A Comparison of EnergyPlus to DOE-2.1E: Multiple Cases Ranging from a Sealed Box to a Residential Building

Abstract

EnergyPlus (EPlus) is becoming widely used for building simulation. Previous studies have compared the performance of EPlus with other simulation programs including DOE-2 for a variety of cases. These studies identified the different results of programs for the same cases defined in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140. This study expanded upon the previous comparisons to include the simplest case scenario where the building was a sealed box without infiltration, internal load, system or plant. The simulations were then extended to include incremental changes on the building load by adding people, lights, equipment and infiltration. EPlus and DOE-2 were compared using multiple base case buildings in Austin from the simplest case to a fully inhabited residential building. With zero infiltration, EPlus calculated 16-17% lower total building load than calculated by DOE-2 as incremental loads were added. Infiltration decreased the difference between DOE-2 and EPlus by 27% and lead to an 11% lower total building load in EPlus when compared to DOE-2.