Building Systems (Energy Evaluation)

Note: It is also possible to assign systems to thermal blocks via the Thermal Blocks page of the Energy Model Review palette.
Press the Energy Source button from either the Boiler or Furnace tab page (Heating System) or the District Cooling Settings tab page (Cooling System).
If you use more than one energy source for a function, click the + (plus) button, then choose an additional energy source.
To remove a row, click the – (minus) button.
Choose either District Heating or On Site Equipment to describe the building’s heating system.
District heating means that the evaluated building’s heating and/or hot water needs are supplied by an external plant in the form of hot water or steam through a pipeline.
See Energy Source dialog box.
Use the Energy Source button to define the source or multiple sources of energy consumed by the heating system, as applicable.
See Energy Source dialog box.
Type: Choose either Flat Plate or Evacuated tube.
Target: Set the target for the recovered solar energy: Heating, Hot Water, or both.
Note: If solar collectors are used for multiple targets, then Hot water generation always has the highest priority. This means that if the solar collector is unable to generate enough energy to feed all targets, then it is going to feed the water heater first and use the remaining available energy for the Space heating.
Note: For other units (apart from temperature scale), Energy Evaluation uses the units defined in ARCHICAD, at Options > Project Preferences > Calculation Units and Rules.
Cooling Machine means that some type of cooling system is to be installed in the building. Click Characteristics to see and edit the performance graph of the cooling system.
District cooling: In certain countries, cooled air may be obtained from an external source. If the building will be connected to such an external cooling system, select District cooling and use the Energy Source button.
See Energy Source to define the source or multiple sources of energy used by the district cooling plant.
Supply-only systems rely on fans to drive fresh air into the thermal block.
Exhaust-only systems rely on fans to extract used air from the thermal block.
Supply and exhaust systems mechanically control both the air intake and outlet procedure.
Heat Recovery: Mechanical ventilation systems may or may not have air-to-air heat recovery units. Use the dedicated checkbox to specify this setting.
Note: The Air to air recovery controls are available only if you have chosen a ventilation system that involves mechanical exhaust. If your ventilation type is set to Natural, these controls are inactive.
Steady Air Change Rate: Enter a value for the hourly air change rate. This target value depends on national standards, and will vary depending on the building’s function and the local climate.
Time Scheduled Air Change Rate: Supply and exhaust data may vary by day of the week and over the course of the year. The ventilation Operation Schedule can consist of any number of daily schedules, which correspond to specific date ranges and days of the week.
Recurrence: days of the week when the particular schedule is in effect
Date Range: periods of the simulation year during which the schedule occurs
Recurrence and Date Range define the In use hours (the total number of hours during which the selected Daily Schedule is in effect).
If the Out of Operation hours counter on the bottom right corner of the Yearly Operation Scheduler shows any number except 0, it means that further modifications in Recurrence and Date Range are necessary because there are some hours of the reference year without operation schedule assigned to them.
If the Overlapped hours counter on the bottom right corner of the Yearly Operation Scheduler shows any number except 0, it means that further modifications in Recurrence and Date Range are necessary because there are some hours of the reference year with more than one operation schedules assigned to them.