Simulation Calculation Options - Output

Simulation tab on Model Options dialog and Output tab on Simulation Options dialog and Outputs model data tab.

Output Data

You can control the data generated from simulations by making selections on the Simulation tab of the Model options dialog, on the Output tab of the Simulation calculation options dialog or on the Miscellaneous model data tab.

Building and block output of zone data

This option causes average and total zone data to be generated for building and blocks. For example average temperatures, comfort conditions, total solar radiation, internal gains, fabric transmission losses etc. It does not affect the generation of energy consumption and CO2 data at the building level.

Note: It is not possible for DesignBuilder to display block level results when any type of zone merging has been enabled regardless of this setting.

Include unoccupied zones in block and building totals and averages

By default, data for unoccupied zones is excluded from block and building totals and averages. Check this option to include data for unoccupied zones.

 

A zone is defined as unoccupied if it has:

 

 

The way building and block averages are calculated is described in the Comfort Analysis section.

Note: if you uncheck this option and all zones in the model are unoccupied then you will get a 'Zero floor area error' message

Allow custom outputs

By default this option is checked and it is possible to select specific outputs for building, zones, surfaces and openings on the Outputs model data tab. The disadvantage of specifying specific output selections for each EnergyPlus object is that it can slow the simulations down, especially the initialisation period before the main simulation starts. For large models this can cause extremely long delays and in this case it is advisable to switch this option off.

 

When this option is switched off the "*" character is used in the Output:Variable IDF data to mean "all objects", instead of specifying outputs for each object one by one. Because of the way that EnergyPlus is structured this results in much more efficient processing.

 

The following limitations apply when Allow custom outputs is deselected:

 

Tip: For very large models it is usually best to uncheck this option to reduce simulation times.

Graphable Outputs - Energy

Surface heat transfer  

Select this option to generate heat flow at surface boundaries. Note that selecting this option results in large amounts of data being generated as EnergyPlus must generate output for every surface and window in the zone and you should only select it if you need to look at the zone heat balance. The following EnergyPlus reports are generated:

 

 

For more information, see under the Fabric and Ventilation header of the Simulation Detailed Results page.

Internal gains including solar                          

Select this option to generate internal gains-related output and any associated energy consumption. The following EnergyPlus reports are generated:

 

 

For more information, see under the Internal Gains header of the Simulation Detailed Results page.

Energy, HVAC etc                       

Select this option to generate energy consumption data for the HVAC system.

 

For more information, see under the System Heat Flows and Fuel breakdown headers of the Simulation Detailed Results page.

Latent loads

Select this option to include output of latent gains from occupants and other internals gains.

 

For more information, see under the Internal Gains header of the Simulation Detailed Results page.

Graphable Outputs - Comfort and Environmental

Reporting period

You can restrict the simulation comfort and environmental outputs using the options:

 

 

Note that temperature distribution outputs (below) are unaffected by this setting as they have their own specific reporting period and schedule options.

Reporting schedule

Select the schedule to be used to restrict outputs when the Reporting period (above) is set to 3-User-defined schedule.

Environmental

This option generates temperatures and humidity data.  The following EnergyPlus reports are generated:

 

 

For more information, see under the Environmental/Comfort Output header of the Simulation Detailed Results page.

Fresh air supply

Select this option to include total infiltration, natural ventilation plus mechanical fresh air supply outputs.

 

For more information, see under the Fabric and Ventilation header of the Simulation Detailed Results page.

Simple ASHRAE Standard 55

 

For more information, see under the Environmental/Comfort Output header of the Simulation Detailed Results page.

Adaptive ASHRAE Standard 55

Checking this option causes these outputs to be generated:

 

Note: ASHRAE 55 Adaptive outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are not available on DesignBuilder Simulation screen.

Note: Since valid ASHRAE 55 Adaptive outputs are only generated when the running mean outside air temperature is higher than 10°C, they apply mainly to summer overheating comfort analyses and so do not pick up winter underheating.

Adaptive CEN Standard 15251

Checking this option causes the following outputs to be generated:

 

Note: CEN Standard 15251 Adaptive outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are not available on DesignBuilder Simulation screen.

CIBSE TM52

Select this option to generate TM52 outputs.

Building category

Select the building category. See Comfort Analysis for more details.

Note: CIBSE TM52 outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are currently not available on DesignBuilder Simulation screen.

CIBSE TM59

Select this option to generate TM59 overheating analysis outputs. When this option is checked the following further options can be selected.

Note: CIBSE TM59 outputs must be viewed in the Results Viewer - they are currently not available on DesignBuilder Simulation screen.

Mechanical ventilation

Selecting this output will add results according to TM59 chapter 4.3, as described in the TM59 section.

Vulnerable occupants

Selecting this output will change the building category for predominantly naturally ventilated buildings according to TM59 chapter 4.2 as described in the TM59 section.

Corridors

Selecting this output will produce results according to TM59 chapter 4.5 as described in the TM59 section.

Natural ventilation rules

There are 3 options to choose from:

 

Note: When choosing options 2 or 3, please be sure to read the detailed discussion on this option in the TM59 temperature control section, especially if you plan to the use the model for energy analysis as well as for TM59 overheating analysis.

Fanger

Select this option to generate Fanger PPD and PMV outputs.

Note: PMV outputs should only be viewed on a zone by zone basis at hourly or sub-hourly intervals. When viewing averages over longer intervals the meaning of this output can easily become distorted. For example consider a simple case where there is extreme overheating in the summer (e.g. average PMV = +3) and similarly extreme underheating in the winter (e.g. average PMV = -3). The average over the year might be close to zero, but that does not mean that the building was comfortable throughout the year! For similar reasons the building average PMV should be used with extreme caution.

Pierce 2-Node

Select this option to generate the following Pierce 2-Node outputs:

 

Kansas State University two-node

Select this option to generate KSU Model Thermal Sensation Vote outputs using the KSU two-node thermal comfort model.

Temperature distribution                 

Select this option to generate Temperature distribution data for each zone.

Reporting period

You can restrict the outputs for simulation temperature distribution only in 2 ways using the options:

 

Reporting schedule

Select the schedule to be used to restrict outputs when the Reporting period (above) is set to 3-User-defined schedule.

Detailed Daylight Outputs

Daylight map output

Generates the EnergyPlus daylight map outputs.

 

Details of this report are shown in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.

Daylight factor, illuminance and glare data

When this option is selected additional daylighting data is generated as described below.

 

Daylight factor data is written to the .eio file and the daylight illuminance and glare data is written to the eso file for viewing in the Results Viewer.

Daylight factors

Daylight factors are ratios of interior illuminance at a specific location to exterior horizontal illuminance. In EnergyPlus, they are pre-calculated hourly for every shadow calculation day for every exterior window of a daylight zone. The pre-calculated daylight factors are interpolated between hours and for the actual sky conditions in the time-step calculation of the daylighting performance of daylight zones.

 

EnergyPlus reports the daylight factors for four sky types (clear, turbid clear, intermediate, and overcast) at noon time (12:00pm) for each exterior windows (base window without shading) in the eio file when the daylight factors are first calculated. This reports all hourly pre-calculated daylight factors.

 

Details of this report are shown in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.

Daylighting Reference Point <x> Illuminance

The total daylight illuminance at the first and second reference points from all of the windows in a daylit zone.

Daylighting Reference Point <x> Glare Index

The daylight glare index at the first and second reference points in a daylit zone.

Summary Outputs

Summary output units

EnergyPlus internally calculates energy in the form of J, but since the magnitude of those numbers for most buildings is very large, conversion options are provided for the summary report tables.

Select the units for energy to be reported in the EnergyPlus summary table. Options are:

 

 

The 1-kWh, 3-MJ and 4-GJ unit conversion input options apply only to the Output:Table:Monthly reports and partially to the ABUPS report. For ABUPS, the 1-kWh option changes the report but the 3-MJ and 4-GJ options do not since they it is already in MJ/m2 and GJ. In addition, the 1-kWh option also changes results in the LEED Summary report, changing GJ to kWh and MJ/m2 to kWh/m2.

Summary Annual Reports

The easiest option is to select the All Summary report option which will produce all of the annual summary reports, except the Component Load Summary reports.

 

Including the Component Load Summary report will increase the simulation run time.

 

Also note that the Envelope Summary, Surface Shadowing Summary and Shading Summary reports can be very long for large models since they include entries for every surface / opening.

The screenshot below shows the summary annual reports available for selection.

 

Tip: DesignBuilder v7 doesn't provide specific options for the more recent EnergyPlus summary tables listed below, but these can still be generated by selecting the All Summary report option:

- Tariff Report
- Life Cycle Cost Report
- Heat Emissions Report
- Thermal Resilience Summary
- CO2 Resilience Summary
- Visual Resilience Summary

Summary Monthly Reports

Select from a range of summary monthly reports:

 

 

Information about the various monthly summary reporting options can be found in the EnergyPlus Output Details And Examples documentation.

Miscellaneous Outputs

HVAC System temperatures

Check this option if you would like DesignBuilder to generate temperature output for each air and water node in the HVAC system. This output data cannot be displayed directly in DesignBuilder but can be viewed in the separate Results Viewer application.

HVAC System mass flow rates

Check this option if you would like DesignBuilder to generate mass flow output for each air and water node in the HVAC system. This output data cannot be displayed directly in DesignBuilder but can be viewed in the separate Results Viewer application.

HVAC System humidity ratios

Check this option if you would like DesignBuilder to generate humidity ratio output for each air node in the HVAC system. This output data cannot be displayed directly in DesignBuilder but can be viewed in the separate Results Viewer application.

SQLite output

Output from EnergyPlus can be written to SQLite files for manipulation outside of DesignBuilder. When this option is selected all of the predefined database tables as well as time series related data is included in the SQLite output file eplusout.sql. The description for SQLite outputs is described fully in the EnergyPlus Output Details document.

Tip: SQLite outputs can be processed by the DesignBuilder db_eplusout_reader Python library for generating custom reports and optimisation KPIs.

DXF model output                         

This option causes EnergyPlus to generate a DXF file summarising the building model. The file is called eplusout.dxf and it is stored in the EnergyPlus folder. This option can be useful for checking that the correct geometry has been generated.

Construction and surface details         

This option causes EnergyPlus to generate a comma separated value file summarising the building model. The file is called eplusout.eio and it is stored in the EnergyPlus folder.

RDD/EDD File

Select this option if you would like RDD and EDD files to be generated by the simulation for use in future simulations. The RDD file provides a list of all the EnergyPlus output reports that could be selected for the current model, while the EDD files contains a list of all the available actuators.

Time Setpoints not Met Tolerances

This section of input allows more control over the reporting of “Time setpoint not met” hours.

Tolerance for time heating setpoint not met

This data defines the maximum difference from the heating setpoint when reporting the time heating setpoints are not met. If the zone temperature is below the heating setpoint by more than this value, the following report variables will increment as appropriate:

 

 

It also impacts table report "Annual Building Utility Performance Summary" sub-table "Comfort and Setpoint Not Met Summary".

Tolerance for time cooling setpoint not met

This data defines the maximum difference from the cooling setpoint when reporting the time cooling setpoints are not met. If the zone temperature is above the cooling setpoint by more than this value, the following report variables will increment as appropriate:

 

 

It also impacts table report "Annual Building Utility Performance Summary" sub-table "Comfort and Setpoint Not Met Summary".