Energy Evaluator Troubleshooting

[Anonymous]

Hi folks, I'm new to the Energy Evaluator tool, and am trying to get it set up for our office. I've run a test evaluation on a project, compared it with a third-party energy model we had created, and it's way off. Is there a good starting point for troubleshooting? We have a pretty robust template and BIM use, as well as a great relationship with our regional ArchiCAD rep, but she's said she doesn't do much with the EcoStar/Energy Evaluator tools.

Thank you!

[furtonb]

It seems troubleshooting what ARCHICAD does with the energy model is like poking around in the dark.
This article might help you to start, though:
https://www.thomsonarchitecture.ca/2020/08/15/archicad-ecodesigner-and-passive-house/
This is the PDF guide for Ecodesigner Star (with features you won't have access to):
http://download.graphisoft.com/ftp/marketing/edstar/EcoDesigner_STAR_User_Manual.pdf

Also, taking a look at the Ladybug Discourse has some interesting discussions, if you type "ARCHICAD" in the search bar. Mostly about issues, unfortunately.
https://discourse.ladybug.tools/

The Unmet Hours community doesn't have much discussions related to it.

Do you need the results for code compliance? Well... how valid are the results? According to the HelpCenter article the simulation kernel and Strusoft's stand-alone VIP Energy product is validated according to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2007. They also note that

"To produce code-compliant energy simulation results, the expert user interface of EcoDesigner STAR is necessary."

Info from here: https://help.graphisoft.com/AC/24/int/_AC24_Help/100_EnergyEvaluation/100_EnergyEvaluation-28.htm
Interestingly, they don't say ARCHICAD's Energy Evaluation or Ecodesigner STAR is validated against any measure, just the engine that they use.

Too bad the "more info about the engine" URL is not working. After a few minutes of googling there isn't much available material in English for the VIP engine either:
https://strusoft.com/uploads/documents/vip-energy/Broschyr_VIP_ENG.pdf

The overview is in Swedish, I don't understand it unfortunately: https://strusoft.com/products/vip-energy#documents

Maybe someone from Sweden or from GRAPHISOFT could give an overview.

I find it odd, that there is zero trace of a conductive side by side comparison available, against Energy+ for instance (so you have a well documented base to compare to).

Good luck!