Building energy analysis tool

1. A building energy analysis system, comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one computer readable storage medium, the at least one computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a building component library comprising a plurality of building components;

an audit tool operable by the at least one processor to:

receive first user input selecting, for a building under analysis and from the plurality of building components, one or more building components to be included in a building energy model of the building under analysis, and

receive second user input indicating a respective location of each of the one or more building components relative to building spatial data that corresponds to the building under analysis;

a modeling tool operable by the at least one processor to generate, based on the first user input, the second user input, and the building spatial data, the building energy model of the building under analysis;

a building analysis engine operable by the at least one processor to:

generate, using the building energy model of the building under analysis, baseline energy usage information for the building under analysis,

automatically apply one or more energy conservation measures to the building energy model to generate one or more optimized building energy models, and

generate, based on the one or more optimized building energy models, one or more corresponding sets of optimized energy usage information; and

a recommendation tool operable by the at least one processor to:

compare the one or more sets of optimized energy usage information to the baseline energy usage information, and

output one or more recommendations for substitute building components or modifications, the one or more recommendations being based on the comparing.

2. The building energy analysis system of claim 1 , wherein the audit tool is further operable by the at least one processor to:

receive user input defining a new building component, and

responsive to determining that the new building component does not correspond to any of the plurality of building components of the building component library, add the new building component to the building component library.

3. The building energy analysis system of claim 1 , further comprising a geometry capture tool operable by the at least one processor to:

capture geometric characteristics of the building under analysis, and

generate, based on the geometric characteristics, the building spatial data.

4. The building energy analysis system of claim 3 , wherein the geometry capture tool is further operable by the at least one processor to receive input comprising a photograph of at least a portion of the building under analysis,

wherein the geometry capture tool operable to capture the geometric characteristics of the building under analysis is operable by the at least one processor to capture the geometric characteristics from photometric data included in the photograph of at least a portion of the building under analysis.

5. The building energy analysis system of claim 3 , wherein the geometry capture tool operable to generate the building spatial data is operable by the at least one processor to identify boundaries of one or more zones within the building under analysis, and wherein the audit tool operable to receive the second user input is operable by the at least one processor to:

output, for display, visual representations of the one or more zones; and

receive user input indicating a respective zone, from the one or more zones, in which each of the one or more building components is located.

6. The building energy analysis system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more zones comprise one or more thermal zones within the building under analysis.

7. The building energy analysis system of claim 1 , wherein the recommendation tool operable to output the one or more recommendations is operable by the at least one processor to output a plurality of energy conservation measures ordered based on one or more of energy outcomes or cost of ownership outcomes.

8. The building energy analysis system of claim 1 , wherein the recommendation tool operable to output the one or more recommendations is operable by the at least one processor to output a recommendation that enumerates most promising energy conservation measures and at least one of: associated procurement guidance for building components used by the most promising energy conservation measures, installation guidance for implementing the most promising energy conservation measures, or relevant case studies of successful application of the most promising energy conservation measures.

9. The building energy analysis system of claim 1 , wherein each building component from the plurality of building components comprises at least one of: a parameter defining the energy usage of the building component, a parameter defining the structure of the building component, a parameter defining one or more dimensions of the building component, a parameter defining a material composition of the building component, a parameter defining a fire safety rating of the building component, a parameter defining a durability of the building component, a parameter defining a weather resistance rating of the building component, a parameter defining a weather rating of the building component, or a parameter defining a cost of the building component.

10. The building energy analysis system of claim 1 , wherein the building analysis engine operable to automatically apply the one or more energy conservation measures to the building energy model is operable by the at least one processor to:

determine, based on building components included in the building energy model for the building under analysis, one or more applicable energy conservation measures; and

apply the one or more applicable energy conservation measures to the building energy model.

11. A building energy analysis method, comprising:

receiving, by a computing system, first user input indicating, for a building under analysis, one or more building components to be included in a building energy model of the building under analysis;

receiving, by the computing system, second user input indicating a respective location of each of the one or more building components relative to building spatial data that corresponds to the building under analysis;

generating, by the computing system and based on the first user input, the second user input, and the building spatial data, the building energy model of the building under analysis;

generating, by the computing system, and using the building energy model of the building under analysis, baseline energy usage information for the building under analysis;

automatically applying, by the computing system, one or more energy conservation measures to the building energy model to generate one or more optimized building energy models;

generating, by the computing system and based on the one or more optimized building energy models, one or more corresponding sets of optimized energy usage information;

comparing, by the computing system, the one or more sets of optimized energy usage information to the baseline energy usage information; and

outputting, by the computing system, one or more recommendations for substitute building components or building modifications, the one or more recommendations being based on the comparing.

12. The building energy analysis method of claim 11 , further comprising:

capturing geometric characteristics of the building under analysis; and

generating, based on the geometric characteristics, the building spatial data.

13. The building energy analysis method of claim 12 , wherein capturing the geometric characteristics of the building under analysis comprises:

receiving input comprising a photograph of at least a portion of the building under analysis; and

capturing the geometric characteristics from photometric data included in the photograph of at least a portion of the building under analysis.

14. The building energy analysis method of claim 12 , wherein generating the building spatial data comprises identifying boundaries of one or more zones within the building under analysis, and wherein receiving the second user input comprises:

outputting, for display, visual representations of the one or more zones; and

receiving user input indicating a respective zone, from the one or more zones, in which each of the one or more building components is located.

15. The building energy analysis method of claim 11 , wherein receiving first user input indicating the one or more building components to be included in the building energy model of the building under analysis comprises at least one of:

receiving user input selecting one or more previously-stored building components stored in a building component library; or

receiving user input defining a new building component and, responsive to determining that the new building component does not correspond to any building components stored in the building component library, adding the new building component to the building component library.

16. The building energy analysis method of claim 11 , wherein outputting the one or more recommendations comprises outputting a plurality of energy conservation measures ordered based on one or more of energy outcomes or cost of ownership outcomes.

17. The building energy analysis method of claim 11 , wherein outputting the one or more recommendations comprises outputting a recommendation that enumerates most promising energy conservation measures and at least one of associated procurement guidance for building components used by the most promising energy conservation measures, installation guidance for implementing the most promising energy conservation measures, or relevant case studies of successful application of the most promising energy conservation measures.

18. The building energy analysis method of claim 11 , wherein each building component from the one or more building components comprises at least one of: a parameter defining the energy usage of the building component, a parameter defining the structure of the building component, a parameter defining one or more dimensions of the building component, a parameter defining a material composition of the building component, a parameter defining a fire safety rating of the building component, a parameter defining a durability of the building component, a parameter defining a weather resistance rating of the building component, a parameter defining a weather rating of the building component, or a parameter defining a cost of the building component.

19. The building energy analysis method of claim 11 , wherein automatically applying the one or more energy conservation measures to the building energy model comprises:

determining, based on building components included in the building energy model for the building under analysis, one or more applicable energy conservation measures; and

applying the one or more applicable energy conservation measures to the building energy model.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to:

receive first user input indicating, for a building under analysis, one or more building components to be included in a building energy model of the building under analysis;

receive second user input indicating a respective location of each of the one or more building components relative to building spatial data that corresponds to the building under analysis;

generate, based on the first user input, the second user input, and the building spatial data, the building energy model of the building under analysis;

generate, using the building energy model of the building under analysis, baseline energy usage information for the building under analysis;

automatically apply one or more energy conservation measures to the building energy model to generate one or more optimized building energy models;

generate, based on the one or more optimized building energy models, one or more corresponding sets of optimized energy usage information;

compare the one or more sets of optimized energy usage information to the baseline energy usage information; and

output one or more recommendations for substitute building components or building modifications, the one or more recommendations being based on the comparing.