Products:
Purchase:
Building Energy Analyzer FAQ's & Tips
1. What is my installation password?
2. Where is the DOE-2 output file?
3. What is
the difference between heating coil load and heating gas consumption?
4. How is the
energy cost adjustment (ECA) used?
5. Does the energy cost adjustment (ECA) apply
to gas cooling rates?
6. Why do I have cooling loads in the winter?
7. Why doesn't
the fan power increase for the desiccant alternative to account for the added resistance
of the desiccant wheel and optional heat exchanger?
8. Can I model multiple ratchet
conditions?
9. How can I print the input screens?
10. How can I export charts into
my word processor or slide presentation?
11. How do I export a report?
12. What is
the refrigerated warehouse plant layout?
13. Why do I have space heating electric
use with gas heat?
14. Can I use weather files for other locations which are not currently
in DesiCalc?
15. Can I use my library of existing DOE-2 files with DesiCalc?
16. I
have dehumidification set to "yes", so why won't my baseline system control humidity
to the desired setpoint?
17. How can I separate the heating and reheating energy use?
18.
What are the default assumptions for desiccant and heat pipe gas and electric consumption
in Building Energy Analyzer?
19. How can I transfer project files and a custom rate
database to a different computer?
20. Will cooling come on to meet humidity setpoint
when drybulb setpoint is satisfied?
21. How do condenser heat recovery and dedicated
OA DX unit relate for the ice arena?
22. Can I e-mail Building Energy Analyzer reports?
23.
How can I model a heating system utilizing purchased steam?
24. Using a chiller-heater,
why is the space cooling electricity higher in the winter than in the summer?
25.
How can I prevent the supply air volume in a 100 outside air rooftop unit from increasing
along with the ventilation air?
26. How can I determine the location of the weather
station used by Building Energy Analyzer?
27. How do I model an active and passive
desiccant system such as the one diagrammed in the October 1999 issue of the ASHRAE
Journal?
28. What is meant by the term “percent glazing”?
29. Is the condenser heat
recovery from just the refrigeration system or from the HVAC DX system also?
30. Does
Building Energy Analyzer model any sensible heat recovery when the desiccant wheel
is idle?
31. Does the desiccant wheel run as a passive enthalpy exchanger?
32. Why
does selecting humidity control result in a greater number of hours where the relative
humidity is greater than 60 percent?
33. Can I specify air handler supply air volume
in Building Energy Analyzer?
34. Can the waste heat recovered from a gas engine-driven
chiller be used for desiccant regeneration?
35. How to transfer the license from a
licensed computer to a new computer?
1. What is my installation password?
Your installation password/serial number is printed on a sticker on the front of the CD-ROM jewel case.
2. Where is the DOE-2 output file?
Users who are familiar with DOE-2 may wish to review the DOE-2 output file. It is "master.sim" located in the main DesiCalc directory. This file is present after a calculation is performed; it is deleted upon exiting DesiCalc.
3. What is the difference between heating coil load and heating gas consumption?
Heating coil load is the heat actually delivered to the supply air. Heating gas consumption is the gas input to the furnace or boiler. Heating gas consumption will be higher than the heating coil load to reflect the efficiency of the furnace burner or boiler.
4. How is the energy cost adjustment (ECA) used?
For electric and gas rates, there are two Energy Cost Adjustment (ECA) inputs, one for summer and one for winter. The ECA charge is applied to all kWh or therms of energy used and is in addition to all other block and demand charges.
5. Does the energy cost adjustment (ECA) apply to gas cooling rates?
Yes. It is added to the gas cooling rate block charges. If you have an ECA for the base gas rate, but it does not apply to the gas cooling rate, then you will need to subtract the ECA from the block charge values for the gas cooling rate so the correct total charge is computed.
6. Why do I have cooling loads in the winter?
If Dehumidification is set to "Yes" in the Baseline Equipment Comfort Controls on the Application tab, the system will overcool and reheat to control humidity to the specified setpoint. Depending on the setpoint and the climate, dehumidification may be required at times during the winter months.
7. Why doesn't the fan power increase for the desiccant alternative to account for the added resistance of the desiccant wheel and optional heat exchanger?
In the Electric Energy Consumption by End Use section of the detailed report, electric use is reported for Space Cooling, Pumps & Misc., Fans Vent., etc. If the baseline and desiccant alternative systems size to the same total supply cfm, the electricity reported under "Fans Vent." will be the same. The additional fan power required for the desiccant dehumidifier components is added to the "Space Cooling" column.
8. Can I model multiple ratchet conditions?
No. Only one ratchet condition per season may be modeled. Usually, one ratchet condition will be the dominant ratchet, depending on the heating energy source of the building. For example, consider a rate with a ratchet that is the greater of 90% of the summer peak or 60% of the winter peak. If the building has gas heat, then the 90% of summer condition will always be greater than the 60% of winter. If the building has electric heat, then the 60% of winter peak condition will probably be dominant. If it is unclear which to use, do a preliminary run, examine the monthly metered demand values reported in the Total Monthly Electric Consumption and Electric Energy Cost section of the detailed report. Determine the dominant ratchet condition for each season, edit the rate description accordingly, and then re-run the calculation to properly calculate the energy costs.
9. How can I print the input screens?
Press the "alt" and "Print Screen" keys simultaneously to capture an image of the current window and place it in the clipboard. Then switch to your word processor and paste the screen image into a document and print it from there.
10. How can I export charts into my word processor or slide presentation?
Display the desired chart. Then press the "alt" and "Print Screen" keys simultaneously to capture an image of the current window and place it in the clipboard. Then switch to your word processor or slide presentation software and paste the screen image into a document.
Numbers can be exported from the short and detailed reports. The "export" button is on the toolbar when a report is displayed; it looks like an envelope with an arrow. Click on this button, then select a format and a destination.
12. What is the refrigerated warehouse plant layout?
The refrigerated warehouse has two chillers, one for medium temp serving the dock, office, produce, and deli/meat; the other for low-temp serving the freezer. Efficiencies are entered at ARI conditions and adjusted for the lower operating temperatures.
13. Why do I have space heating electric use with gas heat?
When a central plant is selected, a boiler is modeled. If the heating source is gas, the boiler's electricity consumption (pumps, controls, blowers) will be reported as space heating electricity.
14. Why don't my calculations complete under Windows NT?
There are some software timing and control issues with Windows NT. For assistance, contact technical support at 877-DESICALC or support@desicalc.com.
15. Can I use weather files for other locations which are not currently in DesiCalc?
first, processed weather files compatible with the DesiCalc version of DOE-2 need to be acquired. There are a variety of sources where DOE-2 weather files can be purchased. In addition, the database of locations and design weather data which are built into DesiCalc would need to be reprogrammed to recognize the new locations.
16. Can I use my library of existing DOE-2 files with DesiCalc?
No.
17. I have dehumidification set to "yes", so why won't my baseline system control humidity to the desired setpoint?
If you have selected the "Dedicated OA DX Unit" or the "Wrap-Around Heat Pipe DX Unit", then the baseline system will only do passive humidity control. These units offer greater dehumidification than standard DX units, but they are controlled by on dry-bulb temperature criteria and will not actively control humidity to a specified setpoint.
18. How can I separate the heating and reheating energy use?
Run once without humidity control - the heating energy in this run is the space heating requirement (no reheat). Run again with humidity control on - the heating energy in this run is space heating plus reheat. The difference in heating energy between the two runs is the reheat energy.
19. What are the default assumptions for desiccant and heat pipe gas and electric consumption in Building Energy Analyzer?
Desiccant fan power is a computed as a function of air volume (CFM), face velocity (fpm) and velocity pressure (in. H2O) as follows: 0.7-1.0 in H2O x DescCFM @ 700 fpm; 0.4-0.6 in H2O x DescCFM @ 400 fpm; 0.5 in H2O for any heat exchanger In addition, there is a motor load of 1.25 HP for the rotor drive and/or runaround pump.
20. How can I transfer project files and a custom rate database to a different computer?
In the Building Energy Analyzer Jobs directory, there are three kinds of files, files installed with the software (crwkpr.mdb, mastctdb.mst, replong.rpt, and repshort.rpt), files created when software is launched (crwkdb.dsd and crwkdb.ldb), and saved input/output files (*.dsa *.dsd *.mdb and *.gph (except crwkpr.mdb and .dsd)). The saved input/output files include all of the project files and any custom databases that have been created. These should be copied to the Jobs directory on the new computer after Building Energy Analyzer has been installed.
21. Will cooling come on to meet humidity setpoint when drybulb setpoint is satisfied?
Yes. The simulation checks sensible cooling requirements and humidity control requirements and sets desired cooling coil leaving temperature accordingly.
22. How do condenser heat recovery and dedicated OA DX unit relate for the ice arena?
The control of the dedicated OA DX unit is as follows: use hot-gas bypass to prevent supply temp from going below 54F, compressor shuts off below 65F outdoor, passive humidity control, and nominal exit temperature is 57.5F at 95 DB/80 WB entering.
23. Can I e-mail Building Energy Analyzer reports?
There are two ways to do this. You can either print to a PDF file if you own the full version of Acrobat or you can do a print screen and paste into a MS Word document.
24.How can I model a heating system utilizing purchased steam?
The steam absorption chillers in Building Energy Analyzer are served by boilers that are approximately 80% efficient. First , you need to find out what the heating value of a lb of steam is for the delivery pressure. Second, you can either create a "steam" gas rate by accounting for the 80% boiler efficiency and let Building Energy Analyzer calculate the energy costs, or take the monthly gas use, adjust it by 80% and calculate the steam cost on the side.
25. Using a chiller-heater, why is the space cooling electricity higher in the winter than in the summer?
When a chiller-heater is selected, Building Energy Analyzer puts heating parasitics in the cooling electricity column since it's energy consumed by a "chiller".
26. How can I prevent the supply air volume in a 100 outside air rooftop unit from increasing along with the ventilation air?
Building Energy Analyzer models all rooftop units to supply 400 cfm/ton of cooling. If the space is served by a chiller, switch to central plant where the 400 cfm/ton rule is not applied. The outside air should match the supply cfm if a large quantity of outside air is specified relative to the internal load requirements (supply cfm will be the greatest of either the outside requirement or the airflow required to meet the peak sensible space load).
27. How can I determine the location of the weather station used by Building Energy Analyzer?
You can plug the latitude and longitude information provided by Building Energy Analyzer into a mapping application such as MapBlast (http://www.mapblasr.com) to pinpoint the exact location of the weather station.
28. How do I model an active and passive desiccant system such as the one diagrammed in the October 1999 issue of the ASHRAE Journal?
For a passive desiccant system, use the “Enthalpy Heat Recovery” option under electric cooling equipment. For the active desiccant, select “Post Sensible, Relief Air HX” and set evaporative cooler to “Yes”.
29. What is meant by the term “percent glazing”?
Percent glazing is the total exterior wall area divided by the total window area.
30. What is meant by the term “percent glazing”?
Percent glazing is the total exterior wall area divided by the total window area.
31. Why does selecting humidity control result in a greater number of hours where the relative humidity is greater than 60 percent?
Turning on humidity control will typically lower the space temperature significantly, so relative humidity will actually go up.
32 Does the desiccant wheel run as a passive enthalpy exchanger?
No. The desiccant wheel does not operate as an enthalpy exchanger.
33. Why does selecting humidity control result in a greater number of hours where the relative humidity is greater than 60 percent?
Turning on humidity control will typically lower the space temperature significantly, so relative humidity will actually go up.
34. Can I specify air handler supply air volume in Building Energy Analyzer?
No.
35. Can the waste heat recovered from a gas engine-driven chiller be used for desiccant regeneration?
No. You can look at the chilled water loads and cooling gas use to estimate savings of utilizing the recovered waste heat or can look at the master.sim files for more details.
36. How to transfer the license from a licensed computer to a new computer?
Software license for unlimited use of the product on single computer can be transferred
from another licensed computer. After transferring the license to new computer, you
will not be able to use/run the program on the old computer. Therefore, please make
sure that is what you want before transferring the license. If you would like to
run program on both computers you need to buy a new license.
To transfer the license
from old to new computer, please do the following
· New computer you are transferring license to.
1) Install the software on your new
computer.
2) Run the software. When the initial form appears on the new computer,
click Transfer License button.
3) Insert a floppy disk (a license transfer disk) into
drive A* of this computer.
4) Click Start Transfer button to initiate the license
transfer process.
5) When finished, remove the disk from the new computer.
· Old computer,
which has original license.
1) Run the program on your old computer.
2) Put the license
transfer disk with an initiation file created from the new computer into drive A*
of this computer.
3) Click on the Transfer License via File pull-down menu at the
top of main screen.
4) After the transferred license file is copied to the disk, take
the disk out.
Now, the license on the old computer is disabled. You should uninstall
the software from this machine.
· Go back to the new computer.
1) Put the license transfer
disk back to the new computer drive A*.
2) Click on the Activate Transferred License
button to finish the transfer process.
The license should be now transferred to the
new computer. The program will stop running after the license is transferred. Just
re-start the program.
*Note: The program uses the drive A as the default floppy /disk
drive of computers. If your computer does not have a floppy disk drive, please use
the menu button of Select Floppy / Disk Drive to select any drives of the devices
with removable storages (CD re-writable, USB flash memory, or others.).