[Bldg-sim] bin weather file

Patrick Keeney 38keeney at cardinalmail.cua.edu
Wed Mar 7 15:18:28 PST 2012


Yes! Thank you all for the help.  The deleting of .ini file initially
tripped me up, but eventually got it right.

I will keep weatheranalytics.com in mind if we ever need any weather files
we can't find.  Does  weatheranalytics.com have a lot of the international
weather files that are sometimes harder to come by?



On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 5:26 PM, Nick Caton <ncaton at smithboucher.com> wrote:

>  Figure I’d throw in my two cents:****
>
> ** **
>
> Weatheranalytics.com is something I’ve also grown comfortable recommending
> when you need actual data for a specific location and a specific period.
> Great for calibration, meaningful daylight savings studies, etc…  The
> system they’ve put together is really pretty amazing for what it
> accomplishes, interpolating weather data for any point on the globe between
> available weatherstations/resources.  Their telephone/email response time
> has always been very prompt and helpful in my experience and is a big
> reason I continue to utilize this service.  In cases where the weather data
> produced seems awry, I found this these guys super-eager to help review,
> educate me as necessary, and otherwise make things right without charging
> any extra fees or turning unresponsive.****
>
> ** **
>
> I have zero affiliations with this service, by the way.  Just relating my
> positive experiences.****
>
> ** **
>
> For their fee, they generate a zip file that includes the requested
> weather data in a series of formats (bin,csv,epw,tm2,tm3), alongside a
> small text file serving as a reference for the header nomenclature.  The
> .bin file provided should be DOE2/eQuest compatible, but I have and
> continue to convert the .epw file they provide into a .bin.  ****
>
> ** **
>
> I regularly convert the .epw using the free eQ_WthProc software, found
> here:  http://doe2.com/index_Wth.html.  The reason I pursue this extra
> effort is this process has the benefit of producing some easily navigable
> and well-formatted visual graphs of the data’s DB/WB/Windspeed/Solar
> (Direct & Horz) over the year, making it a breeze to check whether anything
> is awry.  These animated/interactive visuals (play with the zooming
> features!) double as effective marketing/report/communicative material for
> whenever I need to reference the actual weather to explain a
> result/behavior.****
>
> ** **
>
> If you are interested in trying eQ_WthProc, make a point to read what the
> doe2.com webpage says carefully regarding the “.ini reset” procedure –
> the program as it is currently available requires you do take this extra
> step to get it installed and working correctly. ****
>
> ** **
>
> Of course, I will use freely available .bin TMY data wherever I can get it
> and it’s appropriate for the model =).  Hope this helps!****
>
> ** **
>
> ~Nick****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> [image: cid:489575314 at 22072009-0ABB]**
>
> * *
>
> *NICK CATON, P.E.***
>
> SENIOR ENGINEER****
>
> ** **
>
> Smith & Boucher Engineers****
>
> 25501 west valley parkway, suite 200****
>
> olathe, ks 66061****
>
> direct 913.344.0036****
>
> fax 913.345.0617****
>
> www.smithboucher.com* *****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [mailto:
> bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] *On Behalf Of *Patrick Keeney
> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 07, 2012 2:53 PM
> *To:* Joe Huang
> *Cc:* bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Bldg-sim] bin weather file****
>
> ** **
>
> Thank you Joe and Andrew,****
>
>  ****
>
> I've got it working.  Thanks again.****
>
> On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 2:59 PM, Joe Huang <
> yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com> wrote:****
>
> *.bin is the file format used by DOE-2.1E and DOE-2.2, which is the
> underlying simulation engine for eQUEST.
> It's a surprisingly small binary file of only 148K, because the data have
> been "packed", i.e., the numbers have been combined numerically to be
> "unpacked" when read by DOE-2. This was done to minimize computer storage
> which was a consideration when DOE-2 was first designed in the early 80's.
> The downsides to these packed files are: (1) some loss of precision, and
> (2) you need special programs to convert the files into something humanly
> readable. Perhaps none of this is relevant to most users, who just need a
> *.bin weather file for their specific location and have no interest in
> looking at the weather data itself, but I throw out these two sentences
> just to explain what they are.
>
> There is no recognizable depository of *.bin files, but there are plenty
> of them floating around in various places. For example, the eQUEST web site
> ( www.doe2.com/index_Wth.html ) has a number of standard weather data
> sets, almost entirely for the US, California, and Canada.   I've also got
> NREL's new TMY3 weather files in *.bin format for 1020 US locations on my
> company website (www.whiteboxtechnologies.com/weather_data.html ).
> The eQUEST web site also has a utility program (eQ_WthProc) that allows
> users to convert EPW files to bin files.
>
> If you don't find a *.bin file meeting your needs from the above, it's
> also possible to create a *.bin file from raw weather data.  <caution -
> advertising follows :-) >   I have been offering a service to create
> weather files in *.bin (or other commonly used formats) for any location
> available in the National Climatic Data Center's (NCDC) massive Integrated
> Surface Hourly (ISH) archive that contains historical weather records for
> around 8,000 international locations (1,500 in the US, 600 in Canada) going
> back to 1980.  Those interested can e-mail for details.
>
> Joe
>
>
> ****
>
> Joe Huang****
>
> White Box Technologies, Inc.****
>
> 346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 108D****
>
> Moraga CA 94556****
>
> yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com****
>
> www.whiteboxtechnologies.com****
>
> (o) (925)388-0265****
>
> (c) (510)928-2683****
>
> "building energy simulations at your fingertips"****
>
>
> On 3/7/2012 11:01 AM, Patrick Keeney wrote: ****
>
>   Hey All,****
>
>  ****
>
> Quick question....how do I get a .bin weather file.  I'm not familiar with
> this file type.  ****
>
>  ****
>
> I've tried converting to a .bin in the Ecotect "Convert Weather Data" tab,
> but it won't switch whatever file you have to a .bin.****
>
>  ****
>
> Any help would be great.  Thanks.
>
> --
> Patrick J Keeney
> MArch-MSSD Candidate
> 410-299-5627****
>
> ** **
>
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>
> --
> Patrick J Keeney
> MArch-MSSD Candidate
> 410-299-5627****
>



-- 
Patrick J Keeney
MArch-MSSD Candidate
410-299-5627
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