Build a Building Peak Cooling Retrofit Demand Evaluator
Compare commercial building envelope glazing and insulation upgrades against peak chiller electrical demand in EnergyPlus models. Formulate envelope retrofit comparisons and recommend chiller downsizing scenarios.
What you are building
The core problem, expected build, and operating context for this challenge.
Compare commercial building envelope glazing and insulation upgrades against peak chiller electrical demand in EnergyPlus models. Formulate envelope retrofit comparisons and recommend chiller downsizing scenarios.
Commercial Energy Retrofit Consultant
Ingest baseline EnergyPlus epJSON building envelope properties and design day cooling peak loads.
Model synthetic window glazing U-factor and roof insulation retrofit packages to isolate load reduction impacts.
Calculate avoided peak cooling kW and downsized chiller capacity requirements based on envelope thermal improvements.
Generate structured engineering comparison tables for facility owner review, explicitly avoiding ungrounded financial payback claims.
Streamlit web application featuring retrofit envelope sliders and simulated load curve charts.
Use open-source standard commercial building EnergyPlus epJSON archetypes from NREL repositories modified for ASHRAE Zone 1B. Starter examples below are synthetic. They are not downloaded records.
EnergyPlus Extracts building envelope constructions and peak design cooling loads directly from EnergyPlus epJSON schema objects to isolate peak demand impacts.
langgraph, fastapi, streamlit. LangGraph manages the multi-step evaluation state across envelope modeling, sizing calculations, and engineering synthesis. Hosted or local LLM with high context reasoning for building system parameters and engineering logic.
Submit runnable source, pinned dependencies, setup commands, a working interface, example outputs, and a recorded end-to-end demo. Include tests and an action log.
Parses valid EnergyPlus epJSON Construction and ZoneInfiltration definitions.
Calculates simulated chiller capacity reduction in refrigeration tons (RT) and kW draw based on provided conversion factors.
Compares retrofit capacity limits against peak demand loads without making unsupported simple payback generalizations.
Flags envelope retrofits yielding insufficient peak demand drop for human re-evaluation.
```json [ { "input": { "record_type": "Simplified synthetic app record", "facility_id": "TOWER-AL-NOOR", "baseline_peak_kw": 1850, "baseline_chiller_tons": 600, "u_factor_delta_absolute": 1.8, "kw_reduction_per_u_factor_drop": 200, "tons_reduction_per_avoided_kw": 0.333333 }, "expected_output": { "facility_id": "TOWER-AL-NOOR", "projected_peak_kw": 1490, "avoided_peak_kw": 360, "recommended_chiller_tons": 480, "status": "APPROVED_FOR_ENGINEERING_REVIEW" } }, { "input": { "record_type": "Simplified synthetic app record", "facility_id": "WAREHOUSE-SOUTH", "baseline_peak_kw": 320, "baseline_chiller_tons": 90, "u_factor_delta_absolute": 0.4, "kw_reduction_per_u_factor_drop": 55, "tons_reduction_per_avoided_kw": 0.333333 }, "expected_output": { "facility_id": "WAREHOUSE-SOUTH", "projected_peak_kw": 298, "avoided_peak_kw": 22, "recommended_chiller_tons": 83, "status": "INSUFFICIENT_PEAK_DROP" } } ] ```
HVAC equipment downsizing numbers are simulation estimates; final equipment procurement requires licensed professional mechanical engineering sign-off. Use mock external writes. Require human review before any real deployment.
Participation guide
HVAC equipment downsizing numbers are simulation estimates; final equipment procurement requires licensed professional mechanical engineering sign-off. Use mock external writes and human review.
How work is evaluated
Parses valid EnergyPlus epJSON Construction and ZoneInfiltration definitions. Calculates simulated chiller capacity reduction in refrigeration tons (RT) and kW draw based on provided conversion factors. Compares retrofit capacity limits against peak demand loads without making unsupported simple payback generalizations. Flags envelope retrofits yielding insufficient peak demand drop for human re-evaluation.
Runnable source, pinned dependencies, setup commands, working interface, example outputs, recorded demo, tests, and action logs.
Challenge datasets
Public datasets, plus the private datasets you have access to.
How submissions are scored
These dimensions define what the evaluator checks and which criteria separate a passable run from a strong one.
Complete workflow
Ingest baseline EnergyPlus epJSON building envelope properties and design day cooling peak loads. Model synthetic window glazing U-factor and roof insulation retrofit packages to isolate load reduction impacts. Calculate avoided peak cooling kW and downsized chiller capacity requirements based on envelope thermal improvements. Generate structured engineering comparison tables for facility owner review, explicitly avoiding ungrounded financial payback claims.
Missing or incorrect.
Partly complete, with documented gaps.
Complete, with reproducible evidence.
Correctness and evidence
Parses valid EnergyPlus epJSON Construction and ZoneInfiltration definitions. Calculates simulated chiller capacity reduction in refrigeration tons (RT) and kW draw based on provided conversion factors. Compares retrofit capacity limits against peak demand loads without making unsupported simple payback generalizations. Flags envelope retrofits yielding insufficient peak demand drop for human re-evaluation.
Missing or incorrect.
Partly complete, with documented gaps.
Complete, with reproducible evidence.
Review interface
Streamlit web application featuring retrofit envelope sliders and simulated load curve charts.
Missing or incorrect.
Partly complete, with documented gaps.
Complete, with reproducible evidence.
Safe execution
HVAC equipment downsizing numbers are simulation estimates; final equipment procurement requires licensed professional mechanical engineering sign-off.
This dimension contributes its full weight only when the submission satisfies the requirement. Partial credit is not awarded.
What you should walk away with
Ingest baseline EnergyPlus epJSON building envelope properties and design day cooling peak loads.
Model synthetic window glazing U-factor and roof insulation retrofit packages to isolate load reduction impacts.
Calculate avoided peak cooling kW and downsized chiller capacity requirements based on envelope thermal improvements.
Generate structured engineering comparison tables for facility owner review, explicitly avoiding ungrounded financial payback claims.
Reference links and supporting material
Use open-source standard commercial building EnergyPlus epJSON archetypes from NREL repositories modified for ASHRAE Zone 1B. Supplied starter examples are synthetic, not source extracts.
Challenge setup
Configuration summary for this challenge.
Challenge input
Input details are not configured.
LangGraph
Runtime for stateful agent workflows.
Evaluated output
No output checks are configured.
- Ingest baseline EnergyPlus epJSON building envelope properties and design day cooling peak loads. Model syn...
- Parses valid EnergyPlus epJSON Construction and ZoneInfiltration definitions. Calculates simulated chiller...
- Streamlit web application featuring retrofit envelope sliders and simulated load curve charts.
- 2 public reference cases
- 2 configured tools
Summary shows the first task, up to three tools, and up to three evidence items. Open the technical recipe to view all configured items.
View technical recipe
Configured tools
- LangGraph · Optional
- LangGraph · Optional
Evaluation contract
- Complete workflow · Weight 40
- Correctness and evidence · Weight 30
- Review interface · Weight 20
- Safe execution · Weight 10
Reference cases
- 2 public reference cases
Workflow tasks
No workflow tasks are configured.
Recipe freeze marker
No recipe freeze time is recorded.