Dipartimento di architettura, ingegneria delle costruzioni e ambiente costruito

BESTenergy
Getting Started Manual

Scientific chief
Prof. Federico M. Butera

Scientific coordinator
Prof. Niccol Aste

Workgroup
Rajendra Adhikari, Michela Buzzetti, Claudio Del Pero, Fabrizio Leonforte,
Massimiliano Manfren, Manlio Mazzon, Lavinia Chiara Tagliabue, Luciano Zanotto.

April, 2014
Politecnico di Milano
Dipartimento di architettura, ingegneria delle costruzioni e ambiente costruito
Via Bonardi, 3
20133 Milano
Tel. 02 2399 5161
Fax 02 2399 5130
www. polimi.it/best
Partita Iva: 04376620151
Codice fiscale: 80057930150

Table of Contents
1)

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 3

2)

BEFORE STARTING... .................................................................................................... 3

3)

INTRODUCTION TO THERMAL MODELING ......................................................... 6

4)

ADDING AND MODELING A NEW ZONE ............................................................... 11

5)

ZONES ADJACENCIES AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS .................................... 13

6)

ADDING SHADING SURFACES AND NEARBY BUILDINGS .............................. 15

7)

CREATING AND ASSIGNING ENVELOPE COMPONENTS ................................ 16

8)

DEFINING USERS BEHAVIORS ............................................................................... 20

9)

RUNNING THE SIMULATION ................................................................................... 22

10) SHOWING AND MANAGING OUTPUTS.................................................................. 24

11) A SHORT RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY ..................................................... 25

1) Introduction
The aim of this short manual is to provide a first guide in a step-by step simplified thermal
modeling by using BESTenergy software.
The software is a SketchUp based plugin which runs dynamic building energy simulation
by running EnergyPlus 7.1 calculation engine. So, its aim is to create an .idf file in a very
simplified way by using SketchUp drawing tools in conjunction with some additional
commands. So, data required have to be input according to EnergyPlus conventions and
the resulting .idf file can be implemented or edited directly from EnergyPlus .idf editor for
adding specific features that are not implemented into the plugin. By the way, to do this,
user must be very confident with EnergyPlus simulation engine.
BESTenergy features were focused on building envelope and user behaviors modeling, in
order to support energy performance optimization during Architectural design phase. For
this reason, at the moment, no plant and mechanical systems modeling modules were
added. So, even if it is possible to get energy needs amounts, no system energy
consumptions can be directly calculated.

2) Before starting...
Before starting, user must be aware about the properly use of the software and the
operative system, so it is useful to highlight some preliminary recommendations.
Currently, the plugins works only on Windows operative system (more precisely, on XP
version or later). In MAC OS, it can run under a virtual machine. Before installing the
plugin, users must have SketchUp software already installed. Nowadays, it works on
version n. 8 and 2013 (both free and pro license). It wasnt upgraded to be compatible with
the 2014 version, yet.
Installation can be done by launching as administrator the BESTenergy_Setup file. It will
install both EnergyPlus simulation engine and the plugin. When the plugin installation
folder is requested, it has to be noted that the path must be the same in which the SketchUp
executable file is placed (a note reminds it during the installation).
After installation, to make calculations performed correctly, user must be sure that
Windows international settings are as follow:

decimal symbol: . (dot)

digit grouping symbol: (single quote)

To set them, go in operative system control panel, in Region and Language (see Fig. 2.1).
Then, in the Format section, click on Additional Settings (see Fig. 2.2) and set
corresponding fields as explained above.
Mind that these settings affects the operative system, so after running other software, be
sure that these settings do not cause misunderstandings, otherwise, remember to switch
them every time.

Fig. 2.1 - Control Panel Screenshot in Windows 7.

Fig. 2.2 Regional and language options panel in Windows 7.

Fig. 2.3 Customized format settings.

After setting formats, user can initialize the plugin. To do this, simply run SketchUp, and
BESTenergy commands will appear under Plugin-BESTenergy menu and in its

corresponding toolbars. By the way, to make it work properly, except for Windows XP,
you must run SketchUp as administrator (by right-clicking on the icon, see Fig. 2.4, or by
setting always run as administrator in Compatibility section, which can be found by
right clicking on the icon an selecting Properties command, see Fig. 2.5).

Fig. 2.4 Run as administrator command to be selected by right clicking on SketchUp icon.

Fig. 2.5 Compatibility section in Properties command available by right clicking on the
SketchUp icon.

3) Introduction to thermal modeling

Models for an energy simulation are not as detailed as ones built for a render. They must
be drawn according to its purpose, following assumptions given by the simulation engine.
The thermal model consists in one or more thermal zones, each of them is fully enclosed
by thermal surfaces. So, thermal models are built with 2-D objects (surfaces) in which
envelope components thicknesses are not represented.
A thermal zone is a room or a group of rooms which are used at the same way. In
particular they are characterized by the same:
Occupancy rate and profile;
Internal heat gain rate and profile;
Ventilation and infiltrations air flow rate and profile;
Heating and cooling set-point temperatures.
Thermal surfaces represent building envelope components. They must be modeled
according following three rules:
They must have homogeneous thermal properties;
They must face the same outside environment;
Their normal vector must point out from the zone which they enclose.
The first statement causes that each time a building component has different material
layers, the corresponding surface must be split. So, for instance, if a wall was insulated
only in a part of it, two different thermal surfaces must be modeled, corresponding to the
insulated and the uninsulated part of the wall.
The second one means that each surface must have the same boundary conditions, so, for
instance, if a wall was separating the thermal zone by outdoor environment, in a part, and
by a thermal zone, in the other part, it couldnt be considered as an unique thermal surface,
but it must be split in two objects. The same if the wall was adjacent to two different
zones: since each zone has its thermal balance and different indoor conditions may occur,
even in this case the surface which represents the wall must be split (see Fig. 3.1 ). To split
a surface, simply trace a line upon it.
The third statement can be verified by looking at the surface color. In SketchUp, surfaces
sides are rendered with different brightness. To meet the statement, user must check if the
darkest side of the surface is facing outward from the zone. On the other hand, the lighter
one is facing inward from the zone (see Fig. 3.2). If not verified, user must right-click on
the surface and select Reverse Faces, to fix it (see Fig. 3.3).

Fig. 3.1 Example of thermal surfaces which are not facing the same outdoor environment, so a
division was provided on them.

Fig. 3.2 Surfaces sides different brightness, to distinguish indoor and outdoor side.

Fig. 3.3 Reverse faces command to fix wrong normal direction.

Thermal surfaces are only opaque surfaces. Windows and doors are modeled as thermal
sub-surfaces. To draw them, user has only to draw a closed polyline upon the thermal
surface which contains it. A sub-surface must be modeled according to the same rules
defined for thermal surfaces. Moreover:

it must be triangular or rectangular shaped;

each sub-surface must be fully contained by a unique base thermal surface, to which it
must refer.

The first statement causes that more complex-shaped sub-surfaces must be divided in more
triangles and/or rectangles (see Fig. 3.4).

The second statement means that if a window was placed across two split surfaces, the
subsurface had to be split in the same way (see Fig. 3.5). The link to the base thermal
surface is reported in the sub-surface properties and it is automatically generated once the
window (or the door) is drawn. For this reason, user has to pay attention in dividing a base
thermal surface on which sub-surfaces are already drawn. In fact, by doing this, only one
part of the original base surface keeps its name and other generated parts acquire a new
name. So, it has to be checked if, after these divisions, sub-surfaces placed on the divided
surface refer correctly to the new opaque base surface names generated, otherwise, user
has to delete and draw again them to update this link.
It has to be noted that a sub-surface must be contained by a thermal surface providing at
least a little offset between its boundary and the base surface one, even if it represents a
fully glazed faade (see Fig. 3.6).
Finally, a thermal surface can contain more than one sub-surface.

Fig. 3.4 Modeling a trapezoidal window.

Fig. 3.5 A window placed across two different thermal surfaces. Note that the sub-surface was
split in the same way.

Fig. 3.6 A sub-surface representing a fully glazed faade. Note that a little offset between the
base thermal surface and the sub-surface was provided.

Editing object properties is possible in an easy way, by the Object Info tool. It can be
launched by the Plugin-BESTenergy-Tools menu, or by clicking on the corresponding icon
( ), or by right clicking on the object and selecting the command in the contextual menu,
under BESTenergy submenu (see Fig. 3.7)
On the basis of the selected object, it shows the corresponding properties set to be edited
by the user. It has to be noted that, in order to show whole building properties, no objects
have to be selected.

Fig. 3.7 Object Info tool in the contextual menu

The models orientation is assumed by default to make the green solid line in SketchUp
modeling space matching with the North direction (see Fig. 3.8). User may also change this
assumption, by setting a relative rotation to the model in its properties, still working with
geometries aligned with SketchUp main axes. To do this, activate Object Info tool and
click away from the model to have no object selected. In this way, Object Info will show
whole model properties. Here, the Rotation field can be modified to assign a relative
rotation to the model (see Fig. 3.9). A positive angle means that the SketchUp green solid
axis is rotated clockwise with respect to the real North direction (see Fig. 3.10).
By the way, once user will open again the .idf file, the model will be shown as rotated (see
Fig. 3.11). So, if a modification to model geometry is needed, user can restore the original
rotation (0), open again the .idf file, apply geometric changes needed and set again the
real rotation.

Fig. 3.8 North direction in the modeling space

Fig. 3.9 Rotation field in whole model properties shown by Object Info

10

Fig. 3.10 Model rotation angle definition

Fig. 3.11 Model visualization after assigning a relative rotation in its properties and opening
again the .idf file

4) Adding and modeling a new zone

The first step in thermal modeling consists of adding the first thermal zone. Click on the
New EnergyPlus Zone button (
) or launch the command New Zone Tool by the
Plugin BESTenergy menu. Once you do it, the cursor becomes blue cross shaped. Then,
place this cross along the modeling space. Its not so important where user places it: it is
mainly useful to select and activate the zone itself. Once the cross is placed, a blue box
appears: this is the container of the zones objects (see Fig. 4.1).
In order to draw object belonging to the added zone, user must first activate and open the
blue container, by double clicking on the corresponding blue cross, or by double clicking
on the zone name in the Outliner Window (see Fig. 4.2). Pay attention: if user wont

11

activate a zone, entities which are drawn are not recognized as thermal objects, but only as
SketchUp geometric entities and they are ignored by the simulation software and deleted
after opening again the .idf file. The box will be automatically enlarged to contain all
objects which user is drawing.

Fig. 4.1 Zones container placed along the drawing space.

Fig. 4.2 Zone activation by double clicking on the blue cross or by double clicking on the zone
name in the Outliner Window.

Then user may add geometry to each zone by using SketchUp drawing commands. Note
that thermal surfaces are 2-d subjects, while real buildings have 3-d components, with a
thickness. So user must decide in which point of the component the thermal surface have to
be placed. It is common to use the following assumption: if the component is separating
the zone from the outdoor environment or from the ground, the corresponding surface has
to be placed on the components innermost side. Otherwise, if it is separating the zone
from another one, the surface has to be place in the middle point of the component.
To add a subsurface, user has simply to draw a closed boundary on the same plane of the
thermal surface to which it refers.

12

If user needs to add more than one zone, he has simply to repeat this operation. Note that
when two zones are in contact with each other, the separating real building component will
be represented by two coincident surfaces, each of one encloses the zone to which it refers.
More precisely, in inter-zone components, two coincident surfaces having its normal in
opposite direction have to be drawn (see Fig. 4.3). Remind that, since each thermal surface
have to face an unique environment, if a wall face two different zones or it will face the
adjacent zone only in a part, the corresponding surface must be split.

Fig. 4.3 Two zones in contact with each other. Note that inter-zone wall is represented by two
coincident surfaces and the part which is facing outdoors is split by the remaining part.

5) Zones adjacencies and boundary conditions

Thermal surfaces can be in contact with different environments (ground, outdoors, etc.)
and consequently heat transmission occurs differently. Also, in most of cases, more than
one zone is needed and some of them will be in contact with each other. So, in this case
heat exchanges between zones in contacts will occur and in order to ensure this calculation
they have to be linked in the model.
So, for this reasons in thermal surface properties (which can be edited by Object Info
tool) the Outside Boundary Condition field can be edited (see Fig. 5.1). By default, once
geometry is drawn, it is set as Outdoors, so as all surfaces face the outdoor environment.
Other useful choices are Ground, Adiabatic and Surface. The first is used for surfaces
in contact with the ground. The second one is useful if user has to study only a part of a
building and the remaining one which is in contact with the model is kept at more or less
the same temperature of the modeled section. So, in order to avoid to thermally model the
whole building, it may be assumed as adiabatic those surfaces which cut the studied part
of the building. The Surface option is used to link zones. So, inter-zone surfaces,
which are in contact with each other, have to be edited and, the Surface option have to be
set as Outside Boundary Condition. Also, in the Outside Boundary Condition field, the
name of the adjacent surface has to be input.

13

This operation can also be done automatically, by launching the Surface Matching
routine (it can be found in Plugin-BESTenergy-Tools sub-menu). This routine looks for
all couples of surfaces which vertices are coincident and their normal has opposite
direction. Then, for these surfaces, the fixing explained above will be automatically done.
This routine also changes the construction applied to the surface, assigning the one which
is specified under corresponding interior labeled component in Default Components
dialog interface. So, if no one are specified, it will input a blank field in Construction,
causing error in launching the simulation. Also, this substitution may be unwanted by the
user, which can have set different components for these surfaces. So, for this reason it can
be suggested to launch this routine before assigning components to surfaces.
To run the routine, simply click on the Match in Entire Model or Match in Selection
button to fix all surfaces or only the ones which enclose selected zones (see Fig. 5.2).

Fig. 5.1 Surface properties shown by Object Info tool

Fig. 5.2 Surface Matching launching panel

14

6) Adding shading surfaces and nearby buildings

A building is often placed in a built environment, where other buildings or surrounding
elements can be found. User is not interested in energy performances of these, but he has to
take into account for them in shading calculation. So, user have to model them, but
probably he cant know their envelope components thermal properties (and probably, he is
not interested in them). The same happens for parts of the same building to which thermal
performance user is not interested. Also, some building surfaces have both sides in contact
with the outdoor environment. These are not thermal surfaces, since they do not enclose a
thermal zone, but they may have to be taken into account for shading casted upon the
model (i.e. overhangs).
In these cases, Shading surfaces objects have to be used. They can be drawn by adding a
New Shading Surface Group, by clicking on the corresponding button ( ), or by
launching the command in Plugin-BESTenergy menu. Then, as in thermal zone, a blue box
will be added to the model. User has to activate it, by double clicking on its blue cross and
then he can draw in it these geometries (see Fig. 6.1). They will be violet colored, to
distinguish them by thermal surfaces. It doesnt matter how shading surfaces are grouped.
It can be created an only group which contains all the shading surfaces or it can be created
a group for each of them in the same way.
The only property which can be edited in shading surfaces is the transparency (see). Since
it can be input a schedule for this parameter, it can be made varying along the simulation
period (i.e. for simulating a deciduous tree or a movable shading).

Fig. 6.1 Adding shading surfaces in the model.

Fig. 6.2 Shading surface properties, which can be edited by Object Info tool

15

7) Creating and assigning envelope components

Once defined model's geometry, user has to assign building components to each thermal
surface and sub-surface. But first, they have to be defined in the model.
Opaque building components are modeled as a sequence of opaque material layers. So,
first of all, opaque materials needed have to be defined. To do this, go in "PluginBESTenergy-Materials and Components" sub-menu and select the Opaque Materials
Library command. In the window shown in Fig. 7.1, a list of material grouped by
categories is reported. Categories are provided only to make material's browsing easier. So,
if user will input a new material in a not proper category, most of time no errors will be
generated. Only the AIR GAPS category have to be used carefully: here only real air
gaps have to be input because further calculations on input data will be performed by the
plugin, and these calculations are not correct for other materials.
If user needs a new opaque material, he can create it by clicking on the New button in
the Opaque Materials Library window. Then, the dialog box shown in Fig. 7.2 will be
prompted. Following parameters have to be defined:
Material name:
name used to identify the opaque material object. The name must be unique along the
thermal model. Since in material properties thickness has to be defined, it is suggested
to specify it in the name (ie: EPS_5cm). In fact, this implies to define a new material
even if only thickness value changes. Once defined material name, it cant be modified
afterward.
Roughness:
finishing style of the surface, which affects convective heat transmission. It can be
chosen between following descriptive tags: Very Rough, Rough, Medium
Rough, Medium Smooth, Smooth, Very Smooth.
Thickness (in meters);
Thermal conductivity (in W/m2K);
Thermal absorptance, Solar absorptance, Visible absorptance:

Fig. 7.1 Opaque Materials Library window

16

Fig. 7.2 Opaque material properties to be set for a new object.

Once added all opaque materials needed in the library, user can define opaque envelope
components by launching the Opaque Envelope Components command, which can be
found in the Plugin-BESTenergy-Materials and Components sub-menu. Then, the screen
in Fig. 7.3 will be shown.
To add a new envelope construction, click on New. After that, the following message
will be prompted, to warn the user: Input material starting from the outermost to the
innermost layer. You can add no more than 10 layers. The first statement warns about the
material layers order. It implies that user must pay attention to inter-zone components. In
this case, the real building component is modeled with two surfaces one in contact with the
other one. Each surface encloses the zone to which it belongs, so the outermost layer is
not the same for both surfaces. Then, user must model two different constructions, with the
same material layers, input in the reverse order. Each of these constructions has to be
assigned to the corresponding adjacent surface. This operation may be avoided if the
construction material order is symmetric. After clicking on New, sometimes the dialog
box may be moved behind the SketchUp window. To be able to use it, drag and move it
again upon the SketchUp window.
In the upper left part of the opaque components window, user has to select the source of
materials to be used. By selecting Opaque materials in user library, user can load
materials defined in its library, as explained before. By browsing the different categories,
user can add materials to the construction by clicking on the >> button or remove some
of them by clicking on the << button, so to edit the material layers list on the right. To
change materials order in the construction, each one can be selected and moved through
the list by Up and Down buttons. Pay attention that materials in air gaps category
cant be input as the outermost or innermost layer: they must be placed between two other
opaque material layers.

17

Then, the new opaque component can be named and saved by clicking on the Create
button and it will appear in the Opaque components in the model section. Pay attention
to assign unique names to constructions along the model.

Fig. 7.3 Opaque envelope components window.

Transparent components definition can be done in two different ways. The simplest one
can be done by the Simplified Glazing Component command, which can be found in the
Plugin-BESTenergy-Materials and Components sub-menu. To create a new transparent
component, user have to click on the New button, then the right section of the window
will be activated. As it can be seen in Fig. 7.4 only 4 parameters have to be input:

Component name, which must be unique along the thermal model;

U-value, in W/m2K referred to the whole transparent component;
Solar Heat Gain Coefficient referred to the whole transparent component;
Visible transmittance referred to the whole transparent component. This field is
optional, but if a daylight simulation is performed this field must be filled.

By clicking on Save button, the new component will be added to the list on the left.

18

Fig. 7.4 Simplified glazing components window.

Once defined all opaque and transparent components, they must be assigned to each
thermal surface and sub-surface. This can be done in two different ways. The first one, by
editing surface or sub-surface properties by using Object Info tool, and selecting the
corresponding envelope component in the Construction field (see Fig. 7.5). The second
way is to use the Default Components dialog interface (see Fig. 7.6), which can be found
in the Plugin-BESTenergy-Settings sub-menu. Here, user may assign the envelope
components by surface type (so, for instance, all walls will have the specified construction)
selecting for each of it the corresponding construction. Here interior means an inter-zone
surface. It can be noted that horizontal inter-zone surfaces are split (Interior Floor and
Interior Ceiling) to allow the user to specify the construction with material layers
reversed order for the two thermal surfaces in contact with each other. This wasnt possible
for vertical surfaces, since it cant be defined the right and left side in a unique way.
So, user must modify manually the construction assignment to inter-zone walls.
This operation can be done through the whole model (by clicking on Apply to Entire
Model button) or only in a part of it (by clicking on Apply to Selection button). Note
that this dialog interface also sets the constructions that will be automatically applied to
new surfaces that will be drawn after that time.

Fig. 7.5 Assigning an envelope component to a thermal surface by using Object Info tool.

19

Fig. 7.6 Default Components dialog interface.

8) Defining users behaviors

Once geometry is defined, how the zone is used has to be set. To do this in a simple way,
go in Plugin-BESTenergy-Zone Settings sub-menu and launch the Simplified
command. The box in Fig. 8.1 will appear. Following parameters have to be defined:
Zone People Occupancy Rate: the ratio between number of people and zone floor area;
Zone Occupancy Multiplier Schedule: a schedule which contains multiplier factors
which at each simulation time-step will be applied to the previous value to make it
varying;
People Activity Schedule Name: a schedule containing people metabolic rate caused by
their activity, in W/person;
Electric Equipment Thermal Load: the internal heat gain rate over floor area due to
electric equipment activation (i.e.: lights, computers, etc.);
Electric Equipment Thermal Load Schedule: a schedule containing multiplier factors
to be applied in each simulation time-step to the above parameter to make it vary along
the time;
Ventilation Airflow: the airflow rate caused by ventilation and infiltrations, which unit
of measure can be set in the field on the left;
Ventilation Airflow Schedule: a schedule containing multiplier factors to be applied in
each simulation time-step to the above value to make it varying along the time;
Constant Heating Setpoint Temperature: the temperature below which the heating
system is activated. It can be set as a constant value along the time or as a variable
value by adding a schedule which contains this value. If both are input, only the
scheduled value will be considered. If the zone is not heated, uncheck Zone Heating;
Constant Cooling Setpoint Temperature: the temperature above which the cooling
system is activated. It can be set as a constant value along the time or as a variable
value by adding a schedule which contains this value. If both are input, only the

20

scheduled value will be considered. If the zone is not cooled, uncheck Zone
Cooling.

Fig. 8.1 Simplified Zone Settings dialog box

Values can be saved in a profile, by clicking on the Save button and loaded by the
Profile List and clicking on Load button. To assign values to zones, user has to click
on Apply to All Zones or on Apply to Selection (to apply them only to selected zones,
which will be shown in the first row of the window). Note that this dialog interface only
applies values, but it cant show values already applied to a specific zone.

21

9) Running the simulation

Once the model is complete, the simulation can be run. To do this, select Run
Simulation, by the Plugin-BESTenergy menu, or simply by clicking on the
corresponding button ( ). The window in Fig. 9.1 will appear.
In the Run Control section, user may set to run the simulation in a typical year, or in a
part of it, according to climatic data specified in a weather data file (by checking the option
on the right), or to run it in design days set by the user, by the Design Days command
(by selecting the option on the left). Both of these options may be selected in the same
simulation, by the way, usually, different frequencies and periods in which output data are
calculated may cause a quite messy output file, which could result difficult to be read. So,
it is suggested to perform these two types of simulations in two different steps.
If the Run weather file simulation option is selected, in the Weather File Simulation
section, the EPW path field will be activated. Here, user has to specify the folder in
which the data file containing climatic data is. This file must be according to .epw format.
Weather files referred to main worldwide locations are provided at the link reported in the
window
after
Download
weather
files
at
(
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/weatherdata_about.cfm ). Pay attention to not input
paths containing special characters or ftp folders (ie: dropbox folders paths). Then, in the
part below, general data referred to the weather file location will be shown. Then user may
select to simulate the model through the whole typical year or the have a run in a shorter
period, by unchecking the Annual simulation option and selecting start and end dates.
Options in Results and Action on Completion sections should be selected according to
the default setting (see Fig. 9.1).
By clicking on the Run button, the simulation will start. If some changes were made to
the model with respect to the last saved file version, a message will be prompted in which
user is warned to save the .idf file. By clicking on Yes, the .idf file will be saved and
simulation will then start automatically.
After running the simulation, two things may occur. The first one, if the model was
properly set, is the generation of a lot of output files in the same folder in which the .idf
file was saved. In particular, the .csv file will contain output results, which can be shown in
a spreadsheet editor, as will be explained in the next section. The second one is the
occurrence of some errors related to a not proper modeling, which are shown automatically
after the simulation in a text editor. Errors maybe classified as Warnings or Severe
errors. Warnings do not cause simulation stops and output data are generated. By the way,
user should sometimes verify if input data are set correctly, to have reliable results. Severe
errors, instead, must be fixed, otherwise output data couldnt be calculated.

22

Fig. 9.1 Run Simulation window

23

10) Showing and managing outputs

Output data are reported in a .csv file and it can be shown importing it in a spreadsheet
editor. To do this, in Microsoft Excel (versions after XP), go in Data and select Import
data from text. Then, user has to select the .csv file he wants to import, which is generated
with the same name and in the same folder of the .idf file. Once selected the .csv file, it
will be asked to specify if columns have to be identified by delimitation characters (option
Delimited) or by a fixed length (option Fixed length). The Delimited option has to
be selected (see Fig. 10.1). Clicking on Next, in the screen shown in Fig. 10.2 user has to
check the comma as column separating character. Then, user has to select the cell in which
data have to be imported. After importing data, in each column an output variable will be
reported, where in each row its value along the simulation time will be shown according to
the frequency set by the Output Variables command in the plugin. In the first column,
time to which the variables values refers is reported (see Fig. 10.3).

Fig. 10.1 First step importing data from text in Microsoft Excel

Fig. 10.2 Second step importing data from text in Microsoft Excel

Fig. 10.3 Example of a .csv file visualization after importing it in Microsoft Excel.

24

11) A short recommendation summary

General recommendations:
be sure that international settings provide dot as decimal separator and single quote as
digit grouping symbol;
except for Windows XP, always run SketchUp as administrator (by right-clicking on
the icon an selecting Run as Administrator);
open and save ONLY .idf files, by using the plugin commands, not the save command
under File SketchUp menu. Never save .skp files, otherwise the thermal model will
be corrupted;
disable auto-saving in SketchUp, by Window menu, Preferences-General;
never input commas, both in numeric fields and in descriptive fields; also avoid to
input exclamation marks and semicolons;
Modeling recommendations:
If user needs to divide a surface on which sub-surfaces (windows and doors) are
already drawn, check if after division sub-surfaces placed on the divided surface refer
correctly to the new opaque base surface names generated, otherwise, delete and draw
again them to update this link.
If you run surface matching after assigning surfaces constructions, pay attention to to
the construction substitution which is applied according to default constructions
settings
Renaming objects along the model must be carefully done. First of all, be sure to avoid
having duplicated names, both for zones, surfaces and sub surfaces. Then, after object
renaming, user must close Object Info window, to confirm it, otherwise, if a further
object is selected keeping active Object Info window, previous renaming will be
discarded.

25