strength and relevance of the inputs in determining the variation in the output.
The process of recalculating outcomes under alternative model input assumptions to determine the impact of
a variable under sensitivity analysis can be useful for a range of purposes including:
- 1444 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis
DesignBuilder Implementation
In DesignBuilder Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis, various sampling methods and a broad range of
probabilistic distributions are supported for the input parameters. Statistics are performed on the simulation
results of the sampled inputs to give uncertainty estimations. The Sensitivity Analysis method implemented in
DesignBuilder is regression analysis. In DesignBuilder, any number of design variables can be included in the
analysis for each of the selected outputs. While we can do uncertainty and sensitivity analysis using multiple
inputs and multiple outputs, each output analysis is, in fact, an independent analysis.
For example, an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis study for total building carbon emissions might involve a
base design which is analysed for varying wall and roof construction, glazing amount and type, degrees of
shading and HVAC systems. The uncertainty analysis results might be displayed graphically in the form of a
histogram showing the variation in total carbon emission. The sensitivity analysis results for the output (total
carbon emission) can be represented graphically in the form of a bar chat, in which each bar represents each
input variable. The magnitude of the bar tells the relative importance of each variable. The longest bar
represents the most important/sensitive input for the selected output. The sign of the bar tells us whether the
relationship between the input and the output is direct or indirect. A positive value means that increase in the
value of that input variable leads to an increase in the output result and vice-versa.
- 1445 -
Tip: A good starting point to learn more about Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis is to follow through the
Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis Basic and Advanced Tutorials.
- 1446 -
Parametric, Optimisation And UA/SA Analysis Settings
To get started with an Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis go to the Simulation screen and click on the
Optimisation + UA/SA Analysis tab. From the Simulation Optimisation + UA/SA screen, you can:
• Edit the Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis Settings (Output and Design Input Variables). This is a
required first step before running the first analysis.
• Update the Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis which opens the Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis
Calculation Options Dialog.
• View Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis results.
There are 3 tabs on the dialog for the Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis:
• Analysis Type
• Outputs
• Design Variables
- 1447 -
Outputs
Data on Outputs Tab is the summary of outputs which are requested for the uncertainty/sensitivity analysis.
On this tab uncertainty/sensitivity analysis outputs can be Added, Edited or Deleted by selecting the
appropriate option on the right-hand info panel.
Note: Each output needs to have a unique name and must have a unique Analysis KPI
• Add Output: Creates a new output (using the Edit Analysis Outputs dialog)
• Edit Output: Edits the selected existing output from the table (using the Edit Analysis Outputs dialog)
• Delete Output: Deletes the selected existing output from the table
Tip: The Add Output/Edit Output option should be selected with care as it is not possible to cancel or
revert to the old settings in the Edit Analysis Outputs dialog. The settings will either be saved as a new entry if
Add Output is clicked or overwritten on the selected existing output if Edit Output is clicked.
Design Variables
Data on the Design Variables Tab is the summary of the uncertain (variable) design inputs which are selected
for the uncertainty/sensitivity analysis. On this tab uncertainty/sensitivity analysis Design Variables can be
Added, Edited or Deleted by selecting the appropriate option on the right-side info panel.
- 1448 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Analysis Type
• Distribution Summary: Details of parameters that control the distribution (Mean, Std Dev etc.)
• Target Objects: Scope of the variable suggesting the values are changed for the whole building or
selected zones or elements.
• Add Variable: Creates a new Design Variable (using Edit Analysis Variable dialog).
• Edit Variable: Edits the selected existing Design Variable from the table (using Edit Analysis Variable
dialog).
• Delete Variable: Deletes the selected existing Design Variable from the table.
Tip: The Add Variable/Edit variable options should be used with care as it is not possible to cancel or
revert to the old settings in the Edit Analysis Variables dialog. The settings will be saved as a new entry if
Add Variable is clicked or overwritten on the selected existing Design Variable if Edit Variable is clicked.
Note: If an Uncertainty/Sensitivity Analysis result already exists, then saving any new changes in the Edit
Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog will delete the existing results.
Analysis Type
Data on the Analysis Type tab allows you to define the analysis and its level of complexity.
- 1449 -
Analysis
Set Analysis to 3-Uncertainty/Sensitivity.
Level
The Level setting is only available for Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis and can be used to set the level of
complexity of the problem definition using one of 1-Simple or 2-Detailed. The option selected may depend on
the problem at hand and on your level of experience with statistical methods.
1-Simple
The 1-Simple level option provides access to only the most frequently used distributions when defining the
Design Variables.
• 3-Binomial
Discrete
• 20-Uniform
• 12-Log-Normal
• 14-Normal
Continuous
• 18-Triangular
• 19-Uniform
2-Detailed
The 2-Detailed level option provides access to an exhaustive list of distributions when defining the Design
Variables.
• 1-Bernoulli*
• 3-Binomial
Discrete
• 9-Geometric*
• 10-Hyper-Geometric*
- 1450 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Outputs
• 13-Negative Binomial*
• 16-Poisson*
• 20-Uniform
• 2-Beta
• 4-Cauchy
• 5-Chi-Squared
• 6-Exponential
• 7-Fischer F
• 8-Gamma
• 11-Levy
Continuous
• 12-Log-Normal
• 14-Normal
• 15-Pareto
• 17-Student T
• 18-Triangular
• 19-Uniform
• 21-Weibull
Note: The additional distribution curves available with the detailed option require advanced statistical
understanding to manage the curves. The Detailed option should therefore be used with caution.
Tip: The Analysis Outputs dialog should be used with caution because there is no Cancel button, so once
the dialog is opened, any changes made cannot be undone and upon closing of the dialog, the output will be
saved, replacing the previous one, with the settings currently being shown on the screen. In the case where
you have mistakenly added an output (or made incorrect changes while editing an existing one) you can close
the dialog and then delete the incorrect output on the Outputs tab on the main Edit Parametric,
Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog. Alternatively if you haven't made any other changes
since opening the main dialog , simply press Cancel on that dialog to lose all changes.
Outputs
The Outputs dialog can be accessed from the Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog,
when 3-Uncertainty/ Sensitivity Analysis is selected on the Analysis Type Tab, after pressing Add Output
or Edit Output.
Name
User defined name for the outputs, e.g. "ASHRAE 55 discomfort hours"
Analysis KPI
The pre-defined output result option. These outputs are Building Level results.
Select the Analysis Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the list. You can find more detailed descriptions of
many of these outputs on the Simulation Detailed Results page.
- 1451 -
You can view the full list of available KPIs under "Optimisation Objectives" on page 1415
Tip: The Edit Variables dialog should be used with caution because there is no Cancel button, so once the
dialog is opened, any changes made cannot be undone and upon closing of the dialog, the variable will be
saved, replacing the previous one, with the settings currently being shown on the screen. In the case where
you have mistakenly added a variable (or made incorrect changes while editing an existing one) you can close
the dialog and then delete the incorrect variable on the design variables tab on the main Edit Parametric,
Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog. Alternatively if you haven't made any other changes
since opening the main dialog , simply press Cancel on that dialog to lose all changes.
Design Variables
The Design variables dialog can be accessed from the Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis
Settings dialog, when 3-Uncertainty/ Sensitivity Analysis is selected on the Analysis Type Tab, after
pressing Add Output or Edit Output.
Name
User defined name for the Design Variable e.g. "Window Wall %"
- 1452 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
Variable type
Type of input Design Variable, to be selected from the browse list in the right-hand info panel.
You can view the full list of variable types on the "Optimisation Design Variables" on page 1422 section.
Note: All variables are listed for selection regardless of the state of the model so care must be taken to
select variables that are appropriate. For example, if the Scheduled natural ventilation model option is used
then changes in the % External window opens variable (which only applies to Calculated natural ventilation)
won't affect results.
Distribution Category
Type of probability distribution. The category can be selected form the drop-down list. The option selected
here (along with analysis level on the Analysis Type tab and Variable Type above) determines the
distributions curves available. There are two options:
Note: The number of options available for distribution are also controlled by Level selected on Analysis
Type Tab.
View the full explanation of Discrete and Continuous categories and their availability in simple and
detailed settings.
Discrete Distributions: Distribution of the input variable that can take up only finite (or countably infinite) set
of values.
Note: When a list type variable is used to modify a single numeric setting within a set of components (e.g.
U-value for constructions or glazing) then it is important that the numeric values are evenly spaced in each of
the components in the list to ensure meaningful regression sensitivity analysis results. For example if you wish
to analyse the effect of changing wall U-value between 0.1 and 0.5 then it is recommended to use a fixed
increment in U-value such as 0.1 or 0.05.
Continuous Distributions: Distribution of a random variable that may take any value in a finite or infinite set
of values.
Note: If the input variable is a list type one, then it will have a discrete probability distribution. e.g.
Constructions assembly options for Wall. If the variable is a numeric type one, it generally will be defined as a
continuous distribution, e.g. load power densities or system CoP. However, discrete distribution can also be
used for the numeric type variables e.g. Temperature setpoints limited to a discrete increment of 0.5 °C.
The table below lists the various discrete and continuous probability distribution curves available for numeric
and list type variables for simple and detailed analysis levels.
• 3-Binomial • 3-Binomial
Simple • 20-Uniform (discrete) • 20-Uniform (discrete)
Continuous Distributions: Continuous Distributions:
- 1453 -
• 12-Log-Normal Not Applicable
• 14-Normal
• 18-Triangular
• 19-Uniform
Discrete Distributions:
• 1-Bernoulli
Discrete Distributions:
• 3-Binomial
• 9-Geometric
• 3-Binomial
• 10-Hyper-Geometric
• 20-Uniform
• 13-Negative Binomial
• 16-Poisson
• 20-Uniform
• 2-Beta
• 4-Cauchy
Detailed • 5-Chi-Squared
• 6-Exponential
• 7-Fischer F
• 8-Gamma
Continuous Distributions:
• 11-Levy
• 12-Log-Normal
Not Applicable
• 14-Normal
• 15-Pareto
• 17-Student T
• 18-Triangular
• 19-Uniform
• 21-Weibull
Distribution Curve
The statistical function that describes the possible values and their likelihoods for the Design Variable. Select
the distribution Curve from the drop-down list.
View the full list of all distribution curves: and links to Wikipedia Pages
Left shape
parameter (Alpha)
2 Beta Continuous Detailed
Right shape
parameter (Beta)
- 1454 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
Number of Trials
(n)
3 Binomial Discrete Both
Probability (p)
Scale Parameter
4 Cauchy Continuous Detailed
Location (Peak
Value)
Degree of
5 Chi Squared Continuous Detailed
Freedom
Degree of
Freedom (n)
7 Fisher F Continuous Detailed
Degree of
Freedom(d)
Shape parameter
8 Gamma Continuous Detailed
Scale parameter
- 1455 -
Population size
Population
10 Hypergeometric Discrete Detailed
Number
Sample Size
Mean
Number of
success
13 Negative Binomial Discrete Detailed
Probability
Mean
Shape parameter
15 Pareto Continuous Detailed
Scale parameter
- 1456 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
Degree of
17 Student T Continuous Detailed Freedom (n)
Location (Peak
Value)
18 Continuous Both
Triangular Min Val
Max Val
Min Val
Uniform
19 Continuous Both
(Continuous)
Max Val
Min Val
Number of Steps
Shape parameter
21 Weibull Continuous Detailed
Scale parameter
Distribution Parameters
Depending on distribution curve various distribution parameters are available.
- 1457 -
View the full list of all distributions and their controllers
Variable
:
Glazing
Templat
e
Probabil
ity of
Second
option =
0.7
Left
>0, Real
shape
Number,
paramete
up to 50
r
Variable
: Boiler
CoP
Left
shape
2 Beta paramet
Right
>0, Real er = 9
shape
Number,
paramete
up to 50 Right
r shape
paramet
er = 3
- 1458 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
variables 1 Templat
e
Variable
options
Number
Locked selected
of Trials :5
Probabil
ity = 0.5
Value
Probabilit Betwee
y n 0 and
1
Variable
:%
External
Window
Binomial
Opens
for
3 B Numeric
Probabil
type
variable Number Positive ity = 0.6
of Trials Integer
Number
of trials
= 10
Variable
:
Window
Wall %
4 Cauchy Scale
Location Paramet
Real
(Peak
Number er = 5
Value)
Location
= 50
- 1459 -
Variable
:
Equipm
ent
Positive Power
Degree of
Chi Integer Density
5 Freedom
Squared up to
(n)
100 Degree
of
Freedo
m (n) =
15
- 1460 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
Variable:
Miscellaneous
>0, Power
Scale Real Density
6 Exponential
Parameter Number
up to 5 Scale
Parameter =
3
>0,
Degree of
Real
Freedom
Number
(n)
up to 5
Variable:
Infiltration rate
Degree of
Freedom (n)
7 Fisher F
>0, = 40
Degree of
Real
Freedom
Number Degree of
(d)
up to 5 Freedom (d)
= 90
- 1461 -
>0, Real
Shape
Number
Parameter
up to 20
Variable:
Equipment
Power
Density
Shape
8 Gamma
>0, Real Parameter
Scale
Number = 5
Parameter
up to 5
Scale
Parameter
=2
Variable:
Glazing
Template
Variable
Probability Value
options
9 Geometric of first Between
selected: 5
option 0 and 1
Probability
of first
option =
0.5
- 1462 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
locked for
Number of
list type
trials
variables
locked for
Size of
list type
population
variables
Variable:
Glazing
Template
Variable
Value options
10 Hypergeometric
between selected:
no of trials 5
No of & (Size of
successes population No of
– dumber successes
of trials) = 50
>0, Real
Scale
Number
Parameter
up to 10
Variable:
Infiltration
rate
Scale
11 Levy
Parameter
Real = 0.2
Min Value
Number
Min Value
= 0.5
- 1463 -
Real
Mean
Number
Variable:
Infiltration rate
Mean = 0
12 Log Normal
Standard
>0 value Standard
Deviation
Deviation =
0.5
Value
Probability Between
0 and 1
Variable:
Glazing
Template
Variable
options
Negative
13 selected: 5
Binomial Positive
No. of trials Integer Probability =
up to 10 0.5
No of trials =
3
- 1464 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
Real
Mean
Number
Variable:
Window Wall
%
14 Normal Mean = 40
Standard >0
Deviation value Standard
Deviation =
10
>0,
Shape Real
Paramet Number
er up to
50
Variable:
Miscellaneous
Power
Density
Shape
15 Pareto
>0, Parameter =
Scale Real 1
Paramet Number
er up to Scale
50 Parameter =
3
- 1465 -
Variable:
Glazing
>0, Template
Real
16 Poisson Mean Number Variable
up to options
50 selected: 5
Mean = 2.5
Variable:
Cooling
Degree Positive
setpoint PMV
Student of Integer
17
T Freedom up to
Degree of
(n) 100
Freedom (n)
= 100
- 1466 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
Location Between
(Peak Min and
Value) Max
Real
Number
Min Value less
than Variable:
Max Val Window Wall
%
Location
(Peak Value)
18 Triangular = 60
Real
Number
Min Value less
than
Max Val
Variable:
Window Wall
%
Uniform
19 Min Value =
(Continuous) Real 20
Number
Max Value more Max Value =
than Min 80
Val
- 1467 -
Variable:
Glazing
Uniform
No Template
20 (Discrete) for
parameters NA
A List type
to control Variable
variable
options
selected: 5
Real
Number
Min Value less
than
Max Val
Max Value Locked
Distribution >0, Real Variable:
Seep size Number Window Wall
%
- 1468 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
>0, Real
Shape
Number
Parameter
up to 50
Variable:
Infiltration
Rate
Shape
21 Weibull Parameter =
>0, Real 3
Scale
Number
Parameter
up to 50 Scale
Parameter =
1.25
Transform Distribution
Functions under this header can be used to control the distribution curve value ranges to have more
meaningful values to adapt to the variable type. This allows you to use curves whose default values are not
necessarily in line with the Input Variable. These are only available for numeric distributions.
Shifting and Scaling: Depending on the operator selected, the value range of the default graph is either shifted
or scaled or both.
Truncation: To avoid improbable or conflicting values being sampled, truncation can be used to remove the
tales of the distribution.
Operator
There are 4 Options:
Shift value
Enter the value which is added to the default distribution’s numbers.
Note: When using IP units, for variables with units, the shifting of the distribution is controlled by a shift
slider. The values can be increased or decreased by moving the slider right or left respectively. The effect of
- 1469 -
the shift slider setting on the distribution should be checked by looking at the graph at the bottom of the dialog.
See screenshot under Scale value below.
Scale value
Enter the value which is multiplied to the default distribution’s numbers.
Note: When using IP units, for variables with units, the scaling of the distribution is controlled by a scale
slider. The graph values scale up or down on moving the slider right or left respectively. The effect of the scale
slider setting on the distribution should be checked by looking at the graph at the bottom of the dialog.
The screenshot below illustrates a case where cooling setpoint temperature distribution is controlled using the
Beta distribution with slider controls and lower and upper truncation when using IP units.
- 1470 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1471 -
Truncate Lower side
Limit:
This value removes all the variable values below this number. In this case the probability which is removed is
redistributed across the remaining curve. The value should be more than the minimum value in the
untruncated graph and less than truncation upper side limit.
Limit:
This value removes all the variable values above this number. In this case the probability which is removed is
redistributed across the remaining curve. The value should be less than the maximum value in the
untruncated graph and more than the truncation lower side limit.
The value should be less than the maximum value in the untruncated graph and more than the truncation
lower side limit.
Transformations
Distribution Example Image
available
- 1472 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
2 Beta Shift/Scale
- 1473 -
Truncate Lower Side
- 1474 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1475 -
4 Cauchy Shift/Scale
- 1476 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1477 -
Truncate Upper Side
- 1478 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1479 -
Truncate Lower Side
- 1480 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1481 -
6 Exponential Shift/Scale
- 1482 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1483 -
Truncate Upper Side
- 1484 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
7 Fisher F
Shift/Scale
- 1485 -
Truncate Lower Side
- 1486 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1487 -
8 Gamma
Shift/Scale
- 1488 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1489 -
Truncate Upper Side
- 1490 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
11 Levy
Shift/Scale
- 1491 -
Truncate Lower Side
- 1492 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1493 -
12 Log Normal
Shift/Scale
- 1494 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1495 -
Truncate Upper Side
- 1496 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1497 -
Truncate Upper Side
- 1498 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
15 Pareto
Shift/Scale
- 1499 -
Truncate Lower Side
- 1500 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1501 -
17 Student T
Shift/Scale
- 1502 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
- 1503 -
Truncate Upper Side
18 Triangular N/A
19 Uniform (Continuous) N/A
- 1504 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
21 Weibull
Shift/Scale
- 1505 -
Truncate Lower Side
- 1506 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
Warning when changing from SI to IP units: If any variables that were defined in SI units are edited, the
transformations (shifting/scaling and truncations) will be reset.
Variable Values
Options list
The Options list is only available for list type variables. It allows you to select non-numeric options and create
a list of various variables that will be sampled from during the UA/SA.
Click on the browse button to open a list of components or templates for selection. In the new Select design
option window, items can be selected by checking the appropriate checkboxes.
- 1507 -
The number of items selected form the discrete distribution’s items and truncates the distributions selected (if
required).
After selecting the options, it is important to order the list, to match the unintended probability values of each
of the section. This is done in the Variable Option Order dialog which is automatically displayed after
adding/editing a list of variable options.
- 1508 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Design Variables
Important Note: The selection order must be set up to ensure that SA can assess the effect of
incremental changes to values of the selected options on the main output of interest. For example, if the
variable is wall construction with each construction having a different U-value (perhaps by varying insulation
thicknesses), and if building heating energy is the SA output, then the constructions should be ordered based
on (increasing or decreasing) U-value . This is because U-value is the construction attribute that has the
greatest influence on heating energy. If you do not take care to order option lists in this way, then the SA
results will not be meaningful. See also: "Running Sensitivity Analysis as a Precursor to Optimisation" on
page 1518.
Target
Target objects
This setting allows you to select one or more object(s) to which the variations are to be applied. The object(s)
you select here are the places in the model where the variations will be applied. Normal model data
inheritance rules apply so if you set the building as the target then the change will set for the building but will
also inherit down to block, zone, surface and opening levels where appropriate. In this case any hard-set data
at block or lower levels will prevent inheritance in the normal way.
Graph
This is the visual representation of the probability curve and shows the probability distribution curve/
probability mass curve and cumulative distribution curve. To update the graph to display the current settings
click on the Create/Update Graph button.
- 1509 -
Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Calculation
Options Dialog
To start an Uncertainty and Sensitivity analysis go to the Simulation screen and click on the Optimisation +
UA/SA tab. From there calculations can be updated using the Update toolbar icon in the usual way. The data
on the Calculation Options dialog is used to provide options to control the analysis as well as outputs to help
you to understand the progress being made as the calculations proceed.
Note: It is necessary to run the base simulation with monthly/annual outputs before opening the
optimisation tab. The Uncertainty and Sensitivity analysis simulations will all be run using the base calculation
and model options. So, the simulation period and all other options used in the optimisation is the same as that
defined on the Simulation calculation options dialog.
• General
• Simulation Manager
A sample uncertainty analysis result is shown within the Calculation Options dialog. Once the analysis has
completed, detailed Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis results are best visualised on the Optimisation +
UA/SA Tab on the Simulation Screen.
You can learn about the results generated on the graph on this dialog and other results during the Uncertainty
and Sensitivity analysis from the "Uncertainty and Sensitivity Results" on page 1514 pages.
Calculation Description
Enter a description for the calculation. This text will be used to identify the results on the graph and any other
related outputs.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Calculation Options General Tab
From
The Start date set up for the base simulation on the analysis screen is displayed but cannot be edited here.
To
The End date set up for the base simulation on the analysis screen is displayed but cannot be edited here.
Pause on errors
It is important to understand the cause of any errors that occur during an analysis. The Pause on errors
option, when checked, causes a message to be displayed and the analysis is paused. For example, if there is
an overlap in heating and cooling setpoint temperatures, in configurations where the heating setpoint is higher
than the cooling setpoint the following error message is displayed:
This sort of error does not cause a problem for the overall Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis study. When
calculating Uncertainty and Sensitivity analysis results these erroneous simulations are removed from the
calculations.
Once you are clear about the cause of any errors you will normally want to stop seeing reports and allow the
optimisation to continue. To do this simply uncheck the Pause on errors check box. Simulations with errors
are displayed in red in the grid as shown below.
• Invalid combinations of variables such as heating setpoint > cooling setpoint. These errors are trapped
by DesignBuilder before a simulation is run.
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Tip: Truncation can be used to limit such instances by removing the overlapping tails of the
conflicting distributions’ inputs.
• Failure of a simulation due to errors in input that were not trapped by DesignBuilder.
• A severe EnergyPlus error such as simulation instability.
• A failure in the simulation infrastructure, e.g. a network failure when using a network simulation server.
However, if you are running a long analysis and you don't want to be prompted in this way due to a temporary
glitch in the availability of your simulation server then you can check this option. This is similar to pre-selecting
the retry or ignore options in advance.
Sampling option
DesignBuilder supports Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis through implementing various sampling methods.
DesignBuilder supports five sampling methods:
• 1-Random: based on a Pseudo-random sample where a sample is created by shuffling the full list of
permutations and selecting the first N cases. This method is only available to problems whose search
space size is no greater than 100,000. Unlike the other sampling options this method has the
advantage that it allow as sensitivity analysis to be carried out even if the analysis is interrupted before
all cases have been simulated.
• 2-Random walk: a simple symmetric method where the number of trajectories (N) determines the
number of starting points, which is generated by Latin hypercube sampling. The number of variables
selected equals the number of parameters (D) plus 1. So, the total sample size is N x (D + 1).
• 4-LHS: Latin hypercube sampling is a highly efficient sampling method. As a rule of thumb, a sample
size of 10 times the number of design variables will be sufficient for the population mean to be
accurately modelled, i.e. for the mean values of the samples to be close to mean value of requested
distribution range. For example if we request a mean temperature of 22°C with standard deviation of 2,
and we request 100 runs then the 100 samples generated by LHS sampling method will have a mean
value very close to 22°C.
• 5-Sobol: a quasi-random low dependency sequence.
• 6-Halton: a quasi-random low dependency sequence.
Sensitivity method
The Sensitivity Analysis method implemented in DesignBuilder is Regression.
Number of trajectories
Only required for the Random Walk sampling method. The value is multiplied with total variables to generate
the total runs.
The recommended value for Number of trajectories is 20 if there are 10 or less number of design variables.
For more than 10 variables this can be reduced in order to meet the computational demands.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Calculation Options General Tab
Number of runs
This is the total simulations that are required. The number of runs to be used will determine the time and
computing resources required to complete the analysis. The value entered here will usually reflect the size
and complexity of the analysis. Typical values are in the range 50-500 depending on size of the problem,
number of design variables and the population size.
The two most important factors to consider while selecting the value here are the Sampling option and the
number of design variables. The table below can be used to select the minimum number of runs.
For cases where any of the design variables are discrete and have more than 10 options, then a higher value
should be used to ensure that all options are simulated.
Tip: It is important to set number of runs correctly from the outset if a sensitivity analysis is required. In
cases when a run is terminated, the sensitivity analysis results will not be shown and uncertainty analysis
results may be incomplete. If sensitivity analysis results are not required then you can simply terminate the
calculations once you are happy that the distribution curve displayed on the Calculation Options dialog during
the analysis is sufficiently well developed and smooth.
Advanced Options
Max runs per batch
The value here sets the maximum number of runs that are run in one set and gets plotted on the graph before
the next set beings. Default value of results of simulations are plotted in batches is 20.
Note: All simulations for a set must complete before the next set is started so if you have many parallel
cores at your disposal and the time taken to run the simulations is the main bottleneck in calculations (as
opposed to IDF generation) then a higher number here can be helpful.
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large/complex model, all IDF inputs will have been generated before the first results are in and the large
number of parallel simulations will speed progress. For a smaller model, the IDF generation bottleneck is more
significant and first simulation results will be in before the 3rd or 4th IDF input has been generated and, in this
case, the multiple cores will not be needed. This is often the case for simple single zone models. To test and
understand this watch the Simulation Manager while the optimisation takes place. You will see new jobs being
submitted, queued and simulated.
Show analysis
Check this checkbox to view a histogram graphic showing uncertainty or sensitivity analysis results.
Analysis type
Here Display options settings can be used to see:
Display type
Results can be seen as a graph or report.
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Uncertainty Analysis Outputs
Histogram Controls
Histogram plots one output at a time.
Output selected
Option selected here determines which output is plotted in the histogram. List contains all available outputs
that were requested as a part of uncertainty analysis run.
Underflow bin
Select this checkbox to create a bin for all values below or equal to the value in the box to the right.
Value
To change the value, enter a different decimal number in the box. It must be more than the overflow value.
Overflow bin
Select this checkbox to create a bin for all values above the value in the box to the right.
Value
To change the value, enter a different decimal number in the box. It must be less than the underflow value.
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Bins
The histogram can be created based on following configuration for the bins:
• 1-Auto: This is the default setting for histograms. The bin width is calculated to as to have 20 bins in
the graph.
• 2-Bin width: Enter a positive decimal number for the number of data points in each range and the total
number of bins are adjusted accordingly.
• 3-Number of Bins: Enter the number of bins for the histogram (including the overflow and underflow
bins) and the bin widths are created accordingly.
Note: Sometimes the number of bins is more than what can be displayed on the screen properly and in
such cases a horizontal scroll bar is added to the bottom of the graph to allow all of the data to be seen.
• Input Variables: Details of all variables used in the analysis including their distribution curves.
• Outputs (KPIs): Details of the outputs analysed.
• Analysis Information: Analysis summary, details about the input samples.
• Uncertainty Analysis Results: Graphs and statistical details showing the variability in the output.
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Sensitivity Analysis Outputs - Standardised Regression Coefficient
Graph Controls
Graph plots one output at a time.
Output Selected
Option selected here determines which output is plotted in the graph. List contains all available outputs that
were requested as a part of uncertainty analysis run.
Input Order
This option helps in sorting the most sensitive outputs:
• Input Variables: Details of all design variables with their distribution curves
• Outputs (KPIs): Details of all of the outputs analysed.
• Analysis Information: Analysis summary, details about input samples and output uncertainty.
• Sensitivity Analysis Results: Interpretation of the results, graphs and statistical details identifying
most influential parameters for each output.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Tips And Tricks
1. Analyse a single representative zone in the building and apply findings to whole building.
2. Use a representative simulation period instead of the whole annual simulation. For example, in many
climates using the first or second 6 months of the year would be a good approximation to use of the full
12-month simulation. Alternatively, if the analysis is mainly related to summer overheating then you
might choose a shorter representative summer period for the simulations.
3. In most cases, the more variables that are defined in the analysis, the more runs will be required to
achieve more acceptance results. Therefore, instead of trying a multitude of runs, a preliminary
analysis using a more efficient sampling method like LHS can be used to eliminate the least influential
variables and reduce the parameter space before doing a detailed run.
4. Use JEPlus or a network simulation server to maximise the number of simulations that are run in
parallel at one time. If you have a simulation server with many cores at your disposal then you might
consider increasing both the population size and Number of job per batch which allows more cases to
be analysed at once.
Sensitivity Analysis can be used as a precursor to optimisation to remove less influential variables from the
optimisation runs, thereby reducing the complexity and overall optimisation runtime. Also, If the variable is
influential for only one of the objectives, its value can be predetermined with SA and removed from the
optimisation. With a focus only on the important variables, the optimisation results are cleaner, quicker
and easily understandable. Another advantage of using SA, is that it helps you to understand any trends
associated with design variables and makes it easier to see these in the results. For example, SA can tell us
the relationship of each Design variables with the Objectives and whether they are directly or inversely
correlated, i.e. whether an increase in the design variable leads to an increase or decrease in the objective’s
value.
However, there are certain considerations should be kept in mind because unlike optimisation, the idea of
Sensitivity Analysis is to understand the relationship between the Design Variables and the Objectives and not
to find the best set of designs. In Sensitivity Analysis two important things need to be done in variable
definition which will typically be different from optimisation:
1. The order in which design variable options are set up is very important. The design variable options
need to be ordered in an in increasing or decreasing value. For example, in a case where wall
constructions with different U-Values is one of the design variables and heating energy and capital cost
are the two outputs, the overall U-value of the wall affects heating energy, and the wall construction
cost affects building capital cost. Therefore, if the U-value of a wall is changed by using different
materials, then the wall options sequence when ordered in decreasing U-value, might not
correspond with the one created that will be created with increasing capital cost. In this case,
the Sensitivity Analysis must be done separately for both the outputs.
2. The design options selected for the variable should not contain options that have the same value (i.e.
duplicates) with respect to the target objectives. For example, in the same case as above there might
be two wall constructions that have the same U-value or overall cost. In that case wall construction
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Basic Tutorial
options that have the same U-value need to be removed from Sensitivity Analysis for heating
energy, and wall construction options with the same Cost need to be removed from the
Sensitivity Analysis for capital cost.
Therefore, despite the theoretical possibility of doing Sensitivity Analysis for more than one output at a time,
DesignBuilder recommends, as a good practice, that sensitivity analysis of each output is set up separately
and as a precursor to Optimisation. In each output it is important that the variable options in list type
variables have a correct sequence so that SA can find the impact of a progressive change of one
option to another on the SA output.
This process is demonstrated in more detail in our Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis: Simplify and Speed up
Optimisation Studies webinar.
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Step 2 - Run A Standard Simulation
Click on the Simulation tab and run a base annual simulation. Because it is a simple model you can select
hourly results. Make sure to also choose Monthly results which are required by the Optimisation. Check the
hourly results for the simulation period and make sure that the model is behaving as expected, including
temperatures within the building, operations periods etc. If not fix the model and repeat this step until you are
happy with the base model hourly results. Monthly results should something like the screenshot below.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Basic Tutorial
Analysis Type
Change the Analysis type to 3-Uncertainty/Sensitivity.
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This will set up the rest of the tabs on the dialog and allows you to define the uncertainty and sensitivity
analysis problem, i.e. what it is that you want to achieve from the uncertainty and sensitivity analysis study.
Use the following settings for this simple example which request to identify:
1. The uncertainty in plant heating and plant cooling energy use of the building due to the uncertainty of
various inputs
2. The most influential input set of inputs that affect the plant heating and plant cooling energy use.
Output
There are no predefined outputs, add new output by using the ‘Add Output’ tool and accessing the ‘Edit
Analysis Outputs’ dialog. Add ‘Plant heating’ and ‘Plant cooling’ output KPIs. The procedure to select the KPIs
is shown below.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Basic Tutorial
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Final Plant cooling Analysis Output dialog:
Design Variables
Go to the Design Variables tab. There are three pre-defined design variables. Allow WWR and cooling and
heating setpoints to vary as shown in the screenshot below. Variations are made at building level for all
variables in this case as shown by the Target objects column.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Basic Tutorial
After all runs have finished an alert is shown. Press OK to dismiss the alert and then Press the Close button
to return to the Optimisation +UA/SA tab on Simulation screen to analyse the results.
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Step 6 - Analyse Results
Uncertainty analysis results
Plant Heating results:
To visualise the Plant Cooling results, change Output Selected to 2-Plant cooling.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Basic Tutorial
Keep the default 1-Uncertainty analysis Analysis type in the Display options panel result to view UA results
first. You should be able to see from the histogram and summary statistics in the right hand panel on the
graph that:
• The mean value of Plant heating is 8732 kWh with standard deviation of ±1594 kWh and the mean
value of Plant cooling is 35664 kWh with standard deviation of ±5805 kWh. For these input parameters
the total plant heating has a higher degree of variability compared to plant cooling as it has a wider
interquartile range.
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Plant Heating result:
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Basic Tutorial
The Sensitivity analysis results are shown by default in decreasing order of importance with the most
important variable on the left and the least important on the right. The value printed in black bold above each
bar is the standardised regression coefficient (SRC), telling us the relative importance of each input. You
should see that the p-value (number in green, to the right of the SRC) is <0.05 for all inputs indicating a high
level of confidence in the results for each variable.
For plant heating, among the three inputs, heating setpoint is the most important and an increase in setpoint
increases heating energy use. To achieve better heating energy performance, heating setpoint should be
lowered first rather than WWR. This is because increase in WWR on one hand reduces the overall fabric
thermal performance (glass having higher U-value than walls) but on the other allows more solar gains,
thereby reducing the net negative impact of higher WWR. As expected cooling setpoint has minimal impact on
plant heating.
For plant cooling, the combined effect of lower fabric performance and high solar gains created because of
higher WWR, it becomes the most influential factor that leads to increase in cooling energy use, even more
than cooling setpoint. As expected the negative SRC value of cooling setpoint validates its inverse
relationship with plant cooling. Additionally, very low SRC value of heating setpoint verifies that it has minimal
impact on plant cooling.
Note: Regression-based sensitivity analysis results for the two outputs are separate analyses which
consider the relative importance of inputs for one output at a time. They should be analysed separately. The
results for the two outputs should not be compared with each other. For example, interpreting that WWR has
more influence on plant cooling than on plant heating or lowering WWR will lower the total space conditioning
energy use is not appropriate. For that a separate sensitivity analysis of total energy use should be done.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
This tutorial will guide you through a more realistic uncertainty and sensitivity analysis for a post-occupancy
application.
Problem: Identify the most influential factors impacting heating energy use in an office building by comparing
uncertainty due to occupant behaviour and to construction quality.
a. the main uncertainties in occupant behaviour can be analysed by varying heating setpoint and
operation of internal equipment, and,
b. the uncertainty in construction quality can be represented by varying fabric performance, i.e. variability
in U-value of walls, windows and roof and variability in infiltration due to unknown envelope sealing.
The following are the variations that are to be applied for the two categories:
* Lower Bound values represent the instances when high degree of care was put on construction quality and
targets were exceeded. This is less likely to happen and the over-achievement in normal practice would not
be very high. On the other hand, Upper Bound values represent the instances when low care was put on
construction quality and targets were not met. This is more likely to happen and in normal practice the
deviation could be significant.
** Wall, roof and glazing U-values are not direct inputs in EnergyPlus, therefore the variation in U-value must
be represented by creating a sequence of construction components to create fixed incremental increases in
U-value. Then discrete distributions can be used to represent the variation.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
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Step 3 - Define Problem On Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis Settings
Dialog
Once you have a good understanding of how the base model operates, you are ready to start the uncertainty
and sensitivity analysis stage. To do this click on the Optimisation + UA/SA tab of the Simulation screen.
Because you don't have any results yet, the Parametric, Optimisation and UA/SA Analysis Settings dialog
is displayed.
Analysis Type
Change the Analysis type to 3-Uncertainty/Sensitivity as shown below.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
This will set up the rest of the tabs on the dialog and allow you to define the uncertainty and sensitivity
analysis problem, i.e. what it is that you want to achieve from the uncertainty and sensitivity analysis study.
1. The uncertainty in heating energy use of the building due to the uncertainty of various inputs
(uncertainty analysis).
2. The inputs that have the most influence on heating energy consumption (sensitivity analysis).
Output
Add a new output by using the Add Output tool to access the Edit Analysis Outputs dialog. The procedure to
select the Heating (Electricity) output is shown below.
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When finished, the Heating (Electricity) Analysis Output Dialog should look like this:
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
And when the Output dialog is closed the Outputs table should look like this:
Design Variables
Go to the Design Variables tab. There are three pre-defined design variables. For this tutorial we need to
remove the Window to Wall % design variable, modify the Heating and Cooling Setpoint variables and add 5
new variables.
1. To remove Window to Wall % and Cooling setpoint variables, follow the steps below:
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2. Edit the existing Heating setpoint temperature variable by following the steps described below:
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
4. Add a new Equipment power density variable by following the steps described below:
• Select Add variable on the Design Variables tab to open the Edit Design variables dialog.
• Select Variable type and on the right-hand list find the Equipment power density variable under the
Internal Gains/Lighting folder. Select it.
• Set the Distribution curve to 18-Triangular.
• Change the Peak value to 13.00, Min value to 10.00 and Max value to 20.00.
• Press the Create/Update Graph button to visualise the distribution.
• Press the Close button to save the data and close the dialog.
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5. Add a new Infiltration (ac/h) variable by following the steps described below:
• Select Add variable on the Design Variables tab to open the Edit Design variables dialog.
• Select Variable type and on the right-hand list find the Infiltration (ac/h) variable under the Natural
ventilation/Infiltration folder. Select it.
• Change the Distribution curve to 18-Triangular.
• Change the Peak value to 0.25, Min value to 0.22 and Max value to 0.35.
• Press the Create/Update Graph button to visualise the distribution.
• Press the Close button to save the data and close the dialog.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
6. Add a new External Wall Construction variable by following the steps below:
• Select Add variable on the Design Variables tab to open the Edit Design variables dialog.
• Select Variable type and from the right-hand list find the External wall construction variable under
Constructions folder. Select it.
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• Click on the Option list and follow these steps:
o Click on the Browse Button:
o Add a new construction for U-value of 0.30 W/m2K. Example shown below:
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
Note: You can use the Set U-value tool in the Info panel to achieve a specific U-value.
o Similarly, create 9 external wall constrictions of U-value of 0.25 W/m2K to 0.45 W/m2K with an
increment of 0.025 W/m2K.
o Configure the options list to ensure that selection list is in order of increasing U-value order and
press OK to close the dialog:
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• Change the Distribution curve to 3-Binomial.
• Change the Probability to 0.40.
• Press the Create/Update Graph button to visualise the distribution.
• Press the Close button to save the data and close the dialog.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
7. Similarly add a new Glazing type variable by following the steps below:
• Select Add variable on the Design Variables tab to open the Edit Design variables dialog.
• Select Variable type and, from the right-hand list, find the Glazing type variable under
Glazing/Shading folder. Select it.
• Follow the steps described above for External Wall Construction to create a list of glazing
components, ordering the list by ascending U-value. Create and select 11 Glazing type of U-value of
1.90 W/m2K to 2.40 W/m2K with an increment of 0.05 W/m2K.
Note: Use the 2-Simple glazing Definition method where you can enter the U-value directly.
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• Change the Distribution curve to 3-Binomial.
• Change the Probability to 0.40.
• Press the Create/Update Graph button to visualise the distribution.
• Press the Close button to save the data and close the dialog.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
• Select Add variable on the Design Variables tab to open the Edit Design variables dialog
• Select Variable type and, from the right-hand list, find the Flat roof construction variable under the
Constructions folder. Select it.
• Use the steps defined for External Wall Construction to create and configure an option list, ordering it
in ascending U-value. Create and select 9 Flat roof constructions of U-value of 0.16 W/m2K to 0.30
W/m2K with an increment of 0.02 W/m2K.
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• Change the Distribution curve to 3-Binomial.
• Change the Probability to 0.40.
• Press the Create/Update Graph button to visualise the distribution.
• Press the Close button to save the data and close the dialog.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
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Step 4 - Open Calculation Options Dialog
Having confirmed the uncertainty and sensitivity analysis options, the next dialog to open will be the
Calculation options. Change the number of runs to 500 for this detailed analysis and, otherwise, use default
settings.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
Note: While it is possible to stop the simulations before the UA/SA process is incomplete, this is not
recommended as in this case uncertainty analysis results could be incorrect and sensitivity analysis results
will not be created.
After all the runs have been finished an alert is displayed as shown in the screenshot below. Press OK to
dismiss the alert and then Press Close to return to the Optimisation +UA/SA tab of the simulation screen to
analyse the results.
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Keep the default 1-Uncertainty analysis Analysis type in the Display options panel result to view UA results
first. You should be able to see from the histogram and summary statistics in the right hand panel on the
graph that:
• The total heating energy has a high degree of variability, from a minimum value of 1494 kWh to a
maximum value of 7296 kWh.
• While some of the data points are outliers, the mean value of Heating Energy use is 3915 kWh with
standard deviation of ±1149 kWh.
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Uncertainty And Sensitivity Analysis - Advanced Tutorial
The Sensitivity analysis results are shown by default in decreasing order of importance with the most
important variable on the left and the least important on the right. The value written above each bar in black
bold is the standardised regression coefficient (SRC), telling us the relative importance of each input. In green
to the right of each SRC value is the p-value. You should see in our example that the p-value for all inputs are
0. Note that a low p-value (<0.05) indicates a high level of confidence in the result for that variable.
• The sensitivity analysis reveals that for this building, based on the ranges of uncertainty in the input
variables defined above, occupant behaviour contributes more to uncertainty in heating energy
consumption than does fabric performance. We can draw this conclusion because the Heating
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setpoint and Equipment power density have higher SRC than any of the fabric performance
parameters.
• Infiltration is the third most influential parameter and therefore, among the fabric performance variables
factors, envelope sealing is the most critical factor in determining the heating energy use. The positive
value of the SRC, as expected, tells that there is a direct relationship between Heating energy use and
infiltration rate (an increase in infiltration leads to an increase in heating energy use).
• Glazing has the widest U-value range (1.9 W/m2K to 2.4 W/m2K) among the envelope elements (Wall
and Roof range from 0.25 W/m2K to 0.45 W/m2K and 0.16 W/m2K to 0.30 W/m2K). However, among
the three, the roof has the most influence over the heating energy because of the larger exposed area
it has relative to the others.
• Equipment power density has an inverse relationship with heating energy use. This confirms that as the
equipment load increases, the internal gains increase which reduces the heating energy use.
• The analysis suggests that managing occupant behaviour should be a priority at the building operation
stage to minimise the performance variability.
• The two most important construction stage measures to improve the Heating energy use of this building
are a) adequate envelope sealing and b) proper roof insulation. Another interpretation could be that if
these two variables are measured more accurately then the uncertainty in model predictions can be
reduced.
Data Visualisation
The Data Visualisation tools allow you to view a wide range of simulation outputs rendered using false colours
on the model surfaces and openings. This way of presenting outputs can be useful when a graphic of
summary of data over the whole building (or part of a building) is required. Example applications include:
• Solar incident radiation over the year on each surface which can be useful to help with locating solar
panels or to identify windows or roof surfaces in particular need of shading.
• Checking that internal gains for all zones over the year correspond with what is expected.
• Viewing total annual solar gains through all building windows to identify windows that may need
upgraded shading.
The data visualisation tools are available from the Simulation screen on the Data visualisation tab. You can
run a simulation from this tab by pressing the Update toolbar icon
Make Settings
When running simulations from the Data Visualisation tab you will see a Make settings link in the info panel
of the Simulation calculation options dialog.
If the note is shown in red it means that DesignBuilder recommends checking that your output options are set
up correctly for data visualisation. It is usually easiest simply to click on the Make settings info panel link to
automatically make the recommended settings, in which case you will asked to confirm the changes to the
model with the message below:
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Data Visualisation
Sample Outputs
Some examples of data visualisation outputs that can be generated are shown below.
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Annual Solar Incident Radiation Totals
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Data Visualisation
Airflow Vectors
Plot type
The plot types available are:
• 1-External surfaces where selected data is plotted on each external surface, e.g. Solar incident
radiation.
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• 2-Internal surfaces where selected data for internal surfaces is plotted on each surface, e.g. internal
surface temperatures.
• 3-Zone data which allows calculated summary zone data to be plotted, e.g. total occupancy gains for
each zone.
• 4-Airflow data to view airflow vectors at windows, vents, doors and holes when using Calculated
natural ventilation. This option allows airflow vectors to be viewed for hourly and sub-hourly intervals
only.
The Plot type selected affects the data that can be selected for display in the Output type option below.
Output type
Depending on which Plot type is selected (above) you can select the output type to be viewed from the
options listed below.
Output list
Zone data
• Glazing gain
• Walls gain
• Ceilings gain
• Floors gain
• Solid floors gain
• Partitions gain
• Roofs gain
• Rooflights gain
• Ext floors gain
• Sens cooling energy
• Ext airflow gain
• Ext infiltration gain
• Ext nat vent gain
• Ext mech vent gain
• AHU heating energy
• Cooling energy
• Fans
• Pumps
• Preheat energy
• Reheat energy
• Radiant heater energy
• DHW
• Lights energy
• Process energy
• Catering energy
• Display lighting gains
• General lighting gains
• Miscellaneous gains
• Process gains
• Catering gains
• Computer + Equipment gains
• Occupancy gains
• Solar gains internal windows
• Solar gains external windows
• Plant heating
• Plant cooling
• Air Temp
• Radiant Temp
• Comfort Temp
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Data Visualisation
• Surface gain
• Inside Surface Temperature
• Internal Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient
• Solar Transmitted
• Airflow in
• Airflow out
Airflow data
• Airflow in
• Airflow out
Interval
Select the interval of the data that you would like to view from the list:
For example to view annual solar incident radiation set the Plot type to 1-External surfaces, the Output type
to Solar incident and the interval to 1-Annual.
Normalise by area
Check this checkbox if you would like results to be displayed normalised by area, i.e. divided by the area of
the surface or opening.
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Option switched off
Option switched on
Legend
DesignBuilder provides you with control over how the legend is generated and displayed.
Range method
Select from the options:
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Data Visualisation
• 1-Default where the most appropriate lower and upper values are calculated in such a way that the
legend includes a manageable set of value intervals using "round" numbers avoiding unnecessary
decimal places etc.
• 2-Min/max where the actual calculated minimum and maximum values plotted are used as the
minimum and maximum range without any rounding applied. This can be useful to find the maximum
and minimum values.
The range method cannot be changed while the Override range option below is selected.
Override range
Use this option to override the default calculated range. DesignBuilder calculates an appropriate range for the
scale based on the data, but sometimes it can be useful to override that. For example if one zone has very
high occupancy gains compared with all the others, it may be best to reduce the upper range Max value
(below) to allow the variation across the other zones to be seen, avoiding the distortion of effect of the "outlier"
zone on the overall scale.
Min value
When selecting the 2-Min/max Range method, the actual minimum and maximum values are used to define
the scale. Checking the Override range option allows you to see the calculated min and max values. This can
be useful data in itself, but you can also adjust the minimum value as required by typing in the required lowest
value to be used in the scale here.
Max value
See above under Min value.
• 1-Blue,
• 2-Cyan,
• 3-Green,
• 4-Yellow
By default the colours will range from blue (min value band) to red (max value band), through green, yellow
and orange.
Note: the colour for the Min band selection must have a lower number than for the Max band selection
(below).
• 2-Cyan,
• 3-Green,
• 4-Yellow,
• 5-Red
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Airflow Visualisation Controls
Vector scale factor
You can use the vector scale factor to adjust the size of all of the airflow vectors. Enter a higher number to see
larger vectors and vice-versa.
Label size
When Show opening airflow labels is checked you can select the size of the labels from the list:
• 1-Small
• 2-Medium
• 3-Large
Note: The direction of the wind is printed in red at the same point regardless of whether the North arrow is
displayed.
Note: You will need to use either or both of the Surface removal or Section cut tools to access data when
the Plot type is 2-Internal surfaces or 3-Zone data.
Surface removal
Specific to the Data Visualisation function is the option to remove surfaces to allow internal surface data to be
viewed. This option is available when the Plot type is 2-Internal surfaces or 3-Zone data. To use the surface
removal tool, simply click with the mouse on any external or internal surface that you would like to be
removed. You can use this tool to selectively expose data deep within a building without losing other data that
you might also wish to view.
To restore a surface that was removed hold the <Ctrl> key down and click with the mouse again on the space
where the removed surface should be.
The example screenshot below shows how the distribution of building window solar gains can be viewed by
removing surfaces.
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Data Visualisation
Note: Removing surfaces in this way only affects the data visualisation view and does not affect the
model itself.
Section cut
The Section cut tool can be used to cut a slice through the model to allow internal data to be viewed when the
Plot type is 2-Internal surfaces or 3-Zone data. This tool can be especially useful for viewing data across a
whole floor, or across a whole facade.
Movie generation
When the Interval is 2-Monthly or 4-Hourly you can generate a movie showing how the selected data
changes with time.
Numeric outputs
To obtain a direct numeric output for a particular zone, surface or opening hold the <Shift> key down and click
with the mouse on the surface of interest. The data for the current surface will be displayed in a tooltip until
you release the mouse button.
Sub-Dividing Surfaces
Sometimes it is useful to be able to sub-divide surfaces. This can useful for 2 reasons:
1. In DesignBuilder complex and non-convex surfaces are sub-divided automatically behind the scenes
into smaller polygons to meet EnergyPlus requirements, in which case multiple EnergyPlus polygons
will be used to represent a single DesignBuilder surface. When reading simulation results,
DesignBuilder uses the value for the last polygon it reads in to represent the data for the whole surface
rather than calculating an average for all polygons. If you see surprising results for large complex
surfaces, this is probably the cause and, if you need a more accurate representation, you may prefer to
manually sub-divide the surface in question using sub-surfaces as described below.
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2. You may need to view the distribution of conditions across larger surfaces for example to see how the
solar incident radiation varies across a large flat roof to help decide on positioning PV panels. You can
do this by placing a grid of sub-surfaces on any surfaces that need to be broken down and running the
simulation as normal, making sure that surface data is stored for openings. In this case you can
generate outputs such as that shown for a simple example below.
Tip: You can use the building level clone tool to copy a previously drawn grid of sub-surfaces to all surfaces
in the model as required.
The rest of this section covers the processes involved in running CFD calculations in DesignBuilder.
What is CFD?
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is the term used to describe a family of numerical methods used to
calculate the temperature, velocity and various other fluid properties throughout a region of space.
CFD when applied to buildings can provide the designer with information on probable air velocities, pressures
and temperatures that will occur at any point through a predefined air volume in and around building spaces.
Boundary conditions are specified which may include the effects of climate, internal heat gains and HVAC
systems. DesignBuilder CFD can be used for both external and internal analyses.
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Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
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Example External CFD Analysis Output - Wind Pressure Study
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Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
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• "Example - CFD Internal Analysis Including Assemblies" on page 1613
• Appendix - CFD Calculations and Convergence
On the other hand, if you intend to conduct a CFD analysis from scratch, you should refer to the Building
Models section for information on creating models.
When a CFD project is created, a grid is automatically generated for the required model domain by identifying
all contained model object vertices and then generating key coordinates from these vertices along the major
grid axes. These key coordinates, extended from the X, Y and Z-axes across the width, depth and height of
the domain respectively are known as ‘grid lines’. The distance between grid lines along each axis is known
as a grid ‘region’ and these regions are initially spaced employing user-defined default grid spacing in order to
complete the grid generation. The grid used by DesignBuilder CFD is a non-uniform rectilinear Cartesian grid,
which means that the grid lines are parallel with the major axes and the spacing between the grid lines
enables non-uniformity.
For example, looking at a simple building block with a single component assembly representing a table:
The resulting grid, generated with 0.3m default grid spacing would be as follows:
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Finite Volume Grid And Geometric Modelling Considerations
By default, grid regions are spaced uniformly using a spacing that is calculated to be as close to the user-
defined default grid spacing as possible. Notice the narrow regions created between key coordinates
associated with the tabletop and table legs. In this case, the distance between these key coordinates is of an
acceptable value. However, very narrow regions resulting in long narrow grid cells or cells having a high
aspect ratio should be avoided, as they tend to result in unstable solutions that can fail to converge. Highly
detailed component assemblies can result in very large numbers of closely spaced key coordinates resulting
in cells having high aspect ratios. Large numbers of key coordinates can also lead to overly complex grids and
correspondingly high calculation run times and excessive memory usage which can be avoided by replacing
very detailed assemblies with cruder representations for the purpose of the CFD calculation. However, where
very narrow grid regions are unavoidable, adjacent grid lines formed from key coordinates can be merged
together using the merge tolerance setting which is accessed through the new CFD analysis dialogs (see the
Setting Up a New External CFD Analysis and ‘Setting Up a New Internal CFD Analysis’ sections). For
instance, in the above example, if the table assembly had been located closer to the edge of the adjacent
window, this could result in unacceptably close grid lines:
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These closely spaced grid lines can be merged by creating a new analysis and increasing the grid line merge
tolerance setting to say 0.025m:
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Finite Volume Grid And Geometric Modelling Considerations
Due to the strict rectilinear nature of the grid, grid cells that lie in regions outside of the domain required for
calculation are ‘blocked-off’ in order to cater for irregular geometries. It is important to take this into account
when creating a model in order to maximise the efficiency of grid generation and/or to ensure that surface
CFD boundaries will lie in the plane of a major grid axis to achieve accuracy of boundary representation. In
some cases, the model may be rotated in order to ensure that most of the wall surfaces are orthogonal with
respect to the grid axes. To take an extreme example, if a simple rectangular space has been drawn at a
45° angle to the Z-axis:
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The resulting grid, generated using 0.3m default grid spacing, contains a great deal of redundancy in the form
of blocked-off regions and inaccuracy of surface representation:
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Finite Volume Grid And Geometric Modelling Considerations
The resulting grid exhibits no redundancy and there is no inaccuracy in surface representation:
The accuracy of the representation of non-orthogonal surfaces can be improved by using smaller default grid
spacing and in some cases specific grid regions can be modified to increase accuracy in a more localised
fashion as illustrated by the following example:
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Grid generated using default 0.3m grid spacing:
Using the ‘Edit CFD Grid’ tool, the grid spacing within just the regions spanning the angled section is reduced
to 0.2m to improve the representation:
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Building Levels And CFD Analyses
Grid regions between key coordinates can also be spaced using non-uniform spacing options and additional
key coordinate regions can be added. Further information is provided on grid modification in the ‘Editing the
CFD Grid’ section.
The level you are at when you create the CFD Analysis defines both the type of the CFD analysis (internal or
external) and also the extent of the CFD domain. If you are at building level then the domain is the whole
building, if you are at block level the domain will be the block and if you are at zone level the domain is the
current zone.
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The specification of boundary conditions for external analyses is relatively straightforward because it is an
isothermal calculation and so it only requires the building exposure, wind velocity and wind direction to be set
and this is done in the New CFD Analysis dialog box.
Internal analysis boundary conditions are more involved and can require the addition of zone surface
boundaries such as supply diffusers, extract grilles, temperature and heat flux patches and also the
incorporation of model assemblies representing occupants, radiators, fan-coil units, etc. DesignBuilder
provides default wall and window boundary temperatures automatically but it is important that you check that
these defaults are appropriate and that you correctly specify any additional boundary conditions required for
your project.
Tip: The internal surface temperature for each surface in the domain can be calculated using EnergyPlus
simulation by switching on the appropriate options. Airflow rates through open windows, vents, doors and
holes can be calculated using the Calculated natural ventilation option.You can find a webinar recording
demonstrating the process involved at: https://www.youtube.com/user/DesignBuilderUK.
See also:
1. Surface temperatures can be defined for all zone surfaces including windows and other openings.
2. Zone surface boundary conditions including supply diffusers, extract grilles, temperatures and heat
fluxes can be added in the form of surface patches using a similar method to that used for adding
windows and doors.
3. Component blocks and component assemblies can be defined as temperature or heat flux boundaries
or they can also have boundary condition patches added as described above for Zone surfaces.
In all cases the CFD boundary conditions can be edited on the CFD Model data tab.
Note: The easiest way to accurately include the effect of radiation heat transfer in CFD calculations is to
run an EnergyPlus simulation first and then import surface temperatures from the EnergyPlus simulation
results as CFD boundary conditions using the CFD boundary conditions dialog. The EnergyPlus surface
temperatures include the effect of radiation heat transfer, however in order to arrive at the same heat balance
in the CFD calculation, it is necessary to include the convective portion of any specified heat gain used in the
EnergyPlus simulation as specified boundary conditions in the CFD model (using assembly flux, heat flux
surface patches, etc).
Default inside and outside wall and window boundary temperatures can be accessed under the CFD
Boundary header on the CFD tab.
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Component Blocks & Assemblies As CFD Boundaries
To add a surface boundary, move down to the surface on which you want to locate the boundary, either by
selecting it from the model navigator or by navigating to it in the Edit screen. At the surface level, you can then
select the Add CFD boundary tool from the toolbar.
Note: Component blocks and assemblies defined at block level do not affect EnergyPlus simulations
Component Blocks
CFD attributes for component blocks are inherited down from the building level to component blocks located
at both building and building block levels. CFD attributes for component blocks are accessed on the CFD
model data tab.
Assemblies
The CFD assembly library that is provided with DesignBuilder contains a number of pre-defined assemblies
that can be used to add items such as occupants, radiators and furniture. Some of these pre-defined
assemblies already have CFD boundary attributes associated with them, e.g. standing occupant assemblies
have a defined convective heat flux of 56W. You can also define your own assemblies for use in CFD
analyses and you will find details of how to do this in the Assembly library section.
CFD attributes for component assemblies are inherited from the parent assembly to instances of the assembly
at the building and building block levels. CFD attributes for assemblies are accessed from the CFD tab after
moving down to an assembly instance level by clicking on it in the navigator or double-clicking on it in the Edit
screen. It is important to understand that if you change an attribute for a specific instance of an assembly, the
attributes will be changed for all other instances of the same assembly.
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The following CFD boundary settings can be set on the CFD model data tab for both component blocks and
component assemblies:
Thermal boundary type: The thermal boundary type can be set to one of the following:
Temperature
If the thermal boundary type has been set to 2-Temperature, enter the temperature of the block.
Important Note: In the case of assemblies used to apply a heat flux boundary condition, the heat flux
data on the CFD tab of the component blocks can be treated in one of 2 ways depending on whether or not it
inherits this data from the assembly above:
a) When inheriting from the assembly above, the same heat flux data as for the parent assembly appears in
blue on the CFD tab, but DesignBuilder doesn't use this directly. Instead the data is applied as if it is the total
for the whole assembly and the actual value for this component block is reduced by a proportion equal to the
ratio of the component volume to the volume of the whole assembly.
b) When hard set heat flux data is entered (data shown in red on the CFD tab), this is used directly in CFD
calculations and spread evenly around the component block surfaces.
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Component Blocks & Assemblies As CFD Boundaries
Advanced
Solid cell overlap tolerance
The Solid cell overlap tolerance is an advanced setting that allows some control over the identification of
CFD grid cells that are to be interpreted as lying within a component and to be flagged as solid in the CFD
simulation (assuming the mass flag is set for the component/assembly).
The overlap tolerance is a number between 0.0-1.0 representing a fractional overlap. The algorithm used to
identify solid component cells marches up through the grid in the Z-dimension, creating a slice through each
component at the height of each cell centre. An intersection check is then made for the resulting polygon list
with each cell rectangle in plan. If the ratio of the intersection area to the cell area is greater than the
tolerance, the cell is flagged as solid.
Normal View
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Plan View
The following settings can be used at Building, Block and Zone levels as well as for non-orthogonal surfaces
and their ventilation boundary conditions to allow hierarchical default settings to be defined.
Element width
The default value of of 1.0m means that any opening having a dimension of 1.0m or less will have one
projected element (max 0.9m distance from the opening with a 0.2m offset). This usually provides reasonable
results without instability.
Element height
See above for Element width.
Face offset
The face offset is used to shift the ventilation boundary elements away from the parent surface into the body
of the space by the defined offset distance. The reason for this setting is that in some cases, depending on
the grid resolution, the algorithm that identifies solid cells can lead to a conflict between some solid cells and
the boundary elements which can result in flow stalling (this was particularly a problem at the edges of full
width windows which may not actually be such a problem now that we have an edge offset setting).
X-Spacing
X-spacing is the gap between the cells in the x-direction.
Y-Spacing
Y-spacing is the gap between the cells in the y-direction.
Z-Spacing
Z-spacing is the gap between the cells in the z-direction.
X-Edge offset
The offset in the x-direction between the edge of the boundary condition and the first cell.
Y-Edge offset
The offset in the y-direction between the edge of the boundary condition and the first cell.
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New External CFD Analysis
The New CFD Analysis dialog is displayed which allows you to name the analysis, define grid generation
variables, wind data and the extents of the domain to be included in the analysis:
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Grid type
With External CFD analyses you can select from 2 grid types:
• 1-Non uniform - the non-uniform grid used for external analyses is identical to the grid used for internal
analyses whereby a list of key coordinates are identified from the geometry and these key coordinates
are used to set up grid regions which are then spaced uniformly using the default grid spacing. The
Grid line merge tolerance setting only applies to a non-uniform grid and may be used to merge grid
lines that are separated by a distance less than the tolerance in order to minimise cell aspect ratio.
• 2-Uniform - the uniform grid option generates cells of equal spacing along each of the major axes and
makes no attempt to fit the grid to the model geometry, the software then identifies all cells that lie
within the geometry as solid. The cells are generated using a spacing as close to the Default grid
spacing setting as possible given the domain extents. The uniform grid calculation method is much
more approximate than with the non-uniform grid but can result in faster calculations.
Tip: Uniform grids are preferred for large and or very complex external CFD analyses to encourage
convergence.
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New External CFD Analysis
Wind
Wind velocity
Enter the required free stream wind velocity in m/s (measured at 10m above ground).
Wind direction
The wind direction is defined clockwise from North. The default direction is 270°, i.e. Westerly.
Wind exposure
The free stream wind velocity is corrected for height above ground and surrounding terrain using an empirical
relationship. The following exposures can be selected:
• 1-Urban,
• 2-Suburban and
• 3-Open country .
Wind speed profile used by DesignBuilder (obtained from ASHRAE Fundamentals “Airflow around buildings”)
Where:
Exposure a δ (m)
Country 0.14 270
Urban 0.22 370
City 0.33 460
Air layer thickness and exponent values for various exposures
After clicking on the OK button, the CFD screen is displayed showing the model in conjunction with the site
domain object:
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New Internal CFD Analysis
To create a new internal CFD analysis, first make sure that you have selected the appropriate level object
(building, block or zone) in the model navigator and then click on the CFD screen tab:
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Editing The CFD Grid
As soon as a new analysis data set has been created, a default CFD grid is generated using the default grid
spacing defined as part of the data set. The default grid may be edited using the ‘Edit CFD Grid’ tool which
allows you to change the spacing used for default regions, insert additional regions or remove previously
inserted regions.
When you select the ‘Edit CFD Grid’ tool, the grid is displayed with the building outline overlaid as a ghosted
wire frame. Grid regions are displayed along the major axes bounded by dark grey lines, the auto-generated
grid region spacing lines being displayed in a lighter grey. The currently selected grid region is selected in
cyan or yellow if the region is a non-default inserted region. To select regions on one of the other major axes,
you can change the axis by clicking on the required axis of the axis selector displayed at the top right of the
screen:
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To edit a grid region, move the mouse cursor across the grid to the required region that will highlight to
indicate that it has been selected and then click the mouse button. The selected region will then highlight in
red and the ‘Edit CFD Grid’ data panel will be displayed at the bottom left of the screen:
The following settings are available on the Edit CFD Grid data panel:
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Editing The CFD Grid
Operation
• 1–Edit Region - change the spacing of the currently selected region.
• 2–Insert Region- insert a new custom key coordinate at a defined point in the current region to form
an additional region.
• 3–Remove Region - this option is only available if the current region has been previously inserted and
allows you to remove it.
Spacing Type
The spacing type can be set to one of the following:
• 2-Uniform - the region is sub-divided into a number of equal sub-divisions, the dimension of which is
calculated to be as close to the specified ‘Spacing dimension’ as possible.
• 3-Increasing power-law - the location of each sub-division grid line within the region increases as the
power of the spacing number, which starts at the beginning of the region. So that if i represents the
index number of the grid line counted from the start of the region, the coordinate of the ith sub-division
grid line is calculated using the following relationship: xi=(region dimension)(i/n)power+xs
• 4-Decreasing power-law - the location of each sub-division grid line within the region decreases as
the power of the spacing number, which starts at the end of the region. So that if i represents the index
number of the grid line counted from the start of the region, the coordinate of the ith sub-division grid
line is calculated using the following relationship: xi=(region dimension)[1-(i/n)power]+xs
• 5-Symmetric power-law - the coordinate of the ith sub-division grid line is calculated using both
increasing and decreasing power-law relationships that meet at the middle of the region:
For i <= n/2: xi=[(region dimension)/2](2i/n)power+xs
Spacing power
If the Increasing/Decreasing/Symmetric power law spacing type has been selected, this setting is displayed
and allows you to enter the power used in the associated power-law spacing relationship.
Number of divisions
If the Increasing/Decreasing/Symmetric power law spacing type has been selected, this setting is displayed
and allows you to enter the number of divisions used in the associated power-law spacing relationship.
After selecting an operation and adjusting the required settings, you then need to click on the ‘Apply changes’
button to update the selected grid region with the current settings.
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CFD Grid Information
Information about the CFD grid can be obtained using the Show CFD grid statistics tool, which displays the
CFD grid statistics dialog:
If the maximum cell aspect ratio exceeds the allowable limit of 50 or the required memory exceeds the
physical memory available, the ‘Check’ will indicate a failure:
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Setting Up CFD Cell Monitor Points
The CFD calculation process is iterative and is considered to have completed once ‘convergence’ has been
achieved. The main indicator for convergence is the point at which the finite difference equations for all cells
are satisfied by the current values of the appropriate dependent variables. However, it can be very useful in
many cases to monitor the variation of the dependent variables at specific locations throughout the calculation
domain in order to observe the point at which they stabilise. It may be acceptable, in many cases, to terminate
a calculation as soon as the dependent variables have achieved adequate stability but before the residuals
have arrived at their defined termination values
When a project is first created, a default central cell monitor point is automatically added to the domain. The
Define CFD monitor points tool enables you to identify up to ten cells throughout the calculation domain at
which you want to monitor the variation of the calculated variables.
After selecting the Define CFD monitor points tool, the cell monitor screen is displayed which includes the
model view together with a cell selection frame, perpendicular to the currently selected axis. You can select a
plane along the current axis by moving the mouse cursor across the model in the direction of the axis. To
change the axis, click on the required axis on the axis selector tool, which is located at the top right of the
screen:
After selecting the required axis, move the cell selection frame along the axis, and then click the mouse button
to select a plane at the required distance along the axis. A cell selection grid is then displayed in the selected
plane allowing you to move the mouse cursor to the required cell in that plane:
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After moving the mouse cursor to the required cell, click the mouse button to display the cell monitor data
panel at the bottom left of the screen.
The following settings are available on the cell monitor data panel:
Operation
This control is only active if you have selected a cell for which a monitor point has already been defined. The
following options are available:
• 1–Update cell - add a monitor point or edit the name of a previously defined point.
• 2–Remove cell - remove a previously defined monitor point.
After changing the required settings, click on the ‘Apply changes’ button to update the selected cell. You can
cancel the Define CFD monitor points command by pressing the <Esc> key or by selecting another tool.
To run the calculations, click on the Update calculated data tool. If a problem is found with the grid generation,
the CFD Grid Statistics dialog is displayed showing the error. There are three possible error conditions:
1. Maximum cell aspect ratio exceeds the limit - you will need to delete the existing project and create
a new one either reducing the default grid spacing dimension or increasing the grid line merge
tolerance by a suitable amount (see the CFD Analysis Manager section).
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CFD Calculation Options
2. Required memory exceeds the available memory - you will need to delete the existing project and
create a new project with larger default grid spacing or consider simplifying the problem definition in
terms of complexity of assemblies, etc.
3. Flow imbalance – the total flow rate specified for supply diffusers does not balance with the total flow
rate specified for extract grilles. You will need to add supply diffusers or extract grilles or edit the
existing flow rates to establish the correct balance
If no problem is encountered in creating the grid, the ‘Edit Calculation Options’ dialog will be displayed:
The Edit Calculation Options dialog is divided into two main sections, the Residuals and Cell Monitor graphs
and the Calculation Options Data panel.
Buttons
There are also a group of buttons at the bottom of the dialog, which allow you to control the calculations:
Start
Start, or if the calculations have been paused, re-start the calculations.
Pause
Interrupt or pause the calculations. Once the calculations have been paused, the calculation dialog can be
temporarily closed in order to review the results.
Reset
After pausing the calculations, the calculations may then be re-initialised to start from scratch. If the solution is
found to diverge and you pause the calculations to decrease the velocity false time steps, you will then need
to reset the calculations before re-starting.
Turbulence Model
The following turbulence model options are available:
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• 1–Constant effective viscosity: The constant effective viscosity model is a very simple approach
involving the replacement of the molecular viscosity in the Navier-Stokes equations with a constant
effective viscosity (typically in the order of 100-1000). Although this model is incapable of modelling
local turbulence or the transport of turbulence, it is computationally much less expensive than the k-e
model and can be numerically much more stable.
• 2–k-e: This model is one of the most widely used and tested of all turbulence models, belonging to the
so-called RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) family of models. These models involve replacing
the instantaneous velocity in the Navier-Stokes and energy equations with a mean and fluctuating
component. The resulting equations give rise to additional terms known as Reynolds stresses and
turbulent heat flux components. Reynolds stresses are replaced with terms involving instantaneous
velocities where molecular viscosities are substituted for effective viscosities and a similar substitution
is conducted for the energy equation. The effective viscosity is the sum of the molecular viscosity and a
turbulent viscosity, which is derived from the turbulence kinetic energy and the dissipation rate of
turbulence kinetic energy:
where k= turbulence kinetic energy and e = dissipation rate of turbulence kinetic energy
k and e are both derived from partial differential equations which are in turn derived from a
manipulation of the Navier-Stokes equations.
Discretisation Scheme
The following discretisation schemes are available:
• 1-Upwind - The calculation process involves replacing the defining set of partial differential equations
with a set of finite difference equations. The conventional approach to this is to use a Taylor’s series
formulation, which leads to a set of central difference equations. However, although this approach is
physically realistic for diffusion, it is not found to be realistic for convection because of its one-way
nature, i.e. upwind conditions affect downwind conditions but not the reverse. The upwind scheme
allows the convective term to be calculated assuming that the value of the dependent variable at a cell
interface is equal to the value at the cell on the upwind side of the interface.
• 2–Hybrid – a more computationally expensive approach than the upwind scheme but it reduces
numerical diffusion at high values of Pe number.
• 3–Power-Law - The power-law scheme is arguably more accurate than the hybrid scheme but is more
computationally expensive.
Iterations
This is the maximum number of iterations conducted by the outer iterative calculation loop (see ‘CFD
Calculations and Convergence’ section). The calculations will terminate when the number of iterations
reaches this value regardless of whether or not the solution has converged.
Isothermal
If the Isothermal checkbox is checked the temperature is assumed to be constant throughout the calculation
domain and the energy equation is removed from the calculations.
• 1–Calculated - Surface heat transfer coefficients are calculated using a wall function if the k-e
turbulence model has been selected.
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CFD Calculation Options
• 2–User-defined - Surface heat transfer coefficients can be specified separately for ceilings, wall and
floors (below). The heat transfer is calculated by combining the specified surface transfer coefficient
with the cell surface area and the delta T between the surface and the adjacent cell.
Ceiling
The ceiling inside surface convective heat transfer coefficient is used in the heat flux calculations
between all downward-facing surfaces, including zone ceilings, roofs, and downward facing component
block surfaces for component blocks that have the 2-Temperature boundary condition option set. The
default user-defined ceiling heat transfer coefficient is 5 W/m2-K.
Wall
The wall inside surface convective heat transfer coefficient is used in the heat flux calculations between
all wall and partition surfaces, including zone walls and partitions and non-horizontal component block
surfaces for component blocks that have the 2-Temperature boundary condition option set. The default
user-defined wall heat transfer coefficient is 2.5 W/m2-K.
Floor
The floor inside surface convective heat transfer coefficient is used in the heat flux calculations
between all upward-facing surfaces, including zone floors and upward facing component block surfaces
for component blocks that have the 2-Temperature boundary condition option set. The default user-
defined floor heat transfer coefficient is 0.7 W/m2-K.
Initial Conditions
In some cases, a faster solution can be achieved by setting the initial conditions closer to the final expected
conditions. Enter initial velocities in each of the x, y and z directions as well as the initial temperature of the
whole domain.
Cell Monitor
Select any defined cell monitor point and associated dependent variable to be displayed on the cell monitor
(see Setting Up CFD Cell Monitor Points section).
Residual Display
Residuals give an indication of the extent to which the calculations have converged to the final solution. They
are a measure of the total 'error' still left on the solution. You can select the dependent variables and/or mass
for which residuals are to be displayed in the residuals monitor. The mass residual is similar to the dependent
variable residuals but is extracted from a continuity equation mass balance for each cell and is the most
significant residual in terms of indicating a successfully converged solution.
The residuals have no units and are normalised by scaling to enable similar termination residual magnitudes
for each variable.
It is also important to use monitor points (above) in conjunction with termination residuals because they can
provide a more meaningful indication of convergence (i.e. when the values of the dependent variables at the
monitor points level out).
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Dependent Variable Control Settings
Some CFD models may not converge with default control options and may require some adjustment of
settings under the Dependent Variable Control Settings header.
The calculations involve a nested iterative scheme whereby dependent variable equations are solved
iteratively within an overall outer iterative loop (see CFD Calculations and Convergence section). The
dependent variable control settings enable control inner iterative dependent variable calculations.
Inner iteration
The number of iterations used for the calculation of the dependent variable.
Relaxation factor
This is used in the ‘text book’ relaxation method, which can be used to allow only a proportion of the
calculated value of the current iteration dependent variable to be assigned to the variable. However, the false
time step is normally the preferred method of achieving under-relaxation.
Termination residual
The outer iterative calculation loop is repeated until the finite difference equations for all cells are satisfied by
the current values of the appropriate dependent variables, at which point the scheme is said to have
‘converged’. The dependent variable residual is the maximum residual quantity for the equation balance
across all cells in the domain. The solution is deemed to have converged for each dependent variable when
the residual is less than the termination residual.
The CFD Calculations and Convergence section gives an overview of the calculation methodology that will
help in understanding the concepts used to initialise, control and monitor the calculations.
When considering the residual plots, you should bear in mind that the residuals can fluctuate quite markedly
throughout the period of the calculations and in some cases rise appreciably before falling and so you need to
get an idea of the overall trend after several hundred iterations. The following screenshot shows a plot of
residuals and a default centrally located monitor cell plot for the internal analysis illustrated in the Displaying
Results section. Notice that the monitored velocity has reached a steady final value.
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Convergence Difficulties And Troubleshooting
If you notice that the residuals are fluctuating wildly or steadily increasing over several hundred iterations, you
should pause the calculations and take remedial action (see Convergence Difficulties and Troubleshooting
section).
The cell monitor graph displays the variation in the selected dependent variable for the currently selected
monitor cell (see Setting Up CFD Cell Monitor Points section and Cell Monitor setting in the CFD Calculation
Options section). The variation of monitored cell point variables provides a good indication of solution
convergence, i.e. when the variation of the variable stabilises.
Tip: If the plotted residuals are found to diverge or fluctuate significantly, in many cases the situation can be
improved by reducing the false time steps for the velocity components. The recommended procedure is to
continuously half the time steps until a more stable solution is found.
Turbulence models
In some cases a solution can be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve using the standard k-e turbulence
model. Particularly difficult problems involve very low velocity buoyancy-driven flows where diffusion is
dominated by convection and this can cause velocities to fluctuate around a mean value. In these cases,
reducing false time steps may not improve the situation. In order to force a solution, you may consider
introducing additional boundary conditions such as occupants, which can change the flow sufficiently to obtain
a solution without the problem necessarily becoming unrealistic.
Alternatively, you may consider using the constant effective viscosity turbulence model with a relatively high
turbulent viscosity or turbulent viscosity multiplier but bear in mind that this will introduce an artificially high
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level of diffusion into the flow and also, the constant effective viscosity model is incapable of modelling the
transport of turbulence.
Displaying Results
After completing or pausing the calculations, the CFD Display Options data panel is shown in the bottom left
of the screen and the Select CFD slice tool becomes enabled (above). This is the main mechanism for
displaying results. It allows you to select a slice along one of the main grid axes and perpendicular to it, within
which any of the selected results can be displayed.
After selecting the Select CFD slice tool, the CFD results screen is displayed which includes the model view
together with a slice selection frame, perpendicular to the currently selected axis. You can select a slice along
the current axis by moving the mouse cursor across the model in the direction of the axis. To change the axis,
click on the required axis on the axis selector tool, which is located at the top right of the screen:
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Displaying Results
After selecting the required axis and moving the slice selector frame to the required position along the axis,
click the mouse button to add the slice to the display. Notice that as you move the slice selection frame to a
slice that was previously added to the display, the frame colour changes from green to red and if you click the
mouse button, the slice is removed from the display:
Slice variable plots are selected under the ‘Slice Settings’ header on the Display Options data panel and
controlled under the ‘Variable Settings’ header:
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Note that any modifications made to items on the Display Options data panel will only come into effect
after clicking on the ‘Apply changes’ button.
The ‘Variable Settings’ group contains groups of variable banding data for velocity, temperature and pressure
variables. Also, under the variable settings ‘Velocity’ header, there are two velocity vector settings, ‘Maximum
vector length’ and ‘Velocity scale factor’. Velocity vectors are displayed as arrows, the length of which
corresponds to the magnitude of the velocity and with the default vector scale factor of 1.0, a length of 1.0m
corresponds to a magnitude of 1.0m/s. The maximum vector length is the maximum length of a vector that will
be displayed to prevent the display from becoming cluttered with excessively large vectors. Any vector, which
has a magnitude greater than this maximum, will be displayed translucently to distinguish it from vectors with
lengths that do represent magnitude.
The variable banding data comprises the defined band range, followed by twelve contour band values within
the defined range. The band range defines the minimum and maximum variable values between which data
will be displayed and the band values are the actual values within that range that are displayed in the form of
contours or in the case of velocity vectors, vector colours. The default minimum and maximum variable display
values are extracted from the calculated values and this range is then divided into twelve equal increments in
order to arrive at the dependent variable contour bands. Each contour band can be edited or switched off
altogether. When the band range values are modified, the individual band values are automatically re-
calculated.
The ‘Slice Settings’ group is used to select the plots required to be included in subsequently added slices.
The last item on the Display Options data panel is the 3-D contours group that allows you to select any of the
available variables for which a 3-D contour plot is required:
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CFD Comfort Calculations
DesignBuilder CFD comfort calculations allow you to carry out a distributed analysis of the comfort conditions
in the domain. The comfort calculations are carried out for each cell in the grid and include consideration of
the local air temperature and velocity. Radiant temperatures of the surrounding surfaces are also considered.
Note that solar radiation through windows or from zone equipment is not considered in DesignBuilder CFD.
After completing or pausing the CFD calculations the Update CFD comfort tool will become enabled. Clicking
on this tool opens the comfort Calculation options dialog.
Metabolic rate
Enter the metabolic rate to be used in the CFD comfort analysis. You should choose a value depending on the
activity, age and sex of the occupants. If you are aiming to reproduce conditions in a previous EnergyPlus
simulation then you should enter the same value used in that simulation. The default value for simulation is
0.90 met (the average of the recommended values for men and women). The default metabolic rate on this
dialog is also 0.9.
Clothing level
Enter the clothing level for the CFD comfort calculations. The default is 1.0 which represents typical winter
clothing.
If you are aiming to match comfort calculations with those in EnergyPlus you should ensure that you use the
appropriate value. Note that EnergyPlus clothing levels are provided for summer and winter separately so you
should make sure to choose the right value depending on the season for this CFD simulation.
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Relative humidity
DesignBuilder CFD does not calculate relative humidity (RH) so this value must be defined manually by the
user when calculating comfort. Again if you are aiming to reproduce the same values from a simulation you
should copy the appropriate RH from the EnergyPlus results to this dialog. The default value is 50%.
The MRT calculation works by constructing a sphere at the centre of each grid using a number of ‘strips’ and
‘patches’:
During the MRT calculations the procedure projects a ‘ray’ from the centre of each sphere through the centre
of each ‘patch’ looking for the nearest surface that intersects with this ray (enclosure, component or assembly
surface). The temperature of this intersected surface is then assigned to the patch. The MRT is finally
calculated by summing the area/temperature contributions for the whole sphere.
Comfort Results
After pressing OK on the Calculation options dialog, a progress bar will be displayed indicating that mean
radiant temperature (MRT) calculations are in progress, followed by another progress bar for the comfort
calculations themselves.
After the comfort calculations have completed additional comfort data will become available and
corresponding comfort slice display variables are available on the Display options data panel:
• PMV - Predicted Mean Vote calculated using Fanger equations according to ISO 7730
• PPD - Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied calculated using Fanger equations according to ISO 7730
• Mean Radiant Temperature
• Operative Temperature
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Age Of Air And Air Change Effectiveness
You can find out more about Fanger comfort calculations in the EnergyPlus Thermal Comfort section.
The CFD Analysis Manager dialog allows you to create new CFD projects, open existing projects or remove
existing projects. For example, considering the internal analysis example illustrated in the Displaying Results
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section, you may want to conduct another analysis after moving the position of a radiator in order to look at
the effect on air distribution. You would first go to the Edit screen and modify the radiator layout:
After returning to the CFD screen, you can then click on the CFD results manager tool to open the CFD
Results Manager dialog:
The CFD Analysis Manger dialog incorporates a list of all available projects together with buttons that allow
you to create a new project, open a project or delete a project. For each project entry in the list, the first
column indicates the project name, the second column the model domain object used for the calculations
(site, building, building block, zone) and the third column indicates whether or not the model geometry
contained within the results is up-to-date. In this case, you would click on the New button to create a new
project:
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CFD Analysis Manager
See the Setting Up a New Internal CFD Analysis section for details of creating a new internal analysis.
After creating the new analysis, you can then conduct the calculations:
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You can then use the CFD Analysis Manager to open the previous project in order to compare results:
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Example - CFD External Analysis
Import
You can import a CFD analysis using the Import button on this dialog. The file for import will typically have
previously been exported from a different version of the same model, perhaps on different computer on in a
different file. CFD analysis files have extension .cfd.
External analyses are simpler than internal analyses in that you do not need to define any internal boundary
conditions. Also they are isothermal and take account principally of only velocity and pressure.
It is possible to edit the grid and select monitor cells with external CFD as well as with internal CFD.
Click on the Add new block tool and change the Block type to Building block and the Height to 30.0m. To
place the origin of the building at the site origin, type in 0 0 and press the <Return> key. To then create the
block with a 30.0m x 20.0m perimeter, type in 30 20 and press the <Return> key. A block will be created with
the required dimensions. Alternatively create the block by drawing the base perimeter in the normal way.
- 1603 -
Creating A New CFD External Analysis
Each DesignBuilder project can have one or more CFD analyses. Each CFD Analysis can be a different set of
results for a different variation on the model. Unlike simulation data, CFD Analyses are not deleted
automatically when the model is modified on the Edit screen.
1. Click on the site in the navigator to move to the site level.
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Example - CFD External Analysis
Notice the rotation of the domain with respect to the building to account for the wind direction.
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Press <Esc> to cancel the Define CFD monitor points tool.
Keep the default options except for Iterations which should be set to 5000 and under the Residual Display
header, switch on the X, Y and Z-axis velocity residuals.
Click on the Start button to begin the calculations. Wait until the calculation is fully converged when the
residuals have reached the specified minimum and the “Finished (Converged)” indicator is displayed at the
bottom left of the dialog. Notice that the displayed velocity for the supply monitor point becomes constant.
2. Under the Slice Settings header, make sure that only Velocity vectors is switched on.
4. Click on the Select CFD slice tool. Use the grid axis selector to change the current axis to the Z-axis
and then move the mouse across one of the side surfaces of the site domain along the Z-axis until the
slice selection frame is located 25m above the ground plane. Click on the mouse to add the currently
selected slice to the display.
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Example - CFD External Analysis
1. Clear the current slice from the display using the Clear all slices tool.
2. Switch off Velocity vectors under the Slice Settings header on the Display Options panel and switch on
the Velocity contours and Filled Velocity contours.
3. Click on the green tick Apply changes button.
4. Select the Y-axis from the grid axis selector and move the cursor over the top surface of the site
domain along the Y-axis until the slice selection frame is 50.68m from the origin and click the mouse to
add the slice to the display.
5. To add a horizontal slice 5m from the ground, select the Z-axis from the grid axis selector and move the
cursor over one of the side surfaces of the site domain along the Z-axis until the slice selection frame is
5.0m above the ground plane and click the mouse to add the slice to the display.
- 1607 -
Display 3-D Contours
3-D contours can be displayed to show the values of a variable throughout the domain. 3-D contours can
display a lot of data:
1. Clear the current slice from the display using the Tools > Clear all slices menu option.
2. Under the 3-D Contours header on the Display Options data panel, switch on Pressure. Click on the
green tick Apply changes button.
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Example - CFD Internal Analysis Basics
Create a new site and add a new building using default settings. From the building level Click on the ‘Add new
block’ tool and change the “Block type” to “Building block”, the “Height” to 3.5m and set the wall thickness to
0.25m.
- 1609 -
Default Wall And Window Boundary Temperatures
Default wall and window boundary temperatures can be defined from the building level down to the surface
level. As with other DesignBuilder attribute data, these attributes are inherited from the level above unless
deliberately overwritten.
The default wall and window boundary temperatures can be accessed under the CFD Boundary header on
the CFD tab of the model data.
Go down to the zone surface facing North and change the default wall temperature to 18°C and the default
window temperature to 10°C. Go through the same procedure for the west facing zone surface.
Supply grille
1. Click on the zone in the navigator and select the North-facing surface in the Edit screen. Double-click to
drop down to the surface level.
2. Click on the Normal view button to obtain a normal view of the surface.
3. Click on the Add CFD boundary tool. The CFD boundary data panel is displayed at the bottom left of
the screen.
4. Select Supply from the Boundary type drop list. Keep all of the remaining boundary defaults but change
the Y discharge angle to 45° in order that the supply jet will be projected upwards at an angle of
45° from the horizontal.
5. The supply diffuser is to be 1.0m x 0.2m and is to be located midway between the North and South
surface edges, 0.4m from the top edge of the surface. With the Increment snap switched on, move the
cursor to the top left corner of the surface and press <SHIFT> to lock the origin to the surface corner,
move the cursor away from the corner until the cursor is snapped 0.4m from the top edge and 1.5m
from the left edge and click the mouse button to place the top left corner of the boundary. Move the
cursor to place the bottom right corner of the boundary 1.0m to the right and 0.2m below the top left
corner and click the mouse to place the supply.
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Example - CFD Internal Analysis Basics
Extract grille
A 0.5m x 0.5m extract grille is to be located in the corner of the ceiling 0.5 m from the North and east surface
edges.
1. Click on the zone roof surface in the navigator and again click on the Normal view button to obtain a
normal view.
2. Click on the Add CFD boundary tool and select Extract from the Boundary type drop list. Keep the
default flow rate of 200 l/s to match the supply flow rate.
3. Move the cursor until it is snapped 0.5m from the top edge of the surface and 0.5m from the right edge
and click the mouse to place the top right corner of the extract, move the mouse 0.5m to the left and
0.5m below the top right corner of the extract and click the mouse to place it.
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Click OK to create the analysis data set.
You will see the model in wire-frame mode by default and at this stage the CFD analysis has been created
including the default grid and the model is ready for calculations. If you were going to edit the grid now is the
time – before starting the calculations, but for now we will use the default grid.
Click on the Start button to begin the calculations. Wait until the calculation is fully converged when the
residuals have reached the specified minimum (1x10-5 is the default for all variables) and the Finished
(Converged) indicator is displayed at the bottom left of the dialog. Notice that the displayed velocity for the
default Centre monitor point becomes constant (bottom graph).
Click on the Select CFD slice tool. Click on the Y-axis of the grid axis selector (top right of screen) and then
move the cursor over the ceiling surface along the Y-axis to move the slice selection frame midway between
the North and South-facing walls, 2.0m from each wall and click the mouse button to add the currently
selected slice to the display.
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Example - CFD Internal Analysis Including Assemblies
Notice that as you move the slice selection frame to a slice that was previously added to the display, the frame
colour changes from green to red and if you click the mouse button, the slice is removed from the display.
Try adding more slices in other planes to see the key characteristics of temperature and velocity distribution in
the zone.
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In this exercise a radiator assembly is to be created from a single component block, which is to be drawn
using a rectangular extrusion.
1. Click on the Add new block tool and change the Block type on the Drawing Options panel to
Component block and the Height to 1.0m.
2. To place the origin of the radiator component block at the site origin, type in 0 0 and press the return
key.
3. Now to create the radiator component with a length of 1.0m and say a thickness of 60mm to represent
a single panel convector type radiator, type in 1.0 0.06. The component block will then appear with the
specified dimensions. Alternatively use the mouse to define the component block dimensions in the
usual way.
To convert the component block to an assembly and add the resulting assembly to the model assembly
library:
1. First select the component block and then click on the Add assembly to library tool. The selected
component block will be displayed with a wire frame bounding-box and the Add assembly to library
data panel is displayed at the bottom left of the screen.
2. Set the Assembly creation mode to Delete because the original component block will not be needed
after the conversion and type the name Radiator into the Name field.
3. Set the Thermal boundary type to Temperature in order to create a constant temperature radiator and
set the Temperature to 75.0°C.
4. Make sure that the Mass check box is checked to ensure that the assembly will represent a solid
boundary and that air will not be able to pass through it.
5. The next stage is to select the attachment plane for the assembly, which is the surface plane of the
assembly that will be used when attaching the assembly to a model surface during the assembly
placement process. In this case, the base (bottom) surface of the radiator should be selected as the
attachment plane. To select the attachment plane, move the cursor over the radiator assembly and as
you do so, each surface of the assembly bounding-box will highlight in yellow, move the cursor to the
base surface of the bounding-box and click the mouse. The assembly will then be automatically added
to the model assembly library and because the Delete creation mode has been selected, the original
component will be deleted.
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Example - CFD Internal Analysis Including Assemblies
To do this, orbit the model to get a clear view of the west-facing end wall from the inside of the block and then
click on the Place construction line tool.
To position the construction line accurately, switch on the Increment snap under Point Snaps on the Drawing
Options data panel. Move the cursor to snap to the lower surface edge at the bottom of the North-facing wall
and move the cursor to obtain an edge snap 0.3m from the end nearest the west-facing wall. Click the mouse
to start the construction line and move the mouse to the opposite edge at the bottom of the South-facing wall,
snapped to the Y-axis and click the mouse once the edge snap is established on the opposite edge to place
the construction line.
Click on the Place assembly tool and as you move the cursor back across the Edit screen, you will see that a
copy of the previously created radiator assembly is attached to the cursor and the Place assembly data panel
- 1615 -
is displayed at the bottom left of the screen. Set the Offset to 0.1m to offset the base of the radiator 0.1m
above the floor level, set the Width to 2.0m, the height to 0.6m and leave the Depth at 0.06m. Move the cursor
to establish a snap on the construction line and click the mouse to place the radiator origin. Once the radiator
has been placed, a protractor is displayed at the assembly origin enabling you to define the rotation. Rotate
the radiator assembly until it is parallel with the nearest wall and then click the mouse to set the rotation.
Repeat this procedure to place a 3.0m radiator adjacent to the North-facing wall.
- 1616 -
Example - CFD Internal Analysis Including Assemblies
Note that the first Basic Vent analysis is flagged as not up-to-date. This is because the model has been edited
since the last calculation was made.
Click on the New button to create a new analysis using the model in its current state. The New CFD analysis
dialog is displayed. Enter Radiators and Vent in the Name field and leave the default grid spacing and grid line
merge tolerance at their default settings. The default grid spacing and grid line merge tolerance are used in
generating the CFD grid. During the process of creating a new CFD analysis data set, a 3-D CFD grid is
automatically generated by extracting key points from the model geometry along each of the major axes. The
spaces between the key points are known as grid regions and are automatically divided into sub-regions using
the default grid spacing entered on the Calculation options dialog. The grid line merge tolerance enables key
point grid lines that are very close together to be merged in order to prevent very high aspect ratio cells from
being created which can lead to calculation instability.
You will see the model in wire-frame mode by default and at this stage the CFD analysis has been created
including the default grid and the model is ready for calculations.
- 1617 -
To change the current grid axis, click on one of the major axes in the grid axis selector tool that is displayed at
the top right of the CFD screen. To edit a selected region, click the mouse on the currently selected region.
The selected region will turn red and the Edit CFD grid region data panel will be displayed at the bottom left of
the screen. You can select Edit region from the Operation drop list to change the default spacing of the region
or Insert region to create a new region and in the case of a previously inserted region, you can select Remove
region to remove it.
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Example - CFD Internal Analysis Including Assemblies
To cancel the Edit CFD grid tool press the <Esc> key.
After editing the default grid, you can reset it to the default by clicking on the Reset CFD grid tool. Also, to
obtain information about the grid, you can click on the Show CFD grid statistics tool which brings up a dialog
indicating the number of cells, required memory, available memory and maximum cell aspect ratio.
For the purpose of this tutorial, the default grid will be used.
1. To set up a monitor point, click on the Define CFD monitor points tool.
2. Move the cursor along the current grid axis to select the plane in which the monitor cell is to be
selected. You can change the current grid axis using the grid axis selector tool as before.
3. Once the plane has been selected, you can the move the cursor to select the required cell in that
plane. With the current grid axis set to the default X axis, move the cursor along the axis to select a
plane about 1.0m from the supply diffuser and then move the cursor across the selected plane and
select a cell directly in front of the diffuser.
4. The Cell monitor data panel is displayed at the bottom left of the screen. Enter the name Supply in the
Monitor location name field and click on the green tick Apply changes button
When a monitor cell has been added, a cell marker is displayed together with the cell name.
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You can press <Esc> to cancel the Define CFD monitor points tool.
Click on the Start button to begin the calculations. Wait until the calculation is fully converged when the
residuals have reached the specified minimum and the “Finished (Converged)” indicator is displayed at the
bottom left of the dialog. Notice that the displayed velocity for the default Centre monitor point becomes
constant (bottom graph).
The default minimum and maximum dependent variable values are extracted from the minimum and
maximum values found in the domain and this range is then divided into twelve equal increments in order to
arrive at the dependent variable contour bands. Each contour band can be edited or switched off altogether.
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Example - CFD Internal Analysis Including Assemblies
In this tutorial the maximum temperature will be 75.0°C (the temperature of the radiators), which is well above
the mean temperature of the space, and consequently the default contour bands would be far from the mean
and the resulting display would not be very informative. So in order to compress the contour bands to be
within the likely temperature range throughout the domain DesignBuilder automatically sets the Maximum
Temperature under temperature bands range to 24.0°C and the minimum value to 18°C.
You can manually change these maximum and minimum values in the Display options panel. Note that you
need to click on the green tick Apply changes button in order for the display attributes to take effect. Notice
also that the temperature contour bands are updated using the new temperature range.
You can revert to the absolute minimum and maximum values in the model by using the Tools > Reset CFD
display variables menu command.
Comfort Calculations
Click on the Update CFD comfort tool to carry out comfort calculations. After the calculations have been
completed, various comfort variables are available for display, PMV, PPD, operative temperature and mean
radiant temperature. Clear all slices from the display using the Clear all slices tool. Switch off Velocity vectors
and Filled temperature contours under the Slice Settings header on the Display options panel and switch on
the PMV contours and Filled PMV contours. Click on the green tick Apply changes button.
Click on the Select CFD slice tool and click on the Y-axis of the grid axis selector. Move the cursor over the
ceiling surface along the Y-axis to move the slice selection frame again to be midway between the North and
South-facing walls and click the mouse button to add the slice to the display.
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Appendix - CFD Calculations And Convergence
The numerical method used by DesignBuilder CFD is known as a primitive variable method, which involves
the solution of a set of equations that describe the conservation of heat, mass and momentum. The equation
set includes the three velocity component momentum equations (known as the Navier-Stokes equations), the
temperature equation and where the k-e turbulence model is used, equations for turbulence kinetic energy
and the dissipation rate of turbulence kinetic energy. The equations comprise a set of coupled non-linear
second-order partial differential equations having the following general form, in which f represents the
dependent variables:
Term 1 represents the rate of change, term 2 represents convection, term 3 represents diffusion and S is a
source term.
Due to its non-linearity, the equation set cannot be solved using analytical techniques, which necessitates the
requirement for a numerical method. The numerical method employed by DesignBuilder involves re-casting
the differential equations into the form of a set of finite difference equations by sub-dividing the required
building space (or calculation domain) into a set of non-overlapping adjoining rectilinear volumes or cells,
which is collectively known as a finite volume grid. The equation set is then expressed in the form of a set of
linear algebraic equations for each cell within the grid and the overall set of equations is solved using an
iterative scheme. The non-linearity of the equation set is accounted for by the use of a nested iterative
scheme whereby each dependent variable equation set (velocity components, temperature, etc.) are
themselves solved iteratively within an overall outer iterative loop and at the termination of each outer
iteration, the most recent values of the dependent variables are fed back into the dependent variable
coefficients. The outer iterative loop is repeated until the finite difference equations for all cells are satisfied by
the current values of the appropriate dependent variables, at which point the scheme is said to have
‘converged’. An appreciation of the requirement for convergence and the nested iterative procedure used to
achieve it will help in understanding the meaning of the various calculation options that are described in the
‘Conducting CFD Calculations’ section.
The main mechanism to ensure that the variables change slowly is that of false time steps. The finite
difference equation set is formulated in the form of a transient equation set although the calculations are
steady state, i.e. essentially a ‘snap-shot’ in time. The reason for this formulation is that the transient term
behaves as a very effective relaxation method, which can slow the change in dependent variables in order to
arrive at a more stable solution. The false time step is the time step used in the pseudo-transient term of the
dependent variable equation.
Air Compressibility
CFD calculation uses the so-called Boussinesq approximation that assumes the flow is incompressible except
in the case of the buoyancy source term.
You can find more details on the calculation method used in the CFD Technical online document.
- 1622 -
CFD Analysis Update
Daylighting Calculations
DesignBuilder provides 3 types of daylighting calculations:
1. Daylight illuminance distribution under static sky conditions with reports on average daylight factor,
uniformity etc. Data is generated for each zone calculated using the Radiance ray-tracing simulation
engine. Standard reports detailing eligibility for LEED EQ8.1, BREEAM HEA 01, Green Star IEQ4 and
LEED v4 Daylighting BD+C credits Option 2 daylighting credits are provided. Navigate to the
Daylighting screen and the Illuminance tab to view these daylighting results.
2. Annual Climate Based Daylight Modelling (CBDM) through the Radiance simulation engine.
Standard reports are generated for LEED v4 Daylighting BD+C credits Option 1 as well as general
sDA, ASE and UDI distribution plots and summary reports.
The rest of this section covers the detailed Radiance methods of calculation of daylight.
• Surface visible reflectance and specularity of materials on the innermost and outermost layers of
constructions used in building surfaces. The outermost material layer surface properties are used for
component blocks and assemblies.
• Window glazing transmittance and diffusion properties.
• Detailed geometry description including the 3-D surfaces, window frames and dividers etc as seen on
the Visualisation screen.
• Site ground reflectance is used to create a ground plane that reflect light in a diffuse manner.
• You can select which zones are regularly occupied with regard to Radiance and Daysim daylighting
calculations using the Include zone in daylighting calculations option on the Activity tab.
• The occupancy schedule over the year is used to define the hours where daylight is required in each
zone. Hours outside this schedule are not considered when assessing the daylight performance of the
zone.
• The same hourly weather file selection used in EnergyPlus simulations is used to define the sky
conditions through the year.
Additional data entered on the Calculation options dialog is used to define the details of the calculation and, in
the case of static illuminance calculations, some further information on the sky light distribution is provided.
The above data is passed to the simulation engine which calculates the distribution of illuminance on the
working plane using a backward ray-tracing method. This is done either for single static points in time (static
illuminance) or over the course of the whole year (Annual/CBDM). Once the calculations have been carried
out, the daylight data can be displayed in a range of formats.
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Illuminance Daylighting
The DesignBuilder Radiance illuminance simulations provide a detailed multi-zone physics-based calculation
of illumination levels on the working plane of a building using fixed static external lighting conditions and sky
distributions. Radiance was developed at LBNL California, for predicting the distribution of visible radiation in
illuminated spaces. It is internationally recognised as one of the most accurate and extensively validated
lighting simulation tools available. The implementation of Radiance within DesignBuilder uses the full 3-D
geometric model of the physical environment as seen on the Visualisation screen as input, and applies a
"backward ray-tracing" method in which light is followed backwards from the working plane to the source(s) to
produce a map of illuminance on the working plane. The calculations allow light to be transmitted through
exterior and interior windows, and the shading and reflective effect of local shading devices and component
and assembly blocks is included.
Note: Window shading options such as slatted and diffusing blinds are not included in Radiance
calculations.
More information on Radiance daylighting calculations can be found in the Introduction to Daylighting
Tutorial
Calculation Options
Simulation type
Select the type of report that you will require after the calculations have finished. Options are:
• 1-General - a daylight distribution contour map and a table of summary daylight statistics on the
working plane of the current object(s) can be displayed.
• 2-LEED v2 Credit EQ8.1 Report - generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining LEED
v2 IEQ 8.1 credits.
• 3-LEED v3 Credit IEQ 8.1 Report - generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining
LEED v3 IEQ 8.1 credits.
• 4-LEED v4 Option 2 Report - uses a similar method to 4-LEED v3 Credit IEQ 8.1 Report to
generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining LEED v4 Daylight credits through Option
2.
• 5-BREEAM Credit HEA 01 Report, - generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining
BREEAM HEA 01 credits.
• 6-Green Star Credit IEQ4 Report, generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining
Green Star IEQ4 credits.
Note: Daylight results are stored separately for each Simulation type so you can generate and store
multiple results sets, one for each of he above, each potentially using different calculation option settings.
- 1624 -
Illuminance Daylighting Calculation Options
Detail template
Select a detail template from the drop list to load a set of ambient parameters to the dialog as shown in the
table below.
You do not necessarily need to have an in-depth understanding of the meaning of each of these parameters
to carry out an accurate assessment in DesignBuilder. However knowing a little bit about the way the
calculations work and how the options affect the calculations will help you to understand how to get the best
trade-off between accuracy and simulation times.
It is important to understand that Radiance works using a statistical Monte Carlo approach and this means
that you will not get exactly the same results if you repeat a calculation using exactly the same model and
options. You can reduce this effect by using higher detail settings but you cannot completely eliminate it. This
is discussed in more detail under Advanced options below.
Ambient
Ambient Ambient Ambient Ambient
Detail template super-
bounces accuracy resolution divisions
samples
Radiance code -ab -aa -ar -ad -as
1-Fast
1 0.3 128 256 128
Not recommended for project work
2-Standard
Default setting, but will underestimate 3 0.25 256 512 256
illuminance
3-Good (no interpolation) 4 0.00 512 1024 512
4-Good 4 0.22 512 1024 512
5-Accurate
5 0.20 512 2048 1024
Best setting for highest practical accuracy
6-High quality
Use when highest quality is required and a 7 0.18 1024 4096 2048
long wait for results is acceptable
Tip: For a discussion on the relative merits of using some of the above settings for daylight credit
calculations see below.
The working plane height is normally set at the average height of the top surface of the desks above the floor.
A typical value will be in the range 0.7-0.8m.
Note: The working plane height used in Radiance calculations is measured from the top of the floor
surface level, not the base of block as was the case in v5.0 and earlier.
Tip: To define different working plane heights for different zones, you can override the building level setting
on this dialog by entering values under the Daylighting outputs header on the Outputs model data tab at block
or zone level.
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Margin
Enter the margin (in m or ft) around the zone boundaries where illuminance data is not to be included in
summary results. This option can be used to help avoid inclusion of potentially misleading illuminance data
close to walls and windows. DesignBuilder sets the default margin depending on the simulation type selected.
The auto-generated ground plane uses the Ground reflectance defined at site level.
An alternative approach to model ground reflectance is to set the Ground plane extension to zero and to use
ground component blocks instead. Or a combination of ground component blocks and the ground plane
extension can be used.
Tip: While it may be tempting to enter a very large number here to cover a large area, that is not usually
recommended as it would significantly change the scene dimensions used within Radiance. Larger scene
dimensions require high detail settings which may require very long simulation times.
Sky
Sky method
There are 2 general methods for generating the sky illuminance distribution for the Radiance calculation:
• 1-Standard sky - the default method where one of the predefined standard sky distributions are
applied using the Radiance gensky tool.
• 2-Perez all weather - an alternative method suitable for all weather types based on the Perez sky
clearness (ε) and sky brightness (Δ) parameters and using the Radiance gendaylit tool. This option
must be selected for LEED v4 Option 2 calculations. There are 3 Perez methods to choose from as
described below.
Perez method
When the Sky method is set to 2-Perez all weather there are 4 methods to choose from depending on the
data you have available. In all cases the time, day and month of the analysis must be set to define the location
of the sun in the sky.
• 1-Brightness and clearness - if you know the Perez sky clearness (ε) and sky brightness (Δ)
parameters of the sky to be analysed choose this option.
• 2-Direct normal irradiance for when measured direct normal and diffuse horizontal irradiance data is
available. This option can be useful since it allows readily available solar data in W/m2 from the
EnergyPlus weather file to be used to define sky illuminance. Go to the Simulation tab, navigate to site
level and select hourly data to see solar data suitable for the location of your building for any hour of
the year. Note that using full spectrum solar data to define illuminance is seen by daylighting purists as
less accurate than using measured values of actual illuminance (see option 4).
• 3-Direct horizontal irradiance for when measured (or calculated) direct horizontal and diffuse
horizontal irradiance data is available. Such data can usually be found in EnergyPlus epw files in
W/m2.
• 4-Direct normal illuminance for when measured (or calculated) direct normal and diffuse horizontal
illuminance data is available. Such data can often be found in EnergyPlus epw files but DesignBuilder
does not provide access to it directly. This is considered to provide the most accurate method if the
required illuminance data is available.
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Illuminance Daylighting Calculation Options
Sky clearness
Perez sky clearness (ε). Enter a value from 1.0 to 12.0.
Available only when using the 2-Perez all weather Sky method and the 1-Brightness and clearness Perez
method
See: Perez, R., R. Seals, and J. Michalsky, 1993. All-weather model for sky luminance distribution—
Preliminary configuration and validation
Sky brightness
Perez sky brightness (Δ). Enter a value from 0.01 to 0.6.
Available only when using the 2-Perez all weather Sky method and the 1-Brightness and clearness Perez
method
See: Perez, R., R. Seals, and J. Michalsky, 1993. All-weather model for sky luminance distribution—
Preliminary configuration and validation
Available only when using the 2-Perez all weather Sky method and the 2-Direct normal irradiance Perez
method.
Available only when using the 2-Perez all weather Sky method and the 2-Direct normal irradiance or 3-
Direct horizontal irradiance Perez method have been selected.
Available only when using the 2-Perez all weather Sky method and the 4-Direct normal illuminance Perez
method
Available only when using the 2-Perez all weather Sky method and the 4-Direct normal illuminance Perez
method
Sky model
When using the 1-Standard sky Sky method, select the sky model to be used for the daylighting calculations.
Select from:
• 1-CIE sunny clear day, the sky distribution corresponds to the standard CIE clear sky condition with
additional direct illumination from the sun included. Expect very bright patches due to direct illumination
from the sun with relatively dark areas where direct sunlight does not fall.
• 2-CIE clear day, the standard CIE clear sky distribution without direct illumination from the sun.
• 3-CIE sunny intermediate day, sky with intermediate conditions between the overcast and clear skies
(see graph below) with direct illuminance from the sun included.
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• 4-CIE intermediate day, the CIE standard intermediate sky with illuminance distribution conditions
between the overcast and clear skies (see graph below). Direct illuminance from the sun is not
included.
• 5-CIE overcast day, The CIE Standard Overcast Sky, originally known as the Moon and Spencer Sky,
was devised to represent the luminance distribution observed for overcast skies. Adopted as a
standard by the CIE in 1955, this description is the one most frequently used for illuminance modelling.
In this model, the sky brightness increases gradually with altitude from the horizon to the zenith, but it
does not vary with azimuth.
• 6-CIE overcast day (specify illuminance) This option is similar to 5-CIE overcast day described
above but is scaled using a standard sky illuminance at the zenith. By default the zenith illuminance is
set to 10,000 lux so that daylight factors can be calculated simply as working plane illuminance values
divided by 100. This option is frequently used for daylight factor calculations. Other zenith illuminance
values can be entered though.
• 7-Uniform cloudy sky where the sky illumination is completely uniform.
Sky luminance profiles for 3 sky models (Source Rendering with Radiance: A Practical Tool for Global
Illumination)
Zenith illuminance
When the Sky model (above) is set to 6-CIE overcast day (scaled) you can define the scaling illuminance at
the Zenith (in lux or fc). The default is 10,000 lux which allows daylight factors to be calculated simply as
working plane illuminance values divided by 100.
An important part of the LEED v4 Option 2 daylight calculation is to set the sky conditions to be used in the
simulations. This must be done using the 2-Perez all weather Sky method. The procedure required for this is
described by USGBC:
Calculate illuminance intensity for sun (direct component) and sky (diffuse component) for clear-sky conditions
as follows:
• Use typical meteorological year data, or an equivalent, for the nearest available weather station.
- 1628 -
Illuminance Daylighting Calculation Options
• Select one day within 15 days of September 21 and one day within 15 days of March 21 that represent
the clearest sky condition.
• Use the average of the hourly value for the two selected days.
• Exclude blinds or shades from the model. Include any permanent interior obstructions. Movable
furniture and partitions may be excluded.
6. Determine the diffuse horizontal irradiance (W/m2) values at 9 A.M. for the day selected in
September and at 9 A.M. for the day selected in March. Average the two values and use the
result in the 9 A.M. simulation as the diffuse horizontal irradiance input.
7. Repeat procedures 3–6 for 3 P.M.
8. Choose the 2-Perez all weather Sky method.
9. Choose the 3-Direct horizontal irradiance Perez method.
10. Input the custom values for Direct horizontal irradiance and Diffuse horizontal irradiance in the
Calculation options dialog and run the Radiance simulation.
Method 2 using Direct normal irradiance
Another (simpler) procedure to provide the sky condition data within DesignBuilder is as follows:
1. Click on the Simulation tab and go to Site level to view the site solar radiation data. To focus on this
click on the Detailed tab of the Display options panel, scroll down to the Site Weather settings and
check only the Direct normal solar and the Diffuse horizontal solar checkboxes. Click on the Save
options for future use display options toolbar button and save the settings.
2. Scroll to view September data and identify the clearest day within 15 days of 21 September. This might
be by checking to see the highest value of beam solar radiation. For example 16 September can be
- 1629 -
seen to be a very clear day:
3. Change to view 1 day at a time by entering 1 in the Days per page text box and pressing the Update
display options toolbar button.
4. Scroll to 16 September and write down the Direct normal solar and the Diffuse horizontal solar
W/m2 values at 9am and 3pm on this day.
5. Repeat the above process for March to find the Direct normal solar and the Diffuse horizontal solar
W/m2 values at 9am and 3pm for the clearest day within 15 days of 21 March.
6. Calculate average Direct normal solar and the Diffuse horizontal solar values for 9am and 3pm for
both the March and September days.
7. Choose the 2-Perez all weather Sky method.
8. Choose the 2-Direct normal irradiance Perez method.
- 1630 -
Illuminance Daylighting Calculation Options
9. Enter these calculated Direct normal irradiance and Diffuse horizontal irradiance values in the
Calculation options dialog and run the Radiance simulation.
Grid Size
Maximum grid size
The main grid size that can be used to divide up the working plane when calculating illuminance. Larger
values will speed up calculations but give lower resolution in daylighting outputs.
You should consider the size and number of zones in the building when selecting the grid size. A very fine grid
will of course cause Radiance calculations to take a lot longer to complete. On the other hand a very coarse
grid in a small zone may not give a good enough distribution.
You should use a maximum grid size no greater than 5ft or 1.5m for LEED EQ8.1 calculations.
To maintain a uniform grid across the working plane set the Minimum grid size the same value as the
Maximum grid size.
Many of the LEED, BREEAM and Green Star daylighting credit calculations revolve around a "% of floor area
having daylight illuminance over a threshold" report for each zone and for the whole building. The table below
describes how to get the most accurate results from these calculations.
Recommended
Setting Advice
Setting
You should use the most detailed setting you can afford to wait for.
The 1-Fast setting is not intended for project output and should be
avoided for all credit calculations as it tends to lead to severe
underestimates of illuminance levels. The accuracy increases as
Detail template 5-Accurate the level of detail in the calculation increases up to and including
the 5-Accurate setting. The 6-High quality setting is not
recommended for these sort of calculations either as it does not
add much in terms of accuracy but takes a lot longer than the 5-
Accurate setting.
The 5 built in templates are ideal for “simple daylight scenes that
have shallow spaces with relatively large window openings”.
However in deep plan models or models with small windows or
greater external/internal complexity of the model you may want to
Ambient Bounces 3-8 increase the number of bounces from the default set by the Detail
template. Models which have complex exterior geometry may
require up to 8 bounces to ensure that the light reflection from
exterior building surfaces is correctly treated. Likewise to obtain
the correct impact of variations in the floor reflectance you will
- 1631 -
need to use 5 or more bounces.
Tip: If you aren't sure, try experimenting with different values for
this setting to test sensitivity and learn impact on results.
Of course, the finer the overall grid the more accurate the results.
Perhaps less obvious however is that using lower values for
Minimum grid size can lead to more accurate and higher zone
Max: 0.2m
Grid size average illuminance results. This is because the small grid cells
Min: 0.05m
generated with the low minimum grid size can fill in around the
edges of the working plane where often the highest levels of
daylight are to be found.
Use a zero margin if you need the entire working plane to be
included in the results. This will often lead to higher % areas over
Margin 0
daylight thresholds because the edges of the working plane are
usually closest to where many of the windows are located.
Advanced Options
The following options are available on the Daylight Calculation Options Dialog for static illuminance and
annual CBDM simulations. They govern the quality of the simulation and are best set through the Detail
template by non-expert users.
The number of bounces should normally be set to 3 for most accurate calculations or 2 if some trade-off is
acceptable. 4 does not usually add much accuracy over and above 3 and 1 and 0 are inadequate for most
daylighting calculations.
Note: When the number of ambient bounces is set to 0 the ambient lighting calculations are switched off,
so only direct sun/sky light patches are considered.
Tip: It is possible to calculate the fraction of the working plane which receives direct sunlight by setting the
Ambient bounces calculation option to 0 and the Illuminance threshold display option to 0, then viewing the
Floor Area above Threshold data in the Grid output.
If the number of ambient bounces is set to 1, light is considered to reach the interior surfaces from the sun's
direct rays, from the diffuse sky, and from first bounce reflections of direct sunlight rays from both interior and
exterior surfaces. Reflections of sky light off interior or exterior surfaces to other interior surfaces will not be
considered. Additional bounces can be added to consider additional flux paths.
Note that a value of 3 for the number of ambient bounces is often enough for daylight factor calculations.
However, if the daylight factor plot is "lumpy", setting a higher value alone will not fix it.
- 1632 -
Illuminance Daylighting Calculation Options
You should normally use a value between 1 and 0.1, with lower values giving the best accuracy. A value of
zero gives no interpolation.
The minimum possible spacing between hemispherical indirect irradiance sampling points is the maximum
scene dimension multiplied by the ambient accuracy divided by the ambient resolution. In other words, for
distances less than this minimum, the calculation will always resort to interpolation, rather than initiate more
sampling, regardless of the error estimate associated with that interpolation. This prevents the calculation from
spending unnecessary time resolving irradiance gradients over negligible scales. This distance gives the scale
at which the interpolation accuracy begins to deteriorate from the ambient accuracy setting. The minimum
separation for calculated irradiances, Smin, is:
Where the scene dimension, Dmax, is a measure of the maximum dimension of the zone being treated.
The effect of increasing Ambient resolution depends on the scene but it can quadruple calculation times for
double the value.
The Ambient divisions and super-samples parameters can be used to help reduce "noise" in a calculation. By
setting these options higher more rays will be tested when calculating an ambient value for a point.
High values of this parameter (4096 is perhaps the highest value that would be used under normal
circumstances) will minimise "patchiness" of daylighting outputs but slow calculations. Doubling Ambient
divisions will approximately quadruple calculation time.
The effect of increasing Ambient super-samples is to reduce "patchiness" in regions where indirect
illuminance is changing rapidly, but adding to the Ambient divisions and calculation times.
- 1633 -
Monte Carlo random sampling
When this option is selected Radiance uses Monte Carlo random sampling during the simulations which
causes results for each simulation to have small variations. In other words you will see small differences in
results each time you run the same simulation. To ensure that results are consistent between simulations you
should uncheck this option.
Other Buildings
Include all buildings
If you would like other buildings to be included in the daylighting study as shading/reflecting surfaces then
check the Include all buildings checkbox. Note that daylighting results will only ever to generated for the
current building.
The whole sky distribution is normalized to the zenith value, so having the sun too near to the zenith could be
a problem and therefore Radiance limits the solar position a maximum altitude of 87 degrees. If the calculated
solar altitude is higher than this limit then Radiance uses the maximum allowed value of 87 degrees in the
calculations. A warning message will be displayed informing this change. Generally this restriction should not
impact the daylighting results.
Hemispherical sampling at the first level will always be initiated from the first point supplied to rtrace. From
these hemispherical sampling rays, the ambient calculation will predict the way the indirect irradiance is
changing about that point (the indirect irradiance gradient). The calculation also evaluates an estimation of
error associated with the prediction for the irradiance gradient. These quantities, together with the Ambient
accuracy parameter, are used to determine a “radius of validity” for the gradient estimate. If the next point
supplied to rtrace is within this radius, the indirect irradiance is evaluated from the gradient estimate and not
from further hemispherical sampling. In other words, the value is obtained by a form of interpolation rather
than by actual sampling.
Irradiance interpolation can occur across the points supplied to rtrace, so hemispherical sampling at the first
level will not necessarily be initiated from every point in the working plane supplied to rtrace.
It is important to appreciate the element of chance at work whenever hemispherical sampling is used. If the
number of initial sampling rays were set too small, the calculation might, for example, miss a bright patch even
though it was visible from the point at which the rays were spawned. Likewise, an unrepresentative chance
“hit” of a small bright patch by one of the sampling rays can produce a gross overestimate for indirect
irradiance. In a rendering, the artefacts associated with ambient undersampling can cause bright and dark
blotches.
To minimise blotches we need to set a sufficiently high value for the number of initial sampling rays, Ambient
divisions. Hemispherical sampling is generally too expensive to initiate at every surface visible from the eye
point. The calculation needs good indirect irradiance estimates from sampling at a limited number of locations.
We then rely on the irradiance interpolation algorithm to estimate missing values. To generate a fairly smooth
rendering for a daylight calculation accounting for the first level of inter-reflection, we would need to set
moderately high resolution values for the ambient parameters.
- 1634 -
Illuminance Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
View
Simulation type
Select the type of simulation results to be viewed. The following options are available:
• 1-General - a general purpose daylight illuminance calculation to generate distribution contour maps
and a table of summary daylight statistics for each zone. No 3-Report option (below) is available in this
case.
• 2-LEED v2 Credit EQ8.1 Report - generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining LEED
v2 IEQ 8.1 credits.
• 3-LEED v3 Credit IEQ 8.1 Report - generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining
LEED v3 IEQ 8.1 credits.
• 4-LEED v4 Option 2 Report - uses a similar method to 3-LEED v3 Credit IEQ 8.1 Report to generate
documentation that can be used towards obtaining LEED v4 Daylight credits through Option 2.
• 5-BREEAM Credit HEA1 Report, - generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining
BREEAM HW1 credits.
• 6-Green Star Credit IEQ4 Report - generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining
Green Star IEQ4 credits
These options together with their associated Display options are described in more detail below.
Note: The corresponding illuminance daylight simulation must have been carried out to view results for
any of the above. For example, you will only see results for the 1-General simulation type if you have
previously run a calculation using the equivalent 1-General Simulation type set on the Calculation Options
dialog.
Report type
The following report types are available:
• 1-Map - a daylight distribution contour map on the working plane of the current object is displayed.
• 2-Grid - a table of summary daylight statistics for each zone is displayed, including average, min and
max daylight factors and uniformity factor data.
• 3-Report - only available when one of the specific certification calculations were carried out, i.e. all
Simulation types other than 1-General.
Margin
The margin options are only available when the Report type is set to 2-Grid or 3-Report. If a non-zero margin
was specified as a calculation option, you can choose whether or not to include data points within that margin
for the average and or min/max daylight factor calculations in summary reports and grids. If the margin
calculation option was set to zero then you can ignore these options.
- 1635 -
Include margin area in min/max daylight factor calculation
Check this option to include all areas in the min/max daylight factor summary results. Uncheck it to exclude
data points in the margin.
You can see that the zone boundary has a 0.5m margin around it where data is not calculated avoiding use of
potentially misleading data close to walls and windows. To calculate the daylight illuminance right up to zone
boundaries set the Margin calculation option to 0.
When at building and block levels maps of daylight distribution across the working plane of the current object
can be displayed. An example daylight distribution map displayed across multiple zones is shown below.
- 1636 -
Illuminance Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
You can see that each zone boundary has a margin around it in this example.
Scale
The Scale settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Source
The scale of the daylight illuminance maps can be defined using data from the building, block or zone level or
it can be entered manually. It is a way to define the minimum and maximum values on the scale. Select from
one of these options.
• 1-Building, where all of the illuminance values calculated for the whole building are scanned and the
lowest and highest values are used. This allows illuminance plots to be generated using a consistent
scale even when displaying data at block or zone level.
• 2-Block, where all of the illuminance values calculated for the current block are scanned and the
lowest and highest values for are used. This allows illuminance plots to be generated using a
consistent scale even when displayed data at zone level.
• 3-Zone, where the scale is tailored to the current zone allowing in many cases a more even distribution
of colours through the map. When using this option images generated for each zone will use a different
scale and so will not be so easily comparable as if the 1-Building had been used.
• 4-User defined, where you can enter the minimum and maximum values on the scale manually. This
has the advantage of allowing a specific lower and upper scale value to be used. For example for many
calculations, daylight factors lower than 2% are considered to be inadequately daylit. These areas can
be highlighted in a special colour to help provide a clear visual indication of the success or otherwise of
the daylighting design.
- 1637 -
Low DF (%)
When using the 4-User defined Scale source you can enter the minimum daylight factor scale value to be
displayed.
High DF (%)
When using the 4-User defined Scale source you can enter the maximum daylight factor scale value to be
displayed.
Zone Selection
The Zone Selection settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Working plane
When viewing data for a block or building there can be multiple zones and these can have working planes at
various heights. DesignBuilder therefore provides a drop list to allow you select which zones are to be
displayed based on all relevant working planes identified in the current building or block.
Zone Labels
The Zone Labels settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Font size
When zone labels are selected enter the font size to be used. 10 pt is the default.
- 1638 -
Illuminance Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
Font colour
When zone labels are selected select the font text colour to be used.
Cell Values
The Cell Values settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Show values
Choose whether to show numeric values printed within each grid cell and if so which values to display. Select
from:
• 1-No values - don't print any numeric values in the grid cells.
• 2-Daylight factor - display the daylight factor for each grid cell.
• 3-Illuminance - display the illuminance for each grid cell.
Note: for small grid cells (or large spaces with lots of grid cells) there may not be enough space to
comfortably fit the numeric values, in which case it is usually best to select 1-No values.
• 1-Automatic where the font colour is chosen for each cell individually to ensure strong contrast with
the background colour.
• 2-User specified in which case you can select a single fixed colour for the numeric text.
Font colour
When the Font colour mode is set to 2-User specified you can select the font colour manually using
this control.
• 1-Automatic where the font size is chosen for each cell individually to be as readable as possible while
fitting within the cell.
• 2-User specified in which case you can select a single fixed font size for the numeric text.
Font size
When the Font size is set to 2-User specified you can enter the font size manually here.
Colour
The Colour settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Palette
Select the palette to be used from the options:
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• 1-Red to Black - where Red is used for brightest parts of the working plane and Black is used for the
darkest. This is the default option.
• 2-Red to Yellow - where Red is used for brightest parts of the working plane and Yellow is used for the
darkest:
- 1640 -
Illuminance Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
• 3-Red to Blue - where Red is used for brightest parts of the working plane and Blue is used for the
darkest. This is the palette used in DesignBuilder v5.0 and earlier:
• 4-White to Black - where White is used for brightest parts of the working plane and Black is used for
the darkest.
Grid
Available at building and block levels, the 2-Grid Report type displays information on average daylight factors,
daylight uniformity and illuminance values for each zone together with a total for the building. The following
data is calculated for each zone:
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• Floor Area above Threshold (m2 or ft2)
• Floor Area above Threshold (%)
• Reference Illuminance (lux or fc)
• Average Daylight Factor (%)
• Minimum Daylight Factor (%)
• Maximum Daylight Factor (%)
• Uniformity ratio (Min / Avg)
• Uniformity ratio (Min / Max)
• Min Illuminance (lux or fc)
• Max Illuminance (lux or fc)
This option might be useful if the built-in daylight reports don't cover the particular calculation you need to
make. In this case you can export the summary data for each zone for further analysis in a spreadsheet.
Note all floor areas reported on the Daylighting screen are sum of the grid point areas which will usually be
slightly less than the
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Illuminance Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
Note that this report will only be available if the LEED v3 EQ8.1 calculation option was selected, otherwise the
calculations will have to be re done using this option.
- 1643 -
LEED V4 Option 2 Report
A report is generated detailing eligibility for the LEED v4 daylighting points for Option 2 based on % area of
the occupied part of the building that has better than the minimum required daylight factor. LEED v4 Option 2
requires two calculations using clear day conditions recorded for the nearest weather station to the site, the
first within 15 days of September 21 and the second within 15 days of March 21. The average of the two
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Illuminance Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
hourly values are used in the calculations. The easiest way to achieve this is described under LEED v4 Option
2 Sky Settings on the Calculation options help.
Note that if you request the BREEAM HEA1 report you must also select the building type. At the moment the
only option is 1-Office.
- 1645 -
- 1646 -
Annual Daylighting - Climate-Based Daylight Modelling
• Daylight Autonomy (sDA) is a measure of how often a minimum work plane illuminance threshold
(often 300 lux) can be maintained by daylight alone. It is expressed as the percentage of occupied time
during the year when a minimum work plane illuminance threshold of 300 lux can be maintained by
daylight alone. It defines the extent to which a space has enough natural daylight to allow the
prescribed activity to be carried out without the need for electric lighting. This is a recommend metric by
the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). When default settings are used, the
zone summary sDA outputs represent the percentage of the floor area that exceeds 300 lux for at least
50% of the time.
• Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE) is the number of hours per year a point on the working plane
receives direct sunlight greater than a threshold value. This metric is often used alongside sDA to
quantify the risk of visual discomfort due to glare.
• Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI) is the annual occurrence of illuminance distribution across the
working plane that are within a range considered “useful” by occupants. It excludes any times when
there is inadequate natural daylight or excessive direct sunlight which would give rise to a risk of glare.
UDI therefore not only provides information about useful daylight illuminance, but also on the
propensity for excessive levels of daylight that are associated with glare, occupant discomfort and
unwanted solar gains. In this way the single UDI metric can be used to summarise the overall daylight
performance of a space.
Calculation Options
Simulation type
Select the Daysim simulation type. Options are:
• 1-General, in which case sDA, ASE and UDI results can be generated.
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• 2-LEED v4 Option 1, where simulations are specifically aimed at generating documentation for the
LEED daylight credit , option 1 through a combination of sDA and ASE metrics.
Important Note 1: The same Daysim simulation will be run regardless of the Report type selection,
however the selection here helps you to enter the required threshold settings used by expanding appropriate
user interface elements on the dialog as appropriate.
Important Note 2: If your building includes internal blinds then you should assess sDA including the
impact of these blinds as described in Section 2.2.6 of IES LM 83 2012. DesignBuilder v6.1 is not able to
include blinds in the Daysim analysis so you should alternatives tools in this case. Automatic blinds control will
be included in v6.2.
Detail template
Select a detail template from the drop list to load a set of ambient parameters to the dialog as shown in the
table below.
You do not necessarily need to have an in-depth understanding of the meaning of each of these parameters
to carry out an accurate assessment in DesignBuilder. However knowing a little bit about the way the
calculations work and how the options affect the calculations will help you to understand how to get the best
trade-off between accuracy and simulation times.
It is important to understand that Radiance works using a statistical Monte Carlo approach and this means
that you will not get exactly the same results if you repeat a calculation using exactly the same model and
options. You can reduce this effect by using higher detail settings but you cannot completely eliminate it. This
is discussed in more detail under Advanced options below.
Ambient
Ambient Ambient Ambient Ambient
Detail template super-
bounces accuracy resolution divisions
samples
Radiance code -ab -aa -ar -ad -as
1-Fast
1 0.3 128 256 128
Not recommended for project work
2-Standard
Default setting, but will underestimate 3 0.25 256 512 256
illuminance
3-Good (no interpolation) 4 0.00 512 1024 512
4-Good 4 0.22 512 1024 512
5-Accurate
5 0.20 512 2048 1024
Best setting for highest practical accuracy
6-High quality
Use when highest quality is required and a 7 0.18 1024 4096 2048
long wait for results is acceptable
Tip: For a discussion on the relative merits of using some of the above settings for daylight credit
calculations see below.
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Annual Daylighting Calculation Options
The working plane height is normally set at the average height of the top surface of the desks above the floor.
A typical value will be in the range 0.7-0.8m.
Note: The working plane height used in Radiance calculations is measured from the top of the floor
surface level, not the base of block as was the case in v5.0 and earlier.
Tip: To define different working plane heights for different zones, you can override the building level setting
on this dialog by entering values under the Daylighting outputs header on the Outputs model data tab at block
or zone level.
Margin
Enter the margin (in m or ft) around the zone boundaries where illuminance data is not to be calculated or
included in summary results. This option can be used to help avoid inclusion of potentially misleading
illuminance data close to walls and windows. DesignBuilder sets the margin to 0 by default as a margin is not
required for most CBDM daylighting calculations.
The auto-generated ground plane uses the Ground reflectance defined at site level.
An alternative approach to model ground reflectance is to set the Ground plane extension to zero and to use
ground component blocks instead. Or a combination of ground component blocks and the ground plane
extension can be used.
Tip: While it may be tempting to enter a very large number here to cover a large area, that is not usually
recommended as it would significantly change the scene dimensions used within Radiance. Larger scene
dimensions require high detail settings which may require very long simulation times.
Occupancy schedule
When the above Override zone occupancy schedule option is selected, you can select the occupancy
schedule to be used to define when zones are occupied for all zones in the simulation. Values in the schedule
greater than 0 indicate occupancy.
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Spacial Daylight Autonomy (sDA)
Check this checkbox to generate sDA results, in which case a distribution map of Daylight Autonomy values
on the working plane of the current object can be displayed.
Grid Size
Maximum grid size
The main grid size that can be used to divide up the working plane when calculating illuminance. Larger
values will speed up calculations but give lower resolution in daylighting outputs.
You should consider the size and number of zones in the building when selecting the grid size. A very fine grid
will of course cause Radiance calculations to take a lot longer to complete. On the other hand a very coarse
grid in a small zone may not give a good enough distribution.
You should use a maximum grid size no greater than 5ft or 1.5m for LEED EQ8.1 calculations.
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Annual Daylighting Calculation Options
To maintain a uniform grid across the working plane set the Minimum grid size the same value as the
Maximum grid size.
Many of the LEED, BREEAM and Green Star daylighting credit calculations revolve around a "% of floor area
having daylight illuminance over a threshold" report for each zone and for the whole building. The table below
describes how to get the most accurate results from these calculations.
Recommended
Setting Advice
Setting
You should use the most detailed setting you can afford to wait for.
The 1-Fast setting is not intended for project output and should be
avoided for all credit calculations as it tends to lead to severe
underestimates of illuminance levels. The accuracy increases as
Detail template 5-Accurate the level of detail in the calculation increases up to and including
the 5-Accurate setting. The 6-High quality setting is not
recommended for these sort of calculations either as it does not
add much in terms of accuracy but takes a lot longer than the 5-
Accurate setting.
The 5 built in templates are ideal for “simple daylight scenes that
have shallow spaces with relatively large window openings”.
However in deep plan models or models with small windows or
greater external/internal complexity of the model you may want to
increase the number of bounces from the default set by the Detail
template. Models which have complex exterior geometry may
require up to 8 bounces to ensure that the light reflection from
exterior building surfaces is correctly treated. Likewise to obtain
Ambient Bounces 3-8 the correct impact of variations in the floor reflectance you will
need to use 5 or more bounces.
Tip: If you aren't sure, try experimenting with different values for
this setting to test sensitivity and learn impact on results.
Of course, the finer the overall grid the more accurate the results.
Perhaps less obvious however is that using lower values for
Minimum grid size can lead to more accurate and higher zone
Max: 0.3m
Grid size average illuminance results. This is because the small grid cells
Min: 0.3m
generated with the low minimum grid size can fill in around the
edges of the working plane where often the highest levels of
daylight are to be found.
Use a zero margin if you need the entire working plane to be
Margin 0 included in the results. This will often lead to higher % areas over
daylight thresholds because the edges of the working plane are
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usually closest to where many of the windows are located.
Advanced Options
Ambient bounces (-ab)
The number of ambient bounces is the maximum number of diffuse bounces computed by the indirect
calculation. The number of ambient bounces that Radiance should apply varies depending on the type of
building and daylighting system you are analysing. It can be set based on the number of reflections typically
required by the light to reach the task plus one or two extra for inter reflection within the space.
The number of bounces should normally be set a minimum of 3 for most accurate calculations. Values lower
than this are inadequate for most daylighting calculations.
If the number of ambient bounces is set to 1, light is considered to reach the interior surfaces from the sun's
direct rays, from the diffuse sky, and from first bounce reflections of direct sunlight rays from both interior and
exterior surfaces. Reflections of sky light off interior or exterior surfaces to other interior surfaces will not be
considered. Additional bounces can be added to consider additional flux paths.
You should normally use a value between 1 and 0.1, with lower values giving the best accuracy. A value of
zero gives no interpolation.
The minimum possible spacing between hemispherical indirect irradiance sampling points is the maximum
scene dimension multiplied by the ambient accuracy divided by the ambient resolution. In other words, for
distances less than this minimum, the calculation will always resort to interpolation, rather than initiate more
sampling, regardless of the error estimate associated with that interpolation. This prevents the calculation from
spending unnecessary time resolving irradiance gradients over negligible scales. This distance gives the scale
at which the interpolation accuracy begins to deteriorate from the ambient accuracy setting. The minimum
separation for calculated irradiances, Smin, is:
Where the scene dimension, Dmax, is a measure of the maximum dimension of the zone being treated.
The effect of increasing Ambient resolution depends on the scene but it can quadruple calculation times for
double the value.
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Annual Daylighting Calculation Options
The Ambient divisions and super-samples parameters can be used to help reduce "noise" in a calculation. By
setting these options higher more rays will be tested when calculating an ambient value for a point.
High values of this parameter (4096 is perhaps the highest value that would be used under normal
circumstances) will minimise "patchiness" of daylighting outputs but slow calculations. Doubling Ambient
divisions will approximately quadruple calculation time.
The effect of increasing Ambient super-samples is to reduce "patchiness" in regions where indirect
illuminance is changing rapidly, but adding to the Ambient divisions and calculation times.
Other Buildings
Include all buildings
If you would like other buildings to be included in the daylighting study as shading/reflecting surfaces then
check the Include all buildings checkbox. Note that daylighting results will only ever to generated for the
current building.
The whole sky distribution is normalized to the zenith value, so having the sun too near to the zenith could be
a problem and therefore Radiance limits the solar position a maximum altitude of 87 degrees. If the calculated
solar altitude is higher than this limit then Radiance uses the maximum allowed value of 87 degrees in the
calculations. A warning message will be displayed informing this change. Generally this restriction should not
impact the daylighting results.
Hemispherical sampling at the first level will always be initiated from the first point supplied to rtrace. From
these hemispherical sampling rays, the ambient calculation will predict the way the indirect irradiance is
changing about that point (the indirect irradiance gradient). The calculation also evaluates an estimation of
error associated with the prediction for the irradiance gradient. These quantities, together with the Ambient
accuracy parameter, are used to determine a “radius of validity” for the gradient estimate. If the next point
supplied to rtrace is within this radius, the indirect irradiance is evaluated from the gradient estimate and not
from further hemispherical sampling. In other words, the value is obtained by a form of interpolation rather
than by actual sampling.
Irradiance interpolation can occur across the points supplied to rtrace, so hemispherical sampling at the first
level will not necessarily be initiated from every point in the working plane supplied to rtrace.
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It is important to appreciate the element of chance at work whenever hemispherical sampling is used. If the
number of initial sampling rays were set too small, the calculation might, for example, miss a bright patch even
though it was visible from the point at which the rays were spawned. Likewise, an unrepresentative chance
“hit” of a small bright patch by one of the sampling rays can produce a gross overestimate for indirect
irradiance. In a rendering, the artefacts associated with ambient undersampling can cause bright and dark
blotches.
To minimise blotches we need to set a sufficiently high value for the number of initial sampling rays, Ambient
divisions. Hemispherical sampling is generally too expensive to initiate at every surface visible from the eye
point. The calculation needs good indirect irradiance estimates from sampling at a limited number of locations.
We then rely on the irradiance interpolation algorithm to estimate missing values. To generate a fairly smooth
rendering for a daylight calculation accounting for the first level of inter-reflection, we would need to set
moderately high resolution values for the ambient parameters.
View
Simulation type
Select the type of simulation results to be viewed. The following options are available:
• 1-General - view general results for sDA, ASE, UDI and grid (below).
• 2-LEED v4 Option 1 - generates documentation that can be used towards obtaining LEED v4 Option 1
daylighting credits through a combination of sDA and ASE metrics.
Report type
The following reports are available:
• 1-sDA - a distribution map of Daylight Autonomy values on the working plane of the current object is
displayed.
• 2-ASE - a distribution map of Annual Sunlight Exposure values on the working plane of the current
object is displayed.
• 3-UDI, - generates documentation that can be used for assessing daylighting performance using Useful
Daylight Illuminance criteria.
• 4-Grid - a table of summary annual daylight statistics for each zone is displayed, including areas and %
for each zone that satisfy the requirements of the sDA, ASE and UDI metrics.
Scale
The Scale settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Source
The scale of the daylight illuminance maps can be defined using data from the building, block or zone level or
it can be entered manually. It is a way to define the minimum and maximum values on the scale. Select from
one of these options.
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Annual Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
• 1-Building, where all of the values calculated for the whole building are scanned and the lowest and
highest values are used. This allows plots to be generated using a consistent scale even when
displaying data at block or zone level.
• 2-Block, where all of the values calculated for the current block are scanned and the lowest and
highest values for are used. This allows plots to be generated using a consistent scale even when
displayed data at zone level.
• 3-Zone, where the scale is tailored to the current zone allowing in many cases a more even distribution
of colours through the map. When using this option images generated for each zone will use a different
scale and so will not be so easily comparable as if the 1-Building had been used.
• 4-User defined, where you can enter the minimum and maximum values on the scale manually. This
has the advantage of allowing a specific lower and upper scale value to be used.
Low value
When using the 4-User defined Scale source you can enter the minimum scale value to be displayed.
High value
When using the 4-User defined Scale source you can enter the maximum scale value to be displayed.
Zone Selection
The Zone Selection settings are available when the Report type is set to one of the map options.
Working plane
When viewing data for a block or building there can be multiple zones and these can have working planes at
various heights. DesignBuilder therefore provides a drop list to allow you select which zones are to be
displayed based on all relevant working planes identified in the current building or block.
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Zone Labels
The Zone Labels settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Font size
When zone labels are selected enter the font size to be used. 10 pt is the default.
Font colour
When zone labels are selected select the font text colour to be used.
Cell Values
The Cell Values settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Show values
Choose whether to show numeric values printed within each grid cell and if so which values to display. Select
from:
• 1-No values - don't print any numeric values in the grid cells.
• 2-Daylight factor - display the daylight factor for each grid cell.
• 3-Illuminance - display the illuminance for each grid cell.
Note: for small grid cells (or large spaces with lots of grid cells) there may not be enough space to
comfortably fit the numeric values, in which case it is usually best to select 1-No values.
• 1-Automatic where the font colour is chosen for each cell individually to ensure strong contrast with
the background colour.
• 2-User specified in which case you can select a single fixed colour for the numeric text.
Font colour
When the Font colour mode is set to 2-User specified you can select the font colour manually using
this control.
• 1-Automatic where the font size is chosen for each cell individually to be as readable as possible while
fitting within the cell.
• 2-User specified in which case you can select a single fixed font size for the numeric text.
Font size
When the Font size is set to 2-User specified you can enter the font size manually here.
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Annual Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
Colour
The Colour settings are available when the Report type is set to the 1-Map option.
Palette
Select the palette to be used from the options:
• 1-Red to Black - where Red is used for brightest parts of the working plane and Black is used for the
darkest. This is the default option.
• 2-Red to Yellow - where Red is used for brightest parts of the working plane and Yellow is used for the
darkest:
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• 3-Red to Blue - where Red is used for brightest parts of the working plane and Blue is used for the
darkest. This is the palette used in DesignBuilder v5.0 and earlier:
• 4-White to Black - where White is used for brightest parts of the working plane and Black is used for
the darkest.
In general, the dynamic daylight thresholds are split into two parts; a lux threshold and a metric pass
threshold.
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Annual Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
• The lux threshold is the target lux for a grid cell. In the case of sDA and ASE, this is a minimum
illuminance a given cell must achieve. For UDI, the target illuminance must be within a range of two
values. These illuminance thresholds are set in the calculation options as they must be known during a
simulation.
• The metric pass threshold is the target number of hours (ASE) or percentage of occupied hours (sDA
and UDI) over the course of a year that the illuminance threshold must be met. These pass threshold
values are set in the display options and described further below.
For example, sDA is usually defined as 300/50, which means that a given grid cell must achieve at least 300
lux for at least 50% of the occupied year for its area to be considered to "pass" the criteria. The overall sDA
metric for a zone is the % of the floor area that passes in this way. Likewise ASE 1000/250 means for a given
cell the illuminance must not be greater than the 1000 lux threshold for more than 250 hours in the (occupied)
year to pass.
For UDI we specify the metric pass threshold as the percentage of occupied hours in the year. So, a pass
threshold value of 50% means that a given cell must achieve an illuminance of between 100 and 3000 lux (or
whatever values were specified as the lux bounds in Calculation options) for at least 50% of the occupied
hours in the year.
Therefore, changing any of the metric pass thresholds is the Display options will change the Area in Range
values shown on the grid. Generally you would expect the Area in Range values to increase if the metric pass
thresholds are reduced and vice versa.
Outputs
Daylight Autonomy (sDA)
sDA is a measure of how often a minimum work plane illuminance threshold (often 300 lux) can be
maintained by daylight alone. It is expressed as the percentage of occupied time during the year when a
minimum work plane illuminance threshold of 300 lux can be maintained by daylight alone. It defines the
extent to which a space has enough natural daylight to allow the prescribed activity to be carried out without
the need for electric lighting. This is a recommend metric by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North
America (IESNA) and is used as part of LEED v4 Option 1 daylight assessment. When default settings are
used, the zone summary sDA outputs represent the percentage of the floor area that exceeds 300 lux for at
least 50% of the time.
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Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE)
Is the number of hours per year a point on the working plane receives direct sunlight greater than a
threshold value of typically 1000 lux. ASE is often used to quantify the risk of visual discomfort due to glare
and is used as part of LEED v4 Option 1 daylight assessment.
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Annual Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
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Grid
A table of summary annual daylight statistics for each zone is displayed, including areas and % for each zone
that satisfy the requirements of the sDA, ASE and UDI metrics.
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Annual Daylighting Outputs And Display Options
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Cost And Carbon
The Cost and Carbon screen allows you to review the projected construction cost of the building design and
the embodied carbon in the building fabric.
• Construction Cost
• LCA / Embodied Carbon
Construction Cost
Depending on the Cost model selected on the Building Cost Summary dialog, the construction cost report will
be generated and displayed using one of 3 formats:
The outputs of the Cost calculation can be included automatically within the Construction cost data to be fed
to EnergyPlus for LCC economic analysis and in optimisation simulations.
Note: Construction cost calculations for models where the zone multiplier is used are not always 100%
accurate because the construction cost of internal surfaces between multiplied zones and adiabatic
component blocks can be over-estimated.
1. Basic Report
2. UNIFORMAT II Report
3. NRM1 Report
It can be used to compare the environmental impacts of different building materials, designs and construction
processes. It can help to identify elements which are carbon-intensive and promote alternative options which
reduce the amount of CO2 released. It can be used to design policies that reduce the CO2 emissions from the
construction sector.
Used together with the operational carbon (i.e. the carbon emitted due to use of the building for heating,
cooling, equipment use etc), the embodied carbon can be included as part of a whole life cycle analysis (LCA)
to understand the overall impact of the building on the environment over its whole life cycle.
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LCA And Embodied Carbon
DesignBuilder provides 2 methods to calculate environmental impact of the building construction (as opposed
to its operation):
The recommended way to carry out a complete Building Life Cycle Assessment, is through our native
integration with One Click LCA ®, a powerful yet easy to use LCA and LCC platform. The integration enables
DesignBuilder users to:
• Transfer their DesignBuilder energy models quickly and easily to One Click LCA for additional materials
analyses.
• Achieve BREEAM Mat 01 LCA and LCC credits and LEED v4 LCA and materials credits.
• Use One Click LCA’s material database to get a true picture of the carbon & LCA performance.
Note: The One Click LCA integration uses the material names selected in the DesignBuilder model,
mapping those to known certified data contained in the extensive One Click LCA database. The embodied
carbon data entered in the DesignBuilder Materials database is not used in these analyses.
For more information on the integration see: DesignBuilder and One Click LCA: instant Life Cycle Assessment
from DesignBuilder
Guidance on how to access One Click LCA from DesignBuilder can be found at: DesignBuilder - One Click
LCA Guidance
Note: You should contact One Click LCA to obtain a licence to access their online system from
DesignBuilder.
The calculation is made by summing the embodied carbon data for each surface in the model, calculated
using construction material layers and the embodied carbon data for each material.
The materials and constructions inventories are equivalent ways of showing the same data, but broken down
in different ways. The total for the building is shown at the bottom.
Note: Embodied carbon calculations for models where the zone multiplier is used are not always 100%
accurate because the embodied carbon for internal surfaces between multiplied zones and adiabatic
component blocks can be over-estimated.
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An example Embodied carbon report is shown below.
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Reporting
Reporting
You can use DesignBuilder to generate reports using the Compile Reports and Report topic mechanism or
you can Export individual report content to file, clipboard (for pasting into word processors) or directly to the
printer.
• Export Data
• Report Topics
• Compile Reports
• Export CSV
Export Data
• Edit Screen - exports a non-rendered 3-D image of the building. Alternatively a 3-D DXF file can be
exported.
• Visualisation Screen - exports a rendered 3-D image of the building optionally including shading and
antialiasing..
• Heating and Cooling Design Screens - exports design data (graphical, tabular, spreadsheet).
• Simulation Screen - exports simulation data (graphical, tabular, spreadsheet).
You can export to a range of destinations (depending on the nature of the data):
• File - store output in a file which can be imported into your documents/e-mails.
• Printer - sends output directly to the printer.
• Clipboard - for pasting directly into word processors etc.
• Report topic - for generating reports using the Compile Reports feature.
Export format options depend on the nature of the data. The full range of options is:
• Bitmap - best bitmap based output quality but very large file sizes.
• PNG - better quality compression than JPEG but sometimes have larger file sizes.
• TIFF - best bitmap based output quality but very large file sizes.
• GIF - good compression but black and white only.
• JPEG - recommended for 3-D images of the model because of its good quality combined with small file
sizes.
• DXF - generate 3-D DXF data of the model - only available from Edit and Visualisation Screens. The 3-
D DXF file generated by DesignBuilder is suitable for reading into other CAD software. Two options are
available:
• 1-Whole model with details which includes all of the details of the model as seen on the
Visualisation tab, and,
• 2-Zones which generates the internal surfaces as used in simulations and other energy
calculations.
• Windows metafile - results graphs only - scalable so graphs can be resized without losing quality.
• CSV spreadsheet - grid results and library data only.
• Text - reports only.
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Report Topics
Report topics are used to store snapshots of model data including model descriptions, graphic images of the
model and results.
You can export to a report topic by selecting 'Report topic' from the 'Export to' option on the Export Data
dialog. When Report topic is selected, a second tab becomes available called Report on which you can enter
a title and caption for the topic. You can also choose to include a model description with the topic. This allows
a building description to be included alongside the data when the report is compiled using the Compile Report
dialog.
Report topics are retained within the dsb file and are available for compiling into a report if the file is saved
and reloaded.
Compile Reports
The Compile Reports dialog allows you to control the generation of a report based on previously created
Report topics. Available report topics are listed and can be previewed by clicking on them.
The Title entered on this dialog is displayed in a table at the top of the report.
Check the checkbox to the left of the report topics to be included in the report and click on OK.
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Export CSV Report
The report also includes the same cost and embodied carbon data that can be obtained from the Cost and
Carbon tab.
To generate the CSV report use the File > Export > Export CSV report file menu command. This opens the
Report Options dialog with 2 options.
Description
The description to be included within the report.
Report type
The options are:
Extensibility
DesignBuilder may be extended via scripts or plugins. Each system is targeted at a different use-case and
different levels of complexity. Both systems may be used at the same time, and multiple active plugins and
scripts are supported.
• Scripts are intended to hook into certain stages of a DesignBuilder simulation in order to modify or
report on the process.
• Plugins are a superset of Scripts, providing extra functionality such as the ability to create a custom
sub-menu in DesignBuilder’s main-menu, which may allow for ad-hoc processing of DesignBuilder
data.
Scripts can be written in the C# or Python programming languages. Plugins are written in the C# programming
language.
In general scripts are used where a quick solution is required and it is acceptable for the program to control
the calling at key hook points. Plugins on the other hand are more appropriate for larger customisation
projects where the code is pre-compiled and can be executed under user control if necessary.
Tip: The Extensibility Tools User Guide is the main source of help for scripts and plugin development.
Scripting
DesignBuilder provides 3 different sets of scripting tools to help more expert users customise their simulations
and generate special reports.
• "Energy Management System (EMS)" on page 1670 - powerful set of EnergyPlus runtime
scripting tools to help you write portable code to customise EnergyPlus' simulation behaviour.
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• CS-Script - where standard C# code can be executed, typically before and after simulations, to modify
the default IDF generated by DesignBuilder, access the DesignBuilder model input and output data to
produce custom reports.
• Python - set of tools which allow Python code to be executed at key hook points, typically before and
after simulations like CS-Script, to modify the default IDF generated by DesignBuilder through the eppy
scripting tool, or for post-processing of results for custom reporting etc.
The Scripting tools can be accessed from the Scripts toolbar icon and also from the Tools > Scripts
menu option which opens the Script Manager dialog. More details on how to use the scripting tools can be
found in the help topics on each type of script.
Note: The 3 types of script can also be used to develop Custom EMS, Custom IDF and Custom Script
design variables.
Plugins
Plugins are capable of all of the capabilities of CS-Script scripts but they also allow custom sub-menus to be
added to the main DesignBuilder menu allowing general processing of DesignBuilder models and results.
They generally are a more appropriate approach for developing larger projects where source code can be
compiled into a dll. For example if developing a new code compliance module that required an in-depth
processing of the DesignBuilder model and results then this should normally be implemented as a plugin.
DesignBuilder also provides an additional set of Erl language extensions that allow scripts to be written to
include logic and model data for selected zones, surfaces and windows. These extensions allow "portable"
scripts to be written that apply to any model and so can be reused in future projects and shared with
colleagues.
Tip: The help on DesignBuilder EMS is intended to be read together with the main EnergyPlus EMS
application guide which provides most of the information required to understand how to use EMS with
detailed descriptions and examples.
See the EMS Demo Tutorial for an introduction to using the DesignBuilder EMS runtime scripting system
including DB Erl extensions.
Introduction
The Energy Management System (EMS) is one of the high-level control methods available in EnergyPlus. An
EMS script is able to access a wide variety of “sensor” data and use this data to direct various types of control
actions. The original concept was to emulate, inside EnergyPlus, the types of controls possible with the digital
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Energy Management System (EMS)
energy management systems used in real buildings. However there are many other application for the EMS
including:
• Obtain more precise control over simulated behaviour for HVAC systems, glazing, lighting etc (e.g.
override default EnergyPlus control linkage between economisers and heat recovery).
• Linking one system with another (e.g. link earth tube to HVAC inlet).
• Provide special outputs not provided natively by EnergyPlus (e.g. generate CIBSE TM52 or TM59
outputs).
• Researching new building systems.
The EMS allows the functionality of many of the existing high-level control objects to be overriden. For
example the EMS can:
• Turn on and off pumps and fans and adjust their performance characteristics.
• Turn on and off lights and electric equipment,
• Change the set points on zone thermostats,
• Dispatch on-site generation.
• Change the set points on system nodes.
• Turn on and off supply-side heating, cooling, and heat rejection equipment such as boilers, chillers,
cooling towers.
• Turn on and off on-site generation equipment.
The EMS uses the concept of sensors to obtain information from elsewhere in the model for use in control
calculations. Actuators are the mechanism for influencing changes on the model and code is written to tell
the Erl processor how to apply the control laws.
Sensor objects are used to declare Erl variables which are linked to EnergyPlus output variables or meters.
Actuators map Erl variables to control actuators elsewhere in EnergyPlus. The EMS then initiates control
actions by changing the value of this variable inside an Erl program.
The way it works is probably best understood by studying working EMS scripts such as those provided by
DesignBuilder alongside this documentation and that in the EnergyPlus EMS application guide.
Note: EMS is an advanced feature of EnergyPlus and is not for beginners. To use it you will need to be
comfortable writing your own custom code and have a thorough understanding of how you want your models
to behave. If you are intimidated by the idea of writing programs to adjust the fine details of how an
EnergyPlus model runs then EMS is probably not for you. However, if you relish the idea of being able to write
code to override default behaviour, you will find that EMS can help you model many features to your exact
specification, significantly extending EnergyPlus' normal range of capabilities.
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DesignBuilder Extensions
DesignBuilder includes some important extensions to the standard EnergyPlus EMS and Erl system allowing
DB EMS programs to reused and shared. DesignBuilder extensions provide:
The DesignBuilder EMS functionality can be accessed from the Scripts toolbar icon and also from the
Tools > Scripts menu option which opens the Script Manager dialog.
Previously created EMS programs are listed on the data panel to the right. These can be selected, copied,
deleted and edited in the usual way.
1. The Enable scripts checkbox on the Script Manager dialog must be checked.
2. The Enable program checkbox on the Edit Script dialog must be checked.
Note: Selecting an EMS program on the Script Manager dialog is not enough to ensure its script is
included in the simulation - the Enable program checkbox is the important setting.
DB Erl scripts are defined on the Edit Script dialog which provides utilities for quickly adding template script
for new sensors, actuators, internal variables and programs.
Note: EMS scripts are only run for Simulations and are not applied to Cooling and Heating design
calculations.
As well using EMS for advanced control and customisation you can also use the system to include simple
additional IDF script with the model. This is an easy way to add more outputs or to add HVAC or other
EnergyPlus IDF objects not yet supported by DesignBuilder. It offers a more flexible approach than the
Include IDF option on the Model and Simulation options dialogs because the scripting system saves the IDF
data within the dsb file making it completely self-contained and portable. Also you can store and manage a list
of various IDF datasets with EMS which makes it easier to include/exclude various models and/or outputs in a
- 1672 -
EMS Edit Script Dialog
controlled way. A further advantage when adding IDF for outputs is that the Add Output dialog lists all outputs
available for the current model which provides a convenient way to select any extra outputs that are required.
Support
It is possible to write quite complex EMS programs and there is plenty of scope for making mistakes, which
can take time to track down and fix. Please be aware that the DesignBuilder Support Desk is not generally
able to offer a free service for debugging or advising on the possible cause of errors in EMS programs. See
the Support Desk Policy.
The EnergyPlus EMS application guide provides a section on debugging EMS programs which is a good
starting point for tracking down problems.
General
Name
Enter the name of the EMS script that will appear in the Script Manager list for selection.
Description
The description can be used to add any extra notes or description of the script.
Category
The Category for an EMS script is set to EMS and should not generally be changed once the script has been
created.
Script
The EMS script editor provides colour syntax highlighting to make it easier to read the code.
- 1673 -
Tip: Standard Erl syntax is described in the main EMS application guide.and DesignBuilder extensions to
the standard Erl sytax are described on the "DesignBuilder Erl" on page 1685 page.
Enable program
Check this checkbox to ensure that the EMS script is applied to any simulations carried out. EMS scripts are
not applied to Heating and Cooling design calculations.
Utilities
Insert EMS/IDF code
DesignBuilder provides several utilities to make it easy to insert EMS and/or IDF code into the script for
sensors, variables, internal variables, programs etc. These are accessed by clicking on the Edit Script dialog
Info panel links:
Some of the above tools add a simple keyword while others insert several lines of DB Erl code:
- 1674 -
Add Output
Other tools
• Refresh EMS Sensor, Actuator and Variable lists - regenerates the .edd and .rdd files needed to
create the lists for outputs, sensors, actuators and internal variables. There will be a delay (of several
minutes for larger models) while EnergyPlus is run to generate the necessary files.
• Align comments to cursor provides a quick way to ensure that all inline comments at the end of lines
of code are left-aligned with the current cursor position. This can be a useful way to quickly tidy up
comments in a program.
• Maximise editor - click to maximise the Edit Script dialog and hide all controls apart from the actual
editor. This can be useful to gain the maximum working area while working on a script. Click again to
restore the controls to normal non-maximised configuration. A tick will appear in the icon to the left of
the Maximise editor link in the info panel when it is maximised.
Add Output
It can sometimes be useful to add extra outputs either as part of an EMS program or to provide extra
information on model performance.
The Add Output dialog is accessed by clicking on the Add output link in the Info panel of the Edit Script
dialog when editing an EMS script.
Note: Extra outputs added in this way must be viewed in the Results Viewer and are not generally
available for view in the main DesignBuilder results screen.
With the Add Output dialog open you can select from a list of outputs that is generated based on the actual
model.
- 1675 -
When you press the OK button the list of selected outputs is inserted into the script at the cursor position. Or
press the Cancel button to not add any outputs to the script.
icon.
Tip: Any Outputs that have been added but are not actually required can be removed from the list by
selecting the text that is not required and pressing the <Delete> key.
Note: EnergyPlus runs faster if you use a single output report request using the "*" option instead of a
long list of output report requests that use actual object names.
Interval
Select the reporting interval for the selects outputs from the list:
• 1-Use DesignBuilder output options which means that the selected output reports will be generated
for the intervals selected on the Simulation calculation options dialog.
• 2-Timestep,
• 3-Hourly,
- 1676 -
Add Program
• 4-Daily,
• 5-Monthly,
• 6-Run period, totals and averages over the whole simulation period.
Add Program
The Add Program dialog is accessed by clicking on the Add program link in the Info panel of the Edit Script
dialog when editing an EMS program. With the Add Program dialog open you can select from a list of
predefined program entry points.
For example, when the above settings are made the script below will be added:
You should add you own EMS logic at the point of the "Add program code" comment .
- 1677 -
Calling point
Select the one of the program entry points listed in the right hand data panel by either a) double-clicking on
the required entry point , or b) by single-clicking on the required entry point and then clicking on the Select
icon. When you press the OK button Program code is inserted into the script at the cursor position.
Add Sensor
The Add Sensor dialog is accessed by clicking on the Add sensor link in the Info panel of the Edit Script
dialog when editing an EMS program. With the Add Sensor dialog open you can select from a list of sensors
based on the actual model.
At the point the dialog is opened DesignBuilder asks you if you would like to update the list of available
sensors by automatically running a preliminary simulation to generate an edd file with a list of all available
sensors for the current model. If you agree to this there will be a delay (of several minutes for larger models)
while EnergyPlus is run to generate the .edd and .rdd files.
Select the one of the sensors listed in the right hand data panel by either a) double-clicking on the required
sensor, or b) by single-clicking on the required sensor and then clicking on the Select icon.
When you press the OK button Erl code for the sensor is inserted into the script at the cursor position.
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Add Sensor
Loops
You can get DesignBuilder to set up a DB Erl loop to include script to generate multiple sensors by checking
the Add loop checkbox. This allows you to make to make further 2 selections to define the type of loop.
• 1-Zones where the loop is for all zones in the building, with optional filters.
• 2-Surfaces where the loop is for all surfaces in the building, with optional filters.
• 3-Windows where the loop is for all windows in the building, with optional filters.
Note: The Model object type defines the type of loop and the type of sensor selected must be
compatible. In particular for zone loops, only zone sensors should selected. For surface loops only surface or
zone sensors should be selected and for window loops only window or zone sensors should be selected.
DesignBuilder checks for incompatible combinations of Model object type and sensor selected and generates
an error where appropriate.
Loop keyword
The list of loop keywords presented will depend on the Model object type selected as shown below.
1-Zones
When the Model object type selected is 1-Zones, then the list of available loop filter keywords is:
• ForAllZones, no filter is applied, i.e. all zones in the building will be listed.
• ForAllOccupiedZones, only occupied zones will be listed. See below for how occupancy is assessed.
• ForAllUnoccupiedZones,only unoccupied zones will be listed. See below for how occupancy is
assessed.
• ForAllOccupiedCooledZones, only occupied zones that are also cooled will be listed. See below for
how occupancy and cooling are assessed.
• ForAllOccupiedHeatedZones, only occupied zones that are also heated will be listed. See below for
how occupancy and heating are assessed.
• ForAllOccupiedNonHeatedZones, only occupied zones that are also not heated will be listed. See
below for how occupancy and heating are assessed.
• ForAllOccupiedNonCooledZones only occupied zones that are also not cooled will be listed. See
below for how occupancy and cooling are assessed.
Zone occupancy is defined by the zones' Occupancy density, Floor area per person or Number of people
setting (depending on which Occupancy method is selected). If there are people in the space and also if the
Zone type is 1-Standard then the zone is considered to be occupied.
Cooling is defined by the zones' Cooled setting on the HVAC model data tab.
Heating is defined by the zones' Heated setting on the HVAC model data tab.
2-Surfaces
When the Model object type selected is 2-Surfaces, then the list of available loop filter keywords is:
• ForAllSurfaces, no filter is applied, i.e. all surfaces in the building will be listed.
• ForAllExternalSurfaces, where all external surfaces in the building will be listed.
• ForAllInternalSurfaces, where all internal surfaces in the building will be listed.
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3-Windows
When the Model object type selected is 3-Windows, then the list of available loop filter keywords is:
• ForAllWindows, no filter is applied, i.e. all windows in the building will be listed.
• ForAllExternalWindows, where all external windows in the building will be listed.
• ForAllElectrochromicSensorWindows, all windows used as SageGlass sensor windows will be
listed.
• ForAllShadedWindows, all windows in the building having any sort of "Window shading" on page 391
will be listed.
• ForAllSlattedBlindsShadedWindows, all windows in the building having slatted blind "Window
shading" on page 391 will be listed.
• ForAllDiffusingBlindsShadedWindows, all windows in the building having diffusing "Window
shading" on page 391 will be listed.
• ForAllElectrochromaticSwitchableShadedWindows, all windows in the building having
electrochromic switchable "Window shading" on page 391 will be listed.
• ForAllTransparentInsulationShadedWindows, all windows in the building having transparent
insulation "Window shading" on page 391 will be listed.
• ForAllMultipleStateElectrochromicShadedWindows all windows in the building having multiple state
electrochromic (SageGlass) "Window shading" on page 391 will be listed.
Data
Name
Enter the name of the sensor to be used in Erl script to reference the current sensor value.
When a sensor is selected from the list, the sensor Name is automatically set to be the name of the sensor
but with all illegal characters such as spaces replaced with "_".
When the Add loop option is selected and an appropriate sensor is selected from the list, the sensor Object
IDF name is automatically set to be one of:
• <LoopZoneIDFName> when the loop Model object type is set to 1-Zones and a "Zone" sensor has
been selected
• <LoopSurfaceIDFName> when the loop Model object type is set to 2-Surfaces and a "Surface"
sensor has been selected
• <LoopWindowIDFName> when the loop Model object type is set to 3-Windows and a "Window"
sensor has been selected
• <LoopSurfaceZoneIDFName> when the loop Model object type is set to 2-Surfaces and a "Zone"
sensor has been selected. This can be useful when a surface sensor needs to be associated with data
for its zone.
• <LoopWindowZoneIDFName> when the loop Model object type is set to 3-Windows and a "Zone"
sensor has been selected. This can be useful when a window sensor needs to be associated with data
for its zone.
Data type
When a sensor is selected from the list, the sensor Data type field is automatically set. This is the same as
the name of the sensor listed and also the name of the EnergyPlus output report used to feed the sensor with
its data.
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Add Actuator
Outputs
Include outputs
Sensors are based on EnergyPlus outputs so if you would like the output selected for the sensor to also be
included in the .eso output file then check this checkbox.
Note: Extra outputs added in this way must be viewed in the Results Viewer and are not generally
available for view in the main DesignBuilder results screen.
Interval
Select the reporting interval for the selects outputs from the list:
• 1-Use DesignBuilder output options which means that the selected output reports will be generated
for the intervals selected on the Simulation calculation options dialog.
• 2-Timestep,
• 3-Hourly,
• 4-Daily,
• 5-Monthly,
• 6-Run period, totals and averages over the whole simulation period.
Add Actuator
The Add Actuator dialog is accessed by clicking on the Add actuator link in the Info panel of the Edit Script
dialog when editing an EMS script. With the Add Actuator dialog open you can select from a list of actuators
based on the actual model.
- 1681 -
At the point the dialog is opened DesignBuilder asks you if you would like to update the list of available
actuators by automatically running a preliminary simulation to generate an edd file with a list of all available
actuators for the current model. If you agree to this there will be a delay (of several minutes for larger models)
while EnergyPlus is run to generate the .edd and .rdd files.
Select the one of the actuators listed in the right hand data panel by either a) double-clicking on the required
actuator, or b) by single-clicking on the required actuator and then clicking on the Select icon.
When you press the OK button Erl code for the actuator is inserted into the script at the cursor position.
Loops
You can get DesignBuilder to set up a DB Erl loop to include script to generate multiple actuators by checking
the Add loop checkbox. For more information about setting up DB Erl loops see the Add Sensor dialog help.
Data
Name
Enter the name of the actuator to be used in Erl script.
When an actuator is selected from the list, the actuator Name is automatically set to be the name of the
actuator, but with all illegal characters such as spaces replaced with "_". If the Add loop option is activated
then one of the following DB Erl keywords is appended to the name, preceded by the "_" character:
• <LoopZoneVariableName>,
• <LoopSurfaceVariableName>,
• <LoopWindowVariableName>.
When the Add loop option is selected and an appropriate actuator is selected from the list, the actuator Object
IDF name is automatically set to be one of:
Data type
When an actuator is selected from the list, the actuator Data type field is automatically set. This is the same
as the name of the actuator listed.
- 1682 -
Add Internal Variable
At the point the dialog is opened DesignBuilder asks you if you would like to update the list of available
sensors by automatically running a preliminary simulation to generate an edd file with a list of all available
sensors for the current model. If you agree to this there will be a delay (of several minutes for larger models)
while EnergyPlus is run to generate the .edd and .rdd files.
Select the one of the Internal Variables listed in the right hand data panel by either a) double-clicking on the
required internal variable, or b) by single-clicking on the required internal variable and then clicking on the
Select icon.
When you press the OK button Erl code for the internal variable is inserted into the script at the cursor
position.
Loops
You can get DesignBuilder to set up a DB Erl loop to include script to generate multiple internal variables by
checking the Add loop checkbox. For more information about setting up DB Erl loops see the Add Sensor
dialog help.
Data
Name
Enter the name of the internal variable to be used in Erl script.
When an internal variable is selected from the list, the internal variable Name is automatically set to be the
name of the internal variable, but with all illegal characters such as spaces replaced with "_". If the Add loop
option is activated then one of the following DB Erl keywords is appended to the name, preceded by the "_"
character:
- 1683 -
• <LoopZoneVariableName>,
• <LoopSurfaceVariableName>,
• <LoopWindowVariableName>.
When the Add loop option is selected and an appropriate internal variable is selected from the list, the internal
variable Object IDF name is automatically set to be one of:
Data type
When an internal variable is selected from the list, the internal variable Data type field is automatically set.
This is the same as the name of the internal variable listed.
Select the one of the EMS variables listed in the right hand data panel by either a) double-clicking on the
required EMS variable, or b) by single-clicking on the required EMS variable and then clicking on the Select
icon.
- 1684 -
Add DB Variable
When you press the OK button Erl code is inserted into the script at the cursor position.
Add DB Variable
The Add DB Variable dialog is accessed by clicking on the Add DB variable link in the Info panel of the Edit
Script dialog when editing an EMS script. With the Add DB Variable dialog open you can add code for a
DesignBuilder Erl extension keyword by selecting from a fixed list of DB variables.
Note: DB "Variables" are more than variables in the strict meaning of the word as understood by
programmers. They are actually a broad set of keywords that can used as part of DesignBuilder Erl code for a
range of purposes to create loops, access model attributes, add Erl code depending based on model settings,
including parametric variations etc.
Select the one of the DB variables listed in the right hand data panel by either a) double-clicking on the
required variable, or b) by single-clicking on the required variable and then clicking on the Select icon.
When you press the OK button the code is inserted into the script at the cursor position.
DesignBuilder Erl
DesignBuilder provides access to the full EnergyPlus Runtime Language (Erl) which is described in detail in
the EMS application guide. You can enter Erl script to modify your simulations on the EMS Program dialog.
This page describes a powerful set of extensions to Erl which allow code to be made portable between
models. Loops, If logic statements and access to model attributes offer ways to reference the model data
without referring to zones, surfaces and windows by name in the Erl scripts.
The combined Erl plus DB extensions language is referred to as DB Erl in the documentation.
- 1685 -
Note: Erl is case sensitive.
Loops
In models having more than one zone it is usually more convenient to write code using loop statements. It is
possible to loop through all zones, surfaces and openings in a model. It is also possible to work with only
particular zones, surfaces and openings.
Zone Loops
These have the general format:
<ForAllZones>,
IF <LoopZoneVariableName>_DeltaT < 0 ,
SET <LoopZoneVariableName>_DeltaT = 0,
ENDIF,
<LoopNextZone>,
When code is written in this way it becomes easier to manage, especially in models having more than a
handful of zones or where the code is to made portable for use in any model.
A summary of all the zone loop-related statements is given in the table below.
Loops
<ForAllZones> Loop through all zones in the current building.
Loop through all occupied zones in the current building. A zone is
<ForAllOccupiedZones> considered to be occupied if the Occupancy density is > 0 and the Zone
type is 1-Standard.
<ForAllUnoccupiedZones> Loop through all unoccupied zones in the current building.
Loop through all occupied zones in the current building that have the
<ForAllOccupiedCooledZones>
Cooled checkbox on the HVAC tab checked.
Loop through all zones in the current building that do not have the
<ForAllOccupiedNonCooledZones>
Cooled checkbox on the HVAC tab checked.
Loop through all occupied zones in the current building that have the
<ForAllOccupiedHeatedZones>
Heated checkbox on the HVAC tab checked.
Loop through all occupied zones in the current building that do not have
<ForAllOccupiedNonHeatedZones>
the Heated checkbox on the HVAC tab checked.
<LoopNextZone> Signals the end of the zone loop.
In-Loop Place Holders
Place holder is replaced with the IDF zone name of the current zone in
<LoopZoneIDFName>
the loop. E.g. Block1:Zone1
Place holder is replaced with a version of the the IDF zone name which
<LoopZoneVariableName> has been modified to be a legal Erl variable name (“:”, “.” and “?”
replaced by "_"). E.g. Block1:Zone1 becomes Block1_Zone1
Looks up the component or template stored in AttributeName for the
<LoopZoneDataFromAttribute
current loop and replaces the place holder with the value of the
AttributeName FieldName>
FieldName field.
Looks up the value of AttributeName and uses it instead of the place
holder. E.g. <LoopZoneAttribute ZoneMultiplier> might be replaced with
<LoopZoneAttribute AttributeName>
1 or <LoopZoneAttribute OccupancySchedule> might be replaced with
Office_Open_off. See full list of valid attribute names below.
Boolean
Boolean expression. E.g. <If LoopZoneAttribute
<If LoopZoneAttribute a < b Then>
MechanicalVentilationRateType = 2 Then>
- 1686 -
DesignBuilder Erl
Other
Replace <Any_Occupied_ZoneIDFName> with the IDF zone name of
<Any_Occupied_ZoneIDFName> any occupied zone in the model. (Actually, the first occupied zone it
comes across while looping through.)
Surface Loops
A summary of all the surface loop-related statements is given in the table below.
Loops
<ForAllSurfaces> Loop through all surfaces in the current building.
<ForAllExternalSurfac
Loop through all external surfaces in the current building.
es>
<ForAllInternalSurfac
Loop through all internal surfaces in the current building.
es>
<LoopNextSurface> Signals the end of the surface loop.
In-Loop Place
Holders
<LoopSurfaceIDFNa Place holder is replaced with the IDF surface name of the current surface in the loop.
me> E.g. Block1:Zone1_Wall_2_0_0
Place holder is replaced with a version of the the IDF surface name which has been
<LoopSurfaceVariabl
modified to be a legal Erl variable name (“:”, “.” and “?” replaced by "_"). E.g.
eName>
Block1:Zone1_Wall_2_0_0 will become Block1_Zone1_Wall_2_0_0
<LoopSurfaceAttribut Looks up the value of AttributeName and uses it instead of the place holder. E.g.
e AttributeName> <LoopSurfaceAttribute SillHeight> might be replaced with 0.8
<LoopSurfaceDataFro
Looks up the object stored in AttributeName for the current loop and replaces the place
mAttribute
holder with the value of FieldName. E.g. <LoopSurfaceAttribute WallConstr
AttributeName
NumberLayers> might be replaced with 4
FieldName>
<LoopSurfaceZoneID Place holder is replaced with the IDF name of the zone that the current surface is in.
FName> E.g. Block1:Zone1_Wall_2_0_0 is in Block1:Zone1
Place holder is replaced with the Erl variable name of the zone that the current surface
<LoopSurfaceZoneVa
is in. E.g. Block1:Zone1_Wall_2_0_0 is in Block1:Zone1, which becomes
riableName>
Block1_Zone1
Boolean
<If
Boolean expression. E.g. <If LoopSurfaceAttribute FixedExternalWallThickness = 1
LoopSurfaceAttribute
Then> (Checkboxes: 1 means checked, 0 means unchecked)
a < b Then>
Boolean expression. Using a value rather than an attribute. Often used in conjunction
<If SurfaceLoopValue with <LoopSurfaceDataFromAttribute AttributeName FieldName> E.g <If
a < b Then> SurfaceLoopValue <LoopSurfaceDataFromAttribute WallConstr NumberLayers> = 4
Then>
Window Loops
A summary of all the window loop-related statements is given in the table below.
- 1687 -
DB Erl Statement Description
Loop through all windows in the current building having
the Window shading checkbox on the Openings tab
<ForAllSlattedBlindsShadedWindows>
checked and whose selected Window shading system is
from the Slatted blinds category.
Loop through all windows in the current building having
the Window shading checkbox on the Openings tab
<ForAllDiffusingShadedWindows>
checked and whose selected Window shading system is
from the Diffusing shades category.
Loop through all windows in the current building having
the Window shading checkbox on the Openings tab
<ForAllElectrochromaticSwitchableShadedWindows
checked and whose selected Window shading system is
>
from the "Window blinds - Electrochromic Switching" on
page 1242 category.
Loop through all windows with internal shading of type
<ForAllTransparentInsulationShadedWindows>
Transparent Insulation in the current building.
<ForAllMultipleStateElectrochromicShadedWindows Loop through all windows with internal shading of type
> SageGlass Electrochromic in the current building.
<LoopNextWindow> End of the window loop.
In-Loop Place Holders
Place holder is replaced with the IDF window name of
<LoopWindowIDFName> the current window in the loop. E.g.
Block1:Zone1_Wall_2_0_0
Place holder is replaced with a version of the IDF window
name which has been modified to be a legal Erl variable
<LoopWindowVariableName> name (“:”, “.” and “?” replaced by "_").
Block1:Zone1_Wall_2_0_0 would become
Block1_Zone1_Wall_2_0_0
Looks up the value of AttributeName and uses it instead
of the place holder. E.g. <LoopWindowAttribute
InternalBlindControlSolar> might be replaced with 120 or
<LoopWindowAttribute AttributeName> <LoopWindowAttribute RevealOutsideProjection> might
be replaced with 0.5 if the Outside reveal depth for the
window is 0.5m. See full list of valid attribute names
below.
Looks up the component or template stored in
AttributeName for the current loop and replaces the place
<LoopWindowDataFromAttribute holder with the value of FieldName. E.g.
AttributeNameOfTable FieldName> <LoopWindowAttribute GlazingType Layers> might be
replaced with 2 if the glazing for the current window has
2 layers.
Boolean Expressions
Boolean expression. E.g. < If LoopWindowAttribute
<If LoopWindowAttribute a < b Then> InternalBlind =1 Then> (Checkboxes: 1 means checked,
0 means unchecked)
Boolean expression using a value rather than an
attribute. Often used in conjunction with
<If WindowLoopValue a < b Then> <LoopWindowDataFromAttribute AttributeName
FieldName> E.g. <If WindowLoopValue
<LoopWindowAttribute GlazingType Layers> >= 2 Then>
Optional Arguments
Optional arguments can be used with any loop type to further refine the included loops, filtering out data that
is not required.
Optional
What it does Where it works
Argument
- 1688 -
DesignBuilder Erl
All attribute
Tag Excludes any object that does not match the tag. Case sensitive.
levels.
Surface and
MaxSlope Excludes any surface or opening that has a slope value higher than this value.
opening.
Surface and
MinSlope Excludes any surface or opening that has a slope value less than this value.
opening.
MaxOrientatio Excludes any surface or opening that has an orientation value higher than this Surface and
n value. opening.
MinOrientatio Excludes any surface or opening that has an orientation value less than this Surface and
n value. opening.
ZoneIDFNam Excludes any zone, surface or opening that is in a zone that does not include Zone, surface
e this text anywhere in its name. Matching is case sensitive. and opening.
Excludes any objects that do not have the indicated Activity template loaded. Building, zone,
ActivityTempl
The argument value must match exactly with the template but the matching is surface and
ate
case insensitive. opening.
Excludes any objects that do not have the indicated Lighting template loaded. Building, zone,
LightingTempl
The argument value must match exactly with the template but the matching is surface and
ate
case insensitive. opening.
Excludes any objects that do not have the indicated HVAC template loaded. Building, zone,
HVACTempla
The argument value must match exactly with the template but the matching is surface and
te
case insensitive. opening.
Excludes any objects that do not have the indicated Glazing template loaded. Building, zone,
GlazingTempl
The argument value must match exactly with the template but the matching is surface and
ate
case insensitive. opening.
Excludes any objects that do not have the indicated Construction template Building, zone,
ConstructionT
loaded. The argument value must match exactly with the template but the surface and
emplate
matching is case insensitive. opening.
Note: There must be at least a single space between “>” and “{“.
If multiple alternative values are acceptable for an argument, the format is: {argument=value1//value2}. In this
case the code is executed if the argument is either equal to value1 OR value2. See examples below.
Examples
< ForAllExternalSurfaces> {MinSlope=89;MaxSlope=91} to loop through external vertical walls only.
to loop through windows in zones in block
<ForAllWindows> {ZoneIDFName=Floor1}
"floor 1".
<ForAllOccupiedZones> {ActivityTemplate=Domestic Bedroom} to loop through occupied bedrooms.
<ForAllOccupiedZones> {ActivityTemplate=Domestic to loop through occupied bedrooms and
Bedroom//Domestic Bathroom} bathrooms.
<ForAllZones> {LightingTemplate=LED; to loop through all zones with LED lights on
ZoneIDFName=Floor1//Floor2} floor 1 and floor 2
Note: While loops can be nested, it is only possible to use conditional arguments in the outermost loop
statement.
- 1689 -
Boolean Expressions - Include/exclude Blocks Of Code
When the DB Erl pre-processor encounters an <If...> directive, followed eventually by an <Endif> directive, it
will include the code between the <If...> and the <Endif> only if the boolean expression following <If ...
evaluates to True. Otherwise the block of code is not included in the model IDF file.
This is correct:
<If LoopZoneAttribute MechanicalVentilationRateType = 2 Then>,
This is incorrect:
<If LoopZoneAttribute MechanicalVentilationRateType = 2-Min Fresh Air
(Per Person)
Parametric Variables
Custom EMS parametric variables can be introduced into the DB Erl script to provide varying settings based
on a parametric analysis or optimisation study. The syntax is:
• for logical OR operations use "_OR_" instead of "OR". e.g. IF (c _OR_ d), instead of IF (c OR d),
- 1690 -
DesignBuilder Erl
TariffIncluded
TariffCount
TariffId1
TariffId2
TariffId3
TariffId4
TariffId5
ComponentCostIncluded
ComponentCostSettings
LifeCycleCostIncluded
LifeCycleCostSettings
ConstructionTemplateId
Insulation
ThermalMass
Title
WallConstr
WallBelowGradeConstr
CombinedFlatRoofConstr
FlatRoofConstr
PitchedRoofConstr
UnoccupiedPitchedRoofConstr
InternalWallConstr
SemiExposedWallConstr
CombinedSemiExposedRoofConstr
CombinedSemiExposedFloorConstr
CeilingsOn
CeilingSuspension
CeilingConstr
CombinedGroundFloorConstr
BasementGroundFloorConstr
CombinedExternalFloorConstr
CombinedInternalFloorConstr
ExternalFloorConstr
GroundSlabConstr
FloorSlabConstr
FloorsOn
FloorSuspension
FloorConstr
RoofspaceFloorConstr
RTPontThermIntermediaire
RTTIntRefendTrav
RTPTIntPsiRefendTrav
RTPTIntLongRefendTrav
RTTIntRefendBas
RTPTIntPsiRefendBas
RTPTIntLongRefendBas
RTTIntRefendHaut
RTPTIntPsiRefendHaut
RTPTIntLongRefendHaut
RTTIntPoutre
RTPTIntPsiPoutre
RTPTIntLongPoutre
SubSurfaceConstr
InternalSubSurfaceConstr
RoofSubSurfaceConstr
ExternalDoorConstr
- 1691 -
InternalDoorConstr
HasSolarCollector
SBEMSolarCollector
SBEMSolarCollectorArea
SBEMSolarCollectorPerc
ThermalMassConstr
ThermalMassArea
ZoneCapacitanceMultiplier
RTTypeInertie
RTTypeInertieSeq
RTCmsSurf
ComponentBlockType
SolarCollectorType
SolarCollectorCost
PVPerformanceType
PVPerformanceModelSimple
PVPerformanceModelOneDiode
PVHeatTeansferIntegrationMode
PVModulesInSeries
PVStringsInParallel
ComponentBlockShades
ComponentMaterial
ComponentMaxTransmittance
ComponentTransmittanceSchedule
SBEMPVSOn
SBEMPVSMultiplier
SBEMPVSUseAreaType
SBEMPVSArea
SBEMPVSWattPeakType
SBEMPVSUseKWPeak
SBEMPVSKWPeak
SBEMPVSOrientation
SBEMPVSInclination
SBEMPVSOvershadeType
SBEMPVSVentStrategy
RTVegetationSurMasque
RTUsageVegetation
RTDebutVegetation
RTDebutVegetationJour
RTDebutVegetationMois
RTFinVegetation
RTFinVegetationJour
RTFinVegetationMois
CFDInternalSurfaceTemperature
CFDExternalSurfaceTemperature
CFDExternalWindowTemperature
CFDAverageZoneAirTemperature
CFDOpeningAdjacentTemperature
CFDOpeningFlowIn
CFDOpeningFlowOut
CFDOpeningAperturePosition
CFDOpeningPercAperture
CFDBoundaryType
CFDBoundaryTemperature
CFDBoundaryFlowRate
CFDBoundaryXDirectionDischargeAngle
CFDBoundaryYDirectionDischargeAngle
CFDBoundaryMultiWayDiffuserDischargeAngle
CFDBoundaryTwoWayDiffuserDischargeDirection
CFDBoundaryMinimumDischargeVelocity
- 1692 -
DesignBuilder Erl
CFDBoundaryActualVelocity
CFDBoundaryFlux
CFDBoundaryH2OMassFraction
CFDBoundaryCO2MassFraction
CFDVentElementDimensionOrthoSurfaces
CFDVentElementDimensionNonOrthoSurfaces
CFDComponentBlockFlowRate
CFDComponentBlockFlowDirection
CFDComponentBlockThermalBoundary
CFDComponentBlockTemperature
CFDComponentBlockFlux
CFDComponentBlockMass
CFDSolidCellOverlapTolerance
HLIncludeUnoccupiedZones
HLSaveSurfaceOP
HLSaveOpeningOP
HGIncludeUnoccupiedZones
HGSaveSurfaceOP
HGSaveOpeningOP
IDFName
SSEPObjectNameInOP
SSEPObjectAreaInOP
SSEPObjectIDCInOP
SSIncludeUnoccupiedZones
SSBuildingStoreyPerimeterBlockOP
SSSurfaceOP
SSTemperatureOP
SSGainsOP
SSEnergyOP
SSLatentOP
SSFreshAirOP
SSTemperatureDistributionOP
SSSaveSurfaceOP
SSSaveOpeningOP
SSIntSurfaceTempOP
SSExtSurfaceTempOP
SSIntConvectionCoeffOP
SSExtConvectionCoeffOP
SSSurfaceGainOP
SSSolarIncidentOP
SSSolarTransOP
SSExtSunlitFractionOP
SSAirflowInOP
SSAirflowOutOP
SSComfortHead
SSFangerComfortOP
SSPierceComfortOP
SSKSUComfortOP
SSAdaptiveASH55ComfortOP
SSAdaptiveCEN15251ComfortOP
SSCIBSETM52ComfortOP
SSSimpleASH55ComfortOP
OutputSummaryHeadSS
SSSummaryOutputUnits
AllSummary
AllSummaryAndMonthly
LEEDSummary
AnnualBuildingUtilityPerformanceSummary
DemandEndUseComponentsSummary
SensibleHeatGainSummary
- 1693 -
InputVerificationandResultsSummary
ClimaticDataSummary
EquipmentSummary
EnvelopeSummary
SurfaceShadowingSummary
ShadingSummary
LightingSummary
HVACSizingSummary
SystemSummary
ComponentSizingSummary
OutdoorAirSummary
ObjectCountSummary
ComponentCostEconomicsSummary
OutputMonthlyHeadSS
AllMonthly
ZoneCoolingSummaryMonthly
ZoneHeatingSummaryMonthly
ZoneElectricSummaryMonthly
SpaceGainsMonthly
PeakSpaceGainsMonthly
SpaceGainComponentsAtCoolingPeakMonthly
EnergyConsumptionElectricityNaturalGasMonthly
EnergyConsumptionElectricityGeneratedPropaneMonthly
EnergyConsumptionDieselFuelOilMonthly
EnergyConsumptionDistrictHeatingCoolingMonthly
EnergyConsumptionCoalGasolineMonthly
EndUseEnergyConsumptionElectricityMonthly
EndUseEnergyConsumptionNaturalGasMonthly
EndUseEnergyConsumptionDieselMonthly
EndUseEnergyConsumptionFuelOilMonthly
EndUseEnergyConsumptionCoalMonthly
EndUseEnergyConsumptionPropaneMonthly
EndUseEnergyConsumptionGasolineMonthly
PeakEnergyEndUseElectricityPart1Monthly
PeakEnergyEndUseElectricityPart2Monthly
ElectricComponentsOfPeakDemandMonthly
PeakEnergyEndUseNaturalGasMonthly
PeakEnergyEndUseDieselMonthly
PeakEnergyEndUseFuelOilMonthly
PeakEnergyEndUseCoalMonthly
PeakEnergyEndUsePropaneMonthly
PeakEnergyEndUseGasolineMonthly
SetpointsNotMetWithTemperaturesMonthly
ComfortReportSimple55Monthly
UnglazedTranspiredSolarCollectorSummaryMonthly
OccupantComfortDataSummaryMonthly
ChillerReportMonthly
TowerReportMonthly
BoilerReportMonthly
DXReportMonthly
WindowReportMonthly
WindowEnergyReportMonthly
WindowZoneSummaryMonthly
WindowEnergyZoneSummaryMonthly
AverageOutdoorConditionsMonthly
OutdoorConditionsMaximumDryBulbMonthly
OutdoorConditionsMinimumDryBulbMonthly
OutdoorConditionsMaximumWetBulbMonthly
OutdoorConditionsMaximumDewPointMonthly
OutdoorGroundConditionsMonthly
- 1694 -
DesignBuilder Erl
WindowACReportMonthly
WaterHeaterReportMonthly
GeneratorReportMonthly
DaylightingReportMonthly
CoilReportMonthly
PlantLoopDemandReportMonthly
FanReportMonthly
PumpReportMonthly
CondLoopDemandReportMonthly
ZoneTemperatureOscillationReportMonthly
AirLoopSystemEnergyAndWaterUseMonthly
AirLoopSystemComponentLoadsMonthly
AirLoopSystemComponentEnergyUseMonthly
MechanicalVentilationLoadsMonthly
OutputDaylightHeadSS
SSDaylightingMapOP
SSDaylightingMapOPGridPoints
SSDaylightReferencePointsOP
SSSystemTemperatures
SSSystemMassFlowRates
SSSystemHumidityRatios
SSSQLiteOP
SSDXFOP
SSConstructionsOP
SSRDDOP
AdjacentCondition
SBEMIsStronglyVentilated
IsExcludedFromZoneFloorArea
GeometryConventionTemplateId
ZoneSurfaceAreaCalculationMethod
ZoneVolumeCalculationMethod
ZoneFloorAreaCalculationMethod
FixedExternalWallThickness
ExternalWallThickness
FixedExternalWallBelowGradeThickness
ExternalWallBelowGradeThickness
FixedPartitionThickness
PartitionThickness
FixedGroundFloorThickness
GroundFloorThickness
FixedBasementGroundFloorThickness
BasementGroundFloorThickness
FixedExternalFloorThickness
ExternalFloorThickness
FixedInternalFloorThickness
InternalFloorThickness
FixedSemiExposedWallThickness
SemiExposedWallThickness
FixedSemiExposedFloorThickness
SemiExposedFloorThickness
FixedCeilingThickness
CeilingThickness
FixedSemiExposedRoofThickness
SemiExposedRoofThickness
FixedFlatRoofThickness
FlatRoofThickness
FixedPitchedRoofThickness
PitchedRoofThickness
CeilingVoidDepth
FloorVoidDepth
- 1695 -
HLEPInsideConvectionAlgo
HLEPOutsideConvectionAlgo
HGEPInsideConvectionAlgo
HGEPOutsideConvectionAlgo
SSEPInsideConvectionAlgo
SSEPOutsideConvectionAlgo
SBEMSpecifyPsi
JunctRoofWallMC
JunctWallGrndMC
JunctWallWallMC
JunctWallFlrMC
JunctLintelMC
JunctSillMC
JunctJambMC
JunctRoofWall
JunctWallGrnd
JunctWallWall
JunctWallFlr
JunctLintel
JunctSill
JunctJamb
L5PsiAcc
L5SpecifyPsi
L5JunctRoofWallMC
L5JunctWallGrndMC
L5JunctWallWallMC
L5JunctWallFlrMC
L5JunctLintelMC
L5JunctSillMC
L5JunctJambMC
L5JunctRoofWall
L5JunctWallGrnd
L5JunctWallWall
L5JunctWallFlr
L5JunctLintel
L5JunctSill
L5JunctJamb
RTIsDetailCalcul
RTJustifArt19b
RTJunctRoofWall
RTPTLongueurRoofWall
RTPTSflCRoofWall
RTPTSflERoofWall
RTJunctWallGrnd
RTPTLongueurWallGrnd
RTPTSflCWallGrnd
RTPTSflEWallGrnd
RTJunctPbEntMur
RTPTLongueurPbEntMur
RTPTSflCPbEntMur
RTPTSflEPbEntMur
RTJunctWallWall
RTPTLongueurWallWall
RTPTSflCWallWall
RTPTSflEWallWall
RTJunctWallFlr
RTPTLongueurWallFlr
RTPTSflCWallFlr
RTPTSflEWallFlr
RTJunctWallPartition
- 1696 -
DesignBuilder Erl
RTPTLongueurWallPartition
RTPTSflCWallPartition
RTPTSflEWallPartition
RTJunctFloorPartition
RTPTLongueurFloorPartition
RTPTSflCFloorPartition
RTPTSflEFloorPartition
RTJunctRoofPartition
RTPTLongueurRoofPartition
RTPTSflCRoofPartition
RTPTSflERoofPartition
RTJunctMurDebord
RTPTLongueurMurDebord
RTPTSflCMurDebord
RTPTSflEMurDebord
RTJunctLintel
RTPTLongueurLintel
RTPTSflCLintel
RTPTSflELintel
RTJunctSill
RTPTLongueurSill
RTPTSflCSill
RTPTSflESill
RTJunctJamb
RTPTLongueurJamb
RTPTSflCJamb
RTPTSflEJamb
InfiltrationOn
InfiltrationValue
UKNCMQ50INF
RTStatutQ4PaSurf
InfiltrationValueI4
InfiltrationValuen50
InfiltrationSchedule
InfiltrationConstantTermCoef
InfiltrationTempTermCoef
InfiltrationVelocityTermCoef
InfiltrationVelocitySquareTermCoef
SealingQuality
CrackTemplate
SubStructureCostPerFloorArea
FrameType
CostInternalWallSurfaceFinish
CostFloorFinish
CostCeilingFinish
GlazingTemplateId
RTGestionOuvertureFenetre
RTDebitVentNat
RTQvBase
RTQvPointe
RTQvInocc
RTQvOcc
RTVentNatDepuisET
RTIdEtAeration
RTGestOuvertureFenetre
RTModeGestionHiver
RTModeGestionMiSaison
RTModeGestionEte
RTModeGestionEteClimatise
RTModeGestionCalculTic
- 1697 -
RTValeurDeclareeDefaut
RTDeltaThetaOp1Aut
RTSaisonChauffeDeltaThetaOp1
RTMiSaisonDeltaThetaOp1
RTSaisonRefroidDeltaThetaOp1
RTCalculTicDeltaThetaOp1
RTDeltaThetaOp2Aut
RTSaisonChauffeDeltaThetaOp2
RTMiSaisonDeltaThetaOp2
RTSaisonRefroidDeltaThetaOp2
RTCalculTicDeltaThetaOp2
RTDeltaThetaAut
RTSaisonChauffeDif
RTMiSaisonDif
RTSaisonRefroidDif
RTCalculTicDif
RTThetaEiSeuilAut
RTSaisonChauffeMin
RTMiSaisonMin
RTSaisonRefroidMin
RTCalculTicMin
RTThetaEiSeuilHautAut
RTSaisonChauffeMax
RTMiSaisonMax
RTSaisonRefroidMax
RTCalculTicMax
RTThetaOpBaseAut
RTSaisonChauffeOp
RTMiSaisonOp
RTSaisonRefroidOp
RTCalculTicOp
RTSurventilation
RTDeltaTravSurv
RTVentNatET
RTHttfet
RTDefQvETbase
RTQvETbase
SBEMDISPWIND
GlazingType
EarlyFacadeType
FacadeTemplateId
RTExpBR
Layout
PercGlazing
PreferredFrameWidth
PreferredFrameHeight
WindowSpacing
SillHeight
SurfaceAreaRatio
RevealOutsideProjection
RevealInsideProjection
InsideSillDepth
HasFrame
WindowFrameType
DividerType
FrameInnerWidth
HorizontalDividers
VerticalDividers
DividerOutsideProjection
DividerInsideProjection
- 1698 -
DesignBuilder Erl
DividerConductanceRatio
FrameOuterWidth
FrameInsideProjection
FrameOutsideProjection
FrameConductanceRatio
SBEMSHADINGSYSTEM
SBEMSHADINGPOSITION
SBEMSHADINGCOLOUR
SBEMSHADINGTX
ShadingCoeff
SBEMBRISESOLEIL
InternalBlinds
InternalBlind
InternalBlindPosition
InternalBlindControl
InternalBlindControlSolar
InternalBlindControlOutsideAirTemp
InternalBlindControlInsideAirTemp
InternalBlindControlSchedule
InternalBlindControlEP
InternalBlindControlControl
LouvresOn
LouvreType
AirflowControlWindowsOn
AirflowControlWindowsSource
AirflowControlWindowsDestination
AirflowControlWindowsMaxFlowRate
AirflowControlWindowsSchedule
RTValeurSaisieDefautRouvmax
RTTypeOuvrant
ExtWinOpeningPosition
ExtWinNaturalVentilationPercOpeningValue
ExtWinCOMISSchedule
ExtWinNaturalVentilationEP
ExtWinNaturalVentilationControl
InternalGlazingType
InternalEarlyFacadeType
InternalFacadeTemplateId
InternalLayout
InternalPercGlazing
InternalPreferredFrameWidth
InternalPreferredFrameHeight
InternalWindowSpacing
InternalSillHeight
InternalHasFrame
InternalWindowFrameType
InternalHorizontalDividers
InternalVerticalDividers
InternalFrameOuterWidth
InternalFrameInnerWidth
IntWinNaturalVentilationPercOpeningValue
IntWinCOMISSchedule
IntWinNaturalVentilationEP
IntWinNaturalVentilationControl
RoofGlazingType
RoofEarlyFacadeType
RoofFacadeTemplateId
SBEMRoofLightCover
RoofLayout
RoofPreferredFrameWidth
- 1699 -
RoofPreferredFrameHeight
RoofWindowSpacing
RoofSillHeight
RoofSurfaceAreaRatio
RoofHasFrame
RoofWindowFrameType
RoofHorizontalDividers
RoofVerticalDividers
RoofFrameOuterWidth
RoofFrameInnerWidth
RoofSBEMSHADINGSYSTEM
RoofShadingCoeff
RoofInternalBlinds
RoofInternalBlind
RoofInternalBlindPosition
RoofInternalBlindControl
RoofInternalBlindControlSolar
RoofInternalBlindControlOutsideAirTemp
RoofInternalBlindControlInsideAirTemp
RoofInternalBlindControlSchedule
RoofInternalBlindControlEP
RoofInternalBlindControlControl
RTValeurSaisieDefautRouvmaxRoof
RTTypeOuvrantRoof
ExtRoofNaturalVentilationPercOpeningValue
ExtRoofCOMISSchedule
ExtRoofNaturalVentilationEP
ExtRoofNaturalVentilationControl
SBEMDoorType
DoorsOn
DoorPreferredWidth
DoorPreferredHeight
ExtDoorOpenPerc
ExtDoorPercTimeOpen
ExtDoorCOMISSchedule
ExtDoorNaturalVentilationEP
ExtDoorNaturalVentilationControl
InternalDoorsOn
InternalDoorPreferredWidth
InternalDoorPreferredHeight
IntDoorOpenPerc
IntDoorPercTimeOpen
IntDoorCOMISSchedule
IntDoorNaturalVentilationEP
IntDoorNaturalVentilationControl
VentType
VentsOn
VentArea
VentSpacing
VentHeightAboveFloor
ExtVentCOMISSchedule
ExtVentNaturalVentilationEP
ExtVentNaturalVentilationControl
InternalVentType
InternalVentsOn
InternalVentArea
InternalVentSpacing
InternalVentHeightAboveFloor
IntVentCOMISSchedule
IntVentNaturalVentilationEP
- 1700 -
DesignBuilder Erl
IntVentNaturalVentilationControl
RoofVentType
RoofVentsOn
RoofVentArea
RoofVentSpacing
RoofVentHeightAboveFloor
RTEntreAir
RTPresenceEntreAir
RTTypeEntreeAir
RTModule
RTModule1
RTModule2
RTDeltaP1
RTDeltaP2
RTAttARegul
AllGainsValue
AllGainsSchedule
AllGainsEP
EquipmentList
ASHRAE901Type
IEEZoneType
ActivityTemplateId
SectorId
SubBuildingId
FloorArea
ZoneType
ZoneUnconditionedVentilated
IEEUnoccupiedZoneType
ZoneMultiplier
FavouredOrientation
IncludeZone
IncludeZoneDaylighting
SetZoneHeight
ZoneHeightIs
FitOutArea
NullZone
RTEstGroupe
RTZoneRTduGroupe
RTLocalAvecEclairageSpecifique
RTUsageEntete
RTUsage
RTLocauxResidentielCollectif
RTLocauxBureau
RTLocauxCommerceMagasinZI
RTLocauxCrecheGarderiePouponieres
RTLocauxEnseignementPrimaire
RTLocauxEtabSanitaireAvecHeberg
RTLocauxEtabSportifMunicipalPrive
RTLocauxEtablissementSportifScolaire
RTLocauxHebergementOccContinue
RTLocauxHebergementResidenceEtudiante
RTLocauxHopitalpartiejour
RTLocauxHopitalpartienuit
RTLocauxHotel1ou2etoilesJour
RTLocauxHotel1etoileNuit
RTLocauxHotel2etoileNuit
RTLocauxHotel3ou4etoilesJour
RTLocauxHotel3etoileNuit
RTLocauxHotel4etoileNuit
RTLocauxIndustrie38
- 1701 -
RTLocauxIndustrie8h18
RTLocauxRestaurant1Repas57
RTLocauxRestaurant2Repasjour67
RTLocauxRestaurant2Repasjour77
RTLocauxRestaurant3Repasjour57
RTLocauxRestaurationContinue
RTLocauxSecondaireJour
RTLocauxSecondaireNuit
RTLocauxTransportAerogare
RTLocauxTribunal
RTLocauxUniversite
RTUvueMI
RTUvueLC
RTUvueTer
RTRSETEnteteActivite
RTNatureLNC
RTOccupationPassagere
RTEstLocalSommeil
RTNBlogement
RTTransfertAir
RTIsHall
RTIsTraversant
RTSurfacesRegl
RTSHONRT
RTSHONRTDelta
RTSURT
RTSURTDelta
RTSHAB
RTSHABDelta
RTisRatl
RTRatl
RTCategorieEntete
RTCategorieCe1Ce2
OccupiedFloorArea
UnoccupiedFloorArea
OccupancyValue
OccupancySchedule
OccupancyEP
OccupancyDaysWeek
OccupancyLatentFraction
MetabolicRateId
MetabolicFactor
CarbonDioxideGenerationRate
WinterClo
SummerClo
IncludeContaminant
ContaminantSimulationMethod
ConstantContaminantMaxGenerationRate
CutoffContaminantDesignGenerationRate
DecaySourceContaminantInitialGenerationRate
ContaminantGenerationSchedule
CutoffContaminantCutoffConcentration
DecaySourceContaminantDecayTimeConstant
ConstantContaminantDesignRemovalCoefficient
DepositionRateSinkContaminantDepositionRate
ContaminantRemovalSchedule
UseHolidays
DaysHolidays
HolidaysId
DHWValue
- 1702 -
DesignBuilder Erl
HeatingDesignSetPointTemperature
HeatingSetBackSetPointTemperature
ActiveCoolingDesignSetPointTemperature
CoolingSetBackSetPointTemperature
HeatingPMVSetPoint
HeatingPMVSetBack
CoolingPMVSetPoint
CoolingPMVSetBack
HumidificationSP
DehumidificationSP
IncludeNatVentIndoorMinTemp
NatVentIndoorMinTempDefinition
NatVentSetPointTemperature
NatVentIndoorMinTempSchedule
IncludeNatVentIndoorMaxTemp
NatVentIndoorMaxTempDefinition
NatVentIndoorMaxTempValue
NatVentIndoorMaxTempSchedule
MechVentSetPointTemperature
MechVentTemperatureDifference
MinFreshAir
MinFreshAirPerArea
CO2SetPoint
CO2MinConcentration
ContaminantSetPoint
ContaminantMinConcentration
RTMinFreshAirInocc
RTMinFreshAirPerAreaInocc
TargetIlluminance1
LIGHTINGDISPLAY
ComputersOn
ComputersValue
ComputersEP
ComputersSchedule
ComputersRadiantFraction
EquipmentOn
EquipmentValue
EquipmentEP
EquipmentSchedule
EquipmentRadiantFraction
MiscellaneousOn
MiscellaneousValue
MiscellaneousEP
MiscellaneousSchedule
MiscellaneousFuel
MiscellaneousFractionLost
MiscellaneousLatentFraction
MiscellaneousRadiantFraction
MiscellaneousCO2GenRate
CateringOn
CateringValue
CateringEP
CateringSchedule
CateringFuel
CateringFractionLost
CateringLatentFraction
CateringRadiantFraction
CateringCO2GenRate
ProcessOn
ProcessValue
- 1703 -
ProcessSchedule
ProcessEP
ProcessFuel
ProcessFractionLost
ProcessLatentFraction
ProcessRadiantFraction
ProcessCO2GenRate
LightingTemplateId
FluorescentLightingOn
SBEMLIGHTCASE
FluorescentLightingValue
FluorescentLightingWattsPerM2Per100Lux
RTEffEclImmoProjet
RTEffiLampe
RTRatLocal
RTControleEcl
RTGestEcl
RTGradEcl
RTPeclAux
RTRatioEclNat
RTFrGradEcl
NCMTargetIlluminance
NCMDesignIlluminance
SBEMLAMPBALLASTEFF
SBEMLIGHTOUTPUTRATIO
SBEMLIGHTTYPE
SBEMDesignIlluminanceKnown
NCMDesignIlluminance2
SBEMAIREXTRACTINGLUMINAIRES
FluorescentLightingSchedule
FluorescentLightingEP
LuminaireType
LightingReturnAirFraction
LightingRadiantFraction
LightingVisibleFraction
LightingConvectiveFraction
SBEMCONSTANTILLUMINANCE
SBEMLIGHTCONTROLMANUAL
SBEMLIGHTCONTROLPHOTO
SBEMLIGHTPHBACK
SBEMLIGHTPHOTOTYPE
SBEMPHOTOTYPE
SBEMPARASITICPOWER
SBEMLIGHTPARASPW
SBEMAUTOSUBDIVIDE
SBEMMANUALSUBDIVIDE
SBEMMANUALSUBDIVIDEPERC
LightingControlOn
LightingControlType
LightingControlSteps
LightingControlContinuousMinOPFrac
LightingControlContinuousMinIPPowerFrac
LightingControlContinuousOffMinOPFrac
LightingControlContinuousOffMinIPPowerFrac
MaxGlareIndex
ViewAzAngle
LightingZone1Perc
LightingZone2On
TargetIlluminance2
LightingZone2Perc
- 1704 -
DesignBuilder Erl
SBEMLIGHTOCCSENS
SBEMLIGHTOCCSENST
SBEMLIGHTOCCSENSParasiticPower
TungstenLightingOn
SBEMLIGHTTIMESWITCH
LightTimeSwitchSBEM4
SBEMLIGHTDISPHOFF
SBEMLIGHTDISPF
SBEMDISPLAYEFF
SBEMLAMPBALLASTEFFDL
TungstenLightingValue
TungstenLightingEP
TungstenLightingSchedule
ExteriorLightingOn
ExteriorLightingValue
ExteriorLightingEP
ExteriorLightingSchedule
ExteriorLightingControlOption
NCMLightingMandT
NCMLightingMandTWithAlarmForOutOfRangeValues
NCMLightingVoltageReduction
LENICalc2
LightingCostPerFloorArea
RTExigenceMoyEclEnteteHab
RTArt27
RTArt28
RTExigenceMoyEclEnteteNonHab
RTArt37
RTArt38
RTArt39Entete
RTArt39a
RTArt39b
RTArt40Entete
RTArt40
RTArt41
HVACTemplateId
SBEMZoneHasHVAC
SBEMUsesDefault
SBEMDefaultHVAC
SBEMDefaultHVACFuelType
SBEMKnownHVAC
SBEMHVACSystemId
NCMDestratificationFans
EarlyHVACType
HVACAvailabilitySchedule
HVACAvailabilityEP
HVACAvailabilityControl
HVACAvailabilityDaysWeek
NightCycleControl
IsControlZone
IsMixedModeControlZone
IsHumidificationControlZone
IsDehumidificationControlZone
MechanicalVentilationOn
MechanicalVentilationRateType
MechanicalVentilationValue
MaxSupplyAirFlowRate
MinOutsideAirFlowRate
RTQvPointeCVC
RTQvBaseCVC
- 1705 -
MechanicalVentilationSchedule
MechanicalVentilationEP
MechanicalVentilationControl
MechanicalVentilationDaysWeek
OutsideAirMixingHead
FreshAirType
OutsideAirControlType
FanHead
FanType
FanMode
FanPressureRise
FanEff
FanInAir
FanPlacement
FanPartLoadPowerCoefficients
Economiser
EconomiserType
EconomiserMaxACH
EconomiserLockout
EconomiserUpperTemperature
EconomiserLowerTemperature
EconomiserUpperEnthalpy
HeatRecoveryHead
HeatRecoveryOn
HeatRecoveryType
SensibleHeatRecoveryEffectiveness
LatentHeatRecoveryEffectiveness
HeatRecoveryHeatingSP
HeatRecoverySchedule
HasSupplyPlenumZone
SupplyPlenumLocation
SupplyPlenumZone
HasReturnPlenumZone
ReturnPlenumLocation
ReturnPlenumZone
VAVHead
SupplyAirMinFlowFraction
VAVType
ParallelFanOnFlowFraction
VAVFanHead
VAVFanPressureRise
VAVFanEff
NCMLocalMechanicalSupply
NCMSpecificSupplyFanPowerUnknown
NCMDefaultSpecificSupplyFanPower
NCMSpecificSupplyFanPowerKnown
NCMSpecificSupplyFanPower
NCMDemandCtrlVentilation
NCMDemandCtrlVentFlowCtrl
NCMZonalSupplyHeatRecoveryOn
NCMZonalSupplyHeatRecoveryType
NCMZonalHeatRecoverySEFFVariable
NCMZonalHeatRecoveryUnknown
NCMZonalHeatRecoveryDefaultSEFF
NCMZonalHeatRecoveryKnown
NCMZonalHeatRecoverySEFF
NCMUnKnownSpecificFanPowerTU
NCMDefaultSpecificFanPowerTU
NCMKnowSpecificFanPowerTU
NCMSpecificFanPowerTU
- 1706 -
DesignBuilder Erl
NCMLocalMechanicalExhaust
NCMLocalMechanicalExhaustScope
NCMLocalMechanicalExhaustFlow
NCMUnKnownSpecificExtractFanPower
NCMDefaultSpecificExtractFanPower
NCMKnowSpecificExtractFanPower
NCMSpecificExtractFanPower
NCMUnKnownHEPA
NCMKnowHEPA
HEPADEF
NCMAirConInstalled
NCMAirConInspected
NCMAirConRatedOutputUnknown
NCMEstimatedtAirConRatedOutput
NCMAirConRatedOutputKnown
NCMAirConRatedOutput
NCMNightCooling
NCMNightCoolingMaxFlow
NCMNightCoolingMaxHours
NCMNightCoolingSFP
tAEnergy
PumpEtcEnergy
PumpEtcSchedule
PumpEtcEP
PumpEtcControl
PumpEtcDaysWeek
HeatingOn
NCMHeatSource
NCMECA
RTTypePgrmCh
HeatingMaxLoad
HeatingMaxLoadOP
Boiler
BoilerFuel
BoilerCoP
HeatingDistributionLoss
SCoPFrac
NCMBoilerDate
PreheatType
PreheatCoilSetpointTemp
CentralHeatingCoilType
HeatingCoilSetpointResetType
HeatingCoilSetpointTemp
HeatingCoilMinOutdoorTemp
HeatingCoilSetpointTempAtMaxOutdoorTemp
HeatingCoilMaxOutdoorTemp
AHUHeatingCoilsSchedule
AHUHeatingCoilsEP
AHUHeatingCoilsPreheat
AHUHeatingCoilsControl
AHUHeatingCoilsDaysWeek
ReheatType
ZoneDamperHeatingAction
HeatingType
HeatingRF
RadiantDistribution
HeatingPASupplyAirTemperature
HeatingPASupplyAirHumidityRatio
IdealLoadsHeatingLimitType
BaseboardOn
- 1707 -
BaseboardType
BaseboardMode
BaseboardMaxLoad
BaseboardRadiantFraction
BoilerSchedule
BoilerEP
Preheat
BoilerControl
BoilerDaysWeek
ActiveCoolingOn
CoolingSystemId
CoolingMaxLoad
CoolingMaxLoadOP
HGCoolingMaxLoadMonth
RTTypePgrmFr
Chiller
ChilledWaterSetpointTemp
CondenserWaterSetpointTemp
CoolingTowerType
ChillerFuel
SSEERFrac
CoolingPASupplyAirTemperature
CoolingPASupplyAirHumidityRatio
IdealLoadsCoolingLimitType
ChillerCoP
CoolingType
CoolingRF
NCMPackChillerType
NCMPackChillerkW
CondenserType
CoolingDistributionLoss
CentralCoolingCoilType
CoolingCoilSetpointResetType
CoolingCoilSetpointTemp
CoolingCoilMaxOutdoorTemp
CoolingCoilSetpointTempAtMinOutdoorTemp
CoolingCoilMinOutdoorTemp
AHUCoolingCoilsSchedule
AHUCoolingCoilsEP
AHUCoolingCoilsPrecool
AHUCoolingCoilsControl
AHUCoolingCoilsDaysWeek
ChillerEP
ChillerSchedule
Precool
ChillerControl
ChillerDaysWeek
EIFDistrictHeatingEfficiency
EIFDisctrictCoolingCOP
EIFSteamConversionEfficiency
EIFTotalCarbonEquivalentEmissionFactorFromN2O
EIFTotalCarbonEquivalentEmissionFactorFromCH4
EIFTotalCarbonEquivalentEmissionFactorFromCO2
HumidificationOn
HumidificationAvailabilitySchedule
HumidificationElectricPower
HumidificationCapacity
SimpleHVACHumidificationControlType
DehumidificationOn
DehumidificationControlType
- 1708 -
DesignBuilder Erl
SimpleHVACDehumidificationControlType
SimpleHVACCoolingSensibleHeatRatio
DHWOn
DHWTemplateId
DHWDeadlegLength
DHWType
DHWCoP
DHWFuelType
DHWIsPost98
DHWStorageOn
DHWStorageVolume
DHWStorageLoss
DHWSecondaryCirculationOn
DHWSecondaryCirculationLoopLength
DHWSecondaryCirculationLoss
DHWSecondaryCirculationPumpPower
DHWOutputTemperature
DHWInputTemperature
DHWSchedule
DHWEP
NaturalVentilationOn
NaturalVentilationRateType
NaturalVentilationValue
NaturalVentilationSchedule
NaturalVentilationEP
NaturalVentilationDaysWeek
IncludeNatVentOutdoorMinTemp
NatVentOutdoorMinTempDefinition
NatVentOutdoorMinTempValue
NatVentOutdoorMinTempSchedule
IncludeNatVentOutdoorMaxTemp
NatVentOutdoorMaxTempDefinition
NatVentOutdoorMaxTempValue
NatVentOutdoorMaxTempSchedule
IncludeNatVentDeltaTemp
NatVentDeltaTempDefinition
NatVentTemperatureDifference
NatVentDeltaTempSchedule
NatVentConstantTermCoef
NatVentTempTermCoef
NatVentVelocityTermCoef
NatVentVelocitySquareTermCoef
COMISWindFactor
NatVentControlMode
COMISModulationOn
COMISModulationMinDT
COMISModulationMaxDT
COMISModulationMaxDTFact
NatVentMixedModeOn
NatVentMixedModeOpeningFactorFunctionWindSpeedCurveId
NatVentMixedModeSwitchOffWhenRaining
NatVentMixedModeMaxWindSpeed
NatVentMixedModeMinTemperature
NatVentMixedModeMaxTemperature
NatVentMixedModeMinEnthalpy
NatVentMixedModeMaxEnthalpy
NatVentMixedModeMinDewPointTemperature
NatVentMixedModeMaxDewPointTemperature
NatVentMixedModeControlModeScheduleId
NatVentMixedModeMinOutdoorVentilationAirScheduleId
- 1709 -
NatVentMixedModeAirflowNetworkControlTypeScheduleId
NatVentMixedModeSimpleAirflowControlTypeScheduleId
EarthTubeYesNo
EarthTubeRateType
EarthTubeValue
EarthTubeDesignFlowRate
EarthTubeSchedule
EarthTubeMinZoneTemp
EarthTubeMaxZoneTemp
EarthTubeDeltaTemp
EarthTubeType
EarthTubeFanPressureRise
EarthTubeFanTotalEfficiency
EarthTubePipeRadius
EarthTubePipeThickness
EarthTubePipeLength
EarthTubePipeThermalConduct
EarthTubePipeDepthUnderGroundSurface
EarthTubeSoilCondition
EarthTubeAverageSoilSurfTemp
EarthTubeAmplitudeSoilSurfTemp
EarthTubePhaseConstantSoilSurfTemp
EarthTubeConstantTermFlowCoef
EarthTubeTempTermFlowCoef
EarthTubeVelocityTermFlowCoef
EarthTubeVelocitySquareTermFlowCoef
SurfaceForm
WindAngle0
WindAngle45
WindAngle90
WindAngle135
WindAngle180
WindAngle225
WindAngle270
WindAngle315
AirDistributionMode
AirDistributionInterpolationMode
AirDistributionCouplingStrategy
AirDistributionDesignTemperature
AirDistributionDesignHeatRate
AirDistributionDesignTemperatureGradient
AirDistributionReferenceTemperature
AirDistributionReferenceHeatRate
AirDistributionReferenceTemperatureGradient
AirDistributionSchedule
AirDistributionEP
AirDistributionControl
AirDistributionThermometerHeight
AirDistributionReturnHeight
AirDistributionRASGainDistributionSchedule
AirDistributionRASPlumesPerOccupant
AirDistributionRASNumberOfDiffusers
AirDistributionRASPowerPerPlume
AirDistributionRASDesignAreaOfDiffuser
AirDistributionRASDiffuserSlotAngle
AirDistributionRASDiffuserType
AirDistributionRASCoefficientA
AirDistributionRASCoefficientB
AirDistributionRASCoefficientC
AirDistributionRASCoefficientD
- 1710 -
DesignBuilder Erl
AirDistributionRASCoefficientE
AirDistributionRASThermostatHeight
AirDistributionRASComfortHeight
AirDistributionRASSetTransitionHeight
AirDistributionRASTransitionHeight
AirDistributionRASReportingThreshold
SBEMCHPOn
SBEMCHPHEATSSEER
SBEMCHPSHEAT
SBEMCHPDHEAT
SBEMCHPHEATPOWERRATIO
SBEMCHPPQAQI
SBEMCHPFUELTYPE
SBEMCHPTrigeneration
SBEMCHPSCOOL
SBEMCHPCOOLSEER
SBEMWINDGENERATOROn
SBEMWINDGENERATORMultiplier
SBEMWINDGENERATORArea
SBEMWINDGENERATORHubHeight
SBEMWINDGENERATORPower
SBEMWINDGENERATORTerrainType
HVACCostPerFloorArea
OtherServicesCostPerFloorArea
GeneratorsYesNo
DistributionCount
DistributionId1
DistributionId2
DistributionId3
DistributionId4
DistributionId5
RTExigenceMoyEnteteHab
RTArt23
RTArt24
RTArt25
RTArt26
RTArt29
RTExigenceMoyEnteteNonHab
RTArt31Entete
RTArt31Chaud
RTArt31Froid
RTArt31ECS
RTArt31Eclairage
RTArt31Reseau
RTArt31Vent
RTArt3180Am
RTArtVentEntete
RTArt32
RTArt33
RTArt42
RTArtChauEntete
RTArt34
RTArt35
RTArtDistChaudFroidEntete
RTArt36
RTArtFroidEntete
RTArt43
RTArt44
RTArt45
TopologyType
- 1711 -
DrawingObject
CuttingMode
IsGable
IsOccupied
RoofOverlap
RoofSlope
WallSlope
Height
AutoHeightRipple
lvwSelectionIndex
Length
LengthA
LengthB
Width
WidthA
WidthB
Depth
NumberStories
StoreyHeight
PercPartyWalls
PitchedRoof
LocationTemplateId
RTDepartement
SBEMLocation
TitleSite
Latitude
Longitude
ClimaticRegion
Elevation
IEESeaDistance
IEEConcelhos
Exposure
SiteOrientation
RTZoneEteIntLit
RTMasqueLointainEntete
RTMasqueLointain
RTHauteurHorizonAzimutal
RTgamma1
RTgamma2
RTgamma3
RTgamma4
RTgamma5
RTgamma6
RTgamma7
RTgamma8
RTgamma9
RTgamma10
RTgamma11
RTgamma12
RTgamma13
RTgamma14
RTgamma15
RTgamma16
RTgamma17
RTgamma18
RTgamma19
RTgamma20
RTgamma21
RTgamma22
RTgamma23
- 1712 -
DesignBuilder Erl
RTgamma24
RTgamma25
RTgamma26
RTgamma27
RTgamma28
RTgamma29
RTgamma30
RTgamma31
RTgamma32
RTgamma33
RTgamma34
RTgamma35
RTgamma36
RTConductiviteSol
UseGroundConstr
GroundConstr
GroundTexture
GroundReflectance
GroundSnowReflectedSolarModifier
GroundSnowReflectedDaylightModifier
JanGroundTemperature
FebGroundTemperature
MarGroundTemperature
AprGroundTemperature
MayGroundTemperature
JunGroundTemperature
JulGroundTemperature
AugGroundTemperature
SepGroundTemperature
OctGroundTemperature
NovGroundTemperature
DecGroundTemperature
JanDeepGroundTemperature
FebDeepGroundTemperature
MarDeepGroundTemperature
AprDeepGroundTemperature
MayDeepGroundTemperature
JunDeepGroundTemperature
JulDeepGroundTemperature
AugDeepGroundTemperature
SepDeepGroundTemperature
OctDeepGroundTemperature
NovDeepGroundTemperature
DecDeepGroundTemperature
JanShallowGroundTemperature
FebShallowGroundTemperature
MarShallowGroundTemperature
AprShallowGroundTemperature
MayShallowGroundTemperature
JunShallowGroundTemperature
JulShallowGroundTemperature
AugShallowGroundTemperature
SepShallowGroundTemperature
OctShallowGroundTemperature
NovShallowGroundTemperature
DecShallowGroundTemperature
FCfactorMethodUseWeatherDataControl
JanFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
FebFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
MarFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
- 1713 -
AprFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
MayFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
JunFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
JulFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
AugFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
SepFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
OctFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
NovFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
DecFCfactorMethodGroundTemperature
SiteWaterMainsCalculationMethod
SiteWaterMainsSchedule
SiteWaterMainsAnnualAverageOutdoorAirTemperature
SiteWaterMainsMaxDiffInMonthlyAverageOutdoorTemperatures
DesignAnnualPrecipitation
NominalAnnualPrecipitation
PrecipitationSchedule
IrrigationType
MaxIrrigationRate
IrrigationSchedule
CO2Concentration
CO2Schedule
ContaminantConcentration
ContaminantSchedule
TimeZoneId
UseDaylightSaving
WinterFrom
WinterTo
SummerFrom
SummerTo
HourlyWeatherData
DayOfWeekForStartDay
WeatherWinterDB996
WinterToaDB996
WinterWSDB996
WinterWDDB996
WeatherWinterDB99
WinterToaDB99
WinterWSDB99
WinterWDDB99
SummerToaLag
SummerTwbLag
SummerDBTempRangeModifierType
SummerDBTempRangeModifierSchedule
SummerTemperatureDefinition
SummerDB04
SummerToaMaxDB04
SummerTwbMaxDB04
SummerToaMinDB04
SummerDB1
SummerToaMaxDB1
SummerTwbMaxDB1
SummerToaMinDB1
SummerDB2
SummerToaMaxDB2
SummerTwbMaxDB2
SummerToaMinDB2
SummerWB04
SummerToaMaxWB04
SummerTwbMaxWB04
SummerToaMinWB04
- 1714 -
DesignBuilder Erl
SummerWB1
SummerToaMaxWB1
SummerTwbMaxWB1
SummerToaMinWB1
SummerWB2
SummerToaMaxWB2
SummerTwbMaxWB2
SummerToaMinWB2
SummerDP04
SummerToaMaxDP04
SummerTwbMaxDP04
SummerToaMinDP04
SummerDP1
SummerToaMaxDP1
SummerTwbMaxDP1
SummerToaMinDP1
SummerDP2
SummerToaMaxDP2
SummerTwbMaxDP2
SummerToaMinDP2
DesDBCoincWB04
DryBulb04Jan
DryBulb04Feb
DryBulb04Mar
DryBulb04Apr
DryBulb04May
DryBulb04Jun
DryBulb04Jul
DryBulb04Aug
DryBulb04Sep
DryBulb04Oct
DryBulb04Nov
DryBulb04Dec
WetBulbDryBulb04Jan
WetBulbDryBulb04Feb
WetBulbDryBulb04Mar
WetBulbDryBulb04Apr
WetBulbDryBulb04May
WetBulbDryBulb04Jun
WetBulbDryBulb04Jul
WetBulbDryBulb04Aug
WetBulbDryBulb04Sep
WetBulbDryBulb04Oct
WetBulbDryBulb04Nov
WetBulbDryBulb04Dec
DryMin04Jan
DryMin04Feb
DryMin04Mar
DryMin04Apr
DryMin04May
DryMin04Jun
DryMin04Jul
DryMin04Aug
DryMin04Sep
DryMin04Oct
DryMin04Nov
DryMin04Dec
DesDBCoincWB2
DryBulb2Jan
DryBulb2Feb
- 1715 -
DryBulb2Mar
DryBulb2Apr
DryBulb2May
DryBulb2Jun
DryBulb2Jul
DryBulb2Aug
DryBulb2Sep
DryBulb2Oct
DryBulb2Nov
DryBulb2Dec
WetBulbDryBulb2Jan
WetBulbDryBulb2Feb
WetBulbDryBulb2Mar
WetBulbDryBulb2Apr
WetBulbDryBulb2May
WetBulbDryBulb2Jun
WetBulbDryBulb2Jul
WetBulbDryBulb2Aug
WetBulbDryBulb2Sep
WetBulbDryBulb2Oct
WetBulbDryBulb2Nov
WetBulbDryBulb2Dec
DryMin2Jan
DryMin2Feb
DryMin2Mar
DryMin2Apr
DryMin2May
DryMin2Jun
DryMin2Jul
DryMin2Aug
DryMin2Sep
DryMin2Oct
DryMin2Nov
DryMin2Dec
DesDBCoincWB5
DryBulb5Jan
DryBulb5Feb
DryBulb5Mar
DryBulb5Apr
DryBulb5May
DryBulb5Jun
DryBulb5Jul
DryBulb5Aug
DryBulb5Sep
DryBulb5Oct
DryBulb5Nov
DryBulb5Dec
WetBulbDryBulb5Jan
WetBulbDryBulb5Feb
WetBulbDryBulb5Mar
WetBulbDryBulb5Apr
WetBulbDryBulb5May
WetBulbDryBulb5Jun
WetBulbDryBulb5Jul
WetBulbDryBulb5Aug
WetBulbDryBulb5Sep
WetBulbDryBulb5Oct
WetBulbDryBulb5Nov
WetBulbDryBulb5Dec
DryMin5Jan
- 1716 -
DesignBuilder Erl
DryMin5Feb
DryMin5Mar
DryMin5Apr
DryMin5May
DryMin5Jun
DryMin5Jul
DryMin5Aug
DryMin5Sep
DryMin5Oct
DryMin5Nov
DryMin5Dec
DesDBCoincWB10
DryBulb10Jan
DryBulb10Feb
DryBulb10Mar
DryBulb10Apr
DryBulb10May
DryBulb10Jun
DryBulb10Jul
DryBulb10Aug
DryBulb10Sep
DryBulb10Oct
DryBulb10Nov
DryBulb10Dec
WetBulbDryBulb10Jan
WetBulbDryBulb10Feb
WetBulbDryBulb10Mar
WetBulbDryBulb10Apr
WetBulbDryBulb10May
WetBulbDryBulb10Jun
WetBulbDryBulb10Jul
WetBulbDryBulb10Aug
WetBulbDryBulb10Sep
WetBulbDryBulb10Oct
WetBulbDryBulb10Nov
WetBulbDryBulb10Dec
DryMin10Jan
DryMin10Feb
DryMin10Mar
DryMin10Apr
DryMin10May
DryMin10Jun
DryMin10Jul
DryMin10Aug
DryMin10Sep
DryMin10Oct
DryMin10Nov
DryMin10Dec
DesWBCoincDB04
WetBulb04Jan
WetBulb04Feb
WetBulb04Mar
WetBulb04Apr
WetBulb04May
WetBulb04Jun
WetBulb04Jul
WetBulb04Aug
WetBulb04Sep
WetBulb04Oct
WetBulb04Nov
- 1717 -
WetBulb04Dec
DryBulbWetBulb04Jan
DryBulbWetBulb04Feb
DryBulbWetBulb04Mar
DryBulbWetBulb04Apr
DryBulbWetBulb04May
DryBulbWetBulb04Jun
DryBulbWetBulb04Jul
DryBulbWetBulb04Aug
DryBulbWetBulb04Sep
DryBulbWetBulb04Oct
DryBulbWetBulb04Nov
DryBulbWetBulb04Dec
WetMin04Jan
WetMin04Feb
WetMin04Mar
WetMin04Apr
WetMin04May
WetMin04Jun
WetMin04Jul
WetMin04Aug
WetMin04Sep
WetMin04Oct
WetMin04Nov
WetMin04Dec
DesWBCoincDB2
WetBulb2Jan
WetBulb2Feb
WetBulb2Mar
WetBulb2Apr
WetBulb2May
WetBulb2Jun
WetBulb2Jul
WetBulb2Aug
WetBulb2Sep
WetBulb2Oct
WetBulb2Nov
WetBulb2Dec
DryBulbWetBulb2Jan
DryBulbWetBulb2Feb
DryBulbWetBulb2Mar
DryBulbWetBulb2Apr
DryBulbWetBulb2May
DryBulbWetBulb2Jun
DryBulbWetBulb2Jul
DryBulbWetBulb2Aug
DryBulbWetBulb2Sep
DryBulbWetBulb2Oct
DryBulbWetBulb2Nov
DryBulbWetBulb2Dec
WetMin2Jan
WetMin2Feb
WetMin2Mar
WetMin2Apr
WetMin2May
WetMin2Jun
WetMin2Jul
WetMin2Aug
WetMin2Sep
WetMin2Oct
- 1718 -
DesignBuilder Erl
WetMin2Nov
WetMin2Dec
DesWBCoincDB5
WetBulb5Jan
WetBulb5Feb
WetBulb5Mar
WetBulb5Apr
WetBulb5May
WetBulb5Jun
WetBulb5Jul
WetBulb5Aug
WetBulb5Sep
WetBulb5Oct
WetBulb5Nov
WetBulb5Dec
DryBulbWetBulb5Jan
DryBulbWetBulb5Feb
DryBulbWetBulb5Mar
DryBulbWetBulb5Apr
DryBulbWetBulb5May
DryBulbWetBulb5Jun
DryBulbWetBulb5Jul
DryBulbWetBulb5Aug
DryBulbWetBulb5Sep
DryBulbWetBulb5Oct
DryBulbWetBulb5Nov
DryBulbWetBulb5Dec
WetMin5Jan
WetMin5Feb
WetMin5Mar
WetMin5Apr
WetMin5May
WetMin5Jun
WetMin5Jul
WetMin5Aug
WetMin5Sep
WetMin5Oct
WetMin5Nov
WetMin5Dec
DesWBCoincDB10
WetBulb10Jan
WetBulb10Feb
WetBulb10Mar
WetBulb10Apr
WetBulb10May
WetBulb10Jun
WetBulb10Jul
WetBulb10Aug
WetBulb10Sep
WetBulb10Oct
WetBulb10Nov
WetBulb10Dec
DryBulbWetBulb10Jan
DryBulbWetBulb10Feb
DryBulbWetBulb10Mar
DryBulbWetBulb10Apr
DryBulbWetBulb10May
DryBulbWetBulb10Jun
DryBulbWetBulb10Jul
DryBulbWetBulb10Aug
- 1719 -
DryBulbWetBulb10Sep
DryBulbWetBulb10Oct
DryBulbWetBulb10Nov
DryBulbWetBulb10Dec
WetMin10Jan
WetMin10Feb
WetMin10Mar
WetMin10Apr
WetMin10May
WetMin10Jun
WetMin10Jul
WetMin10Aug
WetMin10Sep
WetMin10Oct
WetMin10Nov
WetMin10Dec
RegionId
IncludeElectricity
IncludeNaturalGas
IncludeFuelOil1
IncludeFuelOil2
IncludeCoal
IncludeGasoline
IncludePropane
IncludeDiesel
IncludeOtherFuel1
IncludeOtherFuel2
StdECMinimal
StdECNormal
StdECMandatory
StdECBest
OccupancyHVACTiming
OccupancyGainsTiming
FloorCeilingRepresentation
RValueToOutside
ExcludeSemiExteriorUnconditionedZones
IncludeCeilingVoidsInVentVolume
IncludeFloorVoidsInVentVolume
IncludeFloorConstructionInVentVolume
IncludeGroundFloorConstructionInVentVolume
IncludeExternalFloorConstructionInVentVolume
SSComfortVelocity
OccupancyLatentGainMethod
InfiltrationDataLevel
GainsDataLevel
CostDataLevel
CFDDataLevel
GeometryDataLevel
NatVentDataLevel
ScopeDataLevel
ConstructionDataLevel
MechVentDataLevel
ShadingDataLevel
SimulationDataLevelDBS
SimulationDataLevel
HVACDataLevel
SimpleHVACAutosizeMethod
SimpleHVACAux
SimpleHVACSpec
SimpleHVACMechVent
- 1720 -
DesignBuilder Erl
DetailedHVACSetpointDefinitionMethod
CalcNatVentAirtightnessMethod
TimingDataLevel
SimReducedWeather
PlantAdequate
PlantSized
BuildingRegs
WinterDesign
WinterDesignIntermittent
NatVentUserDefined
NatVentCalculated
SSControlRF
HLTemperatureControlType
HGTemperatureControlType
SSTemperatureControlType
HGAirflowCalcMethod
HLFast3TC
HGFast3TC
SSFast3TC
HLUseHeatingRadiantFraction
ExcludeNatVentHL
ExcludeMechVentHL
ExcludeNatVentHG
ExcludeMechVentHG
ExcludeHeatRecoveryHL
ExcludeHeatRecoveryHG
SSComfortRF
OCUDIFSS
OCUScheduleDef
ThermalOcuOps
ThermalScheduleDef
ForceUpdateShadingSS
ForceUpdateShadingHG
IncludeAllBuildingsSS
IncludeAllBuildingsHG
ModelReflectionsHG
ModelReflectionsSS
AutosizeSS
LightingUnits
PlantSizing
HGControlRF
HGComfortRF
HLControlRF
HLComfortRF
SSCalcDescription
HLCalcDescription
HGCalcDescription
ReportDescription
ReportType
OPTCalcDescription
CFDCalcDescription
CFDSimulationTurbulenceModel
CFDSimulationState
CFDSimulationViscosityOption
CFDSimulationMolecularViscosityMultiplier
CFDSimulationTurbulentViscosityValue
CFDSimulationDiscretisationScheme
CFDSimulationOuterIterations
CFDSimulationIsothermal
CFDSimulationSurfaceHeatTransferOption
- 1721 -
CFDSimulationCeilingHTCoefficient
CFDSimulationWallHTCoefficient
CFDSimulationFloorHTCoefficient
CFDSimulationInitialUComponent
CFDSimulationInitialVComponent
CFDSimulationInitialWComponent
CFDSimulationInitialTemperature
CFDSimulationUComponentInnerIterations
CFDSimulationUComponentFalseTimeStep
CFDSimulationUComponentRelaxationFactor
CFDSimulationUComponentTerminationResidual
CFDSimulationVComponentInnerIterations
CFDSimulationVComponentFalseTimeStep
CFDSimulationVComponentRelaxationFactor
CFDSimulationVComponentTerminationResidual
CFDSimulationWComponentInnerIterations
CFDSimulationWComponentFalseTimeStep
CFDSimulationWComponentRelaxationFactor
CFDSimulationWComponentTerminationResidual
CFDSimulationPressureInnerIterations
CFDSimulationTemperatureInnerIterations
CFDSimulationTemperatureFalseTimeStep
CFDSimulationTemperatureRelaxationFactor
CFDSimulationTemperatureTerminationResidual
CFDSimulationTurbulenceKEInnerIterations
CFDSimulationTurbulenceKEFalseTimeStep
CFDSimulationTurbulenceKERelaxationFactor
CFDSimulationTurbulenceKETerminationResidual
CFDSimulationTurbulenceDissipationRateInnerIterations
CFDSimulationTurbulenceDissipationRateFalseTimeStep
CFDSimulationTurbulenceDissipationRateRelaxationFactor
CFDSimulationTurbulenceDissipationRateTerminationResidual
CFDSimulationViscosityRelaxationFactor
CFDSimulationContinuityTerminationResidual
CFDSimulationXAxisVelocity
CFDSimulationYAxisVelocity
CFDSimulationZAxisVelocity
CFDSimulationTemperature
CFDSimulationPressure
CFDSimulationMass
CFDSimulationTurbulenceKE
CFDSimulationDissipationRateOfTurbulenceKE
CFDSimulationViscosity
CFDAuxiliaryCalculationIterations
CFDAuxiliaryCalculationTerminationError
CFDAirChangeEffectiveness
SimD1
SimM1
SimY1
SimD2
SimM2
SimY2
HeatGainD1
HeatGainM1
HeatGainM2
HGStartMonth
HGEndMonth
MonthlyOutput
DailyOutput
HourlyOutput
- 1722 -
DesignBuilder Erl
TimesteplyOutput
SurfacesOutput
SiteRecordSimStart
AllowCondConv
AllowLighting
AllowOccupancy
AllowProcess
AllowComputers
AllowCatering
AllowMiscellaneous
AllowEquipment
AllowLumped
HLOverDesign
HLUseSteadyState
HLUseIntermittent
HGOverDesign
HGMaxCoolingTime
SingleZonePBIndex
SingleZoneZoneIndex
OccupancyScheduleScratch
HGDataAvailable
HLDataAvailable
SSDataAvailable
HGSimMethod
HLSimMethod
SSSimMethod
EnergyRatingSimMethod
SSEPSolarDistribution
SSEPSolutionAlgo
SSAllowConstructionSolutionOverride
SSEPDifferenceScheme
SSEPSpaceDiscretizationConstant
SSEPRelaxationFactor
SSEPInsideFaceSurfaceTemperatureConvergenceCriteria
SSEPDifferenceScheme
SSEPSpaceDiscretizationConstant
SSEPRelaxationFactor
SSEPInsideFaceSurfaceTemperatureConvergenceCriteria
SSEPTemperatureConv
SSEPLoadsConv
AirflowNetworkMaxIterations
AirflowNetworkAbsoluteConvTol
AirflowNetworkRelativeConvTol
SSEPShadowingInterval
SSEPMaxWarmupDays
SSEPMinWarmupDays
SSEPCalculateExternalSolarShading
SSEPDesignAveragingWindow
LumpZonesBySelection
LumpZonesByActivity
LumpSBEMSurfaces
IEEPonderado
LumpSimilarSBEMParitions
LumpSBEMZones
LumpZonesWhenConnected
LumpElements
LumpOpenings
LumpCracks
LumpGains
WindowMultiplier
- 1723 -
Triangulate
ScheduledMixingFlowPerSqMetre
ScheduledMixingOn
ModelHoles
WindowHoleDischargeCoefficient
FilterElementArea
AllowPitchedRoof
RoofWallTransitionAngle
LumpElementsNumberOrientations
HGEPSolarDistribution
HGEPSolutionAlgo
HGEPDifferenceScheme
HGEPSpaceDiscretizationConstant
HGEPRelaxationFactor
HGEPInsideFaceSurfaceTemperatureConvergenceCriteria
HGEPTemperatureConv
HGEPLoadsConv
HLEPTemperatureConv
HLEPLoadsConv
YearJan1
IsBookmark
Handle
EditPerimeterAttributes
AutomaticVoidInclusion
EditConnectingFaces
ShowConnectingFacesInNavigator
HGEnergyPlusData
HLEnergyPlusData
SSEnergyPlusData
HLReport
HGReport
SSEPTimestep
SS3TCTimestep
SSDBSTimestep
SaveBuildingTitle
Version
SSControlRFDBS
SSComfortRFDBS
OCUDIFSSDBS
SimIModeDBS
HGSimIModeDBS
HGDBSTimestep
HGComfortRFDBS
HGControlRFDBS
HLSimIModeDBS
HLComfortRFDBS
HLControlRFDBS
ZoneColourShadingMode
EnergyCodeId
RatingAssessmentType
RatingAssessmentTypeIT
IEEConfirmConstructionsConform
IEEKitchenPercElectric
IEERenDHW
IEERenDHWOther
IEERenDHWFuel
IEERenCooling
IEERenCoolingOther
IEERenCoolingFuel
IEERenHeating
- 1724 -
DesignBuilder Erl
IEERenHeatingOther
IEERenHeatingFuel
IEERenElectricity
IEESimLighting
IEELighting
IEESimElectricEquipment
IEEElectricEquipment
IEESimDHW
IEESimDHWElec
IEEDHW
IEEDHWElec
IEESimAux
IEEAux
IEESimPumps
IEEPumps
IEEAuxPercHeating
IEEAuxPercCooling
IEEAuxPercOther
IEESimHeating
IEESimHeatingElec
IEEHeating
IEEHeatingElec
IEESimCooling
IEESimCoolingElec
IEECooling
IEECoolingElec
IEESimExtLighting
IEEExtLightingPower
IEEExtLightingHours
IEEOtherElec
IEEFactorDeForma
IEEConfirmConstructionsConform
IEEOverrideFactorDeForma
RTModeSimu
RTBatEnCours
RTTousBat
RTOptionSensibilite
RTGenererFicheXML
RTCalculAvecMP
RTDistOrthogonaleMaxMP
RTDistLateraleMaxMP
RTRatioMinOmbrageMP
SBEMProduceEPCXML
SBEMXMLInputData
XMLExportFolder
CodeAssessmentType
SuggestECMs
CalculateECMs
LineType
PartitionOffset
InternalPartitionType
BlockWallThickness
BlockRoofThickness
AutoCalculatePitchedRoofThickness
UseGetRoofOverhang
PartitionThickness
IncrementSnap
ParallelSnap
NormalSnap
SnapIncrement
- 1725 -
SnapIncrementIP
SnapToLowerAdjacentPerimeters
ObjectRotationAngle
ArcSweepAngle
ArcNumberSegments
AutoCompleteBlock
AutomaticInterBlockPartitionConnection
ProtractorIncrAngle
UseProtractor
PerimeterDrawMode
OpeningDrawMode
CircleNumberSegments
KeepDefaultOpenings
MidPointSnap
EndPointSnap
DXFSnap
OffsetSnap
OffsetSnapDistance
NearestPointSnap
XDrawingGuides
YDrawingGuides
HVACZoneAirDistributionUnitType
HVACLoopTemplateType
HVACZoneForcedAirUnitType
HVACZoneBaseboardType
BooleanOperation
BooleanDifferenceToggle
XAxisLock
YAxisLock
ZAxisLock
SwitchSnapDirection
OutlineBlockConversionType
QuantityMeasured
TimeOfDay
DayOfMonth
MonthOfYear
SunpathDiagram
SunpathDiagramScaleFactor
SunpathfDayOfMonth
RenderViewShadows
SolarAltitude
SolarAzimuth
IncludeWindowFramesInShadowCreation
FullSceneAntialiasingIndex
FieldOfViewAngle
FullSceneAntialiasing
TextureRenderMode
ShowNorthArrowInRenderedView
ShowGroundPlane
EditDynamics
VisualisationDynamics
ShowWindows
DisplayZoneLabels
FitToIncludeDrawingFile
ShowDrawingDownToSurfaceLevel
DisplayShadingDevicesInEditView
MeasureQuantity
BuildingBlockSnapMode
AssemblyName
AssemblyCreationMode
- 1726 -
DesignBuilder Erl
pbEditUI
AssemblyDatumOffset
AssemblyXScaleFactor
AssemblyYScaleFactor
AssemblyZScaleFactor
AssemblyWidth
AssemblyHeight
AssemblyDepth
MovieOutput
MovieType
MovieOrbitIncrement
MovieShadingTimeIncrement
GenGeometryData
GenPercGlazing
RepresentativeFloorArea
GenWallToFloorAreaRatio
GenPartitionToFloorAreaRatio
GenGroundToFloorAreaRatio
GenRoofToFloorAreaRatio
GenCeilingToFloorAreaRatio
GenFloorToFloorAreaRatio
GenFloorArea
GenVolume
ZoneLumpedVolume
AnyNonDefaultData
ZoneHandle
SiteStartUpOptions
LockPassword
BuildingAddress0
BuildingAddress1
BuildingAddress2
BuildingAddress3
BuildingCity
BuildingCounty
BuildingPostcode
AnalystDetailsHead
AnalystName
AnalystTelephone
AnalystAddress
AnalystCity
AnalystPostcode
SBEMWelshLanguage
SBEMAlsoDoRegs
SBEMRunEWEnergyRating
SBEMEWEnergyRating
BuildingLocationDescription
BuildingUPRN
BuildingMPRN
BuildingInspectionDate
BuildingConstructionDate
BuildingConservation
RTNumPermisConstruire
RTDateDepotPermisConstruire
RTAvancement
RTTypeTravaux
NCMMaxStoreys
IsShellAndCore
GasAvailable
RenewableMain
IsModular
- 1727 -
MoreThan2Years
MoreThan70Percent
NoTERAvail
DateOfSubAssemblies
DateOfSubAssemblies2013
DistressPurchase
TransactionType
AnalystNumber
EAActivationCode
UseProxyServer
ProxyServerURL
ProxyServerPort
ProxyServerPassword
ProxyServerUsername
AnalystAccreditedScheme
AnalystQualifications
NOSLevel
RelatedPartyDisclosureFromList
AnalystEmployerName
AnalystEmployerAddress
AnalystEmployerTradingNumber
AnalystInsuranceHead
AnalystInsurerCompany
AnalystInsurancePolicyNo
AnalystInsuranceEffectiveDate
AnalystInsuranceExpiryDate
AnalystInsurancePILimit
OwnerDetailsHead
OwnerName
OwnerTelephone
OwnerAddress
OwnerCity
OwnerPostcode
RTMOENom
RTMOETelephone
RTMOEAdresse
RTMOEVille
RTMOECodePostal
RTBurCtrlNom
RTBurCtrlTelephone
RTBurCtrlAdresse
RTBurCtrlVille
RTBurCtrlCodePostal
Notes
CFDWindVelocity
CFDWindDirection
CFDWindExposureIndex
CFDSiteDomainLengthFactor
CFDSiteDomainWidthFactor
CFDSiteDomainHeightFactor
CFDResults
GroupBC
AnalysisType
CommandLine
ProgramPath
WorkingPlaneHeight
DaylightingMethod
SBEMBRSTAGE
SBEMBERSTAGE
SBEMBRS6BTYPE
- 1728 -
DesignBuilder Erl
SBEMScotlandRatingImprov
SBEMSEPCCase
SBEMBRS6ACCREDCONST
SBEMBRS6NVCREDIT
SBEMDataReflectionReports
SBEMELECPOWERFACTOR
SBEMDistrictHeatingIsDefault
SBEMDistrictHeatingDefaultCO2Factor
SBEMDistrictHeatingIsUser
SBEMDistrictHeatingUserCO2Factor
SBEMDistrictHeatingPEIsDefault
SBEMDistrictHeatingDefaultPEFactor
SBEMDistrictHeatingPEIsUser
SBEMDistrictHeatingUserPEFactor
SSEPShadowOverlap
HGEPShadowOverlap
SSEPPolygonClippingAlgorithm
HGEPPolygonClippingAlgorithm
AutomaticBlockZoning
SSIDFIncludeFile1
SSIDFIncludeFilename1
SSIDFIncludeFile2
SSIDFIncludeFilename2
FlatCBSelectionMethod
FlatCBFraction2LargestAreas
SSEPAutosizingFactorHeating
SSEPAutosizingFactorCooling
HGEPCompactHVACType
HGDesignOffCoilTemp
HGDesignSupplyAirHumidityRatio
HLModelInterzoneToSameZoneAsAdiabatic
HGModelInterzoneToSameZoneAsAdiabatic
SSModelInterzoneToSameZoneAsAdiabatic
HGSupplyAirMinFlowFraction
WaterOutletFlowRateData
HLDateFormatFlag
HGDateFormatFlag
SSDateFormatFlag
WinterDesignDayGeneral
WinterDesignDayOccupancy
WinterDesignDayLighting
WinterDesignDayEquipment
WinterDesignDayHeating
WinterDesignDayCooling
WinterDesignDayHVAC
WinterDesignDayNatVent
WinterDesignDayDHW
WinterDesignDay
SummerDesignDay
SSCheckConvex
HGCheckConvex
AssemblyCreationMode
CFDViewType
CFDDisplayShowKey
CFDDisplayMaximumVectorLength
CFDDisplayVectorScaleFactor
CFDDisplayMinimumVelocity
CFDDisplayMaximumVelocity
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue2
- 1729 -
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayVelocityContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumTemperature
CFDDisplayMaximumTemperature
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayTemperatureContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumPressure
CFDDisplayMaximumPressure
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue10
- 1730 -
DesignBuilder Erl
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayPressureContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumH2OMassFraction
CFDDisplayMaximumH2OMassFraction
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayH2OMassFractionContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumCO2MassFraction
CFDDisplayMaximumCO2MassFraction
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive6
- 1731 -
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayCO2MassFractionContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumAgeOfAir
CFDDisplayMaximumAgeOfAir
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayAgeOfAirContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumPPD
CFDDisplayMaximumPPD
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayPPDContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumPMV
CFDDisplayMaximumPMV
- 1732 -
DesignBuilder Erl
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayPMVContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumMeanRadiantTemperature
CFDDisplayMaximumMeanRadiantTemperature
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue8
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayMeanRadiantTemperatureContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayMinimumOperativeTemperature
CFDDisplayMaximumOperativeTemperature
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue1
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue2
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue3
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue4
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue5
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue6
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue7
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue8
- 1733 -
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue9
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue10
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue11
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandValue12
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive1
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive2
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive3
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive4
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive5
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive6
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive7
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive8
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive9
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive10
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive11
CFDDisplayOperativeTemperatureContourBandActive12
CFDDisplayVariableVelocityVectors
CFDDisplayVariableVelocityContours
CFDDisplayVariableTemperatureContours
CFDDisplayVariablePressureContours
CFDDisplayVariableH2OMassFractionContours
CFDDisplayVariableCO2MassFractionContours
CFDDisplayVariableAgeOfAirContours
CFDDisplayVariablePMVContours
CFDDisplayVariablePPDContours
CFDDisplayVariableComfortContours
CFDDisplayVariableMeanRadiantTemperatureContours
CFDDisplayVariableOperativeTemperatureContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledVelocityContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledTemperatureContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledPressureContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledH2OMassFractionContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledCO2MassFractionContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledAgeOfAirContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledPMVContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledPPDContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledComfortContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledMeanRadiantTemperatureContours
CFDDisplayVariableFilledOperativeTemperatureContours
CFDDisplay3DContourNone
CFDDisplay3DContourVelocity
CFDDisplay3DContourTemperature
CFDDisplay3DContourPressure
CFDDisplay3DContourH2OMassFraction
CFDDisplay3DContourCO2MassFraction
CFDDisplay3DContourAgeOfAir
CFDDisplay3DContourPMV
CFDDisplay3DContourPPD
CFDDisplay3DContourComfort
CFDDisplay3DContourMeanRadiantTemperature
CFDDisplay3DContourOperativeTemperature
CFDGridRegionOperation
CFDGridRegionStartCoordinate
CFDGridRegionEndCoordiNate
CFDGridRegionNewCoordinate
CFDGridRegionSpacingType
CFDGridRegionSpacingDimension
CFDGridRegionSpacingPower
CFDGridRegionNumberOfDivisions
CFDGridRegionLocked
- 1734 -
DesignBuilder Erl
CFDMonitorCellIncluded
CFDMonitorCellName
CFDMonitorCellXCoordinate
CFDMonitorCellYCoordinate
CFDMonitorCellZCoordinate
CFDMonitorCellOperation
CFDSimulationMonitorCellName
CFDSimulationMonitorCellIndex
CFDSimulationMonitorCellVariable
CFDSimulationResultsCurrentIndex
CFDNewResultsSetOption
CFDCalcDescription
CFDExistingResultsSetOption
CFDExistingResultsSet
CFDSimulationInternalDefaultGridSpacing
CFDSimulationInternalGridLineMergeTolerance
CFDSimulationExternalDefaultGridSpacing
CFDSimulationExternalGridLineMergeTolerance
CFDSimulationExternalGridScheme
CFDSiteDomainDisplay
CFDDisplayWireFramePartitions
CFDDisplayWireFrameComponentBlocks
CFDDisplayWireFrameFloorSlabs
ShadingPlaneIndex
ObjectKey
PAYGStatus
iDBImportStatus
MergeCoPlanarGBXMLShadeSurfaces
ImportGBXMLBlockMode
ImportGBXMLThermalProperties
ImportGBXMLShadeSurfaces
AdjacencySeparationTolerance
AdjacencyAngularTolerance
StandardComponentBlockAdjacencies
3DCADView
3DCADFileType
3DCADFilename
OPTMaxGenerations
OPTMaxPopulationSize
OPTCalcDescription
OPTObjFuncCO2
OPTObjFuncCost
OPTObjFuncComfort
OPTObjFuncDaylight
OPTMinCO2
OPTMaxCO2
OPTMinCost
OPTMaxCost
OPTMinDaylight
OPTMaxDaylight
OPTMinComfort
OPTMaxComfort
OPTMinMaxType
OPTFloatEncodingLength
OPTListEncodingLength
OPTCrossoverRate
OPTOverrideBitwiseMutationProbability
OPTBitwiseMutationProbability
OPTIndividualMutationProbability
OPTTournamentSize
- 1735 -
ConstraintLowerMargin
ConstraintUpperMargin
RetainBatchResults
RMCalcDescription
RMTraceType
RMParameters
RMAmbientDivisions
RMAmbientBounces
RMAmbientAccuracy
RMAmbientResolution
RMAmbientSuperSamples
RMMinGridSize
RMMaxGridSize
RMMargin
RMSky
RMIncludeOtherBuildings
RICalcDescription
RITraceType
RIParameters
RISky
RMWorkingPlaneHeight
RMReportType
RMAMPM
RMScaleSource
RMScaleLow
RMScaleHigh
RMApplyScaleLowColour
RMApplyScaleHighColour
RMScaleLowColour
RMScaleHighColour
RMApplyScaleLowColour
RMApplyScaleHighColour
RMScaleLowColour
RMScaleHighColour
RMDFThreshold
RMLuxThreshold
RMMaxLuxThreshold
RMDaylightThresholdType
RMSkyDay
RMSkyMonth
RMSkyHour
RMWorkingPlane
RMWorkingPlaneMargin
HVACZoneLTDeviceRadiantSurfaceList
HVACZoneChilledCeilingRadiantSurfaceList
HVACZoneHeatedFloorRadiantSurfaceList
CFDComfortActivityMetabolicRate
CFDComfortClothingLevel
CFDComfortRelativeHumidity
RMZoneLabelFontSize
RMZoneLabelColour
RMApplyZoneLabels
HVACCoolingCoilType
HVACComponentType
BuildingGUID
EEUseDirectLodgement
EESurveyorId
EESurveyorPassword
EEReferenceNumber
HVACZoneLTDeviceRadiantSurfaceList
- 1736 -
DesignBuilder Erl
HVACZoneChilledCeilingRadiantSurfaceList
HVACZoneHeatedFloorRadiantSurfaceList
CFDComfortActivityMetabolicRate
CFDComfortClothingLevel
CFDComfortRelativeHumidity
RMZoneLabelFontSize
RMZoneLabelColour
RMApplyZoneLabels
HVACCoolingCoilType
BatchProcessing
UseJobServer
UseJobServerOPT
OPTJobs
JobServerList
JobServer
JobServerTag
ToleranceTimeHeatingSetpointNotMet
ToleranceTimeCoolingSetpointNotMet
IDFDuplicateNameDelimiter
OptimisationObjectives
OptimisationConstraints
OptimisationVariables
AnalystEmail
AnalystAccreditedSchemeWeb
XMLRestricted
EPBDAsk1
EPBDAsk2
EPBDAskRenewable
EPBDAskCHP
EPBDAskDH
EPBDAskHP
DataOptionTemplateId
ASHRAE901Type
GridSnap
GridXSpacing
GridYSpacing
ClippingPlaneHeight
DisplayZoneInnerSurfaces
DisplayFilledExternalWalls
DisplayZoneInnerVolumeFloors
DisplayZoneInnerFloorPerimeters
DisplayGBXMLExternalWallSurface
DisplayGBXMLInternalWallSurface
DisplayGBXMLShadeSurface
DisplayGBXMLRoofSurface
DisplayGBXMLAirSurface
DisplayGBXMLUnderGroundWallSurface
DisplayGBXMLSlabOnGradeSurface
DisplayGBXMLRaisedFloorSurface
DisplayGBXMLUndergroundSlabSurface
DisplayGBXMLInteriorFloorSurface
DisplayGBXMLUndergroundCeilingSurface
DisplayGBXMLCeilingSurface
DisplayGBXMLOtherSurface
ClippingPlaneOrientationSwitchingMode
ZoneVolumeCalculationMethod
ZoneSurfaceAreaCalculationMethod
ZoneFloorAreaCalculationMethod
ReflectionAxis
JobTypeList
- 1737 -
JobType
SBEMYear
IDFNameType
IDFCompression
gbXMLConstructionName
gbXMLWindowTypeName
ClipSurfaceOpenings
SurfaceOpeningClipTolerance
EMSOn
FMUOn
EMSId
FMUId
CS-Script
Help under development.
See also:
AdjacencyEnumerable
System.Void setSurface (SKETCHLib.ISketchDSurface s)
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<DesignBuilder.Adjacency> GetEnumerator ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
Building
System.String getAttribute (System.String attributeName)
System.Void setAttribute (System.String attributeName, System.String attributeVlaue)
DesignBuilder.ZoneEnumerable getZoneIterator ()
DesignBuilder.Table GetTable (System.String name)
System.Void AddTable (System.String name, System.Int32 numberOfFields)
DesignBuilder.Zone GetZoneFromHandle (System.Int32 handle)
DesignBuilder.Zone GetZoneFromIDFName (System.String idfName)
System.String ToString ()
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CS-Script DesignBuilder Object Model
BuildingEnumerable
System.Void setSite (SKETCHLib.SketchDSite site)
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<DesignBuilder.Building> GetEnumerator ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
ComponentBlock
System.String getAttribute (System.String attributeName)
System.Void setAttribute (System.String attributeName, System.String attributeVlaue)
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
ComponentBlockEnumerable
System.Void setBuilding (SKETCHLib.SketchDBuilding s)
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<DesignBuilder.ComponentBlock> GetEnumerator ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
CSScript
System.Void setEnergyPlusFolder (System.String folder)
System.Void setSketch (SKETCHLib.Sketch sketch)
System.Void beforeSimulation ()
System.Void afterSimulation ()
System.Void beforeIDFGeneration ()
System.Void DesignBuilderButtonClick ()
System.String ScriptLoad (System.String name)
System.Void ScriptRunMain ()
System.Void ScriptDispose ()
System.Void RunScript (System.String name)
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
DesignBuilderCore
System.String get_EnergyPlusFolder ()
System.Void set_EnergyPlusFolder (System.String value)
System.Void setSketch (SKETCHLib.Sketch sketch)
DesignBuilder.Site getSite ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
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Opening
System.String getAttribute (System.String attributeName)
System.Void setAttribute (System.String attributeName, System.String attributeVlaue)
System.Int32 GetOpeningType ()
System.Double GetArea ()
DesignBuilder.Polygon GetPolygon ()
DesignBuilder.Opening GetAdjacentOpening ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
OpeningEnumerable
System.Void setSurface (SKETCHLib.ISketchDSurface s)
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<DesignBuilder.Opening> GetEnumerator ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
Polygon
System.Double GetArea ()
DesignBuilder.Opening GetParentOpening ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
PolygonEnumerable
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<DesignBuilder.Polygon> GetEnumerator ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
Record
System.String GetDataByKey (System.String key)
System.String GetDataByIndex (System.Int32 index)
System.Void SetDataByIndex (System.Int32 index, System.String value)
System.Void SetDataByKey (System.String key, System.String value)
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
Site
System.Void setSite (SKETCHLib.SketchDSite site)
System.Void setAttribute (System.String attributeName, System.String attributeVlaue)
System.Int32 getNumberOfBuildings ()
DesignBuilder.BuildingEnumerable getBuildingIterator ()
DesignBuilder.Table GetTable (System.String tableName)
System.Void AddTable (System.String name, System.Int32 numberOfFields)
System.Void AddAttribute (System.String attributeName, System.String attributeVlaue)
System.Void RebuildModel ()
System.String ToString ()
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CS-Script DesignBuilder Object Model
Surface
DesignBuilder.OpeningEnumerable getOpeningIterator ()
DesignBuilder.AdjacencyEnumerable getAdjacencyIterator ()
System.String getAttribute (System.String attributeName)
System.Void setAttribute (System.String attributeName, System.String attributeVlaue)
System.Double GetArea ()
System.Double GetAzimuth ()
System.Double GetTilt ()
System.Int32 GetSurfaceType ()
System.Double GetGrossArea ()
System.Double GetNettArea ()
System.Int32 GetInternalPartitionType ()
DesignBuilder.Table GetTable (System.String name)
System.Void AddTable (System.String name, System.Int32 numberOfFields)
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
SurfaceEnumerable
System.Void setZone (SKETCHLib.ISketchDZone z)
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<DesignBuilder.Surface> GetEnumerator ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
Table
System.Int32 GetNumberOfRecords ()
DesignBuilder.Record GetRecordFromIndex (System.Int32 index)
DesignBuilder.Record GetRecordFromName (System.String name)
DesignBuilder.Record GetRecordFromHandle (System.Int32 index)
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
Zone
System.String getAttribute (System.String attributeName)
System.Void setAttribute (System.String attributeName, System.String attributeVlaue)
DesignBuilder.SurfaceEnumerable getSurfaceIterator ()
System.String getName ()
System.String getIDFName ()
System.Double GetFloorArea ()
System.Double GetVolume ()
DesignBuilder.Table GetTable (System.String name)
System.Void AddTable (System.String name, System.Int32 numberOfFields)
System.String GetChildZoneList ()
System.String GetIDFZoneName ()
System.Double GetLumpedFloorArea ()
System.Double GetLumpedVolume ()
System.Double GetFloatingPartitionArea ()
System.Int32 GetHandle ()
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System.Int32 GetLumpedZoneHandle ()
System.Object GetThermalBridgingLengths (System.Int16 exposedGroundFloorEdgesOnly)
System.Int16 IsLumpedOut ()
System.Int16 IsOpenManifold ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
ZoneEnumerable
System.Void setBuilding (SKETCHLib.SketchDBuilding b)
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerator<DesignBuilder.Zone> GetEnumerator ()
System.String ToString ()
System.Boolean Equals (System.Object obj)
System.Int32 GetHashCode ()
System.Type GetType ()
EpNet Library
EpNet is a .Net library which provides utilities for easy manipulation of EnergyPlus input and output files. It
enables reading and writing of EnergyPlus idf input files which can be useful in a number of modelling
scenarios such as implementation of Custom IDF optimisation variables and replacing one type of component
with another to gain access to EnergyPlus components that DesignBuilder does nor provide a user interface
for.
EpNet also allows simulation results data to be read from eso results files and from csv table outputs with the
minimum of code needing to be written.
EpNet is integrated in DesignBuilder Scripting module where scripts developed with EpNet are usually
executed after idf generation and before simulation.
Tip: You can find full documentation on how to use the EpNet library with code examples at:
https://epnet.ecoeficiente.es
Python Scripting
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Support - Getting Help
If this does not give you the information you need you can send us a support request using a Support Request
Form and DesignBuilder team will endeavour to answer your question by email.
See also:
• Online Tutorials
Tutorials
DesignBuilder video tutorials are provided on demand to all registered DesignBuilder users free of charge.
They mostly last about 10-20 minutes.
Tip: Most people learn most effectively by "doing" rather than "watching" so please do make sure to try out
thetechniques shown in the tutorials while they are fresh in your mind before moving on to the next tutorial!
Getting Started
The Getting Started tutorials provide an overview of how to create DesignBuilder models and run simulations.
Basic Geometry
The Basic Geometry series of tutorials explain how to create and modify the blocks used to define building
geometry in DesignBuilder.
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Basic Model Data
The Basic Model Data tutorials show how to set up data on the Activity, Constructions, Openings, Lighting and
HVAC model data tabs for EnergyPlus simulations.
Calculations
The Calculations tutorials explain how to set up DesignBuilder EnergyPlus simulations and analyse results.
Natural Ventilation
• Scheduled natural ventilation and infiltration
• Calculated natural ventilation
Daylighting
• Introduction to Daylighting
Detailed HVAC
• Introduction to Detailed HVAC
• Activity setpoints, fresh air settings and HVAC Zone groups
• Adding zone equipment
• Introduction to HVAC loops
• Hot water and plant loops, Boilers
• Generic air loops, AHUs
• Refrigeration cycle
• Chilled water loops, Chillers and Fan Coil Units
• Condenser loop, Cooling towers
• Heated floors
CFD
• Introduction to External CFD analysis
- 1744 -
Frequently Asked Questions
Note: These Tutorials and Webinars are also available on the Training section of the DesignBuilder
website and on the DesignBuilder YouTube Channel
- 1745 -
Modelling Advice
Modelling Advice
Modelling advice topics:
Modelling Strategy
While it is possible to create very large, complex building models using DesignBuilder, you should pause to
consider what you're trying to achieve by your modelling exercise before diving in and including every detail of
the building. Otherwise you may find you have created a beautiful model which is impractical because of long
simulation times. You should consider the following points.
1. In early stage modelling it is sometimes helpful to reduce the number of windows in the model by
increasing the Window spacing. Shading issues aside, modelling a small number of large Windows has
the same effect as a large number of small Windows provided you get the frame area right.
2. Reduce the number of surfaces by avoiding unnecessary "wiggles" and indents in block perimeters and
partitions - keep it as simple as possible. The larger the model the more important it is to follow this
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advice. Where an indent in the perimeter gives shading then you could instead model this using a
single flat surface without indent and use local shading devices with sidefins to model local window
shading.
3. Avoid very large zones with many surfaces and windows. Contrary to intuition, from the simulation time
point of view, it is best to split such zones into more zones with fewer surfaces each.
4. Use the Lump similar windows on surface option to speed up simulations with many similar windows
per surface. Note that switching this option on has no effect for zones using Daylight lighting control or
if the Full interior and exterior solar distribution option is selected.
5. Wherever possible lump similar adjacent zones together. Only create zones to model areas of the
building with specific environmental conditions, and HVAC systems or internal gains schedules. A
common mistake made by the beginners is to model each room as a separate zone. This is often not
necessary for building energy simulations because many rooms will have reasonably similar operating
conditions. In this case you can use one of the DesignBuilder Merging features to reduce the number
of zones.
6. If there are multiple identical zones then you can use the Zone multiplier to reduce the number of zones
processed.
7. Use Simple HVAC descriptions.
8. Use the Scheduled Natural ventilation option.
9. If you need to use Calculated natural ventilation in your simulations then you should aim to minimise
the number of cracks and openings involved in the airflow calculations. One way to do this is to switch
off infiltration calculations. Normally DesignBuilder includes a single crack in each surface in the
simulation to simulate infiltration. If you have other openings such as vents, windows, doors etc in a
particular block/zone you can switch off infiltration. This approach can be used in roof blocks or
calculations such as cooling design in well sealed buildings where infiltration is relatively insignificant.
10. Switching off calculation of solar reflections in the Model options dialog
11. If you are interested in analysing a single zone within a much larger model, you could consider carrying
out simulations on a single representative or worst case zone, excluding consideration of the rest of the
building. You can exclude unnecessary zones by unchecking the Include zone in thermal calculations
option.
12. Fit as much memory (RAM) to your computer as possible (8 GB or more ideally). Paging memory to
disk during simulations of large models can cause EnergyPlus to grind to a halt.
13. Uncheck the Allow custom outputs option to speed output variable processing.
14. Only request the output you really need. This will speed up simulation initialisation and reading of
output (especially hourly and sub-hourly) at the end. If you are only looking at hourly results then you
can get noticeably faster initialisation and simulations by switching off monthly and daily results. For
example, simulation times for a test winter week simulation on a real model were:
1. - With hourly, daily, monthly outputs: 39 min
2. - Only hourly outputs: 14 min
3. - Only hourly outputs and checking 'Internal surface as adiabatic': 12 min
15. If you don't need surface data (Walls, Windows etc. heat transfer) switch the Surface heat transfer incl
solar output option off.
16. Restricting hourly and sub-hourly results to short simulations for investigation of detailed building
operation. Note that if you request large volumes of hourly or sub-hourly data this can result is a
program crash when results are being loaded into DesignBuilder. To avoid this you should switch off
automatic loading of EnergyPlus results to DesignBuilder and view results instead using the Results
Viewer.
17. It is sometimes possible to use less timesteps per hour to speed up simulations. Some models can give
reliable results using 2 timesteps per hour, however when complex Detailed HVAC systems are being
modelled, 6, 10 or more timesteps may be required. If you aren't sure, compare the hourly results you
obtain when using a range of timesteps per hour values and choose the minimum value that gives
results equivalent to the 10 timesteps case.
18. If all else fails then you can model very large buildings by splitting them into smaller units and summing
results outside DesignBuilder. Note that we haven't seen a need for this since the very early days of
EnergyPlus development.
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ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G PRM Reference
Tip 1: You can speed up modelling, and in particular the drawing and deleting of partitions in large models,
by switching off Automatic block zoning option. After having manually rezoned the block you can also save
time when renaming the new zones by a) switching off the Double-click to navigate site hierarchy Program
option and b) switching off the Automatically refresh site navigator lists Program option.
Tip 2: Another way to speed up modelling in large models is to zoom into the area of the building or block
where you wish to work. This eliminates consideration of objects that are not visible on the screen and allows
the screen to refresh much more quickly.
Tip: The DesignBuilder LEED and ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G User Guide is the main source of help for
ASHRAE 90.1 analysis.
Note: you will need the DesignBuilder LEED / ASHRAE 90.1 module to access this functionality.
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• Following formal ASHRAE 90.1 PRM modelling procedure, you are strongly advised to create the
proposed building first and to create the baseline building from that.
Glazing templates
• Two special opaque construction types required by the ASHRAE 90.1 Standard, are F-factor ground
floors and C-factor below-grade walls. These are different from conventional layered construction in
that they don't use layers of materials but instead the overall thermal properties are defined as an F-
factor (for slab on grade floors) or a C-factor (for below grade walls). EnergyPlus uses these factors to
generate equivalent layered constructions behind the scenes. During the simulation these surfaces
exchange heat with the FCFactor ground temperatures only.
• When running Heating or Cooling design calculations, if the FCfactorMethod ground temperatures
source data at site level has 1-Hourly weather file selected, a weather file containing ground
temperatures in the header should be selected and will be downloaded (if not yet in your weather file
folder on your computer) prior to the calculations. If 2-User defined is selected, the Heating and
Cooling design calculations do not require the weather file.
• The terminology used in the ASHRAE 90.1 constructions list gives the climate zone, a description of
the construction, insulated level(s) in IP units and the U-value in IP units and in brackets the values in
SI units. For example construction CZ4 Non-Res, Wall, Steel-Framed, R-13.1+R-7.4 (2.3+1.3), U-.064
(.365) indicates a non-residential steel framed wall for climate zone 4 (CZ4) with internal insulation
levels of two layers of minimum 13.1 and 7.4 ft2-°F/(Btu/hr) in IP units (2.3 and 1.3 m2-K/W in SI units)
and a U-value of 0.064 Btu/hr-ft2-°F in IP units (0.365 W/m2-K in SI units).
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ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G PRM Reference
1. 5-Semiheated, for zones that are heated but not to normal comfort levels.
2. When the 2-Unconditioned Zone type is selected choose whether the unconditioned zone is
ventilated or unventilated using the Unconditioned zone ventilation setting below the Zone type
setting.
• Define each zone type as the model requires (checking with rules from Appendix G Table G3.1-7,8,9),
and then assign relevant construction/fenestration templates according to their “Space-Conditioning
Categories” (construction default is Non-Residential). Activity, lighting templates for each block/zone
should be updated with relevant templates as well.
Geometry convention
It is important for ASHRAE 90.1 based-work that the proposed and baselines buildings have identical floor
areas and zone volumes. The easiest way to ensure this is to use the Simple geometry convention for both
buildings. With the Simple template the block geometry drawn gives the exact surface geometry and zone
volumes to be used in the simulation. This means that when you copy the proposed building to create the
baseline building the zone geometry will be correct even after loading the baseline constructions.
If instead you used the External measurements template for example you would find that the baseline
building surface areas, floor area and zone volumes would be different after loading the baseline
constructions because these generally have a different thickness to those selected for the proposed building.
Lighting
• Lighting settings shall be either building area method or space-by-space method, but shall not the mix
these two schemes. The Building Area Method is generally used for early stage analysis where the
exact function of every zone in the building has not yet been determined. The Space-by-Space Method
is used more often as it is more flexible, allowing the user to use more detail/specific lighting settings.
Note: When loading an activity template, it will update the lighting schedule.
HVAC
• A set of Appendix G HVAC systems for loading to baseline building models is provided in the Detailed
HVAC templates list. The proposed building HVAC system should meet the requirements shown in
Appendix G Table G3.1-10. A modified copy of a baseline HVAC system can be used for the proposed
building.
• For the proposed building design, where no heating or cooling systems exist or have been specified,
the heating or cooling systems shall be identical to the systems modelled in the baseline building
design.
• Define the DHW system based on Appendix G Table G3.1-11.
Utility costs
• Define the utility costs for the model to generate energy cost outputs based on purchased energy rates
using settings on the Tariff analysis dialog on the Economics tab at building level. LEED/ASHRAE 90.1
App G PRM method may only require tariffs object to calculate operational costs.
Outputs
EnergyPlus provides a "LEED Summary" report which is displayed on the Summary tab after the simulation if
the appropriate option is checked on the Output tab of the Simulation options dialog under the Summary
Tables header.
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Convert An Existing Simulation Model To An ASHRAE 90.1 Model
To convert a standard EnergyPlus model to be treated as a proposed building go to the Regions tab at site
level and set the Mandatory energy code to one of the ASHRAE 90.1 energy codes. You will be warned to
check that the ASHRAE climate zone is correctly set. The default climate zone can be overridden at site level
under the Location header.
Unmet Hours
"Unmet hours" of a building are the summation of the number of hours when the heating or the cooling set
point temperature of a zone is not met either by the HVAC system or by the plant. The data is provided in the
Summary report as:
Example
When each zone is unmet in the specified hours as beside
Total number of unmet hours of the building: 7 hrs and not 12 hrs.
6 7 8 12 13 14 16
• When percentage of unmet is specified, then this is the percentage of total number of hours (1 year-
8760 hours) for which the simulation is performed (not just the occupied hours).
• As per ASHRAE 90.1-2004, the unmet load hours of the total building should be less than or equal to
300 hours and unmet load hours for the proposed design shall not exceed the number of load hours for
the baseline building design by more than 50.
• If unmet load hours in the proposed building exceed the unmet load hours in the baseline building by
more than 50, then the size of equipment in the baseline building shall be reduced incrementally, until
the condition is satisfied.
• ASHRAE and USGBC say that it is OK if the baseline unmet load hours exceed the proposed unmet
load hours by more than 50, provided they are both below 300.
The above information on Unmet hours is sourced from a post by Ashu Gupta (and subsequent posts) on the
bldg-sim mailing list
- 1752 -
Natural Ventilation Modelling
• Scheduled in which the natural ventilation change rate is explicitly defined for each zone in terms of a
maximum ACH value and a schedule and infiltration air change rate is defined by a constant ACH
value. A range of control options is provided.
• Calculated where natural ventilation and infiltration are calculated based on window openings, cracks,
buoyancy and wind driven pressure differences crack dimensions etc. Control options are provided.
You can choose Scheduled natural ventilation if you are able to make a reasonable estimate of the natural
ventilation rates and infiltration rates in the building. Other airflow scenarios are more difficult to estimate and
in this case it may be necessary to calculate airflows.
Infiltration is defined by a constant ACH value under Airtightness on the Construction tab.
Airflow through Exterior Windows, Vents and Doors is considered to be included in the Natural ventilation
outside air ac/h value set on the HVAC tab.
Airflows between zones can be defined using the Interzone Airflow dialog.
Also, airflow through Interior Windows, Vents and Doors can be modelled using the concept of mixing where
equal amounts of air are transferred from one zone to another and vice-versa. The flow rate is directly
proportional to the opening area using Airflow rate per opening area data accessed from the Model options
dialog.
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Calculated Natural Ventilation And Infiltration
By default Calculated natural ventilation is controlled by timer (window and vent data on the Operation header
on the Openings tab) and by Ventilation setpoint temperature on the Activity tab.
The Crack data under Airtightness on the Constructions tab is used in the EnergyPlus Airflow Network to
calculate infiltration.
Note 1: Using the Calculated option increases the complexity of the model and slows simulations down.
You should aim to simplify the model as appropriate to the requirements of the calculations. For example if
you are carrying out a summertime simulation of a naturally ventilated building you could consider switching
off infiltration modelling if infiltration heat flow is only a very small part of summertime heat balance.
Note 2: In Version 1 the calculated airflows through external windows, vents, doors, holes and cracks are
all lumped into 'External air' data on the Simulation results screen.
Calculations
The ventilation rate (q) through each opening and crack in the model is calculated based on the pressure
difference using wind and stack pressure effects:
q = C.(DP) n
Where:
q is the volumetric flow through the opening.
DP is the pressure difference across the opening/crack.
n is the flow exponent varying between 0.5 for fully turbulent flow and 1.0 for fully laminar flow.
C is the flow coefficient, related to the size of the opening/crack.
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Natural Ventilation Modelling
Wind-Driven Ventilation
When wind impinges on the surface of a rectangular building, a positive pressure is induced on the upwind
face. The flow separates at the corners resulting in negative pressure regions on the side of the building and
a negative pressure distribution on the leeward facade. The pressure distribution on the roof varies according
to pitch - the pressure on the upwind face being negative for roof pitches of 30° and positive for steeper
pitches.
The pressure on any point on the surface of a building facade can be represented by:
Where:
The wind pressure coefficient, Cp, is a function of wind direction, position on the building surface and side
exposure. Some typical approximate values for buildings subjected to varying degrees of shelter and wind
directions is given in an AIVC publication A guide to energy-efficient ventilation. This data is also quoted in the
CIBSE A Guide. DesignBuilder uses this data to populate the Pressure Coefficients templates and provide
default pressure coefficients suitable for use in basic design calculations for buildings having no more than
three stories.
For more detailed analysis, or for buildings having 4 or more stories you should obtain specific pressure
coefficient data from CFD analysis of from wind tunnel measurements and enter it for each surface under the
Pressure Coefficients header on the Openings tab.
Excluding Wind-Effects
When carrying out conservative design calculations you may prefer to exclude (or reduce) the effects of wind
from Calculated natural ventilation. To exclude wind-driven airflow from the analysis altogether set the Wind
factor to 0. For full treatment of wind effects set it to 1 and for intermediate treatment of wind set to a number
between 0 and 1.
Limitations
DesignBuilder uses the EnergyPlus Airflow Network method to calculate air flow rates. You should be aware
Airflow Network simulations can take considerably longer than the equivalent simulations with Scheduled
natural ventilation.
Modulation
You can modulate the opening sizes to reduce the large temperature swings that can occur if the
windows/doors are too far open when they are venting, especially when there is a large inside-outside
temperature difference. Use the Modulation settings on the Advanced tab of the Model Options dialog to
control this. By default modulation is on and opening sizes are reduced to 5% of full values when the outside
is 15°C or more colder than inside. This models the fact that occupants are unlikely to throw the windows wide
open when it is very cold outside (for manual control systems).
Modelling Infiltration
Normally when Calculated natural ventilation is set DesignBuilder includes a single crack in each surface in
the simulation to account for infiltration. The size and properties of this crack depend on the setting of the
Airtightness slider.
Tip: The effects of infiltration in some areas of the building and in some calculation types can be minor and
so in order to reduce simulation time for calculated natural ventilation models infiltration can be switched off.
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This can be done by unchecking the Model infiltration checkbox for the areas of the building where
infiltration in not to be modelled. For example you may wish to switch off infiltration in roof blocks (and include
the roofspace ventilation using a smaller number of vents or holes instead) or you could switch it off in the
whole building for Summertime simulations where the effects of infiltration would be minimal relative to the
much larger flow rates due to open windows, vents, holes and doors.
Airtightness slider
The setting of the Airtightness slider indicates the Crack template applied when setting crack properties:
• Very poor
• Poor
• Medium
• Good
• Excellent
Technical details
You can find more technical details of the Airflow network used in EnergyPlus including background,
algorithms, limitations and validation results in a paper by Lixing Gu at:
https://www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS2007/p398_final.pdf
DCV Modelling
Background
Demand control ventilation (DCV) is a ventilation system capability that provides automatic reduction of
outdoor air intake below design rates when the actual occupancy of spaces served by the system is less than
design occupancy. In most commercial buildings ventilation is provided to deal with two types of indoor
pollution: odours from people, and off-gassing from building components and furniture. When a space is
vacant, it has no people pollution so the people-related ventilation rate is not needed. Many types of high-
occupancy spaces, such as classrooms, multi-purpose rooms, theatres, conference rooms, or lobbies have
ventilation designed for a high peak occupancy that rarely occurs.
Demand-controlled ventilation has the potential to provide significant HVAC energy savings by conditioning
only the amount of ventilation air necessary to maintain good indoor air quality. It can be particularly effective
in buildings or zones that have widely varying occupancy.
DCV is most successful when reducing ventilation rates – and so reducing fan energy use – when meeting the
demands of indoor air quality (IAQ). It is not necessarily so successful, in energy terms, for high design
cooling loads, since airflows will increase above the required IAQ minimum to meet space cooling loads.
Practically, this is likely to mean that IAQ-driven DCV is most effective in ASHRAE climate zones 4 and
above.
- 1756 -
DCV Modelling
Schematic of a typical DCV system from Demand-Controlled Ventilation and Sustainability with
permission from author Tom Lawrence and ASHRAE.
- 1757 -
2. Check CO2 levels within selected zones using the Results Viewer. You should find that the
Zone Air CO2 Concentration report is automatically included in the .eso output file when DCV
control has been specified.
Adjacent Buildings
Adjacent buildings (i.e. other buildings that are touching the modelled building) usually modify the boundary
conditions relative to external and also provide shade.
There is no explicit way in DesignBuilder to model temperatures and heat flows in 2 buildings simultaneously
and account for energy transfer between them. Future versions may allow this, but in the meantime there are
two options:
1. Model the adjacent building using component blocks (for shading/reflection) and adiabatic surfaces
between the buildings. This is the usual way to treat an adjacent building not requiring full simulation
and is accurate if the temperature of the adjacent and actual buildings are similar or if there is insulation
between the two buildings.
2. If the adjacent building does require simulation then model it as part of the actual building and separate
simulation results at the end.
You can set adiabatic adjacent condition data under Constructions on the Constructions tab at surface level.
- 1758 -
Electrochromic Glazing
Merging buildings
Where two separate buildings have been created inadvertently, the blocks of one building can be transferred
to the other building using the Transfer blocks command from the Edit menu.
Airflow
If there is airflow between the two buildings and the adjacent building is at the same temperature as the
modelled building then you could probably ignore its effect. To model the effect of the airflow through an
opening between buildings in detail you should model both buildings as one DB building using the Calculated
natural ventilation model option. If you do it this way and the adjacent building uses energy you must separate
results for the two buildings at the end. You can use different boiler and chiller fuels to differentiate fuel
consumption between the two buildings.
If you use the Simple natural ventilation instead of Calculated, DesignBuilder uses an assumed mixing of air
between the two buildings based on 'flow per opening area' as set on the Model options dialog on the
Advanced tab under Natural Ventilation.
Electrochromic Glazing
Electrochromic windows are part of a new generation of technologies called switchable glazing-or 'smart'
windows. Switchable glazing can change the light transmittance, transparency, or shading of windows in
response to an environmental signal such as sunlight, temperature or an electrical control. Electrochromic
windows change from transparent to tinted by applying an electrical current. Potential uses for electrochromic
technology include daylighting control, glare control, solar heat control, and fading protection in windows and
skylights. By automatically controlling the amount of light and solar energy that can pass through the window,
electrochromic windows can help save energy in buildings.
A variety of electrochromic technologies and media have been developed. One type is darkened by applying a
small electrical voltage to the windows and lightened by reversing the voltage. Light transmittance during
operation varies from five to 80 percent. Once the change in tint has been initiated, the electrochromic glazing
has 'memory' and does not need constant voltage to maintain the tinting. Further, the film can be tuned to
block certain wavelengths, such as infrared (heat) energy.
Another switchable technology, the liquid crystal suspended particle device (SPD), contains molecular
particles suspended in a solution between plates of glass. In their natural state, the particles move randomly
and collide, blocking the direct passage of light. When energized, the particles align rapidly and the glazing
becomes transparent. This type of switchable glazing can block up to about 90 percent of light.
You can easily model electrochromic glazing in DesignBuilder using the Window shading data and defining
the properties of the outer Window Pane to be used when the shading is active. The procedure is:
1. Specify the glazing type to be used when the electrochromic glazing system is clear (bleached) in the
standard way on the Openings tab under External glazing.
2. Under External Glazing and Shading headers, check the 'Window shading' option.
3. Select the Type as 'Electrochromic absorptive 6mm' (for example).
4. Select the Position as 4-Switchable.
5. The Shading Type defines the properties of the pane which is to be used in place of the standard outer
glazing pane according to the control data in the Control type.
6. Set the Control type together with any supplementary setpoint data.
- 1759 -
A model using the data in the above screenshot would enter its' darkened state whenever the solar radiation
incident on the outside of the window is greater than 200 W/m2..
Trombe Walls
Trombe walls are passive solar devices designed for thermal storage and delivery. A Trombe wall consists of
a thick wall (150mm to 300mm) [8" to 16"] faced with a selective surface solar absorber, air gap, and high
transmissivity glass pane. Trombe walls are usually South facing (in the Northern Hemisphere) for maximum
sun exposure. An overhang above the wall is used to decrease exposure in the summer when the sun is high
in the sky and heating is not required, yet still allows for full exposure in the winter when the sun is low in the
sky and heating is desirable. In DesignBuilder, there is no Trombe wall object per se; rather, it is composed of
other standard building components. This approach provides flexibility in specifying the various wall
parameters and allows the freedom to explore unusual configurations.
To simulate the Trombe wall, a narrow zone is coupled to the desired surface via an interzone partition. The
depth of the zone corresponds to the size of the air space usually 18mm to 150mm (¾" to 6"). In most cases
the Trombe zone will be a sealed zone with no ventilation. The exterior wall of the Trombe zone contains a
single or double-pane window. Optimally, the window covers nearly all of the wall area and has a very high
transmissivity to allow the maximum amount of solar flux into the Trombe zone. Frames and dividers can be
defined as usual for the window. The interior wall is usually constructed of very thick masonry materials with a
solar absorber surface as the innermost layer of the wall. The absorber is a selective surface material with
very high absorptivity and very low emissivity, e.g. copper with a special black surface treatment. It is
important to make sure the Solar Distribution is set to 3-Full Interior and Exterior so that the majority of the
solar flux is directed on the absorber surface and not just on the very small area of the Trombe zone floor.
The Zone type on the Activity tab should be set to 3-Cavity at zone level in the Trombe wall cavity zone and
this causes the following further changes to be made to the model:
• The zone is set as unoccupied by loading <None> Activity, HVAC and Lighting template data.
• Suspended floors and ceilings are switched off when using Separate constructions.
• The 5-Cavity Internal convection algorithm is set for Cooling design, Heating design and simulation
calculations to correctly model the air space.
• The 3-Full interior and exterior Solar distribution algorithm is set for Cooling design and simulation
calculations because it allows solar radiation to be accurately distributed onto zone internal surfaces.
The default option 2-Full exterior assumes all solar radiation falls on floor which is not good for
modelling solar absorption by a Trombe wall.
Finally, an overhang should be attached to the Trombe zone to control the amount of seasonal sun exposure.
There is considerable freedom to experiment with different materials, sizes, and configurations.
The EnergyPlus modeling approach for the sealed passive Trombe wall has been validated with experimental
data (Ellis 2003). For a naturally ventilated Trombe wall, there is no built-in algorithm for calculating the correct
- 1760 -
Trombe Walls
convection coefficients on the inside of the cavity walls. One option is to use the 1-Detailed Inside convection
algorithm. This algorithm takes into account some natural convection effects but is intended for a normal sized
room.
You can define holes and vents through the Trombe wall by drawing them on at surface level. Vent openings
can be scheduled and controlled by internal temperature.
The screenshot below shows the configuration of vents in the partition between the 2 zones allowing warm air
to move into the occupied space. The calculated natural ventilation model option has been used to allow
detailed calculation of air movement between the 2 zones.
- 1761 -
The hourly results below are for the occupied zone and illustrate the delayed heating effect of the Trombe wall
mass on the occupied zone during the evening and also the lesser but more instantaneous heating effect of
the warm air entering through the vents during the daytime.
- 1762 -
Double Skin Facades
The standard prEN 13119, specifies the terminology associated with curtain walls and of a double-skin
facade. These are defined as:
- 1763 -
characteristics of the building structure.
A curtain wall construction comprising an outer skin of
Double-Skin glass and an inner wall constructed as a curtain wall that
Facade together with the outer skin provide the full function of a
wall.
This definition includes only references to the constructive and structural aspects of the facade. No reference
is made to the ventilation of the cavity. Thus formally, the term "double-skin facade" does not designate a
ventilated double facade. It is for this reason that the term ´Ventilated Double-Skin Facade´ has been
proposed as the generic term to designate these facades.
This table contains the commonly used names referring (only) to the type of ventilation and thus giving no
indication about the partitioning of the facade or the ventilation modes. In the literature, the double facades
adopting the air supply ventilation mode are called airflow window or also ventilated window. The facades
adopting the air exhaust ventilation mode are also called extract air or exhaust airflow.
The model was created using a single block with a partition to divide it into 2 zones, one zone to represent the
occupied space and the other for the ventilated cavity. The glazing for the partition was set up at surface level.
- 1764 -
Autosizing Heating And Cooling Equipment
Modelling Considerations
There are some important considerations when using DesignBuilder to model double facades. Firstly, the
Zone type on the Activity tab should be set to 3-Cavity at zone level in the cavity zone and this causes the
following further changes to be made to the model:
• The zone is set as unoccupied by loading <None> Activity, HVAC and Lighting template data.
• The 5-CavityInternal convection algorithm is set for Cooling design, Heating design and simulation
calculations to correctly model the air space.
• The 3-Full interior and exterior Solar distribution algorithm is set for Cooling design and Simulation
because it allows solar radiation to be accurately transmitted through the interior glazing in the partition.
In the example model a simple ventilation control system has been defined in the cavity zone to provide 10
ac/h of outside air into the cavity when the air temperature in the cavity is greater than 24°C. This helps to
ensure that the cavity does not overheat, reducing cooling loads in the occupied zone. The schedule and
setpoint could be adjusted to fine-tune the ventilation. The model assumes no transfer of cavity air into the
occupied space. This could be modified using an approach similar to that in the Trombe wall example model
where vents in the partition between occupied and cavity zones are used to transfer air between the 2 zones.
Finally, an overhang has been added to control the amount of summer sun exposure.
1. Because the model uses a zone to model the cavity in the double facade, the inner glazing is 'interior'
and so requires the Full interior and exterior solar distribution option to allow solar radiation to pass
through exterior and then through interior windows. You should read the information about the
restrictions associated with this option before using it.
2. Take care when comparing the exterior solar radiation transmitted into the double facade zone with the
interior solar radiation transmitted into the occupied zone. These do not include the re-reflection of solar
back out of the external windows. Read the definitions for the output data.
When the Plant sizing building model option is set to 4-Autosize when not set these heating and cooling
capacities can be automatically calculated by the software.
Note: if you change heating or cooling capacities by hand you should be aware that the data will be
overwritten if Model Options change.
To keep the heating and cooling capacities fixed, change the Plant sizing model option to 2-Manual. You may
choose to use this option if you are already satisfied with the autosized capacities and wish to keep them as
they are regardless of future changes to the model.
1. For DOAS systems which introduce air into zones that is not fully preheated, there are 2 ways to
ensure that zone equipment is adequately sized to meet the extra ventilation load:
a. The recommended way is to make appropriate settings on the HVAC zone dialog to Account for
Dedicated Outdoor Air System.
- 1765 -
b. Change Mechanical ventilation load setting to 1-Met by zone equipment or to 3-Partially met
by AHU .
2. Internal gains should normally be excluded from Winter design day calculations. You therefore
shouldn't use the same schedule for equipment, occupancy and HVAC operation because equipment
and occupancy should be off for heating autosizing and HVAC should be on.
3. Summer design day schedules are normally the same as the general ones so are easier to deal with.
4. If you are using Compact schedules then you should ensure that a specific line of WinterDesignDay
data is included for all schedule periods.
5. If you are using 7/12 Schedules then there are 2 options: End-use defaults and Profiles.
6. You can include the effect of intermittent operation on heating equipment sizes by using a time-varying
Heating demand or HVAC schedule. This would normally provide heating equipment sizes with higher
capacity than a steady-state calculation where the heating is on all day.
You can set the Time zone at the Site level on the Location tab:
• Simulation results are displayed in 'local mean time'. This means that during the summer, occupancy
will appear to start 1 hour earlier in the day than it does in the winter. To help you pinpoint this,
DesignBuilder prints the times when daylight saving starts and ends on the graph.
• Visualisations use local mean time when setting the position of the sun for site shading analysis. Again
you should add 1 hour to the time to see shading for local time.
AnisoSkyMult * DifSolarRad
where:
DifSolarRad is the diffuse solar irradiance from the sky on the ground and AnisoSkyMult is determined by
surface orientation and sky radiance distribution, and accounts for the effects of shading of sky diffuse
radiation by shadowing surfaces such as overhangs. It does not account for reflection of sky diffuse radiation
from shadowing surfaces.
The sky radiance distribution is based on an empirical model based on radiance measurements of real skies,
as described in Perez et al., 1990. In this model the radiance of the sky is determined by three distributions
that are superimposed (see Figure 33)
- 1766 -
Solar Radiation Distribution
Schematic view of sky showing solar radiance distribution as a superposition of three components: dome with
isotropic radiance, circumsolar brightening represented as a point source at the sun, and horizon brightening
represented as a line source at the horizon.
The proportions of these distributions depend on the sky condition, which is characterized by two quantities,
clearness factor and brightness factor, defined below, which are determined from sun position and solar
quantities from the weather file.
The circumsolar brightening is assumed to be concentrated at a point source at the center of the sun
although this region actually begins at the periphery of the solar disk and falls off in intensity with increasing
angular distance from the periphery.
The horizon brightening is assumed to be a linear source at the horizon and to be independent of azimuth.
In reality, for clear skies, the horizon brightening is highest at the horizon and decreases in intensity away
from the horizon. For overcast skies the horizon brightening has a negative value since for such skies the sky
radiance increases rather than decreases away from the horizon.
Solar Gains
The total solar gain on any exterior surface is a combination of the absorption of direct and diffuse solar
radiation given by
where:
- 1767 -
If the surface is shaded the program modifies Fss by a correction factor that takes into account the radiance
distribution of the sky (see “Shadowing of Sky Diffuse Solar Radiation”). Shading of ground diffuse solar
radiation is not calculated by the program. It is up to the user to estimate the effect of this shading and modify
the input value of Fsg accordingly.
Solar Distribution
As discussed in the Solar Model options section, the Solar Distribution determines how EnergyPlus will treat
beam solar radiation entering a zone through exterior windows. The three choices: 1-Minimal shadowing, 2-
Full exterior and
3-Full Interior and exterior are discussed in the Solar options topic.
EnergyPlus calculates the distribution of short-wave radiation in the interior of each thermal zone. This
radiation consists of beam solar radiation, diffuse solar radiation, and short-wave radiation from electric lights.
The program determines the amount of this radiation that is (1) absorbed on the inside face of opaque
surfaces, (2) absorbed in the glass and shading device layers of the zone’s exterior and interior windows, (3)
transmitted through the zone’s interior windows to adjacent zones, and (4) transmitted back out of the exterior
windows. The effects of movable shading devices on the exterior windows are taken into account.
This new treatment of diffuse solar is intended to more accurately account for the initial absorption,
transmittance, and reflection of short-wave radiation prior to the uniform distribution as described in the
Engineering reference.
The Ground Reflected Solar is never allowed to be negative. The Snow Ground Reflectance Modifier can
further modify the ground reflectance when snow is on the ground. If the user enters 0.0 for each month, no
ground reflected solar is used.
- 1768 -
Solar Radiation Distribution
During simulations, the ground is considered to be snow-covered when the SnowDepth data in the hourly
weather file is > 0.
During simulations, the ground is considered to be snow-covered when the SnowDepth data in the hourly
weather file is > 0.
Beam distribution
If the Solar Distribution option is Minimal shadowing or Full exterior, it is assumed that all beam solar from
exterior windows falls on the floor. If Solar Distribution is Full Interior and Exterior the program tracks where
beam solar from exterior windows falls inside the zone, and wall as well as floor surfaces can receive beam
radiation.
Diffuse distribution
Diffuse solar transmitted through exterior and interior windows is distributed according to the approximate
view factors between the transmitting window and all other heat transfer surfaces in the zone. This variable is
the amount of transmitted diffuse solar that is initially absorbed on the inside of each heat transfer surface.
The portion of this diffuse solar that is reflected by all surfaces in the zone is subsequently redistributed
uniformly to all heat transfer surfaces in the zone, along with interior reflected beam solar and shortwave
radiation from lights. The total absorbed shortwave radiation is given by the next variable.
1. Shadowing surfaces. These are surfaces like overhangs, component blocks or surfaces of the
building Examples are shown in Solar Options. These surfaces can have diffuse and/or specular
(beam-to-beam) reflectance values that are specified with the based on the material surface properties.
2. Exterior building surfaces. In this case one section of the building reflects solar radiation onto
another section (and vice-versa). See Figure 47. Opaque building surfaces (walls, for example) are
assumed to be diffusely reflecting. Windows and glass doors are assumed to be specularly reflecting.
The reflectance values for opaque surfaces are calculated by the program from the Absorptance:Solar
and Absorptance:Visible values of the outer material layer of the surface’s construction. The reflectance
values for windows and glass doors are calculated by the program from the reflectance properties of
the individual glass layers that make up surface’s construction assuming no shading device is present
and taking into account interreflections among the layers.
- 1769 -
3. The ground surface. Beam solar and sky solar reflection from the ground is calculated even if the
Reflections option is not used (the default). But in this case the ground plane is considered
unobstructed, i.e., the shadowing of the ground by the building itself or by obstructions such as
component blocks is ignored. This shadowing is taken into account only if the Reflections option is
used. In this case the ground view factor calculated by DesignBuilder is not used.
Rays
A total of 90 rays are sent out into the exterior hemisphere surrounding each receiving point. An upgoing ray
may hit an obstruction or the sky. A downgoing ray may hit an obstruction or the ground. See diagram below.
Two-dimensional schematic showing rays going outward from a point on a receiving surface. Rays 1-6 hit the
ground, rays 7-11 hit an obstruction, and rays 12-15 hit the sky.
- 1770 -
Solar Radiation Distribution
Two-dimensional schematic showing rays going upward from a ground hit point.
Two-dimensional schematic showing specular reflection from an obstruction such as the glazed façade of a
neighboring building. The receiving point receives specularly reflected beam solar radiation if (1) DB passes
through specularly reflecting surface EF, (2) CD does not hit any obstructions (such as RS), and (3) AC does
not hit any obstructions (such as PQ).
- 1771 -
Warehouse With Office
Sometimes it is necessary to create a smaller zone such as an office within a larger zone (e.g. a large
warehouse space). This tutorial shows 2 different ways to set up a simple 2-zone model such as that
illustrated in the screenshots below where a small office is located in bottom corner of a larger warehouse
space.
In general this type of building can most easily be drawn using the Add Surface tool to remove the single
height block from the double height space of the warehouse. This method avoids the need to draw a tall
space using multiple blocks and merging the blocks using holes drawn between them (see Method 2 below).
This section shows how to do this using two blocks one representing the complete building, the other
representing the single height parts of the building.
1. The main warehouse block may be created by extruding from a horizontal or vertical perimeter,
depending on whether the plan or the gable surface is more complex. For a rectangular plan it is
generally easiest to draw a vertical perimeter and extrude horizontally as it allows any pitched or curve
roofs to be produced without multiple operations.
2. The easiest way to draw a vertical perimeter is to draw the horizontal base line drawn first and then
snapping the second vertical perimeter line to the vertical axis. Protractor and centre snap tools help
when drawing a simple pitched roof in this way.
- 1772 -
Warehouse With Office
3. The added surface (really a removed section) will correspond with the geometry of the single height
spaces and is best drawn with its perimeter on the base of the complete block if the perimeter is
polygonal. Click on the Add Surface tool and draw the perimeter.
- 1773 -
When complete, drag upwards to define the height, entering the height manually or using increment
snap.
4. The surface that has been removed needs to be replaced by a separate block. Make sure that the base
is visible and start the Add Block command.
- 1774 -
Warehouse With Office
- 1775 -
6. If the floor above the office space is not accessible space then navigate to that floor element and on the
construction tab select Exclude this surface from total zone area see screenshot below. If the floor is
accessible then you should draw virtual partitions around it's perimeter.
The process described below is also illustrated in the Office in Warehouse Tutorial
1. Draw the ground floor block including both office and warehouse. The block should be the height of the
office space as the top of the block will form the ceiling of the office.
- 1776 -
Warehouse With Office
2. Draw the 1st floor block representing the high-level warehouse space.
3. Draw a hole in the floor of the 1st floor block to connect the upper and lower warehouse zones together.
The upper warehouse zone should look something like the screenshot below. The green line shows the
perimeter of the hole.
4. Select the Merge zones connected by holes model option to merge the upper and lower parts of the
warehouse into a single zone.
5. The 'floor' on top of the office zone is not usable floor area so go to this floor surface and select the
Exclude this surface from total zone floor area option. This indicates that the surface is not part of the
building useable floor area. This step ensures that this floor area is not counted in the floor area provided to
certification tools such as SBEM. This step is not currently required for EnergyPlus simulations.
- 1777 -
Note: if the excluded floor surface contains some external adjacencies as well as internal ones these
external areas will not be subtracted from the zone floor area.
So the building now consists of 2 zones - an Office and a Warehouse zone. This model is available as one of
the DesignBuilder example templates.
- 1778 -
EnergyPlus Background Information
EnergyPlus is a stand-alone simulation program without a 'user friendly' graphical interface – which is where
DesignBuilder comes in. We have integrated EnergyPlus tightly within the DesignBuilder environment to allow
you to carry out simulations without any fuss – just define your building model, request data and let the
EnergyPlus simulation engine take care of the details.
DesignBuilder has been specifically developed around EnergyPlus allowing most of the EnergyPlus fabric and
glazing data to be input. Databases of building materials, constructions, window panes, window gas, glazing
units and blinds are provided.
You can use DesignBuilder to generate IDF files and work with these outside DesignBuilder to access
system functionality not provided by DesignBuilder.
There is a range of EnergyPlus simulators to choose from including the current DOE executable release, the
current DLL release and any interim releases made available by DOE. You can carry out DesignBuilder
simulations via EP-Launch.
See also:
• EnergyPlus Documentation
• Exporting EnergyPlus IDF Files
• EnergyPlus Version Compatibility
• EnergyPlus IDF Window Dimensions
• Calculation of DesignBuilder Output from EnergyPlus Report Variables
• EnergyPlus Errors and Warnings
• EnergyPlus Daylight Calculations
• EnergyPlus Thermal Comfort
• EnergyPlus Date Definition
• When DesignBuilder output is different from unprocessed EnergyPlus Output
• Custom EnergyPlus Reports
• EnergyPlus Daylight Map Output
• "EnergyPlus Curve Fit Tool" on page 1809
• Results Viewer
EnergyPlus Documentation
You can download all of the EnergyPlus documentation at no cost from:
https://energyplus.net/documentation
- 1779 -
2. By copying the intermediate in.idf file in the EnergyPlus folder.
3. Tools | Display simulation input script from Simulation or Heating/Cooling design screens.
4. Using the DOE executable EnergyPlus simulation option to open the EP-launch application before
simulation.
Note that DesignBuilder will automatically generate compatible IDF files with the target version of EnergyPlus
as set on the Program options dialog.
It is important to set the EnergyPlus version you intend to use before exporting the IDF data.
Important: You should not generally make any changes to in.idf itself because this file will get overwritten
before the next DesignBuilder EnergyPlus simulation and your changes will then be lost.
Note: this shows the script stored with the model just before the simulation not the in.idf file stored in the
EnergyPlus folder.
Tip: If you are already familiar with the EnergyPlus data structure you may find it most convenient to edit
DesignBuilder IDF data using a text editor as it shows more clearly the comments included to help reference
IDF data back to the DesignBuilder model.
- 1780 -
EnergyPlus Version Compatibility
DesignBuilder will automatically generate compatible IDF files with the target version of EnergyPlus as set on
the EnergyPlus tab Program options dialog. If you are generating IDF files for simulation outside
DesignBuilder you should note that, by default, DesignBuilder targets an internal version of EnergyPlus which
has an extended IDD data definition file to allow:
So if you attempt to use IDF files generated for internal versions of EnergyPlus in a version of EnergyPlus
supplied by DOE, you may find some surface or HVAC data errors related to the above changes. To avoid this
situation you should either:
1. Explicitly target your DOE EnergyPlus installation by making the appropriate setting on the Program
options dialog (preferred option), or
2. Carry the DesignBuilder IDD extensions over to your standalone version of EnergyPlus by copying
Energy+.idd from the DesignBuilder EnergyPlus folder (use the File > Folder > EnergyPlus folder menu
command) to your standalone EnergyPlus folder (e.g. C:\EnergyPlusV2-0-0).
The default window areas generated by DB should correspond with the Window to wall % (WWR) setting on
the Openings tab , provided you are using either Continuous horizontal or Preferred height facade types.
Tip: switching off frames on the Openings tab causes EnergyPlus windows of the expected dimensions to
be generated given the simplistic 'window area divided by total wall area' calculation.
- 1781 -
Internal radiant temperature Zone Mean Radiant Temperature [C] ZoneId
NB The
subtraction
of solar from
glazing heat
gain is done
as a post
process on
- 1782 -
Calculation Of DesignBuilder Output From EnergyPlus Report Variables
the output
results and
does not
affect the
simulation
itself.
Scheduled
Zone Ventilation Sensible Heat Gain [J]
Natural
External natural ventilation + Zone Ventilation Sensible Heat Loss ZoneId
ventilation
[J]
only
Scheduled
Natural
ventilation
only and
only when
the
Zone Ventilation Sensible Heat Gain [J]
Mechanical
External mechanical ventilation + Zone Ventilation Sensible Heat Loss ZoneId
ventilation
[J]
method
model option
is set to 1-
Room
ventilation
Calculated
AirflowNetwork Mixing Sensible Loss
Natural
Internal Air Rate [W] + AirflowNetwork Mixing ZoneId
ventilation
Sensible Gain Rate [W]
only
Calculated
AirflowNetwork Infiltration Sensible
Natural
External Air Loss Rate [W]+ AirflowNetwork ZoneId
ventilation
Infiltration Sensible Gain Rate [W]
only
Airflow
Summed
across
blocks and
Zone Mechanical Ventilation Air building
ZoneId
Change Rate [ach] using
Mech Vent + Nat Vent +
volume-
Infiltration
weighted
average
Calculated as the sum of the 3
Summed
EnergyPlus reports in the next
across
column
blocks and
Zone Ventilation Air Change Rate [ach] ZoneId building
using
volume-
weighted
- 1783 -
average
Summed
across
blocks and
building
Zone Infiltration Air Change Rate [ach] ZoneId
using
volume-
weighted
average
Internal Gains
ELECTRIC
Task Lighting -
EQUIPMENT#ZoneId#TaskLights* [J]
The
'GeneralLigh
ts'
ELECTRIC
EQUIPMEN
T
EnergyPlus
output is a
lighting fuel
consumption
and is
summed to
ELECTRIC
give the
General Lighting EQUIPMENT#ZoneId#GeneralLights* -
Lighting fuel
[J]
consumption
(below). The
gain to the
zone is
calculated
from this in
each zone
by
multiplying
by (1 -
Return air
fraction).
The '02'
ELECTRIC
EQUIPMEN
T
EnergyPlus
output is the
miscellaneou
s internal
gains fuel
ELECTRIC
consumption
Miscellaneous EQUIPMENT#ZoneId#02:InteriorEquip -
and is
ment* [J]
summed to
give the
Room fuel
consumption
(below). The
gain to the
zone is
calculated
from this in
- 1784 -
Calculation Of DesignBuilder Output From EnergyPlus Report Variables
each zone
by
multiplying
by (1 -
Fraction
lost).
The '03'
ELECTRIC
EQUIPMEN
T
EnergyPlus
output is the
process
internal
gains fuel
consumption
and is
summed to
ELECTRIC
give the
Process EQUIPMENT#ZoneId#03:InteriorEquip -
Room fuel
ment* [J]
consumption
(below). The
gain to the
zone is
calculated
from this in
each zone
by
multiplying
by (1 -
Fraction
lost).
The '04'
ELECTRIC
EQUIPMEN
T
EnergyPlus
output is the
catering
internal
gains fuel
consumption
and is
summed to
ELECTRIC
give the
Catering EQUIPMENT#ZoneId#04:InteriorEquip -
Room fuel
ment* [J]
consumption
(below). The
gain to the
zone is
calculated
from this in
each zone
by
multiplying
by (1 -
Fraction
lost).
ELECTRIC
Computer + Equip -
EQUIPMENT#ZoneId#05:InteriorEquip
- 1785 -
ment* [J]
Zone People Sensible Heating Rate
Occupancy ZoneId
[W]
Zone Windows Total Transmitted Solar
Solar Gains Exterior Windows ZoneId
Radiation Rate [W]
Zone Diff Solar from Interior Windows
Solar Gains Interior Windows [W] + Zone Beam Solar from Interior ZoneId
Windows [W]
Overall
sensible
cooling
energy to the
Zone Air System Sensible Cooling Rate zone from
Zone Sensible Cooling ZoneId
[W] the HVAC
system (not
energy
consumption
)
Overall
sensible
heating
energy to the
Zone Air System Sensible Heating zone from
Zone Sensible Heating ZoneId
Rate [W] the HVAC
system (not
energy
consumption
)
- 1786 -
Calculation Of DesignBuilder Output From EnergyPlus Report Variables
Simple
HVAC
convective
Chiller Load Chiller Evaporator Cooling Rate [W] Chiller and
ASHRAE
Cooling
design
Simple
HVAC
convective
ZoneId Ideal
Total Cooling Ideal Loads Total Cooling Rate [W] and
Loads Air
ASHRAE
Cooling
design
AHU VAV/CAV
Total Cooling Total Water Cooling Coil Rate [W] COOLING with Chilled
COIL water coils
AHU
Unitary
Total Cooling DX Coil Total Cooling Rate [W] COOLING
Multizone
COIL
ZoneId AHU
Unitary
Total Cooling DX Coil Total Cooling Rate [W] COOLING
single zone
COIL
ZoneId
Total Cooling Total Water Cooling Coil Rate [W] COOLING Fan coil
COIL
Simple
HVAC
convective
ZoneId Ideal
Sensible Cooling Ideal Loads Sensible Cooling Rate [W] and
Loads Air
ASHRAE
Cooling
design
AHU VAV/CAV
Sensible Cooling Sensible Water Cooling Coil Rate [W] COOLING with Chiller
COIL water
AHU
Unitary
Sensible Cooling DX Coil Sensible Cooling Rate [W] COOLING
multizone
COIL
ZoneId AHU
Unitary
Sensible Cooling DX Coil Sensible Cooling Rate [W] COOLING
single zone
COIL
ZoneId
Sensible Cooling Sensible Water Cooling Coil Rate [W] COOLING Fan coil
COIL
- 1787 -
Fuel breakdown (building level)
Heat
generator
fuel =
Heating load
/ Heating
system CoP
Chiller fuel =
Cooling load
/ Cooling
system CoP
- 1788 -
Calculation Of DesignBuilder Output From EnergyPlus Report Variables
zone.
VAV/CAV
with Chiller
AHU SUPPLY
System Fans Fan Electric Consumption [J] water,
FAN
Unitary
multizone
ZoneId AHU Unitary
System Fans Fan Electric Consumption [J]
SUPPLY FAN single zone
ZoneId
System Fans Fan Electric Consumption [J] Fan coil
SUPPLY FAN
HOT WATER
LOOP HW
SUPPLY
PUMP +
CHILLED
WATER LOOP
System Pumps Pump Electric Consumption [J] CHW SUPPLY
PUMP +
CHILLED
WATER LOOP
CNDW
SUPPLY
PUMP
Simple HVAC
with 2-
System Fans Fan Electric Consumption [J] Separate fans
and pumps
Auxiliary option
Simple HVAC
ELECTRIC with 2-
System Pumps EQUIPMENT#ZoneId#07:InteriorEquip Separate fans
ment and pumps
Auxiliary option
Auxiliary
Energy =
ELECTRIC Simple HVAC Auxiliary
Auxiliary Energy EQUIPMENT#ZoneId#07:InteriorEquip with 1-NCM energy
ment Auxiliary option (kWh/m2) x
Floor area
(m2)
DHW energy
(kWh) =
1000
(kg/m3) x
4.187
(KJ/kg-K) x
(Domestic
Hot Water
DHW Domestic Hot Water Consumption [m3] ZoneId DHW 1
Consumptio
n [m3]) x
(Delivery
water
temperature
- Mains
water
temperature)
- 1789 -
/ DHW CoP
Where:
DHW CoP is
Heat
generator
CoP when
using 1-
Central
heating
boiler DHW
type.
(Preheat
Heating Coil
Rate + Distr
Preheat Energy loss if
appropriate)
/ Preheat
CoP
Sum of
lighting
Lighting electricity
consumption
for all zones.
Sum of
Computer
and
equipment,
Miscellaneou
Room Electricity
s, Process,
Catering
electricity
consumption
for all zones.
Sum of
Computer
and
equipment,
Room Gas Miscellaneou
s, Process,
Catering gas
consumption
for all zones.
Sum of
Computer
and
equipment,
Room Oil Miscellaneou
s, Process,
Catering oil
consumption
for all zones.
Sum of
Computer
and
Room Solid equipment,
Miscellaneou
s, Process,
Catering
- 1790 -
Calculation Of DesignBuilder Output From EnergyPlus Report Variables
solid fuel
consumption
for all zones.
Sum of
Computer
and
equipment,
Miscellaneou
Room Bottled gas
s, Process,
Catering
bottled gas
consumption
for all zones.
Sum of
Computer
and
equipment,
Miscellaneou
Room Other
s, Process,
Catering
"other" fuel
consumption
for all zones.
- 1791 -
Legislative
regions
dialog
accessed
from the Site
level on the
Regions
model data
tab.
Simulation:
Direct from
EPW - spot
Wind direction Wind Direction
value,
Cooling design:
- 1792 -
EnergyPlus Errors And Warnings
Assumed wind
is from North.
Simulation: Estimated
Direct from from
EPW - spot elevation
value, before
cooling
Atmospheric pressure Outdoor Barometric Pressure
Cooling design calc
design:Outdoor is run but E+
Barometric value used
Pressure - after
preceding hour. calculation.
Simulation: For Cooling
Calculated - design, solar
spot value, positions are
initialised
Solar altitude Solar Altitude Angle
Cooling with
design:Solar calculated
Altitude Angle - values
preceding hour. before
calculation is
run but are
updated with
E+ values
after the
Simulation:
calculation.
Calculated -
Calculated
spot value,
simulation
data is
Solar azimuth Solar Azimuth Angle Cooling
based on
design:Solar
'spot values'
Azimuth Angle
on the hour
- preceding
so in this
hour.
case the
value for
12:00 is the
value exactly
at midday.
See also: When DesignBuilder output is different from unprocessed EnergyPlus Output
- 1793 -
Errors
You may have entered a semi-colon character (;) at the end of one of the lines in a Compact schedule
when you meant to enter a comma (,).
The 3-Full interior and exterior solar distribution option is selected but one or more zone in the model
is non-convex. Note that DesignBuilder is configured by default to check for this condition and provides
more friendly error messages.
- 1794 -
EnergyPlus Errors And Warnings
** Severe ** For Ideal Loads ZONE 21438 Ideal Loads serving Zone 21438
** ~~~ ** ..the supply air temperature for cooling [10.00] is greater than
3 the zone cooling setpoint [8.99].
This severe error can occur when using Simple HVAC, or Cooling design calculations with Operative
control in zones with strong radiant heat gains causing high radiant temperatures (e.g. un-insulated roof
or zone is highly glazed). The supply air temperature is fixed (to 10°C in the above example) but the
zone air temperature must be cooled lower than this (8.99°C in the above example) to give the required
operative setpoint (.e.g. 24 °C). Operative temperature, Top, is calculated as:
where:
So there is a requirement:
If the zone radiant temperature is higher than Tr max and Operative temperature control is used then this severe error will occur.
The solution may be to use Air temperature control and to reduce the radiant temperatures using solar shading/insulation as appropriate.
See the discussion on Operative temperature control under Calculation options for more on this.
One or more zones is non-convex which makes the model incompatible with the 3-Full interior and
exterior solar distribution algorithm. This error can also lead to temperature out of bounds errors.
The temperature of a surface has become too high/low, during the simulation. This error can be caused
by highly glazed zones with holes taking up all or most of the floor. Some examples are double facade
cavities, solar chimneys and atria-type zones. In some cases EnergyPlus isn't able to deal with such
zones. The issue often isn't really overheating so much as instability in the solution - very low
temperatures can result from the same situation. Here are some actions which have helped get round
this problem in the past:
- 1795 -
1. Make holes in the floor smaller. Bear in mind that with the default "Full exterior" solar distribution
option, all solar gain is received by the floor, but if there is no floor due to a full-sized hole then a
very large gain could be absorbed by a very small area of floor surface.
2. Avoid R-value (or other very low mass materials) on the inside surface of constructions.
3. It may be possible to use zone merging to combine zones which are being modelled individually
separated by large holes. This can sometimes help to avoid the error.
4. Try switching off the Generate fully enclosed zones Advanced model option. This has helped in
a few cases because the construction applied to surfaces used to fill in the gaps in zone
geometry is low mass and has very high R-value which could cause a build-up of heat.
- 1796 -
EnergyPlus Errors And Warnings
Warnings
** Warning ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: A Multiplier > 1.0 for window/glass
door W_67_4_0_0_0_0
** ~~~ ** in conjunction with SolarDistribution = FullExterior or
1 FullInteriorExterior
** ~~~ ** can cause inaccurate shadowing on the window and/or
** ~~~ ** inaccurate interior solar distribution from the window.
The Lump similar windows on surface model option has been selected which causes
DesignBuilder to use the EnergyPlus Window Multiplier option to speed up simulations. The
message is warning that the Window Multiplier option, when used in conjunction with the Full
exterior or Full interior and exterior calculation options can lead to inaccurate distributions of solar
radiation around the room.
This warning is often generated for pitched roofs and for interior zones separated by virtual
partitions and can safely be ignored.
The default ground temperatures used in DesignBuilder is 14degC. This may be inappropriate in
some cases and EnergyPlus is warning about this. You should take care to enter realistic ground
temperatures bearing in mind the advice given in the Ground Modelling section.
Caused by a minor bug in EnergyPlus when creating a DXF representation of the model - it is not
always able to fully triangulate all surfaces and generate a full set of surfaces. You can ignore the
message for the purposes of simulation results.
These warnings are usually a reporting bug in EnergyPlus v2.0 and earlier.
Cooling/heating may have been switched off in this zone or there is no cooling/heating load (i.e.
the zone does not require any cooling/heating).
For a zone sizing run, there must be at least 1 Zone Sizing object
7 input.
- 1797 -
** Severe ** CAUTION -- Interzone surfaces are usually in different
zones
** ~~~ ** Surface=F_59604_10071_0_10046, Zone=59604
8 ** ~~~ ** Surface=C_72917_1_0_0, Zone=59604
This warning can be safely ignored. These messages can be prevented by switching on the
Surfaces within zone treated as adiabatic option in Simulation Advanced Calculation Options
This warning will occur for partitions between 2 merged zones. Because of the merging, the zone is
the same on both sides of the partition and EnergyPlus flags this as a potential mistake. To avoid
this message, you can select the 'Surfaces within zone’ treated as adiabatic model option for
Heating design, Cooling design and Simulation calculation options. In this case such partitions will
instead be modelled using an adiabatic formulation where the ‘Outside face environment’ surface is
the same as the actual surface and the warning is not generated. The warning can in any case be
safely ignored.
The daylighting calculations are carried out during the simulation in 3 main steps:
1. Daylight factors, which are ratios of interior illuminance or luminance to exterior horizontal illuminance,
are calculated and stored. The user specifies the coordinates of one or two reference points in each
daylit zone. EnergyPlus then integrates over the area of each exterior window in the zone to obtain the
contribution of direct light from the window to the illuminance at the reference points, and the
contribution of light that reflects from the walls, floor and ceiling before reaching the reference points.
Window luminance and window background luminance, which are used to determine glare, are also
calculated. Taken into account are such factors as sky luminance distribution, window size and
orientation, glazing transmittance, inside surface reflectances, sun control devices such as movable
window shades, and external obstructions. Dividing daylight illuminance or luminance by exterior
illuminance yields daylight factors. These factors are calculated for the hourly sun positions on sun-
paths for representative days of the run period.
2. A daylighting calculation is performed each heat-balance time step when the sun is up. In this
calculation the illuminance at the reference points in each zone is found by interpolating the stored
daylight factors using the current time step’s sun position and sky condition, then multiplying by the
exterior horizontal illuminance. If glare control has been specified, the program will automatically deploy
- 1798 -
EnergyPlus Thermal Comfort
window shading, if available, to decrease glare below a specified comfort level. A similar option uses
window shades to automatically control solar gain.
3. The electric lighting control system is simulated to determine the lighting energy needed to make up the
difference between the daylighting illuminance level and the design illuminance. Finally, the zone
lighting electric reduction factor is passed to the thermal calculation, which uses this factor to reduce
the heat gain from lights. The EnergyPlus daylighting calculation is derived from the daylighting
calculation in DOE-2.1E, which is described in [Winkelmann, 1983] and [Winkelmann and Selkowitz,
1985]. There are two major differences between the two implementations: (1) In EnergyPlus daylight
factors are calculated for four different sky types—clear, clear turbid, intermediate, and overcast; in
DOE-2 only two sky types are used—clear and overcast. (2) In EnergyPlus the clear-sky daylight
factors are calculated for hourly sun-path sun positions several times a year whereas in DOE-2 these
daylight factors are calculated for a set of 20 sun positions that span the annual range of sun positions
for a given geographical location.
The environmental variables that influence the conditions of thermal comfort include:
The Air Temperature (Ta), a direct environmental index, is the dry-bulb temperature of the environment. The
Mean Radiant Temperature (Tr) is a rationally derived environmental index defined as the uniform black-body
temperature that would result in the same radiant energy exchange as in the actual environment. The Relative
air velocity (v) a direct environmental index is a measure of the air motion obtainable via a hot wire or vane
anemometers. The Water vapor pressure in ambient air (Pa) is a direct environmental index.
The physiological variables that influence the conditions of thermal comfort include:
Where the Skin Temperature (Tsk), the Core Temperature (Tcr) and the Sweat Rate are physiological indices.
The Skin Wettedness (w) is a rationally derived physiological index defined as the ratio of the actual sweating
rate to the maximum rate of sweating that would occur if the skin were completely wet. One more
consideration is important in dealing with thermal comfort - the effect of asymmetrical heating or cooling. This
could occur when there is a draft or when there is a radiant flux incident on a person (which is what is of
primary interest to us here). Fanger (5) noted that the human regulatory system is quite tolerant of
- 1799 -
asymmetrical radiant flux. A reasonable upper limit on the difference in mean radiant temperature (Tr) from
one direction to the opposing direction is 15_ (1). This limit is lower if there is a high air velocity in the
zone.
The most notable models have been developed by P.O. Fanger (the Fanger Comfort Model), the J. B. Pierce
Foundation (the Pierce Two-Node Model), and researchers at Kansas State University (the KSU Two-Node
Model). Berglund (6) presents a detailed description of the theory behind these three models.
Note: for all Thermal Comfort reporting: Though the published values for thermal comfort “vote” have a
discrete scale (e.g. –3 to +3 or –4 to +4), the calculations in EnergyPlus are carried out on a continuous scale
and, thus, reporting may be “off the scale” with specific conditions encountered in the space. This is not
necessarily an error in EnergyPlus – rather a different approach that does not take the “limits” of the discrete
scale values into account.
The main similarity of the three models is that all three apply an energy balance to a person and use the
energy exchange mechanisms along with experimentally derived physiological parameters to predict the
thermal sensation and the physiological response of a person due to their environment. The models differ
somewhat in the physiological models that represent the human passive system (heat transfer through and
from the body) and the human control system (the neural control of shivering, sweating and skin blood flow).
The models also differ in the criteria used to predict thermal sensation.
- 1800 -
EnergyPlus Thermal Comfort
probably the most well known of the three models and is the easiest to use because it has been put in both
chart and graph form.
Fanger proposed that the condition for thermal comfort is that the skin temperature and sweat secretion lies
within narrow limits. Fanger obtained data from climate chamber experiments, in which sweat rate and skin
temperature were measured on people who considered themselves comfortable at various metabolic rates.
Fanger proposed that optimal conditions for thermal comfort were expressed by the regression line of skin
temperature and sweat rate on metabolic rate in data from these experiments. In this way an expression for
optimal thermal comfort can be deduced from the metabolic rate, clothing insulation and environmental
conditions.
The final equation for optimal thermal comfort is fairly complex and need not concern us here. Fanger has
solved the equations by computer and presented the results in the form of diagrams from which optimal
comfort conditions can be read given a knowledge of metabolic rate and clothing insulation.
Fanger extended the usefulness of his work by proposing a method by which the actual thermal sensation
could be predicted. His assumption for this was that the sensation experienced by a person was a function of
the physiological strain imposed on him by the environment. This he defined as "the difference between the
internal heat production and the heat loss to the actual environment for a man kept at the comfort values for
skin temperature and sweat production at the actual activity level" (Fanger 1970). He calculated this extra load
for people involved in climate chamber experiments and plotted their comfort vote against it. Thus he was able
to predict what comfort vote would arise from a given set of environmental conditions for a given clothing
insulation and metabolic rate. Tables of PMV are available for different environments for given clothing and
metabolic rates. Such tables form the basis of ISO standard 7730 (see summary comfort categories below).
Note however that his method for PMV is inconsistent with the basic assumptions of his equation (Humphreys
and Nicol 1995).
Fanger realised that the vote predicted was only the mean value to be expected from a group of people, and
he extended the PMV to predict the proportion of any population who will be dissatisfied with the environment.
A person's dissatisfaction was defined in terms of their comfort vote. Those who vote outside the central three
scaling points on the ASHRAE scale were counted as dissatisfied. PPD is defined in terms of the PMV, and
adds no information to that already available in PMV. The distribution of PPD is based on observations from
climate chamber experiments and not from field measurements.
Comfort categories:
A: PPD < 6%
B: PPD < 10%
C: PPD < 15%
- 1801 -
Pierce Two-Node Model
The Pierce Two-Node model was developed at the John B. Pierce Foundation at Yale University. The model
has been continually expanding since its first publication in 1970 (8). The most recent version on the model
appears in the 1986 ASHRAE Transactions (9).
The Pierce model thermally lumps the human body as two isothermal, concentric compartments, one
representing the internal section or core (where all the metabolic heat is assumed to be generated and the
skin comprising the other compartment). This allows the passive heat conduction from the core compartment
to the skin to be accounted for. The boundary line between two compartments changes with respect to skin
blood flow rate per unit skin surface area (SKBF in L/h•m2) and is described by alpha – the fraction of total
body mass attributed to the skin compartment (13).
Furthermore, the model takes into account the deviations of the core, skin, and mean body temperature
weighted by alpha from their respective set points. Thermoregulatory effector mechanisms (Regulatory
sweating, skin blood flow, and shivering) are defined in terms of thermal signals from the core, skin and body
(13).
The model for Standard Effective Temperature (SET) also uses skin temperature as part of it's limiting
conditions, but uses skin wettedness (w) rather than sweat rate for the other limiting condition. The values for
Tsk and w are derived from the Pierce `two-node' model of human physiology (see Nevins & Gagge (1972)).
SET relates the real conditions to the (effective) temperature in standard clothing and metabolic rate and 50%
RH which would give the same physiological response. Effective temperature can then be related to
subjective response.
The latest version of the Pierce model (15) uses the concepts of SET* and ET*. The Pierce model converts
the actual environment into a "standard environment" at a Standard Effective Temperature, SET*. SET* is the
dry-bulb temperature of a hypothetical environment at 50% relative humidity for subjects wearing clothing that
would be standard for the given activity in the real environment. Furthermore, in this standard environment,
the same physiological strain, i.e. the same skin temperature and skin wettedness and heat loss to the
environment, would exist as in the real environment. The Pierce model also converts the
actual environment into a environment at an Effective Temperature, ET*, that is the dry-bulb temperature of a
hypothetical environment at 50% relative humidity and uniform temperature (Ta = MRT) where the subjects
would experience the same physiological strain as in the real environment.
In the latest version of the model it is suggested that the classical Fanged PMV be modified by using ET* or
SET* instead of the operative temperature. This gives a new index PMV* which is proposed for dry or humid
environments. It is also suggested that PMV* is very responsive to the changes in vapor permeation efficiency
of the occupants clothing.
Besides PMV*, the Pierce Two Node Model uses the indices TSENS and DISC as predictors of thermal
comfort. Where TSENS is the classical index used by the Pierce foundation, and is a function of the mean
body temperature. DISC is defined as the relative thermoregulatory strain that is needed to bring about a state
of comfort and thermal equilibrium. DISC is a function of the heat stress and heat strain in hot environments
and equal to TSENS in cold environments. In summary, the Pierce Model, for our purposes, uses four thermal
comfort indices; PMVET-a function of ET*, PMVSET- a function of SET*, TSENS and DISC.
The KSU two-node model is based on the changes that occur in the thermal conductance between the core
and the skin temperature in cold environments, and in warm environments it is based on changes in the skin
wettedness. In this model metabolic heat production is generated in the core which exchanges energy with
the environment by respiration and the skin exchanges energy by convection and radiation. In addition, body
heat is dissipated through evaporation of sweat and/or water vapor diffusion through the skin. These
principles are used in following passive system equations.
- 1802 -
EnergyPlus Date Definition
Here, control signals, based on set point temperatures in the skin and core, are introduced into passive
system equations and these equations are integrated numerically for small time increments or small
increments in core and skin temperature. The control signals modulate the thermoregulatory mechanism and
regulate the peripheral blood flow, the sweat rate, and the increase of metabolic heat by active muscle
shivering. The development of the controlling functions of skin conductance (KS), sweat rate (Esw), and
shivering (Mshiv) is based on their correlation with the deviations in skin and core temperatures from their set
points.
The KSU model's TSV was developed from experimental conditions in all temperature ranges and from clo
levels between .05 clo to 0.7 clo and from activities levels of 1 to 6 mets (6).
References
1. ASHRAE, “High Intensity Infrared Radiant Heating”, 1984 system Handbook, American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA, Chapter 18, 1984.
2. Fanger, P.O., Thermal Comfort-Analysis and Applications in Environmental Engineering, Danish
Technical Press, Copenhagen, 1970.
3. ASHRAE, “Physiological Principles for Comfort and Health,” 1985 Fundamental Handbook, American
Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA, Chapter 8, 1985.
4. Du Bois, D. and E.F., “A Formula to Estimate Approximate Surface Area, if Height and Weight are
Known”, Archives of internal Medicine, Vol.17, 1916.
5. Fanger, P.O., “Radiation and Discomfort”, ASHRAE Journal. February 1986.
6. Berglund, Larry, “Mathematical Models for Predicting the Thermal Comfort Response of Building
Occupants”, ASHRAE Trans., Vol.84, 1978.
7. Fanger P.O., “Calculation of Thermal Comfort: Introduction of a Basic Comfort Equation”, ASHRE
Trans., Vol.73, Pt 2, 1967.
8. Gagge, A.P., Stolwijk, J. A. J., Nishi, Y., “An Effective Temperature Scale Based on a Simple Model of
Human Physiological Regulatory Response”, ASHRAE Trans., Vol.70, Pt 1, 1970.
9. Gagge, A.P., Fobelets, A.P., Berglund, L. G., “A Standard Predictive Index of Human Response to the
Thermal Environment”, ASHRAE Trans., Vol.92, Pt 2, 1986.
10. Azer, N.Z., Hsu, S., “The prediction of Thermal Sensation from Simple model of Human Physiological
Regulatory Response”, ASHRAE Trans., Vol.83, Pt 1, 1977.
11. Hsu, S., “A Thermoregulatory Model for Heat Acclimation and Some of its Application”, Ph. D.
Dissertation, Kansas State University, 1977.
12. ISO., “Determination of the PMV and PPD Indices and Specification of the Conditions for Thermal
Comfort”, DIS 7730, Moderate Thermal Environment, 1983.
13. Doherty, T.J., Arens, E., “Evaluation of the Physiological Bases of Thermal Comfort Models”, ASHRAE
Trans., Vol.94, Pt 1, 1988.
14. ASHRAE, “Physiological Principles and Thermal Comfort”, 1993 ASHRAE Handbook- Fundamentals,
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA, Chapter 8,
1993.
15. Fountain, Marc.E., Huizenga, Charlie, “A Thermal Sensation Prediction Tool for Use by the Profession”,
ASHRAE Trans., Vol.103, Pt 2, 1997.
16. Int-Hout, D., “Thermal Comfort Calculation / A Computer Model”, ASHRAE Trans., Vol.96, Pt
Notes
Month can be one of:
- 1803 -
• January,
• February,
• March,
• April,
• May,
• June,
• July,
• August,
• September,
• October,
• November,
• December.
• Sunday,
• Monday,
• Tuesday,
• Wednesday,
• Thursday,
• Friday,
• Saturday.
- 1804 -
Custom EnergyPlus Reports
DesignBuilder developers are working on a much more flexible reporting mechanism which will provide
access to all of the EnergyPlus output reports in a future version. In the meantime, if you need to view specific
reports not provided by DesignBuilder, you can follow a process which gives access to any of the EnergyPlus
reports while continuing to run your EnergyPlus simulations from within DesignBuilder. In summary the
process is as follows:
1. For HVAC system node temperature, mass flow and humidity ratio outputs make the appropriate
selections under the Miscellaneous Outputs on the Outputs tab of the Simulation Calculation options
dialog.
2. Any other extra reports required can be added to an IDF file stored in the DesignBuilder EnergyPlus
folder.
3. Include this IDF file by making a selection in DesignBuilder Simulation Calculation Options.
4. Run the simulation as normal from DesignBuilder.
5. Locate the EnergyPlus eso output file generated by the simulation.
6. View the eso output file using the Results Viewer.
The sections below describe each of the these stages in more detail.
You should refer to the main EnergyPlus help file InputOutputReference.pdf for descriptions of all of the
EnergyPlus reports and for a detailed description of the required text format. If you are not familiar with the
IDF text formats then you can use the EnergyPlus IDF editor instead to create the file.
Note: The DesignBuilder Support Desk isn't able to respond to questions relating to EnergyPlus use
outside DesignBuilder. DesignBuilder users wishing to use EnergyPlus outside DesignBuilder should direct
their EnergyPlus questions to the EnergyPlus Support Desk.
Nevertheless here is a brief description which should help you to get started with adding reports to an IDF file.
• In any text editor such as Notepad (which comes with Windows) or UltraEdit (an excellent commercial
text editor which includes an IDF keyword highlight option).
• Using the IDF Editor supplied with EnergyPlus.
Create a file having extension .IDF and add IDF text to it in the format described below.
A single "report" can be thought of as a single set of output data or alternatively as a line of data on a graph
and is defined using a single line of text using this syntax:
- 1805 -
• Output:Variable is an IDF keyword which indicates that what follows is a request for output data.
• <Object name> is the name of the object for which data is required, e.g. the zone or the HVAC
component name. In some cases it is possible to enter "*" to indicate that the data is required for all
relevant objects (e.g. all zones).
• <Report Name> is the name of the report (output data) required. Thousands of reports are available in
all and you should refer to the EnergyPlus help file for details on what is available.
• <Interval> should be one of the following keywords:
o Monthly
o Daily
o Hourly
o Timestep - corresponds to the sub-hourly interval in DesignBuilder terminology.
o Detailed - a special interval provided by EnergyPlus where detail down to the level of the HVAC
timesteps can be provided. the actual intervals reported will often vary during the simulation, but
it can at times provide useful debugging information.
For example to generate a new hourly data set for the "Time Heating Setpoint Not Met While Occupied" report
for the zone having IDF name "Block1:Zone1" add this line of text to the IDF file:
Output:Variable, Block1:Zone1, Time Heating Setpoint Not Met While Occupied, hourly;
To generate sub-hourly data on the activity of the ideal loads economiser for all zones use:
Note the use of the "*" character to mean all objects and the semi-colon at the end of the line. For further
clarification on how to specify requests for EnergyPlus outputs you can refer to the Output:Variable data
provided by DesignBuilder in previously generated IDF files.
The above is just one way of obtaining outputs. Once familiar with EnergyPlus reports you can be creative
with use of additional IDF to request further outputs. For example consider using these options.
This data can be very useful when checking operation of the HVAC system.
Tariff Analysis
These reports can be used to run very sophisticated tariff analyses in EnergyPlus:
UtilityCost:Tariff
UtilityCost:Qualify
UtilityCost:Charge:Simple
UtilityCost:Charge:Block
UtilityCost:Ratchet
UtilityCost:Variable
UtilityCost:Computation
This example from the EnergyPlus manual shows how to specify a basic utility cost (e.g. cost of kWh of
electricity). The data indicates that Electricity costs a flat 0.08 (currency e.g. - $ or £) per kWh.
TariffExample1,
Electricity:Facility,
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Custom EnergyPlus Reports
kWh;
UtilityCost:Charge:Simple,
ChargeExample1,
TariffExample1,
totalEnergy,
Annual,
EnergyCharges,
0.08;
ComponentCost:Adjustments
ComponentCost:Reference
ComponentCost:LineItem
LifeCycleCost:Parameters
LifeCycleCost:RecurringCosts
LifeCycleCost:NonrecurringCost
LifeCycleCost:UsePriceEscalation
LifeCycleCost:UseAdjustment
RDD file
You can obtain a full list of available report types for a particular DesignBuilder model by running a quick
simulation and viewing the eplusout.rdd file generated by EnergyPlus.
Note: for each zone, surface and opening in the DesignBuilder model, the IDF name for the object used
the last simulation is displayed on the Options tab.
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EnergyPlus Daylight Map Output
EnergyPlus generates a file called eplusmap.csv when one or more zones have daylight control and the
Daylight map simulation output option has been selected for those zones. This file contains a series of grids
for each zone with daylight controls and having daylight map output requested and for each hour of the day in
the simulation.
The example output below shows some graphical output for 3 hours for a zone using a spreadsheet with cells
shaded based on illuminance values. This was done using a macro as described in a forum article by Jean
Marais.
More sophisticated daylight analysis tools using Radiance and Daysim are also available on the Daylighting
screen.
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EnergyPlus Curve Fit Tool
The curve coefficients calculated by the tool can be copied over manually into the relevant DesignBuilder
dialogs.
Note: The curve fit spreadsheet can typically be found in a folder like C:\EnergyPlusV8-8-
0\PreProcess\HVACCurveFitTool after installing EnergyPlus.
These performance curves as a function of temperatures are generated for a given set of input data at a given
speed. The curves as a function of flow fraction are generated at the rated temperature conditions. The rated
test condition is the AHRI standard rated test condition. The AHRI standard test condition may vary by the
equipment type. For multiple speeds or multiple stage DX Coils, different curve sets can be generated by
entering a different set of data for each speed or stage at a time. This tool can generate the following four
curve types: (1) Capacity as a function of temperatures, (2) Capacity as a function of flow fraction, (3) EIR as
a function of temperatures, and (4) EIR as a function of flow fraction. The tool automatically populates the
labels for each data inputs variable when users select the Coil Type, Independent Variables, Curve Type, and
Units as shown on INPU tab. The labels shown in the INPU tab are selected for DX Coil to generate capacity
and EIR biquadratic curves as function of temperatures. The tool can be used for the DX coil types:
Coil:Cooing:DX:SingleSpeed, Coil:Heating:DX:SingleSpeed, Coil:Cooing:DX:TwoSpeed (high and low speed)
, CoilPerformance:DX:Cooling (each stage), and any HVAC equipment that use Biquadratic, Cubic or
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Quadratic curves. To add this flexibility generic input data labels can be populated by selecting "Other" for DX
Coil Type input field, located in Cell B3 in the INPUT tab.
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DesignBuilder Files, Location And Extensions
Folders
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available template
files.
EnergyPlus hourly
weather data is stored
in this folder. The data
may have been
Weather
C:\ProgramData\DesignBuilder\Weather Data automatically
data
downloaded from the
DesignBuilder website
or it can be added
manually.
* The actual names of the folders on a particular computer will depend on the language setting and on your
Windows user name. The above locations assume English as the language. The Windows user name 'User'
is used as an example.
Tip: the above folders can most easily be accessed from the File > Folders menu group of commands.
Hardware Requirements
You can find an up to date list of hardware requirements in the DesignBuilder Hardware Requirements
Knowledgebase article.
Results Viewer
Standalone DesignBuilder Results Viewer
The Results Viewer is a separate application which can be used to view EnergyPlus results stored in one or
more .eso files. It can be downloaded from the main Downloads > Software area of the DesignBuilder
website. When installed the application allows you to view any results contained within EnergyPlus .eso and
.htm results files. There are various ways to open .eso results files:
1. From the Simulation screen in DesignBuilder click on the View EnergyPlus results toolbar icon. If you
are not using the Simulation Manager, this will open the most recently simulated results into the Results
Viewer. Alternatively if you are using the Simulation Manager to run simulations, this option will load the
most recently loaded set of results for display in DesignBuilder into the Results Viewer.
2. From within the Simulation Manager, by selecting one or more simulations in the list and clicking on the
View results in DesignBuilder Results viewer icon.
3. Double-click on an .eso file when in Windows Explorer.
4. From within the Results Viewer use the File > Open eso/data set menu command. You can open
Results Viewer from the DesignBuilder folder when clicking on the Windows Start button.
5. By making the appropriate selection on the Program options DesignBuilder will offer to open the .eso
file at the end of the simulation.
Multiple .eso and .htm files can be opened at a time. Use the combo box below the toolbar to select the
current results set for plotting.
With an .eso file open the first view will be something like that shown below.
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Results Viewer
Display Results
To show results for a particular interval use the Frequency drop list to select the interval.
Sorting the Reports can be a useful way to help find particular data and can be achieved by clicking on the
column headers. For example to see data sorted by "Area" click on the Area header. This will collect together
all data for each zone, HVAC component, Environment etc. in the list.
1. Select one of the toolbar options Add selected row to current graph or Add selected row to new
graph.
2. Right-click on the item in the grid and select the Add selected row to new graph menu option to add
the report to a new graph.
3. Double-clicking on the report in the grid will add it to the current graph (or if no graph exists it creates a
new graph and adds it).
Selecting a graph
If you have more than 1 graph set up you can select the current graph simply by clicking on it. You will see the
graph heating highlight in a different blue when selected as shown below.
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Menu Commands
You can access a range of options from the top bar menu, toolbar and right-click context menus. These are as
follows:
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Results Viewer
Display graph
Display the data as a graph instead of a grid.
Display grid
Display the data as a grid instead of a graph.
Undo zoom
Undo any zoom settings previously made.
Styling
When you create graphs with Results Viewer, they are styled (e.g. Title Font, Background colour, etc) using a
default styling template. You can change the styling defaults to your own preferences by using the right-hand
context menu on the graph pane. The following options are currently available:
• Border Style
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• Font Size
• Grid Options
• Customise Dialog (more detailed Font and Colour changes)
If you make some changes and want to revert back to the default styling at any time, select the Tools >
Restore Graph Styling menu option.
Any styling changes made to the currently open session will be made permanent once the session has been
saved.
When you have more than one data set open it usually helps to Include the dataset name in the legend. This
is set by default and can be controlled from the Options dialog.
Options Dialog
The Options dialog is accessed either from the toolbar or from the Tools top menu option.
Autosave session
Select this option if you would like the session to be saved automatically when closing the Results Viewer.
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Results Viewer
To change the name of the current graph right-click on the graph and from the DesignBuilder Options, select
the Rename graph title option. Enter the title for the graph in the dialog and press OK.
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The output above shows how the dataset name is added to each legend.
Zooming
In some cases you may find that too much data is displayed on the X-axis at one time and you need to focus
on a section (time period) of the results graph. You can use the mouse to do this simply by dragging a time
region of interest. This allows you to zoom in on data for particular days.
To return back to the original "un-zoomed" state, use the Undo zoom toolbar option.
Crosshair
When you move the mouse over a point on a plot, a floating tooltip window appears with data for that point
only. Left clicking with the mouse causes the value at that point to be plotted on the right hand side of the
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Results Viewer
graph legend block and a cross hair is displayed with a vertical and horizontal line centred on the point of
interest. The crosshairs can be useful for checking simultaneous values for a range of reports. The value for
all other reports currently plotted will also be plotted for the current time indicated by the crosshair.
Sessions
It can take some time to load.eso files and to select results so DesignBuilder provides methods to save pre-
processed results files and session files to speed loading and setting up reports the next time.
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The .eso file is automatically generated and you are prompted
for a filename for the .eso file and asked if you would like to
open it in the Results viewer. The results data is not
automatically loaded to DesignBuilder, which might be a usual
option to avoid very large hourly or sub-hourly data sets from
being loaded.
The .eso file is automatically generated and you are prompted
for a filename for the .eso file and asked if you would like to
open it in the Results viewer. The results data is also loaded to
DesignBuilder for your convenience. You may wish to avoid this
option if you have generated very large hourly or sub-hourly
data sets which could cause long delays or a program crash if
loaded.
Diagnostics
DesignBuilder creates two types of diagnostics files on startup, "diagnostic log" files and "installation
diagnostics log files":
The "dd_mm_yyyy_hh_mm_ss" part of the filename is the date and time the file was originally created. For
example the file "Diagnostics_01_08_2010_09_26_53.log" was created at 1 August 2010 at 9:26:53 am.
You may be asked to supply these files to DesignBuilder Support if you have problems with program operation
on your computer. One typical request from the Support desk is to supply the diagnostics file from a particular
program run and this will usually be the most recent one. To find the most recently created diagnostics file,
simply sort the files in Windows Explorer by using the "Details" view and clicking on the "Date modified"
column to carry out the sort. Alternatively you can scan the files by eye to find the most recently created file
using the "dd_mm_yyyy_hh_mm_ss" part of the filenames.
If for any reason you are unable to start DesignBuilder then the diagnostics files can usually be found the
folder:
• C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\DesignBuilder
Surface Types
The meaning of most surface types listed in the Navigator should be obvious. This section provides further
information on the meaning of 3 less obvious surface types:
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Calculation of Air Density
• Inter-block partition
• Wall (with hole)
• Link body edge surfaces
These special surfaces are required because DesignBuilder uses 3-D surface slabs to represent building
fabric. Using 3-D surface slabs allows accurate calculation of zone volumes, definition of blocks using external
dimensions and realistic rendered images. Zones for EnergyPlus simulations and other calculations provided
by DesignBuilder are generated from the interior faces of the block geometry.
The method used in DesignBuilder is the same as that in EnergyPlus for consistency. Air is assumed to be dry
and at 20°C. The site elevation is used to calculate standard atmospheric pressure using the equation for
'standard atmospheric' pressure on p 6.1 of the ASHRAE 1997 HOF.
Density = P / (R * T)
Where:
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P is standard pressure:
where:
Roof perimeter blocks are created behind the scenes by first generating a conventional plan extrusion using
the current external wall thickness and then generating the roof inner profile topology from the resulting block
outer perimeter:
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Pitched Roof Geometry - Technical Description
The roof geometry is created as if a stub wall existed from the original extrusion, cut to fit within the roof space
and on top of which the roof assembly sits:
The resulting roof block is composed of a polyhedron representing the inner zone, which is created from the
original inner block perimeter and is cut to fit within the roof space and a number of slabs that represent the
actual roof construction. The roof slabs are generated from the inner roof profile and an outer profile created
using the roof construction thickness.
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EnergyPlus model
DesignBuilder automatically generates overhangs for Pitched roof block types using EnergyPlus shading
devices. The diagram below shows EnergyPlus DXF output of the building model generated using the above
data. It shows the overhangs in grey.
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Calculation Of Simple HVAC Energy Consumption From EnergyPlus Loads
Where:
DHW CoP is Heating system CoP when using '1-Central heating boiler' DHW type
Positioning
When using the zone inner geometry option for surface geometry, component blocks placed close to the
window at building level may not be as close to the window in the simulation as might be expected from the
view in the model. For example, in the simple model shown below a component block has been placed
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directly in front of a window, which cannot be seen as it is hidden by the component block. It is placed so that
it touches the outer surface of the block. So one would think that it is touching the window in the simulation
model and therefore no solar gain and light could pass round or through the component block shade.
However results from simulations will show quite a lot solar gain entering the window. This is because the
window is actually placed on the zone surface which is on the inner surface of the block, the difference
between the inner zone surface and the block outer surface being due to the External wall thickness. In this
model the wall thickness is 0.23m so there will be a gap of 0.23m between the component block shade and
the window in the simulation model. This can be seen in the example DXF output shown below which
corresponds to the model above.
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Data Recovery
The DXF output above shows the gap between the window and the component block shade caused by the
External wall thickness.
The solution in this case was simply to use either one of the External measurement Geometry conventions
or a zero External wall thickness which removes the gap between window and shade.
Data Recovery
There can be times when data is lost due to a program crash or a power failure at a time before you had a
chance to save the model. DesignBuilder keeps track of the model in its various stages using 3 different
mechanisms:
1. An optional incremental backup system where the current working file is automatically saved to the
Backup folder every 10 minutes (by default). These files have names such as My File Autosave
18_01_2012_14_05_50.dsb. In this example the original file was called My File.dsb and the backup
was made at 14:05:50 on 18 January 2012.
2. When opening an existing file the original file is copied to the backup folder. In this case the file is
called something like My File Archive 18_01_2012_13_49_01.dsb. In this example the original file
was called My File.dsb and the file was opened and copied at 13:49:01 on 18 January 2012.
3. If for any reason DesignBuilder does not close down cleanly and is unable to save data, an skh backup
file will remain in the same folder as the dsb file and DesignBuilder will ask whether you want to recover
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this data the next time you open the dsb file. The skh file will have the same name as the original dsb
file but will have a ~ character prepended. e.g. ~My File.skh.
Files in the Backup folder are stored for up to 30 days before being automatically deleted.
To recover data you should check the files in the Backup folder and find possible candidates based on the
filename and time of saving. Then copy the files you would like to check up to the DesignBuilder Data folder
and open them in DesignBuilder to find the most complete data set.
DesignBuilder provides a dialog which allows you calculate thermal comfort based on the Fanger comfort
indicators PPD (% people dissatisfied) and PMV (predicted mean vote). These inputs are required:
• Activity (MET) or
• Activity (W/person or Btu/hr-person)
• Air speed (m/s or ft/min)
• Relative humidity (%)
Outputs are:
• Operative temperature
• Predicted mean vote (PMV)
• % people dissatisfied (PPD)
A curve illustrating the relationship between PMV and PPD is displayed to the right on the dialog.
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Thermal Comfort Calculator
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To use the tool, enter the environmental conditions and press the Update button at the bottom of the dialog.
This causes the graph and PPD/PMV outputs to be updated. If the PMV value is within the comfort region (-
0.5 to +0.5) then the outputs and the line between the PPD axis and the curve are displayed in green,
otherwise they are displayed in red as shown in the example outputs above.
You can read more about Fanger comfort calculations on the EnergyPlus Thermal Comfort page.
Annex E of ISO 5801 shows that by rearranging the formula it can be derived that the SFP is a function of fan
pressure divided by the efficiency of the fan system. Therefore the SFP will increase or decrease with a
respective increase or decrease in the system pressure.
The SFP is a function of the volume flow of the fan and the electrical power input and is quoted for a particular
flow rate;
SFP = Pe/ V
Where:
Typical values for various system types are shown in the table below.
Specific Fan
System Type Power
(W/l-s)
Central mechanical ventilation
including heating, cooling and 2.5
heat recovery
Central mechanical ventilation
2.0
including heating and cooling
All other systems 1.8
Local ventilation units within the
local area, such as
0.5
window/wall/roof units, serving
one room/area
Local ventilation units remote from
the local area, such as ceiling void
1.2
or roof mounted units, serving one
room/area
Fan coil units (rating weighted
0.8
average)
Source ESTA.
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Importing Custom Templates And Components
Note: In reality the pressure rise across the fan has to meet the pressure drop across the index circuit of
the actual system (i.e. the circuit with highest resistance to airflow). A more accurate estimate of fan pressure
can be obtained by estimating the overall length of the ducting index circuit, assuming it’s sized on 1 Pa/m,
adding approximately 20% for fittings and pressure drops for specific items such as diffusers, HEPA filters,
etc.
1. Export a .ddf file containing similar model data to that which you would like to import.
2. Rename it to have extension .zip so it can be opened in WinZip, WinRAR or similar zip file editor.
3. Open the .zip file to see a series of .cdt (compressed .dat files).
4. Extract the .cdt files and open them in a text editor.
5. Study the format - there is no documentation to explain the format, but it is usually fairly easy to work
out by reference to the corresponding DesignBuilder dialogs and the headers. Each .cdt file consists of
a line of category ids, followed by a header line which indicates the meaning of the fields below. Each
further line is a record with fields separated using the "#" character. See below for an example of
ActivityTempates.cdt.
6. If you need to make more widespread edits then it is usually easiest to import the .cdt file into a
spreadsheet. Here the data can be edited and exported again using tab delimiters and replacing tabs
with "#" in a text editor. Note you must avoid including adjacent "#" characters in the .cdt and the
easiest way to ensure this is to search for "##" and replace with "# #". Note the first column starts with
"#".
7. To create a .ddf file for importing to DesignBuilder use the reverse process. Create the .cdt files (by
modifying equivalent existing files) paying careful attention to all fields. Then create the .ddf by zipping
the .cdt files to be imported and renaming to use the .ddf file extension.
8. Import the .ddf file to the DesignBuilder model.
9. A common requirement is to create compact schedules from data from other sources (e.g.
measurements or energy code references). You can use the above procedures for this by adding
schedule records to Schedules.cdt. Compact schedule data is stored in the field CompactData. Note
that end of lines are marked by "|^" sequences. So a compact schedule like:
Schedule:Compact,
7:00 - 18:00 Mon - Fri,
Fraction,
Through: 31 Dec,
For: Weekdays SummerDesignDay WinterDesignDay,
Until: 07:00, 0
Until: 18:00, 1,
Until: 24:00, 0,
For: Weekends,
Until: 24:00, 0,
For: AllOtherDays,
Until: 24:00, 0 ;
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Lock/Unlock Model
Accessed from the Tools menu
You can lock the model to ensure that no further changes are possible. This may useful in cases when you
wish to send a model on to colleagues or clients to allow them to view inputs and run calculations but not to
make any changes to the model itself.
To lock the model you must first enter a password which can be used to later to unlock it again. Please make
sure to keep a note of the password when locking the model to ensure that you can unlock it again if
necessary.
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