Energy Analysis Tools
GREET Updates
The Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation model includes multiple new fuel pathways and updated assumptions.
Find analysis tools—models, software, and calculators—for analysis activities. Many of these tools cut across clean energy technologies or intersect topics such as market and policy analysis.
Cross-Sector Calculators
- Facility Energy Decision System (FEDS)
- Source: Federal Energy Management Program
- Analyze energy efficiency in a single or multiple buildings, including central energy plants and thermal loops; compare energy savings potential across sites; identify retrofits by selecting minimum life-cycle costs, determining payback, and prioritizing options.
- Federal Renewable Energy Screening Assistant (FRESA)
- Source: Federal Energy Management Program
- Analyze the use of renewable energy technologies for buildings and facilities; identify technologies appropriate for implementation; evaluate systems to reduce electricity, fuel use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
- HOMER Energy Modeling Software
- Source: Homer Energy
- Design and analyze hybrid power systems; determine how variable resources can be optimally integrated into hybrid systems; simulate energy systems, compare results, and get projections of capital and operating expenses.
- Jobs and Economic Development Impacts (JEDI)
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Estimate the economic impacts of constructing and operating power generation and biofuel plants at the local (usually state) level; estimates the number of jobs and economic impacts that could reasonably be supported by a power generation project.
- Other Federal Energy Management Tools
- Source: Federal Energy Management Program
- Use the tools on this list to compare potential energy conservation measures by performing energy consumption analyses, modeling, and comparative life-cycle costing analyses.
Electricity
- Cost of Renewable Energy Spreadsheet Tool (CREST)
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Assess projects, design cost-based incentives (e.g., feed-in tariffs), and evaluate impacts of tax incentives and other support structures using this economic cash flow model.
- GridLab Power Distribution System Simulation
- Source: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Examine in detail the interplay of every part of a distribution system with every other part of the system.
- In My Back Yard (IMBY)
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Estimate solar photovoltaic (PV) array and wind turbine electricity production based on system size, location, and other variables.
- Renewable Energy Deployment System (ReEDS)
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Optimize regional expansion of electric generation and transmission capacity in the continental United States over 50 years.
- System Advisor Model (SAM)
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Investigate the impact of variations in physical parameters, cost, and financial parameters to understand their impact on key figures of merit.
Integrated Models
- Global Change Assessment Model (G-CAM)
- Source: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Model economy, energy, and land-use for three end-use sectors and multiple conventional and renewable supply sectors in 14 global regions, including the United States; includes multiple supply technologies; tracks 16 emissions.
- Market Allocation Model (MARKAL)
- Source: Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Represent the evolution of specific energy systems at the local, state (or province), national, or regional level, over 40-50 years.
- National Energy Modeling System (NEMS)
- Source: Energy Information Administration
- Project the production, imports, conversion, consumption, and prices of energy, subject to assumptions on macroeconomic and financial factors, world energy markets, resource availability and costs, behavioral and technological choice criteria, cost and performance characteristics of energy technologies, and demographics.
Policy Analysis
- OpenStudio Policy Analysis Tool
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Perform simple modeling and analysis by visually comparing sets of perturbation results and evaluating them against collections of standards rules.
Advanced Manufacturing
- Advanced Manufacturing Tools
- Source: Advanced Manufacturing Office
- See this list of tools for identifying and analyzing energy system savings opportunities in plant and other industrial facilities.
Buildings
- BeOpt (Building Energy Optimization) Software
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Evaluate residential building designs and identify cost-optimal efficiency packages at various levels of whole-house energy savings along the path to zero net energy; analyze new construction and existing home retrofits, and evaluate single building designs
- Commercial Buildings Sector Agent-Based Model
- Source: Argonne National Laboratory
- Model the market—participants, dynamics, and constraints—help decide whether to adopt energy-efficient technologies to meet commercial building energy-efficiency targets.
- DOE-2 Building Energy Use and Cost Analysis Software
- Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Perform detailed comparative analysis of building designs and technologies by applying sophisticated building energy use simulation techniques; does not require extensive experience in building performance modeling.
- Energy 10
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Sustainable Buildings Industry Council
- Identify the most cost-effective, energy-saving measures to take in designing small ((generally less than 10,000 square feet), low-energy, commercial and residential buildings that are characterized by one or two thermal zones
- Energy and Cost Savings Calculators for Energy-Efficient Products
- Source: Federal Energy Management Program
- Enter input values (e.g., utility rates, hours of use) to estimate energy and cost savings for energy-efficient products.
- Energy Plus
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Simulate the whole-building performance, and energy and water use buildings; model heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, other energy flows, and water use; simulate multiple building systems and functions.
- Home Energy Saver
- Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Quickly compute a home's energy use for all end uses, including heating, cooling, water heating, appliances, and lighting; get recommended energy-saving upgrades; estimates a home's carbon footprint.
- Home Energy Scoring Tool
- Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Generate clear and credible home energy assessments; recommend customized upgrades and cost saving tips; compare the energy use of different homes
- Technology Deployment List
- Source: Federal Energy Management Program
- Identify emerging—and underused—energy-saving technologies, including building envelope; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning; lighting; water heating; and refrigeration, computer power management, and vending machine technologies.
- Other Buildings Tools
- Source: Building Technologies Program
- Use the tools in this directory to evaluate energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability in buildings.
Transportation and Vehicles
- Autonomie Automotive Simulation Tool
- Source: Argonne National Laboratory
- Rapidly evaluate new powertrain and propulsion technologies for improving fuel economy through virtual design and analysis in a math-based simulation environment.
- Fleet Atlas
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Locate agency fleet garages, alternative fueling stations, and proximate fleets; Analyze fleet vehicle counts, stations proximity to fleet garages, station details, and vehicle densities.
- Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation Model (GREET)
- Source: Argonne National Laboratory
- Evaluate engine and fuel combinations on a consistent fuel-cycle basis; Measure the petroleum displacement and greenhouse gas emissions of medium and heavy-duty vehicles and off-road equipment.
- GREET Fleet: Carbon and Petroleum Footprint Calculator
- Source: Argonne National Laboratory
- Calculate the petroleum and greenhouse gas footprint of a fleet; Compare alternative fuels and vehicle technologies before purchasing medium-duty, heavy-duty, or off-road vehicles
- Market Acceptance of Advanced Automotive Technologies Model (MA3T) Consumer Choice Model
- Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Project U.S. consumer demand for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) in competition among various light-duty vehicle technologies for hundreds of market segments based and multiple regions. For more information, contact the ORNL Energy and Transportation Science Division.
- Petroleum Reduction Planning Tool
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Evaluate and calculate petroleum reductions by choosing one or a combination of alternative fuels, hybrid electric vehicles, biodiesel blends, fuel economy, vehicle miles traveled reduction, truck stop electrification, idling time reduction, or onboard idle reduction.
- TransAtlas
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Customize map displays—and print and query underlying data—for existing and planned alternative fueling stations; alternative fuel production facilities; light-duty vehicle density; and roads and political boundaries.
- Vehicle Cost Calculator
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Calculate the total cost of ownership and emissions for makes and models of most vehicles, including alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles.
- VISION Model for Vehicle Technologies and Alternative Fuels
- Source: Argonne National Laboratory
- Estimate the potential energy use, oil use, and carbon emission impacts of advanced light and heavy-duty vehicle technologies and alternative fuels through 2050.
- Other Vehicles Tools
- Source: Vehicle Technologies Program
- Use the tools on this list to assess the potential impacts of implementing new vehicle technologies.
Biomass
- Biofuels Techno-Economic Models
- Source: NREL
- Model the production cost for ethanol to assess its competitiveness and market potential; quantify the economic impact of individual conversion performance targets and prioritize these in terms of their potential to reduce cost. See also Design and Economics for Biochemical Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Ethanol.
- Biomass Scenario Model
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Model the integration of all aspects of the biomass supply chain from growing the feedstock through harvest, collection, transport, conversion, distribution of fuel, and consumption of fuel in vehicles.
- Policy Analysis System (Polysys)
- Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory/University of Tennessee
- Model U.S. planning decisions at the level of the agricultural statistics district; crop demands and market prices at the national level; and the integrated livestock sector at the national level. Includes fourteen crops and five livestock commodities.
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen
- Fuel Cell Power Model
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Analyze high-temperature, fuel cell-based tri-generation systems using a discounted cash flow rate-of-return methodology to determine the cost of delivered energy; quantify energy inputs/outputs and greenhouse gas emissions.
- Hydrogen Analysis (H2A)
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Perform economic analysis of forecourt (distributed) and central hydrogen production systems using various energy resources, including renewables, coal, natural gas, and biomass; calculate the delivered cost of hydrogen for a particular delivery component.
Geothermal
- Geothermal Electricity Technology Evaluation Model (GETEM)
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Model the estimated performance and costs of available U.S. geothermal power systems; analyze available technologies and estimate the cost of certain technologies 5-20 years in the future
- Other Geothermal Tools
- Source: Geothermal Technologies Program
- Use the tools on this list to find programs that model geothermal systems and economics.
Solar
- PVWatts Performance Calculator
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Access data sets and calculators to determine energy production and cost savings of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
- Solar Prospector
- Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Access solar resource data—and other data relevant to utility-scale solar power projects—and map or site large-scale solar plants.
Find technology-specific resources on EERE program websites.