Navigating references¶

EnergyPlus objects refer to each other by name: a surface names its zone and construction, a lights object names its schedule. idfpy turns those names into navigable links once the objects live in the same IDF.

Forward: what does this object use?¶

Every reference field gets a property without the _name suffix that resolves the target object.

from idfpy.models import BuildingSurfaceDetailed, Zone

surface = idf.get(BuildingSurfaceDetailed, 'Wall1')

surface.zone_name        # 'Zone1', the raw string
surface.zone             # the Zone object, or None if it is missing
surface.construction     # the Construction object

surface.referenced()     # every object this surface refers to
surface.referenced(Zone) # only the zones

Backward: who uses this object?¶

zone = idf.get(Zone, 'Zone1')

zone.referencing(BuildingSurfaceDetailed)   # surfaces in this zone
zone.referencing('Lights')                  # lights objects in this zone

Calls chain naturally:

zone.referencing(BuildingSurfaceDetailed)[0].construction

The object reference lists, for every object type, which types it can name and which types can name it.

Constructions and layers¶

The built-in construction extension resolves layers in order and classifies the construction:

from idfpy.models import Construction

con = idf.get(Construction, 'ExtWall')
con.layers                    # [Material, Material, ...] outside to inside
con.is_window_construction    # True if the layers are window materials
con.is_opaque_construction