Can someone tell me how difficult this modeling software is to use, and how long would it take an engineer who isn’t already familiar with it to get up to speed? Since the engineer on our LEED project has never used this software, would we be better off to sub this piece out to someone familiar with the software to run the simulation? Thanks!
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Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5914 thumbs up
March 16, 2011 - 6:18 pm
Which modeling software are you referring to? eQUEST, Energy Plus, TRACE, HAP, VisualDOE, IES-VE, etc. all have their own little quirks and a somewhat steep learning curve. Some have reasonable technical support but those that do tend to cost more to buy. The free ones have little tech support. If it is their first model then make sure they have the support of an experienced user available as this will save time (money) and bring them up the learning curve faster.
Denise Newbould
PrincipalAware Consulting
10 thumbs up
March 18, 2011 - 7:53 pm
Thank you for your response! I'm a rookie LEED AP on my first project and our engineer has never worked on a LEED project. So I do have two very basic follow-up questions:
1. Of the modeling softwares, are one or two of them best suited for a major renovation of an existing 2,500 sq ft building? (previously a residence and being converted to an office); and
2. Now that ASHRAE 90.1-2010 is out, are projects already registered under LEED 2009 NC still subject to the 2007 version or do we need to use the 2010 version?
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5914 thumbs up
March 19, 2011 - 3:53 pm
For a project that small you could also consider using Energy10. It is much simplier and more user friendly that the other software I mentioned. It's use for LEED projects is limited to small projects with residential type HVAC systems. If your engineer is doing the modeling they may already have either TRACE or HAP.
You still use 2007 in LEED 2009.
Francesco Passerini
engineer90 thumbs up
April 25, 2012 - 2:28 pm
Hello. Do you know if TRNSYS v.17 is a good solution? I know that it is compliant with the requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2001 but I don't know whether it is good from the point of view of the calculation of the energy relative to lighting, in particular if there are lighting control techologies.
Best Regards
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5914 thumbs up
April 25, 2012 - 2:50 pm
It has been used for LEED projects and can perform the modeling functions on most systems. It's major advantage based on my limited knowledge of it, is that it can accommodate customized algorithms. It's reporting functions are limited and it will not be extremely familiar to most LEED reviewers so will likely require more explanation than the more common software used for LEED.
Francesco Passerini
engineer90 thumbs up
May 8, 2012 - 9:48 am
Thank you. Some TRNSYS users told me that it could be integrated with Radiance in order to simulate lighiting control based on daylighting. Anyway, I have another doubt. The equipment capacities for the baseline building design shall be based on sizing runs for each orientation (see G3.1.2.2 and G3.1.2.2.1). Is "autosizing" equipment capacities according to ASHRAE possible with TRNSYS?
Best Regards.
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5914 thumbs up
May 8, 2012 - 10:24 am
I don't know enough about the software to answer. You might have better luck with specific questions like this on the Bldg-Sim discussion group found at onebuilding.org.