Industry News

New Buildings Institute (NBI) today announced the official release of one of the first LEED Automation tools available to LEED project teams. The COMNET Energy Modeling Portal is an online platform used to collect energy modeling simulation results, perform quality assurance checks, and submit the results to LEED Online for Energy & Atmosphere Prerequisite 2 and Energy & Atmosphere Credit 1. It can be accessed at www.comnet.org/portal.

"Users of the portal can save substantial time and reduce errors in LEED submittals," said COMNET Business Manager Jared Silliker. "Until now, energy modelers have had to sift through pages of output reports, locate the appropriate data, convert units, and then manually type this information into the LEED Online Templates," he said.
 
Now LEED Online users can upload modeling results directly from their simulation software to the COMNET Energy Modeling Portal. The Portal can be used for New Construction, Core & Shell and Schools projects. The portal filters the results automatically, performs basic quality assurance checks, and sends the results directly to LEED Online. From the portal, users can review the official LEED Online template to ensure that it has been filled out appropriately.
 
"The COMNET portal will allow design teams to spend more time focusing on optimization of proposed designs, rather than non value-adding tasks. I envision at least a day's worth of time saved from not having to manually fill out forms (for EAp2 and EAc1)," said Roger Chang, Principal and Director of Sustainability at Westlake Reed Leskosky, a building design firm based in Washington, D.C.
 
"The new COMNET portal will be a valuable, time-saving tool for LEED project teams," said Scott Horst, Senior Vice President, USGBC. "LEED Automation is changing the LEED certification landscape and helping accelerate the marketplace."

The portal supports exports from eQUEST, Trane TRACE™ 700 and EnergySoft's EnergyPro. Trane and EnergySoft utilize the COMNET XML Schema, which is publicly available for vendors to incorporate in their building energy modeling software to export standard data. COMNET is working with other modeling software vendors who are adding a COMNET XML output option.

The new COMNET portal is currently free to use, but payment for the service will be required after October 1. The introductory fee per project will range from $500 to $1,000 depending on project size.

"This is a non-profit initiative to improve and streamline the modeling process. We want to keep the fee low to maximize the use of the tool," explained Silliker. "We anticipate that the time modelers will save on submissions will make the nominal fee well worth it."

About COMNET
COMNET is managed by New Buildings Institute with support from the Architectural Energy Corporation, Institute for Market Transformation, and RESNET. Several committees also provide guidance and include members from the US Green Building Council, US DOE, US EPA, ASHRAE and the California Energy Commission. For more information, visit comnet.org 

U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building program, robust educational offerings, a nationwide network of chapters and affiliates, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities.

LEED
The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED green building program system is the foremost program for the design, construction, maintenance and operations of green buildings. Nearly 46,000 projects are currently participating in the commercial and institutional LEED rating systems, comprising 8.6 billion square feet of construction space in all 50 states and 130 countries. In addition, more than 20,000 residential units have been certified under the LEED for Homes rating system, with nearly 80,000 more homes registered. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org and connect on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.