EnergyPlus

The energy use data embedded in the Impact Building Calculator is modeled with the physics-based EnergyPlus whole building energy simulation engine supplemented by a machine learning algorithm. Simulations were performed using the Existing Commercial Reference Buildings Constructed In or After 1980 (v1.4) provided by the United States Department of Energy. Simulations were performed for every possible combination of ECCMs available in the Building Decarbonization Calculator within each Building Segment, across all representative climate zones.

Results of these simulations were normalized by unit gross floor area. When asset data is entered in the Calculator, the area-normalized data is scaled to the user input.

End Use

In the context of energy consumption, "end use" refers to the specific category or application where energy is utilized within a building or system. End use breaks down total energy use into individual functions, such as heating, cooling, lighting, or equipment operation. Understanding end uses helps identify where energy is consumed most and informs targeted energy efficiency measures for each category.

Characteristics of Prototype Models

The following is a summary of the characteristics of the prototype models used in the analysis. Where available prototype models were used rather than custom created, the full model documentation and the models themselves are available from the US Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

* The urban grocery, refrigerated warehouse, mixed-use super tall building, and dormitory prototype models were created for this tool only and are not DoE-supplied models.

Typical Baseline Systems

USA & AUS & CAN

EU & UK

Singapore and Hong Kong

UAE

Saudi Arabia

Argentina & Chile

Brazil

India

Representative Locations and Climate Zones

To fill in the location-specific climate data required for analysis, the Impact Building Calculator pairs a user's selected location with a representative location that is complete with ASHRAE climate zone data. Matching between selected and representative locations is completed using the following order of operations:

• First: the Calculator looks for the geographically closest representative city with the same climate zone. This matching type is considered a "Good match".

• Second: when there are no matching climate zones in proximity, the Calculator looks for a similar climate zones in the selected country. If multiple exist, the asset is matched with the similar representative location that is geographically-closest. This matching type is considered a "Decent Match".

• Third: when there are no similar climate zones in proximity, the Calculator will indicate the selected city is a poor match for the Calculator.

The following is the list of the representative cities for each ASHRAE Climate Zone modeled in the Calculator. More data on the ASHRAE Climate Zones is available online (pdf).

USA & AUS & CAN

Australia

• 2A – Brisbane

• 3A – Sydney

• 3B – Adelaide

Canada

• 4C – Vancouver

• 5A – Toronto

• 6A – Montreal

• 7 – Calgary

USA

• 1A – Miami, FL

• 1B – Phoenix, AZ

• 2A – Houston and Dallas, TX; Jacksonville and Orlando, FL

• 2B – Tucson, AZ; Las Vegas, NV

• 3A – Atlanta, GA; Memphis and Nashville, TN; Raleigh, NC

• 3B – El Paso, TX; Las Vegas, NV

• 3C – Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA

• 4A – Baltimore, MD; Nashville, TN; Louisville, KY; Wichita, KS; New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC

• 4B – Albuquerque, NM

• 4C – Seattle, WA; Portland, OR

• 5A – Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Omaha, NE; Des Moines, IA

• 5B – Boulder, CO; Boise, ID; Salt Lake City, UT

• 5C – Bremerton, WA

• 6A – Minneapolis, MN; Burlington, VT

• 6B – Helena, MT

• 7 – Duluth, MN

EU & UK

Belgium

• 4A – Brussels

Denmark

• 5A – Copenhagen

France

• 3A – Bordeaux

• 4A – Paris

• 5A – Belfort

Finland

• 6A – Helsinki

Germany

• 4A – Frankfurt

• 5A – Berlin

Italy

• 3A – Rome

• 3B – Cozzo Spadaro

• 4A – Milano

Norway

• 6A – Oslo

Poland

• 5A – Warsaw

Portugal

• 3A – Lisbon

Spain

• 3A – Barcelona

Sweden

• 7 – Kiruna

United Kingdom

• 4A – London

• 5A – Birmingham

Singapore

• 0A – Singapore, Singapore

UAE

• 0B – Dubai

Saudi Arabia

• 1B – Bisha

• 2B – Taif

South America

Argentina

• 2A – San Miguel de Tucuman

• 2B – Santiago del Estero

• 3A – Buenos Aires

• 3B – Mendoza

• 4B – La Quiaca

• 4C – Comodoro Rivadavia

• 5B – Río Gallegos

• 5C – Bariloche

• 6A – Ushuaia

Brazil

• 0A – Salvador

• 0B – Petrolina

• 1A – Rio de Janeiro

• 2A – São Paulo

Chile

• 2A – Isla de Pascua

• 3B – Santiago

• 3C – Concepción

• 4A – Puerto Montt

• 4C – Temuco

• 6A – Punta Arenas

India

• 0A – Mumbai

• 0B – Ahmedabad

• 1A – Hyderabad

• 1B – New Delhi

• 2A – Dehradun

• 2B – Amritsar

• 4A – Srinagar

Hong Kong

• 2A – Hong Kong

Building Vintages

Assets in the tool have either one or two building vintages to choose from, namely, those built or renovated before 2004, 2005-2009, and 2010-2015. The following table describes how the vintages were constructed.

Column Header Key:

• Region: the country in which the asset is located.

• Vintage Label: the asset's year of original construction or last major renovation

• PNNL Prototype Label: prototype building models developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have been utilized as typical examples of existing buildings for all typologies.

• HVAC Modifications: notes on variances from the PNNL prototype building models.