Across the world, the dominant form of building construction is heavy, load-bearing masonry or poured concrete, not timber- or steelframe. It is possible to make these buildings very energy-efficient, but they present very different problems from those associated with timber-frame buildings.

You have been using HOT2000 to determine if house designs meet the R-2000 energy target and have always believed that it does a good job. One day you decide to model your own home and compare the results to the utility bills. You find that the predicted and measured energy usage differs by a significant amount! Does this sound familiar? What's going on? Why the difference? Does this mean the utility meters are no good (unlikely); that you don't know how to perform take-offs (shudder); or that HOT2000 is no good (shriek)? Don't panic.

Phil Dolley of ETSU reports on research aimed at reducing energy consumption through carefully considered building design.