Database and Simulation Tool Development

We support DOE's goal to create zero energy buildings by 2025 by developing energy simulation software tools for evaluation of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability in buildings. The energy analysis tools listed below include both databases and energy analysis software.

High-Performance Buildings Database

Until recently, building professionals had no centralized database for building energy performance information to use for building designs. They had to collect the information from various sources, and because each source used different methods for measuring energy performance, obtaining accurate data was difficult. The High Performance Buildings Database is research sponsored by DOE that seeks to improve building energy performance measuring methods by collecting data on various factors that affect a building's energy and environmental performance, such as energy, materials, and land use. It then stores this data in a central location for use by members of the building industry. The database contains information from buildings around the world, ranging from homes and commercial interiors to large buildings and even whole campuses and neighborhoods. NREL has worked with DOE and Building Green on the development of this database for more than a decade. Today, many businesses and organizations within the building industry are quickly adopting this database as the most reliable, nonbiased resource for building energy performance information. In many cases, users are connecting their Web sites to this database to allow building professionals to search for information directly. For more information, visit the High-Performance Buildings Database.

LCI Database (for LCA experts only)

Which has the least impact on the environment, plastic or paper, cellulose insulation or fiberglass insulation, carpet or wood flooring? There are no straightforward answers to these questions because each product has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to its environmental impact. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) experts have a difficult time finding consistent, credible, and publicly available data to perform their environmental impact assessments. NREL and its partners created the life-cycle inventory (LCI) database to help LCA experts answer their questions about the environmental impact of various materials used in all industries, including the building industry. This database provides LCA experts with the data necessary to do cradle-to-grave accounting of the energy and material flows into and out of the environment that are associated with producing a material, component, or assembly. It's an online storeroom of data collected on commonly used materials, products, and processes in all industries. For more information, visit the LCI Database or read the LCI Fact Sheet (PDF 881 KB). Download Adobe Reader.

For information about methods to calculate the source energy and emissions from the energy measured at a building, read "Source Energy and Emission Factors for Energy Use in Buildings." (PDF 1.5 MB) Download Adobe Reader.

Computer Simulation Tools for Energy Analysis

Our researchers are developing energy simulation software tools for evaluation of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability in buildings. These tools include energy analysis software used for both residential and commercial building energy performance simulation. For more information, visit Energy Analysis and Tools.