Can you guarantee that the completed building will match the performance predicted by the analysis in its day-to-day operation?
No, because as we have seen in the past three years, there may be external and unprecedented circumstances that cause building used to change. Although on a day-to-day operation the building performance predicted may be close to the actual usage, there may be extenuating circumstances that cause building design to change, such as how much an owner will be willing to spend on solar panels if other construction costs are higher than expected, that will cause these predicted values to change.
When choosing settings for each of the building performance factors, should you always choose the setting that gives the absolute lowest predicted energy use?
No because these are oftentimes not realistic predictions of how the building will be used, designed with etc. This can result in producing unrealistically energy-use results that obscure the true usage that may be presented with the building is actually used.
How can model-based quantity takeoff improve the design process?
Designers can see how the projected costs of their current designs meet with the budget and make design changes from there. It can result in designers changing building materials, the number of floors, etc. to reduce costs. It can also allow a designers more freedom to create more if they see that the design is under budget and more creativity can be integrated in the design (this is less likely).