For many projects, the Parking structure is not included in the energy model for ease and speed. This is especially true when it is not mechanically heated, cooled and ventilated and other internal loads are insignificant. However, there are some cold climate zones where the parking structure will have mechanical heating. In this situation, it is critical to model the parking structure accurately depict the load.

When the parking structure mechanically heated, cooled or ventilated, follow the steps in this article to include that in the analysis:

Select a building template to bring/input the geometry of a parking structure. In the example below, we are modeling an office building with a parking deck. The use type "Education" has been selected as the additional building type to represent parking. The inputs for the "Education" building type will be modified as shown in the following steps.

Cove.tool supports the geometry plugins for Revit, Rhino/Grasshopper and SketchUp. The geometry can be manually inputted in the web app as well.

Modify the Building Type name in 'Baseline Energy' page so that it'll be easier to understand that the project has been converted to custom template.

The engineering inputs such as HVAC system parameters, Lighting Power Density (LPD), Appliance Power Density, Occupant Density, Occupancy Schedule, etc. should be adjusted to reflect the parking structure conditions.

Here are some typical inputs for parking structures:

While the ground insulation values differ based on the various parameters, R-20 is a good estimate to get the model started if the parking structure is underground.

Lighting Power Density (LPD): This value depends upon the code version the project is pursuing. For the example, ASHRAE 90.1 2013 is selected so the LPD value for Parking should be modified to 0.21 W/ft2 according to Table 9.5.1.

If the parking structure is 'only heating' or 'only cooling' type then follow the steps in this article to model that.

Also, when the Step 2 is followed, cove.tool will automatically update all name tags in the report for the users.