LOS ANGELES - Green Building Studio Inc., a leading sustainability analysis software and services company in the architectural, engineering, and construction industry, has announced the release of Version 2.0 of the Green Building Studio Web service. According to the company, this release includes significant new functionality designed to support sustainability design decisions and make detailed comparisons between different building design and equipment measures. The development of these new features has been funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Energy Commission, and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, in order to provide the tools necessary to evaluate even greater sustainable building design options.

The Green Building Studio Web service is intended to be used at the earliest phase of design to fully understand the cost-effective opportunities to maximize a building's sustainability. The new features, called "Design Alternatives," enable architects and engineering teams to quickly analyze various changes to their building design, including orientation, glazing options, envelope constructions, lighting technologies, and HVAC technologies. In addition, manufacturer products can now be applied with a simple click to understand how specific building products perform when included in an actual building design. EnergyPlus capabilities and single-family homes are now enabled in the service as well.

Jean Lupinacci, director of the U.S. EPA Energy Star Commercial and Industrial Branch, stated, "Energy efficiency is a critical step to a green building, and the Green Building Studio Web service is the type of tool that makes it easy to integrate top energy efficiency into the critical design phase of new buildings. We look forward to many more new buildings earning the Energy Star and helping to avoid emissions of greenhouse gases while costing less to operate due to the Green Building Studio Web service."