It is well recognized that the greatest opportunity to influence a building’s operational performance and costs lies in the early stages of the design process. However, given the complexity involved in building an energy model, there is a need for effective, efficient, user-friendly tools to assess energy impacts early in the conceptual design phase. Presenter Khee Pom Lam will review the usability, functionality, reliability and prevalence of five energy modeling tools representative of the broad categories of tools currently available.

Following Lam’s introduction, technical experts from the BetterBricks lab network will share their experiences using each of the same modeling tools. Energy modeling tools that will be discussed include: eQuest, Ecotect, Energy Scheming, TAS, and Green Building Studio.