Sorry for the lack of activity on the site. I got the VPN hooked up again so I can make videos from home and I’ve been getting some great feedback from everyone. Looking forward to answering some questions and getting to some suggestions in some upcoming videos. Going to try and reach some more advanced topics such as HVAC as well as dig deeper into Energyplus IDF files and maybe even actually show some Revit Tutorials (although theres too many out there to begin with ) I’m optimizing the videos that are hosted on the site, so they are about 75% smaller and I am also going to look into offering HTML5 priority to mobile devices. As always my videos can be watched on YouTube and Vimeo.

This video is quick and showcases a current feature in OpenStudio, Surface Matching, that resolves previous issues of managing adjacent boundary and surface conditions. This was a much needed feature and was adressed previously in my videos as a real problem initially with the application. This new implementation really helps speed up geometry creation and is a great addition to the software. Check it out after the break and leave feedback!

Surface Matching Example — Part I

Surface Matching Example — Part II

Thanks!

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Management

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http://vimeo.com/openrevit

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Here is how the default exterior wall (typical mass wall) from Open Studio is written to the Energyplus IDF file:

Construction,
Exterior Wall, !- Name
M01 100mm brick, !- Outside Layer
M15 200mm heavyweight concrete, !- Layer 2
I02 50mm insulation board, !- Layer 3
F04 Wall air space resistance, !- Layer 4
G01a 19mm gypsum board; !- Layer 5


Our example uses lightweight residential construction so we would like to replace all the exterior walls with the following construction information in the IDF file.

Construction,
Exterior Wall, !- Name
F08 Metal surface, !- Outside Layer
I02 50mm insulation board, !- Layer 2
F04 Wall air space resistance, !- Layer 3
G01a 19mm gypsum board; !- Layer 4


You can see that we’ve given the new construction the same name as the default construction “Exterior Wall”. What this allows us to do is have Energyplus recognize that we are replacing all the instances of “External Wall” with the new construction properties. This eliminates having to go back into OpenStudio and re-assign the walls to our new construction definition. The important thing to remember thought is once you are done either remove the old definition or comment it out by adding an exclamation ! to the beginning of each line if you don’t want to delete.

Below is our new material definition. As you can see we are free to define the individual material layers of our construction as long as we have the required material properties: conductivity, density and specific heat) All of these should be readily available to architects and engineers. Energyplus offer typical ASHRAE constructions within the /dataset/ installation folder.

Here is the new definition we want to add ‘F08 Metal surface’. The other materials I02, F04 and G01a are already defined from the default wall so we don’t want to re-enter them. Remember having two instances of a definition with the same name will confuse Energyplus and cause errors! The definition can be placed at the end of your IDF it is not important to place near the other material definitions. In fact on thing to note is if you prefer to use the IDF editor it will typically sort all your definitions on save with the default setup.

Material,
F08 Metal surface, !- Name
Smooth, !- Roughness
0.0008, !- Thickness {m}
45.28, !- Conductivity {W/m-K}
7824, !- Density {kg/m3}
500; !- Specific Heat {J/kg-K}

I wanted to include as a side note the way that gas layers are defined as they are a little different than a typical opaque material. You can see they only require the resistance properties and are defined using Material:AirGap.

Material:AirGap,
F04 Wall air space resistance, !- Name
0.15; !- Thermal Resistance {m2-K/W}

Thats it! This should give you enough information to create all the construction surfaces you require for your building. If you have nay questions please leave a comment or send me a message.

aj

Here are the direct links:

• Energyplus
• OpenStudio

For support with energyplus please visit their support website @ http://energyplus.helpserve.com/ or by emailing them directly for support ticket request @ EnergyPlus-Support@gard.com

You may also be interested in subscribing to the Energyplus Yahoo Users group @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnergyPlus_Support/

Support for OpenStudio is available by email @ openstudio@nrel.gov

Geometry in OpenStudio – Part 1

Geometry in OpenStudio – Part 2

Geometry in OpenStudio – Part 3

Please help support his effort by checking out his page and maybe even trying out the app if you are a iPhone user. He is an extremely talented individual and I look forward to seeing more development from him in the future.

http://go-bim.iankeough.com/wordpress/

Introduction

Room Bounding Objects and Material Construction

Zones, Model Review and GBXML Export

Ecotect Import, Model Review and Prep for IDF Export

Exporting IDF for EnergyPlus

Importing IDF into OpenStudio/Sketchup for Review

Construction Verification and Review in IDF Editor

1. The overuse of worksets
2. Controlling graphics WITHOUT worksets

Too often I come across users who are immediately drawn to controlling visibility and graphical issues through the use of Worksets. Large teams devise diabolical plans on how they will split up the model into numerous worksets to allow for the integration of each teams design, or maybe to split up users so no one is stepping on each others toes. I admit, when back in the day I used to use worksets to check out work for individual users there would be a number of them to choose from. Finally I came to my senses and realized that there were a lot of issues with checking out worksets, and in fact element borrowing was the most efficient and effective way to work on large teams. Here is an excerpt from Autodesk on Worksets.

While the capability to check out a workset remains valuable under certain circumstances outlined below, in general the best practice is to use element borrowing rather than checking out entire worksets.

The Overuse of Worksets

Simple point. Large teams should be using element borrowing and not setting up numerous worksets. Example. BIM manager sets up the project and add worksets for Mechanical Piping, Mechanical Ductwork, Plumbing equipment, Powered equipment, Lighting, Electrical Power etc. etc. The BIM Manager’s defense is that this is required for two reasons.

1. to allow users to not load up everyone’s work while they are working
2. to control and filter out elements for graphical purposes

Here is the problem with #1. This is BIM! you are supposed to load other disciplines work in and use it to you advantage to encourage integrated design practices. Stop turning them off for performance reasons or laziness in your VG and filter settings (more on this in a bit). If you are experiencing performance issues I strongly recommend that you read the Revit Model Performance Technical Note.

Here is the problem with #2. Revit has some of the most advanced features for manipulating the look and feel of the workspace and sheet space environments and they are not found under your worksets tab. They can be found by utilizing the extensive and adaptive Visibility and Graphics Override menu as well as the completely customizable filters menu.

Controlling Graphics Without Worksets

So how can we get through this together? The two most important things you need to understand with regards to keeping your models organized, streamlined and visually correct is the proper use of

• Templates
• Content

If you are going to focus your efforts on anything it should be these two things. Proper template files allow user to get their working views and sheet views looking and behaving exactly they way they need through the use of VG and Filters and NOT through the use of worksets.

Secondly, the proper way! and the Autodesk recommended way! to handle visibility is through the detailed categorizing of your families and content  using subcategories.

Hello! I am surprised at how many users still do not understand that sub-categories even exist. This is by far the greatest feature of handling the visibility of content. It allows you to create categories for anything and let users control the look of each category in their own way through the use of VG and templates. Now, some people say “What about system families like piping?”. Well yes, there is HVAC piping and Plumbing. So how to distinguish between them. Well, System Filters! This reinforces the need to create proper systems with standard naming conventions. It also highlights errors or mistakes through the visibility of object not set or set to the wrong system.

If there is anything to take out of this post it is if you ain’t using sub-categories and systems your work-flow is flawed.

Here is how to create subcategories and modify their visibility (system creation has been beaten to death, you should know better at this point).

Create a subcategory

Assign to family

Adjust visibility in Project VG

Adjust visibility in Project object styles

This issue originally stemmed from the lack of available OTB system types within Revit. Those who have done lab work know that the piping systems can go easily into the double digits. Currently the pipe connector systems available by default within Revit are as follows

• domestic hot water
• domestic cold water
• fire protection wet
• fire protection dry
• fire protection pre-action
• fire protection other
• hydronic return
• hydronic supply
• sanitary
• Other (the universal donor)

At some point in time someone thought it would be a good idea to duplicate pipe types and rename the family types to correspond with the system it was “supposed” to be on (ie. chilled water supply). Notice the use of quotations. This is the first issue with this type of categorization. You will always to be able to create the filter, visibility, and naming settings you want even if the pipe is on the WRONG system. this allows you to override the actual system with the wrong one. Why would you ever want to do that? And worse yet, you may never catch it.

Here are some of the issues with creating pipe families and types by system

• doesn’t allow you to catch incorrect system connections
• creates duplicates of already defined real pipe types (steel, PVC, etc.)
• reinforces bad habit of not creating or completing piping systems

As outlined a while back by Martin Schmid @ Inside the System, the correct way to create an unlimited amount of piping systems is through the use of the system name.

The original purpose of Pipe Types was to be able to define pipes by their material, pressure class, dimensions and joint/connection types. There is no reason to duplicate steel or copper piping for the purpose of visibility and graphical settings.

Stay tuned next time for Part II of Mythbusters where I will talk about Worksets.

EnergyPlus V 4.0 is available at no cost from the EnergyPlus web site: www.energyplus.gov.

OpenStudio plugin for Google SketchUp: The OpenStudio is a free plugin for the GoogleSketchUp 3D drawing program. The plugin makes it easy to create and edit the building
geometry in your EnergyPlus input files. The plugin also allows you to launch EnergyPlus simulations and view the results without leaving SketchUp.

EnergyPlus Example File Generator: A Web-based service is available that creates and runs EnergyPlus input files for simple models of commercial buildings. The input files (and annual results summary files) are sent to your e-mail address as attachments. This is a pilot project and is currently made available only as a BETA service. You can access the service and customize the characteristics of the building you want to model on the EnergyPlus Example File Generator Application (pop-ups must be enabled).

The set of example input files now includes full-blown models of typical new construction (drawn from the DOE Commercial Benchmarks project).

What’s New in Version 4.0?

The highlights – improved and new features – are displayed by category.

Datasets
· SandiaPVdata.imf macro data set updated with latest set of input data from SNL for Sandia PV model.
· Weather (EPW) and stat files now include field for rainfall. Weather data has all been reprocessed for V4.0 — includes 2009 ASHRAE design conditions (if available), WMO# in file name, and several new or revised data sets.

Input
· Simple definition of underground walls and floors with C and F factors for code compliance.
· Users can now define a window glazing system using U-factor, solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and visible transmittance (VT).
· Delimiter field added to Schedule:File object.
· Switchable windows report variables: switching factor (tint level) and visible transmittance at each time step.
· Inputs for parametric preprocessor added including values, logic, run control, and file naming.

Zone Model
· Source sink simulation and variable thermal conductivity property added to Conduction Finite Difference model.
· Natural and Mechanical Ventilation
· Large Horizontal Openings added to AirflowNetwork

HVAC
· Plant and Condenser Loops merged with significant improvements throughout.
· Walk-in Refrigeration, Refrigeration Cascade Condenser, and Refrigeration Secondary Loop.
· Evaporative Fluid Cooler.
· Zone water-to-air heat pump (ZoneHVAC:WaterToAirHeatPump).
· Zone air dehumidifier (ZoneHVAC:Dehumidifier:DX).
· Plant Pressure Drop can be calculated.
· Improved convergence tolerance for most unitary systems.
· Improved control of heat recovery in outside air systems during economizer operation.

Controls and User Funcations
· EnergyManagementSystem implemented, including EnergyPlus runtime language with numerous actuators. A separate Application guide covers its use.

Environmental Impacts
· Schedules for fuel factors fully implemented in output reporting.

Output
· Fanger PPD thermal comfort report variable added.
· Daylight metrics added: Time Exceeding Daylight Illuminance Setpoint at Ref Point 1 and 2.
· Air Node Density can be reported for air nodes.
· Infiltration, Mixing, and Ventilation air flow rates may be reported using standard density or current density.
· ReportDuringWarmup added to Output:Diagnostics object.

Utilities
· ParametricPreprocessor utility creates multiple IDF files from one and varying them parametrically.
· IDFConverter utility available – a GUI for transitioning input files, including converting a list of files, from any older version to any newer version.
· EP-Launch now automatically checks for updated versions of EnergyPlus, it runs the ParametricPreprocessor when necessary, and the utility tab includes IDFConverter.
· Weather Converter can now calculate solar radiation from available data. Improved export and import of .wea (Ecotect) files.
· IDF Editor saves IP/SI view status with each file edited.

Documentation and Guides
· New, more unified menu scheme for navigating documenation.
· Two new application guides: Energy Management System Application Guide and Using EnergyPlus for Compliance.
· Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates and renaming. Total documentation now exceeds 4,400 pages.

Validation and Testing
· New EnergyPlus Testing Reports:
· · IEA BESTEST In-Depth Ground Coupled Heat Transfer Tests Related to Slab-on-Grade Construction.
· · IEA BESTEST Multi-Zone
Non-Airflow In-Depth Diagnostic Cases MZ320 – MZ360.

Platforms
· Windows (tested for Windows 7)
· Linux
· Mac (tested for SnowLeopard)

And many other enhancements and speed improvements throughout.

See http://www.energyplus.gov/features.html for a complete list of new features added in this and previous versions.

Update on User Interfaces and Tools?

Many user interfaces that create and run EnergyPlus input files and display results graphically are available (Demand Response Quick Assessment Tool, DesignBuilder, Easy EnergyPlus, EFEN, Hevacomp, and HLCP) and under development (ComFen, TREATPlus and EPlusInterface). Check our web site (http://www.energyplus.gov/ep_interfaces.html ) for up-to-date information on these and other interfaces.

Utilities and tools for creating, editing, and running input files that come with EnergyPlus include IDF Editor, EP-Launch, and HVAC-Diagram (see http://www.energyplus.gov/ep_utilities.html ). Third party tools for creating, editing, and displaying EnergyPlus input files are also available, including DrawBDL, EcoTect, EnergyPlugged, ESP-r, Green Building Studio, EzDrawPlus, IFCtoIDF, TSe+, and EzPlus-Parm. See http://www.energyplus.gov/third_party_tools.html for more information.

EnergyPlus Training Workshops

We will continue to offer training workshops throughout 2009. For more information, please see: http://www.gard.com/training.htm

EnergyPlus Weather Data

Weather data for more than 2000 locations worldwide are available on the EnergyPlus web site: http://www.energyplus.gov/cfm/weather_data.cfm

If you know of other weather data for your country that you’d be willing to share with the EnergyPlus user community, please contact Dru Crawley (Drury.Crawley@ee.doe.gov).

EnergyPlus Helpdesk

A helpdesk system has been set up for managing EnergyPlus user support requests. The helpdesk system includes a download area, a knowledge base and troubleshooting area. To submit new support requests (tickets) or search the knowledge base, please go to energyplus.helpserve.com. You may also submit new issues, files and reply to tickets via e-mail at EnergyPlus-Support@gard.com. This address has been linked to the helpdesk since early May 2008. This is the best way to get your specific EnergyPlus questions answered.

EnergyPlus_Support Group at YahooGroups

Are you a commercial or academic user of EnergyPlus? Join more than 2,000 EnergyPlus users in the user-to-user email group on YahooGroups—a place to ask questions and share
information with other EnergyPlus users. The YahooGroup also provides a searchable archive of all 7+ years of discussion. You can also upload files to share with other users. While the EnergyPlus development team does monitor the YahooGroup list, the best place for individualized support is the EnergyPlus Helpdesk.

The main web page for the group is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnergyPlus_Support

To subscribe, send an email message to:
EnergyPlus_Support-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you hate to constantly receive email, you can edit your YahooGroup membership to only send a daily digest of messages.

Building Energy Simulation User News

Want to keep up to date on EnergyPlus and other building simulation tools? Subscribe to the bi-monthly electronic newsletter for users of EnergyPlus, DOE-2, BLAST, GenOpt, SPARK, and Energy-10. See http://simulationresearch.lbl.gov/un.html

BLDG-SIM

Join the free e-mail list for users of all building energy simulation programs. Ask other knowledgeable simulation program users your questions–about EnergyPlus and other simulation programs. See

http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-simonebuilding.org

for information on joining this email list.

Thanks!

The EnergyPlus Team