WSHPs in eQUEST

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Greetings everyone,

I am relatively new to this list, and have been using eQUEST for only about
a year. I am modeling a 3-story office building with water-loop heat pumps,
but information from the building owner, architect, and engineer are very
limited.

The WSHPs are single-zone (as far as I know) and there are tons of them. In
eQUEST, do I have to create a separate zone for each one? If I make larger
zones (eg. grouping together perimeter offices), it creates heat pumps that
are too large. Is there any way to simplify the zoning and retain the proper
heat pump size and number?

Ben Pressman, EIT, BESA

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Hi Ben,

If you want the quantity/capacities of your modeled systems to match the
scheduled equipment, you should match the actual zoning.

Combining zones pretty much requires combining systems, as far as I
know... this is a by-product of the "1 system per zone" rule for DOE2.

"Too large" is relative - you could explain the system is an
approximation/sum of multiple heat pumps working together... but if you
are documenting the model extensively (i.e. LEED), you may find it less
work in the long haul to invest some extra time setting up the zoning
geometries accurately to start. That's my standard practice for heavily
documented projects.

~Nick

NICK CATON, E.I.T.

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Hi Ben,

I agree with Nick. Also, if you have to bill match at all, which you might
since this is an existing building, it is always easier to model the
building as close to the design as you can.

Best,

Carol

cmg750's picture
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Joined: 2010-10-05
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Hi Ben,

If you want the quantity/capacities of your modeled systems to match the
scheduled equipment, you should match the actual zoning.

Combining zones pretty much requires combining systems, as far as I
know... this is a by-product of the "1 system per zone" rule for DOE2.

"Too large" is relative - you could explain the system is an
approximation/sum of multiple heat pumps working together... but if you
are documenting the model extensively (i.e. LEED), you may find it less
work in the long haul to invest some extra time setting up the zoning
geometries accurately to start. That's my standard practice for heavily
documented projects.

~Nick

NICK CATON, E.I.T.

Nick-Caton's picture
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Joined: 2011-09-30
Reputation: 805

Hi Ben,

I agree with Nick. Also, if you have to bill match at all, which you might
since this is an existing building, it is always easier to model the
building as close to the design as you can.

Best,

Carol

cmg750's picture
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Joined: 2010-10-05
Reputation: 0