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PAT-AEDG Crashes when Lighting Controls Selected

asked 2015-03-15 15:06:41 -0500

MattStewart's avatar

updated 2017-08-20 15:06:45 -0500

Greetings good folks, I am not sure how to begin debugging why the PAT measure that simulated AEDG Lighting Controls for Offices. There error statement does not point me in a direction that I can follow. Also, I am not able to copy and paste the error message so a screen shot is below. I can only think that since the building consisted of only a single space type the loop to change the lighting schedule did not like not finding a second space type. Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you, Matt

(https://www.dropbox.com/s/g5v6hfyu4dx...)image description

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@MattStewart, do you mind sending the model to OpenStudio@NREL.gov. I'm not sure what the issue is but I should be able to duplicate the error and fix it.

David Goldwasser's avatar David Goldwasser  ( 2015-03-16 00:13:36 -0500 )edit
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If you look at line 187 of the measure you will see this line:

#reporting initial condition of model
runner.registerInitialCondition("Fractional schedule values for lights in the initial model range from #{OpenStudio::toNeatString(existMin.min,2,true)} to #{OpenStudio::toNeatString(existMax.max,2,true)}.")

I'd bet existMax is empty and toNeatString doesn't handle nil being passed in. Since this line is just information about the initial model, I'd suggest you comment it out (add a '#' symbol before "runner") and try again.

macumber's avatar macumber  ( 2015-03-16 10:54:45 -0500 )edit

Dan, Did not work. I tried what you suggested to no avail. Same error returned. Matt

MattStewart's avatar MattStewart  ( 2015-03-16 12:22:15 -0500 )edit

Also, @MattStewart please use the naming convention for question tags by separating them into a discrete key word or words separated by -, not a long phrase separated by _. Thanks.

MatthewSteen's avatar MatthewSteen  ( 2015-03-16 12:27:41 -0500 )edit

Got your model. I'll look at it this afternoon.

David Goldwasser's avatar David Goldwasser  ( 2015-03-16 12:41:35 -0500 )edit

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answered 2015-03-16 14:20:12 -0500

updated 2015-03-16 14:30:19 -0500

@macumber was on the right track with a nil value being passed into the log message. The cause for this is that the AEDG measures (school and office) both have space type specific recommendations for lighting controls. Your two space types use "WholeBuilding - Sm Office" for the standards space type. As a result no lights are found that the measure can make a recommendation for. The measure should behave better and issue a not applicable warning, that no lights of the appropriate space types were found, and that the model wont' be altered, I'll file an issue to fix that. It will likely affect the lighting and equipment controls AEDG measures for schools and offices.

If you change the standards space types instead to "ClosedOffice" or "OpenOffice" the measure should run fine. Ideally if you break the building down by space type showing spaces such as corridors, lobbies, etc. you will get more specific recommendations.

The template SpaceTypes in OpenStudio are pre-popluated with the standard building type and space type names. You can add these to space types you make as well in the "Measure Tags" view of the space types grid-view. Shown below are the office standards space types from our templates.

image description

I also noticed on the facility tab that the "Standard Building Type" for the building was blank. Some measure, in particular the AEDG exterior light measures will need to know that to function properly. It doesn't attempt to infer it from space types in the building which may include types from more than one building. As mentioned earlier, the whole building options don't work well for some of the AEDG measures (including lighting and equipment controls). I'll investigate if there are recommended values to use, and what other measures might have issues with whole building space types.

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Dave, Its good to understand what the measure is doing to the model and what it is looking for to complete these tasks. I did not know the Measure Tags button existed and will do as suggested. I used the WholeBuilding space type as a launch point to see how the utility data compared to the model. As luck would have it the results were so close no other refinement was warranted.

MattStewart's avatar MattStewart  ( 2015-03-17 12:43:06 -0500 )edit

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Asked: 2015-03-15 15:06:41 -0500

Seen: 267 times

Last updated: Mar 16 '15