The Building Component Library: An Online Repository to Facilitate Building Energy Model Creation

Abstract

Powerful and affordable computing has made detailed whole-building energy simulations a reality. These simulations require complicated energy models that comprise thousands of inputs ranging from weather data to system component performances. The accuracy and integrity of these data are critical to the accuracy of the predicted performance. Although detailed information is paramount to ensure valid models, recreating the information for each new building model is an arduous task. A vehicle that facilitates input data reuse is vital to minimizing the effort required to adequately model buildings. This paper describes the Building Component Library, the U.S. Department of Energy’s comprehensive online searchable library of energy modeling building blocks and descriptive metadata. Novice users and seasoned practitioners can use the freely available and uniquely identifiable components to create energy models and cite the sources of input data, which will increase the credibility and reproducibility of their simulations.