Energy Analysis

We apply our expertise about energy simulations to help accomplish our mission to advance the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings via research and education. For example:

  • Educational software tools: We have helped to include an easy-to-use version of a sophisticated state-of-the-art EnergyPlus energy analysis tool into Learn HVAC an open source, free educational software tool that teaches system-level trouble shooting to multiple audiences (www.learnhvac.org).
  • Educational software tools: We are proposing to include EnergyPlus, Radiance, and other simulation tools as parts of easy-to-use, open-source, and free educational software tools that will teach system-level trouble shooting of several building systems - lighting, daylighting, and building envelope.
  • Educational seminars: We are routinely using the eQUEST energy simulation tool to demonstrate how to achieve 30% or more energy savings from current energy efficiency codes and standards.

Energy Simulations and Design Assistance

We have considerable expertise about energy simulations that we are able to apply to our research and education missions and activities.

For example, our staff has developed expertise about doing energy simulations from doing past analyses on a number of existing and new buildings worldwide including:

  • private offices and banks (US locations, Jamaica, Indonesia)
  • government offices (US locations, Jamaica)
  • laboratories (US Locations)
  • hotels (US locations, Jamaica, Sri Lanka)
  • event centers & exhibition halls (Washington DC & North Dakota)
  • extended care facilities (Minnesota)
  • schools (US Locations)

In addition, our staff has managed and performed thousands of parametric simulations worldwide to analyze typical office, hotel, and apartment buildings under diverse weather conditions. Auch analyses were done as part of technical assistance efforts funded by the United Nations. the World Bank, US AID, and the Canadian International Development Administration (CIDA).

Other past staff research or building code technical assistance and educational activities

  • A research effort for US DOE assessed parametric impacts of the daylighting technology.
  • A technical assistance effort for the non-profit IIEC assessed parametric impacts of external shading on an new energy efficiency code in India.
  • Technical assistance efforts for energy efficiency code development work used parametric analyses to help determine appropriate energy code stringency levels in 7 countries: Egypt, Vietnam, Jamaica, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia.
  • Often as part of technical assistance efforts we have trained in-country energy analysts to perform their own DOE-2 analyses, parametric simulations, and on-site energy audits.

Design Assistance

Utility-supported design assistance programs are effective policy tools that typically use building code requirements as baseline conditions. We use our extensive knowledge of such programs as part of our research and education missions to advance energy efficiency in buildings.

We are very familiar with Design Assistance programs and their application to specific building design projects. For example, our staff have helped design a very successful design assistance program for a utility in the US Midwest, and we have strong experience with DOE-2 and related energy simulation programs.