Required Structure of OpenStudio Workflow

OSW Folder Structure

Alfalfa's OpenStudio and EnergyPlus support is exclusively through uploads of models structured as OpenStudio Workflows (OSW). An OpenStudio workflow describes a simulation workflow, including OpenStudio seed model, any OpenStudio model measures that will be applied to this model, and the weather file that the simulation will be run against.

An OSW can be designed using the OpenStudio application or by defining a directory structure with the necessary files. The standard directory structure generally takes the form:

• path/to/my_model/my_model.osm
• path/to/my_model/workflow.osw
• path/to/my_model/measures/…[insert measure directories]
• path/to/my_model/files/desired_weather_file.epw

Your model must be contained in a folder following this format for upload to Alfalfa. To upload through the Alfalfa UI, this folder must be compressed in a .zip folder. A simple example model following this format can be found here.

OSW File Format

The .osw file is a JSON file format which describes the files contained in the above folder structure. An example of an .osw file is also provided below, where the "steps" entry describes the relevant measures in this workflow.

{
  "seed_file" : "myModel.osm",
  "weather_file": "USA_CO_Denver.Intl.AP.725650_TMY3.epw",
  "measure_paths": [
    "./measures/"
  ],
  "file_paths": [
    "./weather/"
  ],
  "run_directory": "./run/",
  "steps" : [
    {
      "measure_dir_name": "alfalfa_measure",
      "name": "Alfalfa Measure",
      "description": "Add variable(s) for Alfalfa",
      "modeler_description": "Add EMS global variable(s) required for Alfalfa"
    }
  ]
}

Any measures required for your model should be placed in other folders and the folder name included under the "steps" entry.