[Bldg-sim] 100 simulations

[Jason Glazer]

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
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