VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

CARNEGIEMELLONUNIVERSITY
DOCTOROFPROFESSIONALPRACTICE
AREASOFPRACTICEASSIGNMENT

HOWRAPIDENERGYMODELINGCANHELPDESIGNERSIMPROVEBUILDINGPERFORMANCEIN
EXISTINGBUILDINGS

ABSTRACT
ThispaperintroducestheconceptofRapidEnergyModelingasapossiblesolutiontothe
perceiveddifficultyofperformingenergyanalysisstudiesonexistingbuildings.Itbeginsby
describingtheproblemandsuggeststhattraditionalapproacheslikeenergyauditsaretime
andresourceintensive.ItthendefinestheconceptofRapidEnergyModeling.Three
approachestoenergyanalysisofexistingbuildings,includingRapidEnergyModeling,are
discussedandcompared.Finallyacomparativereturnoninvestmentanalysisismadeby
comparingRapidEnergyModelingtotraditionalenergyanalysissoftwaretools.

INTRODUCTION
Thereisaperceptioninthedesigncommunitythatbuildingperformanceanalysis(BPA)for
existingbuildingsiscomplex,timeconsuminganddifficulttomaster. 1 Forexample,according
totheCanadianIndustryProgramforEnergyConservation(CIPEC)2 ,atraditionalmethodof
energyanalysisofexistingbuildings,theenergyaudit,consistsofthefollowingtensteps:

1.
Conductaconditionsurvey
2.
Establishtheauditmandate
3.
Establishtheauditscope
4.
Analyseenergyconsumptionandcosts
5.
Compareenergyperformance
6.
Profileenergyusepatterns
7.
Inventoryenergyuse
8.
IdentifyEnergyManagementOpportunities
9.
Assessthebenefits
10.
Reportforaction

Theseprocessescantakemonthstocomplete,areexpensiveandrequireahighlevelof
expertise.ThisproblemofperceiveddifficultyofBPAinexistingbuildingshasbeganbeing
addressedbythedigitaldesigntechnologycommunity.Solutionsarebeingsoughtthatbring
thebenefitsofBPAwithoutexcessiveoverheadintermsoflearningandusingthetools.One
suchpromisingsolutionisRapidEnergyModeling(REM).

1
2

Stumpfetal.,2011,p2.
See
NaturalResourcesCanada
,2011.

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

RAPIDENERGYMODELING
AccordingtoanAutodeskwhitepaper
StreamliningEnergyAnalysisofExistingBuildingswith
3
RapidEnergyModeling
RapidEnergyModelingreferstoastreamlinedandscalable
approachtoperformingenergyassessmentsofexistingbuildings.Autodeskpresentsathree
stepprocessforperformingsuchassessments:

Capturingexistingbuildingconditions
Developinga3Dmodelofthebuilding
Performinganalysisonthebuilding

Existingconditionscanbecapturedusingdigitalphotographs,aerialandsatelliteimages,
laserscanningor,aswewillsee,thermalimagingtechnology.

The3Dmodelcanbepreparedusing3Dmodelingsoftwarethatleveragescaptureddigital
dataasabackgroundformodeldevelopment.RealitycapturetoolslikeInsight3D,Agisoft
PhotoscanandAutodeskImagemodelercanalsobeusedtohelpconvertphotoimagesinto
3Dmodels.

Oncea3Dmodelhasbeenpreparedenergyanalysissimulationscanberunusingan
appropriateBPAtool.Outputsfromsuchanalysesincludeenergyuseintensities,annual
energyconsumptionbyfueltype,heatingandcoolingloads,carbonemissionsamongothers.

ThekeybenefitofREMistimeand,therefore,costsavings.UsersreportthattheREM
exerciseforanaveragesizedbuilding(suchasatypicalthreestoryofficebuilding)canbe
performedinhoursanddaysratherthantheweeksandmonthsofcurrentprocesses.

TheaccuracyofanalysisresultsfromREMcorrelatesfavorablywithrealmeasurementsas
discussedintheDepartmentofDefencestudybelow.Accuracyofbuildinggeometry
generatedfromrealitycapturemethodsisalsoquitehighwithmodeledareasbeingwithin7%
oftheactualareaaccordingtotheAutodeskstudy 4 .

Inthispaperwewilllookatthreeapproachestoenergyanalysisofexistingbuildings:

EnergyAudits
TraditionalSoftwareApproaches
RapidEnergyModelingbyusingThermalImagingaswellasbyusingAutodesk
SoftwareWorkflows

3
4

SeeAutodesk,2011.
SeeAutodesk,2011.

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

Wewillcomparetheseapproachesintermsofcost,trainingtime,timetoperformananalysis
andaccuracyofresults.Finally,wewillperformareturnoninvestmentcomparisonbetween
traditionalsoftwareapproachesandREMmethods.

Wewillusethefollowingstudiesasourcasestudyreferences5 :

RapidEnergyModelingWorkflowDemonstration
,aUSDepartmentofDefencestudy.
Rapid3DEnergyPerformanceModelingofExistingBuildingsusingThermaland
DigitalImagery,
astudydoneat
VirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUniversity.
StreamliningEnergyAnalysisofExistingBuildingswithRapidEnergyModeling
,an
Autodeskstudy.

APPROACHESTOENERGYANALYSISOFEXISTINGBUILDINGS

EnergyAudits
Anenergyauditisaninspection,surveyandanalysisof
energy
flowsfor
energyconservation
inabuilding,processorsystemtoreducetheamountofenergyinputintothesystemwithout
negativelyaffectingtheoutput(s)6 .
AccordingtotheUSDoDstudy,threelevelsofenergy
auditsaretypicallyusedbasedonthe
AmericanSocietyofHeating,Refrigeratingand
AirConditioningEngineers
(
ASHRAE)standard:walkthrough(ASHRAELevel1),general
(ASHRAELevel2),andinvestmentgrade(ASHRAELevel3)7 .

Level1,whichisarapidassessmentofbuildingenergysystemsdoneusinga
walkthroughaswellasenergybenchmarking.Thistakes12daysandcosts500.00
700.00perday.

Level2,whichisamoredetailedbuildingsurveyofsystemsandoperations.It
includesabreakdownofenergyusesandsources,identificationofenergy
conservationmeasuresandsavingsandidentificationofoperationaldiscrepancies.
Thistakes310daysandcosts500.00700.00perdayor1500.007000.00per
building.

Level3,whichfocusesonawholebuildingcomputersimulationandmodelstheway
thebuildingwouldrespondtoproposedenergysavingmeasures.Itrequireslonger
termdataprocessing,computermodelscalibratedwithfielddataandbidlevel
constructioncostestimating.Thistakes1050daysatacostof500.00700.00per
day.

SeetheReferencessectionattheendofthepaper.
EnergyAudit.InWikipedia.RetrievedinDecember2014from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Audit
.
7
Rupnow,J.&Sullivan,J.,2013,p80.
6

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

TheDoDdoesnotfeelthatREMworkflowscorresponddirectlytoanyofthelevelsofaudit.
However,itsoutputsareaclosermatchtoalevel2auditandwewillusethisasabasisof
comparison.

TraditionalSoftwareProcesses
TraditionalSoftwareapproachesinvolvemodelingtheexistingbuildingconditionsinapiece
ofsoftwareandthenrunningenergyanalysisexercisesonthismodel.Severalsoftware
solutionsexistforperformingtheseanalyses.MoreestablishedtoolsincludeDOE,
EnergyplusandEquest.Thesearetypicallyfreebuthaveolderinterfacesandsomeareeven
MSDOSbased.NewercommercialtoolsincludeDesignbuilder,AecosimandIESVE.
Traditionalsoftwareapproachescanalsobeusedaspartoftheenergyauditingprocess.

Traditionalsoftwareapproaches,whenusedonexistingbuildingsinvolvegatheringexisting
buildingconditiondataandtheninputtingthisdataintotheenergyanalysistool.Thisusually
takestheformofasbuiltorrecorddrawingsinCADorPDFformatsbeingredrawninthe
energyanalysistools.Sometimes,buildingmeasurementsneedtobeundertakenfirst.Once
theexistingconditionshavebeeninput,analysissimulationscanberunandresultsreported.

Traditionalsoftwareapproachesprovidethefollowingchallengestotheanalysisofexisting
buildings.First,thecommercialversionscarryacostashighasthousandsofdollarsper
license.Second,thesetoolstaketimetolearnwiththelearningcurvebeinginweeksand
monthsforthemorecomplexinterfaces.Third,modelingexistingconditionscantakealong
time.Dependingonthequalityofexistingconditionsdatathiscanrangefromdaystoweeks.
Finally,thetimetoperformanalysiscanalsobelengthydependingonthecomplexityofthe
energysimulationbeingrunandthespecificationsofthehardwarerunningit.

RapidEnergyModelingusingThermalImagery
WewillrefertotheVirginiaTechstudyconductedbyHamandGolparvarFard8 asan
exampleofREMusingthermalimagery.Thestudyusesdigitalandthermalimagerytorapidly
createathermalmodel.Thestudynotesthatthereareseveralchallengeswithexisting
approachestothemodelingprocessforanalyzingenergyperformanceofexistingbuildings.
Thesechallengesinclude:

1.
Currentenergymodelingpracticesaretimeconsumingandlaborintensive.The
processofconstructingmodelsoftentakesweeksormonthsmakingitsuitablemainly
forhighbudgetprojects.
2.
Theseenergymodelsmakeassumptionsthatdonotcapturethevariancesofreality.
Sometimesthesevariancescanbesignificant.
3.
Creatingthesemodelsrequiresskillandexpertisethatmanydesignerssimplydonot
possess.

Ham,Y.&GolparvarFard,M.,2012.

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

Inordertoaddressthesechallengesthestudyproposestouseimagebased3Dmodelling
techniquesinconjunctionwiththermalimagerytorapidlycreateanexistingconditionsthermal
model.

Thisstudyisinterestingfortworeasons.First,ituseREMtechniquestogenerateboth
geometricaswellasathermalimagerywhicharethensuperimposedtocreateacomposite
thermalmodel.Secondly,thecompositemodelisitselfathermalanalyticalmodel.This
meansthatnofurtheranalysisofthemodelisrequiredtoproduceresultsthatcanbeusedfor
designdecisionmaking.

Inthisway,theauthorsnote,theprocessisrapidbothinitsapproachtogeneratingthe
analyticalmodelbutalsointhefactthatiteliminatestheneedforaseparateanalysis
process.

Datacaptureforthestudywasperformedinanofficeroomofanexistinginstructionalbuilding
atVirginiaTech.Thevisualdatawascollectedinthemorningundernaturaldaylighting
conditions.

ThedigitalandthermalimageswerecapturedusinganE60thermalcamerafromFLIR
Systemswhichhasabuiltindigitalcamera.

Theprocessbeganbycapturing429unorderedanduncalibrateddigitalandthermalimages.
Astreamlinedimagebased3Dreconstructionalgorithmwasthenusedtogenerateadense
3Dpointcloudofthescene.Thedensityofthethermalpointcloudwas2,064,662points
whilethedensityofthebuildinggeometrycloudwas8,488,888points.

Inordertogenerateasuperimposedmodelitwasnecessarytocoregisterthethermaland
digitalpointclouds.Essentiallyitwasnecessarytocorrelatepairsofdigitalandthermal
points.However,becausethermalimagesusegradientcolorcodingwhichsmoothsover
surfaceintensitiesnodistinctivefeaturescouldbefoundforcorrelation.Anovelapproachhad
tobedevised.

Ordinarypointcloudlaserscannersarecalibratedusingcalibrationrigslikeacheckerboard
locatedwithinthescene.However,lowresolutionthermalcamerascannotdetectsucharig.
Thereforeathermalcalibrationrigwascreatedusing42smallLEDlights.

Usingthisthermalrigtogetherwithknownparameterslikethecameralocationandorientation
thethermalimagewascalibratedandregisteredtothedigitalmodelandasuperimposed
pointcloudcreated.

Finally,anaugmentedrealitymodelviewerwasusedtoenablevisualizationofthedigitaland
thermalmodels.ApairoftheresultingimagesisshownbelowinFig.1.

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

Fig1.REMusingthermalimagescasestudyresults.

RapidEnergyModelingusingAutodeskWorkflows9
WewillrefertotheUSDoDstudyasanexampleofREMusingAutodeskWorkflows.This
studywasundertakenbytheEnvironmentalSecurityTechnologyCertificationProgram
(ESTCP)oftheUSDepartmentofDefense.Broadlyspeaking,thegoalofthestudywasto
evaluateREMinordertodetermineiftheworkflowiscapableofproducinguseful,rapidand
costeffectiveestimatesofDoDbuildings.

Thestudywasconductedoveraoneyearperiodusingapopulationof35buildingsandan
analyzedsampleof23buildings.Thebuildingswerespreadacross8locationsand
represented7differentbuildingtypes.Belowisasummaryofthetestfacilitylocationsand
types:

3officebuildingsattheUSArmyConstructionEngineeringResearchLaboratoryin
Champaign,Illinois
1office,3barracksand1gymatFortLeonardWoodArmyBaseinFortLeonard
Wood,Missouri
2officesand2barracksatJointBaseLewisMcChordinTacoma,Washington
2officesand1barracksattheNavalSurfaceWarfareCentreinPanamaCity,Florida
4officesatPetersonAirForceBaseinColoradoSprings,Colorado
4officesatPortHuenemeinLosAngeles,California
1BarracksatPortsmouthNavalShipyardinKittery,Maine
1Office,ICafeteria,1School,1FireStationand1AutomotiveFacilityatSeymour
JohnsonAirForceBaseinGoldsboro,NorthCarolina
1Office,1AutomotiveFacilityand1CafeteriaatNavalWeaponsStationEarlein
ColtsNeck,NewJerseyandMiddleton,NewYork
2barracksand1drillhallatNavalStationGreatLakesinNorthChicago,Illinois

Rupnow,J.&Sullivan,J.,2013

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

ThestudywasdoneinaseriesoftestphasesnamelyRealityCapturephase,Modelling
phase,Analysisphase,TechnologyTransferphaseandtheReportingphase.

IntheRealityCapturephasetestsitesandbuildingswereidentifiedandbuildingbackground
informationwasgatheredusinganinstallationenergyquestionnaire.IntheModelingphase,
BuildingInformationModels(BIMs)werecreated.First,conceptualenergymodelswere
createdinAutodeskFormitandAutodeskVasariandthenenergymodelsweregenerated
fromtheconceptualmodelsandrunusingAutodesksGreenBuildingStudiowebservice.

DuringtheAnalysisphasemodeledresultdatawascomparedtoactualmeteredutilitydata.
ThetimeandcostoftheREMprocesswasalsocomparedtotraditionalenergyaudits.Inthe
TechnologyTransferphaseworkshops,webinarsandcurriculumdevelopmenttookplaceand
intheReportingphasethefinalreportwasdeveloped.

ThetechnologyusedforthestudywasmainlyAutodesksoftware.AutodeskFormitwasused
foronsitemodeling,AutodeskVasariwasusedformodelingandanalysis,AutodeskRevit
wasusedforadditionalmodelrefinementsandadditionalanalysistasksandAutodeskGreen
BuildingStudiowasthewebbasedanalysisengineandinterfacethatdidtheactual
calculationandreporting.

Theresultsofthestudywerebothquantitativeaswellasqualitative.

QuantitativePerformanceResults
CorrelationofREMwithannualenergyelectricityandfuelintensity
Resultswerewithin10%erroron7outof25buildingsforelectricity.Twobuildings
werewithin+/10%fornaturalgas.Overalltherewas81.88%averageaccuracyfor
electricityand58.2%averageaccuracyfornaturalgas.Thislikelybecauseelectricity
typicallyrunsonaschedulebasedonbuildingusewhilenaturalgasvariesmore
basedonuserpreferences.

TheDoDfeltthattheresultsforelectricityandnaturalgaswerewithingoodto
reasonablepredictionlevelsasdefinedintheliterature.

CorrelationofREMwithoverallannualenergyuseintensity
14outof25buildingswerewithin+/25%comparedtobaselinehistoricalutilitydata.
Averageaccuracywas77.56%.DoDfeltthattheREMEUIpredictionswerewithin
goodtoreasonablelevelsdefinedintheliterature.

Varianceinmonthlyconsumption
Resultswerewithin15%ofthetargetfor3buildingsusingbillinghistoryandcostas
metrics.Anadditional2buildingswerewithin20%ofthetarget.Itwasnotrealisticto
expectinitialmodelstobewithina15%variancetargetsincethisisatargetthat
calibratedmodelsaspireto.
7

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

TestingtheREMprocessfordesignalternativestomodelpotentialenergysavings
EnergyConservationMeasuresexploredenergysavingstrategiesfor5buildings.
Savingsgreaterthan30%wereachievedin3outofthe5buildings.The2buildings
thatdidnotgettothe30%targethadalreadyundergoneenergyretrofits.

QualitativePerformanceResults:
Easeoflearningtechnologyandexpertiserequired
TrainingcompletedatthetimeofpublicationindicatedthatDoDparticipantscould
learntheREMworkflowandbegincreatingandanalyzingmodelsinlessthanone
day.Thiswaswaybelowthetargetof6days.

UsersatisfactionwithREMtechnology
Participantsindicatedahighlevelofsatisfactionwithworkflowasmeasuredbysurvey
results.

EaseofusecreatingREMmodels
Preliminaryresultsindicatethatenergymodelscanbecompletedinlessthan3hours
aftertheprocessislearnedwhichiswaysuperiortothe2daysperbuildingtarget.

AbilitytoscaletheprocessacrosstheDoD
3individualshadbeentrainedatthetimeofreportingcomparedtoatargetof5
individualwithinthefirstyear.

COMPARISONOFTHEAPPROACHES
Inthissectionweprovideacomparisonoftheapproachesdiscussedabove.Wewill
comparetheseapproachesbasedoncost,trainingtime,timetoperformanalysisaswellas
accuracy.

CostComparison
AccordingtotheDoDstudyaLevel2EnergyAuditofthe23buildingstheystudiedcouldcost
2
$179,673.0010 atanauditcostof$0.12/ft
.Thisis$7811.87perbuilding.
AccordingtotheDoDstudyanREManalysisofthe23buildingsstudiedcouldcost$6,900.00
2
orapproximately$0.005/ft
.Thisis$300.00perbuilding.
2
Accordingtoindustrycommentators11 acostof$0.2/ft
isareasonablecostfortraditional
2
energymodeling.SincetheaveragesizeoftheDoDbuildingscanbecalculatedas60,000ft

thecostofenergymodelingusingatraditionalapproachwouldbe$12,000.00perbuilding.

10
11

Rupnow,J.&Sullivan,J.,2013,p80.
Forexamplesee
http://energymodels.com/leedandenergymodeling
retrievedinDecember2014.

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

Fig2.CostperBuildingindollarscomparison.

TimetoTrain
AccordingtotheCanadianInstituteofEnergyTraining(CIET)websiteaCertifiedEnergy
Auditorcoursetakes3days(24hrs)tocomplete.12
AccordingtotheDoDstudyREMworkflowoperatortrainingtakes1day(8hrs)13 .
AccordingtotheIESVEwebsitebasictrainingontheproducttakes3days(24hrs)14 .

Fig3.TrainingTimeinHrscomparison.
12

See
http://cietcanada.com/events/certifiedenergyauditorcea/
retrievedinDecember2014.
Rupnow,J.&Sullivan,J.,2013,p87.
14
See
http://www.iesve.com/training/events
retrievedinDecember2014.
13

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

TimetoPerformAnalysis
AccordingtotheDoDstudyaLevel2EnergyAudittakes310days.Letustakethemedian
valueof6.5days(52hrs)15 .
AccordingtotheDoDstudyanREManalysistakesanestimated3hrstocomplete16 .
Accordingtoindustrycommentators17 energymodelingtakesatleast40hrsonaverage.

Fig4.TimetoPerformAnalysisinHrscomparison.

AccuracyofAnalysis
AccordingtotheAusgrid,anAustralianelectricalutility,Level2EnergyAuditsaretypically
about80%accurate18 .
AccordingtotheDoDstudyanREManalysisis77%accurateforEnergyUseIntensity19 .
AccordingtoReevesetal.intheirstudy,IESVEhadanaccuracy,onaverage,foroverall
energyusageof(86.45+51.90)/2=69.18.20

15

Rupnow,J.&Sullivan,J.,2013,p80.
Ibid.
17
Forexamplesee
http://energymodels.com/leedandenergymodeling
retrievedinDecember2014.
18
See
http://businessservices.ausgrid.com.au/~/media/Microsites/BusinessServices/Files/Metering/Product%20and
%20services/Energy_Audits.pdf
retrievedinDecember2014.
19
Rupnow,J.&Sullivan,J.,2013,p2.
20
Reevesetal.,2012,pp584586.
16

10

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

Fig5.AccuracyPercentcomparison.

COMPARATIVERETURNONINVESTMENTOFREM
Weendwithareturnoninvestment(ROI)analysisthatcomparestheROIonanREM
workflowtotheROIonamoretraditionalenergyanalysissoftwareworkflow.Aswehave
mentioned,partofthedeterrencetoBPAistheperceivedcostanddifficultyofperforming
suchanalyses.Ifthiscanbedemonstrablyreducedthentherewillbeahigherrateof
participationamongdesigners.HerewewilluseROIasanobjectivemeasureofcostand
easeofuse.

InordertocomparetheROIofusinganREMworkflowtotheROIofusinganonREM
workflowforBPAwewillmakeafewassumptions.FirstwewilluseanROIcalculation
methodduetoAutodeskintheirwhitepaper
BIMsReturnonInvestment.21 Accordingtothis
theROIondesignsoftwareinvestmentcanbecomputedas:

(B(B/(1+E))x(12C)/A+(BxCxD)

where:

A
=costofhardwareandsoftware
B
=monthlylaborcosts
C
=trainingtime
D
=productivitylostduringtraining
E
=productivitygainaftertraining

21

SeeAutodesk,2007.

11

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

WewillcompareanREMworkflowusingAutodeskVasaritoanonREMworkflowusing
IntegratedEnvironmentalSolutions,VirtualEnvironment(IESVE).

Trainingtimewillrefertothetimeinmonthsthatittakestocompleteformaltraining.Wewill
assumethattheproductivitylostduringtrainingstaysinthesameratioasthetrainingtime.
ThismeansifittakesthreetimesaslongtotrainonsoftwareAasBthentheproductivitylost
forAisthreetimesasmuchastheproductivitylostforB.

Wewillusean
EffectiveProductivityGain
computedas
:

EffectiveProductivityGain=ProductivityGainxAccuracyFactorxFeaturesFactor

Thiswillpenalisesoftwarethatproducesinaccurateresultsorsoftwarethatlacksfeatures
thatareimportantforcomprehensiveBPAstudies.The
AccuracyFactor
willbedetermined
22
fromVidmarspaper whereIESVEandVasariarecompared.Bothpiecesofsoftwarescore
8/10onthismeasure.The
FeaturesFactor
willbedeterminedfromthefollowingfeatures
whichwewillconsiderasaminimalrequirementforBPAtools:

solaranalysis
shadowanalysis
thermalanalysis
daylightanalysis
windanalysis

Features

IESVE

VASARI

Calculationspeed/completiontime

10

Visualenvironment&feedback

10

Userinterfacesimplicity&
intuitiveness

Easeofuse&learningcurve

Softwaredocumentation

10

Community&technicalsupport

10

Totaloutof60

38

53

Figure6.ComparativeproductivitygainforIESVEagainstVasari
22

Vidmar,2013,pp78.

12

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

Thesefeatureswillbegivenequalweightinouranalysis.Accordingly,IEShasthefull
complementoffeaturesandscores1.0whileVasarilacksdaylightanalysisfeaturesand
scores0.8.

ProductivitygainaftertrainingwillbecomputedbasedonVidmars23 analysis(see
Figure6)
.
Wewillconsiderproductivitytobeafunctionofthefollowingfactors:

calculationspeed
visualenvironment&feedback
UIsimplicityandintuitiveness
easeofuseandlearningcurve
softwaredocumentation
communityandtechnicalsupport

Wewilltakethe
ProductivityGain
tobetheaggregatepointsawardedforthesefactors
againstthetotalnumberofpointspossible.

AccordingtoboththeirwebsitesAutodeskVasariandIESVEbothrequireatleastdualcore
CPUwith4GBRAM.Theretailpriceforsuchaworkstationathardwareresellersisabout
$500.00.Also,accordingtotheIESwebsite,basictrainingonIESVEtakesthreedays24 while
theUSDoDreportedthatVasaritrainingcouldbetakeninoneday25 .Monthlylaborcostswill
betakenuniformlyat$16,000.00.

AccordinglyfirstyearROIisasfollows:

Vasari:
(16000(16000/(1+0.57))x(120.05)/1100+(16000x0.05x0.05)=
60.89%
IESVE:
(16000(16000/(1+0.51))x(120.15)/5700+(16000x0.15x0.15)=
10.57%

CONCLUSION
FromthecomparisonofmethodswesawthatREManalysisperformsbetterthaneither
traditionalsoftwareprocessesorLevel2energyauditsforcost,trainingtimeandtimeto
performanalysis.WealsosawthatwhileREManalysiswasnotasaccurateasLevel2
energyauditsforoverallenergyuse,itwasmoreaccuratethantraditionalsoftwaremethods.

23

Vidmar.2013.
See
http://www.iesve.com/training/events
.
25
RupnowandSullivan,2013,p13.
24

13

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

IESVE

VASARI

CostofHardware

500.00

500.00

CostofSoftware*

5200.00

600.00

MonthlyLaborCost

16000.00

16000.00

TrainingTime(months)

0.15

0.05

ProductivityLostDuringTraining(%)

0.15

0.05

AccuracyFactor

0.80

0.80

FeatureFactor

1.00

0.80

ProductivityGainAfterTraining**(%)

0.51

0.57

FirstYearROI

10.57%

60.89%

*Vasariisfreebutattractsacostfor
cloudbasedanalysisservices

**EffectiveProductivityGain

Figure7.ComparativefirstyearROIforIESVEagainstVasari

FromtheROIanalysisaboveweseethatanREMtoolhasasmuchasasixtimesadvantage
inROIovertraditionalsoftwareapproaches.Thisisbecauseoftheimmenserapiditywith
whichthesoftwarecanbelearnedanddeployedonprojects.Withsuchareturnon
investmentitisclearlyapathtoBPAthatdesignersshouldconsider.

WethereforebelievethatREMhasanimportantroletoplayinhelpingdesignersperform
BPAstudiesonexistingbuildingsandtherebyachievinghighperformancesolutions.

14

VictorOkhoyaNovember2014

REFERENCES
Autodesk.(2007).
BIMsReturnonInvestment.
RetrievedNovember2014from
http://images.autodesk.com/emea_s_main/files/gb_revit_bim_roi_jan07.pdf
.

Autodesk.(2009).
RapidEnergyModelingforExistingBuildings.
RetrievedNovember2014from
http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/rem_executive_summary.pdf
.

Autodesk.(2011).
StreamliningEnergyAnalysisofExistingBuildingswithRapidEnergyModeling
.
RetrievedNovember2014from
http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/rem_white_paper_2011.pdf
.

Ham,Y.&GolparvarFard,M.(2012).
Rapid3DEnergyPerformanceModelingofExistingBuildings
usingThermalandDigitalImagery.
AdvancedEngineeringInformatics,27(3),pp395409.

Loftness,V.(2014).
AreasofPractice
.CourseNotes,CarnegieMellonUniversity,Autumn2014.

NaturalResourcesCanada.(2011).
EnergySavingToolbox:AnEnergyAuditManualandTool
.
Ottawa,Ontario.StJosephCommunication.

Reeves,T.,Olbina,S.,Issa,R.(2012).Proceedingsofthe2012WinterSimulationConference:
ValidationofBuildingEnergyModelingTools:Ecotect,GreenBuildingStudioandIESVE
(pp
582593).PresentedattheIEEE2012WinterSimulationConference.

Rupnow,J.&Sullivan,J.(2013).
RapidEnergyModelingWorkflowDemonstration.
Alexandria,VA.
ESTCPProgramOffice.

Stumpf,A.,Kim.H.,Jenicek,E.(2011).
EarlyDesignEnergyAnalysisUsingBuilding
InformationModelingTechnology.
Champaign,IL.ConstructionEngineeringResearchLaboratory.

Vidmar,J.(2013).
Evaluationofsimulationtoolsforassessmentofurbanformbasedonphysical
performance.
RetrievedNovember2014from
https://www.academia.edu/4820747/Evaluation_of_simulation_tools_for_assessment_of_urban_for
m_based_on_physical_performance
.

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