Question-and-Answer Resource for the Building Energy Modeling Community
 | 1 | initial version |
As the error mentions, if you do not see \extensible below the input field(s) that you hope to extend, then you should NOT modify the IDD -- EnergyPlus is hard-wired for the number of input fields that you see in the IDD. If you were able to build the EnergyPlus .exe file (executable file) from source code, you could modify the IDD and build a custom EnergyPlus .exe file to have that change take effect.
In this case, if you need more than the current maximum of 8 plant equipment operations, I would recommend using Energy Management System (EMS) features to define your custom controls. The actuator for Plant Equipment Profile seems to be your best option in v22.2 of EnergyPlus, but I haven't used this myself to confirm. You should check the EMS Application Guide for the EP version you're using to confirm what actuators are available (new actuators may have been added in new EP versions) and could work for your project.
| | 2 | No.2 Revision |
As the error mentions, if you do not see \extensible below the input field(s) that you hope to extend, then you should NOT modify the IDD -- EnergyPlus is hard-wired for the number of input fields that you see in the IDD. If you were able to build the EnergyPlus .exe file (executable file) from source code, you could modify the IDD and build a custom EnergyPlus .exe file to have that change take effect.
In this case, if you need more than the current maximum of 8 plant equipment operations, I would recommend using Energy Management System (EMS) features to define your custom controls. The actuator for Plant Equipment ProfileOperation seems to be your best option in v22.2 of EnergyPlus, but I haven't used this myself to confirm. You should check the EMS Application Guide for the EP version you're using to confirm what actuators are available (new actuators may have been added in new EP versions) and could work for your project.
UPDATE
If that actuator option doesn't work, then you may have to use the EMS program to manually apply your 8 operation schemes. A common approach is to originally apply a scheduled setpoint manager to the plant loop with a constant temperature schedule, then use an EMS actuator for schedule value and set that in the EMS program each timestep based on your desired controls (update setpoint temperature schedule based on load & flow rate, etc.).
