EnergyPlus is the U.S. DOE building energy simulation program for modelling building heating, cooling, lighting, ventilating, and other energy flows. It builds on the most popular features and capabilities of BLAST and DOE-2 but also includes many innovative simulation capabilities such as time steps of less than an hour, modular systems and plant integrated with heat balance-based zone simulation, multizone air flow, thermal comfort, and photovoltaic systems.
EnergyPlus is a stand-alone simulation program without a 'user friendly' graphical interface – which is where DesignBuilder comes in. We have integrated EnergyPlus tightly within the DesignBuilder environment to allow you to carry out simulations without any fuss – just define your building model, request data and let the EnergyPlus simulation engine take care of the details.
DesignBuilder has been specifically developed around EnergyPlus allowing most of the EnergyPlus fabric and glazing data to be input. Databases of building materials, constructions, window panes, window gas, glazing units and blinds are provided.
HVAC is modelled using the Compact HVAC descriptions. A range of commonly used HVAC system types can be defined parametrically without the need for complex system layouts. These compact descriptions are automatically expanded behind-the-scenes into full HVAC simulation data sets prior to simulation.
You can use DesignBuilder to generate IDF files and work with these outside DesignBuilder to access system functionality not provided by DesignBuilder.
There is a range of EnergyPlus simulators to choose from including the current DOE executable release, the current DLL release and any interim releases made available by DOE. You can carry out DesignBuilder simulations via EP-Launch.
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