The objective of this tutorial is to introduce EnergyPlus to - - PDF document

11/17/2014

• bjective - energyplustutorial

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Objective

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

The objective of this tutorial is to introduce EnergyPlus to architects and engineers who are familiar with the basic concepts of energy simulation and HVAC systems. The user of this tutorial will learn how to model a small room in EnergyPlus, how to run the simulation and how to read the output files. The user will be able to read the heating and cooling energy consumption of this room. He/She can than experiment with size, orientation, material properties, location etc of the room and see their effect on the heating and cooling energy consumption. The tutorial uses a simple building example to explain the basics of how to use EnergyPlus, give input and read the output of EnergyPlus. The emphasis is on a very simple model without any HVAC plant. The user will learn how to enter the material, construction and geometry of a simple building.

Installation of EnergyPlus and other tools >>

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Installation

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

How to install EnergyPlus? Download and install EnergyPlus from: http://www.eere.energy.gov . Other software that you will need to install: Adobe Acrobat Reader ( http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html) to view the PDF files A text editor such as WordPad or Notepad to edit input files,(or Ultraedit) A spreadsheet program such as MS Excel to view CSV formatted output files A web browser to view HTML formatted output files A 3-D DXF viewer such as Autodesk VoloView Express ( http://www.gard.com/vve201setup.exe) An SVG viewer such as the Adobe SVG Viewer plug-in ( http://www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/) or the Opera web browser ( http://www.opera.com). Assumptions in this tutorial: OS : Windows XP Version: Version 2.0.0 Build 025, released on 12/04/2007 Tips on using this tutorial: It is recommended that you install E+ and follow the steps given in the

• tutorial. For more information on any step please refer to the E+

documentation that comes with the installation. There are many screenshots that are used in this tutorial. Some of these will not be clear when viewed in low resolution. If you want to see any of the screenshots in high resolution, please click on the figure and the high resolution image will open. You can then also use the magnifier to magnify the image if required. The problem >>

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The problem

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Overview: Rectangular single story building - 8mx6mx2.7m No windows, doors or any openings Single Zone with no partitions LIghtweight construction Problem - Details >>

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Problem - Details

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Surface Construction: To Simplify the problem it is assumed that all the sufaces (walls, roof and floor) are made of concrete with the following properties: Name CONCRETE Roughness MediumRough Thickness {m} 0.1000000 Conductivity {W/m-K} 0.8100000 Density {kg/m3} 977.1200 Specific Heat {J/kg-K 830.0000 Absorptance:Thermal 0.9000000 Absorptance:Solar 0.6500000 Absorptance:Visible 0.6500000 Windows: None Internal Load: None Space Conditioning Heating setpoint 20C, Cooling Setpoint 24C, No setback Environment Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA Design Day: Summer Winter Start IDF Editor >>

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Start IDF editor (IDF editor is used to create E+ input files with the extension .IDF)

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Click: Start > All programmes > EnergyPlus V2-0 Programms >IDFEditor (click the image above to zoom in) About IDF Editor For users who want a simple way of creating or editing EnergyPlus input data files (IDF), IDF Editor provides this service. Any EnergyPlus object may be viewed and edited using a spreadsheet-like grid. For inputs with several

• ptions, a list is provided. When a numeric input has a range of valid values,

those values are displayed. It also automatically provides a list of object names when an object needs to be linked to another. By displaying all

• bjects of the same kind next to each other in a grid, it is easy to see how

inputs are different across the building. The IDF Editor outputs an EnergyPlus input file with proper syntax and comments to help the user understand the input values. In addition, the IDF Editor converts standard inch-pound units into SI units compatible with EnergyPlus. The IDF Editor does not check inputs for validity, although some numeric fields are highlighted if out of range. Some info on IDF editor. Add Version >>

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Add Version

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Click 'Version' in the 'Class List' on the top left of the IDF editor and then click 'New Obj' from the tool bar on the top. 'Obj1' will appear in the first line of the bottom window. Write '2.0' in the 'Version Identifier' Field of 'Obj1' as shown in the figure below: Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference: "The Version

• bject allows

you to enter the proper version that your IDF was created for. This is checked against the current version

• f EnergyPlus

and a Severe error issued (nonterminating) if it does not match the current version string." Save your file: You can save your file with any name. In this tutorial the file is names as 'tutorial.idf'. Keep saving your work frequently as IDF editor does not save file automatically. Add Building object >>

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Add Version

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Click 'Version' in the 'Class List' on the top left of the IDF editor and then click 'New Obj' from the tool bar on the top. 'Obj1' will appear in the first line of the bottom window. Write '2.0' in the 'Version Identifier' Field of 'Obj1' as shown in the figure below: Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference: "The Version

• bject allows

you to enter the proper version that your IDF was created for. This is checked against the current version

• f EnergyPlus

and a Severe error issued (nonterminating) if it does not match the current version string." Save your file: You can save your file with any name. In this tutorial the file is names as 'tutorial.idf'. Keep saving your work frequently as IDF editor does not save file automatically. Add Building object >>

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Building Object

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

The Building object describes parameters that are used during the simulation

• f the building.

Click the 'Building' Object in 'Simulation Parameters' Class and then click 'New Obj'. Fill the data as shown below: Field: Building Name Building name is specified for

• utput

convenience. Field: North Axis The Building North Axis is specified relative to true North. For more information about these fields refer the input output guide. Time Step >>

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Time Step

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Enter the value for the field 'time step in hour' after adding a new object. Field: TimeStep in Hour The TimeStep In Hour object specifies the "basic" time step for the simulation. This is used in the Heat Balance calculation as the driving time step. Run Control >>

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Run Control

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Run Control (Refer to Input Output Reference) The input for Run Control allows the user to specify what kind of calculations a given EnergyPlus simulation will perform. For instance the user may want to perform one or more of the sizing calculations but not proceed to a annual weather file simulation. Or the user might have all flow rates and equipment sizes already specified and desire an annual weather without any preceding sizing calculations. Location >>

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Location

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Now we start with a new group - Location – Climate – Weather File Access. This group of objects (Location, RunPeriod, DesignDay, GroundTemperatures, SpecialDayPeriod, DaylightSavingPeriod) describes the ambient conditions for the simulation. Here will be enter a new object - Location

Some information from the Input Output Reference:

Location The location class describes the parameters for the building’s location. Only

• ne location is allowed. Weather data file location, if it exists, will override

any location data in the IDF. Thus, for an annual simulation, a Location does not need to be entered. Field: LocationName This alpha field is used as an identifying field in output reports. Field: Latitude This field represents the latitude (in degrees) of the facility. 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)

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Field: Longitude This field represents the longitude (in degrees) of the facility. 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) Field: TimeZone This field represents the time zone of the facility (relative to Greenwich Mean Time or the 0th meridian). Time zones west of GMT (e.g. North America) are represented as negative; east of GMT as positive. Non-whole hours can be represented in decimal (e.g. 6:30 is 6.5). Field: Elevation This field represents the elevation of the facility in meters (relative to sea level). design day >>

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Design Day

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel Some Inforamtion from the Input Output Reference

DesignDay

The design day input describes the parameters to effect a “design day” simulation, often used for load calculations or sizing equipment. Using the values in these fields, EnergyPlus “creates” a complete day’s worth of weather data (air temperatures, solar radiation, etc.) Field: DesignDayName This field, like Location, is used simply for reporting and identification. This name must be unique among the Design Days entered. Field: Maximum Dry-Bulb Temperature This numeric field should contain the day’s maximum dry bulb temperature

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Search in degrees Celsius. Field: Daily Temperature Range A design day can have a “high” temperature and a “low” temperature (or can be a constant temperature for each hour of the day). If there is a difference between high and low temperatures, this field should contain the difference from the high to the low. EnergyPlus, by default, distributes this range over the 24 hours in the day. Field: Humidity Indicating Conditions at Max Dry-Bulb This numeric field represents the “humidity indicating” conditions that are coincident with the maximum temperature for the day. The value in this field is indicated by the key value in the field Humidity Indicating Type. This numeric value, along with the Maximum Dry Bulb Temperature and Barometric Pressure, is used to determine a humidity ratio and then used to calculate relative humidity, wet-bulb and dew-point temperatures at each timestep. Field: Barometric Pressure This numeric field is the constant barometric pressure (Pascals) for the entire day. Field: Wind Speed This numeric field is the wind speed in meters/second (constant throughout the day) for the day. Field: Wind Direction This numeric field is the source wind direction in degrees. By convention, winds from the North would have a value of 0., from the East a value of 90. Field: Sky Clearness This value represents the “clearness” value for the day. This value, along with the solar position as defined by the Location information and the date entered for the design day, help define the solar radiation values for each hour of the day. Traditionally, one uses 0.0 clearness for Winter Design Days. Field: Rain Indicator This numeric field indicates whether or not the building surfaces are wet. If the value is 1, then it is assumed that the building surfaces are wet. Wet surfaces may change the conduction of heat through the surface. Field: Snow Indicator This numeric field indicates whether or not there is snow on the ground. If the value is 1, then it is assumed there is snow on the ground. Snow on the ground changes the ground reflectance properties. Field: Day Of Month This numeric field specifies the day of the month. That, in conjunction with the month and location information, determines the current solar position and solar radiation values for each hour of the day. Field: Month This numeric field specifies the month. That, in conjunction with the day of

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the month and location information, determines the current solar position and solar radiation values for each hour of the day. Field: Day Type This alpha field specifies the day type for the design day. This value indicates which day profile to use in schedules. Field: Daylight Saving Time Indicator This numeric field specifies whether to consider this day to be a “Daylight Saving Day”. This essentially adds 1 hour to the scheduling times used in items with schedules. Field: Humidity Indicating Type Valid choices here are: Wet-Bulb, Dew-Point, Humidity-Ratio, Enthalpy,

• Schedule. Units for the first four choices are Celsius, Celsius, ratio of kg wet

air/kg dry air (no units), and kJ/kg. Using one of these choices means that you then put an appropriate value in the “Humidity Indicating Conditions at Max Dry-Bulb” field. The Schedule choice uses the “day schedule” indicated in the next field. That is, if you want to specify your own relative humidity to

• ccur throughout the day, you put “schedule” in here and put in the name of

your “day schedule” that specifies the relative humidity in the “Relative Humidity Day Schedule”. Material Regular >>

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Material Regular

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Now we start with a new group - Surface Construction Elements. This group

• f objects describes the physical properties and configuration for the building

envelope and interior elements. That is, the walls, roofs, floors, windows, doors for the building. Specifying the Building Envelope Building element constructions in EnergyPlus are built from the basic thermal and other material property parameters in physical constructions. Materials are specified by types and named. Constructions are defined by the composition of materials. Finally, surfaces are specified for the building with geometric coordinates as well as referenced constructions. Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference: Materials There are three material “types” which may be used to describe layers within opaque construction elements. The choice of which of these types to use is left up to the user. The three opaque types are:

฀

Material:Regular

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฀

Material:Regular-R

฀

Material:Air Material:Regular is the “preferred” type of material. This requires knowledge of many of the thermal properties of the material, but it allows EnergyPlus to take into account the thermal mass of the material and thus allows the evaluation of transient conduction effects. Material:Regular-R is similar in nature but only requires the thermal resistance (R-value) rather than the thickness, thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat. Note that using a simple R-value only material forces EnergyPlus to assume steady state heat conduction through this material layer. Finally, Material:Air should only be used for an air gap between other layers in a

• construction. This type assumes that air is sufficiently lightweight to require only an R-
• value. In addition, since it is not exposed to any external environment, surface properties

such as absorptance are not necessary.

Material:Regular

This definition should be used when the four main thermal properties (thickness, conductivity, density, and specific heat) of the material are known. Field: Name This field is a unique reference name that the user assigns to a particular material. This name can then be referred to by other input data (ref: Construction). Field: Roughness This field is a character string that defines the relative roughness of a particular material

• layer. This parameter only influences the convection coefficients, more specifically the

exterior convection coefficient. A special keyword is expected in this field with the options being “VeryRough”, “Rough”, “MediumRough”, “MediumSmooth”, “Smooth”, and “VerySmooth” in order of roughest to smoothest options. Field: Thickness This field characterizes the thickness of the material layer in meters. This should be the dimension of the layer in the direction perpendicular to the main path of heat conduction. This value must be a positive. Field: Conductivity This field is used to enter the thermal conductivity of the material layer. Units for this parameter are W/(m-K). Thermal conductivity must be greater than zero. Field: Density This field is used to enter the density of the material layer in units of kg/m3. Density must be a positive quantity. Field: Specific Heat This field represents the specific heat of the material layer in units of J/(kg-K). Note that these units are most likely different than those reported in textbooks and references which tend to use kJ/(kg-K) or J/(g-K). They were chosen for internal consistency within

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• EnergyPlus. Only positive values of specific heat are allowed.

Field: Absorptance:Thermal The thermal absorptance field in the Material input syntax represents the fraction of incident long wavelength radiation that is absorbed by the material. This parameter is used when calculating the long wavelength radiant exchange between 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 (with 1.0 representing “black body” conditions). Field: Absorptance:Solar 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. Field: Absorptance:Visible 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. 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. Values for this field must be between 0.0 and 1.0. Construction >>

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Construction

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Construction: For walls, roofs, floors, windows, and doors, constructions are “built” from the included materials. Each layer of the construction is a material name listed in order from “outside” to “inside”. Up to ten layers (eight for windows) may be specified. “Outside” is the layer furthest away from the Zone air (not necessarily the outside environment). “Inside” is the layer next to the Zone air. Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference: Field: Name This field is a user specified name that will be used as a reference by other input syntax. For example, a heat transfer surface (ref: Surface:HeatTransfer) requires a construction name to define what the make-up of the wall is. This name must be identical to one of the CONSTRUCTION definitions in the input data file. Field: Outside Layer Each construction must have at least one layer. This field defines the material name associated with the layer on the outside of the construction—

• utside referring to the side that is not exposed to the zone but rather the
• pposite side environment, whether this is the outdoor environment or

another zone. Material layers are defined based on their thermalproperties

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Search elsewhere in the input file. As noted above, the outside layer should NOT be a film coefficient since EnergyPlus will calculate outside convection and radiation heat transfer more precisely. Field(s) 2-10: Layers The next fields are optional and the number of them showing up in a particular CONSTRUCTION definition depends solely on the number of material layers present in that construction. The data expected is identical to the outside layer field (see previous field description). The order of the remaining layers is important and should be listed in order of occurrence from the one just inside the outside layer until the inside layer is reached. As noted above, the inside layer should NOT be a film coefficient since EnergyPlus will calculate inside convection and radiation heat transfer more precisely. Zone >>

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Zone

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Now we start with a new group - Thermal Zone Description/Geometry. Without thermal zones and surfaces, the building can’t be simulated. This group of objects (Zone, Surface) describes the thermal zone characteristics as well as the details of each surface to be modeled. Included here are shading surfaces. (Refer to Getting Started to EnergyPlus for more information on thermal

zoning)

Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference:

Zone

This element sets up the parameters to simulate each thermal zone of the building. Field: North Axis The Zone North Axis is specified relative to the Building North Axis. This value is specified in degrees (clockwise is positive). Field(s): Origin (X,Y,Z) The X,Y,Z coordinates of a zone origin can be specified, for convenience in vertice entry. Depending on the values in “SurfaceGeometry”, these will be used to completely specify the building coordinates in “world coordinate” or

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• not. Zone Origin coordinates are specified relative to the Building Origin

(which always 0,0,0). Field: Type Zone type is currently unused. Field: Multiplier Zone Multiplier is designed as a “multiplier” for zone loads. It takes the calculated load for the inputted zone and multiplies it and sends the multiplied load to the attached system to meet the demand. The system will have to be specified to meet the entire multiplied zone load and will report the amount of the load it can meet in the Zone/Sys Sensible Heating or Cooling Energy/Rate report variable. The default is 1. Field: Ceiling Height Zone ceiling height is used in several areas within EnergyPlus. Energyplus automatically calculates the zone ceiling height (m) from the average height

• f the zone. If this field is 0.0 or negative, then the calculated zone ceiling

height will be used in subsequent calculations. If this field is positive, then the calculated zone ceiling height will not be used -- the number entered here will be used as the zone ceiling height. If this number differs significantly from the calculated ceiling height, then a warning message will be issued. Note that the Zone Ceiling Height is the distance from the Floor to the Ceiling in the Zone, not an absolute height from the ground. Field: Volume Zone volume is used in several areas within EnergyPlus. EnergyPlus automatically calculates the zone volume (m3) from the zone geometry given by the surfaces that belong to the zone. If this field is 0.0 or negative, then the calculated zone volume will be used in subsequent calculations. If this field is positive, then the calculated zone volume will be replaced by the number entered here. If this number differs significantly from the calculated zone volume a warning message will be issued. Field: Zone Inside Convection Algorithm The Zone Inside Convection Algorithm field is optional. This field specifies the convection model to be used in the zone. See the Zone Inside Convection Algorithm object for descriptions of the available models. If omitted, the algorithm specified in the Inside Convection Algorithm object is the default. surface geometry >>

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Surface Geometry

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

SurfaceGeometry Before the surface objects are explained in detail, a description of geometric parameters used in EnergyPlus will be given. Since the input of surface vertices is common to most of the surface types, it will also be given a separate discussion. Some flexibility is allowed in specifying surface

• vertices. This flexibility is embodied in the SurfaceGeometry class/object in

the input file. Note that the parameters specified in this statement are used for all surface vertice inputs – there is no further “flexibility” allowed. In

• rder to perform shadowing calculations, the building surfaces must be
• specified. EnergyPlus uses a three dimensional (3D) Cartesian coordinate

system for surface vertex specification. This Right Hand coordinate system has the X-axis pointing east, the Y-axis pointing north, and the Z-axis pointing up. Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference: Field: SurfaceStartingPosition The shadowing algorithms in EnergyPlus rely on surfaces having vertices in a certain order and positional structure. Thus, the surface translator needs to know the starting point for each surface entry. The choices are: UpperLeftCorner (ULC), LowerLeftCorner (LLC), UpperRightCorner (URC), or LowerRightCorner (LRC). Since most surfaces will be 4 sided, the convention will specify this position as though each surface were 4 sided. Extrapolate 3

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Search sided figures to this convention. Field: VertexEntry Surfaces are always specified as being viewed from the outside of the zone to which they belong. (Shading surfaces are specified slightly differently and are discussed under the particular types). EnergyPlus needs to know whether the surfaces are being specified in counterclockwise or clockwise order (from the SurfaceStartingPosition). EnergyPlus uses this to determine the outward facing normal for the surface (which is the facing angle of the surface – very important in shading and shadowing calculations. Field: CoordinateSystem Vertices can be specified in two ways: using “Absolute”/“World” coordinates,

• r a relative coordinate specification. Relative coordinates allow flexibility of

rapid change to observe changes in building results due to orientation and

• position. “World” coordinates will facilitate use within a CADD system

structure. Relative coordinates make use of both Building and Zone North Axis values as well as Zone Origin values to locate the surface in 3D coordinate space. World coordinates do not use these values. Typically, all zone origin values for “World” coordinates will be (0,0,0) but Building and Zone North Axis values may be used in certain instances (namely the Daylighting Coordinate Location entries). Surface: Heat Transfer >>

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Surface: Heat Transfer

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Surface:HeatTransfer The heat transfer surface is necessary for all calculations. There must be at least one heat transfer surface per zone. Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference: Field: User supplied surface name This is a unique character string associated with each heat transfer surface. It is used in several other places as a reference (e.g. as the base surface name for a Window or Door). Field: Surface Type Used primarily for convenience, the surface type can be one of the choices – Wall, Floor, Ceiling, Roof. Azimuth (facing) and Tilt are determined from the vertex coordinates. Note that “normal” floors will be tilted 180° whereas flat roofs/ceilings will be tilted 0°. EnergyPlus uses this field’s designation, along with the calculated tilt of the surface, to issue warning messages when tilts are “out of range”. Calculations in EnergyPlus use the actual calculated tilt values for the actual heat balance calculations. Note, however, that a floor tilted 0° is really facing “into” the zone and is not what you will desire for the calculations even though the coordinate may appear correct in the viewed DXF display. “Normal” tilt for walls is 90° -- here you may use the calculated Azimuth to make sure your walls are facing away from the zone’s interior. Field: Construction Name of Surface This is the name of the construction (ref: Construction) used in the surface.

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Search Regardless of location in the building, the “full” construction (all layers) is

• used. For example, for an interior wall separating two zones, zone x would

have the outside layer (e.g. drywall) as the material that shows in zone y and then the layers to the inside layer – the material that shows in zone x. For symmetric constructions, the same construction can be used in the surfaces described in both zones. Field: Inside Face Environment This is the zone name to which the surface belongs. Field: Outside Face Environment This value can be one of several things depending on the actual kind of surface. 1) OtherZoneSurface – if this surface is an internal surface, then this is the

• choice. The value will either be a surface in the base zone or a surface in

another zone. The heat balance between two zones can be accurately simulated by specifying a surface in an adjacent zone. EnergyPlus will simulate a group of zones simultaneously and will include the heat transfer between zones. However, as this increases the complexity of the calculations, it is not necessary to specify the other zone unless the two zones will have a significant temperature difference. If the two zones will not be very different (temperature wise), then the surface should use itself as the outside environment. In either case, the surface name on the “outside”

• f this surface is placed in the next field.

2) ExteriorEnvironment – if this surface is exposed to outside temperature conditions, then this is the choice. See Sun Exposure and Wind Exposure below for further specifications on this kind of surface. 3) Ground – if this surface is exposed to the ground, then this is the choice. The temperature on the outside of this surface will be the Ground Temperature. 4) OtherSideCoeff – if this surface has a custom, user specified temperature

• r other parameters (See OtherSideCoefficient specification), then this is the
• choice. The outside face environment will be the name of the

OtherSideCoefficient specification. 5) OtherSideConditionsModel – if this surface has a specially-modeled multi- skin component, such as a transpired collector or vented photovoltaic panel, attached to the outside (See OtherSideConditionsModel specification), then this the choice. The outside face environment will be the name of the OtherSideConditionsModel specification. Field: Outside Face Environment Object If neither OtherZoneSurface, OtherSideCoeff, or OtherSideConditionsModel are specified for the Outside Face Environment (previous field), then this field should be left blank. For more information refer the input output reference. Field: Sun Exposure If the surface is exposed to the sun, then “SunExposed” should be entered in this field. Otherwise, “NoSun” should be entered. Note, a cantilevered floor could have “ExteriorEnvironment” but “NoSun” exposure. Field: Wind Exposure If the surface is exposed to the Wind, then “WindExposed” should be entered

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in this field. Otherwise, “NoWind” should be entered. Note: When a surface is specified with “NoWind”, this has several implications. Within the heat balance code, this surface will default to using the simple ASHRAE exterior convection coefficient correlation with a zero wind speed. In addition, since the ASHRAE simple method does not have a separate value for equivalent long wavelength radiation to the sky and ground, using “NoWind” also eliminates long wavelength radiant exchange from the exterior of the surface to both the sky and the ground. Thus, only simple convection takes place at the exterior face of a surface specified with “NoWind”. Field: View Factor to Ground The fraction of the ground plane (assumed horizontal) that is visible from a heat-transfer surface. It is used to calculate the diffuse solar radiation from the ground that is incident on the surface. For example, if there are no

• bstructions, a vertical surface sees half of the ground plane and so View

Factor to Ground = 0.5. A horizontal downward-facing surface sees the entire ground plane, so View Factor to Ground = 1.0. A horizontal upward- facing surface (horizontal roof) does not see the ground at all, so View Factor to Ground = 0.0. Field: Number of Surface Vertice Groups This field specifies the number of sides in the surface (number of X,Y,Z vertex groups). Schedule Type >>

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Schedule Type

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Now we start with a new group - Schedules This group of objects allows the user to influence scheduling of many items (such as occupancy density, lighting, thermostatic controls, occupancy activity). In addition, schedules are used to control shading element density

• n the building. EnergyPlus schedules consist of three pieces: a day

description, a week description, and an annual description. An optional element is the schedule type. Each description level builds off the previous sub-level. The day description is simply a name and the values that span the 24 hours in a day to be associated with that name. The week description also has an identifier (name) and twelve additional names corresponding to previously defined day descriptions. There are names for each individual day

• f the week plus holiday, summer design day, winter design day and two

more custom day designations. Finally, the annual schedule contains an identifier and the names and FROM-THROUGH dates of the week schedules associate with this annual schedule. The annual schedule can have several FROM-THROUGH date pairs. One type of schedule reads the values from an external file to facilitate the incorporation of monitored data or factors that change throughout the year. Schedules are processed by the EnergyPlus Schedule Manager, stored within the Schedule Manager and are accessed through module routines to get the basic values (timestep, hourly, etc). Values are resolved at the Zone Time Step frequency and carry through any HVAC time steps.

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Search Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference: ScheduleType A “schedule type” can be used to validate portions of the other schedules. DaySchedules, for example, are validated by range -- minimum/maximum (if entered) -- as well as numeric type (continuous or discrete). Schedules,

• n the other hand, are only validated for range – as the numeric type

validation has already been done. Field: ScheduleType Name This alpha field should contain a unique (within the schedule types)

• designator. It is referenced wherever “ScheduleTypes” can be referenced.

Field: range Since schedule values, in their base descriptions, are all numeric, this field will represent the min and max range for the values. If this field is left blank, then the schedule type is not limited to a minimum/maximum value range. Field: Numeric Type This field designates how the range values are validated. Using CONTINUOUS in this field allows for all numbers, including fractional amounts, within the range to be valid. Using DISCRETE in this field allows

• nly integer values between the minimum and maximum range values to be

valid. Schedule Compact >>

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Schedule Compact

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Schedule:Compact For flexibility, a schedule can be entered in “one fell swoop”. Using the Schedule:Compact object, all the features of the schedule components are accessed in a single command. Like the “regular” schedule object, each schedule:compact entry must cover all the days for a year. Additionally, the validations for DaySchedule (i.e. must have values for all 24 hours) and WeekSchedule (i.e. must have values for all day types) will apply. Schedule values are “given” 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 object is an unusual object for description. For the data the number of fields and position are not set, they cannot really be described in the usual Field # manner. Thus, the following description will list the fields and order in which they must be used in the object. Information from the EnergyPlus Input Output Reference: Field: Name This field should contain a unique (within all Schedules) designation for this

• schedule. It is referenced by various “scheduled” items (e.g. Lights, People,

Infiltration) to define the appropriate schedule values. Field: ScheduleType

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Search This field contains a reference to the ScheduleType. If found in a list of ScheduleTypes (see above), then the restrictions on the ScheduleType could be used to validate the referenced WeekSchedule (which reference DaySchedule) hourly field values. Field-Set (Through, For, Interpolate, Until, Value) Each compact schedule must contain the elements Through (date), For (days), Interpolate (optional), Until (time of day) and Value. In general, each of the “titled” fields must include the “title”. Field: Through This field starts with “Through:” and contains the ending date for the schedule period (may be more than one). Refer to Table 4. Date Field Interpretation for information on date entry – note that only Month-Day combinations are allowed for this field. Each “through” field generates a new WeekSchedule named “Schedule Name”_wk_# where # is the sequential number for this compact schedule. Field: For This field starts with “For:” and contains the applicable days (reference the compact week schedule object above for complete description) for the 24 hour period that must be described. Each “for” field generates a new DaySchedule named “Schedule Name”_dy_# where # is the sequential number for this compact schedule. Field: Interpolate (optional) This field, if used, starts with “Interpolate:” and contains the word “Yes” or “No”. If this field is not used, it should not be blank – rather just have the following field appear in this slot. The definition of “Interpolate” in this context is shown in the interval day schedule above. Field: Until This field contains the ending time (again, reference the interval day schedule discussion above) for the current days and day schedule being defined. Field: Value Finally, the value field is the schedule value for the specified time interval. Controlled Zone Equip Config >>

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Controlled Zone Equip Config

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Zone Equipment List >>

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Zone Equipment List

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Purchased Air >>

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Purchased Air

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Zone Control Thermostatic >>

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Zone Control Thermostatic

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Dual Setpoint with Deadband >>

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Dual Setpoint with Deadband

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Report Variable >>

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Report Variable

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Report Meter >>

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Report Meter

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Report >>

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Report

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Start EP launch >>

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Start EP launch

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Now you have finished creating the input file! It is time to run the simulation. To run the simulation you have to start the programme “EP Launch” Go to Start > All Programs > EnergyPlus V2-0 Programs >EP-Launch as shown in the figure below.

Select the IDF file >>

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Select the IDF file

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

In the EP-Launch programme select the input file by clicking on the browse button. Select “No Weather File” for the Weather File option. Click “Simulate” button, located on the lower right corner of the window.

During Simulation Run >>

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During Simulation Run

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Once you start the simulation a DOS shell will open showing the progress of

• simulation. This black window will close when the simulation is over or if there

is an error.

Run Status >>

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Run Status

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

After the simulation is over or EnergyPlus encounters an error, the DOS shell will close and the focus will go back to the EP-Launch programme. A status window will open and show the number of warnings and errors along with time

• elapsed. If you have entered the data correctly and installation of EnergyPlus is

correct you will not get any errors. Press OK. If there are errors press the “ERR: button in the “Quick Open Panel for Single Simulation” window. This is a small window below the EP-Launch window. The error file will be opened in Notepad. Try to understand the error and fix it. If the problem still persists, mail me your IDF file at energyplustutorial[at]gmail.com

Click DXF button >>

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Click DXF

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Now it is time to see if you have modeled the building correctly or not. One of the outputs of EnergyPlus is the DXF file of the building geometry. You can see the file by clicking on the DXF button on the lower left side of the “Quick Open Panel for Single Simulation” window.

Drawing in VoloView >>

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Drawing in VoloView

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

If you have installed VoloViewer, the DXF drawing will be opened in it. The drawing should look like as shown in the figure below. If it does not match there is some error in the data given for surfaces.

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Click Orbit button

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

To see the drawing in 3D you can click the “orbit” button (as shown in the figure below).

3D view of the Drawing >>

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3D view of the Drawing

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

A 3D view, similar to the one shown in the figure below, should be visible if the data entered is correct. If the shape of the building is different then you should check the input data for the surfaces.

Output data in Excel >>

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Output Data in Excel

1 Home 2 Objective 3 Installation 4 The problem 5 Problem - Details 6 Start IDF editor 7 Add Version 8 Building Object 9 Time Step 10 Run Control 11 Location 12 Design Day 13 Material Regular 14 Construction 15 Zone 16 Surface Geometry 17 Surface Heat Transfer 18 Schedule Type 19 Schedule Compact 20 Controlled Zone Equip Config 21 Zone Equipment List 22 Purchased Air 23 Zone Control Thermostatic 24 Dual Setpoint with Deadband 25 Report Variable 26 Report Meter 27 Report 28 Start EP launch 29 Select the IDF file 30 During Simulation Run 31 Run Status 32 Click DXF 33 Drawing in VoloView 34 Click Orbit button 35 3D view of the Drawing 36 Output data in Excel

Now it is time to see the results of the simulation. One of the outputs of EnergyPlus is the CSV file. You can see the file by clicking on the CSF button

• n the top left side of the “Quick Open Panel for Single Simulation” window.

The file will be opened in MS Excel (or any other programme which can open CSF file). You should get the same numbers as shown in this figure. If you are getting the same numbers, congratulations, you have successfully completed the getting started tutorial. Now you are ready for a beginners tutorial which will be coming soon.