The creation of a new building template is an straightforward task inside cove.tool, follow these directions and you will be on your way to creating a custom template that fits your projects specific conditions. Also at any point of the process feel free to validate any value assumptions with the cove.tool team using the Live Chat Box feature, found on the bottom left hand corner of the web app.
First step is selecting an existing building type template. Building Type is a factor used in energy modeling software to differentiate commercial buildings into categories of buildings' whose uses share similar energy usage data. The practical knowledge of knowing one’s building use type is important to recognize the particularities of type specific energy consumption and expenditure. The key parameters which impacts the Energy Use Intensity (EUI) include Mechanical Ventilation Supply Air Flow Rate (CFM), Lighting Power Density (LPD), Equipment Power Density (EPD), Occupancy Schedule, HVAC System Type, Envelope Properties, Domestic Hot Water Demand, Air Changes per Hour (ACH), etc. This article discusses the fundamentally different engineering input values to create lab, library and gymnasium templates.
Step 1:
Set the ‘Project Name’ as intended building use template and select the ‘Building Type’ that closely resembles to the intended use. (Considered Lab Template is based on ASHRAE 2013 standard)
- Lab: Building type Hospital closely resembles the equipment load and ACH required for Lab building.
- Library: Building type Education closely resembles the occupancy, equipment load and ACH required for Library building.
- Gymnasium: Building type Hospital closely resembles the equipment load and ACH required for Gymnasium building.
Learning more about each existing system and how they are identified/ differentiated is key to creating a new template. Using the preexisting templates, users can generate any number of unavailable building templates. After selecting a building type, complete your project and geometry pages. The next key step occurs in the baseline energy tab.
Step 2:
Adjust the Mechanical Ventilation Supply Air Flow Rate (CFM) accordingly
The CFM/person values are taken from ASHRAE 62.1 version 2013
In this category, you will need the cfm/person listed on ASHRAE 62.1, and then the occupant density for your project to calculate the CFM value.
- Lab: The supply air flow rate for lab and hospital is 10 cfm/person according to ASHRAE 62.1. (This value multiplied by the number of expected building occupants will get you your final CFM rate.)
- Library: The supply air flow rate for library is 5 cfm/person compared to education which has 7.5 cfm/person. Therefore, multiply the Education Mechanical Ventilation Supply Air Flow Rate (CFM) by 5/7.5 to get the total CFM value for Library.
- Gymnasium: The supply air flow rate for Gymnasium is 20 cfm/person compared to hospital which has 10 cfm/person. Therefore, multiply the Hospital Mechanical Ventilation Supply Air Flow Rate (CFM) by 2 to get the total CFM value for Gymnasium.
Step 3:
Adjust the Lighting Power Density according to the use type
The Lighting Power Density (LPD) maximum allowable values are taken from ASHRAE 90.1 version 2013
- Lab: 1.81 W/ft2
- Library: 1.19 W/ft2
- Gymnasium: 0.84 W/ft2
Step 4:
Adjust the Equipment Power Density (EPD) according to the use type
The Equipment Power Density (EPD) acceptable values are taken from ASHRAE 90.1 User’s Manual Version 2013.
- Lab: 1.00 W/ft2
- Library: 0.50 W/ft2
- Gymnasium: 1.00 W/ft2
Step 5:
Adjust other engineering inputs according to the building type. For this example, the remaining engineering inputs are kept identical for lab and hospital. Other inputs can be edited via engineering inputs tab to make the customized template.
It is interesting to note that the created template can be cloned and modified into another template as desired.
