Abstract
Calibrated building energy simulation is an important pathway to more energy-efficient buildings, but the information requirements of some approaches to this problem are significant. This is particularly true for supermarkets and other so-called “big-box” retail stores. These buildings could contain a wide variety of systems and a degree of load diversity that makes calibrated modeling a challenge. This paper describes a simplified approach that uses OpenStudio and EnergyPlus to combine known building parameters with “typical” parameters, resulting in a simplified building that is amenable to calibration. This approach was applied to a big-box store located in Nashville, Tennessee, and a calibrated model was obtained that was used to study potential energy conservation measures. The paper also explores the capabilities of whole-building energy modeling tools, such as EnergyPlus, for modeling the Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) controls and sequences and their impact evaluation. Although some measures are precluded by the model simplicity, several measures were found to improve the efficiency of the model and demonstrate that the simplified modeling approach is legitimate.
