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How to add dynamic occupancy 8670 hours into EnergyPlus idf text editor?

asked 2024-11-27 03:07:14 -0600

Mariam_2024's avatar

updated 2024-11-27 10:08:16 -0600

Hello,

I am trying to add custom occupancy file to the 5ZoneAutoDxVAV idf, where for each zone, different occupancy is shown at each hour. I created a CSV file for each zones but I am not sure how to add it to the idf. I tried the following:

Schedule:File,
  SPACE1-1,                        !- Name for Small Zone 1 Occupancy
  Any Number,                    !- Schedule Type Limits Name
  C:\Users\SmallZone.csv,   !- File Name
  2,                                   !- Column Number
  0,                                   !- Rows to Skip at Top
  ,                                     !- Number of Hours of Data
  ,                                     !- Column Separator (Using Tab)
  ;                                     !- Interpolate to Timestep (No interpolation)

and then for

People,
  SPACE5-1 People 1,       !- Name
  SPACE5-1, ,                  !- Zone Name
  OCCUPY-1,                 !- Occupancy Schedule
  people,                   !- Calculation Method
  20,                       !- Number of People
  ,                         !- People per Floor Area
  ,                         !- Floor Area per Person
  0.3,                      !- Fraction Radiant
  AutoCalculate,            !- Sensible Heat Fraction
  ActSchd;                  !- Activity Schedule

But I get severe errors such as these:

** Severe  ** Line: 1651 Index: 17 - Field cannot be Autosize or Autocalculate
** Severe  ** <root>[People][SPACE5-1 People 1][carbon_dioxide_generation_rate] - Value type "string" for input "ActSchd" not permitted by 'type' constraint.
** Severe  ** <root>[People][SPACE5-1 People 1][number_of_people] - Value type "string" for input "people" not permitted by 'type' constraint.
** Severe  ** <root>[People][SPACE5-1 People 1][number_of_people_calculation_method] - "OCCUPY-1" - Failed to match against any enum values.
**  Fatal  ** Errors occurred on processing input file. Preceding condition(s) cause termination.
...Summary of Errors that led to program termination:
..... Reference severe error count=4
..... Last severe error=<root>[People][SPACE5-1 People 1][number_of_people_calculation_method] - "OCCUPY-1" - Failed to match against any enum values.

Can someone help me understand what is happening here?

Thank you

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answered 2024-11-27 10:10:39 -0600

updated 2024-11-27 10:14:55 -0600

You have an extra comma "," in your People object type after referencing the Space5-1 zone, so EnergyPlus thinks that you've defined an extra input field before the occupancy schedule and remaining input fields afterwards.

Change

People,
  SPACE5-1 People 1,       !- Name
  SPACE5-1, ,                  !- Zone Name

to

People,
  SPACE5-1 People 1,       !- Name
  SPACE5-1,                    !- Zone Name

Also, I should note that the People object is referencing the occupancy schedule named OCCUPY-1, but the name that you've assigned to the Schedule:File object that's importing CSV schedule data is named SPACE1-1. Those two input fields should be the same if you want the occupancy schedule to follow CSV data.

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Comments

Thanks so much Aaron! It stopped the errors. But I am getting really weird values in the occupancy of each zones. Whereas I have lets say 25 people occupied in Space5 as stated in the csv file I uploaded, it is actually giving me an output of 350 or 400 after I run the idf file in EnergyPlus. Would you have any idea how that could be?

Mariam_2024's avatar Mariam_2024  ( 2024-12-12 02:37:41 -0600 )edit

@Mariam_2024 the best way for me to troubleshoot is if you can share your IDF, EPW, and CSV with external schedule data. If that's possible, let me know the best way to do that (links to file sharing service like Dropbox here, email, etc.).

Aaron Boranian's avatar Aaron Boranian  ( 2024-12-16 15:00:26 -0600 )edit

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Asked: 2024-11-27 03:07:14 -0600

Seen: 75 times

Last updated: Nov 27 '24