Import EnergyPlus IDF

Overview

VICUS Buildings imports EnergyPlus input files (*.idf) along with their geometry and construction data. The IDF objects become buildings, rooms, surfaces, windows and shading geometry in the VICUS data model; materials, constructions and glazing data are adopted into the database. The imported model can replace a new project or be merged with the open project.

Access

Menu Import > EneryPlus IDF… (spelling as in the program; the entry is only visible in the Building workspace). In the file dialog Select IDF file, the file is chosen via the filter EnergyPlus IDF files (*.idf); the Import EneryPlus IDF dialog then opens.

Import dialog

Element	Meaning
Import settings > Text decoding:	Character encoding of the IDF file: UTF-8, ISO 8859-1 or ISO 8859-15. The encoding is detected and preset automatically when opening; it determines whether special characters in zone and construction names are adopted correctly.
Import IDF	Reads the file with the selected encoding and converts it into a VICUS project (progress dialog Importing IDF project, cancelable).
Import log	Import log: warnings appear yellow, errors red. After a successful run, the message “IDF data imported successfully. Please check the import log for warnings!” appears.
Import as new project	Closes the current project (with a save prompt) and creates a new project from the imported data.
Merge with existing project	Adds the imported buildings to the open project. The button is only active if a project is open; the IDs of the imported objects are assigned automatically above the existing IDs.

Both adoption buttons are only enabled after a successful conversion. When changing the text encoding, the log shows a preview of the material, construction and zone names with special characters in the selected encoding - this allows the correct encoding to be checked before clicking Import IDF (after a successful conversion, the button is disabled).

What is imported

• Building structure: one building (named after the IDF file) with one storey Default storey; each EnergyPlus zone becomes a room.
• Surfaces: BuildingSurface:Detailed objects become room surfaces; invalid or non-simply-connected polygons are reported in the log.
• Windows: FenestrationSurface:Detailed objects become sub-surfaces with window components.
• Shading: Shading:Building:Detailed objects become shading objects.
• Database elements: materials, opaque constructions as well as simple glazing systems (WindowMaterial:SimpleGlazingSystem with U-value, SHGC and angle-dependent SHGC curve) and windows derived from them. Before creation, a check is made against the existing database - identical entries are reused instead of duplicated.
• Boundary conditions and components: Depending on the EnergyPlus boundary condition of the surface, the boundary conditions Interior surface, Floor covering (ground), Adiabatic surface and Exterior surface are created and assigned to the surfaces via components; surface pairs between zones are connected as component links.

Constructions with unsupported layer types (e.g. mixed opaque and transparent layers) are skipped with an error message in the log - the import continues, and the model is then incomplete at these locations.

After the import

Usage profiles, schedules and building services from EnergyPlus are not adopted - the imported model must have usage profiles assigned in VICUS Buildings. The imported construction assignments can be checked in the Constructions panel.

Related topics

• Import IFC
• Materials & constructions
• Assign boundary conditions