Energy Evaluation tool (NZ)

[Anonymous]

Just wondering if anyone here in New Zealand is using the Energy Evaluation tool? aka the EcoDesigner STAR?

As ArchiCAD/Cadimage seem to think that there is no support for it
as quote: "because its not relevant to nz standards and codes"

Or if there are any alternatives people are using here for Energy Modelling?

[Anonymous]

Lots of views but no responses yet, interesting...
I guess Kiwi's are too busy wasting their lives filling out the requirements for ALF calculations or using the Branz Schedule or Calculation Methods (all of which are highly inaccurate, rule of thumb type calculations)

We are starting to get clients more interested in Eco building modelling here now.
It would be good to have kiwis that are starting to gain knowledge of the PHPP or Ecodesigner going forward.

[Anonymous]

methy wrote:
Just wondering if anyone here in New Zealand is using the Energy Evaluation tool? aka the EcoDesigner STAR?

This is an old thread, but I'll join in anyway.

If you are looking for EcoDesigner STAR user in New Zealand, there is not much I can offer, as I am literally on the opposite side of the globe, but if it is BEM (building energy model) knowledge you are after, I can help.

EcoDesigner was an awesome idea and I jumped on it as soon as it came out years ago, but aside from all the awesome features it has to offer, it also sports some annoying bugs and miscalculations that prevent this application from reaching its full potential.

Some of these bugs have to do with fundamental issues like solar gain, for instance, and, largely, preclude anyone with solid understanding of energy modeling from using this expensive software, as errors in energy calculations are somewhat glaring to a trained eye.

If you have any specific qutions, let me know and I can offer anything from free advice to fully fledged consulting services on this matter.

[Anonymous]

just started using it of now and have produced some reports for an existing block of flats. it appears to all be working but i have no idea if the results are correct. im comparing it to a consultant report done for a similar building where their results appear to be much higher but theirs is in dunedin and ours is in CHCH; does that make much difference? i know the outputted costs are less than what the actual users are paying.

what figure should we be referencing as total energy use as none seem to accord with each other; net heating energy, energy consumption, or primary energy?

[chrrev]

@simonblencowe
Could be Dunedin climate is significantly colder than that in Christchurch, I should know I am also a kiwi but north island 🙂 The orientation of course is gonna make potentially huge difference so I guess you have to be sure you're comparing apples with apples. Thats for the comparison between your results and the other consultant's results.
For which result to reference, it really depends - for a passive house type of analysis you'd be looking at the net heating energy (and/or cooling energy) being equal or less than 15kwh/m2a.
In terms of the global energy figures, Primary energy is useful in terms of environmental impact since it is the total amount of energy needed to produce the building's energy consumption. Depending on the primary energy source, the Carbon footprint will vary...
Energy Consumption by Sources usually if you deduct External Air from that and Electricity you should find the residual is the same as the total renewable energy ( if you use renewable) EXCEPT that there is a wee bug - the Solar including Thermal and PV in the Energy Consumption by Sources is different to the sum of the components in the Renewable Energy section, which is peculiar. I've pointed out this problem in another post but so far have no answer. Annoying I know.
In terms of costs, you have to do a Baseline comparison to get the dollar value of Purchased Energy - like in a "before and after" renovation scenario for instance...
Hope this helps, just my 2 cents worth. 😉

[James_]

*Thread dredge*

I'm not familiar with Ecodesigner STAR only ecodesigner, I don't think STAR was ever localised / released in NZ?
I did some work with ecodesigner when it was first released (2009?) on how the outputs could be adapted for use with NZBC H1 mostly with designnavigator. Essentially H1 is so low performance, and the existing tools easy to use, it wasn't really worth it. Especially if you are only looking for a H1 tick, which until recently most of NZ was happy with.

STAR is ASHRAE 140 which is acceptable in greenstar so there may be something there worth exploring.

If however you were going to be looking for ZEB or NZEB or passivehaus then the PHPP outputs from ecodesigner may be useful.

Simon: comparing a PHPP file or some other neutral dataset for each project would be the a good starting point. Otherwise you need a reference building.

Cheers james