These release notes describe version 1.7.0 of the OpenStudio software suite developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Buildings and Thermal Systems, Commercial Buildings Research Group, Tools Development Section, and associated collaborators. The notes are organized into the following sections:

Where to Find OpenStudio Documentation
Installation Notes
Overview

Where to Find OpenStudio Documentation

OpenStudio release documentation, including these release notes, tutorials, and other user documentation, is available at https://www.openstudio.net/.
C++ API documentation is available at https://openstudio-sdk-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html.
Measure development documentation is available at http://nrel.github.io/OpenStudio-user-documentation/measures/measure_writing_guide/.

Installation Notes

OpenStudio is supported on Windows 7 – 8.1, OS X 10.9 – 10.10, and 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04.

OpenStudio 1.7.0 supports EnergyPlus Release 8.2.0 Update 1, which is bundled with the OpenStudio installer. It is no longer necessary to download and install EnergyPlus separately, however an installer is available at https://github.com/NREL/EnergyPlus/releases/tag/v8.2.0-Update-1.2. Other builds of EnergyPlus 8.2 are not supported by OpenStudio 1.7.0.

Installation Steps

The OpenStudio SketchUp Plug-in requires SketchUp 2015 (not available for Linux). The OpenStudio SketchUp Plug-in does not support older versions of SketchUp. SketchUp 2015 is available in 32 and 64-bit versions; the 32-bit version of OpenStudio on Windows will only work with the 32-bit version of SketchUp 2015, and the 64-bit version of OpenStudio will only work with the 64-bit version of SketchUp 2015.
Download and install OpenStudio.
Setup a Building Component Library (BCL) account to access online building components and measures. View instructions on how to setup your account and configure the key in OpenStudio.

Optional Installation Steps

For Radiance integration, download and install Radiance.

Overview

The biggest new feature in OpenStudio 1.7.0 is the addition of multi-edit capability to grid views in the OpenStudio Application. Implemented for the Thermal Zone and Space Type tabs, this new feature allows users to change properties of several objects at once. More grid views will be applied throughout the remainder of the OpenStudio Application in coming releases. A video tutorial for this new feature is available at https://youtu.be/LnOUfiMajD0.

OpenStudio now supports Radiance 3-phase simulation of dynamic window shading controls. Currently, shading devices are simulated only as venetian blinds, using pre-defined BSDFs hosted on the BCL. Blind operation is automated, with the blinds retracted by default, and covering the window when the illuminance on the shade-controlled window(s) exceeds 2,000 lux. Support for user-defined BSDFs and alternative shade control algorithms will be added in a future release. Documentation for this new feature is available on the OpenStudio website.

The OS:WindowFrameAndDivider object was added to allow import of detailed Window properties from the LBNL WINDOW program. Currently only spectral average data from WINDOW is supported for import into OpenStudio. Wall thickness around windows can be represented in daylighting models using the window reveal and sill dimensions specified in the OS:WindowFrameAndDivider. These dimensions are translated to both EnergyPlus and Radiance. Note: window frame geometry is not currently translated to Radiance, this will be added in a future release. Documentation for this new feature is available on the OpenStudio website.

OpenStudio 1.7.0 includes several other minor features as well as many bug fixes. For a full list of changes included in OpenStudio 1.7.0 please see the complete changelog.

Bug Analytics Since Previous Release

168 new issues were filed since the 1.6.0 release of OpenStudio (not including opened pull requests).
266 issues were closed since the 1.6.0 release of OpenStudio (not including closed pull requests).

These release notes describe version 1.6.0 of the OpenStudio software
suite developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL),
Buildings and Thermal Systems, Commercial Buildings Research Group,
Tools Development Section, and associated collaborators. The notes are
organized into the following sections:

Where to Find OpenStudio Documentation
Installation Notes
Overview
New Features
Known Issues

Where to Find OpenStudio Documentation

OpenStudio release documentation, including these release notes,
tutorials, and other user documentation, is available at
https://www.openstudio.net/.
C++ API documentation is available at
https://s3.amazonaws.com/openstudio-sdk-documentation/index.html.
Measure development documentation is available at
http://nrel.github.io/OpenStudio-user-documentation/measures/measure_writing_guide/.

Installation Notes

OpenStudio is supported on Windows 7 – 8.1, OS X 10.9 – 10.10, and
64-bit Ubuntu 14.04.

OpenStudio 1.6.0 supports EnergyPlus Release 8.2.0 Update 1, which is
now bundled with the OpenStudio installer. It is no longer necessary to
download and install EnergyPlus separately, however a standalone
EnergyPlus installer for this build is available at
https://github.com/NREL/EnergyPlus/releases/tag/v8.2.0-Update-1.2.
Other builds of EnergyPlus 8.2 are not supported by OpenStudio 1.6.0.

Installation Steps

The OpenStudio SketchUp Plug-in requires SketchUp
2015 (not available for Linux). The
OpenStudio SketchUp Plug-in does not support older versions of
SketchUp SketchUp 2015 is available in 32 and 64 bit versions, the
32 bit version of OpenStudio on Windows will only work with the 32
bit version of SketchUp 2015 and the 64 bit version of OpenStudio
will only work with the 64 bit version of SketchUp 2015.
Download and install
OpenStudio.
Setup a Building Component Library (BCL) account to access online
building components and measures. View instructions on how to setup
your account and configure the key in
OpenStudio.

Optional Installation Steps

For Radiance integration, download and install
Radiance.

Overview

This version of OpenStudio works with EnergyPlus 8.2.0 Update 1. Other
builds of EnergyPlus 8.2 are not supported by OpenStudio 1.6.0.
EnergyPlus is now bundled with the OpenStudio installer, it is no longer
necessary to download and install EnergyPlus separately.

OpenStudio SketchUp plug-in updated to work with SketchUp 2015.
SketchUp 2015 is available in 32 and 64 bit versions, the 32 bit version
of OpenStudio on Windows will only work with the 32 bit version of
SketchUp 2015 and the 64 bit version of OpenStudio will only work with
the 64 bit version of SketchUp 2015.

Addition of standards specific properties to material and construction
objects. These fields are completely optional but will be translated to
SDD format if they are populated in the OpenStudio Application. A
template file, CECTemplate.osm, contains a set of materials populated
with CEC Title24 2013 information. This file is installed with
OpenStudio and may be loaded as a library in the OpenStudio Application
for easy inclusion in your model.

The model object TimeDependantValuation was removed.

The BCL OnDemandGenerator class was removed. OnDemandGenerator
functionality was also removed from the BCL.

OpenStudio SketchUp Plug-in 1.6.0

No changes.

OpenStudio Application 1.6.0

Addition of standards specific properties to material and
construction objects.

OpenStudio ParametricAnalysisTool 1.6.0

No changes.

OpenStudio ResultsViewer 1.6.0

Updated to support EnergyPlus 8.2.0.

OpenStudio Ruby Bindings 1.6.0

No changes.

OpenStudio C# Bindings 1.6.0

No changes.

OpenStudio Python Bindings 1.6.0

No changes.
Python bindings are not packaged with OpenStudio. To use them see
our developer page for
guidance on building OpenStudio.

OpenStudio JavaScript V8 Bindings 1.6.0

No changes.
JavaScript bindings are not packaged with OpenStudio. To use them
see our developer page for
guidance on building OpenStudio.

OpenStudio Java Bindings 1.6.0

No changes.
Java bindings are not packaged with OpenStudio. To use them see our
developer page for
guidance on building OpenStudio.

OpenStudio RunManager

The RunManager application has been deprecated in favor of the
OpenStudio and ParametricAnalysisTool applications. The RunManager
library will remain available.

Bug Fixes

The OpenStudio SketchUp plug-in handled orphan objects
inconsistently, now these are simply not drawn. [issue
#1224]
SaveAs in SketchUp plugin corrupts measures in model. [issue
#754]
Cloud functionality fails on reporting measures. [issue
#824]
BCL measure may look like they are broken even though they work.
[issue #1254]
Copy measure does not work. [issue
#1274]
Cannot use Material Roof Vegetation in Construction. [issue
#1317]
PIU fans do not night cycle properly. [issue
#1343]
OA Controller will not schedule off. [issue
#1344]

Known Issues

The following are issues known at the time of publication of these
release notes. Please contact [email protected] if you require
further assistance.

Known Issues Common to All Platforms

OpenStudio SketchUp Plug-In

If you use copy multiple on group-level OpenStudio objects, you will
get one extra copy. The extra group is created by the first
copy-and-paste operation and is not removed when the copy multiple
occurs. To address this, after you perform a copy multiple procedure
on groups or spaces, press delete. The objects you need to delete
should already be selected. If you are copying loose surfaces such
as windows, there are no problems, as SketchUp will merge equivalent
surfaces. [issue
#28]
Using SketchUp’s undo operation on OpenStudio model elements may
produce unexpected results. [issues
#54 and
#150]
SKP and OSM link is not maintained when files are relocated.
However, you can manually re-establish that link. When opening a
SketchUp file, launch SketchUp and then open the SketchUp file. If
that doesn’t work you can also directly load the OSM file, bypassing
the SKP file. [issue
#409]
It is possible for the OpenStudio plug-in to conflict with other
SketchUp plug-ins. If you suspect this is a problem, try testing
with other plug-ins disabled, or contact [email protected] for
assistance. [issue
#26]
Using “Intersect” in the surface matching dialog can result in a
crash or unexpected results. This is more common with models that
were imported from other CAD formats at some point in the workflow.
It is a good idea to save prior to using this to avoid any loss of
data. This is related to an underlying SketchUp bug. [issue
#168]
“Project Loose Geometry” can crash SketchUp. It is a good idea to
save prior to using this to avoid any loss of data. [issue
#484]
Adjacent stacked spaces in same zones may result in incorrect area
and likely loads as well. [issue
#561]
Using AutoSave in SketchUp can overwrite changes made in OS app if
the file is open in both locations. [issue
#899]

If your OpenStudio model causes a crash of SketchUp or has unexpected
behavior, please forward it to [email protected] with a detailed
description of the problem along with the steps that produced the issue.
Please also include the directory that has the same name as the OSM
file. You can attach it as a zip file.

OpenStudio Application

EnergyPlus 8.2 no longer provides simulation output to standard
output during simulation. [issue #1359]
Similar thermostats assigned in the SketchUp Plug-in are shared
across thermal zones in the OpenStudio application. Changing or
turning off one will do the same to others. [issue
#123]
The view does not always refresh correctly when you delete a
material from a construction. If you still see a material after
clicking the “x”, switch away from and back to the object to refresh
the view. [issue
#196]
OS App Schedule Editor allows entering values outside of type
limits. [issue
#531]
All drop zones under Water Use Equipment Definitions doesn't enforce
schedule types. [issue
#532]
Some HVAC components in OpenStudio are missing from the HVAC Library
(e.g. Fan:OnOff). [issue
#599]
Several objects in OpenStudio appear to ac...

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