Energy Modeling Blog
Posted on: Aug 6, 2012
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Because, well, you can't eat LEED points.
Filed under: Munters
Posted on: Jul 16, 2012
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Call me an energy nerd.... I've read tons of articles on saving energy, and they involve buying various gadgets (many of which I own), but what I am going to list here is 5 things (actually 6) you can do to your own house that take only a few minutes (most of them) and that are basically free. The goal here is to keep the house cool, without unnecessary effort and for free!
1) Blinds or DrapesCommon sense tells you to keep your blinds closed on a hot sunny day. This lowers your solar gains, as well as gives better insulation, but there's more too it than just closing them.
If you have slat blinds - adjust them so the top of each slat is pointing towards the window ( like this "/"). Otherwise, more hot air is... Filed under: Conservation
Posted on: Jun 20, 2012
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Let's face it: There is no current end-all solution to our dependence on fossil fuels. That means, an end-all solution requires imagination and innovation. LEED has recognized the importance of creativity and gives points based on innovation. That was a pretty good idea especially since the HVAC and automobile industry are often criticized for lack of inspiration.
I suppose, collectively, we have been riding the genius of Willis Carrier and Henry Ford for about 100 years, but there hasn't been a need to fix anything (it it ain't broke, don't fix it)
So, despite the missing "end-all" solution - if there is one - there have been some awesome innovations regarding energy efficiency. Let's mention 5 of them...
Filed under: Equipment
Posted on: May 25, 2012
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The problem with renewables is not the power generation, it's the energy storage. Solar and wind generate power intermittently, sometimes when demand for the power is high and sometimes when it's not.
Professor Donald Sadoway, an MIT professor of materials chemistry, thinks his liquid metal battery technology is the energy storage breakthrough we need. It basically takes all the individual cells necessary for a large battery and replaces them with liquid metal, reducing cost and complexity. Lowering the cost of energy storage is necessary if a distributed network of renewable energy, such as...
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Posted on: Apr 30, 2012
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Like the Oracle from the Matrix, Jeff Hirsch recently offered the energy modeling community a glimpse into the future, and what a bright future it is for eQUEST. Development of the eQUEST program is ongoing and there will be a new release with DOE-2.3 as the underlying engine sometime in the coming year.
eQUEST and DOE-2 are alive and well and our combined development efforts are at an equal or higher funding and effort level than ever before. -- Jeff Hirsch
There are so many reasons that putting to rest rumors of eQUEST's demise helps the community. First, the decision to make eQUEST the software of choice for energy modeling is easier for people. Whenever there is uncertainty surrounding a...
Filed under: eQUEST
Posted on: Apr 26, 2012
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Sketchup is a pretty amazing product, especially since you can download the non-pro version for free. It's utilized by millions of people to do 3D modeling with especially loyal followings in the engineering, architecture and construction industries for obvious reasons.
SketchUp was originally created by @Last Software. Their team got to know Google while developing the Google Earth Plugin for SketchUp, which allows crowd sourced construction and mapping of 3D buildings and non-flat earthly features. They had been selling their product for $500 a pop, but Google decided to release a free version along with the now...
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Posted on: Mar 9, 2012
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So, you're into energy-modeling, and you're probably not that happy with the program you use, or you think it's buggy, or whatever. Maybe you want to get into energy-modeling, and you don't know what to choose.
Soo many options.... Which one do I chose?
Heck folks, if I knew which one to bet on, I might be able to get some sleep, instead of staying up trying to stay updated on everything.
Something that interests me is that A LOT of folks call us here at energy-models.com and ask about what software to choose. I've noticed 5 things that seem important to people:
Credibility (Do other people recognize the name?) Accuracy (Can I trust it's output?) Longevity... Filed under: TRACE 700
Posted on: Mar 7, 2012
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Losing sleep because of LEED?
Or do you just think LEED modeling is a pain in the ass? Maybe you find it easy, but for some reason you are still getting comments from LEED reviewers?
I've been teaching TRACE 700 + LEED for over 4 years now, and I have never met someone who didn't have more to learn (though I've met about 200 people who think they knew everything!)
LET'S FACE IT: You Don't know what you don't know
By popular demand, we have completed a "step by step" LEED + TRACE 700 course. It's a course unlike any other - we dive right in. Plus, we have a massive cheat sheet to help you stick to the "process". See, that's the key with LEED modeling - have a process, but the process needs to have some flexibility....
Filed under: TRACE 700
Posted on: Mar 4, 2012
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What is Energy?
For all the talk about saving energy nowadays, there doesn’t seem to be enough talk about energy itself. What is Energy anyway? Well, I can hear a bunch of nerds reading this saying “Energy is the ability to do work”. By the way - that’s not a definition, that’s idiocy. It’s like asking, “What is an automobile?” and then answering, “an automobile is the ability to drive”. Get my point?
So, I ask again, what is energy? What is energy not hidden behind matter (naked energy, so to speak)? Does anybody really know? Well, the last great Scientist, Einstein, was famous for an equation about energy. However, that equation answered the question - What is matter? The answer of course being “Energy”. So, we know that...
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Posted on: Feb 15, 2012
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Disclaimer: We know that many of the really good modelers are already doing this! If you are already up to date on this, at least check out some of our recommendations
Regardless of your software preference (maybe you use both), you have probably already said this to yourself, "Why the heck isn't there an undo button?"
Or maybe you are sick of not being able to run TRACE 700 files on a network?
So what's the solution. You have no doubt heard of "cloud computing" right? This is where your files are stored online somewhere and then backing it up is their problem. To be honest, a lot of cloud computing sucks because of speed issues and lack of user friendliness.
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