simuwatt

simuwatt is a Boulder-based technology company that builds cloud-connected mobile software to streamline commercial building energy audits, automate energy modeling and retrofit analysis, and generate bankable reports to accelerate energy efficiency and onsite renewables projects.[1][2]

High-Level overview

• simuwatt’s mission (company perspective): to remove barriers to building energy efficiency by simplifying field data collection, automating energy modeling and delivering actionable, bankable retrofit recommendations for building owners, auditors and contractors.[1][2]
  - Product / what it builds: a tablet/mobile-driven energy audit application and cloud platform (often called simuwatt Audit or simuwatt Energy Auditor) that guides field auditors, creates OpenStudio/EnergyPlus-based models, explores energy conservation measures (ECMs) and auto-generates Word/Excel reports.[1][2]
  - Who it serves / key sectors: commercial building owners, facility managers, energy auditors and solar installers focused on commercial rooftops and portfolio-level retrofit planning in the built‑environment sector.[2][3]
  - What problem it solves: reduces time and cost of field audits and energy modeling (reporting >25% savings in field auditing and modeling in earlier NREL/DOE writeups), improves consistency and bankability of retrofit recommendations, and accelerates PV site-design workflows.[1][2]
  - Growth momentum: simuwatt emerged from National Renewable Energy Laboratory collaboration, received early validation through DoD demonstrations and incubator/competition wins (e.g., Wells Fargo IN2 participant and Urban Future competition winner), and has commercialized its Energy Auditor product following private investment and NREL partnership activities.[1][2][3]

Origin story

• Founding background: simuwatt grew from work between NREL and concept3D (which held commercialization rights to NREL’s audit framework); the tool was prototyped under Department of Defense demonstrations and research collaborations led by NREL, then spun off and commercialized as simuwatt with private capital invested into the Energy Auditor product.[2][1]
  - Founders / early team: the company traces roots to concept3D/NREL teams and includes leadership such as CEO/co‑founder Oliver Davis during its competition wins and commercialization phase, reflecting a mix of energy modeling and software backgrounds.[3][2]
  - How the idea emerged: NREL’s building audit framework and the need to streamline audits, aggregate audit data centrally, and automate creation of EnergyPlus/OpenStudio models inspired the mobile/cloud product that became simuwatt Audit.[2]
  - Early traction / pivotal moments: a multi‑year DoD ESTCP prototyping project, IN2 (Wells Fargo/NREL) incubator acceptance, competition awards (Urban Future Smart Grid track) and private investment to relaunch the Energy Auditor product were key milestones enabling commercial rollout.[1][3][2]

Core differentiators

• Tight integration with OpenStudio/EnergyPlus: simuwatt automatically creates energy models using the OpenStudio API and uses OpenStudio Measures to test ECM packages, which gives rigorous, research‑grade modeling under the hood while automating workflows for auditors.[1][2]
  - Field-to-cloud workflow: a tablet-guided audit app plus a cloud backend for calibration with measured energy use, collaborative analysis, and automated Word/Excel reporting—reducing manual modeling and reporting overhead.[1]
  - End-to-end support for solar and retrofit workflows: simuwatt PV/solar layout capabilities were developed to auto‑generate 3D designs and preliminary system layouts during the audit visit, shortening design and permitting cycles for installers.[2]
  - Data reusability and portfolio scaling: audits feed a central database so successive audits can build on prior data, enabling faster portfolio-level benchmarking and retrofit planning.[2]
  - Program and partner validation: technical validation from NREL/DOE projects, DoD demonstrations, and participation in industry incubators/competitions signal credibility for utility, government and large-owner deployments.[1][2][3]

Role in the broader tech landscape

• Trend alignment: simuwatt rides the convergence of digitalization of building operations, demand for electrification/efficiency, and the need for bankable, scalable retrofit analytics to meet decarbonization targets; these trends drive demand for automated audit and modeling tools.[1][2]
  - Timing: rising energy costs, regulatory pressure on building performance, and greater capital flowing into energy efficiency create market tailwinds for solutions that reduce audit costs and make retrofit projects investable.[1][2]
  - Market forces: owners and financiers increasingly require standardized, data‑driven analyses to underwrite projects; software that produces repeatable, calibrated models and standardized reports addresses that gap.[1][2]
  - Ecosystem influence: by operationalizing OpenStudio/EnergyPlus in a mobile/cloud workflow and linking audits to PV pre‑design, simuwatt helps bridge research-grade modeling and practical deployment—lowering technical barriers for auditors, contractors and owners.[1][2]

Quick take & future outlook

• Near term: expect continued focus on commercializing/expanding the Energy Auditor platform across portfolios, enhancing integrations (utility data, M&V, financing workflows) and improving PV and retrofit automation to shorten project timelines.[1][2]
  - Trends that will shape simuwatt: increased regulatory building performance standards, growth in retrofit financing, and demand for measurement & verification will favor tools that deliver bankable analytics and streamlined audit-to-installation workflows.[1][2]
  - Strategic opportunities and challenges: simuwatt can scale by deepening integrations with finance and M&V platforms and by pursuing utility and large-owner programs; competition from other building analytics platforms and the need to maintain model accuracy at scale are key challenges.[2][5]
  - Final takeaway: simuwatt’s combination of NREL‑validated modeling, a mobile field workflow and automated reporting positions it to lower costs and friction for commercial building retrofits and distributed solar—making it a practical enabler for decarbonization in the built environment.[1][2][3]

If you want, I can: produce a one‑page investor-style summary, compare simuwatt to competitors (e.g., buildee and others), or extract and format the technical points on OpenStudio integration for a technical audience.