Energy use does not change upon change in window to wall ratio

asked 2019-10-30 15:24:18 -0600

Rezvan
31 ●2

updated 2019-10-30 23:52:46 -0600

shorowit

11871 ●201 ●9 https://www.nrel.gov/b...

I encountered an issue regarding energy simulation of buildings using a combination of SketchUp, OpenStudio, and EnergyPlus. I wanted to try how the energy use of a building changes as I change the value of window to wall ratio. So, I created a very simple 3D model in SketchUp and assigned various values for WWR. Interestingly, the energy use did not change at all even in decimal points. Does anyone know why this happened? I read many papers on the significance of WWR on the energy use of buildings. Am I missing something? I should say that I assign the value of WWR to 3D model that I created in SketchUp using OpenStudio extension.

answered 2019-10-30 22:45:47 -0600

David Goldwasser

20405 ●94 ●14 http://www.openstudio.net/

The first thought is that you either don't have thermostats assigned to the thermal zones in the model, or you have thermostats, but there is no system, or ideal loads trying to met those setpoints.

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Thank you so much for your answer. That is true I did not define and assign any thermostats. I am a PhD student and really new to these software platforms. I wanted to see how a very simple model in which only geometry, materials, construction, internal gains (people, lighting, and electric equipment) are assigned would react to change in window to wall ratio. SO what I understood from your answer is that I will not see any change unless I assign thermostats, am I right?

Rezvan ( 2019-10-31 08:31:35 -0600 )edit

Correct, you will not see changes in energy use without a thermostat and some system (or ideal air load) to serve it. You can however report out zone temperatures for your model and should see changes.