5 benefits of energy modelling

Specialty consulting engineering firm RWDI is dedicated to sustainable innovation. They’ve worked on award-winning structures around the world and at home, including the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario Headquarters, Toronto’s first LEED-NC Platinum certified building. Here, Argentina expat and Senior Energy Consultant Sebastián Carrizo, M. Eng., shares his experience as an energy modeller with the Savings by Design program.

Highlights

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    Senior Energy Consultant Sebastián Carrizo, shares his experience as an energy modeller with the Enbridge Gas Savings by Design program.

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    Savings by Design workshop is focused on reducing energy use and carbon emissions for any project.

Sebastián Carrizo, Senior Energy Consultant at RWDI

Start with a sandbox

Think of energy modelling as a digital sandbox, allowing you to play with your building before it’s built. Design teams can experiment with different building characteristics, quickly and easily exploring their impact on building performance. With this rapid analysis, we can identify the best opportunities for the project. This kind of experimentation just makes design better.

Size doesn’t matter

Modelling is not tied to the size of the project. Energy modelling can provide insight into the performance of buildings of any size and shape, from skyscrapers to single-family homes. With the right design team, every building can be high performance.

Join the community

One of my favourite aspects of the program is that it brings together a team of multi-disciplinary subject-matter experts with decades of experience in high-performance building design. When a project team joins the community, they tap into this resource of enthusiastic and creative building design professionals.

Sustainability goes beyond energy efficiency

While the Savings by Design workshop is focused on reducing energy use and carbon emissions, we know that building operators have economic considerations too. An energy model can help projects strike the right balance between energy efficiency and operating costs. There’s a place for electricity and a place for natural gas technologies, and we can help you understand where they meet for your project.

High performance is a mindset

At Savings by Design workshops, everyone comes to the table with an open mind, ready to learn—even those who may have been doing things the same way for decades. Energy modelling provides the quantifiable data to confirm or challenge the value of different building-design options. The program can give a design team the confidence to break out of their standard mould and strive for high-performance building design.

Start designing sustainable buildings with expert help

Savings by Design gives your project team free access to industry experts, technical tools and financial incentives to help you build high-performance, resilient and sustainable buildings.

How the program works

Number one

Visioning session

Session duration: 1 – 2 hours
We’ll meet with your project lead, sustainability manager and a design team member to help define your project requirements and sustainability priorities.

Number three

Evaluation of final design choices

Share the final designs that are being submitted to the municipality for permitting with your Energy Solutions Advisor to find out if the final design is likely to achieve the IDP efficiency performance targets. This also helps support continuous improvement of the program.

Number two

Integrated design process workshop

No cost
Workshop duration: 1 day Your team will strategize with energy modellers and sustainable design experts to maximize your project’s energy and environmental performance at a full-day workshop facilitated by Sustainable Buildings Canada.

An energy model will be developed as well as a final report summarizing the options discussed and recommendations.

Apply today to get the most out of your next project

* This has no cash value. To qualify for the program, projects must be located in the Enbridge Gas service area. City of Toronto and City of Ottawa projects will target the achievement of higher energy performance. Participants must agree to all program terms and conditions, fully participate in all stages of the program and meet all program requirements.