The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that its EnergyPlus™ software, which models whole-building energy and water use, has been rewritten in the C++ programming language for improved performance. EnergyPlus lets users model design and operation alternatives — including HVAC system changes — on building energy performance.

Thirty-nine percent of the total energy used in a building is wasted. But 84 percent of a building’s total energy consumption could be efficiently controlled through an effective building energy management system (BEMS).

Lincoln Property Co., a national real estate services firm that manages One Burlington Business Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, for an equity firm, turned to Schneider Electric for assistance when the owners decided to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is converting one of its laboratories into the equivalent of a small office building in order to develop and test smart software technologies designed to slash energy use in commercial buildings.

TruTech Tools Ltd., an online distributor of tools and test instruments for the HVAC and building performance markets, has announced a change in ownership. James C. and James L. Bergmann have stepped down and president and CEO, Bill Spohn, and vice president and sales manager, Eric Preston, are now the owners.

Registration is now open for the third annual Building Performance Forum, set for October 7-8, 2014, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event will be presented by ACCA and the Building Performance Institute (BPI), in conjunction with media partner, the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration News.

The Siemens Building Technologies Division has launched Advantage Navigator, a software platform that the company said can track the long-term performance of a single facility or an entire portfolio of buildings.

ASHRAE has announced the availability of the newly revised ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 105-2014, Standard Methods of Determining, Expressing, and Comparing Building Energy Performance and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

ACCA, an association of HVACR, hydronics, and building performance contractors, has announced the launch of a new Member Service Center at http://members.acca.org, which provides a collection of online training resources for contracting business owners and managers.