ChrisBalbach's profile - activity

Perhaps you have a path/environment variable issue? Or perhaps you are confusing the OpenStudio Command Line Interface w

As of April 2020, installers for the OpenStudio Application (OS App) are being provided by the OpenStudio Coalition. Ins

In short, yes. Others UnmetHours users have reported issues, such as [this].(https://unmethours.com/question/44327/open-

UPDATE: The new OS Application v1.0.1 documentation can be found here: https://openstudiocoalition.github.io/OpenStudioA

As with Mark Twain, reports of the death of the OpenStudio Application have been greatly exaggerated. Installers for t

Just to update the community on progress related to the 'repackaging' efforts of the OpenStudio Application: A small

A recommended generalized workflow for exercising/examining the results of the OpenStudio Example EMS measures is as fol

E+ 8.7 I'm modeling a chilled water system with 4 water cooled chillers, 2 w/ HR capabilities. The set of chillers are s

Added additional rows based on my understanding of capabilities of E+ v8.4 and eQUEST v3.65 build 7163. Would be useful to have a consistent definition of Yes and No applied to this document, as many times a creative work-around can be used to abstract a physical phenomena into restrictive model inputs. In that spirit - does 'No' mean 'without a work-around requiring pre-processing or post-processing' to evaluate? And does "Yes' mean that the data model supports direct modeling of the physical phenomena..? That leaves the 3rd option partial/user hook even more unclear to me.

Perhaps it will help to consider the SketchUp file format (.skp) and the OpenStudio file (.osm) as containing the objects required to managing two completely separate object models. Aside from some links and pointers described above, they are independent files.

SketchUp related model objects (lines, circles, dimensions, views, etc.) will be saved in the .skp file when one saves using the SketchUp -> File -> "Save" command

OpenStudio related model objects (OpenStudio surfaces, subsurfaces, construction definitions, material definituions. schedules, etc.) will be saves to the .osm file when one saves the Plugins->OpenStudio -> File -> "Save OpenStudio Model" command.

Although no longer published in the current ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals (HOF), the 1997 version included a 1 page table in Chapter 25 that provided Best Estimates, Minimum Estimates, and Maximum Estimates of Eeextive Leakage Areas of over 100 different building elements. The table is described as applicable to low-rise residential, and states that ELA are are based on a pressure differential of 0.016 inches H2O and a Cd of 1.0

I recall seeing this table (or a variant of it) included in Wrightsoft software, used to fully document the determination of initial and final building level ELA. I have also seen custom spreadsheets which used this table, or a variant of it, to accomplish the same. While certainly not perfect, it is the best example I can point towards for the development of a transparent estimate of ELA, pre and post.

At the other extreme, I am aware that Canam/ZeroDraft uses a hybrid inverse/forward model (proprietary software) called ALCAP which performs monthly savings estimates of savings (peak demand and consumption) associated with descriptive infiltration improvements. Some of the algorithms used in ALCAP are described here: http://www.regie-energie.qc.ca/audien...3671-08/C-9-12GRAME-1Annex73671_14nov08.pdf

Canam/ZeroDraft has claimed that the ALCAP calculation methodology is both conservative in nature and has been validated via numerous case studies. They certainly have the experience and data to mine from many, many projects. At a first glance, it does not seem difficult to extend the basic ALCAP approach to calculate infiltration savings estimates at a daily level, based on unique daily operations. This might be useful to generate upper/lower bounding levels for savings that could be claimed.

I personally think from a practical perspective, in addition to transparency, our community needs open-source tools that can provide a layer of quality assurance on top of our savings estimates, to prevent excessive claims of savings performance which cannot be substantiated without great expense, such as infiltration reduction. Perhaps these two methods can be applied in creative ways to help us move closer towards this.

Here are four useful (public domain) tools that I have found useful for assisting in model calibrations, each in different ways. These tools are 'post-processing' tools, which means while they are simulation tool agnostic, but do require an additional workflow step.

1. ECAM: Available here - http://www.northwrite.com/ecam.asp An MS Excel addin that can be adapted to include multiple 'stacked' sequential high resolution time series energy or (other measured data) channels, where the first stack might represent simulation output (predicted signal) while the second stack might represent the measured channel... A second channel might represent the delta between the two stacks. ECAM can create easily create numerous visualizations of these channels to tease out calibration errors. Uniquely, this tool also incorporates Inverse Modeling Change Point Models in accordance with ASHRAE Guideline 14

2. DVIEW - Available here - https://beopt.nrel.gov/downloadDView An improved version also ships with the latest version of BeOpt. Can be used in similar ways as (1) above, but is a stand-alone application (not an MS Excel add-in)

3. ExCalibBEM Available here: https://www.simeb.ca/ExCalibBEM/index... I haven't had time to use this yet, but it appears to be a nice GUI implementation around GenOpt - and designed to work with either E+ or DOE2.2 files.

4. VizBEM Available here: https://www.simeb.ca/VizBEM/index_en.php An MS Excel addin, this tool is similar to item (1) for creating data visualizations but handles large data sets with multiple channels very well.

I'm sure there are more tools out there, but these are the ones I am aware of and use.

Is anyone aware of (publicly available) collections of 'reasonable' part load curves for EnergyPlus component models?

Here are the sources I know of

1. Simergy library items
2. E+ datasets (installed with E+)

Is anyone aware of any vendor selection tools that natively create datasets?

Other sources?