DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SELF-COMPARISON TEST SUITES FOR ENERGYPLUS

The EnergyPlus building simulation software has been tested using ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140 comparative tests, ASHRAE 1052-RP analytical tests, IEA HVAC BESTEST analytical and comparative tests, and several other IEA test suites which are in development. Another valuable test method has been the use of “self- comparison” test suites developed specifically to test EnergyPlus against itself. These self-comparison test suites involve a series of tests which check for consistency of results using just one simulation program. There are no analytical or comparative results to compare against. While these test suites could certainly be extended to comparisons between programs, they are useful without the need to involve other modelers. Three self-comparison test suites have been developed for EnergyPlus: HVAC Equipment Component Tests, Global Energy Balance Tests, and Shading Tests. Each test suite consists of a series of cases for which results can be compared against each other or to original specifications in order to assess whether the simulation is working properly. This paper describes these test suites for EnergyPlus and presents selected results, with an emphasis on problems found and difficulties encountered in developing the test cases. These tests may be developed further and submitted as candidates for expanding ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140.