Basics¶

The API for geomeppy depends on replacing an eppy IDF object with a geomeppy IDF object. To use this, you will need to import IDF from geomeppy rather than directly from eppy.

In your scripts, use from geomeppy import IDF instead of from eppy.modeleditor import IDF. All other features of the current release version of eppy will still be available.

geomeppy then provides a simple Python API for actions on the IDF object:

Intersect and match surfaces¶

Intersect all surfaces:

IDF.intersect()

Set boundary conditions of surfaces:

IDF.match()

Intersect surfaces then set/update boundary conditions:

IDF.intersect_match()

Move an IDF¶

Move the whole IDF close to 0,0 on the x, y axes:

IDF.translate_to_origin()

Move the whole IDF to x + 50, y + 20:

IDF.translate([50, 20])

Move the whole IDF to z + 10:

IDF.translate([0, 0, 10])

Rotate¶

Rotate the IDF 90 degrees counterclockwise around the centre of its bounding box:

IDF.rotate(90)

Scale¶

Scale the IDF to double its size (default is on the xy axes):

IDF.scale(2)

Scale the IDF to double its size (in the xy axes):

IDF.scale(2, axes='xy')

Scale the IDF to double its size (in the z axis):

IDF.scale(2, axes='z')

Add windows to external walls¶

Set a WWR of 20% (the default) for all external walls:

IDF.set_wwr()

Set a WWR of 25% for all external walls:

IDF.set_wwr(wwr=0.25)

Set no windows on all external walls with azimuth of 90, and WWR of 20% on other walls:

IDF.set_wwr(wwr_map={90: 0})

Set a WWR of 30% for all external walls with azimuth of 90, and no windows on other walls:

IDF.set_wwr(wwr=0, wwr_map={90: 0.3})

If wwr_map is passed, it overrides any value passed to wwr, including the default of 0.2. However it only overrides it on walls which have an azimuth in the wwr_map. Any omitted walls’ WWR will be set to the value in wwr. If you want to specify no windows for walls which are not specified in wwr_map, you must also set wwr=None.

Set constructions¶

Set a name for each construction in the model:

IDF.set_default_constructions()

View a simple 3D model¶

Show a zoomable, rotatable transparent model using matplotlib:

IDF.view_model()

Export a 3D OBJ file¶

Generate a model which can be viewed in external programs:

IDF.to_obj('mymodel.obj')

You can view the exported model here. Just drag the .obj file and .mtl file into the browser window.

Get all surfaces¶

IDF.getsurfaces()

Get all surfaces of a given type¶

IDF.getsurfaces('wall')

This only works if the surface type has been set in the IDF.

Get all subsurfaces¶

IDF.getsubsurfaces()

Get all subsurfaces of a given type¶

IDF.getsubsurfaces('window')

This only works if the surface type has been set in the IDF.

Add a block automatically¶

Automatically add a building block to the IDF:

IDF.add_block(...)

This method requires some explanation. The parameters required are:

name : str
    A name for the block.
coordinates : list
    A list of (x, y) tuples representing the building outline.
height : float
    The height of the block roof above ground level.
num_stories : int, optional
    The total number of stories including basement stories. Default : 1.
below_ground_stories : int, optional
    The number of stories below ground. Default : 0.
below_ground_storey_height : float, optional
    The height of each basement storey. Default : 2.5.
zoning : str, optional
    The rules to use in creating zones. Currently two options are available:
    - `by_storey`: sets each storey in the block as a Zone.
    - `core/perim`: creates core and perimeter Zones for each storey (see perim_depth).
perim_depth : float, optional
    Depth of the perimeter zones if the core/perim zoning pattern is requested. Default : 3.0.

The block generated will have boundary conditions set correctly and any intersections with adjacent blocks will be handled automatically. The surface type will be set to wall, floor, ceiling or roof for each surface. Constructions are not set automatically so these will need to be added afterwards in the normal way for Eppy.

Set surface coordinates¶

surface.setcoords(...)

For example:

wall = idf.newidfobject(
    'BUILDINGSURFACE:DETAILED',
    Name='awall',
    Surface_Type = 'wall',
    )
wall.setcoords([(0,0,1),(0,0,0),(1,0,0),(1,0,1)])