Evaluation of building energy simulation software using residential homes

Energy simulation software has been widely used by engineers and architects to predict the energy consumption of buildings during the design phase of new construction or remodel. Many of these programs are derived from cooling methodologies developed by ASHRAE. For this study, a widely used software package, Trace 700 was used to see how accurate it can be in predicting the energy consumption of the HVAC (Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning) system of two residential homes. One home is classified as a Zero Energy Home (ZEH) because it employs advanced construction features which allow it to consume significantly less energy than a normal home. The baseline home is of the exact same dimensions and floor plan as the ZEH but uses more traditional construction practices. Trace was used to model both homes during for both cooling and heating. Weather data during the monitoring phase was taken from the vicinity and fed into Trace to create a more accurate representation of the conditions. The analytical results compared well to the experimental results gathered from the homes. In addition energy consumption between the ZEH and baseline home were compared.