Add New hourly weather data

To add your own hourly weather data follow the steps below:

 

  1. Copy the EnergyPlus format hourly weather data epw file to the weather data folder (File > Folders > Weather data).

  2. From the Opening screen click on the Templates tab

  3. Click on the + to the left of Hourly weather data to open up the list of countries.

  4. Select the country of the location (or the location within the country).

  5. Add a new Hourly weather data set by clicking on the green + in the Toolbar.

  6. Enter information on the Hourly weather data and select the file. Note that the hourly weather data details are automatically loaded from the .stat and .epw files when you select the file.

 

Tip: steps 2-5 above can be accomplished in one step if you have Learning mode switched on. Go to the Locations tab at site level and look for the Add hourly weather data link under the Hourly weather data header. You can also find a link to show the weather data folder in Windows Explorer.

 

You will now be able to select this hourly weather data set from the Location tab at site level.

 

Any custom hourly weather epw file you select in your model will be saved with the dsb file so that the model can be used on other computers without the need to copy weather files manually.

 

Although DesignBuilder can been used with any valid epw data sets, you are strongly advised to process the data first to ensure that each hourly record has year 2002. This ensures that daily, hourly and sub-hourly data generated by EnergyPlus is correctly synchronised with the DesignBuilder graphics display. If you do not set the year to 2002 it will not affect the results but it will affect the day of the week display in DesignBuilder.

 

Note: If you do not set the year to 2002, daily, hourly and sub-hourly data will not necessarily show the correct day of the week in the results display graphics.

 

 

In the Hourly weather data, enter the details of the location and select the EnergyPlus epw filename as shown below.

 

 

 

Selecting the epw file automatically loads all other required location and general weather statistics to the Hourly weather data dialog if a corresponding stat file exists in the same folder as the epw file. The stat file is automatically generated by the Hourly weather data translation process.

 

When you press enter you will be able to select this new Hourly weather data set from the Location tab at site level.