Programs used to model the energy performance of buildings are complex, often containing 10,000 to over 100,000 lines of computer language. A single typo, error or bug in any one of those lines can have devastating consequences on the accuracy of the program. A new ASHRAE standard provides a standardized procedure to ensure that such simulation programs are accurate.
ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2001, Standard Method of Test for the
Evaluation of Building Energy Analysis Computer Programs, specifies test
procedures for evaluating the technical capabilities and ranges of
applicability of computer programs that calculate the thermal performance
of
buildings and their hvac systems.
"Until development of Standard 140, there was no standardized
procedure for ensuring any given computer program was accurate and
appropriate for any given building energy modeling problems," Ron Judkoff,
chairman of the standard committee, said. "Engineers and architects would
simply have to take the word of the software vendor on faith."