ESP-r

Screen shot of ESP-r's main menu

ESP-r is an open-sourced building performance energy modeling software that was created by the University of Strathclyde. It is primarily used in research, as a tool for consultants or as a teaching tool. ESP-r can model the thermal, visual and acoustic performance of a building as well as moisture and electrical power within a modeled energy system/building.

ESP-r calculates building performance values based on a finite volume approach where it solves a set of conservation equations. It was developed in 1974 as Joe Clarke's PhD research and was made available in 2002 in the public domain subject to the GNU Public License. ESP-r is designed to work on the Unix operating system but can be run in Windows using a Unix emulator or run with the Windows version. The current ESP-r Archivist is Professor Joseph Clarke of Strathclyde University, UK.

Some advantages that ESP-r has are its power and flexibility enables a well-informed user to optimize the energy and environmental performance of a building and/or associated energy systems. The power behind ESP-r is its holistic nature and range to features. The downside is that the detailed input information is difficult to obtain and lack of documentations means users need specific knowledge to complete complex tasks. ESP-r is mainly used as a research tool with modest consulting and teaching applications.

ESP-r has been extensively validated and extended within the remit of various studies and doctoral theses.