Generate BRICK models from EnergyPlus building models

This utility parses an EnergyPlus IDF, finds its components and builds a BRICK model for the modelled building. The output is a Turtle file that describes the building.

This is still a prototype!

This work is still experimental. Do not expect this program to work with any IDF you might pass to it. Many EnergyPlus objects have not been implemented yet.

Current status

This program can parse:

• the DOE Prototype small office building (STD 90.1 2013)
• the DOE Prototype medium office building (SDT 90.1 2013)

Yet, this program does not parse all the building. It will only:

• generate BRICK descriptions of the air handling units (AHUs)
• generate BRICK descriptions of thermal zones
• define relationships between AHU components (hasPart, isPartOf, feeds, isFedBy) and thermal zones

Objective

This program will, at the end of its development, be able to parse all possible EnergyPlus objects.

Work in progress

This is the list of items that are being taken care of:

• detect sensor and control points, if specified in the IDF
• generate basic sensor and control points, if not specified in the IDF
• expand the list of EnergyPlus objects that are detectable

And someday:

• write the documentation

How to run this prototype

Sample code:

from eptobrick.extractor import epparser
from eptobrick.extractor.utils import utils

idfpath = 'pathToYourIDF'

parser = epparser.Extractor()
# Load an IDF
idf = parser.load(idfpath)
# Bind the building to the BRICK graph. This function will eventually be called automatically
parser.bindBuilding(idf)
# Parse AHUs and add them to the graph
parser.createAHUs(idf)
# Save the graph as a .ttl file
parser.saveGraph()