EnergyPlus | Department of Energy

EnergyPlus™ is DOE's open-source whole-building energy modeling (BEM) engine, the successor to DOE-2.1E. Under development since 1997, ... Skiptomaincontent Buildings EnergyPlus August28,2014 Buildings EnergyPlus Projectwebsite:http://energyplus.net/Performers:--NationalRenewableEnergyLab(NREL)–Golden,CO--LawrenceBerkeleyNationalLab(LBNL)–Berkeley,CA--OakRidgeNationalLab(ORNL)–OakRidge,TN--GARDAnalytics–ArlingtonHeights,IL--FloridaSolarEnergyCenter(FSEC)–Cocoa,FL--EnergyArchmageInc.–Nederland,CO--UniversityofIllinois(UIUC)–Champaign,IL--OklahomaStateUniversity(OSU)–Stillwater,OK--UniversityofColorado-Boulder(CU-Boulder)–Boulder,CO--BigLadderSoftware–Denver,CO--ObjexxEngineering–Needham,MA--EmptyCrateSoftware–Denver,CO--EffiBEM–Nantes,FrancePartners:--TraneInc.– LaCrosse,WI--AutodeskInc.–SanRafael,CA--CarrierCorp.–Charlotte,NC--Sefaira(TrimbleNavigationLtd.)–NewYork,NY--DaikinUSA–NewYork,NYDOEFunding: $2,900,000inFY20;$83,300,000todateCostShare:$350,000inFY20;$2,850,000todateProjectTerm:1997-FundingOpportunity:EmergingtechnologiescorefundingRelatedProjects:EnergyPlus10X,Spawn, OpenStudio,URBANopt,ASHRAEStandard140,ScoutProjectObjectiveEnergyPlus™isDOE’sopen-sourcewhole-buildingenergymodeling(BEM)engine,thesuccessortoDOE-2.1E.Underdevelopmentsince1997,EnergyPlusembodiesthestate-of-the-artinBEMknowledgeinacomprehensiveandrobustenginethatiscontinuouslymaintained,thoroughlydocumentedandfullysupported.BTOreleasestwoannualupdatestoEnergyPlus,oneinOctoberandoneinApril—version,9.3.0was releasedin March 2020.EnergyPlusimplementsdetailedbuildingphysicsforair,moisture,andheattransferincludingtreatingradiativeandconvectiveheat-transferseparatelytosupportmodelingofradiantsystemsandcalculationofthermalcomfortmetrics;calculateslighting,shading,andvisualcomfortmetrics;supportsflexiblecomponent-levelconfigurationofHVAC,plant,andrefrigerationsystems;includesalargesetofHVACandplantcomponentmodels;simulatessub-hourlytimestepstohandlefastsystemdynamicsandcontrolstrategies;andhasaprogrammableexternalinterfaceformodelingcontrolsequencesandinterfacingwithotheranalyses.EnergyPlusistestedaccordingtoASHRAEStandard140methodology.In2003,EnergyPlusreceivedanR&D100award.Historicallyfocusedoncommercialbuildings,EnergyPlushasrecentlybeenexpandedwithmodelingcapabilitiesrelevanttoresidentialbuildingsanddatacenters.InformationaboutnewfeaturesthatwillbeimplementedinthecomingyearisavailableontheEnergyPlusDocumentationpageunderNewFeaturePlanning.SupportingResourcesThereareanumberofsupportandfeedbackchannelsforEnergyPlus.Open,peer-to-peersupportisprovidedviatheUnmetHoursforum—EnergyPlusdevelopersandadvancedusersreceiveemailnotificationsfromtheforumandmostquestionsareansweredwithinafewhours,iftheyhavenotalreadybeenaskedandansweredpreviously.Anemail-basedhelpdeskisavailableformorein-depthsupportaboutprojectswithprivacyconstraints.Severalorganizationsofferon-lineandin-personEnergyPlustraining.AlistingisavailableontheBuildingEnergySoftwareToolsDirectory.Newfeaturesuggestionsandbugreportscanbefiled,discussedandtrackedontheGitHubissuespage.ProjectImpactEnergyPlussupportsarangeofbuildingenergy-efficiencyusecases.Arguably,the onethatcontributesmostdirectlytoenergyefficiencyisintegrateddesign.BTOtrackstheuseofEnergyPlusinintegrateddesignviatheAmericanInstituteofArchitects(AIA)2030Commitment,avoluntaryreportingprogramthatin2015comprisedover150architecturefirmsandalmost1billionsquarefeetinU.S.commercialnewconstruction.Analysisof7,100projectssubmittedfrom2013to2015showsthatEnergyPlususehasgrownto10%ofmodeledprojects—61%ofprojectsuseBEM—andthatprojectsusingEnergyPlusaverage51%EUIreductionoverCBECS2003baseline,relativeto44%forprojectsusingallBEMtoolsand29%forprojectsusingnoBEMtools.Usingthesefigures,weprojectthatintegrateddesignusingEnergyPlushasthepotentialtosave800TBTUayearby2030.EnergyPlushashadsignificantrecentuptakebybothendusersandcommercialvendors.Thelastseveralversionshaveaveragedover43,000downloadsperupdate.Recentyearshavealsoseenthethereleaseofseveralnewthird-partytoolsanduserinterfaces,includingofferingsfromSefaira,Autodesk,andTrane.AmorecompletelistingofEnergyPlus-basedapplicationsandservicescanbefoundatthenewBuildingEnergySoftwareToolsDirectory. EnergyPlusdirectlysupportsanumberofpublicandprivate-sectortoolsandservices.ItsupportsadditionalapplicationsandservicesviatheOpenStudioplatform. TheOpenStudioplatformsupportsarangeofpublicandprivate-sectorend-userapplicationsandservicesservingavarietyofuse-casesandconstituencies. ContactsDOETechnologyManager:AmirRoth (projectmanagement,nottechnicalsupport)PrincipalInvestigator:LuigiGentilePolese,NREL(projectmanagement,nottechnicalsupport)RecentPublicationsandPresentationsR.Zhang,T.Hong.ModelingandSimulationofOperationalFaultsofHVACSystemsusingEnergyPlus,ASHRAE/IBPSA-USABuildingSimulationConferenceSimBuild,August10-12,2016,SaltLakeCity,UT.J.Glazer.DevelopmentofMaximumTechnicallyAchievableEnergyTargetsforCommercialBuildingsUltra-LowEnergyUseBuildingSet.1651-RP,ASHRAE,December2015.T.Hong,K.Sun,R.Zhang,R.Hinokuma,S.Kasahara,Y.Yura.DevelopmentandValidationofaNewVariableRefrigerantFlowSystemModelinEnergyPlus,JournalofEnergyandBuildings,September2016.M.Witte,E.Lee,L.Gu,R.Raustad,T.Hong,andD.Kang.StrengtheningEnergyPlustoEnableAdvancedBuildingEnergyModels,MichaelJ.Witte,EdwinS.Lee,LixingGu,RichardRaustad,TianzhenHong,andDaehoKang,ASHRAE/IBPSA-USABuildingSimulationConference,September12,2014,Atlanta,GA. 2018BTOPeerReviewPresentation–EnergyPlus(NREL,LBNL,ORNL) 35510_Witte_040516-1335.pdf bto_MeritReview_Lee_2015-04-17.pdf emt01_Witte_042214.pdf