Validation of building energy modeling tools: Ecotect™, Green Building Studio™ and IES<VE>™

Building energy modeling (BEM) helps architects, engineers and green building consultants in designing increasingly energy-efficient buildings. When used in conjunction with Building Information Modeling (BIM), integration of energy modeling into the design process allows the environmental ramifications of design decisions to be tested in a relatively seamless way. While energy modeling has proven useful as a design tool, there is a need to validate the accuracy of BEM tools. A case study was conducted to compare the results of energy simulations obtained by three BEM tools (Ecotect™, Green Building Studio™, and IES<;VE>™) against measured data for two academic buildings located in Gainesville, Florida. A LEED Gold-certified building and a non-LEED-certified building were investigated in the case study. Research findings showed that the three BEM tools were not able to accurately predict actual building energy consumption in the majority of analyzed cases.