Energy Modeling – The Future of Real Estate Construction

Historically, so much of building a building, whether it has been a house, hospital, or commercial office, has been about the building being structurally sound with proper plumbing at minimal cost. All other factors, like the building being energy efficient were an afterthought, and a problem that would be dealt with after construction was completed. What’s happened over time is that architects have found that designing buildings to be energy efficient right from the start has huge long term benefits on keeping energy and operational costs down, and saving the owners of the building sometimes millions of dollars on an annual basis.

Because every factor of a construction project is different, including the building materials used, the infrastructure, the weather of the geographic area, and the people that will occupy the building, there has to be a fast and effective way to create a blueprint in order to design the most cost effective and energy efficient building possible.

What is Energy Modeling?

Energy modeling allows architects and building engineers to make educated decisions of every aspect of a building to improve energy efficiency without compromising design or stability of the building. Whether they want to know the material to use on the roof, the best lighting system to maximize workplace moral and minimize energy bills, or how electricity costs will be impacted by having X number of people in the building at a time, they can make accurate cost and maintenance predictions with various levels of confidence based on average temperature and weather conditions of the area, and based on average human interactions with their environment. As you constantly tweak different variables, you can eventually design a building that meets the owners needs best. Because businesses hate unpredictability, energy modeling is also appealing in that it can give building owners an accurate forecast of cost many years down the road before any construction begins.

What Buildings Use Energy Modeling?

All buildings can use energy modeling simulations to become more sustainable and use less energy over an extended period of time. Whether it’s a home, hospital, church, or office building, all structures can benefit from energy modeling. Most new homes are constructed using information gathered from energy modeling based on their geographic location, and even older homes can use materials like windows and roof shingles designed with the help of energy modeling.

Because there are hundreds of variables that can influence the design of a building, a little bit of help is necessary when huge sums of money are at stake. Nearly all companies that wish to build a new office space or manufacturing facility turn to professional environmental engineers that provide energy modeling and simulation to help them design energy efficient buildings that are tailored to their specific needs.

What Role in the Future Will Energy Modeling Play?

Because millions of existing structures in the United States were built with little to no concern for energy sustainability, many related professional services are tailored towards making existing buildings more energy efficient. However, as governments around the world have providing more tax benefits to buildings that have green building certifications, such as LEED in the United States, and building owners realize the long term cost benefits of using buildings with energy efficient designs, environmental engineering and energy modeling could play an essential role in upcoming real estate developments.

Mike Hall works with PM Environmental, which provides energy modeling services as well as other environmental engineering services.

 

Energy Modeling – The Future of Real Estate Construction