[Bldg-sim] M&V metering of VRF systems

[Jim Dirkes]

Dear Christopher,

It is a bit daunting, but seems do-able with trend data and a data base of equipment information.  We make extensive use of BMS trend data to assess performance of existing buildings.  Trends can show all sorts of interesting problems!  While they do not reflect energy directly, the data can be used to inform an energy calculation.  We put together some examples (attached) for some of our clients and your casual reading ☺.

There are a number of SaaS platforms that are aimed at efforts similar to M&V and may be worth investigating.  Our favorite is www.retroficiency.com<http://www.retroficiency.com>. They are fast, use actual weather data, provide convenient calibration tools and their support is exceptional.  They’re located about 5 time zones to the West of you, but seem to answer email and phone calls at all hours.

Other platforms include Noesis, EnergyCAP, First Fuel and a few others – we’re not too familiar with them, however.

Depending on how detailed you need to be, there are a few tools now available for parametric analysis (Open Studio, DesignBuilder, jEPlus and maybe gEnergy)  Another option is to use GenOpt in conjunction with EnergyPlus to get the best R-squared correlation between predicted and actual energy use.  We wrote a small program to semi-automate that task.

That’s all for now.



p.s., I don’t think Retroficiency can simulate VRF yet, but you may be able to create a water-source heat pump workaround.



James V Dirkes II, PE, BEMP, LEED AP

www.buildingperformanceteam.com

Energy Analysis, Commissioning & Training Services

1631 Acacia Drive, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 USA

616 450 8653



-----Original Message-----
From: Bldg-sim [mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Jones, Christopher
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2014 1:03 PM
To: bldg
Subject: [Bldg-sim] M&V metering of VRF systems



I am developing an M&V plan for a building with a VRF system.  I am wondering if it is possible to meter the heating, cooling and fan energy of the VRF units given that the unit power is provided by a single feed.



It seems like a complex task to accurately measure the heating and cooling energy given that the system includes the VRF cassettes, water cooled condenser, the fluid cooler, the branch controllers, and the boiler.



Thanks for any insights!



Christopher Jones, P.Eng.

Tel: 416.644.4226 • Toll Free: 1.888.425.7255 x 527





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