Residential Prototype Building Models

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) simulates energy savings associated with changes in energy codes and standards. This analysis is used by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Energy Codes Program to evaluate published versions of the code, as well as in developing proposed code changes. For residential buildings, PNNL uses two base prototypes to simulate the following building types:

1. Single-family detached house
2. Multi-family low-rise apartment building

These prototypes are then modified to accommodate four different heating system types and four foundation types typically found in new residential construction. The result is an expanded set of 32 models, which is then simulated across 119 climate locations for each edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). This combination results in a set of 11,424 residential energy models (in EnergyPlus™ Version 5.0).

The energy models for the 2006, 2009, and 2012 editions of the IECC are listed in Table 1. Each compressed (.zip) file includes EnergyPlus model input files (.idf) and corresponding output files (.html) for each U.S. state, covering the eight climate zones defined in the IECC.

Each file is assigned a unique name using the following naming convention:

XX_State_City_heatingSystemType_FoundationType_IECC_Year.idf

Where,

Downloads

The energy models for the 2006, 2009 and 2012 versions of the IECC are listed in Table 1 and can be downloaded either by specific IECC edition or as a complete set. Table 2 contains energy models for the state baseline code and the 2009 and 2012 IECC, as applicable. The files may be opened and modified in EnergyPlus or using the OpenStudio plugin for Trimble SketchUp. Files for every state by IECC version are available in Table 3.