[Bldg-sim] Basic Questions

[Kurt Creamer]

Hi all,

I had a couple of questions I was hoping to get some help with:

1.  What is the difference between a "Facility" and a "Building" in
EnergyPlus?  I created a very simple building in EnergyPlus and am seeing a
large difference between the facility electricity usage and building
electricity usage.  I have not outdoor lighting.  What would be included in
facility usage that would not be included in building usage?

2.  I created the building referenced above with DesignBuilder, choosing an
LPG heating system with a COP of 0.8.  I wanted to do some further
manipulation in EnergyPlus so I exported the file as an IDF file.  In doing
so, it looks like the heating system was modeled as an Ideal Loads Air
System.    If I understand this Ideal Loads Air System correctly, the load
calculated in EnergyPlus is simply the amount of heating energy output
required for heating purposes, and does not utilize the COP I entered in
DesignBuilder -- is that correct?

3.  I can select the Ideal Loads Air Heating Energy as a variable to be
output in the *.csv file of all the variables, but cannot get it to appear
in the meter file.  After the run, "HVAC,Sum,Ideal Loads Air Heating Energy
[J]" shows up in the *.RDD file but not the *.MDD file.  Is there a way to
make this info show up in a meter file?

4.  Is there an easy way to set up a meter that would simply mimic a natural
gas or propane bill that simply shows therms or gallons?

Thanks,
Kurt Creamer
Apex, NC