Trane recently partnered with a group of energy modelers from industry leading companies and, using the Trane TRACE™ 700 energy modeling software, modeled a net-zero office building using specific contest criteria in the ASHRAE LowDown Showdown.

For its successful partnership efforts, the team won the award for “Best Teamwork” in the challenge sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at the ASHRAE Energy Modeling Conference in Atlanta.

According to Trane, partnering is a common thread for the TRACE 700 development team who recently worked with Hewlett Packard to expand data center modeling capabilities in the latest software update (v6.3.2). The use of evaporative cooling and specialized energy recovery devices are a growing trend in data center cooling. The addition of these new modeling features, and the associated report enhancements (PUE™ & WUE™), allow data center designers to more accurately model many of the latest data center optimization strategies.

The company also said the latest release of TRACE 700 also offers direct support for health care facility ventilation per ASHRAE Standard 170. This means it is now possible to model ventilation in accordance with both ASHRAE Standards 62.1 and 170. TRACE 700 helps to determine the correct ventilation rates for health care facilities.

For more information, a complete list of updates, or to download a free 30-day trial version of TRACE 700, visit www.trane.com/TRACE700.