This article is part of BD+C's special five-part Technology Report 2014: Top tech tools and trends for AEC professionals.
For more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Energy has made its EnergyPlus energy analysis and thermal load simulation program available for free to Building Teams.
Using EnergyPlus, AEC professionals can model heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, and other energy flows, as well as water consumption, within a building design.
But without a major rewrite of the program since its creation, using EnergyPlus could exhibit slow performance and occasionally inaccurate analysis results.
The programming language it was originally written in, Fortran, simply could not keep up with advances in the hardware and software computing environment. FORTRAN is a language aimed at scientific programs to be run by scientists for days and weeks on supercomputers, not by building designers running multiple iterations of a design idea in a matter of a few hours.
Because it wasn't well integrated with common architectural design software, EnergyPlus never gained widespread adoption by architects working in the conceptual stage of a project.
At Greenbuild 2013, Autodesk (working pro bono) turned over brand new engine source code to the DOE to create a completely rewritten EnergyPlus for a forthcoming version. The new code will be made available under the DOE’s open source license.
Autodesk’s software engineers translated EnergyPlus—more than 600,000 lines of code—to C++, a modern, object-oriented language that is better supported on mass-market hardware and software platforms.
As a result, a larger ecosystem of developers and vendors will be able to contribute updates to the code in order to improve performance and decrease the time required to run energy model simulations.
The forthcoming version will also work better with BIM applications, auditing tools, and energy dashboards after it is released and developers are able to work on improved integrations.
For more, visit: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus.
Related Stories
| Dec 6, 2011
Vivenzio named vice president of building performance practice at Thornton Tomasetti’s New York Office
Vivenzio, a licensed architect in New York and New Jersey, has more than 28 years of experience in architectural project management, construction administration, building diagnostic services and forensic investigation.
| Dec 6, 2011
New office building features largest solar panel system in New Orleans
Woodward Design+Build celebrates grand opening of new green headquarters in Central City.
| Dec 5, 2011
New York and San Francisco receive World Green Building Council's Government Leadership Awards
USGBC commends two U.S. cities for their innovation in green building leadership.
| Dec 5, 2011
Summit Design+Build begins renovation of Chicago’s Esquire Theatre
The 33,000 square foot building will undergo an extensive structural remodel and core & shell build-out changing the building’s use from a movie theater to a high-end retail center.
| Dec 5, 2011
Fraser Brown MacKenna wins Green Gown Award
Working closely with staff at Queen Mary University of London, MEP Engineers Mott MacDonald, Cost Consultants Burnley Wilson Fish and main contractor Charter Construction, we developed a three-fold solution for the sustainable retrofit of the building.
| Dec 5, 2011
RJM Construction begins building Nova Classical Academy in St. Paul
As the general contractor, RJM is constructing the 94,000-sf building that will consolidate the St. Paul school’s two other locations.
| Dec 5, 2011
Gables Residential brings mixed-use building to Houston's Tanglewood area
The design integrates a detailed brick and masonry facade, acknowledging the soft pastel color palette of the surrounding Mediterranean heritage of Tanglewood.
| Dec 5, 2011
SchenkelShultz Architecture designs Dr. Phillips Charities Headquarters building in Orlando
The building incorporates sustainable architectural features, environmentally friendly building products, energy-efficient systems, and environmentally-sensitive construction practices.
| Dec 2, 2011
What are you waiting for? BD+C's 2012 40 Under 40 nominations are due Friday, Jan. 20
Nominate a colleague, peer, or even yourself. Applications available here.
| Dec 2, 2011
Legrand joins White House initiative to spur energy efficiency in commercial buildings
Company agrees to aggressive energy savings and reporting.