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Challenge

Build an EnergyPlus HVAC Schedule Retrofit Planner

Ingest baseline commercial building EnergyPlus epJSON models and adjust occupancy and HVAC availability schedules. Calculate equivalent operational hour reductions to decrease peak cooling demand.

EngineeringHosted by Vera
Challenge brief

What you are building

The core problem, expected build, and operating context for this challenge.

Ingest baseline commercial building EnergyPlus epJSON models and adjust occupancy and HVAC availability schedules. Calculate equivalent operational hour reductions to decrease peak cooling demand.

Building Energy Consultant

Parse baseline epJSON EnergyPlus models to extract Schedule:Compact and Schedule:Day:Interval objects.

Formulate retrofit occupancy schedules reflecting hybrid work occupancy patterns.

Synthesize revised epJSON schedule objects with matching hourly fractional multipliers.

Simulate operational schedule changes and output thermal comfort boundary checks.

Schedule visualizer showing 24-hour profile comparison between baseline and proposed epJSON retrofit.

Create synthetic epJSON schedule snippets covering weekday and weekend Schedule:Compact blocks. Starter examples below are synthetic. They are not downloaded records.

EnergyPlus Utilizes EnergyPlus epJSON input schema conventions for Schedule:Compact and Schedule:Day:Interval objects.

dspy, jsonschema, python. DSPy compiles robust prompt pipelines to transform variable operational requirements into valid epJSON schedule syntax. Instruction-tuned LLM capable of complex JSON generation without syntax truncation.

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.

Schedule fractional multipliers remain bounded between 0.0 and 1.0 inclusive.

Modified schedules produce valid epJSON Schedule:Compact schema blocks.

Weekly operating hours reduction metric is computed accurately.

```json [ { "input": { "zone": "Office_Zone_A", "baseline_daily_hours": 14, "target_mode": "Hybrid_Workplace", "schedule_name": "Office_HVAC_Avail" }, "expected_output": { "schedule_name": "Office_HVAC_Avail", "proposed_daily_hours": 9.5, "weekly_hours_saved": 22.5, "epjson_valid": true, "action": "UPDATE_EPJSON" } }, { "input": { "zone": "Data_Center_Zone", "baseline_daily_hours": 24, "target_mode": "Hybrid_Workplace", "schedule_name": "IT_Cooling_Avail" }, "expected_output": { "schedule_name": "IT_Cooling_Avail", "proposed_daily_hours": 24, "weekly_hours_saved": 0, "epjson_valid": true, "action": "PRESERVE_CRITICAL_SCHEDULE" } } ] ```

Simulation parameter generator only; changes must be reviewed by professional HVAC engineers before physical BMS deployment. Use mock external writes. Require human review before any real deployment.

Rules

Participation guide

Simulation parameter generator only; changes must be reviewed by professional HVAC engineers before physical BMS deployment. Use mock external writes and human review.

Delivery guide

How work is evaluated

Evaluation

Schedule fractional multipliers remain bounded between 0.0 and 1.0 inclusive. Modified schedules produce valid epJSON Schedule:Compact schema blocks. Weekly operating hours reduction metric is computed accurately.

Submission format

Runnable source, pinned dependencies, setup commands, working interface, example outputs, recorded demo, tests, and action logs.

Datasets

Challenge datasets

Public datasets, plus the private datasets you have access to.

Evaluation rubric

How submissions are scored

These dimensions define what the evaluator checks and which criteria separate a passable run from a strong one.

Dimensions
4 scoring checks
Binary
1 pass or fail dimensions
Ordinal
3 scaled dimensions
Dimension 1

Complete workflow

Parse baseline epJSON EnergyPlus models to extract Schedule:Compact and Schedule:Day:Interval objects. Formulate retrofit occupancy schedules reflecting hybrid work occupancy patterns. Synthesize revised epJSON schedule objects with matching hourly fractional multipliers. Simulate operational schedule changes and output thermal comfort boundary checks.

Score scale
012
Score 0

Missing or incorrect.

Score 1

Partly complete, with documented gaps.

Score 2

Complete, with reproducible evidence.

Dimension 2

Correctness and evidence

Schedule fractional multipliers remain bounded between 0.0 and 1.0 inclusive. Modified schedules produce valid epJSON Schedule:Compact schema blocks. Weekly operating hours reduction metric is computed accurately.

Score scale
012
Score 0

Missing or incorrect.

Score 1

Partly complete, with documented gaps.

Score 2

Complete, with reproducible evidence.

Dimension 3

Review interface

Schedule visualizer showing 24-hour profile comparison between baseline and proposed epJSON retrofit.

Score scale
012
Score 0

Missing or incorrect.

Score 1

Partly complete, with documented gaps.

Score 2

Complete, with reproducible evidence.

Dimension 4

Safe execution

Simulation parameter generator only; changes must be reviewed by professional HVAC engineers before physical BMS deployment.

Binary check

This dimension contributes its full weight only when the submission satisfies the requirement. Partial credit is not awarded.

Learning goals

What you should walk away with

  • Parse baseline epJSON EnergyPlus models to extract Schedule:Compact and Schedule:Day:Interval objects.

  • Formulate retrofit occupancy schedules reflecting hybrid work occupancy patterns.

  • Synthesize revised epJSON schedule objects with matching hourly fractional multipliers.

  • Simulate operational schedule changes and output thermal comfort boundary checks.

Resources and assets

Reference links and supporting material

Dataset notes

Create synthetic epJSON schedule snippets covering weekday and weekend Schedule:Compact blocks. Supplied starter examples are synthetic, not source extracts.

Challenge setup

Configuration summary for this challenge.

Challenge input

Input details are not configured.

DSPy

Prompt and LM program optimization framework.

Evaluated output

No output checks are configured.

Evaluation checks
  • Parse baseline epJSON EnergyPlus models to extract Schedule:Compact and Schedule:Day:Interval objects. Form...
  • Schedule fractional multipliers remain bounded between 0.0 and 1.0 inclusive. Modified schedules produce va...
  • Schedule visualizer showing 24-hour profile comparison between baseline and proposed epJSON retrofit.
Configured evaluation evidence
  • 2 public reference cases
Configured runtime
  • 3 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

Action Space
  • DSPy · Optional
Training Infra
  • DSPy · Optional
Orchestration
  • DSPy · 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.

Frequently Asked Questions about Build an EnergyPlus HVAC Schedule Retrofit Planner