EcoDesigner STAR User Manual - Graphisoft

432 Pages·2014·28.37 MB·English

by  Avvakumovits, Katica

EcoDesigner STAR
User Manual
GRAPHISOFT®
Visit the GRAPHISOFT website at http://www.graphisoft.com for local distributor and
product availability information.
EcoDesigner STAR™ User Manual
Copyright © 2014 by GRAPHISOFT, all rights reserved. Reproduction, paraphrasing or
translation without express prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Trademarks
ArchiCAD® is a registered trademark of GRAPHISOFT.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
Contents
1 GETTING STARTED WITH ECODESIGNER STAR ................................................... 9
1.1 Technical Requirements .................................................................................................................. 9
1.2 General ArchiCAD Settings ............................................................................................................ 12
2 PRODUCT OVERVIEW ................................................................................................. 14
2.1 New Energy Evaluation Features in ArchiCAD 17 .......................................................................... 14
2.1.1 Multiple Thermal Block Building Energy Model ....................................................................... 15
2.1.2 Physical Properties in ArchiCAD 17 Building Materials ............................................................ 16
2.1.3 Model –Based Solar Analysis .................................................................................................... 16
2.1.4 Custom Operation Profiles ....................................................................................................... 17
2.1.5 New Building Systems Processing, Dialog and Content ............................................................ 18
2.1.6 Enriched and Customizable Energy Evaluation Report PDF ..................................................... 19
2.2 Differences between ArchiCAD Energy Evaluation and EcoDesigner STAR ..................................... 21
2.3 EcoDesigner STAR Only Features .................................................................................................. 23
2.3.1 BIM Geometry and Material Property Data Export .................................................................. 23
2.3.2 Thermal Bridge Simulation ....................................................................................................... 23
2.3.3 Expert Building Systems Settings .............................................................................................. 24
2.3.4 On-Site Renewables .................................................................................................................. 25
2.3.5 Building Energy Simulation using Standard-Compliant Analysis Engine .................................. 27
2.3.6 Energy Performance Report of Thermal Blocks ........................................................................ 28
2.3.7 Standard Compliant Building Energy Performance Rating ....................................................... 32
2.3.8 Customizable XLS Report .......................................................................................................... 34
2.4 EcoDesigner STAR Workflow ........................................................................................................ 35
2.4.1 Prepare the Architectural BIM for EcoDesigner STAR .............................................................. 35
2.4.2 Define Thermal Blocks .............................................................................................................. 36
2.4.3 Automatic Analysis of Geometry and Materials ....................................................................... 36
2.4.4 Assign and Input Additional Data to Complete the BEM .......................................................... 36
2.4.5 Evaluate Building Energy Performance .................................................................................... 38
3 DIRECT BIM TO BEM ................................................................................................... 39
3.1 The Architectural BIM .................................................................................................................. 39
3.2 Internal Space Zones .................................................................................................................... 39
3.2.1 3D Zone Boundaries ................................................................................................................. 40
3.2.2 2D Zone Boundaries ................................................................................................................. 41
3.2.3 Update Zones............................................................................................................................ 42
3.2.4 Zone Modeling Conventions ..................................................................................................... 42
3.3 Building Energy Model View ......................................................................................................... 43
3.4 Automatic Model Geometry and Material Property Analysis ........................................................ 44
3.4.1 Space Boundary Generation ..................................................................................................... 44
3.4.2 Update Energy Model Review .................................................................................................. 45
4 BUILDING ENERGY MODEL REVIEW ...................................................................... 46
4.1 List and Tree Tab Page View Options ............................................................................................ 46
4.2 Thermal Blocks Tab Page .............................................................................................................. 47
4.2.1 Create Thermal Blocks .............................................................................................................. 48
4.2.2 Thermal Blocks Data ................................................................................................................. 49
4.3 Structures Tab Page ..................................................................................................................... 49
4.3.1 Structures Data ......................................................................................................................... 51
4.3.2 Area Threshold ......................................................................................................................... 53
4.3.3 Structure Area Correction ........................................................................................................ 53
4.4 Openings Tab Page ....................................................................................................................... 54
4.4.1 Openings Data .......................................................................................................................... 55
4.4.2 Show Uniform Items as a Single Entry ...................................................................................... 57
4.4.3 Total Area Threshold ................................................................................................................ 58
4.4.4 Openings Area Correction ........................................................................................................ 59
4.4.5 Solar Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 59
4.5 Building Energy Model Visualization ............................................................................................. 61
4.5.1 Show Zone Volumes ................................................................................................................. 61
4.5.2 Show Unused Zones ................................................................................................................. 62
4.5.3 Show Uncovered Areas ............................................................................................................. 63
4.5.4 Visualization of Thermal Blocks ................................................................................................ 64
4.5.5 Visualization of Structures ........................................................................................................ 66
4.5.6 Visualization of Openings ......................................................................................................... 68
5 ADDITIONAL DATA ASSIGNMENT AND INPUT ................................................... 69
5.1 Thermal Block Property Settings................................................................................................... 70
5.2 Structure Property Settings .......................................................................................................... 72
5.2.1 U-Value (R-Value) Calculator .................................................................................................... 72
5.2.2 U-value (R-value) Calculation Algorithm .................................................................................. 74
5.2.3 Thermal Property Assignment .................................................................................................. 74
5.2.4 Material Catalog ....................................................................................................................... 75
5.2.5 U-value (R-value) Override ....................................................................................................... 77
5.2.6 Structure’s Heat Storage Mass ................................................................................................. 77
5.2.7 Infiltration Settings ................................................................................................................... 78
5.2.8 Solar Absorptance .................................................................................................................... 78
5.3 Thermal Bridge Simulation ........................................................................................................... 78
5.3.1 Workflow .................................................................................................................................. 79
5.4 Opening Property Settings ........................................................................................................... 90
5.4.1 Openings Catalog ...................................................................................................................... 90
5.4.2 Shading Devices ........................................................................................................................ 92
5.5 Climate Data ................................................................................................................................ 92
5.5.1 Climate Data Source ................................................................................................................. 93
5.5.2 Climate Type ............................................................................................................................. 94
5.5.3 View Climate Data .................................................................................................................... 94
5.6 Environment Settings ................................................................................................................... 97
5.6.1 Project Location ........................................................................................................................ 98
5.6.2 Grade Level ............................................................................................................................... 99
5.6.3 Surface Heat Transfer ............................................................................................................. 101
5.6.4 Soil Type ................................................................................................................................. 101
5.6.5 Surroundings .......................................................................................................................... 102
5.6.6 Wind Protection ..................................................................................................................... 102
5.6.7 External Shading ..................................................................................................................... 103
5.7 Operation Profiles ...................................................................................................................... 105
5.7.1 Available Operation Profiles ................................................................................................... 106
5.7.2 Occupancy Data ...................................................................................................................... 107
5.7.3 Daily Profile Editor .................................................................................................................. 107
5.7.4 Yearly Operation Scheduler .................................................................................................... 109
5.8 Building Systems ........................................................................................................................ 110
5.8.1 Building Systems Data Options: Expert vs. Basic .................................................................... 111
5.8.2 Assigned Thermal Blocks ........................................................................................................ 112
5.8.3 Create New or Duplicate Building System .............................................................................. 113
5.8.4 Heating and Service Hot-Water Heating ................................................................................ 114
5.8.5 Cooling .................................................................................................................................... 124
5.8.6 On-Site Renewables ................................................................................................................ 129
5.8.7 Ventilation .............................................................................................................................. 133
5.9 Energy Source Factors ................................................................................................................ 145
5.9.1 Primary Energy and CO2 Emission Factors ............................................................................. 145
5.9.2 Sources of Electricity Production ............................................................................................ 146
5.10 Energy Costs ............................................................................................................................ 147
6 BUILDING ENERGY SIMULATION ......................................................................... 148
6.1 Building Geometry and Material Property Data Export ............................................................... 148
6.1.1 Export to gbXML ..................................................................................................................... 148
6.1.2 Export to PHPP........................................................................................................................ 149
6.1.3 Export to SBEM ....................................................................................................................... 151
6.1.4 Export to VIP-Energy ............................................................................................................... 152
6.1.5 Save as Baseline Building ........................................................................................................ 153
6.2 Start Energy Simulation .............................................................................................................. 153
6.2.1 Simulation Setup .................................................................................................................... 153
6.3 Advisory Messages ..................................................................................................................... 157
6.3.1 Errors And Recommended Solutions ...................................................................................... 158
6.3.2 Warnings And Recommended Solutions ................................................................................ 159
6.3.3 Show List in Browser ............................................................................................................... 160
6.4 VIP-Core Dynamic Simulation Engine .......................................................................................... 160
6.4.1 Specification ........................................................................................................................... 160
6.4.2 Validation of Calculation Accuracy ......................................................................................... 161
7 ENERGY PERFORMANCE EVALUATION REPORT ............................................ 162
7.1 Evaluation Report Dialog ............................................................................................................ 162
7.1.1 Header and Footer Settings .................................................................................................... 163
7.1.2 Report Format ........................................................................................................................ 164
7.1.3 Report Chapter Settings ......................................................................................................... 164
7.1.4 Close and Save as Commands ................................................................................................ 170
7.2 Energy Performance Evaluation - PDF Report ............................................................................. 170
7.2.1 Project Data Report Chapters ................................................................................................. 170
7.2.2 Thermal Block Report Chapters .............................................................................................. 180
7.2.3 Performance Rating Report Chapters ..................................................................................... 184
Energy Performance Evaluation - XLS Reports .................................................................................. 187
7.2.4 Report Page Types .................................................................................................................. 189
7.2.5 Project Data Report Pages ...................................................................................................... 190
7.2.6 Thermal Block Report Pages ................................................................................................... 196
7.2.7 Performance Rating Report Pages .......................................................................................... 202
ANNEX 1: DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................... 205
ANNEX 2: ECODESIGNER STAR SAMPLE WORKFLOW ........................................... 219
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 219
2 Climate Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 222
2.1 Draw Climate Analysis Reference Building .................................................................................. 223
2.2 Set Location and Climate ............................................................................................................. 226
2.3 Set Operation Profile ................................................................................................................... 233
2.4 Run Energy Simulation ................................................................................................................ 237
2.5 Document Climate Statistics ....................................................................................................... 244
3 Building Energy Model Calibration ................................................................................................ 254
3.1 BEM Validation Types .................................................................................................................. 254
3.2 Obtain Reference Building’s Documentation .............................................................................. 255
3.3 Create Building with EcoDesigner STAR ...................................................................................... 259
3.4 Run Energy Simulation ................................................................................................................ 277
3.5 Compare Simulation Results with Reference Documentation .................................................... 282
4 Project-Specific Low-Energy Building Solution Set ......................................................................... 292
4.1 Create Baseline Building (Without Systems) ............................................................................... 292
4.2 Run Energy Simulation (Demand Calculation) ............................................................................ 324
4.3 Review Baseline Building’s Energy Performance ........................................................................ 334
4.4 Investigate Building Energy Optimization Options ...................................................................... 341
4.5 Execute Sensitivity Analysis ......................................................................................................... 346
4.6 Determine Project-Specific Low Energy Building Solution Set .................................................... 353
5 Low-Energy Demand Architectural Design ..................................................................................... 354
5.1 Create Baseline Building Reference File ...................................................................................... 354
5.2 Apply Project-Specific Low-energy Architectural Design Solution Set ........................................ 357
5.3 Run Energy Simulation (Demand Calculation) ............................................................................ 380
5.4 Review Energy Efficiency Benefits of Architectural Optimization ............................................... 384
6 Whole Building Energy Efficiency Optimization.............................................................................. 397
6.1 Add Building Systems to Baseline Building .................................................................................. 397
6.2 Apply Project-Specific Low-energy Building Systems and Renewable Energy Systems Solution Set
to Designed Building ............................................................................................................................. 413
6.3 Run Energy Simulation (Performance Rating) ............................................................................. 422
6.4 Review Results of Low-energy Building Design ........................................................................... 425
1 Getting Started With EcoDesigner STAR
1.1 Technical Requirements
EcoDesigner STAR runs with ArchiCAD 17 only.
EcoDesigner STAR is based on ArchiCAD’s built-in Energy Evaluation feature, but provides
significantly extended capabilities and data settings. You must have an EcoDesigner STAR
license key in order to access these extended functions. Apart from inserting this license key, no
additional installation or download is necessary.
See the “Product Overview” section below for details on the extended capabilities of
EcoDesigner STAR.
Hardware/Software Requirements
The hardware/software requirements for GRAPHISOFT EcoDesigner STAR are identical
to those of ArchiCAD 17.
For more details, see “Getting Started with ArchiCAD 17”, available from the ArchiCAD
Help menu.
File Compatibility
All user-defined settings in ArchiCAD 17’s Energy Evaluation function are also used
with EcoDesigner STAR. If you have used Energy Evaluation on a project, and later
insert a license key to access EcoDesigner STAR, then your Energy Evaluation settings
will be read and used without any conflict.
If you use EcoDesigner STAR features on an ArchiCAD project, and then open the
project with an ArchiCAD version that does not have STAR functionality, there is no
data loss; the extra data are still part of the project, though you cannot access or modify
data that are based on STAR-only features and settings.
Localized Contents – the XML Files
Energy Evaluation has its own folder in the Add-Ons folder of ArchiCAD 17
(C:\Program Files\Graphisoft\ArchiCAD 17\Add-Ons\EnergyEvaluation). The version-
specific localized content folder or folders (named with three-character nationality
codes) are located here. Energy Evaluation automatically loads its data from the folder
corresponding to the localized version of ArchiCAD under which it runs. Each localized
content folder contains the following.xml files:
DefaultBuildingSystems.xml
DefaultEnergySourceProperties.xml (see Energy Source Factors)
DefaultEvaluationReportFormat.xml
DefaultValues.xml
InternalUsages.xml
MaterialCatalog.xml (see U-value Override)
OpeningCatalog.xml (see Openings)
ReportStrings.xml
ShadingCatalog.xml (see Shading Devices)
TemplateOperationProfiles.xml
TemplateThermalProperties.xml
To minimize the numeric user input required, several input parameters are set within
EcoDesigner STAR by default or are listed in database catalogs. The .xml files shown
above contain these default settings and catalogs. It is possible for users to modify the
content of these files by simply text-editing them, in order to tailor the application to their
preferences and needs. The best software to use for this purpose is TextPad (available free
for download from the internet). Microsoft Word is not suitable for editing .xml file
content, as it changes the file format when the modified version is saved. NotePad may
be used; however it is inconvenient as it displays the files in one continuous line.
It is strongly advised to save a copy of the original .xml files to a different folder prior to
modifying them. Replacing the modified .xml’s with the originals allow the users to reset