There are numerous technological innovations that have vastly changed the way architects, engineers, and others approach the built environment. The integration of OpenStudio into cove.tool is just the latest push to make energy analysis faster, more comprehensive, and easier to do than ever before.
What is OpenStudio?
For those not in the know, OpenStudio® is a cross-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) collection of software tools to support whole building energy modeling. It allows the user to take a project from conceptual massing all the way through to detailed multi-zone analysis, for code compliance and credits. The energy simulation engine behind Openstudio is EnergyPlus™, which allows for a great level of detail and flexibility in future energy studies.
Here are the Top Benefits of running an OpenStudio model:
It allows for a detailed study of the building - multiple zones, complex HVAC systems, hourly simulation results, etc. and is often used for energy code compliance level modeling.
The OpenStudio Application is a fully featured graphical interface to OpenStudio models including envelope, loads, schedules, and HVAC. ResultsViewer enables browsing, plotting, and comparing simulation output data, especially time series. The graphical application can also access the non-graphical software development kit (SDK) via an application programming interface (API).
There exists a large library of OpenStudio scripts—commonly called OpenStudio measure. Many of these apply model transformations in ways that correspond to energy conservation measures, hence the name measures. Other measures do custom reporting/visualization/import from and export to other analysis tools.
OpenStudio measures, as well as all the component content (e.g., construction assembly specifications, equipment specifications, weather files, standard schedule specifications, etc.), exist in the public Building Component Library (BCL) database. This content is crowdsourced and vetted, with the most recent versions always available to OpenStudio or any client application.