EnergyPlus-Towards the Selection of Right Simulation Tool for Building Energy and Power Systems Research

This article offers the summary of detailed literature review on the state of the art of simulation tools for building energy and power system research. The fundamental capabilities required for building energy and power system analysis tools are outlined. A comparative review of different energy simulation tools is presented, along with the summary of their strengths and weaknesses. A review of energy simulation tool rankings using evidence-based research is presented. A novel aspect of this article is the investigation of the limitations of energy simulation tools for district level energy analysis. A state of the art review of the co-simulation platforms to overcome technical difficulties of multi-domain energy and power systems used for district level energy analysis is presented. This article offering a review of latest developments in the building energy and power system simulation tools to help researchers and industry professional to choose the right platform for building energy and power system design and analysis.