EnergyPlus KIVA error

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Update 2

There is a bug where the automatic deep ground depth for shallow water tables isn't getting set to 1m below the bottom of the foundation like it should. You can get around this in your file by explicitly defining the deep ground depth in Foundation:Kiva:Settings:

Foundation:Kiva:Settings,
  ,                        !- Soil Conductivity {W/m-K}
  ,                        !- Soil Density {kg/m3}
  ,                        !- Soil Specific Heat {J/kg-K}
  ,                        !- Ground Solar Absorptivity {dimensionless}
  ,                        !- Ground Thermal Absorptivity {dimensionless}
  ,                        !- Ground Surface Roughness {m}
  ,                        !- Far-Field Width {m}
  GroundWater,             !- Deep-Ground Boundary Condition
  14;                      !- Deep-Ground Depth {m}

We will work on a fix for this in the next release of EnergyPlus.

Note: The water table depth can have a large impact on foundation heat transfer. Boston's airport is all of 20 feet above sea level, but your actual building's location may be further from the water table. You may want to adjust your assumptions accordingly.

Update (unrelated bug)

When I run your file through the debugger I get a memory access error related to the daylighting controls. This error won't appear in the release version of EnergyPlus. If I remove your daylight control object everything runs through fine (daylighting controls don't do much without windows in your model anyway 😉).

My best guess is that the memory that is actually being accessed (and written to) is overriding a value used in the Kiva setup and preventing it from generating surface assignments properly. Crazy, right!? (Turns out this isn't the case.) We will work on a fix for this in the next release.

By the way, I'm curious why you are splitting the floor into two surfaces? The way you have it set up, you should modify the SurfaceProperty:ExposedFoundationPerimeter objects to exclude the perimeter of each floor surface where they meet, otherwise the simulation will treat each surface as though the ground on the other side is the exterior grade (and overestimate the heat losses through the ground). You can also resolve this by defining a single floor surface with an exposed perimeter fraction of 1.0.

Previous answer:

I am unable to reproduce the problem you are describing in the walkout basement example. How are you removing the insulation from the Foundation:Kiva object?

This is what I used (notice the prior field values that are commented out):

Foundation:Kiva,
  Basement Foundation,     !- Name
  ,                        !- Initial Indoor Air Temperature {C}
  , !Basement Insulation,  !- Interior Horizontal Insulation Material Name
  ,                        !- Interior Horizontal Insulation Depth {m}
  , !1,                    !- Interior Horizontal Insulation Width {m}
  ,                        !- Interior Vertical Insulation Material Name
  ,                        !- Interior Vertical Insulation Depth {m}
  ,                        !- Exterior Horizontal Insulation Material Name
  ,                        !- Exterior Horizontal Insulation Depth {m}
  ,                        !- Exterior Horizontal Insulation Width {m}
  , !Basement Insulation,  !- Exterior Vertical Insulation Material Name
  , !2.9,                  !- Exterior Vertical Insulation Depth {m}
  0.2,                     !- Wall Height Above Grade {m}
  0.3,                     !- Wall Depth Below Slab {m}
  ;                        !- Footing Wall Construction Name

Even if this works for you, can you send the file that you used to produce the original error? That error really should never appear for a user, and ... (more)