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Finding/calculating values for Site:GroundTemperature:BuildingSurface

I am using DOE Reference Building files (.idf), but modifying them with information from Representative City data from another state (Las Vegas -> El Paso). One part of replacing the weather data is the Site:GroundTemperature:BuildingSurface information. I cannot find this in the .stat, .epw, or .ddy files from El Paso. Is this a calculated value, and if so, how is it calculated?

FrontierAssoc104's avatar
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FrontierAssoc104
asked 2015-07-21 08:33:31 -0500
David Goldwasser's avatar
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David Goldwasser
updated 2015-07-23 13:00:33 -0500
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A quick answer from the documentation suggests using 2°C lower than the average internal temperature for commercial buildings in the US. Be aware that this is not appropriate for smaller buildings such as residential due to the dominance of edge effects.

The link above also points you to the Auxiliary Programs documentation about ground heat transfer, which introduces how to use the Slab program for calculating the correct values.

Jamie Bull's avatar
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Jamie Bull
answered 2015-07-21 11:56:06 -0500, updated 2015-07-21 12:00:15 -0500
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I am having a little trouble with the Slab program. First, I can't find anywhere an example of the GroundHeatTransfer:Slab:Control object and what it should look like. I see in the input-output reference that it needs: Field:Name and Field:Run Slab Preprocessor, but I'm not sure what the format looks like. Additionally, I am wondering where the Slab objects and GroundHeatTransfer:Slab:Control object are positioned in the IDF file. Do they necessarily need to be placed in a specific place (before or after any object)?

FrontierAssoc104's avatar FrontierAssoc104 (2015-07-23 09:56:21 -0500) edit
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