[Equest-users] Urgent Message
Kevin Kyte
KKyte at watts-ae.com
Thu Nov 5 04:41:25 PST 2009
The email list cannot be emphasized enough. Coming from a place where there was not a whole lot of energy modeling going on, my projects often progressed at the pace of the responses on this list. I have spent many hours reading archives on topics I needed help with and I would suggest this as a great reference to anyone with questions. You do have all the defaults in place with this one so you can get results right away. So meeting a submission that is a week away is possible, but you may not find out what you did right and where you went wrong for a long time.
________________________________
From: Supriya Goel [mailto:supriyagoel at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 2:40 AM
To: jeff at sharpenotes.com
Cc: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org; curt.strobehn at eesinet.com
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Urgent Message
Hi,
I am a graduate student at Arizona State University, and have just started working on Equest.
I just read these mails to get an idea of all that possible on Equest, I dont understand most of the questions or answers, and Nick your mail is real good advise for anyone new to the world of building simulation!
Thank You.
Regards
Supriya
On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 5:08 PM, <jeff at sharpenotes.com<mailto:jeff at sharpenotes.com>> wrote:
Wonderful response Nick.
Wise words for a bunch of us.
Muchas Gracias!
J#
************************************************************
Jeffery Sharpe, PE
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Urgent Message
From: "Nick Caton" <ncaton at smithboucher.com<mailto:ncaton at smithboucher.com>>
Date: Wed, November 04, 2009 2:40 pm
To: <curt.strobehn at eesinet.com<mailto:curt.strobehn at eesinet.com>>, <equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org>>
Curt,
First, as you've hopefully gathered, you have already found the "tech support" department for eQuest (at least in my eyes): the [Equest-users] and [Bldg-sim] mailing lists hosted at onebuilding.org<http://onebuilding.org>.
Let me summarize and add to some of the key advice (which I fully agree with) that's been posted so far. This advice is general and should be considered well by any eQuest beginner:
1. Hard truth: You should not be expected to become fully proficient with a program as expansive and powerful as eQuest within a week. Anyone believing this (yourself included) needs a reality check. If that is truly a hard deadline and the modeling must be done with eQuest, you are best advised to find a local mentor (i.e. do not solo this) and/or compensate another energy modeling consultant to get the work done on time (and walk you through the model so that you can manipulate and ask questions). Alternatively, use a program you're more familiar with.
a. Soft truth: Truly lucky is the individual who gets to learn energy modeling software outside of a hard deadline with a simple building (students pay attention!). To that end, as a group we're generally sympathetic to the "trial-by-fire" situation that a lot of us went through. Take care not to let your emotions get in the way of learning/help.
b. Design engineers/consultants such as yourself will inevitably spend long hours at first making less accurate models, but as you invest the hours learning the ins and outs can look forward to more accurate models produced at a much quicker pace.
c. In a literal sense, the statement that learning to model building will take years is an understatement. Anybody who tells you they know all there is to know is lying through their teeth. The most intelligent modelers never stop learning. That said, it is not unrealistic to produce your first model in a week, understanding and accepting it will not be the most accurate model you will ever build.
2. Your primary source for any question regarding the operation of eQuest/DOE2 should start by right clicking the field in question and pulling up the appropriate help file. You can also search from there.
3. Your secondary source for any question regarding eQuest, or items in the help files you need a layman's explanation of, should be to search the mailing list archives. Odds are a majority of the questions you'll have have already been asked/answered (BOOKMARK/FAVORITE THESE):
a. http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org/
b. http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/equest-users-onebuilding.org/
4. A tertiary source is to google a specific topic that hasn't come up. It's a big internet out there.
5. It's apparent from the tone of your email that you've got to take a chill pill =)! It's understandable to be unimpressed with the "lack of technical support," but only to the extent that you weren't previously aware of the huge international body of scientists/engineers/designers/practicers of building energy modeling here at these mailing lists. I'll venture there is a lot more to be learned here than at any 1-800 tech support number for any modeling package out there.
6. Remember - in a support forum like this, where the majority of helpful responders are doing so of their own good-will (it's not our job), a few key things apply that normally don't with a "tech support" line:
a. The most detailed & informative answers consistently come from detailed & informative questions.
i. I believe a majority of unanswered queries are due to questions not being completely posed. Always explain what you have tried, what hasn't worked, what clues you have etc. to the best of your ability.
ii. There's a sizeable academic crowd subscribed to these lists that may not be inclined to respond if it's apparent you haven't looked up the basics for the topic-at-hand.
b. Pay it forward =). The best learning comes from teaching/sharing knowledge with others, and individuals you help out are more likely to return the favor!
c. Politeness is a rule, not an option.
d. Good grammar (at least for a native English speaker) is a rule, not an option. It will become apparent if it hasn't already that this is an international body of subscribers with knowledgeable professionals that simply won't waste their time trying to decipher poorly written inquiries. Proof your questions/responses.
This isn't all specific to your situation Curt, but I've been wanting to write this up for a while so that I can refer others to some of this basic info. Best of luck, and I hope we'll all see more of you here!
~Nick
NICK CATON, E.I.T.
PROJECT ENGINEER
25501 west valley parkway
olathe ks 66061
direct 913 344.0036
fax 913 345.0617
Check out our new web-site @ www.smithboucher.com<http://email.secureserver.net/www.smithboucher.com>
-----Original Message-----
From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org> [mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Kevin Kyte
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 2:08 PM
To: 'equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org>'
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Urgent Message
Learning how to do computer simulations for buildings from scratch without a mentor will take years.
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Wark [mailto:cwark at rumseyengineers.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 1:31 PM
To:; 'equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org>'
Subject:
Curt,
Welcome to the world of FREE software. Energy, airflow, and design software packages with an actual market value usually do come with more extensive training material, but in this case, the fastest way to learn eQUEST is to look at as much of the built-in help as possible by right clicking on any input field. In fact, the built-in help documents are rather extensive for FREE software (perhaps because it was developed through government and utility grants). Beyond the help documents, the only way to learn common work-arounds is through users forums. I have found that users are pretty responsive on this one.
Good luck.
Christopher Wark
Project Engineer
___________________________
RUMSEY
E N G I N E E R S
Energy Efficient Design
99 Linden Street
Oakland CA 94607
510 663 2070 x 239
fax 510 663 2080
cwark at rumseyengineers.com<mailto:cwark at rumseyengineers.com>
www.rumseyengineers.com<http://www.rumseyengineers.com>
___________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org> [mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Curtis Strobehn
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:18 AM
To: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org>
Subject: [Equest-users] Urgent Message
I am under a dead line and I'm have trouble with Equest
IS there any training DVD videos of any kind for Equest?
If there where training Video's at one time there should be a back copy or
some other source?
I'm sure there has to be a video somewhere!
I even tried www.youtube.com<http://www.youtube.com> and couldn't find one thing about Equest.
I'm just a little upset that I have every little time to get this project
done by the 9th November and no training or any Training videos.
Tools are only good if you know how to use them and with out any training or
training videos, then Equest is useless to me.
I have used this Equest before but it was not a complex build like the round
building "Kaiser medical Office" in Salem Oregon.
Every program I ever used there was some contact info or tutorials on line.
This is a first for me and being an Energy Simulation program
I'm every surprised there is on contact number or training videos?
I HAVE NOT FOUND ANY TECH SUPPORT FOR EQUEST OR ANY CONTACT NUMBER.
I'm not to impress with Equest so far.
Curt Strobehn
Mechanical Draft/Designer
EESI Consulting Engineers
687 NW 5th Street |Corvallis, OR 97330
Tel: (541) 754-1062
Cell: (541) 829-9628
Fax: (541) 753-3948
www.eesinet.com<http://www.eesinet.com>
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--
Graduate Student, MSBE
School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Arizona State University, Tempe
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