Energy Modelling
Energy modelling uses specialized software to simulate how a building behaves, so you can assess its consumption and its overall performance.
By factoring in the building's characteristics (envelope, HVAC systems, lighting, occupancy and climate conditions), the model reproduces how the building actually operates and anticipates its energy performance.
Energy modelling lets you compare scenarios and identify the solutions that perform best, in energy terms and in dollars.
It is used to:
It is an essential lever for optimizing design, validating strategies and supporting decision-making.
Modelling also compares the performance of a proposed building with that of a reference building defined by the standards in force: ASHRAE 90.1, CNÉB 2015 QC (the Quebec energy code), and others.
This approach is used to:
Energy modelling optimizes the design of new buildings, measures the impact of retrofits and quantifies energy savings for efficiency programs such as APH Select.
It gives you a solid basis for designing buildings that are efficient, durable and eligible for financial incentive programs.
Energy modelling projects may qualify for financial incentive programs. ORT Énergie runs the simulations and structures your funding applications to maximize the support you receive.
An energy model is a digital reproduction of the building, simulated hour by hour across a full year.
It combines the local climate, geometry and envelope, mechanical systems and their control sequences, occupancy and operating schedules. The calculation returns expected consumption use by use, along with the demand drawn across the year.
The value is not in any single figure but in the comparison: a model lets several options be tested on identical ground, before anything is built or purchased.
The two exercises look in opposite directions.
Each feeds the other. Audit readings are what calibrate a model, and a calibrated model is what verifies the expected effect of recommended measures before they are committed to.
Most financial assistance programs and environmental certifications call for a demonstration of performance: the proposed building is compared against a compliant reference building, and the measured gap determines eligibility or the number of points awarded.
That demonstration rests entirely on the model. The assumptions used, how they are documented, and whether the method conforms to what the program requires all govern whether the submission is accepted — which is why modelling is worth starting early, while design choices can still be adjusted.
The report is built to be read by the design team and filed as-is with a funding application.
As early as possible. A model earns its value while envelope and system decisions are still open; commissioned afterwards, it only documents choices already made.
Available drawings and specifications, the envelope characteristics under consideration, the systems being contemplated and the intended occupancy. Failing that, we start from documented assumptions and refine them as the design firms up.
No. It simulates a proposed building; an energy audit measures an existing one. On a retrofit project the two follow one another.
A model rests on assumptions about use, and real operation always departs from them somewhat. Its value lies in comparing scenarios on identical ground rather than in the absolute value of any one result.
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Get a clear picture of your building's energy performance and pinpoint the solutions that best serve your energy, financial and environmental goals.
