The U.S. Department of Energy, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have released the initial version of the Spawn of EnergyPlus software.
The government entities collaborated with Modelon and Objexx Engineering on the new tool. Spawn is not a replacement for EnergyPlus and won’t be in the foreseeable future.
Like its progenitor, the new tool performs whole-building energy simulation, but it also targets new use cases in advanced controls, district systems, and grid integration. Spawn supports these new use cases by making fundamental use of coupled simulation via the Functional Mockup Interface standard.
It reuses the weather, envelope, lighting, and loads models from EnergyPlus and packages them as a single model. But it replaces EnergyPlus’ traditional, imperative, implicit, load-based HVAC and controls models with explicit declarative state-based models from the Modelica Buildings Library that are translated and automatically linked with the EnergyPlus model.
By combining models in different configurations, Spawn simulates either a single building or a collection of buildings linked by shared thermal, electrical, and control systems.
Related Stories
| Mar 8, 2012
New LEED-EBOM rating has requirements for specific project types
Several key changes are proposed for the LEED-EBOM Rating System in 2012.
| Mar 8, 2012
Green buildings more resilient than conventionally built structures
A new study by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning suggests that structures built to green standards can advance building resiliency.
| Mar 1, 2012
LEED Platinum standard likely to mean net-zero energy by 2018
As LEED standards continue to rise, the top level, LEED Platinum, will likely mean net-zero energy construction by 2018.
| Mar 1, 2012
EPA beefs up stormwater discharge rule from construction projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now finalized its 2012 construction general permit (CGP) that authorizes stormwater discharges from construction projects that disturb one or more acres of land in the areas where EPA is the permitting authority.
| Mar 1, 2012
Regulators investigate structural failures during construction of two Ohio casinos
Regulators with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration and the city of Cincinnati are investigatingthe collapse of the second floor of Cincinnati's Horseshoe Casino as workers were pouring concrete.
| Mar 1, 2012
Is your project too small for LEED? Consider other green standards
There are many other recognized national, state and local programs that offer a variety of best management practices and sustainable design, construction and operating strategies.
| Mar 1, 2012
California bill aims to cut costs for commercial building energy retrofits
A bill in the California Assembly would allow the state to pool together property owners’ energy-retrofit loans.
| Feb 29, 2012
Carvalho appointed Shawmut Safety Director
He has been a driving force behind multiple safety-orientated initiatives at Shawmut, including Safety Week, the creation of an online safety manual, and the implementation of a new safety reporting and tracking system.