<html><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div>Thank you very much for your help I will try both of your suggestions<br><br>Chris Toothaker<div>402.310.7688</div><div><div><div>Sent from my iPhone</div></div></div></div><div><br>On Oct 12, 2010, at 9:57 AM, "Nick Caton" <<a href="mailto:ncaton@smithboucher.com">ncaton@smithboucher.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
<div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Some additional thoughts…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">If you always have zero heating no matter what, then just as Carol
said it’s likely a missing or incorrect thermostat schedule for one or
more systems. A coincident symptom of missing thermostats would be having 0
unmet heating hours while simultaneously having zero heating energy consumption
when you know you should have some heating loads. You can’t have an
unmet hour in a zone without a thermostat to define it first.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">More than once I’ve taken a first look at the visual
consumption/cost reports, and too quickly drew the wrong conclusion also…
If the heating cost/consumption bars are tiny in magnitude, is it because the others
are astronomical? Entering a utility rate with the decimal one figure off will
do that very sneakily =).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">The layers method of defining constructions is pretty much
something I personally always do, even when I have limited information. The
U-Value method of defining constructions, if I’m not mistaken, is
intended only for lightweight constructions with effectively zero heat
retention / thermal mass (i.e. a metal shed). If you tried to model any
masonry or wood-framed wall using the U-value method, I’d expect a pretty
inaccurate simulation because you won’t be modeling the realistic “buffer”
over time for external envelope loads. With regard to what layers to use for 90.1
baselines, import the attached reference file for all above-ground wall and
roof constructions for all climate zones (get to detailed mode </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:#1F497D">à</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"> file
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:#1F497D">à</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">
input file… </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;
color:#1F497D">à</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"> navigate to this .inp file). Kudos and Credits for the
original file to Adam Boyd by the way. Open the file with a text editor (notepad)
to learn in detail where the layers were derived from. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">Alternatively if you’re using eQuest 3.64, you could
dabble with the LEED compliance tool to have it generate layered constructions
similar to the attached. I’ve not looked hard to verify the accuracy but
I found good numbers were generated for a single project/climate zone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">It’s probably worth noting that Monterrey Mexico on a
cursory google search doesn’t appear to drop below freezing temperatures
much. If you have a building with significant internal heat loads and good
insulation it may be perfectly normal to have heating consumptions of a low
magnitude, as your occupants/lights/equipment are ‘self-heating.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D">~Nick <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D"></span></p></div></div></blockquote></body></html>