Testing and Validation

Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Acrobat Reader.

An important ongoing part of EnergyPlus development is testing using industry standard methods as major builds are completed. The goal is to make EnergyPlus as bug-free as possible. Three major types of tests are currently conducted:

• Analytical tests:
  • HVAC tests, based on ASHRAE Research Project 865
  • Building fabric tests, based on ASHRAE Research Project 1052
• Comparative tests:
  • ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2007
  • International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA SHC) BESTest (Building Energy Simulation Test) methods not yet in Standard 140
  • EnergyPlus HVAC Component Comparative teststs
  • EnergyPlus Global Heat Balance tests
• Release and executable tests

The results of testing for ASHRAE Research Project 1052; ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2007 Envelope, HVAC CE100-200, HVAC CE300-500, and HVAC HE100-230 Furnace test suites; EnergyPlus HVAC Component tests; and EnergyPlus Global Heat Balance tests are available for EnergyPlus version 2.2.0 build 23. The BESTest suite compares the results of multiple simulation programs for a series of load-related attributes. For more information on IEA SHC Task 34/Annex 43 (BESTest), visit the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme Web site.

For this testing we added results for the last versions of BLAST and DOE-2.1E. In all the graphs, the results for EnergyPlus are shown on the right as a blue striped bar.

As new releases are completed and as we conclude new tests, we will add the results to this page. Click on the links below to view the reports for EnergyPlus V 2.2.0 build 23.

• ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2007
  • Envelope (PDF 596 KB)
  • HVAC CE100-200 (PDF 796 KB)
  • HVAC CE300-545 (PDF 723 KB)
  • HVAC HE100-230 (PDF 307 KB)
• ASHRAE Research Project 1052 (PDF 699 KB)
• EnergyPlus HVAC Component Comparative Tests (PDF 307 KB).
• EnergyPlus Global Energy Balance Tests (PDF 762 KB).

Printable Version