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+## Illinois building energy consumption
+
+This repository contains two datasets of 592 Illinois buildings each, one being more heterogenous than the other. The data is sourced from the [NREL ComStock](https://comstock.nrel.gov/) model/dataset. 
+
+## Usage
+
+The file `custom_dataset.py` contains the function `get_data_and_generate_train_val_test_sets`, which takes in three arguments as follows:
+
+- `data_array`: This takes in a `np.ndarray` of shape `(num_buildings, time_points, num_features)` (note that for our experiments, `num_features` is fixed to 8). You can load them from the `.npz` files provided in this repository as `data_array = np.load(./IllinoisHeterogenous.npz)['data']`.
+- `split_ratios`: A list of positives that sum upto 1, denoting the split (along the time axis) into train-validation-test sets. For example, `split_ratios = [0.8,0.1,0.1]`. Must sum to 1.
+- `dataset_kwargs`: Additional kwargs for configuring data. For example, `dataset_kwargs = { 'lookback':96, 'lookahead':4, 'normalize':True, 'transformer':True }`. 
+    - 'lookback` is the number of previous points fed as input. Also denoted by L.
+    - `lookahead` is the number of points ahead to predict. Also denoted by T.
+    - `normalize` (boolean): If set to `True`, data is normalized per-feature.
+    - `transformer` (boolean): If set to `True` and `normalize` is also `True`, then categorical time features are not normalized. Useful for embedding said features in Transformers.
+
+## ComStock Notice
+
+This data includes information from the ComStock™ dataset developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This model was trained using ComStock release 2023.2. NREL regularly publishes updated datasets which generally improve the representation of building energy consumption. Users interested in training their own models should review the latest dataset releases to assess whether recent updates offer features relevant to their modeling objectives.
+
+**Suggested Citation:**
+
+Parker, Andrew, et al. 2023. ComStock Reference Documentation. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-5500-83819. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/83819.pdf