Bug: incorrect referencing of window construction

Hi @chris,

I’ve encountered a bug with the attached HB model:
HB model.hbjson (88.0 KB)

I’ve used HB Apply Window Construction and supplied 4 different window constructions for each cardinal direction: north, east and west without blinds and south with blinds.
When running it through OpenStudio, it returns the following severe errors:

Click for error report
   ** Severe  ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: Window "L_38_G_2.8_24_15_21__10_10_45___SE1.__S_S_S__1_E4C6144A..FACE1_GLZ0" must not directly reference
   **   ~~~   ** a Construction (i.e, "WINDOW") with a shading device.
   **   ~~~   ** Use WindowShadingControl to specify a shading device for a window.
   ** Severe  ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: Window "L_38_G_2.8_24_15_21__10_10_45___SE1.__S_S_S__1_E4C6144A..FACE1_GLZ1" must not directly reference
   **   ~~~   ** a Construction (i.e, "WINDOW") with a shading device.
   **   ~~~   ** Use WindowShadingControl to specify a shading device for a window.
   ** Severe  ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: Window "L_38_G_2.8_24_15_21__10_10_45___SE1.__S_S_S__1_E4C6144A..FACE1_GLZ2" must not directly reference
   **   ~~~   ** a Construction (i.e, "WINDOW") with a shading device.
   **   ~~~   ** Use WindowShadingControl to specify a shading device for a window.
   ** Severe  ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: Window "L_38_G_2.8_24_15_21__10_10_45___SE1.__S_S_S__1_E4C6144A..FACE1_GLZ3" must not directly reference
   **   ~~~   ** a Construction (i.e, "WINDOW") with a shading device.
   **   ~~~   ** Use WindowShadingControl to specify a shading device for a window.
   ** Severe  ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: Window "L_38_G_2.8_24_15_21__10_10_45___SE1.__S_S_S__1_E4C6144A..FACE1_GLZ4" must not directly reference
   **   ~~~   ** a Construction (i.e, "WINDOW") with a shading device.
   **   ~~~   ** Use WindowShadingControl to specify a shading device for a window.
   ** Severe  ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: Window "L_38_G_2.8_24_15_21__10_10_45___SE1.__S_S_S__1_E4C6144A..FACE2_GLZ0" must not directly reference
   **   ~~~   ** a Construction (i.e, "WINDOW") with a shading device.
   **   ~~~   ** Use WindowShadingControl to specify a shading device for a window.
   ** Severe  ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: Window "L_38_G_2.8_24_15_21__10_10_45___SE1.__S_S_S__1_E4C6144A..FACE2_GLZ1" must not directly reference
   **   ~~~   ** a Construction (i.e, "WINDOW") with a shading device.
   **   ~~~   ** Use WindowShadingControl to specify a shading device for a window.
   ** Severe  ** GetHTSubSurfaceData: Window "L_38_G_2.8_24_15_21__10_10_45___SE1.__S_S_S__1_E4C6144A..FACE2_GLZ2" must not directly reference
   **   ~~~   ** a Construction (i.e, "WINDOW") with a shading device.
   **   ~~~   ** Use WindowShadingControl to specify a shading device for a window.
   **  Fatal  ** GetSurfaceData: Errors discovered, program terminates.

While on my search for the solution I found this Unmet Hours topic that explains the problem. When altering the IDF file in accordance with the Unmet Hours solution, I’ve managed to fix the issue.
in_original.idf (155.8 KB)
in_altered.idf (155.7 KB)

I assume that somewhere in the LB/HB code the assigning of the window construction names is bugged, but I can’t put my finger on where exactly. Perhaps you can figure it out given the attached files?

Kind regards,
Marc

Hi @marctavenier ,

Thanks for reporting. This is one of those issues that only happens when picking a name for a construction that is not unique. Changing the name of your shaded window construction to anything other than “Blinds” gets the simulation to run correctly. Alternatively, if you change the name of your bare Window construction to be anything other than “Window,” it also runs correctly. I had hoped that it goes without saying that these are not good names for EnergyPlus constructions but I recognize that the limits of things will be tested at some point.

Let me think if there’s a better way to prevent this from happening for this particular case.

Actually, the bug was different than I initially realized. While I stand by my note on the uniqueness of construction names, it seems that the issue arises whenever you use both the bare window construction along with the shaded version in the same model. So the easiest way to get around this is for me to just make sure that one of these gets a different EnergyPlus identifier as part of the translation process. Let me see if I can implement something to address this now.

Hi @chris,

You’re right that the construction names are very generic. I tested renaming them to something more unique and had the same issue, so thought it wasn’t relevant to the issue.
I also have other HB Model configurations set up with the same GH model with both blinded and non-blinded windows in one zone that did seem to work, which is why I thought it to somehow be specific to this specific HB Model.
If you need more configurations that either do or do not encounter the bug, let me know and I can send them.

Kind regards,
Marc

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Hi @marctavenier ,

I have merged a fix:

… and it should now be available via the LB Versioner. Thanks again for finding and reporting the issue!

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