Saves Engineers and Architects Hundreds of Design Hours

PHOENIX – Greenbuild International Conference and Expo – Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced that its Hevacomp Simulator V8i building energy simulation software, which takes full advantage of the U.S. Department of Energy’s EnergyPlus simulation engine, now automates ASHRAE baseline comparisons of building designs to determine LEED certification requirements. These automated comparisons against a baseline building in the same geometric orientation with ASHRAE-defined construction types, for items such as walls, windows, roofs, and slabs, will save engineers and architects hundreds of design hours on a typical project.

Hevacomp Simulator V8i enables designers to calculate percentage performance improvements for designs incorporating construction types that outperform minimum default values. The software compares the actual design to a comparative baseline building by averaging the results of four baseline simulation orientations. It then compares those results with the design building simulation run to determine eligible energy-efficiency credit points, in areas such as building fabric, lighting, and equipment, for use in the project’s LEED certification application.

“Manually calculating ASHRAE baseline comparisons to determine increased energy performance is an extremely time-consuming endeavor, often adding days or even weeks to the advancement of the design,” said Noah Eckhouse, Bentley vice president, Building Performance Group. “The ability of Hevacomp Simulator V8i to automatically rotate the baseline in three 90-degree increments to average baseline simulation runs helps users deliver their projects quickly and profitably.”

Hevacomp Simulator V8i, along with Hevacomp Mechanical Designer V8i and Bentley Tas Simulator V8i, is part of Bentley’s Energy Performance Series. This robust software for building energy design, analysis, and simulation makes it possible for engineers, architects, and energy assessors to better understand and accurately predict the energy consumption, CO2 emissions, operating costs, and occupant comfort of projects ranging from small and simple to very large and highly complex. Bentley’s Energy Performance Series has been proven in the very demanding U.K. market for the design and construction of high performance “green” buildings and now supports United States and Canadian standards.

For additional information about Bentley’s Hevacomp Simulator V8i and Energy Performance Series, visit www.bentley.com/green.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Founded in 1984, Bentley has more than 2,700 colleagues and offices in more than 45 countries, achieved in 2008 the milestone of $500 million in revenues, and, since 1995, has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions.

For additional information about Bentley, visit www.bentley.com. To subscribe to an RSS feed of Bentley press releases and news alerts, visit www.bentley.com/rss/news. To view a searchable collection of innovative infrastructure projects from the annual Be Inspired Awards, visit www.bentley.com/yearininfrastructure. For information about Be Communities, a professional networking site that enables members of the infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other, visit http://communities.bentley.com.

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Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo, and Hevacomp are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.