Return cooling_defaults for all API calls to simulated_load endpoint that include cooling

[zolanaj]

Note: for support questions and enhancement suggestions please use the REopt Forum (under development). This repository's issues are reserved for feature requests and bug reports.

• I'm submitting a ...

  • [X] bug report
  • [ ] feature request
  • [ ] support request => Please do not submit support request here, see note at the top of this template.

• Do you want to request a feature or report a bug? Bug

• What is the current behavior? When running the UI and including a cooling load and/or technology, changing the building type does not change the default annual cooling load whereas the default updates for hot thermal and electric loads.

• If the current behavior is a bug, please provide the steps to reproduce and if possible a minimal demo of the problem via https://plnkr.co or similar (you can use this template as a starting point: http://plnkr.co/edit/tpl:AvJOMERrnz94ekVua0u5).

• Open the UI under the development branch

• Add CHP, then Absorption Chiller

• Under Cooling Load section, Check the box labeled "Enter custom annual or monthly thermal energy amounts"

• Change building type in the dropdown menu for building type multiple times

• What is the expected behavior? Updating the building type via the dropdown menu should change the default annual load.

• What is the motivation / use case for changing the behavior? Allows proper tracking of the default cooling load by building in the UI

• Please tell us about your environment:

  • REopt API Version: X.X.X
  • Operating System: [all | TypeScript X.X | ES6/7 | ES5 | Dart]
  • Python version: 3.x
  • Julia version: 1.x

• Other information (e.g. detailed explanation, stacktraces, related issues, suggestions how to fix, links for us to have context, eg. stackoverflow, gitter, etc)

[Bill-Becker]

@zolanaj In the current API, if I call /simulated_load with doe_reference_name=[chosen electric CRB], load_type=electric, and cooling_doe_ref_name=[any CRB], I get the cooling_defaults which should update the UI with default annual_tonhour when the user switches building type. I assume the UI is currently setup so that when the user selects "enter a custom annual cooling energy", then the UI is sending load_type=cooling instead of load_type=electric and that's the issue. Relatedly, when I actually send annual_tonhour with load_type=cooling, that's when I don't get the cooling_defaults. Is that latter part what we're missing?

Either way, it would be good to setup a branch of the API calling the REopt.jl branch in https://github.com/NREL/REopt.jl/pull/252 so we can test that it does what we want in the API before merging in the REopt.jl PR.

[zolanaj]

@Bill-Becker your view of the situation matches mine. The use case for refreshing the defaults with load_type=cooling is in the UI; when changing the building type in the drop-down menu for the cooling load profile (after absorption chiller or cold TES is checked), the default annual ton-hours are not updated (these aren't displayed in the current version of the Web Tool but are intended to be added in v3).

I agree with the plan - I'll set up a branch of the API to test this and follow up!

[zolanaj]

After further discussion, we won't add cooling_defaults to the simulated_load call when load_type == 'cooling'; rather, we will update the UI calls so that the default is linked to the electric load and cooling building type, using the existing version of simulated_load.