Is there any software which automatically creates Baseline system as per Appendix G

7 posts / 0 new
Last post

Dear All eQuest Users,

My Question may be asked before & may look funny. . .

But as I do not know the answer I am asking you all: Is there any software which automatically creates Baseline system as per Appendix G?

Or we have to create manually by having the inputs from Appendix - G in all the soft-wares that are available in the market i.e. . energy plus, eQuest etc.

?
Thanks,

Nimesh Prajapati

Nimesh Prajapati Nimesh's picture
Joined: 2012-11-12
Reputation: 0

This is a question that is probably better suited to the BLDG-SIM list.

Software that I am aware of that I think automatically creates the 90.1
baseline (none of which I have used so cannot recommend personally):

Energy Gauge - http://www.energygauge.com/

bfountain's picture
Offline
Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 201

Brian/Nimesh - I worked in California for several years with EnergyPro which automatically created a 90.1-2004 and/or 90.1-2007 Baseline (soon it'll do 90.1-2010 as well). You'll have to confirm with EnergySoft, but last I checked that includes up to and including appendix ac for 2004.

EnergyPro is DOE2.1E based software and is widely used in California and the US and is making inroads into Canada. It can do VRF, DOAS, and many other system types as well as other features like calibration for utility bills.

The catch is that it is paid software and unlike eQuest, there is no 3D model to take a screen capture of for reports. (The plus side to this is that it's easier to create/modify zones as the design process moves along.)

You can see their webpage at www.energysoft.com

FYI I'm in no way affiliated with EnergySoft - I just happen to enjoy their auto base-case generation and interface and I'm looking at the business case to try it on some of our models in Canada for that reason.

Thanks kindly,

Christopher Zabaneh, P.E., LEED AP BD+C, CEPE

Christopher.Zabaneh's picture
Joined: 2012-02-08
Reputation: 0

Also there is AECOsim, the interface to Energy Plus by Bentley- It feels a
bit dated- sorta like eQuest..

AECOsim Energy Simulator[image: Screen shot of the AECOsim Energy
Simulator.]

Bentley Systems released v1.0 of its new building performance simulation
product,AECOsim Energy
Simulator,
in September 2011. Energy Simulator incorporates the EnergyPlus V6.0
simulation engine for building performance calculations, and also includes
steady state design methods such as ASHRAE RTS and CIBSE Heat Gain/Heat
Loss. Built on top of Bentley's BIM platform, Energy Simulator allows users
to work seamlessly between industry CAD, BIM, and AEC applications such as
MicroStation, AutoCAD, Revit, and others and supports standard file formats
such as gbXML, DXF, DGN, and DWG.

Energy Simulator is available now through the Bentley
website,
as a 30-day trial. You can also read more about Energy
Simulator .

Energy Simulator features comprehensive HVAC systems capabilities ?
exposing all the inputs for EnergyPlus HVAC components and systems, but
also provides more than 17 preconfigured HVAC systems that require few user
inputs. The HVAC designer also displays the loops and connections for the
systems. Energy Simulator automatically creates the baseline and budget
buildings for ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (2004 and 2007) and creates energy
performance data for use in AECOsim Compliance Manager for LEED 3.0
documentation.

Check out the EnergySimulator YouTube
Channel for
video demos of Energy Simulator.
Hevacomp Design Simulation [image: Screen shot of Hevacomp Design
Simulation.]

For more than 28 years Bentley
Hevacomp has
provided designers, building engineers, and consultants with the tools they
need to meet the challenges of creating energy-efficient buildings that are
tuned to their environment, perform for their occupants, and provide ROI
for their owners.

Bentley Hevacomp offers software for building performance design,
simulation, and energy certification based on the EnergyPlus analysis
engine. Supporting ISO, IEE, CIBSE, and ASHRAE standards, these
industry-leading tools are used around the world to help predict a
building's real-world performance as well as quickly analyze design options
to see if they pass or fail certification and provide the appropriate
documentation, such as those mandated by U.K. Part L, Australia Section J,
and the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program.

Bentley Hevacomp is also the leading UK design software ??? used by 70% of
the medium to large consulting engineers in the UK, with a user base of
3,000 sites worldwide. Bentley Hevacomp provides a range of building
services software, including heating and cooling loads, energy, pipe and
duct sizing, lighting and electrical design. Until now, Bentley Hevacomp
has produced software based on straightforward steady or quasi-steady state
methods; this approach has proved popular with engineers, who appreciate
easy-to-use software.

Over the past few years, engineers have been required to carry out more
complex analysis, such as overheating frequency, mixed mode ventilation,
CFD analysis, etc. To meet this demand, Bentley Hevacomp has developed a
Design Simulation package, using EnergyPlus as the calculation engine. An
important feature of the design simulation package is that simulation can
be carried out using the same project data that was set up using simple
load calculations. This enables simulation studies to be carried out
without entering additional project data. This is an important feature, to
lead engineers easily into simulation
[image: Screen shot of Hevacomp Design Simulation.]

With Bentley Hevacomp software, a building is set up by tracing around the
internal perimeter of each room, adjacent surfaces are automatically
detected as partitions. Databases of construction elements are used. An
extensive roof and floor modeling program is available, which enables
simple or complex roofs to be traced from DXF files. Walls and partitions
are automatically trimmed vertically to fit the roof, and rooms above and
below target rooms are detected. This enables a full 3-D model to be
produced for little more effort than a simple 2-D tracing.

Once the building has been set up, building simulation linking to
EnergyPlus can be performed to examine room heat losses and gains, summer
overheating, peak design months, overheating frequency, and building
energy. The package will also produce 3-D external shading graphics and
internal solar penetration graphics, showing moving sunshine patches within
rooms.

Summer overheating frequency is simulated using CIBSE summer design year
data. Weather and hours of overheating can be obtained from cumulative
frequency results to check against UK Part L code requirements. Natural
infiltration can be examined by defining flow paths and opening windows,
this enables complex natural and mixed mode ventilation systems to be
examined, including controlled opening of windows.

A large amount of weather data for annual energy simulation is provided; as
well as ASHRAE and CIBSE weather data, Hevacomp provides an extensive
Meteonorm weather database of over 7000 locations world-wide. A detailed
profiling and scheduling module is available so that you can set up any
required plant, gains, occupancy and temperature schedules. Typical
schedules for a large range of building are provided, compatible with UK
Part L requirements.

As well as building simulation, a plant simulation module is available to
enable engineers to simply define HVAC systems such as radiators, warm air,
constant volume a/c, VAV, fan coils, room a/c units, etc. Central plant
items such as boilers, chillers and cooling towers can also be defined.
Databases of common plant and equipment are provided. From a brief HVAC set
of data, the package will automatically set up all the required HVAC
components, water and air networks and central plant. Although simple to
set up, complex systems can be defined, which are not limited to Compact
HVAC components.

With plant simulation, plant sizing can be carried out, using summer and
winter design days, plant and equipment sizing schedules are produced.
Annual energy consumption can be computed, together with fuel cost and CO2
consumption.

Hevacomp has an alliance with CHAM (UK) so that results from Design
Simulation can automatically be used to carry out CFD analysis, enabling
room air movement and temperature studies to be carried out. Hevacomp
provides an extensive object library so that you can place items such as
furniture and people in rooms to see the effect on air movement.

More information on Bentley Hevacomp's Design Simulation is available from
www.hevacomp.com .

*Jeremiah D. Crossett*

CleanTech Analytics's picture
Joined: 2012-02-09
Reputation: -1

Another fairly large catch is that you are not able to edit multiple
entries at a time (outside of a few limited parameters with their built-in
find/replace feature). No spreadsheet view like eQUEST. No text editors
allowed.

I've used EnergyPro on a few large projects and it was an absolute
nightmare from a usability standpoint.

Unless you're doing VRF or Title-24 compliance, I cannot recommend
EnergyPro to anyone except on very small projects.

Robby Oylear, PE, LEED AP

Robby Oylear's picture
Offline
Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 202

I would like to second Robby's comments. Energy pro is a black box simulation machine originally designed for Title 24 compliance within the State of California. Even for that, it is peppered with difficulties and shortcomings. If you want to fully be able to analyze and understand the simulation of your energy model, I would advise against going the energy pro route.

Best of luck in your modeling efforts, Nimesh.

Cheers,

Ross Farris, CEA

Ross Farris's picture
Offline
Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 0

Dear All,

Thank you. . .

I really appreciate your comments/views. . . Specially the way you all are giving your ideas & thoughts to encourage new eQuest users. . . Its really amazing. . . and your these efforts will surely help new users like us to learn as fast as

we can. . .

Thanks,

Nimesh Prajapati

Nimesh Prajapati Nimesh's picture
Joined: 2012-11-12
Reputation: 0