[Bldg-sim] 100 simulations

[Leen Peeters]

Aaron, Jason,

 

When it comes to multiple parameter optimisation, I have previously done that for residential building heating and cooling. Idea was to design the optimal characteristics of the heating and cooling devices in a residential zone (a room). 

On https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/1979/2651 at the bottom, you can download the PhD. Chapter 7 explains the aspects of multiple parameter optimisation. Chapter 8 gives examples. 

Main thing is that there might be many ways to reach the same value of the objective function near and in the optimum. One composition might lead to a more feasible or cheaper optimum compared to the other.

 

Leen

 

From: Bldg-sim [mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Aaron Powers
Sent: 10 September 2015 19:46
To: Jason Glazer <jglazer at gard.com>
Cc: bldg-sim at onebuilding.org
Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] 100 simulations

 

Jason,

This is something I'm interested in as well.  I think all the preliminary design factors that you mentioned are great things to look at.  On the later parts of the design process, control parameters are also good things to look at (CHW plant control optimization, air-side control optimization, etc.).

One way to convey the information is through simple 2D plots.  Below is an example of 200 DOE2 simulations while varying the window to wall ratio and another plot of 81 simulations varying the window shading coefficient.






Unfortunately, this does not convey the interactive nature of optimization over multiple variables.  Using multidimensional optimization algorithms can be another useful tool, but they can be tricky.  As an example, below is a case of looking for the optimal minimum condenser water flow in a variable flow condenser system.  From looking at the first plot, the function seems relatively smooth and it's obvious that there's an optimal in the neighborhood of 0.6.  However, if you zoom in (second plot), you can see that the data is not very smooth, and there are all kinds of jagged local minima/maxima.  These will tend to throw off most optimization algorithms, which is why I think it's helpful to consider looking at automated mass simulations before taking on the problem of optimization.





Aaron

 

On Wed, Sep 9, 2015 at 4:33 PM, Jason Glazer <jglazer at gard.com <mailto:jglazer at gard.com> > wrote:

I am just finishing up a project that performed about 60 automated simulations (using Python with EnergyPlus and Eppy) for a series of buildings in a bunch of cities. The power of automating simulations to understand the energy savings of different measures is very impressive no matter what tools are being used.  It has made me wonder about when does automation make the most sense during the design process and what information can be provided to an architect or entire building design team to encourage low energy building design.  I am thinking one of the most influential times might be during the architectural programming and early conceptual design steps. At this point the number of separate pieces of information is probably low enough that it could be filled out on a web form:

 - number of occupants

 - amount of area needed for different types of spaces

 - location of the lot lines

 - building location

Conceivably, with that information, all sorts of various building configurations could be created automatically by a clever script then simulated and the resulting answers summarized.

 - How many floor building uses the least energy?

 - What shape building uses the least energy?

 - What is the impact of more roof insulation?

 - What is the impact of more or less fenestration on loads and daylighting?

I would not expect the design team to use any of the automatically created building models directly but it might influence the design process in a good way if it was easy to get and easy to understand. I understand people have been researching the optimization of these kinds of factors but I am not sure that is necessary. Maybe just several different series of simulations illustrating various building options and their impact onenergy might be enough to get the discussion going.

 - So what questions do you think could be answered by such an automated system during early conceptual design?

 - How would you best convey that information to the building design team?

 - Are there other times that a suite of automated simulations would make sense?

A lot of useful information could be generated with a hundred automated simulations!

Jason

-- 
Jason Glazer, P.E., GARD Analytics, 90.1 ECB chair
Admin for onebuilding.org <http://onebuilding.org>  building performance mailing lists

_______________________________________________
Bldg-sim mailing list
http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org
To unsubscribe from this mailing list send  a blank message to BLDG-SIM-UNSUBSCRIBE at ONEBUILDING.ORG <mailto:BLDG-SIM-UNSUBSCRIBE at ONEBUILDING.ORG> 




-- 

Sent from my DynaTAC 8000x

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org/attachments/20150914/105a8362/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 13055 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org/attachments/20150914/105a8362/attachment-0004.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 14764 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org/attachments/20150914/105a8362/attachment-0005.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image006.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 12752 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org/attachments/20150914/105a8362/attachment-0006.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image008.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 15928 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org/attachments/20150914/105a8362/attachment-0007.jpg>