A simple one-screen spreadsheet to do commercial-quality annual loads on any kind of building to determine savings from basic modifications to windows, roof, walls, and HVAC efficiency
The Backstory
Before DOE-2 and other monster computer programs to simulate annual energy use in buildings, design engineers used “nomographs” generated by the US Department of Energy. I took those graphical approximations and created mathematical equations. We used the spreadsheet to do energy audits of a dozen small hospitals for the Texas LoanSTAR Program (called the Small Hospital Energy Management Program). It saved thousands of man-hours. LoanSTAR was the largest energy conservation program in the world at that time.
I published a conference paper on the method. You can read the tech paper (PDF).
Small hospitals are the most complex of all buildings. That means the results of this one-screen Excel spreadsheet will be quite adequate for your home, office, or place of business.
Do Your First Energy Audit
Download the Excel spreadsheet and try it out.
WH Clark, P.E.