Test your knowledge of simulation weather file formats Part 1: the DOE-2 *.BIN/*.BINM format

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This is the first of several posts regarding the nitty-gritty of commonly-used weather
file formats.? Just to add some excitement to this rather dry topic, I thought I'd post
them as little contests of your familiarity with weather files or at least your visual
acumen.

The first weather file format I'm putting under the microscope is the DOE-2 *.bin format.?
Since the *.bin is a packed binary format, the files are not readily observable, and
consequently there's been more than a little confusion in what they contain.

I've attached a zip file that contains a weather file for Barrow Alaska 2012 along with a
DOE-2 hourly file listing the contents of this weather file. See if you can detect? the
three things in this hourly dump of the weather data that's unusual or different. Hint:
the hourly file was produced with a slightly modified version of the DOE-2.1E program. If
you ran the weather file with the standard DOE-2.1E it will probably crash, and even with
DOE-2.2 you will not see all the differences.

You can either post your answers on the mail server or send them to me via e-mail. The
first five persons to get the right answers will get a free historical year weather file
of your choice from the White Box Technologies web site.? I will announce the results on
Thursday, as well as explain what these three differences indicate about the DOE-2 *.bin
weather format.

Joe

Attachment: contest_AK_BARROW-W-POST-W-ROGERS-AP_700260_12.zip (212 KB)

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

Joe Huang's picture
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Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 406

Hi,

Clearly the problem is that it's too damn cold to put buildings there! At
least buildings with people in them :)

[image: Images int?gr?es 2]

It's the first time I realize that -40?C is -40?F.

Note: I replied to Joe off list, to not beat the point of his contest, this
is just a lame joke: my apologies to the 4000 souls living in Barrow that
are probably in a two-month-long night right now!

Cheers,
Julien

--
Julien Marrec, EBCP, BPI MFBA
Owner at EffiBEM
T: +33 6 95 14 42 13

LinkedIn (en ) *| *(fr
) :

2017-12-06 7:51 GMT+01:00 Joe Huang via Bldg-sim <
bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org>:

jmarrec's picture
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Joined: 2013-01-09
Reputation: 0

Thanks to all the people who've responded via e-mail, which made me realize an
embarrassing? flaw in how? I've structured the contest that I must correct immediately,

i.e.,? to request that any respondents send their answers to me via e-mail, since posting
them on the listservs would immediately short-circuit the contest!

BTW,? of the e-mail answers I've received, all 3 of the differences have been pointed out,
but not by any single person, while several have pointed out things that I wasn't aware!!

Final answers will be posted on Thursday? morning.

Joe

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

Joe Huang's picture
Offline
Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 406

Jim,

No worries.? You can be like the football fan who misses a game and watches it on tape
delay, i.e., you can still look at the file next week but just resist reading my answer?
until afterwards.

Also, there will be a follow-on contest on the epw format that might be more up your
alley.? I haven't decided yet whether to post that on Friday or next Monday.

Joe

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

Joe Huang's picture
Offline
Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 406

Hi,

Clearly the problem is that it's too damn cold to put buildings there! At
least buildings with people in them :)

[image: Images int?gr?es 2]

It's the first time I realize that -40?C is -40?F.

Note: I replied to Joe off list, to not beat the point of his contest, this
is just a lame joke: my apologies to the 4000 souls living in Barrow that
are probably in a two-month-long night right now!

Cheers,
Julien

--
Julien Marrec, EBCP, BPI MFBA
Owner at EffiBEM
T: +33 6 95 14 42 13

LinkedIn (en ) *| *(fr
) :

2017-12-06 7:51 GMT+01:00 Joe Huang via Bldg-sim <
bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org>:

jmarrec's picture
Offline
Joined: 2013-01-09
Reputation: 0

Thanks to all the people who've responded via e-mail, which made me realize an
embarrassing? flaw in how? I've structured the contest that I must correct immediately,

i.e.,? to request that any respondents send their answers to me via e-mail, since posting
them on the listservs would immediately short-circuit the contest!

BTW,? of the e-mail answers I've received, all 3 of the differences have been pointed out,
but not by any single person, while several have pointed out things that I wasn't aware!!

Final answers will be posted on Thursday? morning.

Joe

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

Joe Huang's picture
Offline
Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 406

I have no time to look at the files this week, but I love the inquisitive,
educational, competitive and community aspect of this!

Thanks, Joe.

James V Dirkes II, PE's picture
Joined: 2011-10-02
Reputation: 203

Jim,

No worries.? You can be like the football fan who misses a game and watches it on tape
delay, i.e., you can still look at the file next week but just resist reading my answer?
until afterwards.

Also, there will be a follow-on contest on the epw format that might be more up your
alley.? I haven't decided yet whether to post that on Friday or next Monday.

Joe

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

Joe Huang's picture
Offline
Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 406