eQuest: Building Energy Modeling Software

Building Energy Modeling

Concerns about energy and climate change have increased the need to change laws in terms of energy conservation measures and code enforcement that do not only remain on paper, but are also invoked in practice.  The evidence of how much a building consumes can be represented effectively with engineering simulations, using programs to assess the annual fuel consumption with a building performance model designed in actual conditions.

It is important to note that buildings, including their systems, represent a high percentage in the consumption of electricity and natural gas, which makes it necessary to create databases that serve as a basis of comparison for simulations that model the annual performance of buildings.

 eQuest Software

eQuest is one of the most widely used software’s for analysis and simulation of buildings.  eQuest was born from DOE-2 software developed in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory by James J. Hirsch & Associates in the 1970’s.  eQuest allows the integration of building elements such as building envelope, air conditioning, heating, ventilation air, domestic hot water, miscellaneous equipment and lighting systems.  The program is can be used to determine the operating costs, energy efficiency and environmental impact of buildings.  With its use, it is easy to implement an approach to project future energy consumption during the design stage of a construction project.  eQuest is free software that can be downloaded from the DOE2 website.

The inputs in an eQuest model include building orientation, climatic conditions, building shape, cooling loads (people, indoor lighting and task lighting, miscellaneous equipment), air conditioning systems, heating systems, domestic water heating, exterior lighting, building envelope components (roofs, walls, windows, doors, insulation), utility rates and occupancy schedules.

The results are shown as a function of the input parameters, and most are aimed at predicting the annual consumption of the building.  In addition to overall building results, individual results can be obtained for how much energy is consumed by fans connected to the air distribution system, lighting systems, miscellaneous equipment, pumps, cooling towers, heating systems, cooling systems, and domestic hot water.  eQuest produces a series of monthly and yearly reports with energy and cost comparisons.

The main purpose of building energy modeling is to improve the design and quality of new and existing buildings. With it you can surpass minimum energy standards and requirements for design in the construction industry.