OpenBuildings™ Station Designer Help

Site Properties

The Properties For: Site opens when the Site Project Tree object´s pop-up menu is activated in the OpenBuildings Energy Simulator Project Tree dialog and the Properties menu item is selected.

It contains controls used to set project site data such as the site location, weather profile, atmospherics and climatic data, the site’s specific terrain information, and daylight saving times. The assumptions set here are used by OpenBuildings Energy Simulator to run and generate reports for load calculations and energy simulations.

Property heading Properties
Name Used to enter a name for the site.
Location Contains site data that allow you to define the project location on the globe and to select the most appropriate weather profile data.
  • Continent — Used to select the continent in which the site is located. By default, the continent property is determined by the settings in the Defaults Manager dialog box. Use the drop-down list to select the continent applicable to your project site. The continent selection made here filters the Country drop-down list to display only the countries located on the selected continent.
  • Country — Used to select the country your site is located in.The selection made here filters the State/Province drop-down list to display only the states or provinces located in the selected country.
  • State/Province — Used to select the state or province your site is located in. The selection made here filters the Location drop-down list to display only the weather locations found in the selected state or province.
  • Location — Used to select the nearest weather station to your project site.
  • Weather profile — Used to select the weather profile for the project site. The project’s available weather profiles appear on the drop-down list, which have been loaded into the project using the Weather Manager's Copy to Project option.
  • Longitude — Displays the longitude value for the site location. The Longitude property is read only.
  • Latitude — Displays the latitude value for the site location. The Latitude property is read only.
  • Altitude — Displays the altitude value for the site location. The Altitude property is read only.
  • Mains Water Temperature — Used to set the temperature of the water supplied to the project building’s piping from the local water utility's distribution mains.
Atmospherics/Climate Contains properties that allow you to define the specific atmospheric conditions prevalent at your project site based on the weather data selected for the project.
  • Clarity — Used to set the level of atmospheric clarity for the site. For calculations involving solar gains, solar radiation intensity is computed using atmospheric turbidity. The specified atmospheric clarity for the site will fix the sky turbidity. 
    • Undefined
    • Very clear
    • Clear
    • Urban
    • Industrial
    • Special – When selected, summer and winter turbidity values are considered.
  • Turbidity winter — Used to view or modify the amount of cloudiness due to particles in the air for winter calculations.
  • Turbidity summer — Used to view or modify the amount of cloudiness due to particles in the air for summer calculations.
  • Climate Zone & Moisture Zone — Used to set the climate and moisture zones in which the project site is located. Climate zones are specified with a number (1 through 8) and moisture zones, a letter (A, B or C).


    The 2006 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) Climate Zone map of the continental United States of America

  • Direct solar correction factor — Used to view or modify the factor used to create an estimation of direct solar radiation without using any meteorological parameters or measurements which requires only geographical input parameters such as longitude and altitude of a location.
  • Diffused solar correction factor — Used to view or modify the factor used to create an estimation of diffused solar radiation without using any meteorological parameters or measurements which requires only geographical input parameters such as longitude and altitude of a location.
Terrain Contains properties that allow you to define the physical terrain prevalent at the site location. The terrain properties are used to determine the factors define the amount of wind and solar energy absorbed and lost at the site.
  • Category — Used to select a terrain category that best describes the terrain at the site. The smoother and flatter a site is, the more solar and wind energy affects the thermal properties of the project building. The available categories are provided on the drop-down list:
    • Undefined
    • Smooth flat country
    • Farm land
    • Suburban
    • Industrial
    • Urban
  • Soil Type — Used to specify the nature of the soil at the project site by selecting one of the soil types available on the drop-down list. Soil type contributes to the direct and reflected solar energy transmitted into the building. The available soils types are:
    • Clay
    • Silt
    • Sand
    • Gravel
    • Homogeneous rock
    • User defined
  • Topography coefficient — Used to specify a topography coefficient. If the building is on a hill, which affects wind conditions, the topography coefficient should be specified. The topography coefficient is a number between one and 3.
  • Wind Shielding — Used to select the wind shielding type that best exemplifies the conditions at the project site. Wind shielding affects the wind pressure coefficients which are used for thermal simulations. The following types are provided on the drop-down list:
    • Countryside
    • Urban
    • City
    • Undefined

  • Usage Category — Used to select a type of usage the terrain at the site most closely resembles. The available usage categories are:

    • Undeveloped rural areas
    • Developed rural areas
    • Urban and light industrial areas
    • All other areas
    • High activity commercial district
  • Soil Thermal Conductivity — Displays a user defined measure of thermal heat transfer through the soil at the site. The Soil Thermal Conductivity value field is enabled by setting Soil Type to User defined. Soil thermal conductivity is influenced not only by soil composition and density, but also by the time of day, seasonal changes and the amounts of water and air (by volume) mixed with the soil. OpenBuildings Energy Simulator uses predefined internal soil thermal conductivity values for the other non-user-defined soil types (Clay, Silt, Sand etc).
  • Ground Reflection — Used to specify a ground reflection factor for the project site. Ground reflection contributes to the calculations that determine solar radiation intensities emitted by the ground at the project site. Ground reflection is a number between zero and 1000.
  • Ground Temp. January – December — Used to set the ground temperature at the site for each month. Ground floors are assumed to be in contact with the earth, for which the temperature should be considered for each month of the year.
Daylight saving Contains properties used to set daylight savings data for the project. You can use daylight saving for the project if required. Using daylight saving will introduce a time difference between actual time (e.g. occupancy times) and solar time. The dates of daylight saving and the time difference are defined with the weather data for the location.
  • Use daylight savings — When on, daylight savings time is considered for all calculations and simulations performed on the project.
  • Start day — Used to define the start date for use of daylight savings time. Clicking on the Start date opens a pop up calendar to use for changing the date.
  • End day — Used to define the end date for use of daylight savings time. Clicking on the End date opens a pop up calendar to use for changing the date.
Parent topic: OpenBuildings Energy Simulator Properties