Department of Energy Energy Modeling Roadmap
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Earlier this year, Navigant consulting released a DOE-commissioned draft R&D roadmap for building energy modeling. The comment period produced over 400 comments, which Navigant and DOE are currently working to address. This talk will cover the major roadmap findings, distill lessons from the comments, and describe how DOE is addressing recommendations--from both the roadmap draft and the comments--via current efforts and plans for the near future.
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Department of Energy Energy Modeling Roadmap
- 2. 2 Who Am I Technology manager in DOE Building Technologies Office Responsible for BEM portfolio: EnergyPlus, OpenStudio, Radiance, etc. Have been doing this for almost six years can talk the talk! Not a modeler or mechanical engineer by training ... can crawl the walk
- 3. 3 Roadmap Process Overview Commissioned by BTO Emerging Technologies in Mar. 2015 Required of all technologies Tough for software (IMO)fast moving, diverse uses & stakeholders Developed by Navigant Consulting With input & oversight from DOE (my first roadmapdoes it show!) Two day-long workshops (DC & Seattle) in Jun. 2015 ~35 people: labs, vendors, practitioners, educators, researchers, organizations ~20 phone interviews Draft released Feb. 2016 http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/02/f29/DOE-BTO-BEM-Roadmap-DRAFT-2-1-2016_0.pdf Six-week comment period: >400 comments! Currently working to address & revisesecond draft expected Jul. 2016 (?) Lessons More practitioners!
- 4. 4 Roadmap Structural Overview Background State of the market Gaps & barriers Initiatives General sections with DOE (EnergyPlus/OpenStudio) subsections Lessons Appropriate to focus on EnergyPlus/OpenStudio? Dont compare tools to EnergyPlus/OpenStudio or one another! Dont forget lighting (Radiance) & fa巽ade (THERM) analyses, some others Avoid numbers & stats (methodology is difficult to defend)
- 6. 6 Init #1. Making The BEM Business Case Current value of BEM is performance documentation (codes & labels) Managers invest because: i) they have to, ii) market rewards, iii) cheap one-shot BEM These tasks are not creative or fun, dont draw professionals or innovators Long-term value is in design & operations These tasks are creative and fun But managers dont invest in them, why not? Lack of predictive accuracy not a technical barrier, but a perceived one Inconsistency across modelers, lack of standards & QA hard to assess quality Unproductive, labor-intensive workflows dont get a lot for $$$ Unclear benefit over normative calculations(80/20 rule) is this the big one? What can DOE do to address these concerns?
- 7. 7 Init #1. The BEM-for-Design Business Case Already great 1-4 month simple paybackwill improve with workflows! http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/articles/shockingly-short-payback-energy-modeling Need: i) transparent, convincing baselines & attribution, ii) more data, iii) publicity
- 8. 8 Init #1: The BEM-for-Operations Business Case Does anyone make money using BEM to operate buildings? Yes, QCoefficient! EnergyPlus-driven predictive control (dynamically adjusts zone set-points) Leverages building thermal mass to shift demand away from peaks Case study: Willis Tower, Chicago, IL (13 of 108 floors20% of occupied space) Reduce daytime HVAC by 1530 MWh for pre-occupancy charge of 650 MWh Reduced chiller use & starts Disclaimer: only for buildings with big chillers, i.e., 500,000+ sf What is needed to make BEM-for-operations safe for smaller buildings? What is needed to support other operational uses, e.g., CCx/FDD? http://qcoefficient.com/
- 9. 9 Init #2: Support Operational Use Cases BEM engines already support control what else is needed? Most engines support pre-defined control schemes in a bulk timestep way Need to model control the way it is actually implemented, i.e., instantaneous Otherwise real world effects like jitter/oscillation are ignored in control design Need to model externally-defined control that can be automatically optimized Helpful if modeled control and executed control are the same control program Simplifies & eliminates errors in control implementation Helpful if simulated control can interface with BMS, e.g., BACnet, Modbus Facilitates simulation-based testing of both virtual & physical controllers Helpful if capabilities are accessible via OpenStudio SDK, Measures, etc. Apologies for the forward pointer, these will be discussed shortly EnergyPlus EMS doesnt really qualify on any count
- 10. 10 Init #2: Spawn-of-EnergyPlus (SOEP) Next-generation EnergyPlus that supports operational use cases Refactor into modules that support model-exchange via FMI standard (FY16 & 17) Re-implement of HVAC & controls in Modelica (ongoing via Annex 60 & IBPSA-World) Anticipated benefit: speed! Discrete-time simulation discrete-event simulation Anticipated benefit: (proprietary) 3rd-party component/system models Will initially be available as OpenStudio alternative engine, not as drop-in for EnergyPlus OpenStudio & Applications Lighting (C++) Envelope (C++) Airflow (C++) HVAC (C++) Controls (C++) IDF External Solver Lighting (C++) Envelope (C++) Airflow (C++) HVAC (Modelica) Controls (Modelica) OpenStudio & Applications Control models run on physical controllers (e.g., Tridium) IDF HVAC & control models from public or manufacturer libraries DRAFT working paper. Do not distribute. - cooling tower chiller economizer room pump control valve fan cooling coil Tws Twr Tcs Tset Twc (a) Schematic diagram. chi P T_CHWS on val6 TCHWEntChi TCWLeaTow T (b) Modelica system model. Figure 25: Schematic diagram of the chilled water plant model with water side economizer. 39 FMU FMU FMU FMU FMU
- 11. 11 Init #3: Improve BEM Productivity For users Automate tedious, compulsory tasks: code compliance, LEED, dealing with EnergyPlus Facilitate & support creative, high-value tasks: design, optimization For developers Automate tedious, compulsory tasks: code compliance, LEED, dealing with EnergyPlus Facilitate & support creative, high-value tasks: delivering integrated workflows DOE values this goal OpenStudio is all about this Not the application the SDK, Server, CLI & Measures (90%+ of budget) https://github.com/NREL/
- 12. 12 Init #3: OpenStudio SDK EnergyPlus is user/developer antagonistic Non-standard file interface, changes too frequently & backward-compatibility is clunky OpenStudio SDK designed to address this problem API interface, doesnt change (often) & handles compatibility internally Same model also drives Radiance, CONTAM, ESP-r & CEN/ISO 13790 Not a perfect solution yet Doesnt support all of EnergyPlus (e.g., EMS) although getting a lot better Doesnt read IDF HVAC mostly useful for interacting with pure EnergyPlus-based tools But good enough for many apps OpenStudio CLI: lean, mean, zero-dependence workflow machine Still skunk-works, will be available soon Should bring aboard additional apps
- 13. 13 Init #3: OpenStudio Measures The most significant development in BEM in last five years Model transformations, reporting & QA, workflow automation https://bcl.nrel.gov/node/39783 https://bcl.nrel.gov/node/82918
- 14. 14 Init #3: OpenStudio Standards The latest killer Measure set? OpenStudio Standards Create OSMs of commercial prototype buildings (any climate-zone or vintage) Or apply Appendix G baseline transform same code does both! A small step from automating LEED EAc1 Canada/India using this process to automate NECB/ECBC California Title24 coming sometime next year https://github.com/NREL/openstudio-standards Some other goodies in there Performance documentation (codes & labels) These tasks are not creative or fun Youre very welcome!
- 17. 17 Init #3: What About BIM? I love BIM! How should energy models connect to BIM? <soapbox> Should energy models support BIM natively? No BIM-grade physics would be complicated, slow & mostly unnecessary Where should BIM-to-BEM translation live? In BIM authoring tool BIM-to-BEM translation often requires BIM fix-up & interpretation of design intent Only BIM authoring toolwhich interacts with model authoris in position to do this Aligns with trend to have background BEM as you design What does this mean for OpenStudio Measures and BEM-level transforms? BIM may adopt Measure technology (e.g., GrassHopper/Dynamo++ ++ ++) </soapbox>
- 18. 18 Init #4: Continuously Assess User/Industry Needs Launched EnergyPlus & OpenStudio UserVoicefeedback sites Aug. 2015 http://energyplus.uservoice.com/ & http://openstudio.uservoice.com/ Accessible from http://energyplus.net/ & http://openstudio.net/ Feedback tabs http://energyplus.net/ single sign-on Get your feedback in before the EnergyPlus development team meeting Jun. 25 Anything else we can do?
- 19. 19 Init #5: Support Education ASHRAE/IBPSA travel grants for students & young professionals Apply now for SimBuild 2016 @ SLC http://www.ibpsa.us/news/win-1000-scholarship-funds-attend-simbuild-2016-salt-lake-city ASHRAE/IBPSA Low-Down Showdown: low-energy design competition Second iteration (Jan. 2017) will focus on existing buildings Two tracks: professional & student Look for announcement & schedule in a few weeks University-led BUILD FOA (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/) Could be managed & scoped better Free/open-source software What else can DOE do? No, really
- 20. 20 Init #5: Support Training DOE Model is train-the-trainers Cost-ineffective and anti-competitive to subsidize lab/contractor training https://energyplus.net/support http://nrel.github.io/OpenStudio-user-documentation/help/training/ Goal is to have 1+ certified training organization in every part of the country DC EnergyPlus/OpenStudio training: Jul. 25-27, Catholic University http://unmethours.com/ Peer-to-peer Q&A EnergyPlus & OpenStudio teams are active
- 21. 21 Looking Back & Forward A lot has happened in last year Autodesk releases EnergyPlus-based Insight360 for Revit and FormIt Sefaira-cum-Trimble releases EnergyPlus-based Sefaira Architecture Trane releases beta of EnergyPlus-based TRACE (most frequently used BEM tool) RESNET votes to adopt single EnergyPlus-based implementation of HERS rating Canada and India basing new whole-building codes on EnergyPlus/OpenStudio Four utilities (OET, Austin, CPS, Duke) using EnergyPlus/OpenStudio in incentive programs Anticipate similar progress in coming year! More information Website: http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-energy-modeling/ Blog: /end-use-breakdown-building-energy-modeling-blog MYPP: http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/downloads/multi-year-program-plan Email: amir.roth@ee.doe.gov Thanks!