Ekotrope featured in Green Builder Magazine

Case study: ‘Using an energy-assessment tool to plan and evaluate home plans’

Note: This story references the product HomeSEED which is now known as Ekotrope and is our flagship software.

We are very excited to share Ekotrope’s coverage in Green Builder’s April 2012 Green Home Plan Book’, which is based on HomeSEED being used by the editorial team for a practical and insightful five-page case study feature. Green Builder is an important resource to the building community – it’s read and trusted by builders, developers and end users across the North American residential building industry, and a trusted source for its understanding and exclusive focus on green building and sustainability. Its second annual set of eco-friendly plans presents a thorough evaluation of home energy performance, enabling informed choices of building designs that meet both lifestyle and performance goals.

For the section titled ‘Using an energy-assessment tool to plan and evaluate home plans’, Green Builder’s veteran reporter, Matt Power, approached Ekotrope and asked us to use our software to evaluate one of this year’s selected green home plans. The story uses our software – which is both easy-to-use and powerful – to compare three levels of cost and performance for a design plan for a home called the ‘Merriwether’. Ekotrope and the Green Builder teams input the design size and features from the plans then added component specifications to HomeSEED’s Component Library. Component options chosen included a double-pane window, hybrid spray foam, and cellulose insulation. Then HomeSEED was used to run through all component combinations.The results were written up as part of a comprehensive step-by-step analysis of the project for Green Builder’s Plan Book.The editorial overview highlights why HomeSEED is needed – to uncover the unexpected – with the comment: “The results were never predictable, but definitely instructive.”

The conclusion: “HomeSEED results are easily manipulated to produce the best choices, weighted toward the builder or architect’s goal – whether it be saving money, saving energy or code compliance. And because HomeSEED is hosted on a web portal, new components are being added on a regular basis, and there’s no need for end-use software updates. It’s also accessible from anywhere.”We’d like to thank Green Builder, it was great to work with Matt and the team, and to have the opportunity to show how HomeSEED works.

Want to find out more? Then read the Green Builder piece online on page 51.