SimulationControl choices not translating to E+

[MatthewSteen]

Looks like the choices from SimulationControl aren't being translated to E+ correctly (ref: UnmetHours).

[kbenne]

@MatthewSteen Well there are some overrides in the translator to make sure simulations don't crash. This is a great example of OpenStudio trying to thread a needle between usability and full EnergyPlus power. Did we miss the mark?

https://github.com/NREL/OpenStudio/blob/develop/openstudiocore/src/energyplus/ForwardTranslator/ForwardTranslateSimulationControl.cpp#L59

[kbenne]

@MatthewSteen maybe I should be more explicit. If you said no to zone sizing (and there are zones and design days) your simulation would fail anyway. It has been a while since I have been in these dark corners, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with how we define ventilation. Maybe other things too.

[kbenne]

OK. I reviewed the Unmet Hours post. I see LSurf points has a valid scenario where zone sizing could be off and OpenStudio is not allowing it. Seems like a valid complaint. Maybe that override logic should just go away. OS default zone sizing on, allow it to be turned off manually and respect that choice potential E+ failure or not.

[jmarrec]

OpenStudio/src/energyplus/ForwardTranslator/ForwardTranslateSimulationControl.cpp

Lines 63 to 87 in c018cb6

	unsigned numSizingPeriods = modelObject.model().getModelObjects<SizingPeriod>().size();
	if (modelObject.doZoneSizingCalculation()) {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "Yes");
	} else if ((numSizingPeriods > 0) && (modelObject.model().getConcreteModelObjects<ThermalZone>().size() > 0)) {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "Yes");
	} else {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "No");
	}
	if (modelObject.doSystemSizingCalculation()) {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoSystemSizingCalculation, "Yes");
	} else if ((numSizingPeriods > 0) && (modelObject.model().getConcreteModelObjects<AirLoopHVAC>().size() > 0)) {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoSystemSizingCalculation, "Yes");
	} else {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoSystemSizingCalculation, "No");
	}
	if (modelObject.doPlantSizingCalculation()) {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoPlantSizingCalculation, "Yes");
	} else if ((numSizingPeriods > 0) && (modelObject.model().getConcreteModelObjects<PlantLoop>().size() > 0)) {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoPlantSizingCalculation, "Yes");
	} else {
	simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoPlantSizingCalculation, "No");
	}

@kbenne how about:

    if (modelObject.doZoneSizingCalculation()) {
      simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "Yes");
-   } else if ((numSizingPeriods > 0) && (modelObject.model().getConcreteModelObjects<ThermalZone>().size() > 0)) {
+   } else if (modelObject.isDoZoneSizingCalculationDefaulted() &&
                 (numSizingPeriods > 0) && (modelObject.model().getConcreteModelObjects<ThermalZone>().size() > 0)) {
      simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "Yes");
    } else {
      simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "No");
    }

[jmarrec]

Or maybe even better:

    #include <algorithm>

    auto hasZoneEquipment = [](const Model& m) {
      auto zones = m.getConcreteModelObjects<ThermalZone>();
      return std::any_of(zones.cbegin(), zones.cend(), [](const auto& z){ return !z.equipment().empty(); });
    };

    if (modelObject.doZoneSizingCalculation()) {
      simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "Yes");
    } else if ((numSizingPeriods > 0) && hasZoneEquipment(modelObject.model())) {
      if (modelObject.isDoZoneSizingCalculationDefaulted()) {
        LOG(Info, "You have zonal equipment and design days, and SimulationControl::DoZoneSizingCalculation is defaulted: turning on Do Zone Sizing Calculation");
        simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "Yes");
      } else {
        LOG(Info, "You have zonal equipment and design days, it's possible you should enable SimulationControl::DoZoneSizingCalculation");
      }
    } else {
      simCon.setString(openstudio::SimulationControlFields::DoZoneSizingCalculation, "No");
    }

[kbenne]

@jmarrec What is the value of DoZoneSizingCalculation for a new model. If is isn't "Yes" then won't there always be some logging noise unless the user deliberately sets "Yes"?

[kbenne]

Well assuming there is zone equipment...

[jmarrec]

DoZoneSizingCalculation is useful if you have a zone with zonal equipment that is actually autosized. We don't have a handy way of checking if an equipment is autosized (we have a way to autosize() only), so that's just trying to be more precise.

As far as logging goes, we can remove the case where we default it to Yes. I doubt many people read Info log levels anyways.

[jmarrec]

@kbenne ping.

[jmarrec]

@kbenne pong.

[jmarrec]

@kbenne sliced ping.

[jmarrec]

@kbenne PONG.

Related to openstudiocoalition/OpenStudioApplication#693 where I realized that it'd be better is that logic would be in the model namespace rather than the ForwardTranslator.