The building envelope, which includes the walls, windows, roof, and foundation of any building or facility, plays a key role in determining levels of comfort, natural lighting, ventilation, and how much energy is required to heat and cool a building. Unlike some other industrial processes, building envelope performance depends on the type of buildings and climate where it is located.
Whole-building energy modeling (BEM) plays an important role in evaluating the performance of existing buildings and identifying cost-effective energy efficiency measures. A building energy model attempts to capture the building geometry, construction, materials, occupancy, internal loads, lighting, and equipment. To improve accuracy, such a model can be calibrated to match measured energy consumption or utility bills. This software model of the building can then be used to estimate the building’s energy consumption and impact of various energy conservation measures (e.g. adding insulation) before making capital investments for improving the energy efficiency of a building.
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