APlocate: Location and Weather

1 aplocate : Location and Weather User Guide IES Virtual Environment Copyright 2015 Integrated Environmental Solutions Limited. All rights reserved. No part of the manual is to be copied or reproduced in any form without the express agreement of Integrated Environmental Solutions Limited. VE 2015 aplocate : Location and Weather 2 Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 3 2 aplocate TABS 4 Tab: Location & Site Data 4 Tab: Design Weather Data 7 Tab: Simulation Weather Data 12 Tab: Simulation Calendar 14 3 Weather SELECTION WIZARD 17 Page 1: Location Data 17 Pages 2-3: Source of Design Weather 19 Page 4: Simulation Weather File 25 4 SUNPATH 27 Purpose 27 5 aplocate MENUS 28 File Menu 28 Options Menu 28 Help Menu 28 Toolbar Buttons 28 VE 2015 aplocate : Location and Weather 3 1 Introduction aplocate is the Weather and site Location editor for these programs.

2 CIBSE Heat Loss & Heat Gains (ApacheCalc) ASHRAE Heat Balance Method (ApacheLoads) ApacheSim SunCast Radiance It is possible to choose a Location from an extensive database and guidance is given on defining Weather data for various locations . Normally aplocate is called from within the <Virtual Environment> by clicking the aplocate icon. Default site and Weather data will be set up when a new model is started. To edit these defaults, create new data or change Location you must use aplocate . It is advisable to edit project specific data as soon as the information becomes available. If you begin using the <Virtual Environment> when project data is unknown you may create it at a later date.

3 There are four tabs on the aplocate dialog: Location & Site Data Design Weather Data Simulation Weather Data Simulation Calendar aplocate also has a selection wizard that assists the user in populating the first three tabs. VE 2015 aplocate : Location and Weather 4 2 aplocate Tabs Tab: Location & Site Data aplocate utilises site data that contains values for latitude, longitude and height above sea level of a wide range of sites throughout the world drawn from standard tables published by CIBSE and ASHRAE. Non-ASHRAE locations are marked in aplocate with an asterisk (*). Section: Location and Weather Data The Selection button launches a series of dialogs which help the user select the Location , the design Weather data and the simulation Weather data.

4 The Set Location Only button allows the Location alone to be set without using the wizard. VE 2015 aplocate : Location and Weather 5 Section: Location Data The information in this section is not editable by the user. Whenever a new Location is selected by either of the two buttons above, this section is automatically updated. Location Data: Latitude The Latitude within aplocate is expressed as decimal degrees North or South. In other words, 20 30 N appears as with the drop-down box beside the number set to N. Location Data: Altitude The height above sea level of the building. For locations below sea level, negative values are appropriate. The data is used in the calculation of solar gains and atmospheric pressure in Heat Gain.

5 In System Simulation the solar gains and atmospheric pressure are read in directly from the Weather file and so this data is not used. Location data: Longitude The Longitude within aplocate is expressed as decimal degrees East or West. In other words, 20 30 E appears as with the drop-down box beside the number set to E. The longitude is regarded as increasing westwards from Greenwich, so 20 East of Greenwich is rendered as 340 . Daylight Saving Time: Time Adjustment The local time correction applicable for Daylight saving time during the months From to Through inclusive. The value is approximated to the nearest hour. Positive is in advance of sun time. Daylight Saving Time: Daylight Saving Period These are the two months within which the local time correction firstly starts to apply, and secondly no longer applies.

6 Note that in Northern latitudes, the Through month will normally be later than the From month and in Southern latitudes it will be earlier. Daylight Saving Time: Adjustment for Other Months Other Months are those months not included in the From - Through period. For example, if the From month were April and the Through month October (the default condition), then this time correction would apply to November to March inclusive. Section: Site Data The information in this section is editable by the user. Site Data: Ground Reflectance This is a measure of the ground albedo (Kr). Typical values are listed below, or in CIBSE Guide A2, Table It is used in APcalc and ApacheSim for the calculation of ground reflected radiation on building facades.

7 VE 2015 aplocate : Location and Weather 6 There is some built-in assistance with setting the reflectance level. Select the more info button and a table with sample values will appear. Site Data: Terrain Type Country Suburbs City This data is used in both ApacheSim and in external CFD assessments in MicroFlo. The terrain types define how the wind speed will vary with height, dependant upon the local terrain. These definitions are based on ASHRAE 2001 wind speed profiles. This data affects the natural ventilation air exchange rates when MacroFlo is run in conjunction with ApacheSim and the external convective losses in ApacheSim. In MicroFlo the velocity profile changes with height in relation to the choice of terrain type.

8 Site Data: Wind Exposure (CIBSE Heating Loads) Sheltered: Sheltered sites ( city centres) Normal: Normal exposure sites Severe: Sites with severe exposure ( coastal) The appropriate value will be entered into the Weather file when a selection is made from the drop-down box. The wind exposure index is used to calculate the external surface resistance of walls, windows, roofs etc. when a value is not explicitly entered in APcdb. In most cases, the peak summertime conditions will occur for a sheltered site. This is because the higher surface resistance levels give rise to higher sol-air temperatures on external surfaces. Higher surface resistance levels also reduce the conduction of heat out of the building at night.

9 For winter heat loss design calculations, the peak conditions occur when the exposure index is set to 3, severe (but only if your constructions are defined without typing in surface resistance levels). This index is only used for the CIBSE Heating Loads calculation. VE 2015 aplocate : Location and Weather 7 Tab: Design Weather Data The individual entries are now explained. VE 2015 aplocate : Location and Weather 8 Section: Design Weather Data Source and Statistics This section of the dialog contains the information about how the Weather data has been chosen using the Selection Wizard. The Selection button will take the user directly to the design Weather data section (Pages 2-3) of the wizard if selected here.

10 The Add to custom database button allows the user to save the current design Weather data. Section: Heating Loads Weather Data Outdoor Winter Design Temperature This is the outside air dry-bulb design temperature applicable to the building Location . This number is only used in ApacheLoads and ApacheCalc calculations. This value can be either manually entered or derived by the Weather Selection Wizard. Section: Cooling Loads Weather Data Cooling loads Weather data describes the summer time external design Weather data. This data is used for both CIBSE and ASHRAE cooling loads calculations. The different parameters that are used for both types of analysis can be viewed by selecting either the ASHRAE analysis or CIBSE analysis radio button.