[esp-r] Fwd: ESP-r why didn't we think of this earlier???

[Jon Hand (clcv10)]

This is one of those "why didn't we think of this earlier"  
approaches....

Someone asked the following question:

> I just have another quick query with regards to ESP-r. I'd like to  
> copy an
> operations file (lighting, equipment and occupant gains) from one  
> zone to
> another. Is this possible or will I have to re-input the data all over
> again for the new zone?

We answered the question with some directions about how to copy
zone operations files or point to a common file. A true GEEK answer.


BUT WHAT IF WE TOOK IT LITERALLY....a user is part way through
attributing an office building model and about to start the  
definition of
occupancy and lighting schedules in a new office which is almost the
same as one that was previously defined.

What if  one of the first options given to the user was
to import patterns of air flow schedules and/or casual gains
from other zones? What if it gave the option to do a literal copy of the
data or scale it for the volume and/or floor area of the new zone?
And what if it took about six button clicks to do it?

Actually, what if the user could import the air flow schedules from
one zone and the casual gains from another? What if they could do one  
or the
other or both to make it even more flexible to reuse existing
information? Oh, and for QA purposes it should force you to
edit the documentation of the new zone's schedule so everyone
would know how/why/when this was done.

That would be great. It would cut down on errors from using a
calculator and then editing period data. It would cut down
on the time needed to attribute a sequence of zones which are similar
in use but slightly different in form. It would encourage reuse of
relevant information from other project. I can think of several projects
where this would have saved a lot of time and frustration.

Drum roll.....its now real and is being tested. Ok, it took 12 ckicks  
(but
no typing other than the changes in documentation to and 4 clicks
were to confirm zone names) to import both flow schedules and
casual gains and scale them for the new zone. Elapsed time less
than a minute.

I hope to get it past the formal testing and into the source code
distribution ASAP.

SO THE NEXT TIME someone poses a question, lets have a think
about a useful evolution rather than a geek answer.

-Jon Hand