To address the need for a more user-friendly interface for the DOE's EnergyPlus building energy simulation program, the Simulation Research Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory worked with a public/private team to develop Simergy.
Simergy is a new, free graphical user interface (GUI ) for EnergyPlus, specifically designed for practitioners. The beta version was released in October 2012 and is undergoing testing.
The US Department of Energy's open-source EnergyPlus program has helped architects and engineers design more efficient buildings for more than a decade. However, it can take a great deal of effort to input information and analyze the output. As a result, many have avoided using the program, while others have turned to third-party GUIs to increase its effectiveness.
As entities such as the California Energy Commission, Hydro Québec, and Trane switch from DOE-2 to EnergyPlus, it is more important than ever to combine an easy-to-use GUI with the capabilities of EnergyPlus, according to Berkeley Lab. Therefore, Berkeley Lab initiated and participated in a series of workshops where practitioners helped to define features that would enable them to use EnergyPlus effectively. The Lab then used their recommendations to develop a product that would meet their specific needs.
Version 1 of Simergy will address design for new construction and is slated to be released in the first quarter of 2013. Users will benefit from the following key features:
