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How to simulate only one zone

asked 2015-03-23 13:13:46 -0600

Stephanie12's avatar

updated 2015-07-10 21:22:09 -0600

I have design a office building with a lot of zones. I would like to simulate only one zone and to take results for cooling and heating load per month.

is that possible?

Thanks in advance

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@Stephanie12, what software are you using?

__AmirRoth__'s avatar __AmirRoth__  ( 2015-03-23 14:08:10 -0600 )edit

Openstudio. But I would like to know, if it is possible to take results for cooling and heating load per month for one zone. I dont care if i have to run all zones. I want these results for a specific zone.

Stephanie12's avatar Stephanie12  ( 2015-03-23 16:41:04 -0600 )edit

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answered 2015-03-24 03:45:22 -0600

updated 2015-03-24 03:50:58 -0600

I'm assuming you have already built your entire model in the simulation program, and just want to cherry pick the zone you want.

It's not very practical to delete all the rest of the zones, as many objects are linked in E+ and having left-overs not linked to the objects E+ is expecting will lead to a crash. Therefore, the easiest way, if simulation time isn't too bad, is to run the entire model and then isolate the output.

I can't give you an OpenStudio specific solution as I'm not familiar with it, but this should get you started.

E+ has two ways of reporting:

1) The easiest is to select one of the predefined Output:Table:SummaryReports. The one you will be most interested in are ZoneCoolingSummaryMonthly and ZoneHeatingSummaryMonthly.

ZoneComponentLoadSummary as @Amir Roth mentions, is also very helpful to understand where peak heating and cooling loads are coming from by breaking it in various components (peak loads, not energy used)

Check out the Input/output reference, section "Output:Table:SummaryReports" and especially the subsection "Predefined Monthly Summary Reports" (here online)

Example

Output:Table:SummaryReports,
AllSummary,              !- Report 1 Name
ZoneCoolingSummaryMonthly,  !- Report 2 Name
ZoneHeatingSummaryMonthly;  !- Report 3 Name
ZoneComponentLoadSummary,!- Report 4 Name

2) You could also ask for specific variables (HVAC,Sum,Zone Air System Sensible Heating Energy [J] and HVAC,Sum,Zone Air System Sensible Cooling Energy [J]) using either Output:Variable, or use the convenient Output:Table:Monthly object if that makes sense for you.

Example:

Output:Table:Monthly,
Zone Heating and cooling loads,  !- Name
0,                       !- Digits After Decimal
Zone Air System Sensible Heating Energy ,  !- Variable or Meter 1 Name
SumOrAverage,            !- Aggregation Type for Variable or Meter 1
Zone Air System Sensible Cooling Energy ,  !- Variable or Meter 2 Name
SumOrAverage;            !- Aggregation Type for Variable or Meter 2
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1

I dont know to use the energyPlus very well, but this is so helpful. Thank you so much :)

Stephanie12's avatar Stephanie12  ( 2015-03-24 07:54:40 -0600 )edit
2

answered 2015-03-23 16:24:58 -0600

Joe Huang's avatar

Just model that one zone, and make all the interior surfaces adiabatic.

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answered 2015-03-23 17:27:49 -0600

EnergyPlus has a "Zone Component Load Summary" as of V8.0. It's in the OutputTable:Summary:Reports object. I'm not sure if OpenStudio exposes that option, but you may be able to add it manually to the IDF file.

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OpenStudio has Zone Air System Sensible Cooling energy and Zone Air System Sensible Heating energy. Are these ok??? i am not sure if i can take these to compare.....

Stephanie12's avatar Stephanie12  ( 2015-03-23 17:49:24 -0600 )edit

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Asked: 2015-03-23 13:13:46 -0600

Seen: 369 times

Last updated: Mar 24 '15