EnergyPlus Training at IDL Boise Feb 14 - 16, 2011

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Apologies for cross-posting.

The complete announcement can be found here:
http://www.idlboise.com/node/149

The University of Idaho, Integrated Design Lab-Boise (IDL) is running a
three-day EnergyPlus workshop in Feb 14 -16, 2011.

Objectives

The aim of this workshop is to equip designers and engineers with the
technical skills to be able to perform building simulation using Energy
Plus and understand how to use the tool as part of the Integrated Design
Process. Note the emphasis on the Integrated Design Process, which means
that the focus is on how to use simulation to design high performance
buildings. This also means that the workshop will not focus on using
simulation for compliance, be it code compliance or beyond-code
compliance (e.g. LEED), however this type of simulation will be covered
briefly.

We have received many inputs, comments and criticism from our survey. Do
not forget to read the summary of these inputs in the EnergyPlus
Workshop FAQ page.

Syllabus Summary

The workshop is designed in the form of a la carte menu such that
participants can choose topics based on their needs and interests. Day 1
and Day 2 is relevant to architects and mechanical engineers with little
or no experience with Energy Plus. A mechanical engineer with a basic
understanding of EnergyPlus will likely be interested in Day 2 and Day
3. Of course there is no restrictions at all to take any single day or
all three days however there will be very little time to address
questions covered during a previous day. There is very little content
overlap between days.

Day 1 is about the basics and nuts and bolts of EnergyPlus. The whole
simulation process is introduced in a step by step manner, from geometry
development to result analysis. The main tools described are the
OpenStudio plugin for SketchUp as the geometry modeler and of course the
EnergyPlus as the calculation engine. Other, more advanced, tools are
also introduced, for example the use of scripts to run multiple
simulations and result extraction. At the end of Day 1, participants
will be able to develop an input file for and get results from basic
EnergyPlus simulations.

Day 2 is about how to use simulation appropriately and how to
communicate results within the integrated design process and for
compliance purposes. The first section is how to use EnergyPlus to
support integrated design processes for high performance buildings.
Several passive design strategies will be discussed: daylighting,
thermal mass, and night flush. This section focuses on loads analysis
and detailed active systems are not included at this stage. This allows
designers to get necessary information in order to inform passive design
decisions. The second part of the day is how to use EnergyPlus for
compliance, be it code compliance or beyond-code compliance. The
division into these two main sections is intentional and highlights the
different functions of building performance simulation. At the end of
Day 2, participants will be able to develop a series of EnergyPlus
simulations for performance analysis in support of passive design and
the integrated design process as well as documenting the results for
compliance purposes.

Day 3 is about HVAC systems definition. In the first two days, the HVAC
system definition will rely on (two) HVAC templates available in
EnergyPlus, an automated definition of HVAC systems. In day 3, the rest
of the EnergyPlus HVAC templates will be discussed. Furthermore, manual
development of HVAC systems without the template will be discussed. A
number of examples are used: water source heat pump, ground source heat
pump, and hybrid system.

Detailed syllabus can be found here: http://www.idlboise.com/node/150

Instructors

Main Instructor: Ery Djunaedy, PhD is a Research Scientist (Building
Physics Specialist) at the IDL, University of Idaho Boise. He has
degrees in the area of Building Physics/Science from the Institut
Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia, National University of Singapore, and
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Netherlands. His main interest is in
building performance simulation, especially the building energy and
airflow simulation. He has used advanced simulation tools like the
energy and computational fluid dynamics simulations to design high
performance buildings. He has taught building physics courses to
architecture students in the Netherlands, the UAE and now in the US. He
has been involved in various building design projects in Boise, Idaho
and throughout the region since 2006 when he first joined the IDL.

Assistant: Jacob Dunn is a Research Assistant at the IDL, University of
Idaho Boise. He is involved in energy efficiency research, building
performance simulation, and passive design strategy implementation. He
recently graduated with his Masters of Architecture from the University
with the AIA Henry Adams Medal of Honor for his academic excellence and
extracurricular involvement. During his fourth year of education, Jacob
spent a summer abroad in Italy to study architecture and also had the
fortunate opportunity to work at the ARUP office in London under the
Foresight + Innovation and Incubation department. Jacob and a former
colleague started their own business called ENlight Design LLC, which
specializes in energy and daylight modeling for both commercial and
residential projects. Jacob?s current involvement is split between his
full time job at the IDL, running and managing his own consulting
business, and staying active in the academic world of the IURDC and
graduate architecture students in Boise, Idaho

Fee

The fee is based on the number of days participated:
One day: $250 per person
Two days: $450 per person
Three days: $650 per person

Registration and fee payment: via UIRSVP only (http://www.uirsvp.com)

Workshop Deadlines and Cancellation

The registration is reserved on a first-come first-served basis. The
participants are encouraged to register early (and make payment) via
UIRSVP website. Registration cannot be done by telephone or email. The
registration will be closed at 5pm on January 28th 2011 or when the
maximum number of participants is reached.

The IDL reserves the right to cancel this workshop due to insufficient
enrollment on or before February 4th, 2011. In the event of workshop
cancellation, all fees will be refunded. The IDL will not be held
responsible for participants? nonrefundable travel expenses.

Participants that have registered and decide not to attend must submit a
withdrawal request via email on or before 5pm, February 10th, 2011 to be
able to receive a fee refund. No refunds will be given after 5pm,
February 10th, 2011. Note that the refund process can take up to 8
weeks, depending on the credit card issuing company.

Time and Location

Dates: 14-16 February 2011
Hours: 8.30am - 5.30pm
Location: IDL (new location), 314 S. 6th St., Boise, ID 83702.

Please email Ery Djunaedy (eryd at uidaho.edu) for more information on this
workshop.

Ery Djunaedy2's picture
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I am an eQuest user and am looking into IES-VE as an eventual
replacement. I am curious if anyone has been through a comparison like
this before and would be willing to share their opinions. I know there
has been some discussion about this in the past, but it looks like most
of the discussions are a few years old. I want to make sure I am not
discounting IES-VE for problems that have been fixed.

The draw of IES-VE is the compatibility with revit and its ability to
do more than just energy or daylighting. It seems like having all of
the analysis tools in one program would be very useful.

the cost and that IES doesn't allow the user as much flexibility as
eQuest of Energy Plus. Can IES-VE generate the hourly reports that
eQuest and Energy Plus can?

Please let me know what your thoughts are on these programs. I also
hear rumors of AutoDesk jumping into the mix with Project Vasari and
Labs. Does anyone know more about this?

Thanks,

Tim JohnsonCTA : EIT, LEED AP

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Tim,
We?ve recently formed an energy services group, and I wanted to employ any tool that would enhance production. The IES software is very attractive, with their new offering of a ?PRM Navigator? (LEED analysis guidance), but there are limitations you should be aware of:

1. The software is costly

2. At this point, it cannot handle anything other than a flat utility rate schedule, which is not real world

3. It is not user extensible

4. To integrate the process with Revit, you have to enforce modeling standards on architectural designers, who tend to have bad practices

5. There are some systems which cannot be modeled, such as thermal storage (without item 2 above corrected, the benefit of thermal storage, if available, would be missed)

6. The PRM navigator (LEED Analysis) only spins out a 90.1-2007 baseline model
Having said that, we are employing the tool to see if it does provide some benefit. The CFD analysis looks promising, and there may be additional tools (such as Trelligence) that might be of benefit that use IES, although we?ve had to switch a large project from IES to eQuest due to items 2, 5 and 6 above. The LEED guidance package is very nice, and it does create voluminous reports, so you can spin out results for spreadsheet analysis if desired (which is what they recommend to overcome item 2 above). There are other nice modules, which you are probably aware of as well. One thing to keep in mind, is that the IES software, while certified by the ASHRAE 140 standard, to my knowledge has not been officially acknowledged as being acceptable by GBCI.
I?m cautiously optimistic that the EnergyPlus user interface promised out in Spring (now Summer) will prove to be as useful as the eQuest interface for DOE2. If so, then I would expect that tool to become the standard in the industry. It is frustrating, as I was personally involved with trying to develop an interface for EnergyPlus back before its initial release, and while it holds great promise for its extensibility, development of interfaces have been hampered by a continual change in EnergyPlus data structures. I am guessing that with this funded interface, that the process of changing data structures is less of a concern.

David Ellis

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GBCI does not certify software; they require it meets the requirements
of 90.1 and 140. As such, the VE (and other tools) are acceptable by
USGBC.

http://www.iesve.com/content/kb/FAQ-VE-Approved_For_LEED.pdf

The VE is also acceptable for EPACT tax credits.

http://www.iesve.com/content/kb/FAQ-VE-Approved_For_LEED.pdf

Nathan Kegel LEED AP

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Whoops, wrong second link:

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/corporate/ns/qs
_iesve_v6_1.pdf

Nathan Kegel LEED AP

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