Computer Energy Modeling Techniques for Simulation Large Scale Correctional Institutes in Texas

Abstract

Building energy simulation programs have undergone an increase in use for evaluating energy consumption and energy conservation retrofits in buildings. Utilization of computer simulation programs for large facilities with multiple buildings, however, has been relatively rare. Due to the immense size of certain facilities such as college campuses and correctional institutes, simulating energy consumption for the entire campus and reporting the energy use by individual building is a time consuming task. Initially, many computer simulation programs were designed to operate on the assumption that the user is simulating one building. Provisions are not usually made to knit together outputs from multiple buildings. Furthermore, programs such as DOE-2 have limits to the number of walls, windows, and zones that can be simulated in one run. This paper presents a methodology to model an entire campus by simulating each building as a single zone consistent with electrical feeders instead of as a separate entity. Since most simulation programs calculate energy use by means of one-dimensional heat transfer, utilizing this method becomes a practical solution, particularly if the facility does not contain buildings with complex internal systems. The energy use can then be extracted from the individual simulations and combined with specially written data handling scripts into a whole-campus energy use. The methods are presented using the DOE-2.1E building energy simulation program to model a 1,000 bed case study correctional unit located in Texas.