Question-and-Answer Resource for the Building Energy Modeling Community
 | 1 | initial version |
I have had to perform energy modelling for many large multi-story residential buildings as well as small residential buildings. In each case I have had to develop custom constructions to model the specified building envelope components. The easiest way to do this is add appropriate materials as required in OpenStudio if they are not already in the library. Once the materials have been added, you can create your constructions for opaque building envelope assemblies and glazing assemblies, whether you are using Simple Glazing System Window Materials or Glazing Window Materials. In the Province of Ontario for residential buildings falling under Part 9 of the Ontario Building Code, we also have to consider the requirements of Supplementary Standard SB-12 Energy Efficiency For Housing. In creating construction sets to comply with this standard, we have to consider the overall thermal resistance of the building envelope components considering the framing factor of the envelope assembly as well as the performance of glazing.
Unfortunately, I have not found a quick solution to create these construction sets other than go through the "grunt" work. On a positive note, once they are developed, you can reuse them or modify them for future projects.
