From: *Alex Colta* Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 6:21 AM
To: CleanTech Analytics

Good morning Jeremiah****

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Thank you for your reply , ****

Do you think that Design Builder is a good tool for Building envelope
analyses in particular, in comparison with other software , like eQuest,
Trace700, Energy Gauge, IES-VE. ****

And how widely is it used in USA, and in commercial application ? if you
are familiar. ****

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Thanks for your time ****

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Alex ****

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From: *Jeremiah Crossett* Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 12:12 PM
To: Alex Colta

Alex,
I guess it depends on your application.
For me I am modeling phase change envelope materials, so design builder's
ability to produce energy plus Editable IDF's makes it the only option.

I am an eQuest user, and find that design builder is the closest in ease of
use to eQuest, but provides much more capability.

My understanding of Trace 500 is that it can do envelope studies, but is a
tool created to best serve mechanical engineers, or HVAC specialists.
I have not used energy gauge, and have not run a full simulation in
IES-VE,, but do find the interface to be nice.

What is key is to understand the simulation engine behind the software.

Both eQuest and Trace 500 use DOE 2.2, Design builder uses Energy Plus 7,
and their own custom computational fluid dynamics visualization. I believe
Energy gauge may and IES-VE both use their own engine (you should check)

Energy Plus is the most compressive tool available, and is funded by the
department of energy but does not have an easy to use interface, ( that is
where design builder comes in handy) DOE 2.2 is very powerful, but is
limited in features and is typically used with eQuest as an interface.

For most projects compliance is the main goal, and visualization of
results is second.

Both Energy Plus ( design builder ) and DOE 2.2 ( eQuest/Trace ect ) are
compliant with ASHRAE 140, and can be used for tax credits, LEED projects
ect..

Other software sometimes is not qualified to use in compliance, so have
less value In many projects.

Personally I prefer design builder/energy plus over other modeling tools,
due to it's ability to model both envelop and HVAC systems in detail, and
due to the great support, and the latest has incorporated up to date ASHRAE
libraries.

Thanks and feel free to ask any further questions..

*Jeremiah D. Crossett*