EnergyPlus versions

v8.7.0 [Apr 9, 2017]
- Modeling HVAC Operational Faults – Chiller Supply Water Temperature Sensor Offset.
- Fill Plant Equipment Autosizing Gaps.
- Modeling HVAC Operational Faults (1) Condenser Supply Water Temperature Sensor Offset (2) Cooling Tower Scaling.
- Modeling HVAC Operational Faults – Coil Supply Air Temperature Sensor Offset.
- Thermostat based on Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model.
- Hybrid Zone Model.
- Add Kiva foundation heat transfer calculations.
- Allow polygonal windows in AirflowNetwork.
- Add EIO tables to new Tabular summary report.
- Hybrid Ventilation Controls with CO2 and Adaptive Temperatures plus new Minimum Operation Time.
- Variable Speed DX Coil Enhancements.
- Add the latest LCC fuel escalation factors from NIST 2016.
- Connect Zone HVAC Unit Ventilator to DOA.
- Simple Tower Autosizing 25.6C inlet WB does not comply with 90.1-G #5020.
- Allowed SetpointManager:Coldest to work with single-duct systems.
- Water coil autosizing expanded to allow specifying design water temperature difference separately for each coil.
- Add Adaptive Thermal Comfort Thermostat Control.
- Fault Modeling for Fouling of Boilers, Chillers, and Evaporative Coolers.
- New feature - ASHRAE 90.1 SZVAV control for Unitary Systems.
- Revise plant and condenser loop volume autocalculate and add new field for loop circulation time.
- Allow Use of Curves and Tables for Wind Pressure Coefficient Profiles.
- New fan input object Fan:SystemModel.
- Allow regular expressions as keys for Output:Variable.
- AFN Duct Radiation.
- IDF Editor add validation check option, multiple object delete and duplicate, fix Schedule:TypeLimits case sensitive.

v8.5.0 [Mar 31, 2016]
- For multiple year run periods, only show final simulation year in tabular reports.
- Improve reheat coil sizing when there is no central heating coil.
- Improved Scalable Pump Sizing.
- Add new output variables for ZoneHVAC:IdealLoadsAirSystem supply and outdoor air flow rates.
- Add conduction finite difference mode heat flux output.
- Add output for node specific heat.
- Improved economizer integration and single mode option for multi-speed coils.
- Add HeatExchanger:AirToAir:SensibleAndLatent as a valid air loop main branch component.
- Add net area column to envelop summary.
- Electric storage controls and clean up.
- Add Humidifier as valid component to OA subsystem.
- Add new ASHRAE single-zone VAV fan control for fan coil units.
- Add LCCusePriceEscalationDataSet2015 dataset.
- Shiny LaTeX Documentation.
- ObjexxFCL vector-like API extensions.
- ObjexxFCL update.
- ObjexxFCL 4.1.
- Octree system with initial application to daylighting.

v8.4.0 [Oct 1, 2015]
Core changes to EnergyPlus
- Many new features were added, described below, see the installed changelog for a full list of changes
General
- Bug fixes throughout.
New Features
- Residential Heat Pump Water Heater Improvements
- New Variable Speed Heat Pump Water Heater Model
- Update Life cycle costing data set files for 2013 and 2014
- Add Fault Simulation for Dirty Air Filters
- Add PlantEquipmentOperation:ThermalEnergyStorage controls
- New VRF Heat Pump Model
- Add Multiple Tower Support in Condenser Entering Temp Reset Setpoint Managers
- Link Infiltration to HVAC Operation and Add Return Air Flow Controls
- Four pipe beam air terminal
- Improved Ground Temperature Models
Platforms
- Windows 7 & 8
- Linux (Ubuntu 14.04 and compatible) 64 bit versions; (32-bit and RHEL-compatible versions may be available via Helpdesk)
- Mac OSX 10.9 64 bit versions
- EnergyPlus V8.4.0 has been tested on all of these platforms

v8.2.7 [Oct 6, 2014]
Core changes to EnergyPlus:
- Internal simulation engine code translated from FORTRAN to C to spur the evolution of EnergyPlus through:
- Improved interaction with a larger community through a more popular code base, and improved access to code libraries for performance and enhanced capabilities.
- Language change initially caused a slightly slower codebase due to translation overhead, however several restructuring efforts in the code eventually led to EnergyPlus v8.2 being faster than v8.1 in many tests cases.
- Development transitioned to GitHub, where the source code is to be made fully public in the spirit of the open source license.
General:
- Bug fixes throughout.
Building Envelope:
- Integrated slab calculations now allow improved simulation of ground heat transfer.
HVAC/Plant:
- Improved sizing algorithm for including fan heat in cooling coil calculations.
- Improved sizing input options for scaling autosized values.
- Additional plant load dispatch algorithms based on meeting component part-loading targets.
- New models for single-sided natural ventilation with multiple openings.
- New on/off fan option for unit heater and unit ventilator.
- New fault model for coil fouling.
- DOAS direct to zonal water-to-air heat pumps.
- Expanded support for table lookup for plant equipment performance.
- New zone air mass flow balance option (partially link HVAC flows with zone mixing and infiltration).
Utilities:
- Ice storage curve-fit tool.
- Windows 7 - 64-bit version (32-bit may be available via Helpdesk).
- Linux (Ubuntu 14.04 and compatible) - 64-bit version (32-bit may be available via Helpdesk).
- Mac OSX 10.9 - 64-bit version.
- EnergyPlus 8.2.0 has been tested on all these platforms.
- EnergyPlus does intensive computations, and based on configuration, can write massive amounts of data to disk. For best performance, computers should have a substantial amount of memory and high speed hard drives.

v7.2.0.6 [Oct 16, 2012]
-Speed improvements and many bug fixes throughout.
-WindowConstructs.idf was revised so annotations properly reflect U, SHGC, TSOL, TVIS values in EnergyPlus.
-FluidPropertiesRefData.idf was revised remove unused superheated specific heat objects. Data sources documented.
-Corrected or clarified the units for various input fields.
-New detailed model for complex window systems with Bi-directional Scattering Distribution Functions (BSDF).
-Multiple surface heat transfer algorithms (CTF, CondFD, EMPD, HAMT) can now be used in a single simulation and selected for individual surfaces and constructions.
-Changed model coefficients for the default outside face surface convection heat transfer correlations called "DOE-2" and "MoWiTT."

v7.1.0.12 [May 31, 2012]
EnergyPlus can now use multi-core processors to speed execution of models with large geometry descriptions. The solution for inside face surface temperatures was threaded using OpenMP technology.
The Design Day object was restructured and allows finer control over humidity conditions.
The Run Period object was extended to include features useful for real-time and real-weather simulations.

v7.0.26 [Nov 23, 2011]
Significant speed increases, most simulations see up to 20% reduction in execution time, depending on features used.
New input data sets for HVAC equipment performance for rooftop packaged air conditioners and heat pumps.
Extended the library of refrigerant data to include R407a and superheated CO2 properties.
New input data set for exhaust-fired chiller heater model.
Steam is now a "built-in" fluid property.
Zone Floor Area can be an input—overrides the calculated amount.
International Glazing Data Base (IGDB) full spectral data can be used directly.
Shadowing Model new options: legacy "convex" Weiler-Atherton or Sutherland-Hodgman (more robust for non-convex surfaces).
New input problem checks for surface geometry including: convexity, collinear vertices, planar surfaces, and flipped floors/roofs. For flipped floors/roofs, a fix is attempted.
Conduction Transfer Function model revised to improve modeling of mass-less material layers.
OtherSideCoefficients model extended to provide controlled surface outside temperature with schedule and limits.
Design day weather data generation procedures upgraded for clear sky model and wet-bulb temperature profiles.
Conduction Finite Difference heat transfer model now includes options for solution method and to control node spatial resolution, relaxation factor, and convergence criteria.
Improved convergence checks for initial warmup days.
AirflowNetwork solver enhanced for speed.
Consolidated outdoor air inputs in HVAC models to common design object wherever outdoor air rates are specified.
New proportional control for CO2-based demand controlled ventilation.
New mixing object for door openings into refrigerated zones.
New mechanical ventilation controls based on ASHRAE Standard 62.1 and CEN 15251.
New model for Variable Refrigerant Flow heat pump air conditioning systems.
Ideal loads air system model revised to include outdoor air and economizer controls, humidity control, and capacity limits.
Plant system and component models revised to improve speed and robustness, model fluid properties as a function of temperature and alternative types of fluid, and better flow control.
Glycol mixtures supported in all plant loop components.
New dual duct air terminal unit with dedicated outside air system on one duct and cooling on the other duct.
New absorption chiller model powered by microturbine generator exhaust.
Eliminated redundant input fields in compound HVAC objects.
Added maximum limits for supply air temperature leaving air terminal reheat coils.
Radiant-based HVAC system models revised for significant speed increase when models have a large number of thermal zones.
Low temperature radiant zone HVAC model now includes a "variable off" control mode.
Simple chilled water coil model has enhanced autosizing and variable UA for significant improvements in chilled water flow rate calculations.
New heat transfer models for buried piping systems include interaction with building slabs and basement walls.
Hot water boiler model options for choosing between entering and leaving water temperature as basis in performance curves.
New dedicated outdoor air system HVACTemplate object.
New HVACTemplate options: static pressure reset fan curve, screw chiller type, economizer dewpoint limit, and unitary system design supply temperatures.
New Refrigeration model for cold-storage thermal zones served by refrigeration-based zone units.
Refrigeration condensers now can reject heat to a thermal zone.
Improved Refrigeration model to compare the available temperature of heat reclaimed from a refrigeration condenser to the temperature needed.
Variable speed fan model upgraded to avoid unrealistic leaving temperatures at very low flow rates.
New model for chemical battery electrical storage.
Availability Managers extended to work with selected ZoneHVAC equipment including: window air conditioner, unit heater, unit ventilator, packaged terminal air conditioner, packaged terminal heat pump, and zone water source heat pump.
New Setpoint Managers added to: follow outdoor air temperature, follow system node temperature, and follow ground temperature.
Improvements made to how zone equipment is controlled when sequencing multiple devices in a single zone.
New overcool option for Zone and AirLoop HVAC to control high humidity by shifting down the zone cooling setpoint temperature.
Added high humidity control option for air-to-air and water-to-air heat pumps.
New EMS actuators and calling point for custom autosizing of input fields in select DX air handling equipment models.
New EMS actuators for material surface absorptance properties.
New EMS actuators for Variable Refrigerant Flow operating mode and terminal unit part-load ratio.
New EMS actuators for ideal loads air system supply temperature and humidity ratio.
EnergyPlus Runtime Language extended to include built-in functions for generating random numbers, limited support for minus sign, and built-in variables for zone timestep and current environment period.
New thermal comfort reporting based on the adaptive comfort criteria from ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 and CEN 15251.
New Sensible Heat Gain Component tabular report.
New results in Envelope Summary and Lighting Summary tabular reports.
New source energy end use tabular report.
IDF Editor enhancements include: (1) search and replace any text in a file, (2) easy node name selection based on names, object, field, or recently used, and (3) expanded validity checking.
New auxiliary tool generates performance curve coefficients for select HVAC equipment.
CSVproc has been reimplemented and is now available as a cross-platform tool.
New EPDrawGUI cross-platform replacement of WinEPDraw.
New IDFVersionUpdater cross-platform replacement of IDFConverter.
Enhanced WeatherConverter with several new features.
EP-Launch can start EPDrawGUI, IDFVersionUpdater, and EP-Compare.
Documentation has been updated for all documents.
Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) 32 and 64 bit versions.
Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 and above, Redhat 5.4 and above) 32 and 64 bit versions.
Mac (10.5, 10.6) 32 and 64 bit versions.
EnergyPlus V 7.0 has been tested on all of these platforms.

v6.0 [Oct 19, 2010]
General
Significant speed increases, up to 25-40% execution time reduction in most simulations, depending on specific features used.
Revised reference building example files (formerly benchmark buildings).
New detailed 130-zone hospital baseline and low energy example files.
Input
Zone lists supported in most internal gains, infiltration, ventilation, thermostat, and demand manager zone name fields to apply a single input object to multiple zones.
New lookup table object allows alternate performance input format to eliminate the need for regression analysis, can be used in place of existing curve objects, and can create curve objects.
Controls and User Functions
New dual-max control for VAV reheat terminal units with reverse acting damper and hot-water coil.
New maximum supply air temperature limit for VAV reheat terminal units.
New averaged setpoint managers allow control of supply temperature and humidity ratio based on requirements of multiple zones.
New setpoint managers that allow control of supply air humidity ratio of a central system serving multiple zones based on the critical zone humidification or dehumidification requirements.
New “All-Off” equipment operation scheme option added for plant and condenser loops.
Weather variables added as energy management system (EMS) actuators.
Output
New reporting of EER and IEER (in addition to SEER) for DX cooling coils with air cooled condensers.
Enhanced SQLite output to include error file content.
Utilities
New EP-Launch option to run multiple simulations simultaneously, taking advantage of multiple processors (Windows platform only).
Enhanced output file access in EP-Launch (Windows platform only).
IDF Converter (Transition GUI) can now save intermediate versions.