The schedule calculation methodology for the Baseline Energy model has been enhanced to allow easier and more detailed assignments for every building type.
First Enhancement - Additional Schedule Types
Two additional schedule types are now available on the Usage and Schedule Tab. This opens up a lot of additional detail that can be built into every project, but do not worry! The platform still populates all defaults based on location, energy code, and building type. The three schedule types now available are now:
Occupancy - connected to the Total Occupants and Set Points
Lighting - connected to the Lighting input
Equipment - connected to the Appliance input
Previous Schedule Options:
New Schedule Options:
Second Enhancement - Percentage-Based Scheduling
With the update, simply plug in the intensities for lighting and equipment through the Usage and Schedules tab and control the hourly intensity with the help of dedicated schedules for occupancy, lighting, and equipment.
For example, if the Lighting Power Density (LPD) is 0.79 and the hourly intensity is set at 50% using the schedule, the LPD for that hour will be 0.79 * 0.50 = 0.395
Previous Method:
Enhanced Method:
Third Enhancement - Simplified Inputs for Lighting, Appliance, and Total Occupants
The following inputs have been removed from the Usage and Schedules tab to simplify the lighting power density (LPD), equipment power density (EPD), and the number of people calculations. This update makes it significantly easier to customize inputs, especially if you are a beginner to energy modeling, to perform the reduced-order simulation for making design decisions.
Lighting (Unoccu. Hrs) (W/ft2)
Appliance (Unoccu. Hrs) (W/ft2)
Total Occupants (Unoccupied Hours)
Previous Usage and Schedules tab:
Enhanced Usage and Schedules tab:
Important Note for Existing Projects
The existing schedule values on the baseline page will be indicated by the 'Occupancy' schedule with the update and the 'Lighting' and 'Equipment' schedules will be loaded with default values (Source: ASHRAE Standard 90.1 Users Manual & ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals) based on the building type chosen on the project information page. These can further be customized based on the project data.
If the energy code is switched from the project information page then the default inputs will be loaded including the enhanced schedule values for occupancy, lighting, and equipment based on the building type chosen for the project. Any specific questions about existing projects can be troubleshooted through LiveChat.
Happy Modeling!