EXPERIENCE TESTING ENERGYPLUS WITH THE ASHRAE 1052-RP BUILDING FABRIC ANALYTICAL TESTS

The EnergyPlus building energy simulation software has been tested using the Building Fabric Analytical Verification Test Suite for Whole Building Energy Simulation Programs which was developed in ASHRAE research project 1052-RP. This test suite is a series of analytical tests for various components of the building fabric. This test suite was initially used to test EnergyPlus beginning with beta versions prior to its official public release, and it is also applied prior to each new public release. The application of these tests proved to be very useful in several ways: • Revealed algorithmic errors which were fixed. • Revealed algorithmic shortcomings which were improved or eliminated through the use of more rigorous calculations for certain components. • In later versions, caught newly introduced bugs before public release of updates.