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Author/Editor:
James P. Waltz ISBN: 0-88173-259-1 6 x 9, 215 pp., Illus. Your Price : $74.99 
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Book Review:
"Not only informative, but an enjoyable read for energy analysts" - John Avina
I have worked on several energy studies in the past, and was wondering how we were doing compared to other energy analysts and consultants. Yes, we can get the bills to match the model’s results, but anyone can do that. So, a while back I bought a book on energy auditing just to make sure I was not missing anything.
There are several books on energy audits out there. The typical book takes you through the steps of auditing and gives you the standard step-by-step methodology. Energy audit books like this are boring, and I can never get finish them because they are so boring. In fact, most energy engineering books I buy don’t completely get read. They are so tedious you end up reading only what you need to read. To an experienced energy analyst, energy auditing books don’t really tell you anything you don’t already know, so why buy another book?
I stumbled upon a book, Computerized Building Energy Simulation Handbook by Jim Waltz, ... actually, I bought it because I knew who he was (he didn’t know me), and had heard that he was pretty good at energy audits. Waltz is very candid, and that is exactly what I was looking for--in fact, the book can be classified as part editorial. It is full of useful and really entertaining anecdotes which underscore why he preaches what he does. Waltz tells it like it is, and in the book rips to pieces some models he has reviewed, government bureaucrats and some others, maybe even you.
I have been teaching MarketManager classes for several years now, and knew all along that I was only teaching part of the entire story. Waltz wrote, "what we realized was that you can go to the Trane Company, or perhaps Carrier or perhaps some consultants that teach the DOE-2 program and you can learn all about their particular software product. However, you don’t learn very much about what it takes to make the whole process of building simulation work. To create real, viable, and meaningful (read "useful") computerized building models is what this book is about—everything about building simulation but software." I agree.
Computerized Building Energy Simulation Handbook is really misnamed, as Waltz himself says, "the book is about pretty much everything but software." Actually, the name is terrible, but if you want to sell to engineers, you need to have a really boring name for the book or they won’t buy it. I would have named it: "How to and How Not to Model Buildings as told by one who has seen it all."
Raving about the book is not enough, so I will have to tell you what is in it. Waltz covers topics such as:
I have read several good books so far in my lifetime, but none of them had anything to do with energy, so I don’t feel justified in trying pursuade you to read them (Boethius, Goethe, Gilgamesh or the others). Although Waltz’s book is not in the same category as timeless literature, Computerized Building Energy Simulation Handbook is a top tier book, and most likely the best energy auditing book ever. A good book is one that leaves you changed after reading it—and this book does just that. It is the type of book you have to tell everyone about because it is so good—which explains why I am reviewing and Abraxas Energy Consulting is offering just this one book on their site. Trust me, this is an excellent book, and if you read it once, you will likely read it again.
CONTENTS
1 – Introduction
2 – Building Simulation Myths
3 – Accuracy & Selecting a Tool
4 – Determination of Existing Conditions
5 – Building Survey Case Studies
6 – Constructing the Model
7 – Critiquing Output & Model Calibration
8 – Modeling Energy Conservation Measures
9 – Building Simulation & Performance Contracting
Appendices: Simulation Program Database; Standards for Performing Energy Audits;
Pre-survey Checklist; Field Survey Data Gathering Checklist; ECM Work-up Sheet;
Project Pricing Checklist; Building Model Checklist; Forms; Rule of Thumb Values
