Re: [EnergyPlus_Support] RE: Way forward on writing Perl scripts for Energy Plus

On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 10:39 PM, Vaib <vaibhav.energyarchitect@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I second with Python as I also have used it for post processing of E+ outputs to make sense out of it. Also Shell scripting in Linux is very powerful. It makes life much easier. Also recently, in our university we used Matlab (mainly for modeling a thermal comfort model). There I came across a Matlab library from TU-Eindhoven which they ask to be only used for educational purposes. I am not sure if its allowed to be shared. But I do appreciate the idea of open source sharing of scripts in building science industry.

Vaibhav

On 6 September 2013 09:15, Yi Zhang <yizhang@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Interesting discussions! It seems Python is the unstoppable trend. And indeed if we all use the same language, it will help form an open-source community. On the other hand, I have to say that a few of the earlier comments disregarding the vast amount of effort the E+ community are making toward openness hurts a bit. OpenStudio, GenOpt, E+ itself and many more other tools are open source?

Going back to your original question, Javed, what are the functions you need but cannot get from existing tools? I think how to choose a language depends on what you need to do, and what the existing tools you want to use?

Yi

From: EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Javed Iqbal
Sent: 06 September 2013 07:57
To: EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [EnergyPlus_Support] RE: Way forward on writing Perl scripts for Energy Plus

Thanks Murat.

If Python has direct implications on EnergyPlus then I'm OK with this. It would be great if you can share your experience on Python. Some resource sharing would be really helpful.

Thanks again!

On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 12:09 PM, <mtologlu@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I say Python, too.

I am new to E+ and already was looking for a way to switch from Ruby to Python because I already have a Python background and I don't want to learn a new language.

I was just thinking about finding (or writing) Python scripts equivalent to ModelToRad.rb DaylightSim.rb etc. for Radiance functionality.

If you decide Python then we can share our experience.

By the way, I appreciate very much to receive advise on how to reach sources of existing Python scrips for E+ and Python E+ scripting examples.

Kind regards,

Murat Tologlu, M.Sc.EE

Engineering & Business Consultant

Renewable Energies, EE and Power Technique

--- In energyplus_support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, <eee.javed@...> wrote:

Thanks everyone for their valuable comments.

I'm still in a beginning stage before i decide what to go with, Perl or Python. My idea is to get feedback from experienced energy modelers on the way forward.

I'm still open to get more comments which will eventually help me to choose a tool which will best serve my purpose.

Thanks again!

On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 11:14 PM, Chien Si Harriman <chien.harriman@...> wrote:

Thanks everyone for their comments. I didn't know about some of these things. Now, I have to ask Edwin. If it is so cool, why does no one do it? I'm guessing because people are afraid to share it. It is a shame, because I imagine that if the industry could rely on some open source stuff, that would be helpful for everybody in really profound ways. I am not sure why we don't embrace it because we are the perfect candidates. Never enough time or money, a really complex project, lots of data...not sure why it doesn't resonate and there is not already a serious movement towards open source. It should be more than just cool to post stuff and have people look at it. It should be full community engagement with a leader and deep conversations. Writing a text file is not that difficult, which is why I love energy plus. I'm sure lots of people have worked on pieces of code to do it. So I have to lead myself to the conclusion that the community doesn't know how to engage each other on this issue or generally feels threatened or worried to give stuff away. I do not know of a single open source repository for code to create idf files. I do know there is an open source fork of energy plus and Big Ladder works a lot on that.

Is there anyone out there who really believes in open source on this email thread? Can anyone even cite the mantras of Linus Torvold? I know I am getting nerdy here, and I don't mean to p- anyone off. Trying to do the opposite actually. Would the community benefit from an open-source type of mindset, and is anyone actually brave enough to post all their hard work on sourceforge?

I only know of a handful of people in this industry who are serious about open source, and they are in the minority. I only ask to see what kind of reactions I get, and if people are serious about it, I would set up a repository on the understanding that other people would contribute to it and actually check it out. I would be afraid of being used like a cheap blow up doll though. No one would actually contribute anything, just take and take. I'm assuming this is everyone's sentiment.

This is me from the outside, looking in. I only see a few EnergyPlus projects on source forge and none of them seem that well-developed. Am I wrong?

On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 10:14 AM, Edwin Lee <leeed2001@...> wrote:

"I have code just sitting around,"

"Why not share it on sourceforge?"

... good question? It's always cool to see what other people are doing. If you already have code sitting around, why not post it on SourceForge or GitHub?

On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 11:08 AM, Linda Lawrie <linda@...> wrote:

At 10:46 AM 9/5/2013, Chien Si Harriman wrote:

Just curious why all the idf making only happens at the labs and at DesignBuilder, etc? More of a general thought that has no answer, but would be interested to hear people's opinions.

Have you looked through the third party software:

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/other_tools.cfm

--

Edwin Lee, PhD

Engineer, Commercial Buildings Research Staff

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

--

Javed Iqbal, LEED AP, CEA

Sr. Energy Analyst

--

Javed Iqbal, LEED AP, CEA

Sr. Energy Analyst

--
Marcus Jones, M.Sc., LEED^®AP BD+C
Freelance energy consultant
Vienna, Austria