Question-and-Answer Resource for the Building Energy Modeling Community
Get started with the Help page
Ask Your Question

Revision history [back]

How would I model a ventilation system that only uses air changes for cooling in EnergyPlus?

Hello all, I'm interested in modeling an HVAC system that simply uses air changes for cooling with 100% outdoor air when possible. The control logic is that if temperature can be reduced using outdoor air, fans cycle on, and if the temperature is within a specified band, the fans go off. There is a heating source in the space to maintain a temperature minimum. I'm sure this is not going to result in great control, but I'm ok with that for now. E+ should be able to do this, right?

The air-loop I'm building contains a variable speed supply fan (and exhaust fan) and an diffuser to the space. I'm not sure which setpoint manager to employ because I want the supply air to be equal to the outdoor air temperature at any given timestep (plus fan heat gains). Does anyone have suggestions for setpoint managers or implementing such as system?

I'll be hard-sizing everything after seeing the performance for different fan sizes. Also, I've been using the OpenStudio application for my work but it seems the Ruby api is quite powerful using measures, does anyone have advice on getting started with building an energy model via Ruby?