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[Bldg-sim] Please sign an open letter of support for NREL's weather and solar radiation efforts




Ever since I started doing building energy simulations in the early 1980's, I have always relied upon NREL's TMY weather files for US locations. Over the years, NREL has led the way in improving the data quality as well as coverage of weather files. Before the TMY2s, how many of us thought that weather files should be self-describing, and before the TMY3s, how many thought it was possible to have TMY files for over 1,000 US locations?

Therefore, when I was contacted recently by Dr. Manajit Sengupta of NREL to provide a letter of support for their proposal to DOE on continued funding of their work on solar radiation, I said of course, but then suggested that someone should point out to DOE Solar that the whole building energy community has been heavily reliant on NREL's weather data.

After discussions with several organizations in which I'm involved, I've concluded the best way to convey this message is to provide NREL a letter of support signed by individuals, rather than in the name of any organization. I have now written such an Open Letter that I am posting on bulletin boards such as this one (see following and also here). If you wish to add your name in support of this Open Letter, please go to http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com/support-NREL . I will be accepting names through Monday, after which I will close the sign-up list and send the letter to NREL.

I want to be clear that this is an individual effort, and its appearance on this bulletin board does not imply any endorsement by the bulletin board, nor of the organizations with which any of the signatories are affiliated.

----- Open Letter of Support for NREL's proposal to SunShot National Laboratory Multiyear Partnership---------------------------------------------

April 22, 2015

Manajit Sengupta, Ph.D

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

15013 Denver West Parkway

Golden, CO 80401

Re: Letter of Support for NREL's proposal to SunShot

National Laboratory Multiyear Partnership

Dear Dr. Sengupta,

We the undersigned wish to express our support to NREL's research proposal titled "Solar Resource Calibration, Measurement and Dissemination".

As engineers and architects dedicated to the design and operation of energy efficient buildings, andas researchers and consultants in the field of building energy simulations, we've relied heavily on the meteorological data that has been developed by NREL going back to the 1970’s, including the various versions ofthe Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) weather files and the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB), as well as other climatological data summaries. We especially look forward to seeing the outcome several aspect of your proposal pertaining to the following areas:

�Maintenance and uupgrading of the Renewable Resource Data Center (RReDC)

•Maintenance and upgrading of the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB), in particular the new datasets using satellite based models providing accurate grid-based solar data for any location in the United States (as well as international locations if possible).

�Updated annd expanded coverage of TMY data sets incorporating the above-mentioned solar radiation data.

�Continuing your research work that is crucial to new ASHRAE standards in climate zone definitions and energy efficiency standards.

�We perceive high value in NREL's updating of its beest practice handbook on solarresources for solar energy application as a participant in IEA Task 46.

We believe that continued work by NREL in this proposal is unique and extremely beneficial to the work that we undertake todesign, construct, and operatemore energy-efficient buildings, and improve our ability to analyze building energy performance. Furthermore, the proposed work also supports other major efforts being undertaken in the setting of building energy performance standards, rating systems, and incentive programs by other organizations such as DOE, ASHRAE, or various utility companies.

Sincerely,

[please give your name, affiliations, and e-mail address]note thatthe affiliation s are purely for identification, and do not imply their endorsement of this letter, and that e-mail addresses are for my record keeping and will not appear in the letter of support.

{for example:Joe Huang, White Box Technologies, ASHRAE TC 4.7 Energy Calculations Chair,

IBPSA �USA Board member. ]

--
Joe Huanng 	
White Box Technologies, Inc.
346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A
Moraga CA 94556
yjhuang@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com for simulation-ready weather data
http://www.whiteboxtechnologies.com
(o) (925)388-0265
(c) (510)928-2683
"building energy simulations at your fingertips"

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