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Thanks Nick!<br>
Re the catwalk - they are open to the atrium. The one reason to
model them is because they have light fixtures associated.
Including the floor areas of the catwalks increases the baseline lighting
to capture the lighting of the catwalks.<br><br>
The atrium is not open to the rest of the building except by door.
Between the perimeter spaces and the atrium is glazing. <br><br>
The other question I have is what do you do when the floor plans are
submitted in PDF - how do you import the floor plans into equest?
Or do you have to enter all the vertices manually?<br><br>
Thanks again for taking time to respond.<br><br>
<br><br>
At 04:04 PM 14/01/2011, Nick Caton wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Hi Chris,<br>
<br>
Some running thoughts you might consider – all this in concert might get
the job done, in any case it’s what I’d try first:<br>
- Varying
“floorplates”/zoning for each floor means you need unique shells per
floor, which means you can’t use any of the “open-to-above/below”
approaches to making an atrium with the wizards. That simplifies
the discussion somewhat: you’ll need to define this atrium somehow
“manually.”<br>
- I would draw out
the “catwalk corridors” (assuming they’re covered and separately
conditioned) on their respective shell-floors. If they’re open to
the atrium I’d ignore them entirely.<br>
- I would finish
everything up in the wizards, and upon entering detailed mode delete
every created space/zone that’s part of the “atrium,” excepting the top
level’s, which should include any roof/skylight surfaces and be
retained. Delete any child surfaces associated with these atrium
zones excepting any interior partitions to the perimeter zones – if those
exist, move the interior partitions to be a child component of the
appropriate perimeter zone first before deleting the atrium zone.
You might be above to avoid this scenario in the wizards by defining the
atrium zones LAST at the custom zone definition dialogs for each shell…
not sure but worth a shot.<br>
- I would modify
the space geometries (volume) and its internal loads (# of people should
account for the catwalks if they’re open) to match the full volume of the
atrium<br>
- Assign a SUM
system as a placeholder to the atrium – goal being to have all its loads
handled by the systems serving the perimeter spaces <br>
- I would use the
2D view of each shell to modify all internal walls “open” to the
atrium in the actual design to be of type “AIR,” and to
simultaneously ensure their parent space is associated to the large,
common atrium space. I <u>think</u> this will correctly tie the
atrium’s internal loads to the others thermally… this is why we took care
to keep those and not delete them along with the wizard-generated atrium
spaces.<br>
- I would use the
“DIRECT” option for the HVAC systems’ return air path, rather than the
plenum/duct options – I <u>think</u> this will indirectly ensure the heat
gains/losses of any atrium skylights/roofs and the collective internal
heat gains in the atrium find their way into the return air stream<br>
<br>
I can’t say 100% whether this is all you’d need to do, but it’s a game
plan I would start with. To make a comment regarding
accuracy: It’s probably fair to say eQuest, which doesn’t model
complex CFD on an hourly basis, may not be as accurate in any end-case as
some more costly software options may be for a large atrium as you’re
describing. This approach should be sufficient however for getting
into the right ballpark, provided those “<u>think</u>” items above hold
true (you might want to hold off for others’ input).<br>
<br>
<br>
Best of luck – sounds like an interesting project to say the least
=)!<br>
<br>
~Nick<br>
<br>
<br>
PS: I’ve never been compensated for my advice on these lists, and
I’m not about to start asking, but neither have I taken on any liability
or promise of availability as a formal instructor... That said, I
wouldn’t go home and cry myself to sleep if someone found anything
valuable enough to compensate ^_^.<br>
<br>
<img src="cid:.0" width=119 height=37 alt="cid:489575314@22072009-0ABB">
<br>
<b> <br>
NICK CATON, E.I.T.<br>
</b>PROJECT ENGINEER<br>
Smith & Boucher Engineers<br>
25501 west valley parkway<br>
olathe ks 66061<br>
direct 913 344.0036<br>
fax 913 345.0617<br>
<a href="www.smithboucher.htm">www.smithboucher.com</a><u> <br>
</u> <br>
<b>From:</b> equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org
[<a href="mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org" eudora="autourl">
mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of
</b>Chris Jones<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, January 14, 2011 1:21 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> equest-users@lists.onebuilding.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Equest-users] Advanced Level Equest Classes<br>
<br>
The topic I consider advanced is modelling different floor plate shapes
on each floor - with a multi-storey atrium in the middle. The
atrium has corridor catwalks for crossing from one side of the building
to another. Supply air is transferred into the atrium from the
surrounding spaces - the atrium is a return air plenum for multiple air
handlers. <br><br>
I would gladly pay for a step by step tutorial on setting up the geometry
for such a building.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
I’ve been in discussions with those who make a business of eQuest/DOE2
instruction regarding this issue… I think a major reason we don’t see
many ‘advanced’ classes is: it would be very hard to develop a
rubric/syllabus for an ‘advanced’ group of learners as it would seem
there aren’t many ‘advanced’ topics that aren’t extremely
system/project-specific (therefore seemingly of little interest to a
group of learners at large). <br>
<br>
One exception that comes to mind that would probably be of common
interest might be the evaluation and creation of chiller & heatpump
performance curves – that skillset is frankly tough to self-learn (it
took me a long while and multiple projects)… <br>
<br>
As an aside: I might also cite a real-world experience where a
local rep for Carrier hosted an event that included
discussion/instruction for a single, narrow ‘advanced’ eQuest topic:
geothermal well-field design using eQuest/DOE2. The room was
<u>packed*</u>! I hope more equipment reps in time will recognize
the value and potential draw when advanced eQuest topic instruction is
offered, even if only for a very narrow sort of system/topic.<br>
<br>
If you really would like formal, ‘advanced’ instruction, you might be
best-advised to come up with a list of topics you want
instruction/guidance on (make your own personal rubric), and share that
list either publicly on the lists or directly with those who offer
training services – you may be able to then filter out who is able and is
willing to teach you some or all of your desired instruction
individually, and at what cost. <br>
<br>
~Nick<br>
<br>
* I would be remiss to not mention Anthony Hardman (frequent contributor
to these lists) provided that instruction, and it was excellent.<br>
<br><br>
<br>
Chris Jones<br>
14 Oneida Avenue<br>
Toronto, ON M5J 2E3.<br>
Tel. 416-203-7465<br>
Fax. 416-946-1005<br><br>
</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<br>
Chris Jones<br>
14 Oneida Avenue<br>
Toronto, ON M5J 2E3.<br>
Tel. 416-203-7465<br>
Fax. 416-946-1005<br><br>
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