The way I've always done it is to boil the performance characteristics for the IGU down to the "big three" of SHGC, U, and VLT (which you can get from Optics for sure, and I think WINDOW as well). With those three values, you can then make two constructions in OpenStudio, one for the clear state and one for the tinted state. Create a shading control, assigning the tinted construction in the dialog box (documentation here) and select a control algorithm, then attach the shading control to as many windows as you want.

This will also work with the Radiance measure, so you have the option of getting better daylight simulation and dynamic daylight metrics. The downside is that this control only supports a handful of the available EnergyPlus control algorithms (always on/tinted, always off/clear, on if high solar, and "per schedule"), and the Radiance measure doesn't even support the schedule option. But you said you wanted friendly, so here you go. =)