Good Designs Can Still Look Bad in an Energy Model.
Efficient buildings do not always show the savings they should. Conservative defaults, oversized systems, generic schedules, fan and pump assumptions, and default equipment curves can quietly suppress savings and make good designs appear less effective than they really are.
Design Defaults and Suppressed Savings is an advanced energy modeling webinar that explains why default assumptions matter, how they stack together, and where modelers should look when expected savings are not showing up.
Learn Why Defaults Can Distort Energy Modeling Results
Energy modeling software depends on defaults. Defaults are necessary, but they are often conservative. When those assumptions stack across loads, schedules, equipment sizing, fans, pumps, controls, and part-load performance, they can change the outcome of a model.
This webinar shows how default modeling assumptions can affect:
- Building load calculations
- Equipment oversizing
- Fan and pump energy
- Minimum flow assumptions
- Chiller and heat pump performance
- Part-load curves
- VFD savings
- Static pressure and pump head assumptions
- Modeled energy savings
Why Suppressed Savings Matter
Energy models are used for LEED, 179D, utility incentives, energy audits, retrofit analysis, early design decisions, and investment planning. If the model is using conservative defaults that do not reflect the actual design, the project may appear to save less energy than it should.
That can affect incentive qualification, design decisions, payback calculations, and whether a team recognizes the full value of a high-performance system.
What You Will Learn
- Why default assumptions multiply instead of simply adding together
- How oversizing starts early and compounds through the design process
- Why VFDs do not automatically fix oversized systems
- How minimum fan and pump flow assumptions affect energy use
- How default part-load curves can hide major savings
- Why high-efficiency chillers and heat pumps may underperform in the model
- How static pressure reset and pump pressure reset can be missed by defaults
- How to identify where defaults are distorting the savings calculation
- When it is appropriate to challenge a default and when it is not
Who This Webinar Is For
This webinar is intended for professionals who already work with energy models or rely on energy modeling results.
- Energy modelers
- Mechanical engineers
- Energy consultants
- LEED energy modeling teams
- 179D consultants
- Utility incentive program participants
- Commissioning and building performance professionals
- Design teams working on high-performance buildings
Energy Savings Should Not Be Lost in the Defaults
The goal is not to manipulate the model. The goal is to make sure the model reflects the design accurately enough to support real decisions.
If a model is relying on generic schedules, default curves, conservative minimum flows, oversized equipment, or simplified controls, it may not capture the savings that the design is actually capable of delivering.