Sustainable Building Technical Manual - Etn-presco.net

N ext Generation of Design To o l sPowerDOEPowerDOE is a new building-energy simulation program being jointly developed by DOEand the Electric Power Research Institute. The program is based on DOE-2 with a graphicaluser interface, making it easier to operate than DOE-2. Key interface features includeon-line help, mean-driven input, graphical results, building-component libraries, CADpackage linkage, and building description option. The program can be linked to theBuilding Design Advisor, a multimedia-based design support environment that can assistin making energy-related design decisions.PowerDOE is designed with an open architecture, allowing third-party users to addmodules to the core program. One example is a link to the SPARK HVAC simulationprogram (described below). Results can be displayed as graphs, tables, or spreadsheets.Competing energy-efficient measures can be reviewed via a graphical comparison ofparametric runs. A Windows-based version of PowerDOE was scheduled to be availablein Spring 1996.SPARKThe Simulation Problem Analysis and Research Kernel (SPARK) is under developmentby LBNL and California State University at Fullerton. The program will make it possibleto construct plant and innovative system models beyond the scope of DOE-2. It willaccomplish this by graphically connecting HVAC components, such as fans, coils andchillers, from a library. A beta test release of the product was expected in the first quarterof 1996.ENERGY-10ENERGY-10, Version 1.0 software, along with design guidelines was developed byNational Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Passive Solar Industries Council(PSIC), Berkeley Solar Group, LBNL, and DOE. It is an hourly simulation Windows-environmentprogram for low-rise buildings allowing design evaluation of 16 passive solarand energy-efficient options early in the design process. This allows designers to methodicallybut quickly evaluate the combination of features that results in the greatest savingsof energy and money for a given project. The format compares a reference or base caseagainst a low-energy case that the user modifies with the desired passive solar and energyefficientoptions. ENERGY-10 also keeps pace with the evolving building design, allowingthe user the determine the effect of proposed changes on energy use during any stage ofthe process.Many other energy-related software products, which often use one of the above publicdomain tools as their simulation engine, are being developed by private vendors andproduct manufacturers. LBNL is working with the Industry Alliance of Interoperability(IAI) to ensure that energy-design tools can interoperate with all other building-relatedCAD systems. IAI’s goal is to significantly increase the sharing of information in the planning,design, construction, and management of buildings. Future versions of vendor CADsystems will provide an object-based development environment to allow sharing of informationacross disciplines. 13Performance-Based ContractsPerformance-based contracts are emerging as a way of compensating a building’s designteam based on actual building performance. The performance approach rewards the teamfor the effort required to produce efficient buildings. Rewards may be determined by comparingthe building’s actual energy bill with established building energy baseline targets,such as the energy level for a code-compliant building.