Tool · draft
Software (mainly Rhino/Grasshopper, but not only) used to calculate metrics.
| Platform | Python/CLI |
| Category | Urban & district energy |
| Developer | National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL; renamed Dec 2025), copyright Alliance for Energy Innovation, LLC, for US DOE |
| Website | docs.urbanopt.net |
| Licence | open-source |
| Status | draft |
Also known as: URBANopt SDK · URBANopt CLI
What it does
Open-source SDK from the US DOE national lab ecosystem for modelling energy at district and campus scale. It takes a GeoJSON description of buildings and runs scenarios combining building energy, grid, renewable optimisation and district thermal systems. It is aimed at developers and analysts; Dragonfly is a common front end.
What it can calculate
- District/campus multi-building energy use and hourly load profiles (OpenStudio/EnergyPlus)
- Distribution-grid power flow and impacts (OpenDSS, DISCO)
- Cost-optimal PV, storage and DER sizing (REopt)
- District thermal energy systems incl. 4th/5th-generation and ground-source networks (GeoJSON-Modelica Translator)
- Rooftop/canopy PV potential
- Scenario comparison of individual vs shared district HVAC
Status
Active; urbanopt-cli v1.3.0 released 2025-06-29 (OpenStudio 3.10). NREL renamed National Laboratory of the Rockies in Dec 2025.
Connections
- Metrics it can calculate: Energy use intensity, Rooftop PV generation, On-site renewable energy share, Operational carbon
Something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction