TRNSYS 18

a TRaNsient SYstem Simulation program

Updates in Version 18

Solar Energy Laboratory, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison

http://sel.me.wisc.edu/trnsys

TRANSSOLAR Energietechnik GmbH

http://www.trnsys.de

CSTB – Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment

http://software.cstb.fr

TESS – Thermal Energy Systems Specialists

http://www.tess-inc.com
 TRNSYS 18 – Updates in Version 18

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 1–4
1.1. New Features at a glance 1–4
1.2. Updating from TRNSYS 17 to TRNSYS 18 1–6

2. PACKAGE 2–6
2.1. Documentation emphasis on learning to better use TRNSYS 2–6
2.2. Integrated TRNSYS-Dedicated Fortran Type Compiler (TypeStudio) 2–6

3. TRNSYS SIMULATION STUDIO 3–7

3.1. Parametric runs 3–7
3.2. Updated 3D building project type including daylighting 3–8
3.3. Better interoperability 3–8
3.4. Generated FORTRAN code updated for FORTRAN 90 3–9
3.5. Various other improvements 3–10

4. TRNBUILD/TRNSYS MULTIZONE BUILDING (TYPE 56) 4–10

4.1. TRNBuild - Multizone building interface 4–10
4.1.1. Navigator 4–11
4.1.2. Construction Types 4–11
4.1.3. Glazing library 4–12
4.1.4. Schedule Types 4–13
4.1.5. Regime Types 4–14
4.1.6. Airnode – Gains 4–17
4.2. Integrated daylight simulation 4–18
4.2.1. Definition of radiance materials 4–18
4.2.2. Defininition of daylight mode of thermal zone 4–20
4.2.3. Definition of daylight sensor points 4–21
4.2.4. Generation of radiance files 4–21
4.2.5. Daylight related outputs 4–24
4.3. Extended comfort calculation 4–24
4.4. Integrated Supply air conditioning 4–25

5. TRNSYS ENGINE 5–27

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5.1. Improved solar radiation interpolation 5–27

5.2. Updated psychrometric properties 5–27
5.3. Automatic report generation 5–27

6. NEW COMPONENTS 6–28

6.1. New Controller Components 6–28
6.2. New Electrical Components 6–28
6.3. New HVAC Components 6–28
6.4. New Hydronics Components 6–29
6.5. New Loads and Structures Components 6–29
6.6. New Thermal Storage Components 6–29
6.7. New Utility Components 6–29

7. ADD-ONS (NOT INCLUDED IN PACKAGE) 7–30

7.1. TRNSYS3d (free of charge) 7–30
7.2. TRNLizard (free of charge) 7–32
7.3. Complex fenestration model (Type 56) 7–34

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1. INTRODUCTION
TRNSYS, the transient systems simulation program that has been commercially available since 1975,
continues to develop by the international collaboration of the United States, France, and Germany.
TRNSYS remains one of the most flexible energy simulation software packages by facilitating the addition
of mathematical models, the available add-on components, the capabilities of the multizone building model,
and the ability to interface with other simulation programs.

The following document explains the updates for the new TRNSYS version 18. Updates include
improvements to the TRNSYS Simulation Studio, the addition of new capabilities to the TRNSYS multizone
building model, developments for the TRNSYS engine, and new components to the TRNSYS standard
library.

1.1. New Features at a glance

Package
 Documentation emphasis on learning to better use TRNSYS
 Hints and Tips documentation
 Parameter / Input / Output reference documentation
 Documented HVAC system examples
 Detailed building / HVAC modeling introduction tutorial
 Additional documented examples
 Integrated TRNSYS-Dedicated Fortran Type Compiler (TypeStudio)

Simulation Studio
 Parametric runs
 Updated 3D building project type including daylighting
 Better interoperability: TMF files in XML, style information in the deck file
 generated FORTRAN code updated for FORTRAN 90
 Simplified dialogs: unused tabs are hidden, keyboard shortcuts
 Improved connection window: sort variables by name, click on inbound variables first, delete key
removes the selected connection, new keyboard shortcuts and map
 Improved error report: opens automatically if there are errors, new design with tabs, improved
filters (notice/warning/errors)
 Simulation summary report activation
 Numerous simplifications and bug fixes

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TRNSYS Multizone Building (Type 56)

 Daylight depending control type
 Dynamic daylight simulation for sensor points based on DaySIM
 Comfort calculation extended to elevated air speed acc. ASHRAE Standard 55-2013, Appendix G
 Energy demand for supply air conditioning including heat recovery
 Restructuring source code

TRNBuild (User interface of the multizone building model)

 TRNBuild Navigator extended to regime data (heating, cooling, ventilation, gains) and constructions
data (layers, surfaces, windows) and schedules
 Use of longer names of airnodes and zones, construction types, etc. possible
 Use of small letters for names of airnodes and zones, construction types, etc. possible
 Added opaque surface types (wall, floor, ceiling, roof)
 Rename wall types to construction types
 Added total renewable primary energy and total non-renewable primary energy for opaque layers and
windows
 New glazing library
 New schedule library
 Added annual schedules
 New gain library
 New gain categories: lights, people, equipment, misc, thermal bridge
 Reference area as a new parameter for each airnode
 Area related definition of regime data types (heating, cooling, ventilation, gains) possible
 Electric fraction to regime types
 Extended regime coupling of airnodes from 2 to 6
 Several new outputs (NTypes)
 Description & unit for user-defined inputs

TRNSYS Engine
 Improved solar radiation interpolation
 Updated psychrometric properties
 Automatic report generation
New Components
 8 new controller components
 20 new HVAC air-side components
 3 new links to other programs (Mathis, Python, CoolProp)
 11 new hydronics components
 2 new utility components
 2 new electrical components

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TRNSYS-add-ons (not included in the package)

 Complex fenestration model (Integrated in Multizone Building)
 TRNSYS3d
 TRNLizard
o New plugin for Rhino/Grasshopper
o Parametric geometry modelling
o Intuitive interface for building simulations
o 3D-visualization

1.2. Updating from TRNSYS 17 to TRNSYS 18

The new version of TRNSYS is capable of opening and simulating version 17 Simulation Studio project
files (*.tpf). However, once the file is saved as a TRNSYS 18 project, it may not be re-opened in TRNSYS
17.

For multizone building projects TRNBuild updates the BUI file automatically from 17 to the new 18 format.
However, files can be saved into a TRNBuild 18 format only. Note: BUI files of TRNSYS 18 can NOT be
opened correctly in previous versions of TRNSYS.

2. PACKAGE

2.1. Documentation emphasis on learning to

better use TRNSYS
Many portions of the manual set have been rewritten with an emphasis on better helping beginning users
get started using TRNSYS. The changes include moving the tutorials into a separate volume of the
documentation set and adding new tutorials including a detailed building/HVAC project. More examples
have been created and moved to a separate volume which includes detailed documentation for many of
the examples. The mathematical reference volume has been updated to include full
Parameter/Input/Output documentation and hints and tips for using the individual components.

2.2. Integrated TRNSYS-Dedicated Fortran Type

Compiler (TypeStudio)
The TypeStudio is a graphical interface and Fortran compiler that have been set up to facilitate creating
new Types for use with TRNSYS. The TypeStudio creates and manages workspaces that can contain

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one or more TRNSYS Types. It allows the user to compile the Type(s) into a dynamic link library (dll) that
will be placed in the proper location for the TRNSYS engine to load them during a simulation.

3. TRNSYS SIMULATION STUDIO

3.1. Parametric runs

The new parametric runs features allows users to launch a set of simulations based on a table with variable
values. The table can be created interactively directly in Simulation Studio: the user first chooses the
component, then the desired variable (parameter, input or equation) to be varied. It is possible to add runs
by clicking the ‘+’ button.

The number of runs in parallel can also be specified; this allows launching several simulations in parallel,
to take advantage of multi-core architectures. If the user wishes to continue to work with his computer while
the simulation is running, he can choose to allow for only one run in parallel, to keep the load at a reasonable
level; interactions with the computer will be more fluent.

Limiting parallel runs to one is also useful if some project components used do not support parallel treatment
(e.g. because they create temporary files with constant names, etc.).

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3.2. Updated 3D building project type including

daylighting
The new version of the 3D Building assistant (wizard) implements the features of Type 56 described in
paragraph 1.3 of this document. It has been simplified to one dialog window, which now allows to define
the static distribution factor of solar direct radiation and boundary temperature for the ground model. The
wizard automatically reads IDF files made with SketchUp and translates them to TRNSYS projects,
including both project and building description. The building description is ready for use with the new
daylighting features.

3.3. Better interoperability

TRNSYS Model Files (.TMF files) can now be stored in the universally used XML format. This opens
Simulation Studio to third-party software for importing and exporting model descriptions. It is also possible
to author models directly in XML.
The traditional .TMF format is still available – both formats can be used interchangeably.

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The meta-commands in the generated simulation input files (decks) have also been extended: it is now
possible to store information about link styles / connection ports.

This feature is exploited by the 3D building wizard to create more visually attractive, professional looking
project schemes.

3.4. Generated FORTRAN code updated for

FORTRAN 90
The FORTRAN generator has been updated to produce more modern code templates, compatible with the
FORTRAN 90 coding standards.

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This also includes systematic use of access functions instead of directly using IN / OUT / PAR arrays.

3.5. Various other improvements

Many more enhancements have been implemented in Simulation Studio, such as:
 Simplified dialogs: unused tabs are hidden, keyboard shortcuts
 Improved connection window: sort variables by name, click on inbound variables first, delete key
removes the selected connection, new keyboard shortcuts and map
 Improved error report: opens automatically if there are errors, new design with tabs, improved
filters (notice/warning/errors)
 Simulation summary report activation
 Numerous simplifications and bug fixes

4. TRNBUILD/TRNSYS MULTIZONE
BUILDING (TYPE 56)

4.1. TRNBuild - Multizone building interface

This section provides an overview of improvements related to the interface TRNBuild.

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4.1.1. Navigator
For providing a better overview of defined construction types (layers, surfaces, windows), schedules and
regime data (heating, cooling, ventilation, gains) were added to the TRNBuild navigator. With a right click
on an existing type the data associated with this type is displayed. New data can be added, existing data
can be deleted, renamed and saved.

Figure 1: Extended TRNBuild navigator

4.1.2. Construction Types

Opaque surface constructions are no longer called WALL type. For being clearer they are now called
CONSTRUCTION because they could define a construction for a floor, ceiling, roof or wall.

For opaque layers and windows optional data related to embodied energy, the total renewable primary
energy and total non-renewable primary energy can be specified. An overview table of integrated numbers
of the project of the surface area and the embodied energy for each construction type is provided at the
end of the INF file.

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4.1.3. Glazing library

The TRNSYS 18 package includes now a glazing systems library based on the “add-on” library of TRNSYS
17. The glazing data base contains over 230 different glazing systems (e.g. heat or solar protection glazing,
double or triple glazing) based on detailed spectral provided by manufactures.

Note: TRANSSOLAR Energietechnik GmbH makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any
liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product
or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.

The glazing systems library was generated with the program Window 7.4.6.0 of the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory (http://windows.lbl.gov/). Therefore, the new standard files of TRNSYS 18
(TRNSYS18.std and TRNSYS18_evis.ssp) were used. In these files, the integral characteristic of
transmittance and reflectance for the visible range is based on the energy spectrum required by the 2 band
solar radiation model of Type 56. For most other standard files available for the program Window, these
integral characteristics for the visible wave lengths do not represent the entire visible range, owing to
spectral sensitivity of the human eye.

For the new glazing data base the syntax of the glazing property data is extended to include the used
standard file and the visible transmittance owing to spectral sensitivity of the human eye which can be
helpful for selecting the radiance material for daylight simulation.
BERKELEY LAB WINDOW v7.4.6.0 DOE-2 Data File : Multi Band Calculation : generated with TRNSYS18.std
Unit System : SI
Name : DOE-2 WINDOW LIB
Desc : GU_ClimaGuard_N_#3_Ar90
Window ID : 3201
Tilt : 90.0
Glazings : 2
…
…
SHGC 0.660 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Tvis_daylight: 0.800

Layer ID# 33000 33009 0 0 0 0

Figure 2: Glazing system property data syntax

It is possible to use data from glazing data bases which weren’t created with the TRNSYS18 standard.
However, using two glazing properties which were generated with different standards in one zone isn’t
allowed. The reason for introducing a TRNSYS18 standard file is to allow a more accurate simulation of
solar radiation of two windows with high selective glazing properties (e.g. sun protection glazing) in series.

The “Description” of a glazing system (e.g. GU_ClimaGuard_N_#3_Ar90 in Figure 2 ) in the library is made
up of the following composition:

YY_name_NN_filling

YY - Manufacturer code
(GU…Guardian, IP…Interpane, SG…SaintGobain, GT Glas Trösch)
name - Glazing system name
NN - Coating position e.g #3 (numeration starts on the outer face)
filling - Filling between glass panels

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4.1.4. Schedule Types

For TRNSYS 18, a visualisation of the schedule data is integrated. In addition, a new schedule category is
availbale now: an annual schedule. The annual schedule is especially helpful for scaling gains. (see section
4.1.6 )

Also, the library handling of schedules is improved and for the German and French library many schedules
based on the SIA 2004 (2015) for different categories like residential, hotel, office, school, retail and
restaurant have been added. For providing a better overview they are organized in one library file for each
category.

Figure 3: Schedule types and library

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4.1.5. Regime Types

For a more general definition of regime types, a floor reference area of an airnode is introduced. Regime
data types like heating, cooling, ventilation and gains offer the option to define the power or airflow related
to the reference area of an airnode. This makes it easier to use one regime type for several different
airnodes and data is often given area related. The reference floor area is automatically calculated when
importing an TRNSYS3d file and is available as output (NType 150).

Figure 4: Regime types

In addition, regime types have been extended to allow taking the electricity demand into account by adding
an electric power fraction and a specific fan power, respectively. Therefore, new outputs have been
implemented (see NType 155 – 162).

The ventilation type has been extended to calculated the supply air-conditioning from outdoor air including
sensible heat recovery, humidification below and dehumidification above a user-defined set point (see
section 4.4 for further details). The effort compared to connecting an external component is small and with
the additional outputs a more complete overview of the energy demand is provided. (see NType 170 – 189)

For providing a better subdivision of gains the following gain categories have been added:
 people
 lights
 electrical equipment
 miscellaneous
 thermal bridge

The new outputs according to these categories area NType 151 – 154 and NType 163- 164.

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The category “thermal bridge” allows to take into account a thermal bridge effect of the envelope without
adding a surfaces to the model. This is especially convenient for models with 3D where surfaces can’t be
added. The thermal bridge effect can be defined as an absolute gain/loss or a specific gain/loss related to
the envelope area of an airnode (The envelope area consists of external and boundary surfaces). For the
thermal bridge calculation, the loss coefficients have to be entered as positive values. The direction of the
resulting heat flux (gain or loss) depends on the actual temperature difference (Toutside – Tinside).

In addition, the gain library has been updated and extended. The German library contains now data based
on different standards like DIN 13779, VDI 2078 and SIA 2024.

Figure 5: Gain library and gain type manager

In TRNSYS 18, the capability to control artificial lighting by daylight availability is added to the building
model. Therefore, a new regime type is added. The data for this type is structured in three parts: lighting
control type, illuminance set points and daylight illuminance on the sensor.

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Figure 6: Daylight depending control type

Different modes of artificial lighting control are implemented in the TRNSYS building model:
 always on (no daylight control)
 A hysteresis control, where an upper threshold and a lower threshold are defined by the user. This
control provides only control signals of 0 or 1.
 A linear dimmer, where the artificial lighting contribution ideally compensates insufficient daylight
availability to match the set illuminance. A minimum operation ratio has to be provided by the user,
the value never drops below this ratio during operation time.
 A combination of mode 2 and 3. This control allows turning off the artificial lighting during operation

Figure 7: Artificial lighting control, hysteresis control (left), dimming control (right)

The determination of the illuminance by using a daylight factor D is a very rough method, but the simplest
option. The illuminance for control E_i (t) is calculated by multiplication of the horizontal outdoor illuminance

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E_a (t) with the daylight factor. The outdoor illuminance is calculated within Type 56 using new kernel
routines.

A second option is passing illuminance values by reading in values obtained by other programs,
measurements and calculated by other TYPES, respectively.

The third option applies the integrated daylight simulation based on the DaySIM method. The mean
illuminance of up to four geometric defined sensor positions is used for control. The integrated DaySIM
method is presented in section 4.2.

Several outputs have been added related to daylight depending control (NType 405 – 432) such as daylight
illuminance, daylight autonomy, etc.

4.1.6. Airnode – Gains

The gain definition dialog of airnodes has been revised and provides a good overview of the defined gains.

Figure 8: Gain/losses dialog of airnodes

A second scale can now be defined for each gain. For example, a weekly schedule for occupation can be
defined as scale1 and annual schedule containing a reduction to 50% in vacation time can defined as
scale2. The resulting schedule is the product of both scales. If one scaling factor is needed only the second
scaling factor should be set to 1.

Since gain types can now be defined related to the reference floor area, a multiplication factor “fraction of
airnode reference floor area” is added. If this factor is set to 1, the gain is multiplied with whole reference
floor area. If e.g. the gain should refer to 30 % of the floor reference area only the “fraction of airnode
reference floor area” has to be set to 0.3.

For gains of artificial lighting (gain category = lights), a daylight depending control can be added. This
prevents unnecessary internal gains due to artificial lighting when natural daylight is sufficient. If the daylight
depending control is switched on, a previously defined daylight control type can be selected.

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4.2. Integrated daylight simulation

TRNSYS 18 offers the option to perform an integrated daylight simulation based on DaySIM. DaySIM is a
validated, radiance based daylighting analysis software that models the annual amount of daylight in and
around buildings. (daysim.ning.com, www.radiance-online.org).

According to the DaySIM approach daylight coefficients for every sensor point are generated in a
preprocessing step based on the geometry and material definitions in a radiance format. During the
simulation the daylight coefficients are used to calculate the illuminance on the sensor points.

The daylight model is based on the same 3D geometric data as the thermal model. Therewith, a 3D thermal
model is the starting point. The following shows the basic steps in TRNBuild for daylight simulation:
Definition of radiance materials
Definition of daylight mode of thermal zone
Definition of daylight sensor points
Generation of radiance files
Daylight related outputs

4.2.1. Definition of radiance materials

For a daylight simulation radiance material names have to be assigned to construction types. For opaque
construction types it is assumed that the visible light absorptance is equal to the solar absorptance. Therefor
no additional daylight properties data is required.

For windows, the window type dialog has been extended for defining optional daylight properties by
radiance material names. A radiance material name is assigned for two states of the window: shaded and
unshaded

For selecting names click on the button “open radiance material file”, search for an appropriate material
and copy the name e.g. glass_80 into the input text box. The material “glass_80” represents a glazing with
a visible light transmittance of 80 %. The user can add missing radiance materials to the library. (There are
data bases for radiance materials available e.g. www.lighting-materials.com/learn.)
Note: The syntax of the radiance material file described in the file header has to be met!

To help selecting the radiance material of the unshaded state, the visible transmission for daylight related
to the glazing ID is displayed.

If a window type has no operable shading device at all, the radiance material file for unshaded should be
used for shaded as well.

If no detailed information is available for the shaded state, the visible light transmittance multiplied by a
shading factor might be used as a first guess.

Note: The visible transmission for daylight do not represent the entire visible range, owing to the spectral
sensitivity of the human eye, which means that it differs from the characteristic used by the 2-band thermal
model. In most cases, the visible light transmittance for daylight is given in publications and is stored in the
glazing data base (see section 4.1.3).

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Figure 9: Window Type manager – optional daylight properties

##########################################################
### radiance material file
##########################################################
#
# syntax description:
# '#' - to start a comment lines
#
# each material description starts with a line: void material name
# with
# void - key word for defining a radiance material
# material
# - glass (transparent material)
# - plastic (opaque material with uncolored highlights)
# - metal (similar to plastic, but specular highlights are modified by …
# - mirror (used for reflecting planar surfaces)
# name - referenced for TRNSYS Type56 daylight material definition
#
# see material syntax in each section
# see also http://radsite.lbl.gov/radiance/refer/ray.html
##########################################################

########### glazing #####################################

# glass_ syntax description : #############################
# void glass name
# 0 0 3 transmissivity_red transmissivity_green transmissivity_blue

…….

# glass_80
# visual transmittance: 80%
# visual transmissivity: 87.15%
void glass glass_80
0
0
3 .8715 .8715 .8715

Figure 10: Window Type manager – radiance material file

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4.2.2. Defininition of daylight mode of thermal zone

For calculating the illuminance on defined daylight sensor points within a zone (not airnode!) two
configuration sets are generated by the integrated tool “Generate radiance files” (see section 4.2.4 ):

 Unshaded - The properties of the radiance material defined in the window type for “unshaded” are
used.

 Shaded - The properties of the radiance material defined in the window type for “shaded” are
used.

The user can now select between two different control modes for switching configurations during the
simulation:

 Basic control
The shaded configuration is used if all external windows of a zone with a defined external and/or
internal shading device have a current shading factor > 0.01.
(Note: For zones with adjacent windows only the basic control doesn’t work (zone is always
unshaded). In this case user-defined control should be defined.

 User-defined control
The user can use his own control strategy for switching between unshaded and shaded
configurations during the simulation. The unshaded configuration is used when the control signal
is set to 0. The shaded configuration is used when the control signal is set 1.

It is recommended to use the output DLSHADE (Daylight shading control signal) for checking the control
signal. (NType 403)

Figure 11: Daylight mode of thermal zone

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4.2.3. Definition of daylight sensor points

The position of daylight sensor points is defined in the Geo-Info dialog in the GeoPosition section like
GeoPostions for comfort calculation.

Figure 12: Daylight sensor points

4.2.4. Generation of radiance files

According to the DaySIM approach, daylight coefficients for every sensor point are generated in a
preprocessing step based on the geometry and material definitions in a radiance format. Therefor select
“Tools” from the menu of TRNBuild and then “generate radiance files”.

For generating radiance files there are 3 options available.

1. Generate radiance input files (*rad) only:
This option is used to produce radiance files only for using them in other applications. The
radiance files consist of the zone geometry and all relevant shading geometry including self-
shading by surfaces of other zones,

2. “classic” format of daylight coefficients for DAYSIM:

Radiance files are generated (see option 1). DAYSIM Routine “gendc” is called to generate
daylight coefficients according to the classic DAYSIM approach. The data is saved in two files per
zone (unshaded and shaded).

3. “dds” format of daylight coefficients for DAYSIM:

Radiance files are generated (see option 1). DAYSIM Routine “gendc” is called to generate
daylight coefficients according to the dds approach. The data is saved in two files per zone.

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Figure 13: Generate radiance files

The following information is required for successful radiance file generation:

 Location (Latitude, Longitude, standard meridian, site elevation) of the weather station

 Scene rotation angle, if the building should be modeled in orientation other than the original
orientation as drawn with TRNSYS3d, enter the angle of rotation. Please make sure you use
the same rotation as used in the manipulation of the azimuth angle (Input 7 of Type 56:
AAZM)

Additional properties
The ground may have a significant influence to the daylight results. The user may draw the ground in
TRNSYS3d and assign the IDs here. The ground reflectance is applied to these shading surfaces. Note if
no shading ID is defined the ground is modeled as a ground glow generated with the ground reflectance.

Reflectivity of shading surfaces

Shading surfaces of the thermal model have no reflectivity. However, for the daylight model it is possible
to take into account a reflectivity (default = 0). The entered value is used for all shading surfaces.

Radiance parameters
Raytracing simulation and their results are highly dependent on the used parameters. The most important
parameters appear in the TRNBuild interface:

 ambient bounces (ab): This is the maximum number of diffuse bounces computed by the indirect
calculation. A value of zero implies no indirect calculation. An ab-value of 5 is already sufficient
for a standard room without any complicated facade elements. This parameter significantly
increases the required calculation time and should be set with care. It has to be even higher if
interior rooms of facades including venetian blinds are considered, as rays may be reflected
several times they find their way out of the building.

 ambient divisions (ad): Ambient divisions sets the number of initial sampling rays sent from each
ambient point into the hemisphere to determine the indirect incident light. This parameter needs
to be high if the luminance distribution in a scene with a high brightness variation. The error in the
Monte Carlo calculation of indirect illuminance will be inversely proportional to the square root of

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this number.

 ambient super-samples (as): The number of extra rays that will be used to sample areas in the
divided hemisphere that appear to have high variance. Ambient super sampling should usually be
set to about one half or one quarter of the Ambient divisions parameter. Super-samples are
applied only to the ambient divisions which show a significant change.

 ambient resolution (ar): This number will determine the maximum density of ambient values used
in interpolation. Error will start to increase on surfaces spaced closer than the scene size divided
by the ambient resolution. The ambient resolution and ambient accuracy (see below) combined
with scene size, gives the minimum geometry features that are resolved accurately:

simulation resolution = (max scene size x ambient accuracy) / ambient resolution

 ambient accuracy (aa: This value will approximately equal the error from indirect illuminance
interpolation. A value of zero implies no interpolation.
The default settings are related to the recommendation for DaySIM. Depending on the complexity and size
of the model the file generation may take some minutes up to hours. For checking of the work flow it might
be useful to reduce the generation time by using less accurate settings.

ambient ambient ambient ambient ambient

bounces divisions samples resolution accuracy
Fast
3 32 32 300 0.2
(for checking only)
Default 5 1000 20 300 0.1

Figure 14: Radiance parameters

It is highly recommended to study the daylight fundamentals for selecting appropriate parameters matching
the project. Additional radiance parameters are stored in the building description file. If needed they can be
modified there.

Resulting files

The generated data files are all stored in the subdirectory \daylight relative to the building description file
BUI. Figure 15 provides an overview of the file extensions.

File extension Description

*.hea DaySIM header file

*.pts Sensor geometry files

*.rad Geometry files

*.dc Daylight coefficients used by Type56

*.cfg Configuration file used by Type 56

*.log Log file of the generation process

Figure 15: File extensions related daylight files

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In general, two sets of daylight models are generated automatically for each zone. One representing the
unshaded state (shd0) where all operable shading devices are up and the shaded state (shd1) where all
operable shading devices are down. The following file naming convention is used:

yyy_shdx_name.*

yyy - zone number

shdx - shd0…unshaded, shd1 shading state1
name - zone name

4.2.5. Daylight related outputs

Daylight related outputs are the calculated outside illuminance (NType 400 – 402) and a standard output
file (NType 435). A standard daylight output file is written for selected zones in the subdirectory
\Daylight\*.ill. It contains the hourly integrated illuminance values for each sensor point. In addition, the
following common daylight metrics are calculated for the whole simulation period:
 Daylight Autonomy (DA), default: < 300 lux
 Continuous Daylight Autonomy (cDA), default: < 300 lux
 Useful Daylight Illuminance (UDI), default: 100 – 2000 lux
 Daylight factor (DF) for CIE overcast sky
The thresholds of the daylight metrics are stored in the building description file and can be edited if
needed. In general, these metrics are relevant during occupation only. Therefore, a schedule is assigned
to the NTpye as additional data. The value of the schedule has to be 0 (off) or 1 (on).

4.3. Extended comfort calculation

For the evaluation of comfort concepts with tempered air and elevated air speed in warmer zones such as
tropical climates adaptive comfort models are required. In TRNSYS 18 the procedure for evaluating the
cooling effect of elevated air speed using the Standard Effective Temperature (SET) described by ASHRAE
Standard 55-2013, Appendix G is implemented. This feature is especially useful to evaluate comfort
concepts with tempered air and elevated air speed in warmer zones such as tropical climates.

SET is defined as the equivalent air temperature of an isothermal environment at 50 % relative humidity in
which a subject, wearing clothing standardized for the activity concerned, has the same heat stress (skin
temperature) and thermoregulatory strain (skin wettedness) as in the actual environment. The values for
skin temperature and wettedness are derived from a two-node model of human physiology (Gagge et al.
1971, 1986).

The SET can be calculated for a wide range of six environmental and personal parameters: air temperature
(Tair), mean radiant temperature (MRT), relative humidity (RH) average elevated air speed (v), clothing
factor (clo) and metabolic rate (met). To evaluate the cooling effect of elevated air speed, first the SET is
calculated for the parameters and the given air speed. In a second step the air speed is replaced by still air
(0.15 m/s) and an adjusted averaged air and mean radiant temperature is calculated to achieve the same
SET as in the previous step (ANSI/ASHRAE. 2015). With the adjusted averaged temperatures, the air
speed of still air and the remaining parameters the Predicted Mean Vote for elevated air speeds (PMVeas)
is calculated.

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Figure 16: Comfort definition with elevated air speed

To be useful for the evaluation and design of climate concepts, the method is implemented to simulate an
occupant-controlled fan. The user can specify up to 4 air speed levels and the code automatically selects
the lowest airspeed level required to achieve a PMVeas of ±0.5 which is equivalent to a satisfaction of 90 %
of the occupants with the environmental conditions.

The comfort type data has been extended for switching the elevated air speed option on. The 1st air speed
level is defined within the comfort type whereas the additional 3 are defined under properties. The SET
temperature as well as the optimized elevated air speed level and the resulting air velocity are new outputs
(NType 123, 131, 132).

4.4. Integrated Supply air conditioning

For TRNSYS 18 a simple model is provided in TYPE 56 to model preconditioning of supply air to the
airnode. The calculated energy for heating, cooling, dehumidification and humidification refers to a
conditioning from outdoor air and to supply air condition. The feature allows calculating conditioning
including optional sensible heat recovery.

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Figure 17: Ventilation with air supply conditioning

The temperature of the supply air 𝑇𝐻𝑅 after the heat exchanger is calculated with the sensible efficiency
𝜂𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠 , and the return 𝑇𝑅𝐴 and outdoor air temperature 𝑇𝑂𝐴 ,

Depending on the technology, air handling units have frost protection systems to avoid icing of the heat
exchanger. The implemented model assumes that the exhaust air won’t be cooled down below 𝑇𝐸𝐴,𝑚𝑖𝑛 =
4°𝐶. The sensible energy to heat up 𝑄̇ℎ𝑡,𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠 or cool down 𝑄̇𝑐𝑙,𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠 the air to set point temperature 𝑇𝑆𝑒𝑡 is
calculated for the defined the mass flow 𝑚̇.

The max. and min. humidity (𝑤𝑚𝑖𝑛 and 𝑤𝑚𝑎𝑥 ) have to be set by the user. If the outdoor humidity is within
the range, no humidification or dehumidification energy is calculated. Otherwise it is calculated with the
evaporation enthalpy Δℎ𝑉 . The dehumidification process is divided into three processes, a sensible part
where the air is cooled down to dew point temperature and the latent part where water condenses, the
energy for both processes are summarized in 𝑄̇𝑐𝑙,𝑑𝑒ℎ𝑢𝑚 . The third process is reheating the air 𝑄̇ℎ𝑡,𝑟𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 .

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5. TRNSYS ENGINE

5.1. Improved solar radiation interpolation

Two changes have been made to the solar radiation routines in this release. The first is that now the diffuse
horizontal and direct normal are used to calculate the remaining solar radiation values. This ensures that
whenever there is positive diffuse horizontal in the data file there will be diffuse horizontal calculated by
TRNSYS. The second is that a new method for determining the sub-hourly radiation has been added. This
method eschews physical based shaping of the radiation for a mathematical model. In this method, the
ending point for the hourly radiation is estimated from the starting point for that hour (the ending point for
the previous hour or 0 at sun-up) and the radiation over the up-coming hour. The ending point is also forced
to be zero at sundown. Knowing the starting and ending point for the hour and the total radiation over the
timestep from the weather file, the value at the midpoint of the hour can be determined. The radiation is
assumed to vary linearly from the start point to the midpoint and from the midpoint to the endpoint. This
technique still preserves the hourly total from the weather files, avoids negative values and produces a
smoother curve for the radiation values as shown below.

5.2. Updated psychrometric properties

Over the years, ASHRAE modifies the psychrometric routines in the Handbook of Fundamentals as more
accurate measurements are available. A complete review of the psychrometric calculations was
undertaken and algorithms were modified so that the TRNSYS psychrometric routines are up-to-date with
the latest ASHRAE algorithms.

5.3. Automatic report generation

With TRNSYS 18, a simple, yet efficient method to produce useful default reports has been introduced:
every component defines a standard set of data potentially interesting to the user. For instance, when a
solar collector (Type 1) is used in a project, the user might be interested in a summary of the component
configuration (Collector Array Area, Number of Collectors in Series, etc.) as well as average values,
extremes and integrals over the simulated period (Total Energy Gain, Maximum Value of Outlet
Temperature, etc.). The user can now include this data in a standard simulation report by simply selecting
the corresponding model in the project and activating the ‘report’ icon for it as shown below.

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6. NEW COMPONENTS
The standard library has been supplemented with a large number of basic component models that will allow
for beginning users to easier learn how to use the software. These simpler component models will also
facilitate the use of TRNSYS earlier in the design process when less detailed information is known about
the process being modelled. These basic models can then be replaced with detailed models as more
information is known. For example, early in the design process the overall cooling load made be known but
the cooling coil may not yet be selected. The simple cooling coil model that only requires the capacity of
the coil can be used in this early stage and once the cooling coil has been designed, the simple cooling coil
model can be replaced with the detailed cooling coil model.

6.1. New Controller Components

Simple Thermostat
Simple Humidistat
Dehumidistat
Aquastat (heating and cooling)
Tempering Valve (heating and cooling)
Delayed Inputs
Simple Differential Controller

6.2. New Electrical Components

Four Parameter PV
Five Parameter PV

6.3. New HVAC Components

Electric Resistance Heater (air and liquid)
Gas Heater (air and liquid)
Air Cooled Chiller
Air-to-Air Heat Pump
Boiler
Chilled Water Coil (dry or wet and partially wet)

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Simple Cooling Tower

Direct Expansion Coil
Fan Coil
Furnace
Hot Water Coil (constant UA and varying UA)
Water Cooled Chiller
Water-to-Air Heat Pump
Residential Split System AC
PTAC
VAV Air Handler
VAV Air Handler with PFP Boxes
Detailed Cooling Tower

6.4. New Hydronics Components

Duct
Constant Speed Fan
Variable Speed Fan
Air Diverter
Return Plenum

6.5. New Loads and Structures Components

NIST Simple Infiltration
Simple Natural Ventilation

6.6. New Thermal Storage Components

Simple Gas Heated Liquid Storage
Simple Electric Heated Liquid Storage
Constant Volume Liquid Storage – with HX
Constant Volume Liquid Storage – no HX

6.7. New Utility Components

Calling External Programs (MATHIS)
Calling External Programs (Python)
Calling External Programs (CoolProp) – not a Type but the routines can be called by other Types

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7. ADD-ONS (NOT INCLUDED IN

PACKAGE)
7.1. TRNSYS3d (free of charge)
This section provides an overview of improvements related to the Ttrnsys3d plugin for Sketchup. The new
plugin can be installed as Add-On within the regular installation process or can be downloaded from
www.trnsys.de.

Templates for room types

Upon launching Google SketchUp after the TRNSYS3d plugin has been installed, you will be prompted to
choose a template for your 3D model. This templates contain pre-defined information for your *.b18 file for
schedules, heating, cooling, ventilation, infiltration, internal gains and daylight. If you don’t want to use a
predefined template, choose NewFileTemplate.idf.

For the German library, these zone templates according to SIA 2024 are available:
1. apartment
 Living/bedroom
 kitchen
2. hotel
 hotel room
 reception
3. office
 office 1
 office 2
 meeting
 reception
4. school
 classroom
 staffroom
 library
 lecturehall
 specialroom
5. supermarket
 commercial
6. restaurant
 restaurant
 kitchen

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Figure 18: Pop up window to choose file template

To apply a room type to a zone, the Object Info Tool can be used by marking the zone and choosing from
the “Type” drop down menu.

Figure 19: Apply SIA room types to zone

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Determine reference floor area

In the building description file (.bui or .b18), the keyword REFAREA is introduced to describe zones
reference floor are. This value is determined automatically from the 3D geometry for each zone during the
import of geometry files (.idf) into TRNBuild.

Surface matching option: Replace Construction type

During the surface matching of zones that are adjacent to each other, it can be decided whether one wants
to replace existing constructions with default constructions for adjacent walls (check box) or whether one
wants to keep the existing definitions of surface constructions (uncheck box).

Figure 20: Matching Process - Replace construction type

7.2. TRNLizard (free of charge)

TRNLizard is a free plugin for the Grasshopper interface within the Rhinoceros 5 program developed by
Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH, Stuttgart. It allows users to perform combined thermal and daylight
simulations by using the simulation engine of TRNSYS 18. It considers 3D-geometries in combination with
various artificial lighting, ventilation, heating and cooling concepts.

Figure 21: Combined thermal and daylight simulation - Results visualization

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The strength of TRNLizard lies in its ability to create both complex and simple building models in a user-
friendly “building-block” environment. The parametric architecture and the open source coding of
TRNLizard allows the user to perform detailed studies that may require custom model definition.
Additionally, pre-defined templates allow the user to quickly set up a working framework so that he can
focus on analysis of the resulting standardized outputs, which are quickly generated. Users can drag-and-
drop components as necessary to incorporate more custom and advanced inputs.

Figure 22: Parametric Model definition

The modular architecture allows for ample flexibility in its use and considers the latest developments of
TRNSYS 18. Many new features of TRNSYS18 are already integrated in the TRNLizard plugin. Models are
defined completely within the Grasshopper environment, requiring no additional software or post-
processing. Parametric simulation models are managed directly in the Grasshopper environment and
generated in separate simulation folders such that each model can be modified as needed without affecting
the others.

TRNlizard closes the gap between parametric modeling and TRNSYS 18. The main features are:

• 3D-model definition in Grasshopper/Rhinoceros

• Multiple-Airnodes (Atria, Double facade)

• Complex shading geometries (attached and detached)

• Regime definition (properties for heating, cooling, etc.) can be assigned to multiple zones

• Definition of the daylight simulation grid

• Definition of the comfort simulation grid

• Visualization of the 3D-model with boundary conditions

• Visualization of selected simulation results in 3D

• Individual output of model information from the Online Plotter or printer file

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7.3. Complex fenestration model (Type 56)

Innovative glazing layers are complemented with elements for effective use of daylight, reduction of
unwanted solar gains as well as the avoidance of glare effects. These elements place higher demands on
modeling.

Particularly the bidirectional scattering of radiation which e.g. occurs in slat systems or honeycomb
structures and the interaction with the other layers should be depicted. Furthermore, the opening areas of
individual layers influence convection and long wave radiation.

Figure 23: Complex glazing systems

A new glazing model was developed by Schöttl in 2013 to enable a reliable and detailed CFS simulation
with relatively little input by the user. (Schöttl, 2013) This model has been restructured and integrated into
the multi-zone building model (Type 56) for TRNSYS 18.

A key aspect when creating the model was flexibility to allow the user to portray any combination of
shading/glazing in detail, while also to easily generate the inputs from the manufacturer information.

The aim of the new model is to represent the bidirectional scattering of radiation which occurs in slat
systems or honeycomb structures and the interaction with the other layers. Furthermore, the opening areas
of individual layers influencing convection and long-wave radiation exchange is taken into account. The
main model features are:

 variable number of layers with different gas mixtures in between (max. 6 layers)

 optical model based on BSDF on so-called “Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function” (BSDF).
This function describes the ratio of incident light, reflectance and transmittance for exactly two 3D
angle pairs that define the direction of the incident and reflected or transmitted radiation.

 calculation of heat fluxes and layer temperatures based on the comparatively complex model of
the standard ISO 15099

 modeling of infrared transparent systems

 natural convection around shading layers

 mechanical ventilation of max. 2 gaps

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Implementation

The new model is implemented in addition to the standard window model of Type 56. As in the existing
window model of Type 56, the calculation of optical properties of the CFS occurs in the external program
Window 7 (Window 7 is developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and is available
for no charge). This program not only includes a large product database, but also algorithms to calculate
different shading systems like horizontal or vertical slat systems, perforated screens or woven layer, etc.
Additionally, any shading system data can be imported as an xml-file.

Figure 24: Preprocessing step for complex glazing system

Figure 25: Window type manager for complex glazing system

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For every glazing/shading configuration, the BSDF matrixes (transmission front/back, reflection front/back
and absorption per layer) must be generated beforehand for the whole system in the solar and visual band.
The BSDF matrixes as well as the glazing construction of the different shading configurations are combined
into one external file that is imported by Type 56 during the initializing step.

During the simulation, the configuration can be changed in every time step, for example, depending on the
irradiation. For the current position of the sun in a time step, the optical system properties are determined
by a bilinear interpolation of the matrix values.

Availability

The CFS model is available as a so-called No-Standard-Component for advanced users. A separate tutorial
explains the usage of the model in more detail. Please contact Transsolar for further information
([email protected])

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