DOE-2 Reference Manual Version 2.1 - DOE2.com

5. ZONEThe ZONE instruction is used to specify information on those secondaryHVAC distribution system characteristics specific to a thermal zone. Thisincludes air flow rate (supply air, exhaust air, and outside air), spacetemperature set point, thermostat characteristics, and maximum heating and/orcooling capacity. All zones that are to be simulated must also be specifiedin a SYSTEM command. This includes unconditioned and plenum type zones.The ZONE subcommands (ZONE-AIR and ZONE-CONTROL) are each groups of datathat are related by subject or category or information. The information isneeded to supplement that provided in the ZONE instruction, but the organizationinto subgroups is for user convenience only. Once an instruction islabeled and data are entered for the applicable keywords, it can be referencedto any number of different zones, thus reducing data input effort. At hisdiscretion, the user can input one or more of the ZONE subcommands or alternativelyselect the applicable keywords from these instructions and make adata entry for each with the ZONE instruction.A separate ZONE instruction is required for each zone (includingunconditioned and plenum zones). Note that there must be a one-to-onematch-up between the zones specified here and the spaces specified in theLOADS program. That is, for each SPACE instruction in LOADS there will be aZONE instruction here to represent a physically identical portion of thebuilding.'ZONEZONE-TYPEinforms the SOL Processor that the data to follow are relatedto specific thermal zone characteristics. A unique userdefinedname must be entered in the U-name field of the ZONEinstruction. Omission of this entry will cause an error.Once again note that a zone, as specified here, must bephysically identical to the area of the building specified byone of the SPACE instructions in the LOADS program (see Chap.III). The U-name for this data entry must, therefore, matchthe U-name entered for the corresponding SPACE instruction.Input for this keyword is the code-word, from Table IV.32,that identifies the zone as a conditioned space (defaultvalue), an unconditioned space, or a plenum.Note: Since PLENUM is an acceptable code-word for ZONE-TYPE,a plenum is a zone and may have any characteristic of a zone,includingwindows, people, infiltration, etc. (but notelectrical equipment). This opens the possibility of usingthe code-word PLENUM to describe an atrium, a greenhouse, orsun porch. Return air may pass through this zone where itpicks up solar preheating before being linked to the inlet ofthe air handling unit. Hallways, attics, and crawl spacesmay also be specified as PLENUMs ••I V.198 (Revised 5/81)