[Bldg-sim] open source pre- and post-processing tools for eQUEST

Joe Huang YJHuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
Mon Apr 26 16:26:23 PDT 2010


Ellen,

 From 2006-2007, I worked on a project for the California Energy 
Commission to compare DOE-2.1E to EnergyPlus for the Commission's
Title-24 suite of certification runs. My basic strategy for the project 
was to modify DOE-2.1E into a translator to EnergyPlus. Because of 
funding constraints, doe2ep (which is what I ended up calling the 
program) converts 98% of DOE-2 LOADS (all except daylighting) and
roughly 60-70% of DOE-2 SYSTEMS and PLANT (all system types used in
the certification suite, e.g., PSZ, PVAVS, VAVS, but not the older
or more esoteric system-types). The attached paper from SimBuild06 
summarizes my experiences with translating from DOE-2 to EnergyPlus.
It's not always possible to find a one-to-one correspondence of the 
inputs. Although one wishes that the two programs give similar results, 
my own experiences indicate they may diverge significantly for more 
transient effects, such as start-up loads or thermal mass 
charge/discharge under floating temperature conditions.A thorough 
comparison between the two program would help to clarify the differences 
  between them in terms of the results.

A little on the status of doe2ep. After I left LBNL, it took about a 
year to get permission to continue development work on doe2ep, but I 
have yet to get started for various reasons. My hopes are to finish
doe2ep, i.e., produce a full translation of any DOE-2.1E input file,
upgrade it to the current version of EnergyPlus (doe2ep now produced 
Version 1.4 files), and eventually release it as open source software.

Joe


Joe Huang
White Box Technologies, Inc.
346 Rheem Blvd. Suite 108D
Moraga CA 94556
(o) +925 388 0265
(c) +510 928 2683
yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
www.whiteboxtechnologies.com


Ellen Franconi wrote:
> RMI is gathering and developing tools to support improved methods and 
> quality energy modeling. RMI plans to deliver these open source tools to 
> the modeling community in late summer (delivery mechanism still to be 
> worked out). As part of this, we will be developing a spreadsheet-based 
> tool to be used in conjunction with DOE-2/eQUEST to:
> 
> 1) provide side-by-side input variable values for completing parametric runs
> 2) provide side-by-side output results values for easily comparing 
> parametric run results
> 3) compare metrics calculated from run output to expected rules-of-thumb 
> values
> 4) provide standard graphs of results for reports and presentations
> 
> If anyone is aware of open-source tools that address some or all of 
> these capabilities, please let us know. We may be able to use them as a 
> starting point for the work.
> Best regards,
> Ellen
> 
> -- 
> Ellen Franconi, PhD, LEED AP
> Senior Consultant, Built Environment Team
> 
> Rocky Mountain Institute
> 1820 Folsom Street
> Boulder, CO 80302
> 303.567.8609 (Desk)
> 303.245.7213 (Fax)
> 
> Rocky Mountain Institute drives the efficient and restorative use of
> resources, creating a world thriving, verdant, and secure, for all, for 
> ever.
> 
> http://www.rmi.org
> 
> 
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