Save your energy

Tools help you make wise decisions

How would you like to save $20 billion on energy costs? OK, so your results may not quite reach that level, but that’s the estimated savings realized by building owners who optimized building energy use with EnergyPlus simulation software. The free program developed by the U.S. Department of Energy gives users the ability to calculate how different heating and cooling systems, lighting equipment, and windows impact energy efficiency and occupant comfort.

Released last year, EnergyPlus updates the Department of Energy’s previous application, DOE-2, with features such as user-customizable reports, thermal-comfort modeling options, equipment input templates, and an accurate sky-illumination model for daylighting calculations. Download the program from www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/energy_tools.

To find out how much you might save by replacing individual components like heat pumps, boilers, and chillers, check out the Federal Energy Management Program’s energy cost calculators at www.eren.doe.gov/femp/procurement/calc-index.html.

You can also download a financial value calculator that helps quantify how energy performance relates to net income, earnings per share, and market value for a company. The calculator, available from the EPA’s Energy Star program, gives you options to use specific data or look at representative data for different sectors. You can download the calculator (Microsoft Excel required) from http://yosemite1.epa.gov/ESTAR/business.nsf/content/fvcalc.htm.

Illustration © Artville.

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