Performance Modeling

Photo: Daderot. License: Public domain

Thanks in part to green building programs like LEED, whole-building energy simulation has become more common. However, it’s not always doing its job.

When modeling is only used late in design, the modeling might have little value beyond keeping score. When using an iterative process of modeling early in design, results of modeling become feedback not only for the current project but also for future projects and design approaches.

Performance modeling is about more than energy. Other kinds of modeling commonly used for high-performing buildings include:

  • daylight simulation

  • hygrothermal modeling

  • thermal comfort modeling

  • climate modeling

There is no substitute, though, for understanding how your building works. These resources can help you learn how to integrate modeling strategies into your other processes.

Performance Modeling

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  • Climate Analysis for Architects

    Webcast

    For a lot of people, computer modeling is synonymous with energy modeling, and climate data is something you just input to your energy model. Kjell Anderson wants you to do energy modeling for your buildings, and he wants you to do it early—as BuildingGreen has advocated—not just for "keeping score" at the end. In this webcast, Anderson will demonstrate tools that are so easy that they can be used on every project regardless of budget or sustainability objectives, typically taking 3 to 5 hours once you have your system down—and almost no time for projects in a city where you have already done an analysis.

Just For Fun

Something weird happens every April at BuildingGreen...

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