Paper Conference

Proceedings of SimBuild Conference 2008: 3rd conference of IBPSA-USA

     

Comparative Simulation of a High Performance Building with EW4-DOE2.1E and EnergyPlus

Zhen Tian, Wei Tian, James A. Love
Foraytek Inc., Calgary, AB, Canada
University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

Abstract: The University of Calgary's Child Development Center (CDC) is a 12,000m 2 new LEED Platinum building, for which building energy performance in the very cold" climate was a key design consideration. A Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) incentive program required that energy modeling be done with NRCan's EE4 user interface (DOE2.1E simulation engine) and following NRCan procedures. As DOE2.1E lacks specific features to simulate advanced systems such as radiant cooling that were included in the CDC, an EnergyPlus model was later developed to further evaluate these systems. The EE4-DOE2.1E model was used for quality control in EnergyPlus model development. While there were large differences for some components, the whole building energy use estimates were similar with regard to systems for which DOE2.1E had specific simulation features. Advanced energy systems were added to the EnergyPlus model, but the difference in estimated total annual energy use was very small (photovoltaic generated electricity not included). The comparative process revealed numerous input errors in EnergyPlus model and is recommended until a more straightforward EnergyPlus interface is available.
Pages: 108 - 115
Paper:
simbuild2008_TS06-2-Tian