In a recent LEED project, we face problems while setting up energy model for a complex design, in which there are 7 smal buildings based on a large underground garge. However, they are applied as a single LEED project.
We use EnergyPlus+OpenStudio to build the energy model. Could I set up these small buildings individually and then add the results up, or I have to set up all the small buildings at once?
Because the design is a bit complex...
Thanks for advice:)
Christopher Schaffner
CEO & FounderThe Green Engineer
LEEDuser Expert
963 thumbs up
June 21, 2010 - 9:34 am
Generally, you can model each piece individually and add the results. However, if they are served by common equipment (say one chiller plant serves all the buildings) you want to be careful that you are modeling the actual equipment performance. You don't want 5 models each showing the chiller running at 15% capacity, when it is actually running at 75% capacity, as these will have different points on the efficiency curve.