WUFI® Passive V.3.2.0.1 validation using ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2017

Jasmine Garland also contributed to this post. 

Good news: PHIUS has completed modeling to validate WUFI Passive according to ASHRAE 140. Read the full report here. 

ASHRAE 140 is a comprehensive Standard Method of Test (SMOT) for the evaluation of building energy analysis computer programs. The ASHRAE 140 report provides the information accrediting agencies or jurisdictions need for validation or acceptance of WUFI ® Passive for code and policy purposes. In short, the standard describes test buildings (cases) in significant detail in order to model the building and compare results versus other software. It contains a comprehensive description of test procedures, as well as predictions generated by WUFI Passive software evaluated against predictive benchmarks.

The table below provides a description of the test cases used for ASHRAE 140 Validation. 

Annual Heating and Annual Cooling Load results were reported for most cases, except for L302-L324A which only analyzed heating. WUFI Passive results fell well into the suggested acceptance ranges in all test cases when following Class II Procedures of ASHRAE Standard 140.  Most results fell toward the center of the confidence range as shown in the graphs below.

• Read the full report here
• Download the WUFI Passive Results File

Authors: Lisa White, Jasmine Garland