access the idf file

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Does anybody know how can I access the .idf file that Revit creates for DOE2?

I understand that the file is sent to the Green Building Studio and simulated using their own servers, but was wondering if I can download the idf file anyway.

Thanks!

Y

[mstein7484]

Hello

The idf files can be downloaded from two places, after the simulation in Revit is completed. If you are using Insight 360 in Revit, the idf file is available in the Insight by opening the menu on the model in Insight (you will receive an email from the service once the analysis complete, click on the link and from there, navigate back to Insight, and click on the model) and downloading the energy files. Or you can download it from Green Building Studio for both Insight 360 and Energy Analysis from Revit. Open the Green Building Studio web page (https://gbs.autodesk.com) and navigate to the Project List, click on the Project, click on the Base Run, open the Export and Download Data files tab.

Let us know if you have more questions on this topic, otherwise please accept as a solution so that others can benefit from this information.

Regards,

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I`m stuck at this step:

"open the Export and Download Data files tab"

Can you please clarify?

[mstein7484 · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Here are the steps:

1. log into GBS website: https://gbs.autodesk.com

2. you will be taken to the list of your Projects

3. click on the Project

4. you will see the base run for your Revit simulation at the top of the list, along with all of the design alternative runs we automatically generate for you

5. click on the base run

6. on the right side of the page you will see the "Export and Download Data Files" tab

7. click on this and you will see the .idf file, along with other data files

Regards,

[Anonymous]

Thanks, that works.
However:
A. There`s no option to actually download the idf file. I had to copy the code, paste in a text editor and save it as an .idf file.
B. When running a simulation of this file - I had a sever error and the simulation could not be completed. This is quite weird as it seems that the simulation did get through on the project page (in your cloud service). I don`t really have time to to further investigate this, but I think it might be something to have a look on. 

Many thanks!

[mstein7484]

Hi,

You should be able to download the file in its native .idf format by right-clicking on it and selecting "Save link as...".

Regards,

[greenMEPengineer]

I tired the process as well using the residential example included with Revit 2017, and was unable to execute the downloaded file of a model that ran on your server. As the modeling options offered through Insight interface are limited, a practical process would be to use the interface as the geometry generator for other EnergyPlus tools. 

A straight run with EP-Launch failed with 35 Warnings and 5 Sever Errors (I tried to attache the Error Log, but it wasn't considered an acceptable extension). The errors seemed to be with geometry, which should have been triggered on your server.

Import into OpenStudio had the following fatal error:

"The collection is INVALID at strictness level 'Draft', because of the errors:

Field level data error of type DataType .

Error is in an object of type 'GlobalGeometryRules', named '', in field 0.

Additional information about the error type: field-level data is of an incorrect type."

Again, geometry issues.

While I appreciate the direction that is being pursued (rapid BEM), but since I am out of my allowance for sample runs (that limitation was not conveyed before running the samples), I will not be experimenting further with this tool.

[krishnan.gowri]

We continue to update and fix geometry errors to translate BIM to BEM.  The sample model issues are already fixed but yet to be released.

The exported IDF can be used with EP Launch and IDF editor to fix the input not recognized by Openstudio (which does not seem to have backward compatibility).  Otherwise, the IDF files are valid and can be used with E+ Version 8.3 and later.

BIM to BEM geometry for IDF is a big challenge. We continue to be improve this process and you may want to try it again after the next update.

[mstein7484]

If you upgrade to Revit 2017.1 you will not have a the limit on number of projects you can analyze with Insight 360.

Let us know if you have more questions on this topic, otherwise please accept as a solution so that others can benefit from this information.

Regards,