OpenStudio/OpenStudio Application/Building Envelope Specification

The process of defining the envelope of a building for a building energy model consists a few core steps:

1. Weather
2. Building Envelope Geometry
3. Surfaces
4. Constructions
5. Sub-surfaces

Envelope Geometry and Building Spaces

There are several ways that building and space geometry can be built and brought into OpenStudio.

1. OpenStudio Plug-in in SketchUp can be used for generating detailed models that cannot be built only within 2D models.
2. Any computer aided drafting (CAD) program that can export geometry to the Green Building Extensible Markup Language (gbXML) format can be used as well, as OpenStudio can import gbXML files.
3. OpenStudio includes a built-in JS floor plan space editor that can be used to develop 2D floor plans of the building. Note that the JS floor plan space editor can be used to create modify plans built in the JS editor, but cannot be used to modify imported gbXML files.
4. The OpenStudio API can also be used to procedurally create geometry for OpenStudio models.