Getting Started.

Documentation for the Zebra Energy and Carbon model is freely available to download. This section gives general guidance and examples to get started with the model.

  • Detailed instructions on how to use the zebra model. These instructions are also included within the spreadsheet, but they can be downloaded here for ease of reading.

  • An example of Zebra being used to design an office building. Download the tutorial for this example here and the Zebra spreadsheet which was used here.

  • Research paper that discusses the accuracy of the Zebra morel, and compares it with more advanced modelling technologies. The paper is available here.

  • Zebra Lite is a simplified online version of the Zebra modal. Other than making more assumptions, it works in essentially the same way as the Excel version. There is a tutorial on how to get started with Zebra Lite here

Detailed Guides.

This section contains more detailed guides on various aspects of the Zebra Energy and Carbon Model

  • The definition of windows is one or the more complicated aspects of the Zebra model. You can download guidance on defining windows here.

  • We have made some notes for users who are running Zebra side by side with dynamic simulations to compare the outputs. The notes are available here

  • A primer on embodied carbon in buildings, describing the background to EC in building, and mitigation strategies to reduce it. The primer is available here

  • We have written a guide on the best approach to take to iterate your designs for carbon and energy performance. This includes information on how to interpret the model and identify areas for improvement. It is available here.

  • The heating and cooling demand bar charts are in important part of the Zebra model, but they require some understanding of how the model works to interpret them effectively. We have written a guide on this which is available here.

  • We have written some thoughts on things students may wish to consider when designing buildings to be efficient in terms of carbon and energy. You get get the notes here

  • The Zebra model contains a built-in database of weather stations. However, sometimes you may have access to an EPW weather file that represents the weather at your project location better that the stations in the database. You can use this Excel-based tool to convert the hourly data in the EPW file into monthly directional averages required in the Zebra model. Download the tool here

  • Choosing your heating and cooling setpoints is an important decision with energy modelling. We have written a guide on this in relation to Zebra, including a discussion of Adaptive Thermal Conform levels. The guide is available here. The spreadsheet to calculate Adaptive Thermal Comfort Levels which is mentioned in this guide is available here.

Other Tools.

This section contains other tools that have been developed by the Zebra Team, which are not directly related to energy and carbon modelling

  • The Zebra Team has produced a spreadsheet to help with accoustic design in buildings. You can download this tool here.

  • We have written a spreadsheet to help with daylighting calculations. It is available here

  • We have developed as highly simplified, 5 minute tool to consider heat losses in buildings, using both the degree-days and kKh method. You can get this tool here.