Setting-up your first model (tutorial)

This is a step-by-step guide on how to set up your first model using the EBM model.

1. How to run the program from the command line?

For the commands to be excuted locally or in an IDE, it must be launched as a module rather than a program.

Example:

ebm heating-systems

should be excuted like:

python -m ebm heating-systems

2. Additional arguments

ebm <--switch> <step> <output filename>

The parameters listed above are optional. The default choice for the step parameter is energy-use, and the default output filename is output/ebm_output.xlsx.

Difference between switch and step
Option	Description
switch	Always preceded by `--`. Used to ensure different running options a user may want to use. Examples include: `--help`, `--version`, `--debug` and `--open`. A more detailed explanation of the options can be found using the `--help` switch.
step	Represents the calculation step you want to run. The steps are sequential. Any prerequisite to the chosen step will run automatically. The four steps available are: `area-forecast`, `energy-requirements`, `heating-systems` and `energy-use`.

3. Example of how to run your first model: test

Help command

Typing ebm –help will give you a list of most parameters:

ebm --help

  usage: ebm [-h] [--version] [--debug] [--categories [CATEGORIES ...]] [--input [INPUT]] [--force] [--open] [--csv-delimiter CSV_DELIMITER] [--create-input] [--horizontal-years] [{area-forecast,energy-requirements,heating-systems,energy-use}] [output_file]

Calculate EBM energy use 1.1.10

positional arguments:
  {area-forecast,energy-requirements,heating-systems,energy-use}

                        The calculation step you want to run. The steps are sequential. Any prerequisite to the chosen step will run
                            automatically.
  output_file           The location of the file you want to be written. default: output\ebm_output.xlsx
                            If the file already exists the program will terminate without overwriting.
                            Use "-" to output to the console instead

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --version, -v         show program version number and exit
  --debug               Run in debug mode. (Extra information written to stdout)
  --categories [CATEGORIES ...], --building-categories [CATEGORIES ...], -c [CATEGORIES ...]

                        One or more of the following building categories:
                            house, apartment_block, kindergarten, school, university, office, retail, hotel, hospital, nursing_home, culture, sports, storage_repairs.
                            The default is to use all categories.
  --input [INPUT], --input-directory [INPUT], -i [INPUT]
                        path to the directory with input files
  --force, -f           Write to <filename> even if it already exists
  --open, -o            Open <filename> with default application after writing. (Usually Excel)
  --csv-delimiter CSV_DELIMITER, --delimiter CSV_DELIMITER, -e CSV_DELIMITER
                        A single character to be used for separating columns when writing csv. Default: "," Special characters like ; should be quoted ";"
  --create-input
                        Create input directory containing all required files in the current working directory
  --horizontal-years, --horizontal, --horisontal
                        Show years horizontal (left to right)

4. Calculate the projected annual area requiring heating

# This is the default cammand, where the output file is area-forecast-vertical.xlsx located
# in the output directory
# The output file will be written in vertical format
ebm area-forecast output/area-forecast-vertical.xlsx

Output from using the command above
Building_category	TEK	Building_condition	Year	m2
House	PRE_TEK49	original_condition	2020	941109.5047
house	PRE_TEK49	original_condition	2021	494082.49
house	PRE_TEK49	original_condition	2022	494082.49

If the user wants the output file in horizontal format, the user can use the following command:

# This command will write the output file in horizontal format with the name area-forecast.xlsx
ebm --horizontal area-forecast output/area-forecast.xlsx

Output from using the command above (horizontal format)
building_category	TEK	building_condition	U	2020	2021	2022
house	PRE_TEK49	original_condition	m2	941 110	494 082	494 082
house	PRE_TEK49	small_measure	m2	1529 303	1976 330	1976 330
house	PRE_TEK49	renovation	m2	0	0	0

5. Calculate energy-requirements

The energy-requirements is calculated by multiplying the heating demand per square meter by the area from the previous step.

# This is the default cammand, where the output file is energy-requirements-vertical.xlsx located
# in the output directory
ebm energy-requirements output/energy-requirements-vertical.xlsx

Output from using the command above
building_category	TEK	building_condition	year	purpose	m2	original_kwh_m2	reduction_yearly	reduction_policy	reduction_condition	reduced_kwh_m2	behavior_factor	kwh_m2	energy_requirement
house	PRE_TEK49	original_condition	2020	heating_rv	941109.5047	155.290712	1	1	1	155.290712	1	155.290712	146145565.1
house	PRE_TEK49	original_condition	2020	heating_dhw	941109.5047	29.78125	1	1	1	29.78125	1	29.78125	28027417.44
house	PRE_TEK49	original_condition	2020	fans_and_pumps	941109.5047	0.58125	1	1	1	0.58125	1	0.58125	547019.8996

If the user wants the output file in horizontal format, the user can use the following command:

# This command will write the output file in horizontal format with the name energy-requirements.xlsx
ebm --horizontal energy-requirements output/energy-requirements.xlsx

Output from using the command above (horizontal format)
building_category	TEK	building_condition	U	2020	2021	2022
house	PRE_TEK49	original_condition	GWh	199	104	104
house	PRE_TEK49	small_measure	GWh	307	395	394
house	PRE_TEK49	renovation	GWh	0	0	0

6. Energy consumption

The energy consumption is calculated by multiplying the energy requirements from the previous step by the efficiency factor.

# This is the default command, where the output file is heating-systems-vertical.xlsx located
# in the output directory
ebm heating-systems output/heating-systems-vertical.xlsx

Output from using the command above
building_category	building_condition	purpose	TEK	year	heating_systems	heating_system_share	Grunnlast energivare	Grunnlast virkningsgrad	Spisslast energivare	Spisslast virkningsgrad	Ekstralast energivare	Ekstralast virkningsgrad	Tappevann energivare
apartment_block	original_condition	cooling	PRE_TEK49	2020	DH	0.20675904	DH	0.99	Ingen	1	Ingen	1	DH
apartment_block	original_condition	cooling	PRE_TEK49	2020	DH - Bio	0.003394661	DH	0.99	Bio	0.65	Ingen	1	DH
apartment_block	original_condition	cooling	PRE_TEK49	2020	Electric boiler	0.056017026	Electricity	0.98	Ingen	1	Ingen	1	Electricity

7. Holiday homes energy consumption

# This is the default command, where the output file is energy-use-vertical.xlsx located
# in the output directory
ebm energy-use output/energy-use-vertical.xlsx

Output from using the command above
building_category	energy_source	U	2020	2021	2022
Bolig	Elektrisitet	GWh	42133	42039	41926
Bolig	Fjernvarme	GWh	2727	2732	2736
Bolig	Bio	GWh	6138	6123	6094

8. Example case

If the user wants to run the program with input files located in another directory, for instance the “calibration” directory, the user can use the following command:

# This command will run the program with input files located in the "calibration" directory
ebm --input calibration energy-use output/energy-use.xlsx

Last Updated on 2025-11-06.

Version: 1.0.1.