*New tool t**hat**transforms **o**riginal CAD building
geometry **for import in EnergyPlus*
LBNL released the Space Boundary Tool, version 1 (SBT-1)
which transforms building geometry created in
IFC2x3-compatible CAD software into geometry input for
simulation with EnergyPlus. SBT imports building geometry
in IFC format generated by model-based tools (such as Revit
or ArchiCAD), transforms imported geometry into content,
form and format (IDF) importable by EnergyPlus, defines
thermal properties of construction materials specified as
composite constructions in CAD, and sets up basic run
control parameters for simulation with EnergyPlus. The IDF
file exported by SBT-1 can be directly imported into
EnergyPlus to immediately run the simulation of building
geometry, or can be appended with EnergyPlus definitions of
internal loads and HVAC data for the simulated building, as
well as with specifications of simulation output reports.

As EnergyPlus can accept only flat surface geometry, SBT-1
does not accept and import definitions of curved objects and
surfaces defined in CAD. Such objects and surfaces must be
segmented into series of flat objects and surfaces in CAD,
and exported as such in IFC2x3 format for import into
SBT-1. The IFC2x3 file exported by CAD must be "clean:" It
must contain the complete building geometry that is free of
error. If there are problems with the SBT-1 output or the
resulting EnergyPlus simulation, the correctness of the
IFC2x3 file can be verified with commercially available
Solibri Model Checker using the SBT constraint set
downloadable from the SBT-1 download site.

The download of the SBT-1 executable file and the current
supporting information is available free of charge at
gaia.lbl.gov/interoperability/SBT. SBT-1 source code will
be available shortly under an Open Source license. For
questions contact sbt-support at lbl.gov.
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Thank you!

lado Bazjanac, LBNL