[Bldg-sim] rebuilding eQuest model in EnergyPlus

Joe Huang via Bldg-sim bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
Mon Oct 10 23:27:13 PDT 2016


Sorry for my non-communicativeness (word ?) the past week, because I was in New York and 
just returned last night.

As mentioned by Jason last week, and then repeated here by Nick, converting eQUEST or 
DOE-2.1E building models to EnergyPlus  is something that I have had experience, although 
most of it is by now a decade old.  From 2005-2008, I led a team of 7 at LBNL to convert 
DOE-2.1E building models used by the California Energy Commission for certifying Alternate 
Compliance Methods (ACMs) to EnergyPlus (then Version 1.4).  Since the team included the 
remaining members of the DOE-2 Development Team at LBNL (now since all retired), our 
strategy was to modify the DOE-2.1E program to output an EnergyPlus IDF, which in my mind 
is the only robust way to do this since any new program would have to recreate all the 
functionality of doebdl and a good part of doesim, plus endless checking to make sure that 
its parsing of the original DOE-2 input file is consistent with DOE-2. Another unique 
feature of this modified program, which I ended up calling doe2ep, is that it creates a 
full EnergyPlus *.idf including not only the description of the building as well as that 
of the HVAC system and plant.  The LOADS conversion was tedious but straight-forward, 
while the SYSTEM and PLANT conversions were much more challenging, since it required 
creating all the nodes, loops, and components in EnergyPlus.  This was done using HVAC 
Template Files (NOT the current set, but a previous incomplete set that used EPMacro (same 
as DOE-2 macros) and was abandoned in 2007.  The end product was a working version of 
doe2ep which translated 95% of the LOADS, 60% of SYSTEMS (common HVAC system types, e.g., 
VAVS, PVAVS, PSZ, etc.), and 25% of PLANT.  For the 140+ building models in the 
certification suite, doe2ep was able to run DOE-2.1E, convert to IDF and run EnergyPlus, 
all in one shot.  A brief summary of the project was presented at IBPSA SimBuild in 2007 
(see here <www.whiteboxtechnologies.com/download_06_YJH_doe2ep.htm> ).

Since I left LBNL, I have used doe2ep sporadically, but have not done any development work 
except to obtain IP rights to the source code. The main difficulties in using doe2ep for 
translating eQUEST/DOE-2.2 INP to EnergyPlus IDF are the following:

1) Syntax differences between DOE-2.2 and DOE-2.1E inputs
2) Syntax changes from EnergyPlus 1.4 and subsequent versions of EnergyPlus

Although it is conceivable to change the base program from DOE-2.1E to DOE-2.2, that is a 
major task not to be taken lightly.  What I have done so far is instead to write awk 
scripts to change DOE-2.2 to DOE-2.1E, and then run doe2ep on the converted 2.1E input 
file. There are several disadvantages to this method, since it loses the new functionality 
of 2.2. For example, DOE-2.2 allows for multiple lighting and equipment inputs within a 
single space. When this happens, I have had to add the additional inputs (provided they 
are accepted in EnergyPlus) using more awk scripts.

On the output side, I have used the MultipleVersionUpdater utility program to migrate from 
1.4 to 8.1 (last time I've had to do this) and, while the program is slow, it does seem to 
work.


Since this process is clearly not a releasable software,  my response to people who've 
asked for help is to send me their DOE-2.2 input file(s) to test, and I will let them know 
the amount of time needed for a successful conversion.  In most cases, the hangups are in 
the first step (converting from 2.2 to 2.1E) or if the eQUEST building model uses a System 
Type not covered in doe2ep.

It's also occurred to me that the above process is inefficient, and that a better solution 
would be to (1) convert doe2ep to DOE-2.2, (2) expand the translation of HVAC systems, and 
(3) update the Export to the current version of EnergyPlus. However, doing this would 
require several months of work and I'm not convinced of the level of interest or need.

For those who are interested, please go to this informal Doodle poll and let me know your 
level of interest, so I can plan accordingly:

http://doodle.com/poll/if2xk5x2znihadzh

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 10/10/2016 12:05 PM, Nick Caton wrote:
>
> Hi Holly,
>
> This is kind of the inverse query, but very recently I had an exchange over 
> unmethours.com with an individual trying to convert a project’s geometries from e+ to 
> doe 2.1e: https://unmethours.com/question/20238/doe21e-geometric-input/
>
> Therein I touched on SIMEB.   Among other things, I understand SIMEB is one path to get 
> from e+ to doe2 and vice versa, though you may need to re-specify systems and zonal 
> associations along the way.  I have had a single “rocky” experience converting a project 
> from e+ to doe2 (for the previous lowdown showdown challenge), but I’d largely chalk 
> those difficulties up to not reading the manual.  On that first try I was able to get 
> spaces, zones, and MOST geometries across correctly alongside “placeholder” systems…  
> some heavy QC & redevelopment would have been necessary if I pushed further down that 
> path.  Would personally be interested to explore the capabilities of SIMEB further in 
> the future… and I haven’t tried the inverse conversion just yet (might make for an 
> easier/smoother first effort!).
>
> I also singled out Joe as the fellow behind http://www.drawbdl.com/ . DrawBDL is a 
> for-cost solution which is probably of interest for your intended workflow, but you’ll 
> need to confirm with Joe or other DrawBDL endusers the present extents of what it can 
> presently convert and from which versions of doe2.  I’m not for example certain of how 
> well DrawBDL handles doe 2.2/2.3 geometries relative to 2.1E, or how far beyond 
> geometries DrawBDL extends.
>
> If it turns out you do have a “budget” for this conversion process, I understand over 
> the years Joe also has developed a number of unpublished scripts which can automate 
> some/lots of the process (depending on the systems & components involved) and it may be 
> possible to contract him on a project-by-project basis to get a larger fraction of the 
> conversion effort done for you.  You’ll have to ask him nicely ;-).
>
> To address Jim’s suggestion:  the only commercially available interoperability path I 
> recall between eQUEST/doe2 and a gbXML schema is/was via GBS … not sure where that 
> stands today, as it has been some time since this was of interest for my projects.  
> Maybe someone from Autodesk can comment?
>
> ~Nick
>
> mailbox:///C:/Users/Joe%20Huang/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/6tp56871.default/Mail/Local%20Folders/Bulletin%20Boards.sbd/BLDG-SIM?number=573748177&header=quotebody&part=1.2&filename=image001.png
>
> *Nick Caton, P.E., BEMP*
>
>   Senior Energy Engineer
>   Energy and Sustainability Services
>   Schneider Electric
>
> 	
>
> D 913.564.6361
> M 785.410.3317
> E nicholas.caton at schneider-electric.com <mailto:nicholas.caton at schneider-electric.com>
> F 913.564.6380
>
> 	
>
> 15200 Santa Fe Trail Drive
> Suite 204
> Lenexa, KS 66219
> United States
>
> cid:image001.png at 01D189AB.58634A10
>
> *From:*Bldg-sim [mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] *On Behalf Of *Brian 
> Fountain via Bldg-sim
> *Sent:* Saturday, October 08, 2016 7:52 AM
> *To:* Samuelson, Holly Wasilowski <hsamuelson at gsd.harvard.edu>
> *Cc:* bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Bldg-sim] rebuilding eQuest model in EnergyPlus
>
> There is a tool from Quebec called SimEB that is cross platform between DOE-2.1, DOE-2.2 
> and EnergyPlus. Not sure if it will import an .inp ‎but it may be worth some investigation.
>
> I believe the link is www.simeb.ca <http://www.simeb.ca>
>
> *From: *Jim Dirkes via Bldg-sim
>
> *Sent: *Friday, October 7, 2016 4:40 PM
>
> *To: *Samuelson, Holly Wasilowski
>
> *Reply To: *Jim Dirkes
>
> *Cc: *bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org <mailto:bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org>
>
> *Subject: *Re: [Bldg-sim] rebuilding eQuest model in EnergyPlus
>
> Holly,
>
> If you can export gbXML from eQuest, I know DesignBuilder can import that format as well 
> as a number of others ... but I've never done it, so I don't know how much detail comes 
> with it :(
>
> On Fri, Oct 7, 2016 at 4:24 PM, Samuelson, Holly Wasilowski via Bldg-sim 
> <bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org <mailto:bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org>> wrote:
>
>     Dear Colleagues,
>
>     Do you have any time-saving advice or tips for recreating an eQuest model in
>     EnergyPlus? (We would like to keep most of the geometry, zoning, scheduling, and
>     other inputs as similar as possible, and then be able to take advantage of some E+
>     functionality.)
>
>     Thank you in advance for any help!
>
>     Warmly,
>
>     Holly
>
>     Holly W. Samuelson, DDes | LEED | Registered Architect
>
>     Assistant Professor Harvard Graduate School of Design
>
>
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>
>
> -- 
>
> James V Dirkes II, PE, BEMP, LEED AP
> CEO/President
> The Building Performance Team Inc.
> 1631 Acacia Dr, GR, Mi 49504
>
> Direct: 616.450.8653
> jim at buildingperformanceteam.com <mailto:jim at buildingperformanceteam.com>
>
> Website <http://buildingperformanceteam.com>l LinkedIn 
> <https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jim-dirkes/7/444/413> | May 2016 ASHRAE Journal article on 
> energy modeling 
> <http://buildingperformanceteam.com/bpt-insights-blog/item/73-modeled-performance-isn-t-actual-performance>
>
> …an open mind is not an end in itself but rather is like an open mouth, designed to bite 
> down on something solid and nourishing.
>
>
>
>
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