1.1 A Few Preparations
Example Files
Please download the latest version of the following files used in this tutorial which are shared through link 1 or link 2 :
A Tableau workbook file which contains the pre-customized dashboards to connect to and visualize SQLite database generated from EnergyPlus (It will be updated from time to time as new dashboards are included).
The SQLite database and IDF files for one example case as produced from its hourly, monthly and annual simulations, respectively.
Generate SQLite Database in EnergyPlus
In order to generate the SQLite database file as one of the many output files from EnergyPlus simulation, the following line needs to be added to the IDF file:
Output:SQLite, Simple;
The SQLite database file is the one with the .sql suffix in EnergyPlus project folder to which Tableau will connect later.
References:
Software
To use the Tableau dashboards as provided that read SQLite database, the following software need to be installed:
SQLite ODBC driver for Windows (please refer to Appendix 1)
Note:
The tutorial is based on Tableau Desktop Professional Edition (ver 10.4.1, 64-bit) in Windows 10 with an instructor license.
Non-commercial license can be requested from the Tableau Academic Program for self-learning, teaching and non-commercial research purposes.
The workflow as introduced has not been successfully tested in Tableau Desktop for Mac OS X due to unsolved issues related to SQLite3 ODBC driver for Mac OS X.