Download Simple House Example Tutorial

Simple House Example Tutorial
for CBECC-Res 2013 (beta version 0r)
January 21, 2013
Following is a step-by-step guide to modeling a simple single-family residence in CBECC-Res 2013. The
residence, pictured on page 4, has a 30 ft by 20 ft living area, a 20 ft by 20 ft attached garage, an 8 ft
ceiling with an attic above, and a slab on grade floor.
On the south façade, there is a single 3'-0" x 6'-8" front door. The east and north facades each have a
single 3' x 3' window with insulated glazing. There is a 3'-0" x 6'-8" interior door between the living area
and the garage.
To model this home:
1. Download, install and start the CBECC-Res program. At the opening (main) screen, activate the
button “Start with a Blank Project.” Click “OK.”
2. Right click on the “Press Alt+F…” text line. Choose “Create” from the drop-down menu, and
choose “Project.” Name the project name “Simple House” and click “OK.”
3. You will now be at the “Project Data” tab of the “Building Model Data” dialog box. Enter an
address and climate zone.
1450 20th St
Sacramento, CA 95811
CZ12 (Sacramento)
4. Click on the “Building” tab of the dialog box, enter the number of bedrooms as “2” and enter the
Front Orientation as “180” (South).
5. Click on the “Owner, Designer” tab and enter names. At all other tabs, leave the default values.
Click “OK” in the lower right corner. You will return to the main screen.
You have now created the first “component” of the building model. The component is a “Project”
called “Simple House,” which appears at the head of the project tree at the main CBECC-Res screen.
The next step is to add additional components to more fully describe the home. These will be child
components of the “Project,” which is the parent component.
From here on, if you want to edit a component, right click on it and choose “Edit.” If you want to add
a component, right click on what will be the parent component of the new component and choose
“Create.”
6. To continue, right click on the “Project” title. From the drop down menu choose “Create” then
“Zone.” This takes you to the “Create Zone” dialog box. Name the zone “Main Conditioned
Space” and click “OK.”
Simple House Example Tutorial for CBECC-Res 2103 (beta version)
7. At the next dialog box, make sure the “Zone type” is “Conditioned” and enter 600 square feet
for the “Floor area” and 8 feet for the “Average ceiling height.” Click “OK.” You’ve now created a
child component to the to the Project component. Now you can describe it more fully.
8. You are presently at the “Zone Data” tab of the “Building Model Data” dialog box, where you
will add an HVAC system to the “Main Conditioned Space.”
a. Click the down arrow at “HVAC System” and choose to “Create new HVAC System.” At
the next dialog box accept the default name by clicking “OK.”
b. You are at the “HVAC System Data” tab of the “Building Model Data” dialog box. The
upper two boxes name the system. The third box has the “System Type.” Leave this as
the default value. Use the down arrow next to the “Heating” portion of the HVAC
system to “Create new heating system.” You will then cycle through three dialog boxes
which allow you to name and describe the heating-related portion of the HVAC system.
In all cases, accept the defaults.
c. At the end of describing the “Heating” portion of the HVAC system you will return to the
“HVAC System Data” tab. Use the same process as the previous step to describe the
“Cooling,” “Distribution” and “Fan” portions of the HVAC system. At the “Fan Data” tab,
select the first available predefined choice. All other values will be defaults.
d. Once all four components of the HVAC system are entered you will return to “HVAC
System Data“ tab. Click “OK” and you will return to the “Zone Data” tab. Leave the
“Cooling Vent” and “IAQ Vent” listed as “none.” Click “OK” to return to the main screen.
(Note, although in this exercise we won’t further edit the HVAC system that you just
entered, to do so you would have to access it by clicking on the “Mechanical” tab at the
CBECC main screen where a tree similar to the “Envelope” tree will appear.)
9. Next we will add the elements which enclose the living space. These will be child components to
the parent “Main Conditioned Space” zone. We will start with the three exterior walls which
abut exterior space.
a. Right click on the “Main Conditioned Zone,” choose “Create” and then “Exterior Wall.”
Name it “Front Exterior Wall,” and click “OK.”
b. Enter a gross area of 240 square feet, and from the drop-down list, choose the first
construction assembly available. (Note: the first choice on the list is to create a new
construction assembly. Do NOT choose this, but choose the first predefined assembly
available. This is true when choosing construction assemblies for the remainder of this
tutorial). Click “OK.”
c. Choose an “Orientation” of “Front,” add an “Absorptivity” of 0.5 and click “OK.”
d. Do this three more times for an “Right Exterior Wall,” “Left Exterior Wall” and a “Back
Exterior Wall,” remembering to enter the correct gross areas and orientations (“Right,”
“Left” and “Back”). (The program will automatically copy data from the previous
“Exterior Wall” addition unless you choose “none” at the “Create Exterior Wall” dialog
January 21, 2013
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Simple House Example Tutorial for CBECC-Res 2103 (beta version)
box.) Return to the main screen by clicking “OK” after entering the last wall. The walls
are child components to the parent “Main Conditioned Space” zone.
10. Similarly add a 600 square foot ceiling by right clicking “Main Conditioned Space,” choosing
“Create” and then “Ceiling (below attic)” by following the prompts.
11. Finally add a 600 square foot floor by right clicking “Main Conditioned Space,” choosing “Create”
and then “Slab on Grade” with a perimeter equal to the length of the four sides exposed to the
exterior.
12. Now we will add the doors and windows to the envelope description. The doors and windows
will be child components of the respective walls in which they are located, which are the parent
components. We will begin with the door in the “South Exterior Wall.”
a. Right click on the “Front Exterior Wall,” choose “Create” and then “InputDoor.”
b. Follow the prompts. The door is 20 square feet with a U-value of 0.25.
13. In the same fashion, add windows to both the ”Right Exterior Wall” and “Back Exterior Wall.”
Windows are 3’ by 3’. Use the default values for other data.
14. The model is now complete. You can edit envelope components by right clicking on them and
choosing “edit.” You can add components by right clicking on a parent component and choosing
“Create.” By choosing the “Mechanical” tab you can similarly edit components of the
mechanical system.
15. By choosing “Tools” at the main screen menu bar, you can “Check Building Database” to make
sure all required data is present, or “Perform Analysis.”
January 21, 2013
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Simple House Example Tutorial for CBECC-Res 2103 (beta version)
Figure 1. Simple House Example
January 21, 2013
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