Energy-models have become more popular in the last couple years - this is certain. This is in part due to ASHRAE, LEED, and increased computational power.

So you could ask, "How successful is energy-modeling?".

Let's take a look at the [current] ultimate metric for environmental success - Global Warming.

I've heard that a way to measure global warming is by arctic populations, especially that of tertiary predators - chiefly the polar bear. While watching the Big Game, I witnessed something that gave indisputable evidence that the polar bear population is thriving, and possibly even evolving.

The number of polar bears shown over the passed few years has grown exponentially, which indicates healthy arctic populations and large polar ice caps.

The numbers are staggering, if we cite polar bear sample population sizes during "Big Game" Commercials:

• 2009 - 2 polar bears
• 2010 - 3 polar bears (one was an infant - so successful breeding is occurring)
• 2011 - 4 polar bears
• 2012 - 8 polar bears

Please note that no animals were harmed making the energy models that stopped global warming.