DA-76-01-3 -- Crosschecking Energy Analysis Procedures and Standardizing Weather Input

The Task Group on Energy Requirements for Heating & Cooling of Buildings was charged with the development of procedures for hour by hour computer-based methods of calculating building cooling and heating loads and yearly energy usage. From the beginning of the development process, it became clear that it would be necessary to arrive at a procedure for determining the weather data to be input to the final calculation method. It also was clear that it would be helpful to see how existing computer programs, which had the same function (calculation of yearly building energy usage), compared with one another and, if possible, with measured test results.

The Task Group, therefore, set up a Sub-committee which eventually was entitled, "The Computer User's Sub-Committee" to come up with both the weather input and the comparison of results.

This paper is the output of this Sub-Committee's work. During the course of the years, many people and companies contributed generously of their time and money in travel expenses and donated computer time to make this project successful. ASHRAE and the Task Group are grateful to them for their efforts.