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Open Studio issues list summarized from an engineers perspective

asked 2020-08-10 12:49:05 -0500

TheEnergyTutor's avatar

updated 2020-08-10 12:55:53 -0500

I've been using OS a lot lately and i really think this tool is very important and useful but there are a some basic issues with it that need to get fixed for it to really be useful, and they don't seem like a big job to fix. I have itemized some of them here for convenience that have not recieved resolution through the normal posts.

No sizes reported in Open Studio Results: https://unmethours.com/question/46160...

DView is broken (several posts about this).

BTU calcs don't match : https://unmethours.com/question/46342...

PAT broken: https://unmethours.com/question/44866...

Design return airflow fraction of supply air flow available in energy plus but not open studio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_qk_...

AirLoop Autosize reports the wrong size return fan when exhaust fans are present in the zone. https://youtu.be/dnqhpcwoQg0

Windows and doors automatically added to plenums for no reason. https://unmethours.com/question/44307... and https://youtu.be/VS5WNNOfOHY

Ventilation report is broken: https://unmethours.com/question/46251...

I am an engineer not a software programmer so comments about "just reprogram E+ manually with this code..." is just not helpful and that's not my role.

I've tried to write this as positive and construtive as possible but I'm a much better engineer than writer so i apologize if this doesn't get communicated as intended. I hope this list is useful in achieving progress towards a great software tool.

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If anyone is trying to reach me directly our new email system is not working very well.

TheEnergyTutor's avatar TheEnergyTutor  ( 2020-08-10 17:16:27 -0500 )edit

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answered 2020-08-10 17:21:47 -0500

This isn't really an answer to these specific issues, but there are specific places within the "OpenStudio ecosystem" of software tools and capabilities that you should raise issues like this. If Unmet Hours isn't drumming up enough help for these issues, then I would recommend looking into the following resources based on what's causing the issue.

  • Measures (OpenStudio, EnergyPlus, or Reporting categories): The measure's author is the best resource to resolve issues. If the measure you're using is from the Building Component Library (BCL), it should definitely have an author listed.
  • OpenStudio Application or SketchUp Plugin: The OpenStudio Coalition is in charge of these two tools, both of which have Github sites with their source code and issue trackers. This would be a great place to request the design return airflow fraction (your 5th item) be exposed in OpenStudio.
  • OpenStudio SDK or Parametric Analysis Tool (PAT): NREL is in charge of these two tools, both of which have Github sites with their source code and issue trackers.
  • Simulations: Weird errors, warnings, or findings with the DIRECT results from a simulation (not from OpenStudio Results or another reporting measure) can be caused by EnergyPlus (the simulation engine of OpenStudio models). This project is also managed by NREL on Github, where you review the source code and issue tracker.

This kind of positive and constructive feedback is exactly what these open-source tools are looking for -- buy-in from their user community to help make the tools better! It looks like you believe in that philosophy :)

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Clarification: the "design return airflow fraction (your 5th item)" is NOT part of the current OpenStudio SDK Model API, so the best place to request it is first on https://github.com/NREL/OpenStudio/is...

Julien Marrec's avatar Julien Marrec  ( 2020-08-11 04:27:30 -0500 )edit

So for example, i clicked your "Measures Link" and then find the results is Authored by NREL. Then i click deeper into this page https://bcl.nrel.gov/node/82918 and i see the contact is David. What do i do next?

TheEnergyTutor's avatar TheEnergyTutor  ( 2020-08-11 12:34:28 -0500 )edit
TheEnergyTutor's avatar TheEnergyTutor  ( 2020-08-11 12:46:15 -0500 )edit

I logged the floorspace.js issue here: https://github.com/NREL/floorspace.js...

TheEnergyTutor's avatar TheEnergyTutor  ( 2020-08-11 12:47:45 -0500 )edit

@TheEnergyTutor that's great, thanks for opening these. I am almost done fixing NREL/OpenStudio#4039, and I added a companion issue for the Application portion on openstudiocoalition/OpenStudioApplication#210 that I assigned to myself.

Julien Marrec's avatar Julien Marrec  ( 2020-08-12 15:49:43 -0500 )edit

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Asked: 2020-08-10 12:49:05 -0500

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Last updated: Aug 10 '20