Energy Simulator   

Description of modeling

1. House dimension

   For simplicity, twenty four models are pre-defined to represent variety of house types across the nation. A house is modeled as a rectangular conditioned space with an attached garage. Three foundations are: slab on grade, conditioned crawl space, unconditioned crawl space, and conditioned full basement.

   House dimension for slab on grade

   	1 story starter	2 story starter	1 story move-up	2 story move-up	1 story luxury	2 story luxury
   House dimension	28’x56’	24’x40’	32’x64’	28’x45’	40’x90’	36’x54’
   1st floor ceiling height	8’	8’	9’	9’	10’	10’
   2nd floor ceiling height		8’		8’		8’
   Conditioned floor area (sf)	1,568	1,920	2,048	2,520	3,600	3,888
   Conditioned volume (cf)	12,544	15,360	18,432	21,420	36,000	34,992

   House dimension for crawl space

   	1 story starter	2 story starter	1 story move-up	2 story move-up	1 story luxury	2 story luxury
   House dimension	28’x56’	24’x40’	32’x64’	28’x45’	40’x90’	36’x54’
   1st floor ceiling height	8’	8’	9’	9’	10’	10’
   2nd floor ceiling height		8’		8’		8’
   Crawl space	4’	4’	4’	4’	4’	4’
   Conditioned floor area (sf)	1,568	1,920	2,048	2,520	3,600	3,888
   Conditioned volume with conditioned crawl space (cf)	18,816	19,200	26,624	26,460	50,400	42,768
   Conditioned volume without crawl space (cf)	12,544	15,360	18,432	21,420	36,000	34,992

   House dimension for conditioned full basement

   	1 story starter	2 story starter	1 story move-up	2 story move-up	1 story luxury	2 story luxury
   House dimension	28’x56’	24’x40’	32’x64’	28’x45’	40’x90’	36’x54’
   1st floor ceiling height	8’	8’	9’	9’	10’	10’
   2nd floor ceiling height		8’		8’		8’
   Basement height	8’	8’	8’	8’	8’	8’
   Conditioned floor area (sf)	1,568	1,920	2,048	2,520	3,600	3,888
   Conditioned volume (cf)	25,088	23,040	34,816	31,500	64,800	50,544

2. HVAC equipment sizing

   Heating and cooling systems are sized based on user chosen climate region and house type under the conditions of two design days specified by TMY2.

3. Car garage

   The starter type has a one-car garage (12’x20’). The move-up type has a two-car garage (22’x20’). The luxury house has a three-car garage (32’x20’).

4. Weather file

   Weather files use TMY2 file compiled by NREL.

5. Simulation engine

   Simulation engine is EnergyPlus version 1.2

6. Internal gain

   	1 story starter	2 story starter	1 story move-up	2 story move-up	1 story luxury	2 story luxury
   Conditioned floor area (sf)	1,568	1,920	2,048	2,520	3,600	3,888
   Number of bedrooms	3	3	4	4	5	5
   Number of bathrooms	2	2	2.5	2.5	3	3
   Number of occupants	4	4	5	5	6	6
   Light design level (w)	687	785	821	954	1257	1338
   Electric equipment design level (w)	1057	1156	1238	1372	1724	1806

Note: light design level and electric equipment design level are derived from U.S. DOE’s Building America’s benchmark spreadsheet