DC-2760 -- An Economic Analysis Code for Selecting Building Design Options PDF

In the past, economic analysis of innovative building design options has not included considerations of the tax environments appropriate for different decision makers, the possible existence of innovative utility rate structures including such things as time-of-day rates, the possibilities for sale and resale of power, and multiple decision criteria for comparing alternative building investments. A Building Innovations Economic Analysis code (BIEA) is described, which satisfies these and other objectives as well. The code is designed in stand-alone form, to interface with a load simulation program or alternative building performance data development device of the user’s choosing. To facilitate the interface, a user-friendly preprocessor for input data management and modification is described. The code is currently being employed in commercial sector work for the development of recommendations for ASHRAE standard revisions and in the residential sector for analysis of conservation and renewable energy options to new single-family house designs.