Heating and cooling load in a baseline model (DesignBuilder)
Hello everyone,
I’m working on an energy simulation using DesignBuilder (EnergyPlus engine), and I’m facing an issue I don’t understand.
My baseline model shows much higher heating and cooling demands than my proposed building, even though the proposed building has not been improved yet — it’s just the actual existing building without energy upgrades.
In addition, the baseline model shows more than 400 unmet hours, which seems unrealistic.
I expected the baseline to consume less or at least close to the actual building before applying improvements, but in my case, the baseline consumes much more energy.
I’m wondering if the problem comes from:
- Construction materials not matching properly
- HVAC settings or schedules
- Internal gains or ventilation assumptions
- Wrong zoning or infiltration values
Has anyone faced a similar issue? What should I double-check first?
Thank you in advance!
Not a DesignBuilder (DB) user - simply raising a few questions, which may help experienced DB users:
... 400 UMH isn't unusual with sharp heating setback hikes, e.g. 18°C to 21°C in one timestep.
Bu why do you want the baseline model to consume less energy than the proposed? The unmet hours denote there might be issue in HVAC settings.