Using ENVI-met

met BioMet
… A quick guide

Copyright © 2014, Michael Bruse ENVI-MET

ENVI
Basic Remarks
System Requirements and Installation
BioMet is post-processor tool for calculating Human Thermal Comfort Indices
from ENVI-met model output files. The system requirements of the tool itself are
comparably low, but it needs to have a working ENVI-met V4 environment
around it.

As long as ENVI-met V4 is not released to the public, BioMet is – together with

LEONARDO 2014- bundled as an AddOn Package which creates a small ENVI-
met V4 environment on your computer without all the other ENVI-met tools
belonging to version 4.

With the release of ENVI-met V4, BioMet will be included in the regular setup
package.

Using BioMet: Requirements

As mentioned before, BioMet is a tool that calculates different human thermal
comfort indices out of ENVI-met model files. To accomplish this task, it obviously
needs some ENVI-met model outputs, more exactly: some ENVI-met atmospheric
output files (_AT_).

BioMet basically summarizes the impact of the 4 main atmospheric variables: Air
Temperature, Radiative Temperature, Wind Speed and Humidity on the human
thermal sensation. The quality or the reliability of the BioMet results depends
completely on the quality and reliability of the data files provided. In other
words: If your simulation has created bad or unrealistic results, BioMet will also
give you bad and unrealistic outputs. There is nothing BioMet can do about it- it
is a problem of the simulation that has generated the files.

About this document

This is a first quick-and-dirty guide how to use ENVI-met BioMet. It lacks a lot of
detail information and it will be extended as the new ENVI-met V4 site grows.
Running BioMet – A step--by-step guide

Launch BioMet via the WINDOWS start menue.

The main application window appears

appear pointing to some default folder in the
Select data folder (1) area. Before anything useful can happen, you need to tell
BioMet where the ENVI-metmet model results you want to process are located. At
the moment, BioMet does not support
supp projects and workspaces to keep it
compatible with ENVI-metmet Version 3.1

Select the atmospheric data folder

Once
nce you have navigated to a folder on your disc that at least contains one
ENVI-met
met atmosphere file (_AT_) the program becomes active and shows the
following screen:
So, let us navigate through the different areas and options we can now access.

Step (1): Folder Selection

We’re
re done here basically. You can navigate to any other folder at any time. If
the other folder doesn’t contain valid ENVI-met _AT_files, the other areas will be
turned off again.

Step (2) Set the calculation

alculation range
This section is used
ed to define the hours of the day for which your indicator is
going to be calculated as well as the special range of calculation. Let’s see the
details…

The DataFileMap (DFM):: Selecting the time range

The DataFileMap (DFM) is a new control in ENVI-met
ENVI V4 that will cross your way
e.g. in LEONARDO2014. It simplifies the selection progress of single ENVI-met
data files or data file series.

The concept of the DFM is pretty simple: It analyses

an the selected ENVI-met output
folder and tries to reconstruct the time period of the simulation in it. In the
example above, there are two days simulated, the 17.08.2013 and the
18.08.2013. For the 17.08.2013 we have data
d from 08:00 to 23:00 and for
the 18.08.2013 we have data from 00:00 to 06:00.

Time points with data are plotted in color (2), time points without data are
plotted in gray (1). The DFM always displays full days regardless at what time
the simulation actually
ally started or ended. It can also handle
h smaller or larger
output intervals as well as hand-selected
selected or deleted data.

If more than one simulation output is found in the same folder (which is something
that should bee avoided), the DFM takes the simulation files belonging to the first
file found in the selected folder

Selecting files

The purpose of the DFM is to select one or more time points for which the
biometeorological indices will be calculated.

There are several ways to do this:

• Select one file: Click with the left mouse onto a valid (existing) time
frame

• Select several individual files: Hold the shift key and select several files

• Select a continuous range of files: Click the right mouse button and select
one of the presentedd options:

- Set time series to whole range selects any available file within the
bounds of the first and the last valid file found.

- Clear time series clears any selection done before

- Move time series start/end to…

to moves the start or the end of the
selected
elected time series to the time frame the mouse was hovering above
when right-clicking

Selecting the vertical calculation range

Calculating biometeorological indices can be time consuming, especially if you

want to have them for each hour of the day or even in a finer resolution.
resol By
default, ENVI-met will calculate the indices for each grid point corresponding to
the atmospheric file _AT_ found.
However, as biomet indices make basically sense in locations where humans are
walking or sitting, there is not much sense to calculate PMV e.g. in 60m above
ground in the free atmosphere .

You can therefore restrict the vertical range of calculation with 3 options:

• Calculate everywhere: No restriction

• Calculate up to..: Calculates from the ground surface up to the given
height
• Calculate only at..: Calculates only at the selected height level

Once you have selected one of the latter restrictive options, additional options
appear to select a vertical level.

The level numbering is equivalent to LEONARDO 2014 with z=0 being the first
vertical layer in the atmospheric model. The meter value displayed always
refers to the center height of the selected layer.

The Follow Terrain Option is only valid if a digital terrain model is used in the
simulations, which is experimental in ENVI-met V4 at the moment, so you won’t
see this option.

Please Note: Grid point outside the selected range will be marked as “No Data”
in the output files. The output files themselves will have the same x-y-z
dimensions as the original _AT_ ENVI-met datafiles, regardless of which
calculation range has been chosen.

Step (3): Assigning the correct data fields

For the calculation of biomet indices, the program needs to know 5 information
layers for each grid cell:

• The typology (free cell, building, terrain,…)

• The Air Temperature Ta
• The Mean Radiant Temperature TMRT
• The horizontal wind speed uv
• The specific humidity q
All these data are store in the ENVI-met atmospheric file _AT_, in the section of
the screen shown above, you link the internal data of BioMet with the output file
structure.
Once you have successfully located a folder with valid simulation output files
(see Step 1), BioMet should automatically fill all the relations given above.
In theory, BioMet knows the output format of any ENVI-met _AT_ file produced
since Version 2. However, it might always be tha case that thing go wrong or
that you want to use your own .EDI/.EDT or .EDX/.EDT files for running BioMet.
In these cases, you need to link the variables manually.

Step (4): Defining human parameters

In this quick guide we cannot go into detail about the different settings of the
human body and its clothing and the influence on the different biomet indicators.
This will follow later on as the software and the webpage developes , but the
settings in BioMet are the same as in any other biometeorological context, so
help can be found in many articles or books.

By default, the standard ISO 7730 person with a spring/autumn clothing is

selected for calculation.
By pressing Edit personal parameters… you can modify the settings for the human
body and its clothing and activity.
Please note, that the individual settings will not affect all biomet
bi indices:
• UTCI is not influenced by any of these
the settings at all because in its
implementation here it is based on a regression function assuming
rational settings for different
differe environments
• PMV/PPD is always related to a 35 year old male, but is reacting on
clothing parameters and body metabolism
• PET is the most advanced of the yet implemented indicators and reacts
on all of the settings adjustable here

Step (5): Select biomet indicator

As the program is today, there are 3 biomet indicators implemented:

• PMV/PPD
• PET
• UTCI

In upcoming versions, there will be probably

pr more of them.

In this section, there is nothing more to do than to select an indicator and press
the Calculate… button.

Please Note: The free version only supports PMV/PPD. To calculate PET or UTCI
you need to buy a “Registered” version of BioMet.
With yourur contribution, you allow us to proceed with our project, which –besides
of scientific input which is freee most of the times-
times requires a lot of side funding
from servers over web designers up to licenses for the software we use. Thank
you for your contribution….
For more information on how to register see the next section.

Step (6): File name conventions

As the result of the calculation process, BioMet will produce new data files
(_BIO_) by itself. These files are meant to integrate themselves into the other
ENVI-met files and must be viewed by LEONARDO.

BioMet suggests a system of file names and folders that match with the ENVI-met
file system.

Basically, a new folder “biomet” is always created in the same main folder
where the atmospheric files have been located (you cannot change this).
In addition, BioMet suggests to create a new subfolder labeled with the name of
the selected biomet indicator.

In addition, the files created by BioMet are tagged with “_BIO_” as

identification plus the identifier of the calculation.

If you do not like this logic, you can turn it off with disabling Suggest filename.

Please Note: BioMet writes only .EDX/.EDT files. These can only be read by
LEONARDO 2014.
Licensing BioMet
There are many words for software that extends it functionality once some
license fees have been paid. Today it is “Freemium” before it was “Shareware”.
In any case, ENVI-met BioMet offfers you an extended range of calculation
routines,, 2 more at the moment, but more are to come, if you buy a Professional
license of BioMet.

A license bought for the Version 1 will be valid for all updates within the Version
1 cycle.

How to buy a license…

If you want to buy a professional license for BioMet, follow the links to the
license page, e.g. by clicking on “Not
“ Licensed. Click for more information..” in
the BioMet Interface.

Following the links, you will be directed to the myCommerce/Share-it where you
can proceed with a multitude of different payment processes.

Getting the license key…

Once the ordering process is finished,
finished you will get an e-mail from share-it! That
includes, as an attachment, your personal key for BioMet Professional labeled:
Biomet.LICX
Alternatively, you also get an e-mail
mail with a direct download link to the key.

This file, Biomet.LICX, is your personal license to upgrade BioMet to a

registered version of BioMet. Keep it like a bank note!

Registering the software

Once you have got the .LICX key file, you need to upgrade your BioMet
installation.
To do so, click on the “About..” label inside the control Board.

Next, you will see the “About” dialog:

Next, click “Enter/Change
Enter/Change Registration..”
Registration..

Here, click on “Open

Open License file..”
file.. and select the .LICX file you have obtained
from share-it!.

Register on maschine”
Finally, click “Register maschine and –hopefully- your key is updating BioMet
to the professional version. (You
You will need to close and restart Biomet if the
changes are not active immediately)
immediately

If there are issues

ues on installing, write to [email protected] – NOT to share-it!,
they won’thelp you.

Privacy Issues
The license keyy you have got is just for you and your computers (-we ( are not
counting them-).). It is not a site license and it is not meant to give away.
Your key is personalized and it will only work for you. Any file produced by
BioMet with YOUR license will include your license name.