ASHRAE Standards and Research Project Data Repository

Purpose

The purpose of data.ashrae.org is to serve as a repository for publicly available deliverables from ASHRAE standards and research projects. These deliverables include report documents, XML files, CAD files, test case documents, software code, and much more.

The following visualization illustrates how the included standards, guidelines, research projects, etc., are related within ASHRAE or ASHRAE-adjacent:

List of Available ASHRAE Standards and Research Projects

  1. ASHRAE Standard 205, "Representation of Performance Data for HVAC&R and Other Facility Equipment": This ASHRAE standard defines common data models and serialization formats for facility equipment performance data needed for engineering applications such as energy simulation. The formats allow automated exchange among data sources (manufacturers), simulation models, and other engineering applications. The formats and procedures specified in the standard are developed by SPC (Standard Project Committee) 205 under ASHRAE and ANSI consensus processes. SPC-205 membership includes equipment manufacturers, application software developers, and engineering practitioners.
  2. ASHRAE Standard 140, "Method of Test for Evaluating Building Performance Simulation Software": This ASHRAE standard specifies a method of test for evaluating the technical capabilities and applicability of software used in calculating the thermal performance of buildings and their HVAC systems. These test procedures can be used to identify and diagnose predictive differences from whole-building performance simulation software that may be caused by algorithmic differences, modeling limitations, faulty coding, inadequate documentation, or input errors.
  3. ASHRAE Standard 201, "Facility Smart Grid Information Model": This standard defines an abstract, object-oriented information model to enable appliances and control systems in homes, buildings, and industrial facilities to manage electrical loads and generation sources in response to communication with a "smart" electrical grid and to communicate information about those electrical loads to utility and other electrical service providers. Currently, the only deliverable is a zip file of various data models.
  4. ASHRAE RP-1801, "Standardizing and Utilizing ASHRAE Online BIM Data Exchange Protocols": The objective of this research project was to bring data exchange protocols based on ASHRAE publications, to useable completion and availability by: 1) aligning ASHRAE exchange protocols with relevant existing BIM standards, 2) creating neutral format data content downloadable from this ASHRAE data repository (data.ashrae.org), and 3) documenting end-user guidance to support ASHRAE members in implementing these data exchange protocols in the adoption of BIM in their professional practice.
  5. ASHRAE RP-1810, "Development of Reference Building Information Model (BIM) Test Cases for Improving the Application of Software Interoperability Schemas": The overall objectives of this research project are: 1) to develop 20+ gbXML test case documents that software vendors can follow to develop their own gbXML files that will then be uploaded to a web-based validator that will provide feedback on the validity of the files.; 2) Develop 20+ corresponding gbXML files, 1 for each test case, that provide templates for software vendors to base their outputs upon; 3) Further develop an existing web-based validator software tool that will validate the 20+ test cases; 4) Upload all deliverables including software vendor output files to data.ashrae.org. This is all in the name of improving the interoperability experience between BIM authoring tools and building analysis software tools. (This is not available yet.)
  6. ASHRAE RP-1836, “Developing a Standardized Categorization System for Energy Efficiency Measures”. The goal of 1836-RP was to develop a standardized system for categorizing and characterizing energy efficiency measures (EEMs). The categorization system consists of two components: a three-level building element-based categorization hierarchy, and a set of measure name tags which represent the fundamental features of any EEM. The characterization properties describe a single instance of a given EEM, and are broken into three types of properties: description, savings, and economics. The ability of the categorization system to categorize a range of EEMs was demonstrated using a subset of 3,480 EEMs collected for this project. The results of this project are intended to help relevant stakeholders (e.g., energy auditors, energy managers) more clearly communicate the intent of an EEM and to enable better sharing of EEM-related data across building projects, portfolios, and programs.
  7. ASHRAE GPC-20, “Documenting Work Processes and Data Exchange Requirements for the Built Environment”. The purpose of ASHRAE GPC-20 is to define a procedure for documenting work processes (use cases) and data exchange requirements for specific built environment activities.
  8. ASHRAE Standard 135 - BACnet, "A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks": This protocol provides a comprehensive set of messages for conveying encoded building automation data between devices.