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Prototype Building Models

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supports the development of commercial and residential building energy codes and standards by participating in industry review and update processes, and providing technical analyses to support both published model codes and potential changes. DOE publishes its findings in an effort to ensure transparency in its support, and to make its analysis available for public review and use.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) simulates energy savings associated with changes in energy codes and standards. This analysis is used by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Energy Codes Program to evaluate published versions of the code, as well as in developing proposed code changes.

Commercial prototype building models

Residential prototype building models

Manufactured Housing prototype building models

Commercial

The suite of commercial prototype buildings covers 75% of the commercial building floor area in the United States for new construction, including both commercial buildings and mid- to high-rise residential buildings, and across all U.S. climate zones. As ASHRAE Standard 90.1 and IECC evolve, PNNL makes modifications to the commercial prototype building models, with extensive input from ASHRAE 90.1 Standing Standards Project Committee members and other building industry experts.

The prototype models include 16 commercial building types in 19 climate locations (16 in the U.S. and 3 international locations) for recent editions of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 and IECC. The current combination results in an overall set of 3,952 total building models (in EnergyPlus™ Version 22.1.0).

The zipped files in Tables 1 and 2 contain downloadable prototype models in compressed, zip, format for the respective edition of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 and IECC, respectively.  Each zipped file includes EnergyPlus model input files (.idf) and corresponding output files (.htm) across all climate locations, as well as a scorecard spreadsheet (Microsoft® Excel®, .xlsx, format). The scorecard summarizes the building descriptions, thermal zone internal loads, schedules, and other key modeling input information for all 16 prototype buildings.  The scorecard spreadsheet can be downloaded from this link . Table 3 contains the associated EnergyPlus TMY3 weather files for the 19 climate locations which can be downloaded from this zipped file.

DOWNLOADS

Files may be downloaded either as complete packages, containing all building types, or by individual building type, either by specific Standard 90.1 or IECC editions or as complete sets from the tables below.

ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1

Table 1. ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 Prototype Building Models
Building Type Complete Set 90.1-2013 90.1-2016 90.1-2019 90.1-2022
Small Office ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Medium Office ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Large Office ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Stand-alone Retail ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Strip Mall ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Primary School ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Secondary School ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Outpatient Healthcare ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Hospital ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Small Hotel ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Large Hotel ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Warehouse (non-refrigerated) ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Quick Service Restaurant ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Full Service Restaurant ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Mid-rise Apartment ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
High-rise Apartment ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
All Building Types ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP

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IECC

Table 2. IECC Prototype Building Models
Building Type Complete Set 2012 IECC 2015 IECC 2018 IECC 2021 IECC
Small Office ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Medium Office ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Large Office ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Stand-alone Retail ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Strip Mall ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Primary School ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Secondary School ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Outpatient Healthcare ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Hospital ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Small Hotel ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Large Hotel ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Warehouse (non-refrigerated) ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Quick Service Restaurant ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Full Service Restaurant ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
Mid-rise Apartment ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
High-rise Apartment ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
All Building Types ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP

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TMY3 Weather Files

Table 3. TMY3 Weather Files
Thermal Zone Thermal Climate Zone Name Weather Location Weather Data Representative City
0A Extremely Hot Humid Ho Chi Minh City/Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Vietnam See note* Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
0B Extremely Hot Dry Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates See note* Dubai, United Arab Emirates
1A Very Hot Humid Miami International Airport, Florida EPW Miami, FL
1B Very Hot Dry New Delhi/Safdarjung Airport, Delhi, India See note* New Delhi, India
2A Hot Humid Tampa/MacDill AFB, Florida EPW Tampa, FL
2B Hot Dry Tucson/Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona EPW Tucson, AZ
3A Warm Humid Atlanta/Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Georgia EPW Atlanta, GA
3B Warm Dry El Paso International Airport, Texas EPW El Paso, TX
3C Warm Marine San Diego/Brown Field Municipal Airport, California EPW San Diego, CA
4A Mixed Humid New York/John F Kennedy International Airport, New York EPW New York, NY
4B Mixed Dry Albuquerque International Sunport, New Mexico EPW Albuquerque, NM
4C Mixed Marine Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Washington EPW Seattle, WA
5A Cool Humid Buffalo Niagara International Airport, New York EPW Buffalo, NY
5B Cool Dry Denver/Aurora/Buckley AFB, Colorado EPW Denver, CO
5C Cool Marine Port Angeles/William R Fairchild International Airport, Washington EPW Port Angeles, WA
6A Cold Humid Rochester International Airport, Minnesota EPW Rochester, MN
6B Cold Dry Great Falls International Airport, Montana EPW Great Falls, MT
7 Very Cold International Falls International Airport, Minnesota EPW International Falls, MN
8 Subarctic/Arctic Fairbanks International Airport, Alaska EPW Fairbanks, AK
All Thermal Zones     ZIP  

*Note: the following international weather data files are available through ASHRAE Weather Data Center

  • VNM_Ho.Chi.Minh.City-Tan.Son.Nhat.Intl.AP.489000_IWEC2.epw
  • ARE_Dubai.Intl.AP.411940_IWEC2.epw
  • IND_Delhi_New.Delhi-Safdarjung.AP.421820_IWEC2.epw

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Residential

For residential buildings, PNNL uses two base prototypes to simulate the following building types:

  1. Single-family detached house
  2. Multi-family low-rise apartment building

These prototypes are then modified to accommodate four different heating system types and four foundation types typically found in new residential construction. The result is an expanded set of 32 models, which is then simulated across 18 climate locations for each edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). This combination results in a set of 3,552 residential energy models (in EnergyPlus™ Version 9.5).

The energy models for the 2015, 2018, and 2021 editions of the IECC are listed in Table 4. Each compressed (.zip) file includes EnergyPlus model input files (.idf) and corresponding output files (.htm) for each of the eight climate zones (1-8) and three moisture regimes (A=Moist, B=Dry, C=Marine) defined in the IECC.

Each file is assigned a unique name using the following naming convention:

Where,

XX = Prototype, either Multi-family (MF) or Single-family (SF)
CZ = Climate zone designator (e.g., CZ2B for climate zone 2, moisture regime B; CZ1AT for climate zone 1, moisture regime A, Tropical, CZ3AWH for climate zone 3, moisture regime A, Warm-Humid)
HeatingSystemType = One of four heating system types: Electric Resistance, Gas Furnace, Oil Furnace or Heat Pump
FoundationType = One of four Foundation types: slab, crawlspace, heated basement, unheated basement
IECC = International Energy Conservation Code
Year= Year of published Code

Downloads

The energy models for the 2015, 2018 and 2021 versions of the IECC are listed in Table 4 and can be downloaded either by specific IECC edition or as complete sets by climate zone. The complete sets contain prototypes with earlier versions of the IECC. The idf files may be opened and modified in EnergyPlus.

The single family prototypes are now complete EnergyPlus files utilizing the airflow network for duct leakage modeling. Previous single family prototype models posted on the Energy Codes website did not contain duct leakage specifications. Calculating loads for duct leakage required multiple EnergyPlus simulations with and without duct leakage and post processing the results for both single family and multifamily buildings. As a result, there may be large differences in energy consumption when comparing the latest single family prototypes results to older prototype results downloaded from this website. The multifamily prototype models do not contain duct leakage specifications, and the duct leakage adjustment are applied during the post-processing. We are working on updating the MF models to incorporate the airflow network with duct leakage loops.

Table 4. Residential Prototype Building Models by Climate Zone
Zone/Regime Complete Set 2015 IECC 2018 IECC 2021 IECC
1A ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
2A ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
2B ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
3A ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
3B ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
3C ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
4A ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
4B ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
4C ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
5A ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
5B ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
5C ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
6A ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
6B ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
7 ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP
8 ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP

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TMY3 Weather Files

The associated EnergyPlus TMY3 weather files for the 18 climate locations are available for download in Table 5.

Table 5. TMY3 Weather Files for Residential Building Models
Climate Zone and Representative City Weather Data
1A Honolulu, HI (tropical) USA_HI_Honolulu.Intl_.AP_.911820_TMY3.epw
1A Miami, FL USA_FL_Miami.Intl_.AP_.722020_TMY3.epw
2A Tampa, FL USA_FL_Tampa-MacDill.AFB_.747880_TMY3.epw
2B Tucson, AZ USA_AZ_Tucson-Davis-Monthan.AFB_.722745_TMY3.epw
3A Atlanta, GA USA_GA_Atlanta-Hartsfield.Jackson.Intl_.AP_.722190_TMY3.epw
3AWH Montgomery, AL USA_AL_Montgomery-Dannelly.Field_.722260_TMY3.epw
3B El Paso, TX USA_TX_El.Paso_.Intl_.AP_.722700_TMY3.epw
3C San Diego, CA USA_CA_San.Deigo-Brown.Field_.Muni_.AP_.722904_TMY3.epw
4A New York, NY USA_NY_New.York-John.F.Kennedy.Intl_.AP_.744860_TMY3.epw
4B Albuquerque, NM USA_NM_Albuquerque.Intl_.Sunport.723650_TMY3.epw
4C Seattle, WA USA_WA_Seattle-Tacoma.Intl_.AP_.727930_TMY3.epw
5A Buffalo, NY USA_NY_Buffalo.Niagara.Intl_.AP_.725280_TMY3.epw
5B Denver, CO USA_CO_Denver-Aurora-Buckley.AFB_.724695_TMY3.epw
5C Port Angeles, WA USA_WA_Port.Angeles-William.R.Fairchild.Intl_.AP_.727885_TMY3.epw
6A Rochester, MN USA_MN_Rochester.Intl_.AP_.726440_TMY3.epw
6B Great Falls, MT USA_MT_Great.Falls_.Intl_.AP_.727750_TMY3.epw
7 International Falls, MN USA_MN_International.Falls_.Intl_.AP_.727470_TMY3.epw
8 Fairbanks, AK USA_AK_Fairbanks.Intl_.AP_.702610_TMY3.epw
All Climate Zones IECC_epw.zip

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Manufactured Housing

For manufactured housing, PNNL uses two base prototypes to simulate the following manufactured housing configurations:

  1. Single-section house
  2. Multi-section house

The two building configurations are modified to accommodate four different heating system types typically found in new manufactured housing construction. The result is an expanded set of 8 models, which is then simulated across 19 climate locations for the HUD baseline code as well as the two tiers included in the DOE final rule pertaining to energy conservation standards for manufactured housing. This combination results in a set of 152 manufactured housing energy models (in EnergyPlus™ Version 8.0).

The energy models for the HUD, tier 1, and tier 2 of the final rule are listed in Table 6. Each compressed (.zip) file includes EnergyPlus model input files (.idf) and corresponding output files (.htm) for each of the nineteen climate locations list in Table 7 (as specified in Table 7.1 of the Manufactured Housing Technical Support Document).

Each file is assigned a unique name using the following naming convention:

XX_Climate City_CZ_Code Edition_HeatingSystemType

Where,

XX = Configuration, either Single-Section (SC) or Multi-Section (MS)
Climate City = The name of the representative 19 climate city as listed in Table 7.1 of the TSD (e.g., SanFrancisco for San Francisco, CA)
CZ = Climate zone designator (e.g., CZ3C for climate zone 3, moisture regime C)
Code Edition = The name of the energy code: HUD for the HUD baseline code, and FinalRule for the final rule which includes both tier 1 and tier 2 of the final rule.
HeatingSystemType = One of four heating system types: electricfurnace for Electric Resistance, gasfurnace for Gas Furnace, oilfurnace for Oil Furnace or heatpump for Heat Pump

For example, MS_Baltimore_4A_HUD_heatpump.idf is the model idf file for multi-section HUD baseline code with heat pump heating system type at climate zone 4A represented by the weather file at Baltimore. Similarly, SS_Atlanta_3A_tier1_gasfurnace.idf is the model idf file for single-section tier 1 of the final rule with gas furnace system type at climate zone 3A represented by the weather file at Atlanta.

Downloads

The energy models for the HUD and the final rule are listed in Table 6 and can be downloaded either by specific code edition (i.e., HUD or Final Rule) or as complete sets by either each of the climate zone (all rows beside the last row of Table 6) or all the climate zones (last row of Table 6). The idf files may be opened and modified in EnergyPlus.

The energy models posted do not contain separate models for assessing the impact of the duct leakage specifications. Calculating loads for duct leakage required multiple EnergyPlus simulations with and without duct leakage and post processing the results for the single-section and double-section buildings.

Table 6. Manufactured Housing Models by Climate Zones and Representative Cities
HUD Climate Zone IECC Climate Zone (City) Complete Set HUD Baseline Final Rule
1 1A Miami, FL ZIP ZIP ZIP
1 2A Houston, TX ZIP ZIP ZIP
2 2B Phoenix, AZ ZIP ZIP ZIP
1 3A Atlanta, GA ZIP ZIP ZIP
1 3A Charleston, SC ZIP ZIP ZIP
1 3A Jackson, MS ZIP ZIP ZIP
1 3A Birmingham, AL ZIP ZIP ZIP
2 3A Memphis, TN ZIP ZIP ZIP
2 3B ElPaso, TX ZIP ZIP ZIP
2 3C SanFrancisco, CA ZIP ZIP ZIP
3 4A Baltimore, MD ZIP ZIP ZIP
2 4B Albuquerque, NM ZIP ZIP ZIP
3 4C Salem, OR ZIP ZIP ZIP
3 5A Chicago, IL ZIP ZIP ZIP
3 5B Boise, ID ZIP ZIP ZIP
3 6A Burlington, VT ZIP ZIP ZIP
3 6B Helena, MT ZIP ZIP ZIP
3 7 Duluth, MN ZIP ZIP ZIP
3 8 Fairbanks, AK ZIP ZIP ZIP
  All ZIP ZIP ZIP

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TMY3 Weather Files

The associated EnergyPlus TMY3 weather files for the 19 climate locations are available for download in Table 7.

Table 7. TMY3 Weather Files for Manufactured Housing Models
Climate Zone and Representative City Weather Data
1A Miami, FL USA_FL_Miami.Intl.AP.722020_TMY3.epw
2A Houston, TX USA_TX_Houston-Bush.Intercontinental.AP_.722430_TMY3.epw
2B Phoenix, AZ USA_AZ_Phoenix-Sky.Harbor.Intl_.AP_.722780_TMY3.epw
3A Atlanta, GA USA_GA_Atlanta-Hartsfield-Jackson.Intl_.AP_.722190_TMY3.epw
3A Charleston, SC USA_SC_Charleston.Intl_.AP_.722080_TMY3.epw
3A Jackson, MS USA_MS_Jackson.Intl_.AP_.722350_TMY3.epw
3A Birmingham, AL USA_AL_Birmingham.Muni_.AP_.722280_TMY3.epw
3A Memphis, TN USA_TN_Memphis.Intl_.AP_.723340_TMY3.epw
3B El Paso, TX USA_TX_El.Paso_.Intl_.AP_.722700_TMY3.epw
3C San Francisco, CA USA_CA_San.Francisco.Intl_.AP_.724940_TMY3.epw
4A Baltimore, MD USA_MD_Baltimore-Washington.Intl_.AP_.724060_TMY3.epw
4B Albuquerque, NM USA_NM_Albuquerque.Intl_.AP_.723650_TMY3.epw
4C Salem, OR USA_OR_Salem-McNary.Field_.726940_TMY3.epw
5A Chicago, IL USA_IL_Chicago-OHare.Intl_.AP_.725300_TMY3.epw
5B Boise, ID USA_ID_Boise.Air_.Terminal.726810_TMY3.epw
6A Burlington, VT USA_VT_Burlington.Intl_.AP_.726170_TMY3.epw
6B Helena, MT USA_MT_Helena.Rgnl_.AP_.727720_TMY3.epw
7 Duluth, MN USA_MN_Duluth.Intl_.AP_.727450_TMY3.epw
8 Fairbanks, AK USA_AK_Fairbanks.Intl.AP.702610_TMY3.epw
All Climate Zones All_epwWeather.zip