Updates
BERS Pro Plus
BERS Pro is thermal simulation software that can be used to show that the physical envelope of a proposed dwelling complies with the energy efficiency requirements of the Building Code of Australia, BCA.
BERS Pro Plus is the new version of BERS Pro that includes all the data entry required to calculate the total energy consumption of the house including heating, cooling, hot water, appliances, cooking, cleaning etc. Outputs include a breakup by energy source as well as the carbon footprint of the household.
The BCA simply requires the calculated theoretical energy needed to be added to the building (heating) plus the energy needed to be taken out of the building (cooling) per square metre of conditioned floor area, to be converted to a star rating. This figure has an arbitrary "area adjustment factor" applied to it to bias the rating more towards smaller houses. This combined energy per square metre does not take into account the efficiency of the energy delivery system nor the size of the house. The problem with this approach is that it's possible to have a large house with a high (good) star rating requiring much more heating and cooling energy than a small house with a much poorer star rating. It also provides exactly the same rating for two identical houses in the same climate even though one may have a much more efficient heating and cooling delivery system than the other. Similarly the same rating would apply even if one of the houses uses fuel sources with much lower carbon emissions than the other.
In addition to calculating the current star rating required under the BCA, BERS Pro Plus uses the area of the house and the efficiency of the delivery system to calculate the electric, gas and/or wood energy that is used by the house to maintain comfort. It also allows all the other appliances in the house to be modelled so that the total fuel energy can be calculated. It then converts this total energy into the annual carbon-dioxide released into the atmosphere by the household. This is a more comprehensive metric to use than current BCA star rating when comparing the energy efficiency of two houses.

BERS Pro Plus supersedes BERS Pro and includes all the previous capabilities and analysis that provide building envelope star ratings. Three versions of the CHENATH calculation engine are included.
The first, CHENATH213 is the old engine containing the ventilation bug that the NatHERS administrator still uses for accreditation. The second, CHENATH220 has had the ventilation bug fixed 2 years ago, and is the engine that the program defaults to. There is very little difference in the results from this engine but it won't hang like the faulty version. The third, CHENATH223 is the engine developed by CSIRO for Solar Logic that replaces the standard internal heating load used for regulatory purposes with the heating load due to the actual appliances that the user models. Only the first and second engine will output a star rating. The third engine is provided to allow assessors to do energy audits, but cannot and must not be used to provide the star rating required by the BCA.
6/06/2010
Download BERS Pro Plus Notes BERS Pro Plus pdf.27/08/2010
BERSProPlus.zipThe cadtry.exe file must be replaced and 3 additional CHENATH engine files and an ENERGY
data file must be downloaded to make it work.
An updated Trial1_2.BER that has some appliances modelled is also included for checking purposes.
- Replace BERS41/cadtry.exe
- Add CHENATH213.exe, CHENATH220.exe, and CHENATH223.exe to the BERS41 directory.
- Add Energy.dat to the BERS41/schedule directory.
- Add Trial1_2.BER to the BERS41/House directory
BERS Pro - superceded by BERS Pro Plus
8/02/2010
- Replace BERS41/cadtry.exe
8/02/2010
- Replace BERS41/AccuRateEngine.exe
8/02/2010
Check your software updates
2/7/2009
- Replace BERS41/DATA/PC.TXT
- Replace BERS41/DATA/ClimPC.txt
2/7/2009
- Replace BERS41/data/FloorCovering.DB
- Replace BERS41/data/FloorCovering.MB
- Replace BERS41/data/IntWallmaterial.DB
- Replace BERS41/data/IntWallmaterial.MB
- Replace BERS41/data/Wallmaterial.DB
- Replace BERS41/data/Wallmaterial.MB
- Replace BERS41/data/Windowstyle.DB
- Replace BERS41/data/Windowstyle.MB
- Remove any files with a PX extension.
26/2/2008
Adds two additional files used with the tools items.
- Click on each file and Save Target As.......
- Copy Grid.bmp into the BERS41 directory
- Copy Bestfit.dat into the BERS41 directory
8/8/2007
Updated star band file. Makes it a bit easier to achieve the star rating.
- Click on stars.txt and Save Target As.......
- Replace BERS41/Data/stars/stars.txt.
3/8/2007
All opaque windows are now OK.
- Download the ZIP file. Expand the ZIP file
- Replace BERS41/Data/WindowData/BERSwindows.txt.
- Replace BERS41/Data/WindowData/BERSwindows.bwg.


