Architecture firm HOK calculated the payback of energy modeling—cost of modeling divided by modeled energy cost savings—for a number of their projects. The results? Modeling usually pays for itself in a month or two. Credit: HOK.

HOK used modeling to help design DC’s LEED platinum Consolidated Forensic Lab (CFL), a 350,000-square-foot facility with a large fraction of energy-intensive lab space. A $60,000 modeling budget yielded more than $500,000 in annual energy savings, for a payback of 1.3 months. Credit: HOK.

For the Daniel Inouye Regional Center, a NOAA administration building in Honolulu, HOK used a combination of energy, daylighting, and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) modeling to evaluate ECMs including a novel ventilation system. The resulting energy savings paid back the $170,000 modeling budget in under five months. Credit: HOK.