Question-and-Answer Resource for the Building Energy Modeling Community
 | 1 | initial version |
Summary of your model:
I can pretty much reproduce your results (max 34°C ... not 36°C) - I suspect I'm not using the same Damascus weather file. Yet overall, there's very little wrong with your model.
What is likely happening is that the (uninsulated) slab+ground combo is continuously acting as a heat sink, lowering zone air (and wall+roof interior surface) temperatures. Peruse through hourly surface temperatures in the eplusout.err file: the floor interior surface temperatures are 3 to 4°C cooler than the other surface temperatures in summer.
I altered your model by adding the same 50mm EPS insulation in the floor construction (cancelling the floor heat sink effect). The floor interior surface temperatures are now only slightly below the other temperatures (e.g. -0.5°C). Yet all temperatures are now 7 to 8°C greater (in summer) than the original uninsulated scenario. This can also be accomplished by setting the floor outside boundary conditions to "adiabatic". Adding day ventilation + infiltration will make things worse. Adding a west-facing window will raise temperatures well into the 40°C, I suspect.
Side note: Check the eplusout.err file warnings for both the people and equipment definitions/schedules (see here), which I changed:
People,
ZONE ONE People, !- Name
GF, !- Zone or ZoneList or Space or SpaceList Name
ALWAYS 1, !- Number of People Schedule Name
People, !- Number of People Calculation Method
4, !- Number of People
, !- People per Floor Area {person/m2}
, !- Floor Area per Person {m2/person}
0.3, !- Fraction Radiant
0.3, !- Sensible Heat Fraction
ActivitySchedule; !- Activity Level Schedule Name
ElectricEquipment,
ZONE ONE Equipment, !- Name
GF, !- Zone or ZoneList or Space or SpaceList Name
ALWAYS 1, !- Schedule Name
EquipmentLevel, !- Design Level Calculation Method
400, !- Design Level {W}
, !- Watts per Zone Floor Area {W/m2}
, !- Watts per Person {W/person}
0.3, !- Fraction Latent
0.6, !- Fraction Radiant
0.1; !- Fraction Lost
Schedule:Compact,
ALWAYS 1, !- Name
Any Number, !- Schedule Type Limits Name
Through: 12/31, !- Field 1
For: AllDays, !- Field 2
Until: 24:00, !- Field 3
1; !- Field 4
Schedule:Compact,
ActivitySchedule, !- Name
ActivityLevelX, !- Schedule Type Limits Name
Through: 12/31, !- Field 1
For: AllDays, !- Field 2
Until: 24:00, !- Field 3
100; !- Field 4
ScheduleTypeLimits,
ActivityLevelX, !- Name
70, !- Lower Limit Value
200, !- Upper Limit Value
continuous, !- Numeric Type
activitylevel; !- Unit Type
Note the activity levels (e.g. min 70 W/person) ...
| | 2 | No.2 Revision |
Summary of your model:
I can pretty much reproduce your results (max 34°C ... not 36°C) - I suspect I'm not using the same Damascus weather file. Yet overall, there's very little wrong with your model.
What is likely happening is that the (uninsulated) slab+ground combo is continuously acting as a heat sink, lowering zone air (and wall+roof interior surface) temperatures. Peruse through hourly surface temperatures in the eplusout.erreplusout.eso file: the floor interior surface temperatures are 3 to 4°C cooler cooler than the other surface temperatures in summer.
I altered your model by adding the same 50mm EPS insulation in the floor construction (cancelling the floorslab+ground heat sink effect). The floor interior surface temperatures are now only slightly below the other temperatures (e.g. -0.5°C). Yet all ALL temperatures are now 7 to 8°C greater warmer (in summer) than the original uninsulated scenario. This can also be accomplished by setting the floor outside boundary conditions to "adiabatic". Adding day ventilation + infiltration will make things worse. Adding a west-facing window will raise temperatures well into the 40°C, I suspect.
Side note: Check the eplusout.err file warnings for both the people "people" and equipment "equipment" definitions/schedules (see here), which I changed:
People,
ZONE ONE People, !- Name
GF, !- Zone or ZoneList or Space or SpaceList Name
ALWAYS 1, !- Number of People Schedule Name
People, !- Number of People Calculation Method
4, !- Number of People
, !- People per Floor Area {person/m2}
, !- Floor Area per Person {m2/person}
0.3, !- Fraction Radiant
0.3, !- Sensible Heat Fraction
ActivitySchedule; !- Activity Level Schedule Name
ElectricEquipment,
ZONE ONE Equipment, !- Name
GF, !- Zone or ZoneList or Space or SpaceList Name
ALWAYS 1, !- Schedule Name
EquipmentLevel, !- Design Level Calculation Method
400, !- Design Level {W}
, !- Watts per Zone Floor Area {W/m2}
, !- Watts per Person {W/person}
0.3, !- Fraction Latent
0.6, !- Fraction Radiant
0.1; !- Fraction Lost
Schedule:Compact,
ALWAYS 1, !- Name
Any Number, !- Schedule Type Limits Name
Through: 12/31, !- Field 1
For: AllDays, !- Field 2
Until: 24:00, !- Field 3
1; !- Field 4
Schedule:Compact,
ActivitySchedule, !- Name
ActivityLevelX, !- Schedule Type Limits Name
Through: 12/31, !- Field 1
For: AllDays, !- Field 2
Until: 24:00, !- Field 3
100; !- Field 4
ScheduleTypeLimits,
ActivityLevelX, !- Name
70, !- Lower Limit Value
200, !- Upper Limit Value
continuous, !- Numeric Type
activitylevel; !- Unit Type
Note the activity levels (e.g. min 70 W/person) ...
