Our group has developed multiple open source modeling and simulation tools to support the research and applications of building energy efficiency, indoor environment design, net-zero energy community operations, and smart city infrastructure interdependencies. The development is supported by the National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy.  

BEM

Building Energy Models for Commercial Buildings Based on CBECS Data

March 11, 2021

As an outcome of ASHRAE RP-1771 , we have developed building energy models based on Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) data to sup port the development of the ASHRAE building energy quotient (bEQ) standard. These building energy models can be used as a starting point to reconcile the differences...

FFD

Fast Fluid Dynamics Model

Nov. 11, 2020

Originating from the computer game industry, Fast Fluid Dynamics (FFD) is a faster alternative to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) used for fluid flow simulation. Dr. Zuo developed the FFD model for indoor environment modeling in his Ph.D. thesis " Advanced Simulations of Air Distributions in Buildings " at Purdue University...

Data center

Modelica Buildings Library

Aug. 10, 2020

The Modelica Buildings library is a free open-source library with dynamic simulation models for building and district energy and control systems. The development of Modelica Buildings library is led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The Modelica Buildings library website is https://simulationresearch.lbl.gov/modelic a/ Developing library quality models requires rigorous training...

SCC Modeling Framework

Smart and Connected Community (SCC) Library

March 23, 2019

This open source Modelica library contains an integrated modeling framework and component models for designing coupled energy, transportation, and communication systems. The framework features a multi-level, multi-layer, multi-agent (3M) approach in order to enable flexible modeling of the interconnected systems. Various component and system-level models are included as the testbed...

NZEC

Net Zero Energy Community (NZEC) Library

March 23, 2019

A open source Modelica library for the NZEC is built to facilitate the design and operation of a real NZEC. Using this library, a virtual testbed is built based on Historic Green Village, a real-world NZEC on Anna Maria Island, Florida. The testbed consists of a framework and system models...

datacenter

End-to-End Modeling and Optimization Package for Data Center Cooling

March 23, 2019

This package is an outcome of our data center project sponsored by the DOE. See this research page for more information. Modelica models package for data center cooling systems 4 system models and 30+ component models for data center cooling systems have been released in the DOE’s Modelica Buildings library...

Training

We organize workshops occasionally to disseminate our libraries. Below is a list of all the workshops where slides, recording, and tutorials can be accessed.