Whole-building simulation for codes, programmes and design decisions.
Energy modelling is the simulation of a building's energy use before it exists, or of a retrofit before it is paid for. For houses that is HOT2000; for larger and Part 3 buildings it is whole-building simulation to recognised practice.
Three things increasingly require it. Code compliance on the performance path — the BC Energy Step Code requires a digital whole-building model before the design is finalised, and the Zero Carbon Step Code calculates carbon intensity out of that model. Programme qualification — CMHC MLI Select needs modelled energy consumption and a signed attestation, and an energy advisor is named in CMHC's own criteria as an acceptable signer. And design decisions, where the model is the only way to compare two options honestly.
The value is almost entirely in when it happens. A model produced at design stage changes the building; a model produced to satisfy a permit after the drawings are sealed is paperwork. We would rather do the first, and we will say so if you ask for the second.
A calibrated model, the compliance report the programme or authority requires, and the comparison between options.
Builders, developers, architects and multi-unit owners.