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New Features for Versions 1.0.0 to 8.2.0
Jason DeGraw edited this page Sep 8, 2015
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1 revision
The summary below lists the new features included in earlier releases of EnergyPlus: 8.2.0, 8.1.0, 8.0.0, 7.2.0, 7.1.0, 7.0.0, 6.0.0, 5.0.0, 4.0.0, 3.1.0, 3.0.0, 2.2.0, 2.1.0, 2.0.0, 1.2.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.0, 1.1.1, 1.1.0, 1.0.3 , 1.0.2, 1.0.1, 1.0.0
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Internal simulation engine code translated from FORTRAN to C++ to spur the evolution of EnergyPlus through:
- Improved interaction with a larger community through a more popular code base, and
- improved access to code libraries for performance and enhanced capabilities.
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Language change initially caused a slightly slower codebase due to translation overhead, however several restructuring efforts in the code eventually led to EnergyPlus v8.2 being faster than v8.1 in many tests cases.
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Development transitioned to GitHub, where the source code is to be made fully public in the spirit of the open source license.
- Bug fixes throughout
- Integrated slab calculations now allow improved simulation of ground heat transfer
- Improved sizing algorithm for including fan heat in cooling coil calculations
- Improved sizing input options for scaling autosized values
- Additional plant load dispatch algorithms based on meeting component part-loading targets
- New models for single-sided natural ventilation with multiple openings
- New on/off fan option for unit heater and unit ventilator
- New fault model for coil fouling
- DOAS direct to zonal water-to-air heat pumps
- Expanded support for table lookup for plant equipment performance
- New zone air mass flow balance option (partially link HVAC flows with zone mixing and infiltration)
- Ice storage curve-fit tool
- Windows 7 - 64-bit version (32-bit may be available via Helpdesk)
- Linux (Ubuntu 14.04 and compatible) - 64-bit version (32-bit may be available via Helpdesk)
- Mac OSX 10.9 - 64-bit version
- EnergyPlus 8.2.0 has been tested on all these platforms
- EnergyPlus does intensive computations, and based on configuration, can write massive amounts of data to disk. For best performance, computers should have a substantial amount of memory and high speed hard drives.
The highlights – improved and new features – are displayed by category.
- Bug fixes throughout.
- New data set for residential air-conditioner and heat pump performance curves.
- 2013 ASHRAE Design Conditions files (Annual and Monthly) available from Helpdesk
- Allow ZoneList for Steam and Other Equipment internal gains.
- New option for windows based on ASHWAT model.
- New zone daylight distribution model when using complex fenestration systems.
- User-definable solar and visible spectrum weighting functions.
- Dynamic clothing model for People thermal comfort.
- Pre-calculated solar heat gains on inside faces of surfaces can be scheduled.
- EMS actuators for outdoor air conditions for surface outside face heat transfer modeling boundary conditions.
- Cross ventilation natural ventilation model improved.
- A unitary system with multispeed AC and multistage gas furnace
- Comprehensive model for unitary HVAC systems.
- Packaged thermal storage cooling coil.
- Variable speed cooling tower based on Merkel model.
- Zone forced air unit for evaporative coolers.
- Central dedicated outdoor air serving fan coil units.
- HVACTemplate for new comprehensive unitary system.
- HVACTemplate for zone baseboard heaters.
- HVACTemplate for heat and cool VAV terminals.
- HVACTemplate for constant volume systems (non-unitary).
- HVACTemplate for variable refrigerant flow equipment.
- HVACTemplate for dual duct systems.
- Expanded HVACTemplate options including ideal loads outdoor air and humidity controls, baseboard heat with all system types, fancoil controls, return fans, and fan powered VAV recirculation from plenum.
- Staged zone thermostat.
- On/off setpoint managers for single zone heating and cooling.
- User-defined plant equipment operation scheme based on EMS.
- HVAC system optimal start control.
- Operational fault modeling for air economizer control sensor offset.
- Component model sizing diagnostics for easily comparing user-specified values to autosized values.
- WeatherConverter produces 2013 design day files for appropriate locations.
- New document Plant Application Guide
- Documentation has been updated for all documents.
- Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1) 32 and 64 bit versions
- Linux (Ubuntu 12.04 and compatible) 32 and 64 bit versions; RHEL 5.0 compatible available on request via helpdesk.
- Mac (10.7, 10.8 and 10.9) 64 bit versions
- EnergyPlus V8.1 has been tested on all of these platforms
- EnergyPlus does intensive computations, for high performance, computers should have a lot of memory and fast hard disk speeds.
The highlights – improved and new features – are displayed by category.
- Speed improvements and many bug fixes throughout.
- Weather files (EPW) from TMY3 now have corrected illuminance data.
- Updated life cycle costing price escalation data.
- Added support for sub-hourly values and interpolation for schedules that are input using a file (Schedule:File object).
- Added two new fuel type input options (OtherFuel1 & OtherFuel2) to all components that specify the type of fuel, for general use when modeling alternative energy sources, such as wood or other biofuels.
- Added option to choose timestep-integrated calculations for solar, shading, and daylighting for use with dynamic facade controls.
- Expanded AirFlow Network support for hybrid modeling to include VAV air handlers.
- A new general-purpose plant heat exchanger model (HeatExchanger:FluidToFluid) was added for coupling and controlling all kinds of plant loops and modeling multiple secondary loops (replaces HeatExchanger:WatersideEconomizer, HeatExchanger:Hydronic, and HeatExchanger:Plate which have been removed).
- New multispeed AC Furnace for high-SEER with multistage gas or electric heating coil (AirLoopHVAC:UnitaryHeatPump:AirToAir:MultiSpeed).
- New central chiller heater system for applications such as ground source heat pump systems.
- New plant model object (PlantComponent:TemperatureSource) for a known temperature source of supply fluid, such as for river, well, or seawater once through cooling.
- Improved electric chiller condenser heat recovery modeling to include autosizing, capacity limits, inlet temperature limit, outlet temperature control, and improved chiller models to account for higher rejection temperatures.
- Added support for variable speed DX coils to be used with CoilSystem:Heating:DX and CoilSystem:Cooling:DX.
- Improved the equation-fit, single-speed, water-to-air heat pump models to include new options for cycling or constant fluid flow operation.
- The single-speed DX cooling coil model was improved to allow the option of defining performance curves for the sensible heat ratio (SHR) during operation to support 100% outdoor air systems and other low-SHR applications.
- The zone exhaust fan model was improved to allow varying flow rates, controlling on a minimum temperature limit, selecting how availability managers behave and declaring what portion of makeup air is balanced.
- Added calculation and reporting of standard ratings for HSPF and Net Heating Capacity for multi-speed air to air heat pump (Coil:Heating:DX:MultiSpeed).
- Added HVACTemplate support for detailed outdoor air specifications.
- Improved low temperature radiant hydronic systems to include options for tubing circuit length sizing calculation and multiple tubing circuits.
- Improved horizontal trench ground heat exchanger object with simpler interface to piping system objects.
- New Functional Mock-up Unit (FMU) capability for EnergyPlus itself to be exported as an FMU for co-simulation.
- Improved capabilities for random number operations in EnergyPlus Runtime Language programs for EMS.
- Throughout the program the specific names used to describe output variables were completely overhauled to be clearer, to use consistent terminology, and to use the same names across similar components.
- New XML style option for all tabular reports.
- New LEED summary predefined tabular report.
- New ZoneComponentLoadSummary predefined report that estimates the load components during a sizing period for each zone using a pulse/decay curve method.
- IDF Editor – Added FILL RIGHT function to copy values from left most column selected to those to the right of it similar to the fill right function in spreadsheets.
- IDF Editor – Added JUMP menu item to jump to other fields in other objects that use the same name as the currently selected field.
- Weather Converter – Design day idf/imf snippets for annual and monthly design conditions as contained in ASHRAE HOF 2009 were posted to the helpdesk.
- Documentation has been updated for all documents.
- Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8) 32 and 64 bit versions
- Linux (Ubuntu 12.04 and compatible) 32 and 64 bit versions; RHEL 5.0 compatible available on request via helpdesk.
- Mac (10.7 and 10.8) 64 bit versions
- EnergyPlus V8.0 has been tested on all of these platforms
- EnergyPlus does intensive computations, for high performance, computers should have a lot of memory and fast hard disk speeds.
- Speed improvements and many bug fixes throughout
- WindowConstructs.idf was revised so annotations properly reflect U, SHGC, TSOL, TVIS values in EnergyPlus.
- FluidPropertiesRefData.idf was revised remove unused superheated specific heat objects. Data sources documented.
- Corrected or clarified the units for various input fields.
- New detailed model for complex window systems with Bi-directional Scattering Distribution Functions (BSDF).
- Multiple surface heat transfer algorithms (CTF, CondFD, EMPD, HAMT) can now be used in a single simulation and selected for individual surfaces and constructions
- Changed model coefficients for the default outside face surface convection heat transfer correlations called "DOE-2" and "MoWiTT."
- Expanded model for Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) to allow simultaneous heating and cooling (heat recovery) and water-cooled condensers.
- New detailed models for variable-speed DX cooling and heating coils.
- Zone sizing expanded to add method for the design supply air temperature to be based on differences with zone temperature.
- Detailed ice storage model expanded for inside melt systems to start charging from a bare coil.
- HVAC equipment standard rating calculations (Net capacity, SEER, IEER) expanded for multispeed DX coils, multi-speed heat pumps, and packaged variable air volume units.
- Improved warning message content when HVAC simulation maximum iterations limit is exceeded.
- Added option for non-coincident sizing in HVACTemplate system objects.
- Added options for humidity setpoints and desuperheater in HVACTemplate for dedicated outdoor air systems.
- Added options for supply air temperatures in HVACTemplate for zone sizing.
- Added options for supplementary heating coil to be hot water in HVACTemplates for heatpump and unitary equipment.
- Added options for substituting specific chiller, boiler, and cooling tower objects for the defaults normally generated by HVACTemplates.
- System availability managers expanded to control operation of additional types of zone equipment including: fan coil units, zone energy recovery ventilators, zone outdoor air units, variable refrigerant flow terminals, and ventilated slabs.
- Availability schedule added to daylighting controls.
- Ep-Launch added controls for multiprocessor behavior when running simulations
- IDF Editor enhancements include double precision unit conversions and conversion corrections.
- Weather Converter improvements including solar conversions.
- Ep-Macro improved to be more robust.
- Error messages improved for recurring errors
- Tabular reports improved formatting and clean up
- Documentation has been updated for all documents.
- Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) 32 and 64 bit versions.
- Linux (Ubuntu 12.04 and compatible) 32 and 64 bit versions; RHEL 5.0 compatible available on request via helpdesk.
- Mac (10.6, 10.7, and 10.8) 32 bit and (10.7 and 10.8) 64 bit versions
- EnergyPlus V 7.2 has been tested on all of these platforms
- EnergyPlus can now use multi-core processors to speed execution of models with large geometry descriptions. The solution for inside face surface temperatures was threaded using OpenMP technology.
- The Design Day object was restructured and allows finer control over humidity conditions.
- The Run Period object was extended to include features useful for real-time and real-weather simulations.
- New equipment performance data set for 110 different air-cooled chillers—see the file AirCooledChiller.idf.
- Corrected or clarified the units for various input fields
- Many new output variables were added to expand the reporting available for surface heat transfer model results.
- The modeling of internal gains was revised and improved to facilitate integrating HVAC equipment skin losses and the zone thermal model. Losses from plant pumps can now be added to thermal zones.
- New comprehensive modeling of the concentration of a generic gaseous contaminant in zone air including internal emission sources and ventilation controls.
- Added system-level zone maximum outdoor air fraction for ventilation rate procedure for sizing and annual calculations.
- Added support for multi-path air distribution systems in the ventilation rate procedure based on the ASHRAE Standard 62.1 for annual calculations.
- Added Demand Controlled Ventilation for sizing calculations based on ASHRAE Standard 62.1 for both single- and multi-path systems.
- Commercial refrigeration models were expanded to include systems that use transcritical CO2.
- A new coil system was added for modeling air-to-air heat pump coils in built-up air handlers, outdoor air systems, and zone outdoor air units.
- Fan-powered induction air terminal units can now draw secondary air from plenums.
- Added autosizing for hot water baseboards in HVACTemplates.
- Added pumping options, piping configurations, fluid types, and additional controls to HVACTemplate plant loops.
- Added additional control and part load ratio inputs to HVACTemplate:Plant:Chiller and HVACTemplate:Plant:Boiler.
- Added additional error checking to HVACTemplate objects.
- Added model for Integral-Collector-Storage (ICS) solar collectors for hot water heating.
- Added the ability to use hot water (or steam) coils in various HVAC equipment that have options for different types of heating coils.
- The models for adding/removing heat to/from the return air stream were improved to add maximum and minimum limits on the temperature of the return air (+60C, -30C).
- The Integrated Part Load Value (IPLV) standard rating for chillers can now be calculated from the chiller input and reported.
- Added "High/Low Temperature Heating Standard (Net) Rating Capacity" and HSPF calculation routines for single speed air source heatpumps.
- Added two-stage compression with intercooling to the detailed commercial refrigeration cycle model.
- New model to reset condenser loop temperature setpoints using predetermined curves that reduce net energy consumption for the chiller and cooling tower plant.
- New "ideal" model to reset condenser loop temperature setpoints using a search algorithm to find the near-optimal setpoint at a given timestep which gives the minimum total chiller, cooling tower, chilled water pump and condenser water pump power consumption.
- The heat pump water heater model can now use a stratified thermal tank.
- Added a new model for variable speed, water-to-air heat pumps.
- A new category of HVAC and plant components was added that allow using EMS's capabilities to create user-defined models of new and unique equipment. Users can now define their own component models using new IDF objects that serve as generic holders for zone forced-air units, coils in an air handler, zone air terminal units, or plant components.
- The EnergyPlus Runtime Language used for EMS programming was extended to include WHILE loops and to allow directly evaluating curve and table IDF objects from inside programs.
- New EMS Actuators were added including: surface construction, surface outside boundary conditions, and refrigeration system condenser minimum temperature limit.
- The ExternalInterface used for co-simulation was extended to allow using Functional Mock-up Units (FMU) including a FMU parser for pre-processing FMUs.
- Multiple daylight illuminance maps can now be generated for a single zone.
- Energy meters have been added to output summary reports.
- A new sizing report related to ASHRAE Standard 62.1 has been added to output summary reports
- Documentation has been updated for all documents.
- Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) 32 and 64 bit versions.
- Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 and above, Redhat 5.4 and above) 32 and 64 bit versions.
- Mac (10.6, 10.7) 32 and 64 bit versions.
- EnergyPlus V 7.1 has been tested on all of these platforms.
- Significant speed increases, most simulations see up to 20% reduction in execution time, depending on features used (also speed increase for many AirflowNetwork simulations and large models with radiant systems–see below).
- New input data sets for HVAC equipment performance for rooftop packaged air conditioners and heat pumps (see DXCoolingCoil.idf and RooftopPackagedHeatPump.idf).
- Extended the library of refrigerant data to include R407a and superheated CO2 properties (see FluidPropertiesRefData.idf).
- New input data set for exhaust-fired chiller heater model (see ExhaustFiredChiller.idf).
- Steam is now a "built-in" fluid property.
- Zone Floor Area can be an input—overrides the calculated amount.
- International Glazing Data Base (IGDB) full spectral data can be used directly.
- Shadowing Model new options: legacy "convex" Weiler-Atherton or Sutherland-Hodgman (more robust for non-convex surfaces).
- New input problem checks for surface geometry including: convexity, collinear vertices, planar surfaces, and flipped floors/roofs. For flipped floors/roofs, a fix is attempted.
- Conduction Transfer Function model revised to improve modeling of mass-less material layers.
- OtherSideCoefficients model extended to provide controlled surface outside temperature with schedule and limits.
- Design day weather data generation procedures upgraded for clear sky model and wet-bulb temperature profiles.
- Conduction Finite Difference heat transfer model now includes options for solution method and to control node spatial resolution, relaxation factor, and convergence criteria.
- Improved convergence checks for initial warmup days.
- AirflowNetwork solver enhanced for speed.
- Consolidated outdoor air inputs in HVAC models to common design object wherever outdoor air rates are specified.
- New proportional control for CO2-based demand controlled ventilation.
- New mixing object for door openings into refrigerated zones.
- New mechanical ventilation controls based on ASHRAE Standard 62.1 and CEN 15251.
- New model for Variable Refrigerant Flow heat pump air conditioning systems.
- Ideal loads air system model revised to include outdoor air and economizer controls, humidity control, and capacity limits.
- Plant system and component models revised to improve speed and robustness, model fluid properties as a function of temperature and alternative types of fluid, and better flow control.
- Glycol mixtures supported in all plant loop components.
- New dual duct air terminal unit with dedicated outside air system on one duct and cooling on the other duct.
- New absorption chiller model powered by microturbine generator exhaust.
- Eliminated redundant input fields in compound HVAC objects.
- Added maximum limits for supply air temperature leaving air terminal reheat coils.
- Radiant-based HVAC system models revised for significant speed increase when models have a large number of thermal zones.
- Low temperature radiant zone HVAC model now includes a "variable off" control mode.
- Simple chilled water coil model has enhanced autosizing and variable UA for significant improvements in chilled water flow rate calculations.
- New heat transfer models for buried piping systems include interaction with building slabs and basement walls.
- Hot water boiler model options for choosing between entering and leaving water temperature as basis in performance curves.
- New dedicated outdoor air system HVACTemplate object.
- New HVACTemplate options: static pressure reset fan curve, screw chiller type, economizer dewpoint limit, and unitary system design supply temperatures.
- New Refrigeration model for cold-storage thermal zones served by refrigeration-based zone units.
- Refrigeration condensers now can reject heat to a thermal zone.
- Improved Refrigeration model to compare the available temperature of heat reclaimed from a refrigeration condenser to the temperature needed.
- Variable speed fan model upgraded to avoid unrealistic leaving temperatures at very low flow rates.
- New model for chemical battery electrical storage.
- Availability Managers extended to work with selected ZoneHVAC equipment including: window air conditioner, unit heater, unit ventilator, packaged terminal air conditioner, packaged terminal heat pump, and zone water source heat pump.
- New Setpoint Managers added to: follow outdoor air temperature, follow system node temperature, and follow ground temperature.
- Improvements made to how zone equipment is controlled when sequencing multiple devices in a single zone.
- New overcool option for Zone and AirLoop HVAC to control high humidity by shifting down the zone cooling setpoint temperature.
- Added high humidity control option for air-to-air and water-to-air heat pumps.
- New EMS actuators and calling point for custom autosizing of input fields in select DX air handling equipment models.
- New EMS actuators for material surface absorptance properties.
- New EMS actuators for Variable Refrigerant Flow operating mode and terminal unit part-load ratio.
- New EMS actuators for ideal loads air system supply temperature and humidity ratio.
- EnergyPlus Runtime Language extended to include built-in functions for generating random numbers, limited support for minus sign, and built-in variables for zone timestep and current environment period.
- New thermal comfort reporting based on the adaptive comfort criteria from ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 and CEN 15251.
- New Sensible Heat Gain Component tabular report.
- New results in Envelope Summary and Lighting Summary tabular reports.
- New source energy end use tabular report.
- IDF Editor enhancements include: (1) search and replace any text in a file, (2) easy node name selection based on names, object, field, or recently used, and (3) expanded validity checking.
- New auxiliary tool generates performance curve coefficients for select HVAC equipment.
- CSVproc has been reimplemented and is now available as a cross-platform tool.
- New EPDrawGUI cross-platform replacement of WinEPDraw.
- New IDFVersionUpdater cross-platform replacement of IDFConverter.
- Enhanced WeatherConverter with several new features.
- EP-Launch can start EPDrawGUI, IDFVersionUpdater, and EP-Compare.
- Documentation has been updated for all documents.
- Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) 32 and 64 bit versions.
- Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 and above, Redhat 5.4 and above) 32 and 64 bit versions.
- Mac (10.6) 32 and 64 bit versions.
- EnergyPlus V 7.0 has been tested on all of these platforms.
- Significant speed increases, up to 25-40% execution time reduction in most simulations, depending on specific features used.
- Revised reference building example files (formerly benchmark buildings).
- New detailed 130-zone hospital baseline and low energy example files.
- New dataset for life cycle costing with regional U.S. fuel escalation factors.
- Doubled the number of refrigerated cases in the refrigerated case dataset.
- Zone lists supported in most internal gains, infiltration, ventilation, thermostat, and demand manager zone name fields to apply a single input object to multiple zones.
- New lookup table object allows alternate performance input format to eliminate the need for regression analysis, can be used in place of existing curve objects, and can create curve objects.
- New reporting of pre-calculated hourly daylight factors.
- Allow glazing defined with spectral data to be used with between-glass shades and blinds.
- Window 6.3 (fenestration modeling software) will be able to export EnergyPlus IDF segments for window modeling.
- New surface heat transfer convection coefficient options, including adaptive model, many new correlations, and user-defined equations.
- Movable outside insulation, with transparent insulation material (TIM) capability, added to conduction finite difference model.
- Ecoroof model now has two moisture diffusion calculation methods - simple and advanced.
- New comprehensive modeling of CO2 concentrations in zone air, including internal emission sources and ventilation controls.
- New simplified model for interactions between mechanical ventilation, infiltration and duct leakage.
- New separate sizing factors for heating and cooling.
- Enhanced Fan Coil model to allow constant water-flow capacity control with multi-speed and variable-speed fan.
- Enhanced inputs for variable volume fan minimum power rate.
- Enhanced reheat coil sizing.
- New component model for central fans with load-dependent power calculations accounting for fan pressure rise variations, duct static pressure reset, and fan, belt, motor, and VFD efficiency variations.
- Enhanced hot water coil model with variable UA resulting in significant improvement in hot water flow rate calculations.
- New basin heater model added to the single speed, two speed, multi speed and multi mode DX coil models.
- New multi-cell feature added for three types of cooling towers: single speed, two-speed, and the variable speed.
- New HVACTemplate support for heating/cooling sizing factors, VAV minimum flow rate options, VAV terminal unit controls.
- Multiple refrigeration systems can now share a single condenser.
- Refrigeration condenser fan models enhanced and added input for minimum air flow rate.
- Refrigeration condenser output enhanced to identify recovered energy used internally for defrost and for other purposes.
- New transformer model for electrical power service and on-site generation.
- New dual-max control for VAV reheat terminal units with reverse acting damper and hot-water coil.
- New maximum supply air temperature limit for VAV reheat terminal units.
- New averaged setpoint managers allow control of supply temperature and humidity ratio based on requirements of multiple zones.
- New setpoint managers that allow control of supply air humidity ratio of a central system serving multiple zones based on the critical zone humidification or dehumidification requirements.
- New “All-Off” equipment operation scheme option added for plant and condenser loops.
- Weather variables added as energy management system (EMS) actuators.
- New life cycle cost calculations.
- New reporting of EER and IEER (in addition to SEER) for DX cooling coils with air cooled condensers.
- Enhanced SQLite output to include error file content.
- New EP-Launch option to run multiple simulations simultaneously, taking advantage of multiple processors (Windows platform only).
- Enhanced output file access in EP-Launch (Windows platform only).
- IDF Converter (Transition GUI) can now save intermediate versions.
- Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7)
- Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 and above, Redhat 5.4 and above)
- Mac (10.5, 10.6)
- EnergyPlus V 6.0 has been tested on all of these platforms.
- ParametricPreprocessor executable added to Linux and Mac distribution.
- New refrigerated case data set
- Slab and Basement preprocessors integrated to run automatically prior to EnergyPlus simulation
- New "Unit Type" field for schedules to support units conversions of schedule values
- Added ExternalInterface to connect to the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed using Ptolemy
- 2-node ConductionFiniteDifferenceSimplified model added
- Allow switchable windows like electrochromic windows to continuously dim, instead of only switching to fully dark state. Allows the zone to meet the maximum glare index while providing daylight for spaces
- Analytical and Euler solution options for zone air heat balance added
- Added minimum outdoor air flow rate operation controls to single and dual duct VAV air terminals
- Added maximum supply air flow rate during reheat to single duct VAV air terminal
- New object ZoneHVAC:OutdoorAir to describe outdoor air flow rate for use by other objects
- New ZoneVentilation:WindandStackOpenArea object calculates ventilation rates based on winds and stack effects
- Zone HVAC outdoor air unit module for make-up air and DOAS
- Refrigeration loops can now model CO2 secondary loops
- Lighting in refrigerated cases revised to better match manufacturer's practices
- Zone-side impacts of refrigerant piping heat exchange added
- Default 'on' schedules for refrigerated cases and walk-ins added
- Dual layer controls for radiant systems removed
- Basin heater added to all chillers except absorption chillers
- Basin heater added to one and two speed cooling towers
- Pumps can ride curves based on pressure
- New steam baseboard with radiant heat
- New electric radiant/convective baseboard
- Added HVACTemplate:Zone:WaterToAirHeatPump and HVACTemplate:Plant:MixedWaterLoop
- Standard rating (net) cooling capacity and SEER value reported for single speed DX cooling coil with air-cooled condenser
- Improved methodology for electric load dispatch via the electric load center
- Enhancements to EMS including: system timestep built-in variable, detect unbalanced parentheses in Erl, custom schedule output, and coupling with ExternalInterface
- External Interface to the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) opens EnergyPlus to external programs.
- Wind turbine module (horizontal and vertical axis turbines)
- New predefined output table for DX cooling coils as part of EquipmentSummary report summarize the calculated capacity and SEER values
- New simulations database table and tabular reports data added to SQL database output
- Added report variables for beam and diffuse solar radiation for blinds
- Users can turn off most surface variables to a minimal critical set with single command. Allows tremendous reduction in execution time for large projects with many surfaces
- New utility EP-Compare allows users to graphically compare results from two simulations
- IDF Editor supports IP units in schedules and other objects
- EP-Launch, IDF Editor, and WeatherConverter updates throughout
- Two new guides: Tips and Tricks Using EnergyPlus, and External Interface Application Guide
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 4,700 pages
- New translation capability added to EnergyPlus website allows translation into 50 languages
- New testing report: EnergyPlus Testing with IEA BESTEST Mechanical Equipment & Control Strategies for a Chilled Water and a Hot Water System
- Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7)
- Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 and above, Redhat 5.4 and above)
- Mac (10.5, 10.6)
- SandiaPVdata.imf macro data set updated with latest set of input data from SNL for Sandia PV model
- Weather (EPW) and stat files now include field for rainfall
- 2009 Design Data
- Design day definitions from 2009 HOF are created and used in several input files.
- Simple definition of underground walls and floors with C and F factors for code compliance.
- Users can now define a window glazing system using U-factor, solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and visible transmittance (VT).
- Delimiter field added to Schedule:File object.
- Switchable windows report variables: switching factor (tint level) and visible transmittance at each time step.
- Inputs for parametric preprocessor added including values, logic, run control, and file naming.
- Source sink simulation and variable thermal conductivity property added to Conduction Finite Difference model
- Large Horizontal Openings added to AirflowNetwork
- Plant and Condenser Loops merged with significant improvements throughout.
- Walk-in Refrigeration, Refrigeration Cascade Condenser, and Refrigeration Secondary Loop
- Evaporative Fluid Cooler
- Zone water-to-air heat pump (ZoneHVAC:WaterToAirHeatPump)
- Zone air dehumidifier (ZoneHVAC:Dehumidifier:DX)
- Plant Pressure Drop can be calculated
- Improved convergence tolerance for most unitary systems
- Improved control of heat recovery in outside air systems during economizer operation
- EnergyManagementSystem implemented, including EnergyPlus runtime language with numerous actuators
- Schedules for fuel factors fully implemented in output reporting
- Fanger PPD thermal comfort report variable added.
- Daylight metrics added: Time Exceeding Daylight Illuminance Setpoint at Ref Point 1 and 2.
- Air Node Density can be reported for air nodes.
- Infiltration, Mixing, and Ventilation air flow rates may be reported using standard density or current density.
- ReportDuringWarmup added to Output:Diagnostics object.
- ParametricPreprocessor utility creates multiple IDF files from one and varying them parametrically.
- IDFConverter utility available -- a GUI for transitioning input files, including converting a list of files, from any older version to any newer version.
- Weather Converter can now calculate solar radiation from available data. Improved export and import of .wea (Ecotect) files.
- EP-Launch now automatically checks for updated versions of EnergyPlus, it runs the ParametricPreprocessor when necessary, and the utility tab includes IDFConverter.
- IDF Editor saves IP/SI view status with each file edited.
- Two new application guides: Energy Management System Application Guide and Using EnergyPlus for Compliance.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 4,400 pages.
- New EnergyPlus testing reports:
- IEA BESTEST In-Depth Ground Coupled Heat Transfer Tests Related to Slab-on-Grade Construction
- IEA BESTEST Multi-Zone Non-Airflow In-Depth Diagnostic Cases MZ320 - MZ360
- Windows (tested for Windows 7), Linux, Mac (tested for Snow Leopard)
- Users can now define surfaces as simple rectangles (Simple Rectangular Surfaces) for walls, roofs, ceilings, floors, windows, doors, glazed doors, and shading.
- New detailed surfaces objects (Wall:Detailed, RoofCeiling:Detailed, FloorDetailed).
- InputProcessor can now output defaults, autosizing, and autocalculation statistics.
- New Constant Schedule allows simpler schedule definition.
- New variables for reporting visual discomfort: Time Exceeding Glare Index Setpoint at Ref Point 1 and Time Exceeding Glare Index Setpoint at Ref Point 2.
- Thermochromic windows can now be modeled.
- New Adiabatic Surface option for Outside Boundary Condition.
- New Sinusoidal option for Other Side Coefficient Boundary Conditions allows users to apply a sinusoidal schedule to the surface boundary conditions.
- Two new simplified infiltration models added: Sherman-Grimsrud and AIM-2.
- Ventilated slab has additional SerialSlab system configuration option, allowing multiple ventilated slabs in different zones to be connected in series.
- UFAD model upgraded.
- AirflowNetwork wind speed model for height-dependency improved.
- Air Distribution System Model includes more components: heating coil and three heat exchangers.
- Demand Control Ventilation model based on ventilation rate procedure of Standard 62.1-2007.
- New Unitary Air-to-Air Heat Pump and Packaged VAV HVAC Templates.
- Improved control of unitary equipment under low-load conditions (Furnaces, Heat Pumps, PTAC, PTHP, and Window AC).
- Furnaces/Unitary Systems now allow high humidity control with cycling supply air fan systems.
- Cool Beam model added.
- Option to size system flow rate and terminal units based on minimum ventilation requirements added; other zone equipment will be sized on zone loads
- Fan:OnOff now models multi-speed fan performance.
- Minimum stops on VAV terminals with reheat can now be scheduled.
- SensibleAndLatent and Desiccant Heat Exchangers now have economizer lockout option.
- Revised air-bypass logica for HeatExchanger:AirToAir:FlatPlace to match the logic used for HeatExchanger:AirToAir:SensibleAndLatent.
- Refrigeration racks and systems now accept either the name of a case or caselist, and compressor or compressorlist.
- Improved moisture condensation controls for Low Temperature Radiant systems.
- EvaporativeCooler:Direct:ResearchSpecial model added.
- Water consumption model for Indirect Evaporative Cooler extended. Secondary air flow rate can now be autosized.
- New tabular reports to support LEED EA Credit 1 forms.
- Tabular reports now can be in Inch-Pound units.
- Improved diagnostics, warnings, and informative messages throughout.
- Output:Reports object converted to simpler Ouput:Surfaces:List, Output:Surfaces:Drawing objects.
- New AppGPostProcess utility in combination with Building:Compliance object averages the results from four building rotation runs for Standard 90.1 Appendix G compliance.
- Datasets can now be directly opened from a menu in IDFEditor.
- Weather Converter updated to allow more custom date formats.
- Weather Converter now can include rainfall information (where available) in EnergyPlus weather data files.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 4,000 pages.
- Refrigerant properties for R404a, R410a, and R507a added to the refrigerant database.
- New library of compressor performance curves for refrigeration systems created.
- New performance curves for condensing and high-temperature boilers.
- California Title 24 Time Dependent Valuation (TDV) factor schedules (2008) dataset added.
- California Title 24 operating schedules dataset added.
- Version 3.0 includes widespread changes to input syntax. The complete set of input objects was revised to make the EnergyPlus’ input 'language' more consistent, logical, and informative. Although the majority of words used to describe input object names, field names and key choices have changed, the underlying meanings remain the same. (Yes, this will require substantial changes to existing input data files--aided by the Transition program which can be accessed through the EP-Launch utility.)
- New examples input files for all new features.
- New Ventilated Slab model includes radiant heating and cooling interactions with hollow core slabs
- Infiltration models now allow air flow rate per unit of exterior wall area as an optional input.
- Interior pipe heat transfer loads added into zone air heat balance calculations.
- New optional algorithms for fully-coupled, 1-D finite element heat and moisture transport model for simulating the movement and storage of heat & moisture in and through building surfaces.
- The algorithm for variable system timestep was revised. Changes include uniform system timestep length across zone timestep and stricter management of history terms for zone air conditions.
- Additional hybrid (mixed-mode) ventilation controls added to allow global control of surface openings based on master zone, limit opening levels based on wind speed, and allow control of Mixing and Ventilation objects.
- Temperature limit controls added to Mixing and Cross-Mixing objects.
- New Thermal Chimney model added--uses solar radiation to enhance natural ventilation.
- New CoolTower model added--uses natural evaporative cooling to cool incoming air.
- Added new outside air minimum and maximum fractions to easily model 100% (or any fixed value) OA systems, leakage or stuck OA dampers.
- Refrigeration system capabilities expanded with more detailed component models. Users can now simulate: (1) variable evaporating temperatures, (2) variable condensing temperatures, (3) mechanical subcoolers that transfer refrigeration loads from less efficient low- temperature systems to more efficient medium-temperature systems, and (4) liquid suction subcoolers.
- Improved error trapping for refrigerant and glycol properties at extreme temperatures and pressures.
- Single-speed cooling towers can now use fluid bypass as capacity control, saving water but requiring more fan energy.
- New linear curve to complement other curve objects.
- Absorption chiller now can connect to steam or hot water loop.
- Enhanced absorption chiller model added.
- Radiant-convective baseboard model added.
- Boiler model upgraded to include performance curve which accounts for load as function of operating temperatures.
- Set Point Managers now test for control node conflicts.
- New system availability managers added: Scheduled On and Scheduled Off.
- New Underground Pipe object added; upgraded Pipe Heat Transfer objects.
- New Fluid Cooler objects added--single and two-speed dry cooling towers for hydronic loops.
- Component sizing factors added for boilers, chillers, and cooling towers.
- Added chilled water thermal storage tank models for both mixed and stratified tanks.
- New Compact HVAC objects:
- Packaged single-zone heat pump system (PSZ-HP)
- Packaged variable volume system (PVAVS)
- Constant volume chilled water/hot water system (single-zone and multi-zone)
- PV model restructured to separately model inverters and storage systems.
- DC-to-AC inverter model added along with simple battery model.
- Simple Photovoltaic-Thermal model added for pre-heating outside air and hot water heating.
- Energy cost calculations now includes real time pricing, minimum monthly charge, and buy/sell/net metering as new inputs
- A new monetary unit object (Currency Type) added
- Additional economic reporting of energy and demand for each charge
- SQLite added as another output format option, providing optional export of time-series results directly to database.
- Standard monthly reports can now be specified by name in the predefined report object without having to include a detailed monthly report object.
- EP-Launch now handles blank weather files as if no weather file is specified in group simulations.
- IDF Editor new features include wrapping long text strings over multiple lines within cells, required fields now shown with blue field names, and added recently used file list.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 3800 pages.
- Electronic enthalpy air-side economizer curves
- Microturbine electric generators
- Reference point Illuminance levels calculated by DElight now included in standard output variables.
- DElight reference points now show up on DXF outputs.
- Design days now allow scheduled input for Beam and Diffuse Solar values.
- Design days allow users to select periods from weather files to be used in design/sizing calculations.
- Example input files created for all new features (More than 245 example input files now available). An additional set of realistic, benchmark files (15) have been added.
- Internal gains can now be entered in intensity:
- People can be entered as number of people, people/floor area or vice versa (area/person).
- Lighting can be entered as total Watts, Watts/floor area or Watts/person.
- Equipment (electric, gas, other) can be entered as Watts, Watts/floor area or Watts/person.
- Outside Air Controller now allows boosted air flow rates for high humidity control. A schedule may also be used to operate the outside air economizer based on a time-of-day schedule. Each of these features is also included in the controller for the stand-alone energy recovery ventilator.
- Infiltration can be entered as total volume, volume/floor area, volume/exterior surface area, or air changes per hour.
- Ventilation, mixing and cross mixing can be entered as total volume, volume/floor area, volume/person, or air changes/hour.
- Airflow network model now includes more coil types, including water cooling, water heating, detailed flat water cooling, multimode DX cooling, and multispeed cooling and heating.
- Multiple infiltration and ventilation objects now allowed in each zone, and the temperature control limits for the ventilation object can now be scheduled (instead of constant).
- Dual-setpoint humidistat with deadband now available.
- Water heater volume and capacity can be autosized.
- New desiccant dehumidifier with additional capabilities and flexibility compared to the existing solid desiccant dehumidifier model.
- Supply air fan operating mode (continuous versus cycling) can now be scheduled based on time-of-day for window air conditioner, packaged terminal heat pump and water-to-air heat pump.
- New economizer controls added to Controller:Outside Air and Controller:Stand Alone ERV objects. New controls include Dew Point Temperature limit and Electronic (Variable) Enthalpy limit.
- DX System (DXSystem:Airloop object) now allows cool-reheat dehumidification control type.
- New operating scheme for electric generators to follow thermal loads.
- New microturbine electric generator model.
- Upgraded equivalent one-diode PV model to include options for BIPV and inverter.
- Environmental emissions can now be scheduled for all fuel types.
- New detailed reports on Internal Gains (People, Lights, Equipment) as well as Simple Air Flow (Infiltration, Ventilation, Mixing, Cross Mixing) in the .EIO file.
- New report variables for summed zone load components.
- Added additional column in internal heat gains reporting that shows the sum of gains/floor area.
- Many enhancements in the IDF Editor and HVAC Diagramming tools.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 3700 pages.
- Color schemes for DXF (original and default)
- Example input files created for all new features (More than 225 example input files now available).
- Surface Surround Subsurface error detection more robust (less false errors)
- Autocalculate now allowed for shading surfaces (number of vertices)
- Zone sizing calculations now include heat gains from domestic/service hot water uses and water heaters.
- User now can choose between ASHRAE Clear Sky and Zhang-Huang solar radiation models for use in design day calculations.
- New system availability manager allows system-level control of hybrid ventilation systems.
- Water-cooled condenser option added to refrigeration compressor racks for useful heat recovery.
- Chilled and hot-water coils can now be used in the outside air system to preheat or precool outside air.
- New desiccant dehumidifier with additional capabilities and flexibility compared to the existing solid desiccant dehumidifier model.
- Water side economizer (including simulation of integrated and non-integrated water side economizers).
- Water heater improved for indirect heating (e.g. with remote boiler) and autosizable design flow rates for plant connections.
- Packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) added to model a fan, DX cooling coil, and a gas, electric, hydronic or steam heating coil serving a single zone.
- Multispeed heat pump with up to four discrete speeds for both cooling and heating.
- Heat losses (and gains) from plant piping.
- New and updated Compact HVAC objects:
- Compact HVAC chilled water coils now use the COIL:WATER:COOLING model by default, COIL:Water:DetailedFlatCooling can be selected as an option.
- Compact HVAC unitary system now supports the draw-thru fan placement option, and allows a schedule for the supply fan operating mode (continuous or cycling).
- New Compact HVAC options for dehumidification and humidification controls for unitary and VAV system types.
- New primary-secondary loop options for Compact HVAC chilled water loops.
- Compact HVAC expanded to support specification of outside air as a combination of flow/person, flow/area and flow/zone.
- Compact HVAC baseboard heat option added for unitary and VAV zones.
- New Compact HVAC objects for unitary heat pump, unitary VAV, packaged terminal air conditioner, and packaged terminal heat pump.
- New tabular reports: surface shadowing, shading, lighting, HVAC sizing, system and component sizing, and outside air.
- New Report:SurfaceColorScheme allow users to select their own colors for building elements in the DXF output.
- WeatherConverter now produces KML output (for Google Earth) of latitude, longitude, elevation, and a few climate statistics for locations in a list processing run.
- Add comma delimited form of CLM (ESP-r ASCII files) conversion to WeatherConverter.
- WinEPDraw produces in new default colors.
- Completely rewritten Getting Started manual provides more hands-on example exercises and other information for getting up to speed on EnergyPlus.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 3500 pages.
- New materials data set based on ASHRAE 2005 HOF replaces legacy DOE-2 and BLAST data.
- Updated solar collector data set from the SRCC adds 55 more collectors for a total of 173.
- Added air change rate to ventilation loads report in StandardReports data set.
- Objects and name lengths can now be 100 characters. (Previous limit was 60).
- New weather data for 86 locations added: 69 in Australia, 16 in Canada, and 1 in Iran.
- Three new unit ventilator input files created: UnitVent5Zone.idf, UnitVent5ZoneAuto.idf, UnitVent5ZoneFixedOANoCoilOpt.idf.
- Three new thermal storage example input files created: IceStorage-Parallel.idf, IceStorage-Series-ChillerDownstream.idf, IceStorage-Series-ChillerUpstream.idf.
- Example input files created for all new features (More than 225 example files now available)
- Shadowing Calculations object now allows user to specify maximum figures in shadowing overlaps.
- Phase change materials (PCM) with variable thermal conductivity and a temperature-enthalpy function incorporated in conduction finite difference solution algorithm.
- Basement program now outputs EnergyPlus IDF for wall and floor surface temperatures.
- Users can now enter interzone surfaces once and EnergyPlus will automatically create the mirror interzone surface.
- Zone Sizing modified to allow standards-type calculation of design outside air flow rates; allows min cooling and max heating limits on design supply air flow rates.
- Zone forced air units added to reporting of mechanical ventilation rate and loads
- Simple Ventilation object now reports air changes per hour
- New options in UnitVentilator include no coil option and fixed amount for outside air control strategy.
- AirflowNetwork model can now use Zone Exhaust Fan, OnOff supply fan and the DX heating coil objects.
- Water-to-air heat pumps now use RegulaFalsi solution technique to improve robustness and to speed up simulation.
- Applicability schedule added to System Availability Manager:Low Temperature Turn Off (to support thermal storage).
- Evaporative condenser option added to existing refrigerated case compressor racks including availability schedule and basin heater with controls.
- Draw-through fan configuration added for furnaces, unitary system and air-to-air heat pumps.
- Different supply air flow rates now allowed for cooling, heating and when no cooling or heating is required in unitary, furnace and air-to-air heat pumps.
- Common Pipe for Primary-Secondary systems provides an alternative to the Connection component object to model Primary-Secondary systems
- Balanced flow desiccant heat exchanger option added for the existing heat exchanger-assisted DX cooling coil object.
- Stratified water heater model added.
- Uniform load distribution option added to plant load range based operation scheme.
- Height-dependent air temperature and wind speed now available for most HVAC systems.
- Green roof simulation added.
- Fuel cell model updated.
- Combustion micro cogeneration model added.
- Report Variables and Meter Variables (rdd and mdd) separately reported and output as IDF.
- Meters can now report cumulative value in addition to resetting at reporting time interval.
- New EP-Launch utility tab added where users can launch Basement, CalcSoilSurfTemp, CoeffCheck, CoeffConv, Slab and Weather utilities.
- CSVproc now supported in EP-Launch.
- IDF Editor now preserves the order of user IDFs and includes a large number of other new features.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 3300 pages.
- New chiller dataset for Chiller:Electric:EIR and Chiller:Electric:ReformulatedEIR (162 chillers)
- Composite AllDataSets.idf updated with new chiller dataset and window screens dataset.
- Example input files created for all new features (More than 215 example files now available)
- Allow window or door multipliers in AirFlowNetwork components
- Allow multipliers with doors and glass doors
- Allow triangular doors and glass doors
- More accurate modeling of exterior window screens (Material:WindowScreen)
- New Zone thermostatic control options:
- Operative Temperature using mix of mean radiant and air temperatures (ZONE CONTROL: THERMOSTATIC: OPERATIVE TEMPERATURE)
- Thermal comfort control using Fanger PMV values as setpoints (ZONE CONTROL:THERMAL COMFORT)
- Added new root finder module and air loop simulation speedup
- New ventilation flow report variables for individual zones
- Interior surface ventilation control can be based on adjacent zone conditions (temperature or enthalpy)
- New component control type SeriesActive for improved temperature set point control
- New simple duct leakage model simulates energy impact of supply duct leaks in a VAV system with return plenum and constant static pressure setpoint
- New reformulated version of the DOE 2.1E EIR chiller (Chiller:Electric:ReformulatedEIR)
- New HVAC system type for Changeover-bypass VAV systems (Unitary System:VAV:ChangeoverBypass)
- New water manager to control and report water use throughout the building
- Update of existing HVAC components to calculate and report water consumption or condensate production (for those that didn't already)
- Generalized water end-use objects that allow hot and cold water mixing at the tap, zone latent gains, drainwater heat recovery, and stand-alone or plant loop operation
- Rainwater collectors for harvesting precipitation
- Groundwater wells with pumping
- Water storage tanks for storing and reusing reclaimed water to/from end-uses, HVAC components, rainwater collectors, and groundwater wells
- New predefined reports to aid in complying with beyond-code programs such as the new high performance commercial building tax deduction:
- Input Verification and Results Summary
- Climate Summary
- Envelope Summary
- Equipment Summary
- EP-Launch has new options to support:
- Converting Report Variable (.csv) and Report Meter (Meter.csv) results to IP units
- Options centralized in a new Options dialog box
- Supports new output files including SCREEN, SHD and VRML
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 3100 pages.
- Updated utility tariff data sets
- New composite AllDataSets.idf with all datasets in a single file
- Example input files for all new features (More than 200 example files available)
- All example input files have been updated and new documentation of features added
- New weather data for more than 200 locations in China, 11 in Egypt, 2 in Kuwait, and 1 in Israel in the EnergyPlus/ESP-r weather format (more than 1100 locations available worldwide)
- Outside air temperature is now varied as a function of zone or surface height above ground. Wind profile options can be set separately for the weather station and the building site. Includes new zone and surface report variables for height dependent properties. There will be differences in results, particularly in files with Ventilation or Infiltration.
- Clear turbid and intermediate sky types added to DElight daylighting calculations (not yet fully used in daylight factor calculations).
- Improved ability to read complex fenestration system (CFS) bi-directional transmittance data function (BTDF) data files as input to DElight daylighting calculations.
- UFAD (Underfloor Air Distribution) room air model for exterior zones is now available as an alternative room air option.
- Completely reworked airflow modeling—the new Airflow Network model replaces both COMIS and ADS and has the combined capabilities.
- Calculation of infiltration, ventilation, mixing and cross mixing moved to system time step for future feature development of hybrid ventilation control.
- Simple earth tube model for outside air preconditioning (heating/cooling)
- New equation fit model for water to air heat pump.
- Tempering valve (3-way valve emulation) for effective and safe use of stored thermal energy
- Variable and constant speed headered pumps.
- Detailed Ice Storage.
- New loop connection component allows control of secondary loop to a different setpoint than the primary loop, and removes restrictions on primary vs. secondary flow rates.
- Improved single zone reheat setpoint manager to control reheat to appropriate setpoint
- New Compact HVAC equipment types: fan powered VAV and fan coil.
- New Compact HVAC options: night cycle controls, outside air heat recovery, supply air temperature reset, chilled/hot water temperature reset, VAV supply fan part-load options, VAV fan blow through or draw through option and zone supply and return plenums.
- Numerous improvements to Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) model
- New Track Schedule and Track Meter generator control schemes
- New user-definable end-use subcategories added.
- New report variable for Zone Operative Temperature.
- Improved ABUPS report format and layout.
- New zone-level flag to control reporting of floor area in ABUPS report.
- User-definable custom meters added, including capability to create a custom meter based on an existing meter and removing specific variables or meters from the results.
- IDF Editor improvements include window layout options remain between uses, search for object class name, and hiding empty object class names.
- EP-Launch option allows user to minimize DOS box when group runs are performed.
- New Slab preprocessor output of Schedule:Compact objects for monthly average, core, and perimeter temperatures, and an example OtherSideCoefficients object.
- New capabilities for transitioning old files. This is particularly important for COMIS objects - they are both internally and externally transitioned but will not be internally transitioned in the next release. If you have both COMIS and ADS objects in your input file - please contact email support for assistance.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates. Total documentation exceeds 2700 pages.
- Updated all design conditions to match new 2005 ASHRAE Fundamentals data in the weather files and associated design day data
- StandardReports dataset includes the new system level "reports" as well as the Ventilation Loads reports
- Extensive set of new example summary report templates for:
- Space Gains/ Envelope/ Daylight/ Comfort
- Peak Demand and Consumption
- Unglazed Transpired Solar Collector
- HVAC/Electrical Systems/ Loops/Components
- Outdoor Conditions
- Example input files for all new features (More than 200 example files available)
- All example input files have been updated and new documentation of features added
- New weather data for 100 international weather locations including India, Portugal, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal in the EnergyPlus/ESP-r weather format (975 locations available worldwide)
- Revised design days to accommodate "enthalpy" and "humidity ratio" as potential humidity indicating types based on 2005 ASHRAE Fundamentals
- User-definable radiation view factors
- User-definable room air temperature distribution model (research only)
- Ventilation improved with the addition of maximum indoor temperature, minimum/maximum outdoor temperatures, and maximum wind speed to help control ventilation
- Interior zone UFAD (Underfloor Air Distribution) added as an alternative Room Air option
- Simple Water to Water GSHP
- Packaged Terminal Heat Pump
- Return air bypass
- Heat Pump Water Heater
- Desuperheater Water Heating Coil
- Steam loop, steam coil, steam boiler
- Restructured plant loop modeling to support branch pumps and future headered pumps and extensions of controls simulation
- Branch supply pumps for supply side equipment such as chillers, boilers, heat pumps, and water heaters
- Simple ice storage tank
- Detailed coil models can now be auto-sized
- Demand limiting controls
- Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (research only)
- DXF:Wireframe
- Report, Surfaces, DXF, Triangulate3DFace produces triangulation for >4 sided surfaces - allowing the solid model to be viewed in many DXF viewer programs
- New report variables including power and breakout of separate object-level variables for all internal gains objects.
- New report variables to monitor zone temperature when heating and cooling setpoints are not met and when they are not met during occupancy, when zone temperatures oscillate due to poor simulation, and when zone conditions are outside the ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 comfort region.
- Output reporting enhancements include optional unit conversion for J into kWh, MJ or GJ in tabular output; new schedule support for TimeBins report; and table of contents for HTML tabular output files.
- New features in EP-Launch including new quick open panel for opening output files, composite error file for group simulations, and integration with the Transition utility to automatically update files to the latest version.
- Many improvements to IDF Editor including resizable window regions, opening DDY files, and pulldown list of report variable names from RDD output file.
- New unit conversion utility produces output in user-definable units
- Many new HVAC Diagram capabilities including draws "dangling" pieces that fit together that were not drawn as part of loop, draws lines to represent the loop coming back to the start, long names now wrap to two lines within boxes, and faintly drawn lines connect items that appear in multiple loops such as coils
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 2500 pages.
- Schedule data can be read from an outside file
- New dataset with commercial customer utility tariffs
- System convergence limits now allow the user to set minimum system time step and maximum HVAC iterations (can significantly reduce execution time)
- New control option for Exterior Lights that turns them off when the sun is up
- Updated dataset of measured input parameters from the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation for 115 different solar thermal (hot water) collectors
- Example input files for all new features (More than 200 example files available)
- More than 240 new international weather locations including new data for Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Italy, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in the EnergyPlus/ESP-r weather format (more than 900 locations in 100 countries available worldwide)
- New special heat transfer surface - Exterior Vented Cavity - allows modeling of ventilated photovoltaic roof paver systems and other cladding systems
- User can specify sensible fraction of load due to people
- New room air model for natural cross ventilation (coupled to COMIS)
- Outside face temperature of zone surfaces can now be specified with a schedule
- Simplified definition of HVAC implemented - Compact HVAC allows user to specific a generic system type which is then automatically expanded into the traditional branches and nodes
- Refrigerated cases and associated compressor racks
- Variable speed cooling tower model with user-selectable performance based on either the CoolTools correlation, YorkCalc correlation, or user-defined coefficients for either the CoolTools or YorkCalc correlations
- Three new setpoint managers for single zone heating, single zone cooling, and outside air pretreatment
- Improved night ventilation capability
- Evaporative coolers can now be included in outside air path
- Desuperheater heating coil with heat source from fixed percentage of DX cooling coil waste heat or refrigerated case compressor rack
- DXSystem:AirLoop can now be used as outside air equipment
- DX heating coil can be defined with a biquadratic curve
- Dehumidification controls added to DXSystem:AirLoop
- Multimode DX coil added to model 2-stage, subcool reheat and partial bypass
- Compressor selection, latent degradation and antifreeze mixture models added to water to air heat pump
- Water mains temperature based on correlation or schedule as input for domestic hot water and water heater
- Water Heater:Mixed object can interact with zone heat balance, has off- and on-cycle parasitic load inputs, PLR curve, and can model tankless/instantaneous water heater
- Domestic hot water can be run stand-alone
- Domestic hot water and plant load profile now accept fractional schedules and supply temperatures can default to water mains temperatures
- Added electric consumption of forced draft fan (or other parasitic load) to Boiler:Simple
- Link to SPARK for simulating complex equipment and systems not currently supported by EnergyPlus
- New Component Setpoint-based Operation control scheme added for Plant Loop for Chiller and Boiler control. This control scheme allows control of constant flow equipment to an outlet setpoint that is set by a Scheduled Setpoint Manager. The design flow rate for the components specified in the control scheme can be autosized along with the component.
- Automatic intelligent setting of controller convergence tolerance
- Transpired solar air collectors
- Source energy factors can vary using a schedule
- California Title 24 Time Dependent Valuation (TDV) factor schedules (2005) in Datasets
- Heating and cooling loads and energy due to ventilation now can be reported
- Standard water heater ratings reported including energy factor and recovery efficiency
- Improved reporting of error context throughout
- Many other new variables now can be reported
- IDF Editor updates:
- Removed all file size limits
- Allow multiple objects to be copied and pasted
- Supports autosize as default
- Weather converter updates:
- Custom format processing o Better missing data controls (user can specify to an extent)
- WinEPDraw — Windows version:
- Allows more control over >4 sided figure drawing
- Will execute Drawer from inside program
- Revised Guide for Module Developers
- Revised Programming Guide
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 2200 pages.
- Default fluid properties for water, ethylene glycol, and propylene glycol
- Example input files for all new features (More than 180 example files available).
- More than 100 new international weather locations including data for Belize, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Maldives, Nicaragua, Spain, and Sri Lanka in the EnergyPlus/ESP-r weather format. (More than 680 locations available worldwide.)
- Multi-sided polygons
- Skylight Light Wells
- Daylighting through interior windows
- Translucent Glass
- Improved displacement ventilation interaction with thermal mass
- Plate heat exchanger component added to facilitate realistic configuration of hydronic systems
- Two- and four-pipe induction units
- Variable-speed fan-powered VAV reheat terminal units
- DOE-2.1E electric chiller model
- Dual Setpoint Controls for Plant Loop for Water Loop Heat Pump
- New Water Cooling Coil (replaces Simple Coil) which is completely autosizable, options for wet/dry coil evaluation using cross- or counterflow heat exchanger configurations
- Glycol concentrations can be specified
- Utility rate calculations
- Project construction cost estimating
- Ventilation load report
- Each zone defined as layer in DXF
- Advanced Runtime Variables can be requested
- Major updates to the IDFEditor including ability to open multiple IDF files and copy/paste objects between files.
- Major updates to EP-Launch including ability to select a group of simulations to run and maintaining a history of simulations.
- WeatherConverter now reads new format (TMY3) developed under the SWERA project.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 2,000 pages.
- Dataset of measured input parameters from Sandia National Laboratory for 128 different photovoltaic modules.
- Dataset of measured input parameters from Solar Rating Coordinating Council for 96 different solar thermal (hot water) collectors.
- Datasets of environmental emissions factors for electricity (US national and state-average) and combustion—natural gas, diesel, gasoline, LPG, propane, fuel oil (#1, #2, #4, #6), and coal.
- Example input files for all new features
- User-selectable outside convection algorithm (BLAST/TARP, DOE-2, MoWiTT, or ASHRAE simple)
- Radiation-to-air component separated from detailed convection (exterior) models
- Added scheduled temperature to other side coefficient object
- Solar gain and daylighting calculations now account for beam and sky diffuse solar reflected from building sections, fins, overhangs, and neighboring buildings, including specular reflection from highly-glazed neighboring building facades.
- Improved ground-reflected solar calculations account for shadowing on ground of target building and other shadowing surfaces.
- Generalized multipliers for organizing identical groups of zones, e.g. floors in a multi-story building
- Dirt correction factor added for glass solar and visible transmittance
- Interior solar report variables added, including beam and diffuse solar incident on inside face of surfaces.
- Movable storm windows.
- Solar gain through blinds now accounts for different transmittances for sky and ground diffuse solar.
- Photovoltaic systems can be integrated with heat transfer surfaces (building integrated photovoltaic systems) to account for energy removed as electricity
- More daylighting reporting variables added, including daylight illuminance from individual windows.
- An alternative daylighting analysis method has been added, called DElight, which is similar to the detailed method with two key differences:
- DElight can analyze geometrically and optically complex fenestration systems that have been characterized using bi-directional light transmittance data.
- DElight uses a radiosity method for calculation of interior interreflection of light
- Mundt room air model
- Displacement ventilation model (UCSD)
- Example files to illustrate modeling of UFAD system.
- Venting through interior windows and doors now has same control options as venting through exterior windows and doors.
- New latent capacity degradation model for DX cooling coil, constant supply air flow with cycling coil/compressor to meet zone load
- Cooling coils (DX or chilled water) can now be modeled in combination with an air-to-air heat exchanger to improve dehumidification performance.
- New crankcase heater power modeling for DX cooling coil
- Autosizing of gas turbine driven chiller
- Outside air economizer implemented for cycling systems
- Economizer lockout for packaged systems
- Added a condensation cut-off to the radiant cooling systems to avoid cases when the radiant cooling surface temperature is so low that it results in condensation
- New evaporative condenser option for DX cooling coils based on simple effectiveness model
- Water usage and water pump power can be calculated and metered.
- New air distribution system model for calculated energy losses due to conduction and air leakage for constant volume systems.
- Water-to-air heat pumps
- Extended the wet bulb and saturation pressure functions to cover temperatures from -100C to 200C (up from -60 to 100C).
- Autosizing of multiple hot water, cold water, and condenser water loops.
- Added new algorithms for the electric chillers to calculate heat recovery and to simulate a double bundled condenser
- Improved water heater to operate by itself (does not require plant loop).
- Added a plant loop component to allow scheduling domestic hot water demand and cold water supply from mains
- Added a load profile object for simulating plant loops without defining a building.
- Added hot water tank model.
- Allow multiyear simulation for heat pump simulation startup
- Allow 'Design Week' and 'Design Month' simulation
- Delta temperature plant loop operating controls allows loop control based on environmental and loop temperature differences.
- Added ability to allow multiple supply plenums
- Upgraded the simplified demand-controlled ventilation model
- Ventilation now composed of rate per occupant and rate per unit floor area
- Added availability schedule to allow ventilation air flow to be stopped while the remainder of the HVAC system can continue to operate
- Plant system availability managers added: differential thermostat, high temperature cutoff, and low temperature cutoff
- Changed the temperature schedule to a setpoint manager for the plant and condenser loop to allow use of scheduled temperature setpoint manager on the loop setpoint, or the outside air temperature reset temperature setpoint manager.
- Changes to evaporative condenser option for DX coils
- Changed "approach temperature" to effectiveness.
- Added field for evaporative condenser air flow to allow water usage to be calculated and metered.
- Added field for evaporative condenser water pump power.
- Added new flat plate solar thermal collectors for domestic hot water that can also be connected to HVAC plant loops for space heating systems.
- Added two new options for photovoltaic power calculations - simple and Sandia.
- Allow solar panels to use and be shading surfaces.
- Electric power generators now determine electric utility purchases and surplus.
- Net Site and Source Energy Use Intensities calculated to account for onsite production.
- Extended pollution calculations to include all major greenhouse gases, precursors and criteria pollutants as well as water and nuclear waste. Environmental emissions calculated include: CO2, CO, CH4, NOx, N2O, SO2, PM, NH3, NMVOC, Hg, and Pb as well as water consumed by electricity generation and high- and low-level nuclear waste from nuclear electricity generation
- Added new Annual Building Utility Performance report (similar to DOE-2 BEPS) with detailed end-use reporting by energy source as well as water and on-site generation.
- Meters can now be reported to eplusout.mtr to reduce file size
- Added reporting of schedule values
- Added reporting of specific enthalpy, volumetric flow rate and wet-bulb temperature for all HVAC nodes
- New HVAC diagramming tool
- Revised Module Developers Guide
- Revised Programming Guide
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Referenceupdated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 1,800 pages
- Complete set of compact schedules for EnergyPlus use (including ASHRAE 90.1-1989 schedules)
- All schedules are extensible--fields can be added to IDD as needed
- EPMacro variable names no longer case sensitive
- Users can change the number of warmup days for certain input files if warranted
- Users can additionally specify dewpoint temperature in the design days or a relative humidity schedule
- Users can also set when minimum and maximums occur.
- Transform geometry automatically while rotating
- Shading surface transmittance accounted for in detailed daylighting calculation
- Added return air as destination choice for airflow windows
- Radiant system surface group is now extensible to any number of surfaces
- Daylight illuminance maps
- Tubular daylighting devices including illuminance, solar gains, and thermal resistance
- Daylighting shelves
- Added venting availability schedule to COMIS venting control at zone level
- Individual window/door COMIS venting control
- Automatic calculation of COMIS wind pressure coefficients for rectangular buildings
- All chillers report COP at the time step
- Flow limits, outside air, and schedules added to Purchased Air
- Free cooling chiller works with all chiller types and may be on any branch.
- Autosizing for Chiller: Direct Fired Absorption
- Air-to-air heat exchanger with frost control options and supply air temp control by setpoint when the air-side economizer is active
- Light-heat-to-return now included in air loop autosizing
- Lights return air fraction as function of return plenum temperature and air flow
- Simplified demand controlled ventilation
- Stand-alone energy recovery ventilator zone equipment (directly connected to a zone)
- Autosized HVAC templates for Purchased Air, 4 pipe fan coil, VAV, and boiler and chiller loops
- New variable speed DX coil performance curves (5ZoneAutoDXVAV example file)
- Conversion utility for DOE-2 performance curves
- New temperature controlled (constant flow) hydronic low temperature radiant systems
- Additional evaporative cooler model
- Fluid properties set
- Pond heat exchanger
- Glycol reference data set
- Four new condenser loop operation control schemes based on environmental parameter ranges for hybrid ground source heat pumps
- Photovoltaic power calculations now integrated at time step, along with better reporting
- Standard, sizing, and daylight map reports can now be saved as CSV, TXT, or tab-separated
- New standard report for time-binned outputs
- End Use category for electric equipment
- Overcast sky daylight factors written to the EIO file
- New monthly reports which can be written in CSV, TXT, tab or HTML formats.
- The user can define custom reports, or use predefined reports similar to DOE-2 standard reports:
- Building Loads (DOE-2 LS-D)
- Space Loads (DOE-2 LS-E)
- Energy Consumption (by energy source, DOE-2 PS-B)
- End-Use Energy Consumption (by energy source, DOE-2 PS-E)
- Peak Energy End-Use by Source (by energy source, noncoincident)
- Many enhancements to IDFEditor including support for new units, pull down lists for choices, and zero values.
- Significant improvements (more than 20x) in execution speed for ReadVars
- ReadVars now can write more than 254 variables (Excel still will only read in the first 255 columns).
- ReadVars users can now specify the delimiter on their output files by selection of the proper file extension.
- WinEPDraw detects non-planar surfaces and degenerate surfaces but will still produce a DXF
- EP-Launch supports the new style output (delimiter) files
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 1,500 pages.
- More weather data.
- Design Conditions produced as Location-Design Day combo data set file.
- Composite Constructions data set.
- Rain and snow indicators.
- New input file example for each new feature.
- Updated HVAC templates with autosizing.
- User-enterable system design (autosizing) flow rates.
- Sub-hourly (interval) schedule input added.
- Compact schedule entry.
- Between-glass shades and blinds.
- Airflow windows.
- User-enterable surface convection coefficients
- Simple ventilation when outdoor temperature is greater than indoor temperature.
- Coldest Zone supply air set point strategy.
- Air-to-air heat recovery (sensible energy, latent energy, or both).
- Outdoor dry bulb and outdoor wet bulb controls.
- Free cooling, hydronic heat exchanger.
- Variable Speed Fans.
- Demand limit and track electric operation scheme.
- Zone daylight illuminance map.
- Pollution calculation reporting.
- Added Daylighting reference points to DXF file; also documented the DXF file more completely.
- "Internal Gains" report for each zone.
- Many features added to the IDF Editor: editing and displaying IP units, supporting autosizable fields, in-cell editing.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 1,400 pages.
- Web site now includes link to directly translate the web pages into more than 8 languages.
- Composite Constructions data set
- Entire Design Conditions produced as Location-Design Day combo data set file
- Design Day "inputs" from weather files
- New input file example for each new feature
*Weather data interpolation (hourly to time step)
- Many COMIS improvements (e.g. COMIS air flow through interzone windows and doors, venting through openable doors, add "no vent" strategy)
- Pond heat exchanger added
- Ground surface heat exchanger added
- Cooling Tower improvements
- Variable Speed Fans
- Coldest Zone supply air set point strategy
- Atmospheric pollution calculation reporting
- Improved documentation (Output Details document, Input Output Reference, Engineering, Auxiliary Programs)
- Searching capability (Acrobat index) for all documentation
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 1,300 pages.
- New input file example for each new feature
- User input of cooling and/or heating zone design air flow rates; mix & match with calculated rates; subsequent sizing calcs work as if user input were calculated.
- Ground temperatures and slab constructions have been redone (in the Example Files) along the lines of the new Ground Temp Calc program
- Current Detached Shading is also aka Fixed Detached Shading and added Building Shading (which will move with respect to building origin for "relative" coordinates)
- Bi-directional shading devices
- Reflection of beam solar radiation from outside and inside window reveal surfaces.
- Restriction for reveal on Triangular Windows, FullExterior (1.0.1) have been removed
- Simple Ventilation (addition of simple ventilation--similar to what was done in BLAST with the addition of infiltration type coefficients to modify the flow rate based on temperature difference and wind speed)
- Warmest zone supply air set point strategy; new Node output "System Node Setpoint Temp"
- Water-to-water heat pumps
- Added simulation of a variable flow secondary loop and a constant flow primary loop simulation using existing simulation structure
- Auto sizing of plant equipment (boiler, electric chiller, cooling tower, engine driven chillers)
- Faster ReadVars program (post processing)
- Ground Temp Calc program is included
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 1,200 pages.
- Weather data now available for more than 550 locations (80 countries).
- Versioning on all input data files
- New input file example for each new feature
- New HVAC system templates:
- Zone Thermostat
- Purchased Air
- Four Pipe Fan Coil
- VAV Single Duct with Reheat
- Packaged Furnace with DX Air Conditioner
- Purchased Hot Water and Chilled Water Supply Loop
- Single Boiler Supply Loop
- Single Chiller Supply Loop
- Movable transparent insulating material
- New Window-Related Features:
- Window blind model (slat-type shading devices such as Venetian blinds).
- Coupling of window blinds to daylighting calculation.
- More control types for shading devices, including heating season controls.
- Capability to import window data file from WINDOW 5; allows EnergyPlus to do annual energy run on a window designed in WINDOW
- Ability to assign a shading device to a window imported from WINDOW
- Calculation of beam solar radiation passing through interior windows (needed for modeling double-envelope buildings).
- Window blinds with movable slats and associated slat-angle control options.
- Window gap fill as a mixture of gases rather than a single gas.
- Triangular windows
- Trombe wall
- Gas Turbine Chiller
- Heat Recovery in Gas Turbine Chiller
- Electric Baseboard option
- Boilers
- Plant Supply
- Condenser Supply
- DX Coil
- System night cycle control
- Gas heating coil updated to include electric parasitics, part-load performance curve, and fan and coil cycling controls
- Node connection validation
- Air-to-air heat pumps
- Water-to-water heat pumps
- Ground loop heat exchanger
- Ground Source Heat Pump
- Air Cooled Condenser
- Evaporatively cooled condenser (simplified)
- Dehumidification Control (Cooling Coil) added for unitary systems. DX coil meets the dehumidification load; uses heating coil to offset excess sensible cooling that is provided
- Auto sizing of system components and equipment
- Photovoltaic power
- Surface Details report
- Branch and Node Details report (.bnd file)
- End-use meters
- Introduction of translation programs for converting previous version input files to latest release (Main folder, TransitionV1-0-0-to-V1-0-1.exe, Rules1-0-0to1-0-1.xls, Report Variables 1-0-0-023 to 1-0-1.csv
- WinEPDraw utility program
- DOE-2 Translator Improvements: INTERIOR-WALL, FIXED-SHADE, LIKE, SET DEFAULT, purchased air solution, bug fixes
- IDFEditor (support for ',' as decimal)
- Weather utility updates—now automatically includes ASHRAE 2001 HOF design conditions, typical/extreme periods within weather file, new summary report, and processes new formats such as ASHRAE IWEC and ESP-r text.
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference Updated and Extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 1,100 pages.
- HVAC BESTEST (IEA SHC Task 22 Building Energy Analysis Tools)
- ASHRAE RP-1052 Development of an Analytical Verification Test Suite for Whole Building Energy Simulation Programs - Building Fabric
- ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2001
- Reference Data Sets (idf "libraries" for materials, constructions, etc.)
- Example Passive Trombe wall input template
- HVAC input templates
- Ability to read multiple interval per hour weather data files
- 3D surface coordinates
- Fenestration calculations include WINDOW5 calculations, frame and dividers, window multiplier, spectral input for glass, and window Uvalue and solar heat gain coefficient report
- Daylighting (simple and more complex)
- Improved sky model for daylighting calculations
- Simultaneous simulation of zone loads and HVAC systems
- Fan Coil
- Unit Heater,
- Unit Ventilator,
- Window AC
- Exhaust fan
- Fan control, fan motor placement
- HVAC loop modeling, including branch-based input and flow resolver
- Furnace
- Flat plate exhaust air heat recovery
- Air flow sizing (based on zone requirements)
- Evaporative cooler models
- Steam absorption chiller
- Low temp radiant heating/cooling
- Air Cooled condenser
- Gas/electric coil options for unit heater and unit ventilator
- Gas absorption chiller heater
- Desiccant dehumidifier
- System sizing
- Plenum (return and supply)
- HeatCool option on Furnace
- DX System (Air Loop)
- High temperature radiant heating/cooling
- Energy meters
- Simple input and output preprocessor
- Simple launch program for EnergyPlus
- EPMacro—macro capability for input Files (auxiliary program)
- DOE-2 Translator
- IFC to IDF generation capability (CAD interoperability)
- Weather processor
- Windows-based IDF editor
- BLAST translator (.bin files) to EnergyPlus input files
- Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended for all new features and updates, bringing total documentation to more than 700 pages.