Imagine a world in which an energy model can attain cost savings, security, and sustainability in buildings. This is the goal of Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers working on a project using UT’s Nautilus supercomputer. Called Autotune, the project is developing a methodology which places the bargain of energy efficiency within reach for more commercial and residential buildings. It does this by creating a more accurate energy model than exists today.
“The cost required to collect data and tune a model to such accuracy involves so much manual effort that it is rarely employed—outside of research—for energy-service company projects smaller than $1 million,” said ORNL’s Joshua New. “An automated methodology for model calibration that realistically adjusts input parameters would eliminate risk from energy savings estimates and open up new business opportunities and energy-savings performance contracts in the light commercial and residential sectors.”
This is what Autotune sets out to do. To learn more about the project, visit the National Institute for Computational Sciences website.