Question-and-Answer Resource for the Building Energy Modeling Community
 | 1 | initial version |
The SketchUp plugin is used to create and edit surfaces that shape the geometry of your model. There are two kinds of these SketchUp plugins:
All EnergyPlus example files are ready to simulate without errors or any changes required. If you want to view the geometry of the EnergyPlus chiller example model, you can use either kind of plugin. The legacy version will ask to choose what IDF file to OPEN, and the suite version will ask you to choose what IDF file to IMPORT. Some details unrelated to geometry will get lost during the import process, such as schedules. You do have the option to run an EnergyPlus simulation from the Legacy plugin by clicking on the menu command "Plugins -> Legacy OpenStudio -> Run Simulation ... ". A command window should appear and ask you to select what EnergyPlus weather (EPW) file for your desired location.
If you simply want to run ANY EnergyPlus example file and don't want to look at the geometry, simply open EP-Launch and select the example IDF file and corresponding EnergyPlus weather EPW file you want to run. Check out this Unmet Hours question about resources to learn EnergyPlus. Currently, importing gmXML files into SketchUp is only available in the Suite plugin version, not the Legacy plugin version. If you search for "gbxml" on Unmet Hours, you'll see lots of import / export questions surrounding SketchUp.
