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[EnergyPlus_Support] EnergyPlus Version 2.1 Now Available



EnergyPlus Version 2.1 Now Available

 

The newest version of EnergyPlus (2.1) was completed on October 31, 2007
and is now available in versions for both the Windows and Linux
operating systems. (Macintosh version will be available within a few
days.)  A few key new features include new packaged terminal air
conditioner, multi-speed heat pump, and additional controls for modeling
hybrid ventilation systems. We have updated and extended capabilities
throughout the existing building envelope, daylighting, and HVAC
equipment and systems portions of the program. 

 

EnergyPlus V 2.1 is available at no cost from the EnergyPlus web site:
www.energyplus.gov <http://www.energyplus.gov/> .   

 

What's New in Version 2.1?

 

A few of the new features in EnergyPlus V 2.1 are listed below-see
http://www.energyplus.gov/features.html
<http://www.energyplus.gov/features.html>  for a complete list of new
features added in this and previous versions:

*         Zone sizing calculations now include heat gains from
domestic/service hot water uses and water heaters.

*         User now can choose between ASHRAE Clear Sky and Zhang-Huang
solar radiation models for use in design day calculations.

*         Added new system availability manager to allow system-level
control of hybrid ventilation systems.

*         Added water-cooled condenser capability to refrigeration
compressor racks for useful heat recovery. 

*         Chilled and hot-water coils can now be used in the outside air
system to preheat or precool outside air.

*         New desiccant dehumidifier with additional capabilities and
flexibility compared to the existing solid desiccant dehumidifier model.

*         Water side economizer (including simulation of integrated and
non-integrated water side economizers).

*         Water heater improved for indirect heating (e.g. with remote
boiler) and autosizable design flow rates for plant connections.  

*         Packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) added to model a fan,
DX cooling coil, and a gas, electric, hydronic or steam heating coil
serving a single zone.

*         Multispeed heat pump with up to four discrete speeds for both
cooling and heating.

*         Heat losses (and gains) from plant piping.

*         Many new or updated Compact HVAC objects, including: options
for dehumidification and humidification controls for unitary and VAV
system types, primary-secondary loop options for Compact HVAC chilled
water loops, outside air can be specified as flow/person, flow/area or
flow/zone, baseboard heat option added for unitary and VAV zones, and
new Compact HVAC objects for unitary heat pump, unitary VAV, packaged
terminal air conditioner, and packaged terminal heat pump. 

*         New tabular reports for surface shadowing, shading, lighting,
HVAC sizing, system and component sizing, and outside air.

*         New Report:SurfaceColorScheme allow users to select their own
colors for building elements in the DXF output.

*         WeatherConverter now produces KML output (for Google Earth) of
latitude, longitude, elevation, and a few climate statistics for
locations in a list processing run. 

*         Completely rewritten Getting Started manual provides more
hands-on example exercises and other information for getting up to speed
on EnergyPlus.

 

Input/Output Reference and Engineering Reference updated and extended
for all new features and updates. Total documentation now exceeds 3500
pages. And many other enhancements and significant speed improvements
throughout.

 

Update on User Interfaces?

 

Where's the plugin for Google's SketchUp drawing software?   Not quite
ready.  We hope to release that within a few more weeks.  Users will be
able to draw their building, paint the surfaces with thermophysical
properties, select default building type information, schedules, and
HVAC systems, and simulate the energy performance of their building-all
within SketchUp.  Watch the EnergyPlus web site and email for more
information.

 

EP-Quick creates an EnergyPlus input file based on a broad range of zone
templates (released in April 2005).  E2AC is an interface in Portuguese
and English (available since January 2005).  DesignBuilder, a graphic
user interface, was released in December 2005.  Hevacomp uses EnergyPlus
as its simulation engine (2006).  First version of EFEN was released in
November 2007.  Several other interfaces are under development.  Watch
our web site ( http://www.energyplus.gov/ep_interfaces.html
<http://www.energyplus.gov/ep_interfaces.html>  ) for up-to-date
information on these and other interfaces.

 

A number of utilities and tools for creating, editing, and running input
files come with EnergyPlus, including IDF Editor, EP-Launch, and
HVAC-Diagram (see http://www.energyplus.gov/ep_utilities.html
<http://www.energyplus.gov/ep_utilities.html>  ). Third party tools for
creating, editing, and displaying EnergyPlus input files are also
available, including DrawBDL, EcoTect,  ESP-r, Green Building Studio,
EzDrawPlus, IFCtoIDF, TSe+, and EzPlus-Parm.  See
http://www.energyplus.gov/third_party_tools.html
<http://www.energyplus.gov/third_party_tools.html>  for more
information.

 

EnergyPlus Training Workshops

 

We are planning workshops throughout 2008.  For more information, please
see:  http://www.gard.com/training.htm
<http://www.gard.com/training.htm> 

 

What's going on in V2.1.0?

 

Will there be any considerable difference between version 2.0 and 2.1? 

 

Yes.... and no. The basic structure of EnergyPlus is still as it has
been but there are some significant changes that you will want to be
aware of:

 

As always, there are a number of new features and bug fixes.

 

How about IDF and IDD? Do they remain unchanged? 

 

There will be some changes in the IDD and reflected in IDFs.
Particularly for any new features, there will be new objects. 

 

Is version 2.1 backward compatible? Can I run v2.0 file in v2.1? 

 

For many options, the answer is yes. However, there are several changes
that require you to use the transition program for V2.1. EP-Launch can
check the selected file (if there is a version object) and you can
launch the Transition program from the EP-Launch "File" menu. You can
also view the ObjectStatus spreadsheet in the root folder of the
installed version. This file has detailed explanations of changes to the
objects. There is also a new option for the transition program that
allows you to supply a list of files and it will convert them for you.
The transition program is described more fully in the Auxiliary Programs
document.

 

EnergyPlus Weather Data

 

Weather data for more than 1300 locations worldwide are available on the
EnergyPlus web site:  http://www.energyplus.gov/cfm/weather_data.cfm
<http://www.energyplus.gov/cfm/weather_data.cfm> 

 

If you know of other weather data for your country that you'd be willing
to share with the EnergyPlus user community, please contact Dru Crawley
(Drury.Crawley@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:Drury.Crawley@xxxxxxxxxx> ).

 

EnergyPlus_Support Group at YahooGroups

 

Are you a commercial or academic user of EnergyPlus?  Join more than
1300 EnergyPlus users in an email group on YahooGroups-a place to ask
your questions and share information with other EnergyPlus users. The
YahooGroup also provides a searchable archive of all 6 years of
discussion. You can also upload files to share with other users. This
group supplements but does not replace the primary support email address
of   EnergyPlus-Support@xxxxxxxx <mailto:EnergyPlus-Support@xxxxxxxx> .

 

The main web page for the group is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnergyPlus_Support
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnergyPlus_Support>  

 

To subscribe, send an email message to:

EnergyPlus_Support-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

If you hate to constantly receive email, you can edit your YahooGroup
membership to only send a daily digest of messages.

 

Building Energy Simulation User News

 

Want to keep up to date on EnergyPlus and other building simulation
tools? Subscribe to the bi-monthly electronic newsletter for users of
EnergyPlus, DOE-2, BLAST, Genopt, SPARK, and Energy-10.   See
http://simulationresearch.lbl.gov/un.html
<http://simulationresearch.lbl.gov/un.html>  

 

BLDG-SIM

 

Join the free e-mail list for users of all building energy simulation
programs. Ask other knowledgeable simulation program users your
questions--about EnergyPlus and other simulation programs. See
http://www.gard.com/ml/bldg-sim.htm
<http://www.gard.com/ml/bldg-sim.htm>  for information on joining this
email list.

 

Thanks!

 

The EnergyPlus Team

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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