get_min_oa_cfm_sch_zone when "minimum_outdoor_airflow_multiplier_schedule" is missing

[weilixu]

@KarenWGard @claperle
In this function, we check if the terminal has minimum_outdoor_airflow_multiplier_schedule. If the schedule is not included in the RPD, then hourly_cfm_oa_x = 0.

When doing integrated test, I noticed EnergyPlus assumes the multiplier_schedule value to 1 if the schedule is not specified in the input file.

The issue appears when translating EPlus model to RPD where the multiplier schedule is not specified in the OA object. This causes the RPD file missing minimum_outdoor_airflow_multiplier_schedule in the terminal data group.

So my question is which approach is more acceptable? hourly_cfm_oa_x = 0 if missing multiplier_schedule or hourly_cfm_oa_x = 1 if missing multiplier_schedule?

[claperle]

@weilixu This seems more like an issue with how E+ is being translated to the RPD. If it defaults to 1 and that is what is being modeled then I think that should be translated to the RPD.

[weilixu]

like an issue with how E+ is being translated to the RPD. If it defaults to 1 and that is what is being modeled then I think that should be translated to the RPD.

Yea, I agree. The question is actually for clarification - if assigning 1 is a norm among most BEM tools when schedule is missing, then this behavior I believe should be part of the RPD test for HVAC, since RCT is expecting a schedule id in terminal data group as well as an 8760 hour schedule in the Schedule data group.

[claperle]

@weilixu I think the assumption is that if there is no schedule defined in the RPD then the OA is not being actually modeled. I think software tools will vary widely in how they deal with a schedule not being defined. I maybe be misunderstanding your question but I think that crucial step is that the software tools writes the schedules that are actually modeled to the RPD regardless of whether the user defined them or not in the inputs.

[weilixu]

@claperle
That makes sense. Maybe it is a question to @JasonGlazer's work on createRMDscript.
Thanks for the confirmation.