1.3.1 Building Loads
The Building Loads dashboard is composed of several individual sheets. They are arranged in a matter through which relevant information is presented in increasing level of details.
Annual total building loads are the annual cumulative loads for the entire building been simulated which are estimated using the Ideal Loads Air System in EnergyPlus, i.e. an ideal HVAC system with the COP of 1 for both cooling and heating.
Building loads include the following:
- Thermal loads: the amount of heating and cooling energy that must be added to or removed from air-conditioned thermal zones.
- Lighting loads: energy used by lights.
- Eqiupment Loads: energy used by electric equipment.
GFA normalized annual total building loads is the annual total building loads per unit floor area. This indicator is more important than the absolute total value in comparative study across cases or design scenarios with different total floor areas.
GFA stands for Gross Floor Area, which is the sum of both the air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned thermal zones in the energy model.
The other charts are self-evident. They breakdown the annual total building loads by type of load, either in percentage or absolute values, or by month and hour.
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