[Bldg-sim] EPW file for Jakarta

Joe Huang via Bldg-sim bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
Wed Aug 3 16:55:37 PDT 2016


A correction, followed by a rant about free weather data on the Web :-)

doe2.com is the web site for eQUEST  and is completely unrelated to DOE. The weather files 
on the doe2.com server are largely, if not entirely, obtained from the LBNL server used 
for DOE-2 development from the 1980s-2000s. These weather files were accumulated at LBNL 
while carrying out various research projects, mostly in the 1980s-1990s, in which I was 
quite involved.  In those days, we assumed that weather files would be unavailable and 
budgeted for creating them from raw data. For example, the list of available stations for 
Asia  (see http://doe2.com/Download/Weather/NON-US/asia-sp.txt ) contains 5 Chinese 
locations created for my sabbatical there, 5 Pakistani locations created for a World Bank 
project, and 5 Southeast Asian locations created for an USAID ASEAN project (which is why 
there is Jakarta), all done in the 1980s. Similarly, the 3 locations in Mexico were 
created for an USAID project I had there in the early 1990s.  For some regions such as 
Europe, Australia, the Middle East, the files were contributed by Visiting Scholars, which 
explains why the selections might seem querky and uneven.

I have no objections to doe2.com hosting these weather files, and actually think it's a 
service since the  LBNL server has been offline for at least 5 years. However, one of the 
unintended consequences in having free weather files online is that it fosters the 
mentality that weather files ought to be free and disposable.
However, as anyone who has ever tried can attest, creating a usable weather file from raw 
data takes quite a bit of effort. All the free weather files hosted on various web sites 
were all subsidized in some way, either by the government  such as DOE for NREL to develop 
the TMYs, an university  for academic research or by a research institute as part of a 
larger project, as I had described earlier.  Outside of these circumstances, efforts to 
develop weather files, even by nonprofit organizations such as ASHRAE, has to be recovered 
in some fashion.  The best analogy I have would be with books.  I have yet to see someone 
asking for a book on some technical topic and expecting it to be free.

Now I like free stuff as much as anyone, and don't begrudge the free TMYs, CWECs, etc. 
floating around (in fact, I actually hosted many of these on my Web site).  But if you 
can't find what you want among the free stuff, or if you prefer something more up-to-date 
(the majority of the non-US files on the doe2.com or the EnergyPlus weather web sites are 
at least 15 years old), please don't rule out paying for it.

Joe

Joe Huang
White Box Technologies, Inc.
346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A
Moraga CA 94556
yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com for simulation-ready weather data
(o) (925)388-0265
(c) (510)928-2683
"building energy simulations at your fingertips"

On 8/3/2016 10:06 AM, Ajit Naik via Bldg-sim wrote:
>
> The DOE has some non-USA weather data in BIN format here:
>
> http://doe2.com/Download/Weather/NON-US/
>
> the data is older – Jakarta file appears to be 19878.
>
> you can convert to EPW as described here:
>
> http://energy-models.com/forum/converting-bin-files-epw-files
>
> Ajit Naik, *BEMP***
>
> Energy Engineer
>
> *dbHMS
> *303 W Erie Street, Suite 510
>
> Chicago, IL 60654
>
> p (312) 915-0557 x308
>
> f (312) 915-0558
>
> www.dbhms.com
>
> *From:* Bldg-sim [mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] *On Behalf Of *Vikram 
> Sami via Bldg-sim
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 03, 2016 12:00 PM
> *To:* bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
> *Subject:* [Bldg-sim] EPW file for Jakarta
>
> Where can I find an EPW file for Jakarta, Indonesia? I looked on the Energyplus site and 
> couldn’t fine one.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Vikram
>
> Vikram Sami, AIA, BEMP, LEED AP BD+C
>
> Director of Building Performance
>
> **
>
> *OLSON KUNDIG*
>
> 159 South Jackson Street, Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98104 USA
>
> T +1 206 624 5670 olsonkundig.com <http://olsonkundig.com/>
>
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