Establishing Benchmarks for DOE Commercial Building R&D and Program Evaluation

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Program and the DOE research laboratories conduct a great deal of research on building technologies. However, differences in models and simulation tools used by various research groups make it difficult to compare results among studies. The authors have developed a set of 22 hypothetical benchmark buildings and weighting factors for nine locations across the country, for a total of 198 buildings. The benchmark buildings are representative of new commercial building stock and meet the minimum requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004. The benchmark building definitions are complete descriptions suitable for whole building energy simulations and are implemented in EnergyPlus input files. The complete benchmark definitions with documentation of all inputs will be available in a technical document published near the end of 2006. The EnergyPlus input files are automatically created by preprocessor routines, which minimize errors and ensure that everyone has consistent implementation in the most recent version of EnergyPlus and the most recent version of the benchmarks. The benchmark buildings will form the basis for research on specific building technologies, energy code development, appliance standards, and measurement of progress toward the DOE energy goals. Having a common starting point allows us to better share and to compare research results and move forward in making more energy-efficient buildings. In addition, the benchmark buildings can be used with minor modifications to evaluate other energy efficiency programs and individual buildings.