As we do every month with our building archetypes, to produce the EWEI, clients can simulate their actual buildings every month using the existing digital models prepared for JV3 validation of their meeting or exceeding the energy efficiency standards of the National Construction Code (NCC). The metered energy consumption of those buildings can then be compared with the simulation results generated with very little cost to identify possible inefficient operation.
Readers wanting to test out this method can avail themselves of the free sample RTY file to simulate their buildings operating in the immediate past month. An RTY comprises 12 consecutive months, so historic comparisons can also be applied to establish when the problem arose.
Calibrated Simulation
A highly targeted version of this routine simulation comparison with metered consumption is the calibrated simulation. Calibrated simulation is a complex and powerful tool for accurately modelling the energy consumption of existing buildings to support cost effective remedial and refurbishment projects using recent real weather data. Exemplary Energy supplied that real weather data used in the simulation case study reported here by Hongsen Zhang, a leading building energy simulation expert and managing director of the company EnerEfficiency Pty Ltd. Hongsen is an Associate of Exemplary Energy, and is shown here receiving the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) W.R.Ahern Award jointly with Dr Paul Bannister in 2018 for their technical paper:A Calibrated Simulation Case Study for an Office Building in Canberra.
