Large Hotel Energy Models Across 16 U.S. Climate Zones

DOE developed 16 reference building types representing 70% of U.S. commercial buildings. This dataset provides energy models for the Large Hotel type across three construction categories (new, post-1980, pre-1980) for each of 16 climate zones. The models include building, zone, and location summaries detailing form, fabric, HVAC, area, lighting, occupants, utility costs, and energy demand.

Use Cases

• Compare HVAC details and energy end use across 16 climate zones to assess regional energy performance.
• Analyze building fabric and utility costs between new, post-1980, and pre-1980 construction categories.
• Model peak energy demand using zone summary data on area, volume, lighting, and occupants.
• Benchmark energy efficiency of a large hotel's form and fabric against DOE reference models.

Strengths

• Covers 16 distinct U.S. climate zones, enabling geographically specific analysis.
• Includes three detailed construction categories (new 2004, post-1980, pre-1980) for temporal comparison.
• Models are based on reference building types representing approximately 70% of U.S. commercial buildings.
• Provides comprehensive component summaries: building, zone, and location data.

Limitations

• The dataset is based on older models; the description notes 'many changes and improvements' have been made since release.
• No tabular row or column counts are provided, limiting understanding of dataset scale and structure.
• Data is specific to one building type (Large Hotel) and may not generalize to other commercial structures.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in conjunction with three national laboratories.

Collection Method

Developed as reference building models for whole building energy analysis using EnergyPlus simulation software.

Time Range

Models represent construction categories from pre-1980, post-1980, and new (2004) construction.

Freshness

Last updated 2025-04-11, but the description indicates the underlying models are outdated.

Geography

United States, specifically 16 climate zones within the country.