DOE Releases EnergyPlus 2.0 Modeling Software


The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday announced the release of EnergyPlus 2.0, the second generation of its free software tool to help homeowners and home builders "model their energy flows" as the summer approaches.




Because it's a free tool released by the DOE, however, the program is fairly limited: in fact, the output is a simple text file. Enter a suite of third-party interfaces, with names like DesignBuilder, E2AC, and Hevacomp.

Each provides a different front end or interface to use the data, and some are fairly sophisticated; DesignBuilder, for example, provides a CAD front end, with several heating/cooling systems already modeled. Hevacomp, a piece of design software heavily used in the UK, can use the EnergyPlus software as a plug-in to examine per-room heat losses and gains, generating the sophisticated image that you see to the left.

(Interestingly, a study released this week predicts that a pan-European heat wave similar to that which occurred in 2003 will recur twice this century. That year, the heat killed thousands across Europe. The three houses I lived in for the last two years in England -- in the Maida Vale and Wandsworth neighborhoods in London, and in West Sussex) all were built around the turn of the century, with very little insulation. Only one had double-paned windows.)

The main EnergyPlus 2.0 Web site also contains an example file generator that you can play around with. In its most basic form, you can enter the floor area of your house, the type (in this case, lodging) the people density, and the energy density, or an estimate of how much electricity is consumed. In detailed mode, you can add details such as glazing, specify HVAC systems, and other parameters. It's apparently down, however; the form is designed to email you with the results, but they failed to show up after ten minutes of waiting.

EDIT: It pays to wait. Although the information that is inputted is basic, an amazing amount of data is returned: estimated construction costs, estimated electricity costs, emissions data, even estimates of comfort, where apparently insulation and building materials are weighed against heating and cooling systems. I can't vouch for the accuracy, but the data is extremely intriguing.

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