Energy simulation and prediction is a very important part of sustainable design. It is essential to have an estmate of the impact of each specific design strategy on the overall heating demand in order to be able to assess the benefits. Initial calculations can be done to come up with a rough prediction of the impact of each strategy to help decide if that strategy is applicable to the context and climate for each specific project. These calculations can also be useful for informing basic design decisions like massing and orientation. Once a design is underway, more detailed simulation can be done to assess the impact of the sustianable strategies chosen and to help fine-tune the design.
