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The Energy Department and National Labs have released updated versions of their open-source whole-building energy modeling tools, the EnergyPlus™ engine, and the OpenStudio™ Software Development Kit (SDK). This email encompasses updates contained in the latest two releases of each software.
The latest version of EnergyPlus is 22.2.0. No, EnergyPlus has not implemented 13 major version updates over the course of two releases, rather it has transitioned to a new widely used version numbering. 22.2.0 is the second major release of 2022. New features that have been added include support for space-level infiltration, ventilation, and air-mixing calculations; a new chiller object that accepts ASHRARE Standard 205 performance map data; and air-distribution duct auto-sizing. The team also implemented a number of performance enhancements and addressed 45 outstanding bugs and issues. A full list of new features and bug fixes is available on the release notes page. Feature suggestion, discussion, voting, and tracking and issue reporting and tracking are available on the issues page.
OpenStudio Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.5.0 includes updates to the Application Programming Interface (API), OpenStudio-Server, and OpenStudio-Standards. One significant new feature is preliminary support for EnergyPlus’ Python EMS feature and for Measures written in Python in addition to Ruby. Support for this new functionality will be fleshed out over the next several releases. Another is a significantly more complete and capable implementation of ASHRAE 90.1-2019 Performance Rating Method (aka “Appendix G”) baseline automation, one that handles advanced HVAC requirements including controls, equipment sizing with mitigation of unmet load hours, and multi-use buildings. This functionality is available via the Create Baseline Building Measure in OpenStudio Standards 0.3.0. OpenStudio 3.5.0 supports EnergyPlus 22.2.0 as well as the latest version of the Radiance lighting engine. It addresses over 100 outstanding issues and bugs. As with EnergyPlus, a full list of new features and bug fixes is available on the release notes page, and feature and bug tracking are available on the issues page.
Installation package downloads for Windows, Mac OS X, and Ubuntu Linux are available at http://energyplus.net/ and http://openstudio.net/, respectively. Peer-to-peer support is available via the http://unmethours.com/ forum. More information about all of DOE’s building energy modeling software and research projects can be found at http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-energy-modeling/.
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