Replies

1. 
   Sherri_Zann_Rosenthal | Mar 13, 1999 12:52am | #1

   *
   There's a software package that I think is called, "Energy 10." Easy to use, not too expensive. I'm a mac user, too, and am sad to report that this is an Intel-based program. It was designed to do the "what if's" easily. For more info, you can call our state's Solar Center at 919-515-3480, or e-mail them at [email protected]. Web address: http://www.ncsc.ncsu.edu/
   -Sherri

2. 
   Guest_ | Mar 13, 1999 08:13pm | #2

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   Fred,

   I'm so fearful of the spreadsheet area of
   Clarisworks (now Appleworks), that the only thing
   I've managed to use it for is keeping a record of
   elec/gas/water usage. I update it twice a year or
   so, have it run up one of another kind of graph,
   then look it it for a few minutes like a clueless
   motorist at the side of the road, looking under
   the hood of his failed vehicle.

   So don't waste much time on this, but could you
   talk generally and briefly about how you set this
   up? (I don't have a clue what converting an R-19
   wall to R-10 means, in practical terms.) Or maybe
   there's a tutorial-type website? Seems like I once
   stumbled across a Clarisworks Users group.

   But is the principle of the thing that, once you
   set up givens, like size (cu. ft), mainly, you can
   set up various combinations of window types/sizes,
   wall/roof thicknesses/amount of insulation, etc.,
   to see how the structure will perform?
   Theoretically, at least?

   Jim

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 13, 1999 09:12pm | #3

   *Does anyone know what became of the AUDIT 2000 energy auditing program that Energy, Mines and Resources Canada were working on a few years back? We did some beta testing on it, then lost track of it, but it seems to have never surfaced as a commercially available program. If you can find it, I would say it's probably the best thing going, since it's based on the HOT 2000 energy analysis program used to certify R-2000 house designs.

3. 
   tedd | Mar 19, 1999 04:31pm | #4

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   R 2000 is out of date already.

4. 
   Guest_ | Mar 19, 1999 04:51pm | #5

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   You guys love to say that about R-2000... what's so out of date about analyzing the house design for energy efficiency on a very sophisticated computer modelling program before the hole is even dug, testing the house for air-tightness after construction, and certifying that everything meets the design standard? Do you do that with all your houses? Is clean air quality in your houses done by design, or just by guesswork? Is it a good idea making builders take a 2 day course, then updates every 2 years in order to be able to build certified homes? What about making environmentally-sound choices, the "green" component requirements are pretty easy to meet, but it gets the homeowner (and the builder) thinking about what the environmental consequences of their decisions are, and most opt for more items from the checklist than the minimum requirements. The only thing I don't like is the new $1000 annual fee the builder has to pay. I agree that anyone who doesn't build houses to R-2000 standards today is outdated, because it should be the way everyone builds anyways, but the third-party certification is the difference. What owner in their right mind wouldn't pay the $250 registration fee to get their house certified? (Sorry, it seems there's lots, the fact is most people don't really care if their house is an energy pig... what's a greenhouse gas?)

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 19, 1999 05:02pm | #6

   *R-2000 sets minimum standards, nobody says you can't exceed them!

5. 
   Guest_ | Mar 19, 1999 05:03pm | #7

   *
   I'm carrying this over from the
   "building for the elderly" thread, and
   hoping that somebody has found something
   some of us haven't.

   I wish I could find a program that would
   let me run through what-if's to my
   heart's content! What if, after
   specifying location, setting up basic
   floor plan, floors/walls/roof, etc., I
   could see what 32 SF of x-windows on the
   south wall would do, on a yearly basis,
   as opposed to 50 SF. And with KWH's at
   various rates. Or R38 vs. R-52
   cathedral roof. Or if I added or
   subtracted 300 SF. And so forth.

   Either you find online resources that
   are VERY basic (not configurable beyond
   thickness of insulation in attic, for
   instance), or, as John pointed out, are
   for commercial use and quite expensive.

   There are, however, many programs, some
   free or inexpensive, listed at

   http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/tools_
   directory/

   Since I have a mac, I ignored all the PC
   software, which was the majority.
   There's at least one free unix program,
   out of Scotland, that looks promising.
   I found no demo packages.

   I have had no experience with emulators
   (software to enable macs to "emulate"
   PC's), but understand that they work
   very well with some software, and are
   very gummy with others.

   Jim