Importing from REM/Rate XML - Common Snags

Ekotrope allows you to convert REM/Rate XML files into Ekotrope projects.  There are some common issues that can occur when importing these XML files, so it is useful to understand the following while using the import feature:

1. Ekotrope requires that the REM/Rate files have valid property zip codes, AND that the zip codes correspond with the climate zone of the weather site in REM/Rate.  Ekotrope uses property zip code to determine weather location.

2. Ekotrope will only properly import the Official Rater if the following are true:

   - The REM/Rate file has the "ID (RTIN)" field properly filled in.

   - There is a user in your Ekotrope organization that has their "Rater ID (RTIN)" properly filled out in the Settings section, and the RTIN matches the RTIN in the REM/Rate file.  If you are a Provider, external Raters that are not in your organization will not be recognized, even if you are their Provider.  The files will have to be uploaded to the Rater account, then shared with you as the Provider.

3. Ekotrope requires that if a wall, basement wall, or roof has fenestrations assigned to it, the total area of the fenestrations must be less than the gross area of the wall.  REM does not require this.  If a file has this attribute, it will import to Ekotrope, but it cannot be analyzed until the problem is resolved.

4. Window orientations must be assigned to a direction.  Orientation: "None" is not supported during the import.

5. Ekotrope requires that the climate zone of the REM/Rate file match the climate zone of the location in Ekotrope.  This is usually an indication that an incorrect zip code or Site Information has been put into REM/Rate.  Sometimes in REM/Rate, the closest weather location will have a different climate zone than the location of the building.  In this case, we recommend selecting the closest Site Information in REM that has the correct climate zone.  The correct climate zone can be determined for a given county using this web site.

6. Each conditioning equipment must be linked to a distribution system. Furthermore, each conditioning equipment that has a percent load greater than 0% for heating or cooling must be linked to a distribution system that uses that equipment for heating or cooling. For instance:

The following will not work:

If you run into failures that are not on this list that you do not understand, please contact support@ekotrope.com.