eplusr

A Toolkit for Using EnergyPlus in R.

eplusr provides a rich toolkit of using whole building energy simulation program EnergyPlus directly in R, which enables programmatic navigation, modification of EnergyPlus, conducts parametric simulations and retrieves outputs. More information about EnergyPlus can be found at its website.

A comprehensive introduction to eplusr can be found using vignette("eplusr"). There is also an online slides here (Interfacing EnergyPlus Using R). You can learn more about eplusr at https://hongyuanjia.github.io/eplusr/, along with full package documentation.

How to cite

citation("eplusr")
#> To cite eplusr in publications use:
#> 
#>   Hongyuan Jia, Adrian Chong (2021). eplusr: A framework for
#>   integrating building energy simulation and data-driven analytics.
#>   Energy and Buildings 237: 110757.
#>   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.110757
#> 
#> A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is
#> 
#>   @Article{,
#>     title = {eplusr: A framework for integrating building energy simulation and data-driven analytics},
#>     author = {Hongyuan Jia and Adrian Chong},
#>     year = {2020},
#>     journal = {Energy and Buildings},
#>     volume = {237},
#>     url = {https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=eplusr},
#>     doi = {10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.110757},
#>   }

Installation

You can install the latest stable release of eplusr from CRAN.

install.packages("eplusr")

Alternatively, you can install the development version from GitHub.

install.packages("eplusr",
    repos = c(
        hongyuanjia = "https://hongyuanjia.r-universe.dev",
        cran = "https://cran.r-project.org"
    )
)

Since running the IDF files requires EnergyPlus (https://energyplus.net), EnergyPlus has to be installed if you want to run EnergyPlus models in R. There are helper functions in eplusr to download and install it automatically on major operating systems (Windows, macOS and Linux):

# install the latest version (currently v23.1.0)
eplusr::install_eplus("latest")

# OR download the latest version (currently v23.1.0) and run the installer
# manually by yourself
eplusr::download_eplus("latest", dir = tempdir())

Note that the installation process in install_eplus() requires administrative privileges. You have to run R with administrator (or with sudo if you are on macOS or Linux) to make it work if you are not in interactive mode.

Features

• Download, install EnergyPlus in R
• Read, parse and modify EnergyPlus:
  • Input Data File (IDF)
  • Weather File (EPW)
  • Report Data Dictionary (RDD) & Meter Data Dictionary (MDD)
  • Error File (ERR)
• Modify multiple versions of IDFs and run corresponding EnergyPlus both in the background and in the front
• Rich-featured interfaces to query and modify IDFs
• Automatically handle referenced fields and validate input during modification
• Take fully advantage of most common used data structure for data science in R – data.frame
  • Extract model, weather data into data.frames
  • Modify multiple objects via data.frames input
  • Query output via SQL in Tidy format which is much better for data analysis and visualization
• Provide a simple yet extensible prototype of conducting parametric simulations and collect all results in one go
• A pure R-based version updater which is more than 20X faster than VersionUpdater distributed with EnergyPlus
• Fast 3D geometry visualization

View IDF geometry in 3D

Turn RStudio into a model editor via autocompletion

Query and modify weather file

Query output via SQL in Tidy format which is much better for data analysis

Resources

Articles

• Hongyuan Jia, Adrian Chong (2020). eplusr: A framework for integrating building energy simulation and data-driven analytics. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34326.16966
  • Source code and data to reproduce figures in the article

Vignettes

Please see these vignettes and articles about {eplusr}

• Introduction to eplusr
• Run simulation and data exploration
• Parametric simulations
• Update IDF version
• Work with weather files
• Work with Schedule:Compact objects
• Work with geometries
• Frequently asked questions

Slides

• Slides: Interfacing EnergyPlus using R

Additional resources

• eplusr manual: https://hongyuanjia.github.io/eplusr/
• eplusr Docker image: https://github.com/hongyuanjia/eplusr-docker
• epwshiftr for creating future EnergyPlus weather files using CMIP6 data
• epluspar for conducting parametric analysis on EnergyPlus models, including sensitivity analysis, Bayesian calibration and optimization.

Acknowledgment

I would like to thank many open source projects who have heavily inspired the development of eplusr package, especially these below:

• EnergyPlus: A whole building energy simulation program.
• OpenStudio: A cross-platform collection of software tools to support whole building energy modeling using EnergyPlus and advanced daylight analysis using Radiance.
• eppy: Scripting language for E+, EnergyPlus.
• JEplus: An EnergyPlus simulation manager for parametrics.

Author

Hongyuan Jia and Adrian Chong

License

The project is released under the terms of MIT License.

Copyright © 2016-2023 Hongyuan Jia and Adrian Chong

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Please note that the ‘eplusr’ project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By contributing to this project, you agree to abide by its terms.