IBPSA Project 2 Building Optimization Testing Framework (BOPTEST): Overview, new software features, and example use cases

Development of advanced control strategies in building and district HVAC systems is growing due to needs to reduce energy use and costs, provide grid flexibility, and ensure performance of novel systems. However, new control strategies face slow adoption due to limited benchmarking, operational risks in real systems, and the complexity of developing realistic models to test against. The building simulation community can help by providing suites of publicly available, high-fidelity simulation models and a framework to deploy and interact with these virtual buildings and generate key performance indicators (KPI). Such a framework is being developed as the Building Optimization Testing Framework (BOPTEST), initially released in 2021. This paper gives an overview of continued development, new software features since the initial release, and example use cases that have emerged from research and industry.