Getting Started

Setup

To get started:

1. Download OpenStudio 2.9.1 and install the Command Line Interface/EnergyPlus components, or use the nrel/openstudio docker image.
2. Download the OpenStudio-HPXML measure.

Running

To programatically run simulations, it’s recommended to use the OpenStudio Command Line Interface. Two general approaches (basic and advanced) for running via the CLI are described below.

Note that the OpenStudio measure can also be run from user interfaces (e.g., the OpenStudio Application or Parametric Analysis Tool).

Note

If the openstudio command is not found, it’s because the executable is not in your PATH. Either add the executable to your PATH or point directly to the executable found in the openstudio-X.X.X/bin directory.

Basic Run

The simplest and fastest method is to call the OpenStudio CLI with the provided resources/run_simulation.rb script.

For example: openstudio resources/run_simulation.rb -x tests/base.xml

This will create a “run” directory with all input/output files. By default it will be found at the same location as the input HPXML file, though it can be changed. Run openstudio resources/run_simulation.rb -h to see all available commands/arguments.

Advanced Run

If additional flexibility is desired (e.g., specifying individual measure arguments, including additional OpenStudio measures to run alongside this measure in a workflow, etc.), create an OpenStudio Workflow (OSW) file. The OSW is a JSON file that will specify all the OpenStudio measures (and their arguments) to be run sequentially. A template OSW that simply runs this measure on the tests/base.xml can be found at resources/template.osw.

For example: openstudio run -w resources/template.osw

This will create a “run” directory with all input/output files. By default it will be found at the same location as the OSW file, though it can be changed in the OSW file.