Introducing the OpenStudio Coalition

The OpenStudio Coalition is a newly formed organization founded to support the OpenStudio Application and to expand the use of energy modeling generally using the free and open source OpenStudio Application. The goals of the OpenStudio Coalition (OSC) include:

Keeping the OpenStudio Application Free and Readily Available: Free to individual user energy modeling tools have been around for a long time, most notably eQUEST. These tools have made it easier to learn energy modeling and for energy models to be used in various publicly funded activities such as energy efficiency programs. A free and open version of the OpenStudio Application will help the EnergyPlus engine be adopted in these contexts. Similar to the OpenStudio Application, many energy modeling tools, including eQUEST, got their start with public funding and then transitioned to other forms of support.
Keeping OpenStudio Application Current and Functional: As the OpenStudio SDK evolves, OSC will coordinate investments in the OpenStudio application to maintain the ability to work interchangeably in both environments. The OpenStudio Application is an important debugging tool for application developers and for those that need to evaluate the results from tools that use the OpenStudio SDK, such as energy program evaluators and model reviewers.
Supporting OpenStudio Application Use: The energy modeling community benefits from access to a free and functional tool for new users of energy modeling tools. The Coalition plans to actively promote the use of the OpenStudio Application to potential energy modelers with the goal of expanding understanding of building performance and increasing the use of energy modeling. It is the intent of this effort to expand both the supply of energy modelers and the demand for energy modeling tools in general, not just for the OpenStudio Application.

Organization

The OpenStudio Coalition is managed by volunteers from the founding organizations, The Energy Coalition (TEC), Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), Performance Systems Development (PSD) and EffiBEM. These organizations have worked together over the past several years, supporting development of and using the OpenStudio/EnergyPlus framework and have now formed this new organization to help support the OpenStudio Application and the expansion of the value and adoption of energy modeling. These organizations have been joined by expert developers who can help support the continued evolution of the OpenStudio Application.

It is the intent of the founding members to seek external funding to support the goals of the organization. The primary focus of initial funding will be to fund incremental development of the OpenStudio application.

Organization Resources

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) transferred control of the OpenStudioApplication and openstudio-sketchup-plugin repositories to the OpenStudio Coalition in July 2020. This transfer included all source code developed for these tools by NREL as well as issue tracking information, documentation, and release packages. The OpenStudio Coalition has assumed control of these resources and will be managing them going forward.

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