Energy Design Plugin. Peter G. Ellis, Paul A. Torcellini. Drury B. Crawley

Transcription

1 Energy Design Plugin An EnergyPlus Plugin for SketchUp Peter G. Ellis, Paul A. Torcellini National Renewable Energy Laboratory Drury B. Crawley U.S. Department of Energy

2 EnergyPlus Whole-building energy simulation Simulation engine only State-of-the-art capabilities Developed by U.S. Department of Energy Free

3 Intuitive, easy-to-use 3-D drawing software Available from Google as free or pro versions Popular among architects Powerful API using Ruby programming language for plugins Google SketchUp

4 Energy Design Plugin Adds EnergyPlus functionality to the SketchUp 3-D environment

5 Energy Design Plugin Developed at NREL Available for free at Works with free and pro SketchUp Available for Windows initially (Mac later) Distributed under open source license (GPL)

6 Background Began in 2005 as a research project to find ways to integrate simulation into the early phases of the design process Pilot plugin developed as proof of concept Funded in 2007 to develop full plugin First public beta release on April 1 (v0.9.3) 1500 downloads since April 28 (v0.9.4) Currently working towards version 1.0

7 Integrating Simulation into the Early Phases of the Design Process "Form" decisions made during the early phases of the design process have a big impact on energy performance Simulation during the early phases can help optimize energy performance without adding to the cost of the design Traditionally simulation only used for HVAC options and code-compliance

8 Phases in the Design Process Simulation for HVAC and code-compliance

9 Phases in the Design Process Simulation during the early phases

10 SketchUp in the Design Process Conceptual Phase: Quickly create building form and massing Present design proposals to client Changes based on client feedback Design Development: Export from SketchUp to CAD tool Design refinement with CAD

11 SketchUp in the Design Process Conceptual Phase: Quickly create building form and massing Changes based on simulation feedback Present design proposals to client Changes based on client feedback Design Development: Export from SketchUp to CAD tool Design refinement with CAD

12 Plugin Concept Leverage the capabilities of an established GUI Avoid developing program entirely from scratch Build on an existing market and user base BONUS: SketchUp is positioned in the design process workflow at an ideal entry point for energy simulation

13 Features Create/Edit EnergyPlus geometry Run EnergyPlus and view results Data visualization

14 Create Geometry from Scratch

15 Open an Existing Input File

16 Edit Zone Properties

17 Edit Surface Properties

18 Run a Simulation

19 Run a Simulation

20 Data Visualization

21 Data Visualization

22 Limitations Not a full-featured interface for E+ Geometry only Must still be expert user and/or use other tools in conjunction Not a translator from SketchUp to E+ Cannot automatically convert a model Must have the energy model in mind from the beginning

23 Goals Version 1.0 Make entering 3-D geometry easy Audience Current E+ users Prospective E+ adopters

24 Version 1.0 Guiding Principles 1. Focus on the conceptual phase 2. Develop architectural and energy models together 3. Integrate seamlessly with SketchUp 4. Allow two-way editing of EnergyPlus input files 5. Find cross-platform solutions 6. Release as open source

25 Version 1.0 Coming Attractions Persistent association of SKP and IDF Automatic interzone connections Advanced dialog GUI Construction manager Graphical display of simulation results Wizard for automatic model generation Interface to EnergyPlus Example File Generator

26 EnergyPlus Example File Generator

27 EnergyPlus Example File Generator

28 EnergyPlus Example File Generator

29 V 1.0 Open Source Development Goals Launch open source project Build volunteer developer community Audience Developers from industry/practitioners SketchUp developers/enthusiasts Collaborators from national labs, universities, other countries

30 Goals Version 2.0 Manage and edit most E+ simulation inputs Audience Simulation experts Brave architects

31 Goals Version X.X Simulation for everyone Appeal similar to Energy-10 Audience Engineers Architects Homeowners

32 Value to Industry Improve usability of EnergyPlus and enable greater market adoption Demonstrate that an existing software tool can be leveraged to add energy functionality without reinventing the wheel Help introduce energy simulation into the early phases of the design process (before CAD or architectural drawings)

33 Thank You Free Download: Contact: