Automatic building energy model development and debugging using large language models agentic workflow
- University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Arcadia University, Glenside, PA (United States)
- Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
- Tongji University, Shanghai (China); University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
Building energy modeling (BEM) is a complex process that demands significant time and expertise, limiting its broader application in building design and operations. While Large Language Models (LLMs) agentic workflow have facilitated complex engineering processes, their application in BEM has not been specifically explored. This paper investigates the feasibility of automating BEM using LLM agentic workflow. Here, we developed a generic LLM-planning-based workflow that takes a building description as input and generates an error-free EnergyPlus building energy model. Our robust workflow includes four core agents: 1) Building Description Pre-Processing, 2) IDF Object Information Extraction, 3) Single IDF Object Generator Suite, and 4) IDF Debugging Agent. These agents divide the complex tasks into manageable sub-steps, enabling LLMs to generate accurate and reliable results at each stage. The case study demonstrates the successful translation of a building description into an error-free EnergyPlus model for the iUnit modular building at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The effectiveness of our workflow surpasses: 1) naive prompt engineering, 2) other LLM-based workflows, and 3) manual modeling, in terms of accuracy, reliability, and time efficiency. The paper concludes with a discussion on the interplay between foundational models and LLM agent planning design, advocating for the use of fine-tuned, specialized models to advance this field.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 2480816
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA--5500-92419
- Journal Information:
- Energy and Buildings, Journal Name: Energy and Buildings Vol. 327; ISSN 0378-7788
- Publisher:
- ElsevierCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
EnergyPlus: creating a new-generation building energy simulation program
|
journal | April 2001 |
EPlus-LLM: A large language model-based computing platform for automated building energy modeling
|
journal | August 2024 |
Advancing building energy modeling with large language models: Exploration and case studies
|
journal | November 2024 |
Automated Building Energy Modeling and Assessment Tool (ABEMAT)
|
journal | March 2018 |
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