Energy Efficient Buildings

EQuest Simulation Project

Project Due: Last Day of Class: Thur, April 26, 2012

Introduction

EQuest is widely-used building energy simulation program. It was developed as a front end and extension to the DOE 2.0 building energy simulation program, which for years served as the standard against which other building energy software was compared. The program simulates hour-by-hour energy use in buildings using TMY3-style meteorological data files. Today, EQuest is available for no charge over the internet.

Familiarity with EQuest is a skill valued by many employers in the building energy design and efficiency field. It will broaden your understanding of building energy simulation, including the type and format of data required by and generated by building energy simulation programs.

Problem Statement

1)  Download and install EQuest.

2)  Determine data needed to simulate annual Kettering Lab electricity and natural gas use.

3)  Based on information discussed in class and building inspections, collect and enter the data needed to simulate Kettering Laboratory annual electricity and natural gas use.

4)  Simulate annual energy use. Calibrate your simulated electricity use against the monthly data shown below. (No metered Kettering Labs natural gas data is available to calibrate against.)

5)  Report your results as if you are a consultant hired to do an energy analysis of Kettering Laboratory and your first deliverable is a simulation model that approximates current energy use. Your report should include:

  1. Cover page
  2. Executive summary
  3. Brief description of building and building energy systems (i.e. building function, location, size, operating schedule, air system configuration, cooling plant configuration, heating plant configuration.
  4. Brief description of building energy simulation software (EQuest)
  5. Brief description of meteorological data used in simulation.
  6. Summary of key input variables used in simulation.
  7. Summary of key output data (monthly electricity and natural gas use) including comparison with measured data. Include graphical representations of results.

Month / Year / Elec (kWh)
9 / 2001 / 526,200
10 / 2001 / 510,900
11 / 2001 / 429,300
12 / 2002 / 398,700
1 / 2002 / 405,000
2 / 2002 / 332,700
3 / 2002 / 338,400
4 / 2002 / 506,100
5 / 2002 / 393,900
6 / 2002 / 740,700
7 / 2002 / 551,700
8 / 2002 / 591,900