The development of a test protocol for anon-line whole-building energy analysis tool for homeowners

This paper presents the testing of a dynamic on-line whole-building energy calculator. The Home Energy Analyser is intended for use by the Canadian public as a first step in assessing the energy efficiency of their houses. The tool consists of a web-based interface for user inputs; an application to create the simulation input files from these user inputs; a simulation engine; and an application for passing the simulation engine output back to the interface and user. A detailed test protocol, composed of three parts, was developed as part of the software development process for quality assurance purposes. These three parts include: 

• testing the functionality of the user interface in passing the user inputs to the application that generates the input files for the simulation engine; 
• testing the functionality of the mapping between the user interface output and the simulation engine input files; and 
• testing the mapping between the simulation engine output and the web interface; 

This paper will investigate the three parts of the test plan as well as the task automation tools developed to facilitate the testing. The use of these tools proved very useful given the large number of combinations of user inputs at the web interface and input files to the simulation engine. The findings show the importance of having a detailed and comprehensive test protocol during the software development phase.