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Converting ResStock samples to multi-unit HPXML with inter-unit heat transfer

asked 2026-02-18 16:07:13 -0500

updated 2026-02-19 09:55:03 -0500

Hi,

I noticed that the latest OpenStudio-HPXML release supports the 1) multi-unit multifamily building models; 2) inter-unit heat transfer as described here.

It doesn’t look like these capabilities have been integrated into ResStock yet. What would you recommend as a practical workflow to convert a set of buildings sampled from ResStock into multi-unit models that also include inter-unit heat transfer?

Thank you.

(I was wondering if @shorowit have some insights on this!)

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answered 2026-02-23 15:51:50 -0500

In ResStock 2025 Release 1's BuildExistingModel measure you could try setting the whole_sfa_or_mf_building_sim variable to true, and then running run_analysis.rb as usual. The resulting home.xml HPXML file located in the run folder should contain multiple Building elements, each representing 1 or more dwelling units (as described in the OpenStudio-HPXML documentation), for SFA/MF building type samples. Keep in mind, however, that this feature is not yet part of ResStock's normal production or testing workflow (i.e., whole_sfa_mf_building_sim is currently hardcoded to false); it should be considered placeholder code that may be used to support future ResStock development.

Note that the resulting HPXML file will contain identical dwelling units, except for the generated stochastic schedules that vary across the modeled units. For inter-unit heat transfer, we'd need to know how units are situated adjacent to each other (e.g., units to the side(s), above, below, etc). However, currently every unit would use the same setpoints, so in general there would not be very much inter-unit heat transfer, with the possible exception of buildings without cooling.

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@joseph-robertson Thank you so much, Joseph. I was able to create a multi-unit HPXML file for building 102. Could you further clarify if it is possible to 1) assign stochastic schedule for each unit in the model; 2) does ResStock currently support inter-unit heat transfer considering different setpoint at unit level?

I have tried to update the offline ResStock's OpenStudio-HPXML package from v1.10 to v1.11, but this caused a lot of bugs/inconsistencies. I understand that the HPXML schema versions are different, and v1.11 also uses a different version of OpenStudio and EnergyPlus.

Thanks!

Yapan's avatar Yapan  ( 2026-02-24 09:59:26 -0500 )edit
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Generating stochastic schedules/assigning them to each unit is part of ResStock's workflow. You should see several schedules_X.csv files in the run folder that are referenced from the HPXML file.

ResStock does not currently support the inter-unit heat transfer feature of OS-HPXML.

This brings ResStock up-to-date with OS-HPXML v1.11.0. You can read more about this here. But again, no guarantees that it works when whole_sfa_or_mf_building_sim=true.

joseph-robertson's avatar joseph-robertson  ( 2026-02-24 10:56:11 -0500 )edit

@joseph-robertson, Thank you so much! I appreciate your help.

Yapan's avatar Yapan  ( 2026-02-24 11:06:56 -0500 )edit

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Asked: 2026-02-18 16:07:13 -0500

Seen: 115 times

Last updated: Feb 24