“parallel” Energyplus and the Development of a Parametric Analysis Tool

Parametric analysis is a powerful method for exploring alternative design options and establishing variable dependency therefore design guide. The text-based user interface of EnergyPlus makes it a perfect simulation tool for automated (or scripted) parametric analysis. Since the number of simulations required for parametric analysis tend to be large, a software utility that may take advantage of the everincreasing desktop computing power is desirable. “Parallelism”, in its broad sense of running more calculations simultaneously, comes naturally into our view. Two implementations have been tested on a single-box dual-core PC and a 256-core Beowulf Cluster. This paper presents the development of the Java tool that prepares the parametric runs, as well as the performance enhancement achieved on different platforms.