[Ibpsausa] EnergyPlus V7.0 and OpenStudio Legacy Plugin 1.0.7 released.

[Linda Lawrie]

EnergyPlus Version 7.0 and OpenStudio Legacy Plug-in 1.07 Available

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released 
an updated version of EnergyPlus simulation 
software for modeling heating, cooling, lighting, 
ventilating, and other building energy flows. 
Additionally, a new version of OpenStudio Plug-in 
for Google SketchUp is available, which makes it 
possible to perform EnergyPlus simulations using 
Google's user-friendly 3-D drawing interface.
Visit www.energyplus.gov to learn more and 
download EnergyPlus and OpenStudio Plug-in now.

Enhancements in the New Versions

General

     * Significant speed increases, most 
simulations see up to 20% reduction in execution 
time, depending on features used (also speed 
increase for many AirflowNetwork simulations and 
large models with radiant systems­see below).

Datasets

     * New input data sets for HVAC equipment 
performance for rooftop packaged air conditioners 
and heat pumps (see DXCoolingCoil.idf and RooftopPackagedHeatPump.idf).
     * Extended the library of refrigerant data 
to include R407a and superheated CO2 properties 
(see FluidPropertiesRefData.idf).
     * New input data set for exhaust-fired 
chiller heater model (see ExhaustFiredChiller.idf).

Input

     * Steam is now a "built-in" fluid property.
     * Zone Floor Area can be an input -- overrides the calculated amount.

Windows and Daylighting

     * International Glazing Data Base (IGDB) 
full spectral data can be used directly.

Zone and Surface Models

     * Shadowing Model new options: legacy 
"convex" Weiler-Atherton or Sutherland-Hodgman 
(more robust for non-convex surfaces).
     * New input problem checks for surface 
geometry including: convexity, collinear 
vertices, planar surfaces, and flipped 
floors/roofs. For flipped floors/roofs, a fix is attempted.
     * Conduction Transfer Function model revised 
to improve modeling of mass-less material layers.
     * OtherSideCoefficients model extended to 
provide controlled surface outside temperature with schedule and limits.
     * Design day weather data generation 
procedures upgraded for clear sky model and wet-bulb temperature profiles.
     * Conduction Finite Difference heat transfer 
model now includes options for solution method 
and to control node spatial resolution, 
relaxation factor, and convergence criteria.
     * Improved convergence checks for initial warmup days.

Natural and Mechanical Ventilation

     * AirflowNetwork solver enhanced for speed.
     * Consolidated outdoor air inputs in HVAC 
models to common design object wherever outdoor air rates are specified.
     * New proportional control for CO2-based demand controlled ventilation.
     * New mixing object for door openings into refrigerated zones.
     * New mechanical ventilation controls based 
on ASHRAE Standard 62.1 and CEN 15251.

HVAC and Refrigeration

     * New model for Variable Refrigerant Flow 
heat pump air conditioning systems.
     * Ideal loads air system model revised to 
include outdoor air and economizer controls, 
humidity control, and capacity limits.
     * Plant system and component models revised 
to improve speed and robustness, model fluid 
properties as a function of temperature and 
alternative types of fluid, and better flow control.
     * Glycol mixtures supported in all plant loop components.
     * New dual duct air terminal unit with 
dedicated outside air system on one duct and cooling on the other duct.
     * New absorption chiller model powered by microturbine generator exhaust.
     * Eliminated redundant input fields in compound HVAC objects.
     * Added maximum limits for supply air 
temperature leaving air terminal reheat coils.
     * Radiant-based HVAC system models revised 
for significant speed increase when models have a 
large number of thermal zones.
     * Low temperature radiant zone HVAC model 
now includes a "variable off" control mode.
     * Simple chilled water coil model has 
enhanced autosizing and variable UA for 
significant improvements in chilled water flow rate calculations.
     * New heat transfer models for buried piping 
systems include interaction with building slabs and basement walls.
     * Hot water boiler model options for 
choosing between entering and leaving water 
temperature as basis in performance curves.
     * New dedicated outdoor air system HVACTemplate object.
     * New HVACTemplate options: static pressure 
reset fan curve, screw chiller type, economizer 
dewpoint limit, and unitary system design supply temperatures.
     * New Refrigeration model for cold-storage 
thermal zones served by refrigeration-based zone units.
     * Refrigeration condensers now can reject heat to a thermal zone.
     * Improved Refrigeration model to compare 
the available temperature of heat reclaimed from 
a refrigeration condenser to the temperature needed.
     * Variable speed fan model upgraded to avoid 
unrealistic leaving temperatures at very low flow rates.

Electrical Systems

     * New model for chemical battery electrical storage.

Controls and User Functions

     * Availability Managers extended to work 
with selected ZoneHVAC equipment including: 
window air conditioner, unit heater, unit 
ventilator, packaged terminal air conditioner, 
packaged terminal heat pump, and zone water source heat pump.
     * New Setpoint Managers added to: follow 
outdoor air temperature, follow system node 
temperature, and follow ground temperature.
     * Improvements made to how zone equipment is 
controlled when sequencing multiple devices in a single zone.
     * New overcool option for Zone and AirLoop 
HVAC to control high humidity by shifting down 
the zone cooling setpoint temperature.
     * Added high humidity control option for 
air-to-air and water-to-air heat pumps.
     * New EMS actuators and calling point for 
custom autosizing of input fields in select DX air handling equipment models.
     * New EMS actuators for material surface absorptance properties.
     * New EMS actuators for Variable Refrigerant 
Flow operating mode and terminal unit part-load ratio.
     * New EMS actuators for ideal loads air 
system supply temperature and humidity ratio.
     * EnergyPlus Runtime Language extended to 
include built-in functions for generating random 
numbers, limited support for minus sign, and 
built-in variables for zone timestep and current environment period.

Output

     * New thermal comfort reporting based on the 
adaptive comfort criteria from ASHRAE Standard 62.1 and CEN 15251.
     * New Sensible Heat Gain Component tabular report.
     * New results in Envelope Summary and Lighting Summary tabular reports.
     * New source energy end use tabular report.

Utilities

     * IDF Editor enhancements include: (1) 
search and replace any text in a file, (2) easy 
node name selection based on names, object, 
field, or recently used, and (3) expanded validity checking.
     * New auxiliary tool generates performance 
curve coefficients for select HVAC equipment.
     * CSVproc has been reimplemented and is now 
available as a cross-platform tool.
     * New EPDrawGUI cross-platform replacement of WinEPDraw.
     * New IDFVersionUpdater cross-platform replacement of IDFConverter.
     * Enhanced WeatherConverter with several new features.
     * EP-Launch can start EPDrawGUI, IDFVersionUpdater, and EP-Compare.

Documentation and Guides

     * Documentation has been updated for all documents.

Platforms

     * Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) 32 and 64 bit versions.
     * Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 and above, Redhat 5.4 
and above) 32 and 64 bit versions.
     * Mac (10.5, 10.6) 32 and 64 bit versions.
     * EnergyPlus V 7.0 has been tested on all of these platforms.

And many other enhancements and speed improvements throughout.

Thanks!
The EnergyPlus Team
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