<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Chirstopher,</p>
<p>I hope you're aware that the wind direction in the DOE-2 files
are from 0 to 16, while those in the standard weather reports and
*.wy3 and *.epw formats are in degrees 0-360.</p>
<p>Joe<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="90">Joe Huang
White Box Technologies, Inc.
346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A
Moraga CA 94556
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data
(o) (925)388-0265
(c) (510)928-2683
"building energy simulations at your fingertips"
</pre>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 1/12/2018 7:06 AM, Jones,
Christopher wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:4fbe22d8fac140148107d7b1580db620@wsp.com">
<meta http-equiv="Context-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered
medium)">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Joe,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Your question is valid. When I look
at the .wy3 file, there are a number of rain and snow
entries. I am not sure how the DOE2 weather processor sorts
these out to arrive at one rain flag and one snow flag. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Note, I had to rearrange the .wy3
file to align the columns so the DOE2 weather processor
recognized the fields. I was successful for all fields
except the wind direction. I am not sure where I am going
wrong but I can see the wind direction in the .wy3 file and
it matches the .epw file values.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Christopher R.
Jones</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">, P.Eng.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Technical Specialist</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Sustainability &
Energy</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><img id="_x0000_i1036"
src="cid:part1.63932050.EA9042B4@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
class="" height="37" width="78"></span><span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>T +1 416-644-0252</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>2300 Yonge Street, Suite 2300</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Toronto, ON M4P 1E4 Canada</span><span
lang="EN-GB"><br>
<br>
</span><span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><a moz-do-not-send="true"><span>wsp.com</span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span lang="EN-CA"><span> </span></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span>Please consider the environment
before printing...</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"> </span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span>From:</span></b><span> Joe
Huang [<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com">mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a>]
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 11, 2018 9:51 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Jones, Christopher
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com"><Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com></a>; Brian Fountain
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:bfountain@greensim.com"><bfountain@greensim.com></a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:equest-users@onebuilding.org">equest-users@onebuilding.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Equest-users] New CWEC files and
snow/rain flags - update</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p>Christopher,</p>
<p>This is very interesting information for several reasons: </p>
<p>(1) the snow and rain flags are not part of the raw data
stream from the weather stations, so I've assumed they have to
be extracted from the Present Weather reports,
</p>
<p>(2) the wy3 is a derived weather file format developed for
ASHRAE back in the late 1990s so old that Env Canada might be
the only place still using it; I'm not aware that the wy3
contains the snow/rain flags but they must have been put there
by Env. Canada, and I would be very interested to see how
these flags correlate to what I can get from the Present
Weather data in the raw weather files.</p>
<p>In the little bit of time I've spent looking into this issue
over the past week, I was unsure which of the PW codes should
be used for the Snow/Rain flags. Take a look at the attached
table of Present Weather Observation Codes currently used in
weather station reports, i.e., METAR. Should we use all the
7's as ISNOW, although 74 - 76 refers to "Ice Pellets", and
what about 85 - 87 referring to "Snow showers or intermittent
rain"? Similarly, we can use all the 6's as IRAIN, but what
about 24 (Rain), 25 (Freezing Drizzle), etc.? That's why
I'm very interested to see what Env. Canada did.</p>
<p>(I'm also adding BLDG-SIM back to this post because the same
issue has been in discussions there, too.</p>
<p>Joe</p>
<pre>Joe Huang</pre>
<pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
<pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
<pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
<pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
<pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
<pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
<pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
<pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 1/11/2018 10:57 AM, Jones, Christopher
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Environment Canada website has the
latest version of the CWEC files - .epw and raw, .wy3
format. The .epw file does not include the snow rain flags
but the raw data .wy3 file does. I converted the .wy3 file
to .bin using the DOE2 weather processor and voila, the
snow and rain flags are included in the .bin file. Now, I
only converted 1 file as a test but it is encouraging.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Christopher R.
Jones</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">, P.Eng.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Technical
Specialist</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Sustainability
& Energy</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:part1.63932050.EA9042B4@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
class="" height="37" width="78"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">T +1 416-644-0252</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2300 Yonge Street, Suite 2300</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Toronto, ON M4P 1E4 Canada</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">wsp.com</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span lang="EN-CA"> </span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Please consider the environment
before printing...</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"> </span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Joe Huang [<a
href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a>]
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 09, 2018 4:50 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Brian Fountain <a
href="mailto:bfountain@greensim.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><bfountain@greensim.com></a>;
Jones, Christopher
<a href="mailto:Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Bldg-sim] [EnergyPlus_Support]
RE: [Equest-users] White Box Technologies brings
simulation weather data to the satellite age</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p>Hmm, the Canadian contingent on the bulletin boards are
voicing their needs in weather data :-) This reminds me
of the one trip I took to Calgary in December 20+ years
ago and seeing the parking lots had electrical outlets at
each spot so that car engines would not freeze up. I was
duly impressed.</p>
<p>Back to the snow flag on weather files, isn't the
condition of most relevance whether there's snow cover,
rather than whether it's snowing? Unfortunately, the
weather station raw data do not report this, which could
vary quite a bit depending on the ground surface anyway.
There ARE fields for solid precipitation similar to those
for liquid precipitation. I've never looked carefully at
these, but they might give the amount of snow fall over
the past so many hours, which would be an improvement
over the Present Weather that just tells whether or not
there is snowfall that hour. One might be able to
calculate snow cover based on the amount of snow fall,
solar radiation, and temperature. It's quite likely that
some meteorologist or physicist with time on his/her hands
might have already done that in Canada. If you know of
any such work, let me know.
</p>
<p>Just based on what I've read so far, I'm going to start
putting in the IRAIN and ISNOW flags into the DOE-2 *.binm
files.</p>
<p>Joe</p>
<pre>Joe Huang</pre>
<pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
<pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
<pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
<pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
<pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
<pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
<pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
<pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 1/8/2018 4:35 PM, Brian Fountain
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal">As Chris suggested, they aren't used
directly in the sim ... but we use them to create custom
schedules for snow melting loads.</p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 08/01/2018 6:44 PM, Joe Huang
via Bldg-sim wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p>The rain and snow flags are still available in the
raw weather station data, but haven't been included in
the processed weather files since the 1990's because
everyone in this hemisphere at least have adopted the
TMY2/TMY3 formats, in content if not the literal file
format, developed by NREL, which does not include
these two flags. I was also under the impression that
none of the simulation programs, such as DOE-2, do not
use these two flags anyway. If these flags are of
use, it would make sense to include them, which would
not require a change in the DOE-2 *.BINM format, but
would require a change to the EnergyPlus *.epw format.</p>
<p>Joe</p>
<pre>Joe Huang</pre>
<pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
<pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
<pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
<pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
<pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
<pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
<pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
<pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 1/8/2018 12:15 PM, 'Jones,
Christopher'
<a href="mailto:christopher.r.jones@wsp.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">christopher.r.jones@wsp.com</a>
[EnergyPlus_Support] wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal">
</p>
<div id="ygrp-mlmsg">
<div id="ygrp-msg">
<div id="ygrp-text">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have a question – what
happened to the rain and snow flags that
were in the old CWEC file but are missing in
the latest versions. Many snow melting
systems have a snow/rain sensor in the slab
used to trigger the system on. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Christopher
R. Jones</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">,
P.Eng.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Technical
Specialist</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Sustainability
& Energy</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img
id="Picture_x0020_15"
src="cid:part1.63932050.EA9042B4@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
class="" height="37" width="78"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">T +1 416-644-0252</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2300 Yonge Street,
Suite 2300</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Toronto, ON M4P 1E4
Canada<span lang="EN-GB"><br>
<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">wsp.com</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Please consider the
environment before printing...</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"> </span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b>
Equest-users [<a
href="mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Joe Huang via
Equest-users<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 02, 2018
10:15 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Nicholas Caton <a
href="mailto:Nicholas.Caton@schneider-electric.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<Nicholas.Caton@schneider-electric.com></a>; BLDG-SIM <a
href="mailto:bldg-sim@lists.onebuilding.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<bldg-sim@lists.onebuilding.org></a>;
EnergyPlus_Support <a
href="mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">
<EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com></a>; <a
href="mailto:equest-users@onebuilding.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">
equest-users@onebuilding.org</a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Jim Dirkes <a
href="mailto:jim@buildingperformanceteam.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><jim@buildingperformanceteam.com></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Equest-users] White
Box Technologies brings simulation
weather data to the satellite age</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p>Nick,</p>
<p>This is an interesting topic that has
evolved in an unexpected way. Now that NREL
has mastered the technology of
satellite-derived solar radiation, they have
regarded weather station data as an
impediment, since there's no way to get such
measured data to match the 5-kilometer grid
of the satellite-derived solar. Therefore,
they have abandoned the weather station data
(which was was used in all the TMYs to date)
and gone instead to Reanalysis Data from
NOAA's MERRA, which is running a climate
forecasting model in retrospective mode. I
don't have time now to discuss reanalysis,
except to say that from what I've seen the
results are decidedly "iffy". Almost two
years ago, I managed to get a Work Statement
through ASHRAE for someone to take a good
look at reanalysis data.</p>
<p>So, what does this mean for your
question? NREL's National Solar Radiation
Data Base (NSRDB) can now get you the hourly
time series or a TMY for more than a million
grid points over the US, all with
satellite-derived solar radiation but MERRA
results for the other climate parameters.
I've told NREL several years ago that for
the building simulation industry it would be
much better to merge the satellite-derived
solar with actual station data that give
good accurate coverage of urban areas where
buildings are located. NREL's response was
that they'd be happy to do this, but someone
has to pay them for the work.
</p>
<p>In response to your hypothesis below, I
think you're being too disparaging of the
previous modeling efforts while raising too
high your expectations of satellite solar.
It's not that the previous models failed to
account for local climate conditions, but
that they lacked good data to drive them.
For example, all models included terms for
cloud cover and clearness, or for the more
detailed physical models arcane parameters
like aerosol optical depth, preciptable
moisture, etc., but how available are the
input data and how reliable are they? The
advantages of satellite-derived solar are
that they provide a comprehensive and
objective view of the cloud conditions,
which combined with satellite measurements
of the atmospheric conditions and improved
modeling, results in accuracies that
previous modeling efforts can not attain.
As far as discerning localized effects of
smog and dust in urban areas, that would
still depend on whether there's sufficient
monitoring at that spatial and time scale to
detect the differences. What I mean is
that it's one thing to observe that in
general urban locations have more smog and
particulates than rural locations, but it's
something else to quantify the resultant
differences in solar radiation over time and
distance.</p>
<p>I'd like to take the opportunity here to
step back and comment on the status of
weather data for the building energy
community, My interactions with NREL has
brought the realization that we have been
piggy-backing on the efforts of others
outside our community for our weather data.
I don't intend to pick on the NREL Solar
Program, several of whom I consider friends
and colleagues, but their target client is
the solar power industry. Since solar power
arrays can be installed anywhere, preferably
in rural uninhabited locations, it makes
sense to go to satellite-derived solar.
It's also clear that to serve that industry,
NREL would focus its efforts on getting the
best solar values, while all the other
climatic parameters, like temperature,
humidity, wind speed, etc., are secondary,
which may be why getting them from MERRA is
a satisfactory choice. The focus on solar
is also evident in the weighting used by
NREL to develop the TMYs, with 50% weight
placed on the 2 solar and 50% on the
remaining 8 non-solar parameters.
</p>
<p>For the building energy community, or
priorities are somewhat different. Since 99%
of buildings are located in urban locations,
we should focus much more on climate in
urban areas. Luckily, that's also where the
great majority of existing weather are
located, which is why I'm resistant to
throwing out measured weather data and
replacing them with synthetic data, no
matter how much they've been "seeded" with
real data. As for the weighting of climate
parameters in selecting the typical months,
why not use building energy simulations and
weight them by the distribution of heating
and cooling loads?
</p>
<p>Joe</p>
<pre>Joe Huang</pre>
<pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
<pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
<pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
<pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
<pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
<pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
<pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
<pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 1/2/2018 9:30 AM,
Nicholas Caton wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Joe,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From your perspective,
are NREL or any other
government/professional bodies making
moves/indications to update/refresh the
current TMY3 sets to utilize
satellite-derived solar radiation? Seems
like a no-brainer for our industry, but is
there a counter-argument? It seems
likely, but has there been rigorous
comparisons of satellite-derived solar
radiation against measured values and/or
our “present-day” solar models used to
derive solar radiation information for
building energy simulation?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also, I’m trying to
understand and correctly characterize the
impact of this development in simple terms
my brain can follow. Is it fair to say:
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The solar models used
in developing weather files for building
energy simulations to-date in our industry
(including all/most industry-standard TMY
weather sets), because they have been
using solar radiation derived from
(evolving) solar models, have <u>not</u>
accounted for the likes of local climate
cloud cover / smog / dust? Seattle
(~47°N) has perhaps been seeing as much
sunlight through the winter as Paris
(~48°N)?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Does satellite-derived
solar radiation address some or all of
these local climate issues (cloud cover,
smog, dust) affecting direct/indirect
solar radiation?
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks sincerely for
all your teaching Joe,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">~Nick</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img
id="Picture_x0020_1"
src="cid:part23.DC322165.DEF0736E@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
class="" height="9" width="726"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Nick Caton, P.E.,
BEMP</b></p>
<table class="MsoNormalTable" width="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="233">
<p class="MsoNormal"> Senior
Energy Engineer<br>
Regional Energy Engineering
Manager</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> Energy and
Sustainability Services<br>
Schneider Electric</p>
</td>
<td width="293">
<p class="MsoNormal">D 913.564.6361
<br>
M 785.410.3317 <br>
F 913.564.6380<br>
E <a
href="mailto:nicholas.caton@schneider-electric.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">nicholas.caton@schneider-electric.com</a></p>
</td>
<td width="202">
<p class="MsoNormal">15200 Santa
Fe Trail Drive<br>
Suite 204<br>
Lenexa, KS 66219<br>
United States</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3" width="728">
<p class="MsoNormal"><img
id="_x0000_i1028"
src="cid:part25.DE3D3B78.723C91E2@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
class="" height="49"
width="722"></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b>
Equest-users [<a
href="mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Joe Huang via
Equest-users<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, December 14,
2017 8:13 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> BLDG-SIM <a
href="mailto:bldg-sim@lists.onebuilding.org"
moz-do-not-send="true"><bldg-sim@lists.onebuilding.org></a>;
EnergyPlus_Support
<a
href="mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com></a>;
<a
href="mailto:equest-users@lists.onebuilding.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">equest-users@lists.onebuilding.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Equest-users] White
Box Technologies brings simulation
weather data to the satellite age</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p>It is with joy and some trepidation to
report that White Box Technologies (WBT)
is updating all its historical weather
files with satellite-derived solar
radiation. Joy because this overcomes what
has been the most significant question
mark with weather files; trepidation
because of the amount of work needed to
carry out and maintain this effort. To
show that this is more than marketing
hype, I need to give a rather long
explanation about this development.<br>
<br>
The bane of weather data over the past
three decades has been the solar radiation
(global horizontal and direct normal)
which are not measured parameters, but
derived using various solar and sky
models. All the familiar "typical year"
sets, i.e., TMY, WYEC, IWEC, etc., let
alone the historical weather files, have
modeled solar radiation. Although a lot of<br>
work has gone into such models (see M.
Iqbal,"An Introduction to Solar
Radiation", Academic Press, 1983), there
remain an almost intractible problem of
the lack of good measured solar to tune
any of these models. For example, in the
ASHRAE IWEC2 weather files, my team was
able to find one or two years' measured
data for less than 50 locations,<br>
from which were derived 28 sets of
regression coefficients then used for all
3,012 IWEC2 locations.<br>
<br>
For the past decade and a half,
researchers around the world have been
working to derive solar radiation from
weather satellite imagery, driven largely
by the needs of the solar power industry
for the siting of solar power plants and
getting "bankable" solar estimates for
their arrays. Our little building energy
simulation sector can of course benefit by
hanging on the coattails of the solar
power industry, but the downside has been
to be totally priced out, since the
commercial cost for one year's solar data
for one location (grid cell) typically
runs around $1,000.<br>
<br>
A welcome development over the last five
years is that various government offices
or affiliated consortia are now beginning
to also providing access to
satellite-derived solar radiation at
minimal or more acceptable costs under
various conditions. Over the past three
years, WBT has obtained access to such
data and permission for its use in WBT
weather files.<br>
WBT is now either replacing the solar
radiation on its historical weather files,
or using satellite-derived radiation to
develop custom solar coefficients for each
location to extend the satellite-derived
solar to time periods outside the
available time window. With the exception
of polar locations above or below 60/66
degrees, island nations in the Pacific and
Indian Ocean, and a few unfortunate "blind
spots", the entire land mass is being
covered with at least 10 years up to 18
years of hourly solar records.<br>
<br>
Starting in 2018, WBT historical weather
files in the following areas will all have
satellite-derived solar radiation for the
following time periods: Europe, Africa,
South America east of 66 West, i.e.,
Brazil and Uruguay (2004 to date),
Australia (1999 to date), and East Asia
(2007 to date, access pending). WBT
historical weather files in the following
areas will have satellite-derived solar
radiation for the indicated time periods -
North America and Central/South American
down to 20 South (1998-2015), South Asia
(2000-2014), with modeled solar radiation
from 2016 on that has been individually
tuned to the past satellite-derived solar.<br>
<br>
Another benefit to the satellite-derived
solar is to increases the number of
available weather stations, which in many
places has been limited by the lack of
cloud cover data needed to model the solar
radiation. For reasons that are not
immediately identifiable, several
English-speaking Commonwealth countries
has seen a marked drop in the number of
available stations due to the decreases in
the reporting of cloud cover (see plot,
ZAF = South Africa). For example, the
number of stations in the UK has dropped
by almost 2/3s between 2001 and 2017 (174
to 64), but with satellite-derived solar,
it will go back up to over 180, while in
Australia and South Africa the comparable
numbers are from 175 to well over 500, and
from 37 to over 100, respectively.<br>
<img id="_x0000_i1029"
src="cid:part30.40434B7E.80E0399E@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
class="" height="337" width="625"><br>
If interested, customers who have
purchased a historical weather files from
WBT over the past five years can get an
updated weather file at no cost. Lastly,
although it will take at least a month to
update all 10,000 2017 files, it's very
quick to do for any specific location or
even 50 or so locations. Therefore, if you
have an urgent request please e-mail me
and I will put that at the beginning of
the queue for that day.</p>
<pre>-- </pre>
<pre>Joe Huang</pre>
<pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
<pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
<pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
<pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
<pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
<pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
<pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
<pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr width="100%">
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
NOTICE: This communication and any attachments
("this message") may contain information which
is privileged, confidential, proprietary or
otherwise subject to restricted disclosure
under applicable law. This message is for the
sole use of the intended recipient(s). Any
unauthorized use, disclosure, viewing,
copying, alteration, dissemination or
distribution of, or reliance on, this message
is strictly prohibited. If you have received
this message in error, or you are not an
authorized or intended recipient, please
notify the sender immediately by replying to
this message, delete this message and all
copies from your e-mail system and destroy any
printed copies. You are receiving this
communication because you are listed as a
current WSP contact. Should you have any
questions regarding WSP's electronic
communications policy, please consult our
Anti-Spam Commitment at
<a href="http://www.wsp.com/casl"
moz-do-not-send="true">www.wsp.com/casl</a>.
For any concern or if you believe you should
not be receiving this message, please forward
this message to
<a href="mailto:caslcompliance@wsp.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">caslcompliance@wsp.com</a>
so that we can promptly address your request.
Note that not all messages sent by WSP qualify
as commercial electronic messages.
<br>
<br>
AVIS : Ce message, incluant tout fichier
l'accompagnant (« le message »), peut contenir
des renseignements ou de l'information
privilégiés, confidentiels, propriétaires ou à
divulgation restreinte en vertu de la loi. Ce
message est destiné à l'usage exclusif du/des
destinataire(s) voulu(s). Toute utilisation
non permise, divulgation, lecture,
reproduction, modification, diffusion ou
distribution est interdite. Si vous avez reçu
ce message par erreur, ou que vous n'êtes pas
un destinataire autorisé ou voulu, veuillez en
aviser l'expéditeur immédiatement et détruire
le message et toute copie électronique ou
imprimée. Vous recevez cette communication car
vous faites partie des contacts de WSP. Si
vous avez des questions concernant la
politique de communications électroniques de
WSP, veuillez consulter notre Engagement
anti-pourriel au <a
href="http://www.wsp.com/lcap"
moz-do-not-send="true">
www.wsp.com/lcap</a>. Pour toute question ou
si vous croyez que vous ne devriez pas
recevoir ce message, prière de le transférer
au
<a href="mailto:conformitelcap@wsp.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">conformitelcap@wsp.com</a>
afin que nous puissions rapidement traiter
votre demande. Notez que ce ne sont pas tous
les messages transmis par WSP qui constituent
des messages electroniques commerciaux.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
-LAEmHhHzdJzBlTWfa4Hgs7pbKl </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">__._,_.___</p>
</div>
<div id="fromDMARC">
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr width="100%">
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Posted by: "Jones,
Christopher"
<a href="mailto:Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com></a>
</p>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr width="100%">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<table class="MsoNormalTable">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/messages/37879;_ylc=X3oDMTJxajJicWVxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BG1zZ0lkAzM3ODc5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQ--?act=reply&messageNum=37879"
moz-do-not-send="true">Reply via web
post</a> </b></p>
</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal">•</p>
</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="mailto:Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com?subject=RE%3A%20%5BEquest-users%5D%20White%20Box%20Technologies%20brings%20simulation%20weather%20data%20to%20the%20satellite%20age"
moz-do-not-send="true">Reply to sender
</a></p>
</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal">•</p>
</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com?subject=RE%3A%20%5BEquest-users%5D%20White%20Box%20Technologies%20brings%20simulation%20weather%20data%20to%20the%20satellite%20age"
moz-do-not-send="true">Reply to group
</a></p>
</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal">•</p>
</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/newtopic;_ylc=X3oDMTJlMWdkbGppBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGMEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQ--"
moz-do-not-send="true">Start a New
Topic</a> </p>
</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal">•</p>
</td>
<td>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/topics/37869;_ylc=X3oDMTM2bjlnNGs2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BG1zZ0lkAzM3ODc5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQR0cGNJZAMzNzg2OQ--"
moz-do-not-send="true">Messages in
this topic</a> (4) </p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div id="megaphoneModule">
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr width="100%">
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Check out the automatic
photo album with
<a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">
2 photo(s)</a> from this topic. <br>
<a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span></span></a></p>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>
<hr width="100%">
</span></a></div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span></span></a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="sub_url"
moz-do-not-send="true"></a><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span><u><span>Have
you tried the highest rated
email app?</span></u> </span></a></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span>With
4.5 stars in iTunes, the Yahoo
Mail app is the highest rated
email app on the market. What
are you waiting for? Now you can
access all your inboxes (Gmail,
Outlook, AOL and more) in one
place. Never delete an email
again with 1000GB of free cloud
storage.</span></a></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>
<hr width="100%">
</span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="ygrp-grfd">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>EnergyPlus
support is found at:<br>
<u><span>http://energyplus.helpserve.com</span></u>
or send a message to
<u><span>energyplus-support@gard.com</span></u><br>
<br>
The EnergyPlus web site is found at:<br>
<u><span>http://www.energyplus.net/</span></u><br>
<br>
The group web site is:<br>
<u><span>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnergyPlus_Support/</span></u><br>
<br>
Attachments are currently allowed but be
mindful that not everyone has a high speed
connection. Limit attachments to small
files.<br>
<br>
EnergyPlus Documentation is searchable.
Open EPlusMainMenu.pdf under the
Documentation link and press the
"search" button.
</span></a></p>
</div>
<div id="ygrp-vital">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span><u><span>Visit
Your Group</span></u></span><span>
</span></a></b></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>·
<span class="cat"><b><u><span>New
Members</span></u></b></span><b>
<span class="ct">1</span> </b></span></a></p>
</div>
</div>
<div id="ft">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span></span></a></p>
<a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>•
<u><span>Privacy</span></u> • <u><span>Unsubscribe</span></u>
•
<u><span>Terms of Use</span></u> </span></p>
</div>
</a>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span> </span></a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>.</span></a></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span><br>
</span></a></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>__,_._,___</span></a></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span><br>
<br>
<br>
</span></a></p>
<pre><a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>_______________________________________________</span></a></pre>
<pre><a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>Bldg-sim mailing list</span></a></pre>
<pre><a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span><u><span>http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org</span></u></span></a></pre>
<pre><a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>To unsubscribe from this mailing list send a blank message to <u><span>BLDG-SIM-UNSUBSCRIBE@ONEBUILDING.ORG</span></u></span></a></pre>
</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span> </span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span> </span></a></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span> </span></a></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
</body>
</html>