Understanding Current Building Energy Modeling Practices in Vancouver, Canada: Lessons Learned

Buildings account for roughly one-third of global energy consumption and contribute nearly 20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Although there have been significant advancements in building design tools, processes, and standards to mitigate these environmental impacts, buildings still fail to achieve the desired sustainability and energy performance goals. The actual energy performance of buildings can be two to five times higher than anticipated in the design phase of a project. This paper aims to better understand current building energy modeling practices in Vancouver, Canada. This research utilized a multi-method approach, including two ethnographic case studies that focused on two energy-efficient social housing projects. Interviews with experts were conducted to validate the results. The critical lessons learned were: collaboration between stakeholders can lead to more accurate energy models; energy models are usually created too late during design decision-making; and interoperability issues between design and energy modeling tools are one of the barriers to having automatic reliable energy models. The findings of this research can help owners, practitioners, and software developers to create or develop delivery methods, requirements, and tools for increasing the reliability of building energy performance predictions.