Computer Laboratory 1: Installing and Using EnergyPlus Material prepared by GARD Analytics, Inc. and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under contract to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. All material Copyright U.S.D.O.E. - All rights reserved

2 Purpose of this Lecture  Gain an understanding of How to Install EnergyPlus How to Use EnergyPlus Auxiliary Programs and Documentation for EnergyPlus

3 Installing EnergyPlus EnergyPlus Components EnergyPlus Folders

4 Installing EnergyPlus  Documentation12759k  EP-Launch1819k  IDFEditor415k  SampleFiles29065k  WeatherConvertor2428k  BLASTTranslator4978k  DOETranslator663k GroundHeatTransferPreProcessor770k IFCtoIDF2910k  Included in default installation Select Components Menu

5 Installing EnergyPlus (cont’d)  After installation the EnergyPlus directory will contain the following subdirectories (if default components are selected): BACKUP DataSets Documentation Example Files PostProcess PreProcess Templates Trnsysspv WeatherData

6 EnergyPlus Folders  EnergyPlus Location selected during install Default is c:\EnergyPlus Batch files Executables Readme

7 DataSets Folder  DataSets – Predefined Objects Locations Design Days Materials Constructions Schedules and more  MacroDataSets ##if blocks for parametric batch runs

8 Documentation Folder  Documentation User & Developer Documentation Bookmarks to Navigate Searchable PDF Format Requires Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher (

9 ExampleFiles Folder  ExampleFiles Dozens of example inputs Named by key feature e.g., CVBbRh.idf Many concepts are best learned by example

10 WeatherData Folder  WeatherData User can download additional EPW weather files at

11 Start Menu Shortcuts  Start  Programs  EnergyPlus Vn-n-n Programs  DocMainMenu Docs Menu Page  EP-Launch Easy-to-Use Run Tool  IDFEditor Input File Editor

12 Start Menu Shortcuts (cont’d)  IFCtoIDF Convert IFC Files  WeatherConverter Process Weather Data Create Weather Reports

13 User Documentation  Eplus Main Menu EnergyPlus\Documentation\ EPlusMainMenu.pdf Start  Programs  EnergyPlus Programs  DocMainMenu  Getting Started  Input Output Reference  Output Details and Examples  Engineering Reference  Auxiliary Programs/Developer Guides  Frequently Asked Questions

14 Auxiliary Tools  Run-time Tools EP-Launch  Input/Output Tools IDF Editor WinEPDraw

15 EP-Launch  Assistance in running EnergyPlus  Reads EPL-Run.bat file  Creates RunEP.bat file and executes  Displays run status (eplusout.end)  Can view all input and output Files  Several user options available

16 EP-Launch Select and edit input file Select weather file View output files Run EnergyPlus Access EnergyPlus documentation

17 EP-Launch Setup Select desired text editor program (defaults to.txt editor) Select drawing viewer for DXF files (VoloView Express is free from Select desired spreadsheet program to view csv files

18 EP-Launch Options Open only ERR and EIO output files Pause batch file after EnergyPlus execution to read traceback if crash Wide format for long path names

19 EP-Launch Alternate Layout

20 Results  ERR file contains warnings and errors (always look here!)  EIO file contains additional EnergyPlus results, including verification of location, environment, summary reports, etc.  View menu – ERR/EIO only (F2)  RDD file lists the output variables available from the run

21 Results (cont’d)  ESO file contains the raw output from the run (users rarely look here)  CSV versions of ESO and MTR files can be opened by clicking on the “Spreadsheet” button Can be imported into any spreadsheet program that accepts the CSV format  DXF file can be viewed by clicking on the “Drawing File” button Can be imported into any CAD program that accepts the DXF format

22 IDF Editor  Not really an “interface”  Reads IDD  Structures data entry based on IDD  Writes objects in IDD order e.g. Run Period, Design Days, all Materials, all Constructions, all Zones, all Surfaces Files generated by other means will be rearranged  CANNOT read IMF files (see EP-Macro)

23 IDF Editor Select object type from class list Objects shown here for selected class Pull-down list of keywords or references when applicable Description of entry, max and min when applicable

24 WinEPDraw  Creates dxf drawing  Does not run simulation  *.epderr file reports errors  Run independently  EP-Launch drawing button will run if dxf file not present dxf file older than idf

25 Summary  EnergyPlus install includes documentation and example files  Various auxiliary programs can be used with EnergyPlus when a more sophisticated interface is not available, the most important utilities are: EP-Launch (launches EnergyPlus) IDF Editor (edits input files for EnergyPlus)