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<p class="MsoNormal">Hello Effiong!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">Constructively: Determining metrics like energy performance and carbon footprint of an existing building does not require a building simulation. This is most easily and time-efficiently
done by marrying 12 consecutive months of the most recently available utility bills with a spreadsheet. When performing a utility analysis and as a best practice, I advise seeking out at
<i>least</i> the most recent 24 months when possible – this will enable you to observe year-over-year variances that help to tell a story which may helpfully inform/contextualize the performance metrics developed for your project. If you intend to build an
energy model for other reasons, you will benefit from performing a separate utility analysis first. After collecting this historical information and (at your option) producing such performance metrics, you could then develop and calibrate a building energy
simulation model (i.e. eQUEST) to better reflect the historical energy usage.<o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<ol style="margin-top:0in" start="2" type="1">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">The easiest tool in my toolbox might be a hammer, but that’s not helpful if you intend to change the oil in your car. Please add to your query some extra information: What analysis
are you trying to perform? What familiarity/skillsets to you possess with other building design software packages? When you say “easy,” do you mean in terms of time-investment to become proficient?<o:p></o:p></li></ol>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph">The easiest tool to visualize and perform a historical utility analysis is Excel, in my opinion. I’m aware of other database development and visualization tools / suites, and have dabbled with a few, but so far nothing beats my
experience with Excel considering its versatility and capacity to perform fast, dynamic, and in-depth explorations and visualizations of utility data.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">To answer in a general fashion, and assuming you’re still asking about the doe2/eQuest platform, I consider eQUEST relative to other building simulation platforms & tools I have sampled to have a “medium-hard” learning
curve to arrive at a place where you can develop your first set of successful simulation results (depends upon your experience, aptitudes, the learning environment, and time / resources available). There exist both more and less “approachable” alternatives
in the world of building energy simulation. In exchange however, eQUEST offers many layers of potential for accurate, flexible, & complex analysis that simpler platforms do not offer. It is a skillset/tool easy to recommend for a long-term career involving
energy analysis. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">If on the other hand you require something you can pick up (learn) more quickly without as substantial a time investment, there are simpler options out there. In that case it becomes much more important to convey
the specific analysis you hope to perform as one could recommend simpler and purpose-built tools for specific energy cost saving measures.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">~Nick<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3A7A46"><img width="726" height="9" style="width:7.5625in;height:.0937in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D374E7.E5B68D90"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3A7A46">Nick Caton, P.E., BEMP</span></b><span style="color:#3A7A46"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469"> Senior Energy Engineer</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469"> Regional Energy Engineering Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469"> Energy and Sustainability Services</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469"> Schneider Electric</span><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#57B069">D </span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469">913.564.6361
</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#57B069">M </span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469">785.410.3317
</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#57B069">F </span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469">913.564.6380</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#57B069">E </span><span style="color:#1F497D"><a href="mailto:nicholas.caton@schneider-electric.com"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469">nicholas.caton@schneider-electric.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#626469">15200 Santa Fe Trail Drive<br>
Suite 204<br>
Lenexa, KS 66219<br>
United States</span><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Equest-users [mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Effiong Edentekhe via Equest-users<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, December 14, 2017 6:12 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> equest-users@lists.onebuilding.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Equest-users] eQUEST for existing buildings<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Compliments,<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Please how do I go about using eQUEST for determining the energy performance and carbon footprint of already existing buildings?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">And is this the easiest software that I can use or are there other easier to use recommendations?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for your quick response. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
______________________________________________________________________<br>
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.<br>
______________________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></p>
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