need help with modeling a house with TRNBuild [closed]

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Do not use CAN-QUEST - it uses a very old version of eQuest and it crashes frequently. Plus, it doesn't generate the NECB Reference case properly.

When I built my house, I used Hot-2000 and EE4. EE4 uses DOE2.1e as the simulation engine and does a fairly decent job of generating the MNECB reference case. With EE4, once you run the simulation, you can edit the .inp file if you need to modify the systems, etc.

The one issue with Hot-2000 and EE4 is that they don't generate a '3-D' model. If shading is an issue, I would use eQuest.

EE4 download at NRCan EE4.

From my understanding, the TRNSYS suite of software is for modelling complex transient systems. Perhaps you can identify why you want to use TRNBuild. Since you have used HOT2000, and your project is a Mattamy design, I presume you may be located in Canada, most likely Ontario. That being the case, you may want to consider looking into CAN-QUEST which uses the DOE 2.2 simulation engine available by searching through the Natural Resources Canada website http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/efficiency For that matter, the DOE-2 sample run book: Version 2.1E had a simple residential model written in BDL with less than 300 lines of code in Section 9 of the document. This may help you simplify your task and this document is available by searching online and the DOE2 legacy version, DOE 2.1E is available from the DOE2.com website. Otherwise, you could use Openstudio with the EnergyPlus simulation engine. The route you take depends on how you want to invest your learning time.

Your question is too vague. It is definitely possible to model your building using TRNSYS and TRNBuild. So I assume that you are saying that you do not know how to use TRNBuild. The TRNSYS documentation set has a very detailed volume on using the Multizone Building model which includes a tutorial on using TRNBuild. If you have a specific question about what you cannot figure out how to model in TRNBuild it would be better to ask that question rather than such a general question.