Earlier this year, Navigant consulting released a DOE-commissioned draft R&D roadmap for building energy modeling. The comment period produced over 400 comments, which Navigant and DOE are currently working to address. This talk will cover the major roadmap findings, distill lessons from the comments, and describe how DOE is addressing recommendations--from both the roadmap draft and the comments--via current efforts and plans for the near future.

1. Amir Roth, Ph.D.
amir.roth@ee.doe.gov
http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-energy-modeling/
http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/listings/end-use-breakdown-building-energy-modeling-blog/
DOE BEM R&D Roadmap: Lessons, Feedback & Plans
IBPSA-MD Meeting—May 31, 2016

2. 2
Who Am I
Technology manager in DOE Building Technologies Office
• Responsible for BEM portfolio: EnergyPlus, OpenStudio, Radiance, etc.
• Have been doing this for almost six years … can “talk the talk”!
• Not a modeler or mechanical engineer by training ... can “crawl the walk”

3. 3
Roadmap Process Overview
Commissioned by BTO Emerging Technologies in Mar. 2015
• Required of all technologies
• Tough for software (IMO)—fast moving, diverse uses & stakeholders
Developed by Navigant Consulting
• With input & “oversight” from DOE (my first roadmap—does it show!)
Two day-long workshops (DC & Seattle) in Jun. 2015
• ~35 people: labs, vendors, practitioners, educators, researchers, organizations
• ~20 phone interviews
Draft released Feb. 2016
• http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/02/f29/DOE-BTO-BEM-Roadmap-DRAFT-2-1-2016_0.pdf
• Six-week comment period: >400 comments!
• Currently working to address & revise—second draft expected Jul. 2016 (?)
Lessons
• More practitioners!

4. 4
Roadmap Structural Overview
Background ➔State of the market ➔ Gaps & barriers ➔Initiatives
• “General” sections with DOE (EnergyPlus/OpenStudio) subsections
Lessons
• Appropriate to focus on EnergyPlus/OpenStudio?
• Don’t compare tools to EnergyPlus/OpenStudio or one another!
• Don’t forget lighting (Radiance) & façade (THERM) analyses, some others
• Avoid numbers & stats (methodology is difficult to defend)

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Roadmap Content Overview
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1
4
3
2
2

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Init #1. Making The BEM Business Case
Current value of BEM is “performance documentation” (codes & labels)
• Managers invest because: i) they have to, ii) market rewards, iii) cheap “one-shot” BEM
• These tasks are not “creative” or “fun”, don’t draw professionals or innovators
Long-term value is in design & operations
• These tasks are “creative” and “fun”
• But managers don’t invest in them, why not?
Lack of predictive accuracy ➔not a technical barrier, but a perceived one
Inconsistency across modelers, lack of standards & QA ➔ hard to assess quality
Unproductive, labor-intensive workflows ➔don’t get a lot for $$$
Unclear benefit over normative calculations(80/20 rule) ➔ is this the “big one”?
What can DOE do to address these concerns?

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Init #1. The BEM-for-Design Business Case
Already great ➔ 1-4 month simple payback➔will improve with workflows!
• http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/articles/shockingly-short-payback-energy-modeling
• Need: i) transparent, convincing baselines & attribution, ii) more data, iii) publicity

8. 8
Init #1: The BEM-for-Operations Business Case
Does anyone make money using BEM to operate buildings? Yes, QCoefficient!
• EnergyPlus-driven predictive control (dynamically adjusts zone set-points)
• Leverages building thermal mass to shift demand away from peaks
Case study: Willis Tower, Chicago, IL (13 of 108 floors—20% of occupied space)
• Reduce daytime HVAC by 1530 MWh for pre-occupancy charge of 650 MWh
• Reduced chiller use & starts
Disclaimer: only for buildings with big chillers, i.e., 500,000+ sf
• What is needed to make BEM-for-operations safe for smaller buildings?
• What is needed to support other operational uses, e.g., CCx/FDD?
http://qcoefficient.com/

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Init #2: Support Operational Use Cases
BEM engines already support “control” ➔what else is needed?
• Most engines support pre-defined control schemes … in a “bulk” timestep way
Need to model control the way it is actually implemented, i.e., instantaneous
• Otherwise real world effects like jitter/oscillation are ignored in control design
Need to model externally-defined control that can be automatically “optimized”
Helpful if modeled control and executed control are the same control program
• Simplifies & eliminates errors in control implementation
Helpful if simulated control can interface with BMS, e.g., BACnet, Modbus
• Facilitates simulation-based testing of both virtual & physical controllers
Helpful if capabilities are accessible via OpenStudio SDK, Measures, etc.
• Apologies for the forward pointer, these will be discussed shortly
EnergyPlus EMS doesn’t really qualify on any count

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Init #2: Spawn-of-EnergyPlus (SOEP)
Next-generation EnergyPlus that supports operational use cases
• Refactor into modules that support model-exchange via FMI standard (FY16 & 17)
• Re-implement of HVAC & controls in Modelica (ongoing via Annex 60 & IBPSA-World)
• Anticipated benefit: speed! Discrete-time simulation ➔ discrete-event simulation
• Anticipated benefit: (proprietary) 3rd-party component/system models
• Will initially be available as OpenStudio alternative engine, not as drop-in for EnergyPlus
OpenStudio & Applications
Lighting
(C++)
Envelope
(C++)
Airflow
(C++)
HVAC
(C++)
Controls
(C++)
IDF
External Solver
Lighting
(C++)
Envelope
(C++)
Airflow
(C++)
HVAC
(Modelica)
Controls
(Modelica)
OpenStudio & Applications
Control models run on physical
controllers (e.g., Tridium)
IDF
HVAC & control models from
public or manufacturer libraries
DRAFT working paper. – Do not distribute.
-
cooling tower
chiller
economizer
room
pump
control valve
fan
cooling coil
Tws Twr
Tcs Tset
Twc
(a) Schematic diagram.
chi
P
T_CHWS
on
val6
TCHWEntChi
TCWLeaTow
T
(b) Modelica system model.
Figure 25: Schematic diagram
of the chilled water plant model
with water side economizer.
39
FMU FMU FMU FMU FMU

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Init #3: Improve BEM Productivity
For users
• Automate tedious, compulsory tasks: code compliance, LEED, dealing with EnergyPlus
• Facilitate & support creative, high-value tasks: design, optimization
For developers
• Automate tedious, compulsory tasks: code compliance, LEED, dealing with EnergyPlus
• Facilitate & support creative, high-value tasks: delivering integrated workflows
DOE values this goal ➔ OpenStudio is all about this
• Not the application ➔ the SDK, Server, CLI & Measures (90%+ of budget)
https://github.com/NREL/

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Init #3: OpenStudio SDK
EnergyPlus is user/developer antagonistic
• Non-standard file interface, changes too frequently & backward-compatibility is clunky
OpenStudio SDK designed to address this problem
• API interface, doesn’t change (often) & handles compatibility internally
• Same model also drives Radiance, CONTAM, ESP-r & CEN/ISO 13790
Not a perfect solution yet
• Doesn’t support all of EnergyPlus (e.g., EMS) although getting a lot better
• Doesn’t read IDF HVAC ➔ mostly useful for interacting with pure EnergyPlus-based tools
• But good enough for many apps
OpenStudio CLI: lean, mean, zero-dependence workflow machine
• Still skunk-works, will be available soon
• Should bring aboard additional apps

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Init #3: OpenStudio Measures
The most significant development in BEM in last five years
• Model transformations, reporting & QA, workflow automation
• https://bcl.nrel.gov/node/39783
• https://bcl.nrel.gov/node/82918

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Init #3: OpenStudio Standards
The latest killer Measure set? OpenStudio Standards
• Create OSMs of commercial prototype buildings (any climate-zone or vintage) …
• Or apply Appendix G baseline transform ➔ same code does both!
• A small step from automating LEED EAc1
• Canada/India using this process to automate NECB/ECBC
• California Title24 coming sometime next year
• https://github.com/NREL/openstudio-standards
• Some other goodies in there
“Performance documentation” (codes & labels)
• These tasks are not “creative” or “fun”
You’re very welcome!

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Init #3: Large-Scale Simulation
Example: select EUI, Cost, or LEED points ➔ ECM packages
Many applications: deemed savings, design optimization & calibration
• Cloud makes this practical: ~$0.01/EnergyPlus run & as many as you want in parallel

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Init #3: OpenStudio Server & Analysis Spreadsheet
What’s a good way to generate a large & coherent set of models? Measures!
• https://github.com/NREL/OpenStudio-server
• https://github.com/NREL/OpenStudio-analysis-spreadsheet

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Init #3: What About BIM?
I love BIM! How should energy models connect to BIM?
<soapbox>
Should energy models support BIM natively? No
• BIM-grade physics would be complicated, slow & mostly unnecessary
Where should BIM-to-BEM translation live? In BIM authoring tool
• BIM-to-BEM translation often requires BIM fix-up & interpretation of design intent
• Only BIM authoring tool–which interacts with model author—is in position to do this
• Aligns with trend to have background BEM “as you design”
What does this mean for OpenStudio Measures and BEM-level transforms?
• BIM may adopt Measure technology (e.g., GrassHopper/Dynamo++ ++ ++)
</soapbox>

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Init #4: Continuously Assess User/Industry Needs
Launched EnergyPlus & OpenStudio UserVoicefeedback sites Aug. 2015
• http://energyplus.uservoice.com/ & http://openstudio.uservoice.com/
• Accessible from http://energyplus.net/ & http://openstudio.net/ Feedback tabs
• http://energyplus.net/ single sign-on
• Get your feedback in before the EnergyPlus development team meeting Jun. 25
Anything else we can do?

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Init #5: Support Education
ASHRAE/IBPSA travel grants for students & young professionals
• Apply now for SimBuild 2016 @ SLC
• http://www.ibpsa.us/news/win-1000-scholarship-funds-attend-simbuild-2016-salt-lake-city
ASHRAE/IBPSA Low-Down Showdown: low-energy design competition
• Second iteration (Jan. 2017) will focus on existing buildings
• Two tracks: professional & student
• Look for announcement & schedule in a few weeks
University-led BUILD FOA (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/)
• Could be managed & scoped better
Free/open-source software
What else can DOE do? No, really …

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Init #5: Support Training
DOE Model is “train-the-trainers”
• Cost-ineffective and anti-competitive to subsidize lab/contractor training
• https://energyplus.net/support
• http://nrel.github.io/OpenStudio-user-documentation/help/training/
• Goal is to have 1+ certified training organization in every part of the country
DC EnergyPlus/OpenStudio training: Jul. 25-27, Catholic University
http://unmethours.com/
• Peer-to-peer Q&A
• EnergyPlus & OpenStudio teams are active

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Looking Back & Forward
A lot has happened in last year
• Autodesk releases EnergyPlus-based Insight360 for Revit and FormIt
• Sefaira-cum-Trimble releases EnergyPlus-based Sefaira Architecture
• Trane releases beta of EnergyPlus-based TRACE (most frequently used BEM tool)
• RESNET votes to adopt single EnergyPlus-based implementation of HERS rating
• Canada and India basing new whole-building codes on EnergyPlus/OpenStudio
• Four utilities (OET, Austin, CPS, Duke) using EnergyPlus/OpenStudio in incentive programs
Anticipate similar progress in coming year!
More information
• Website: http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-energy-modeling/
• Blog: …/end-use-breakdown-building-energy-modeling-blog
• MYPP: http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/downloads/multi-year-program-plan
• Email: amir.roth@ee.doe.gov
Thanks!