Updates
BERS Pro V4.2 110811
BERS has recently gone through an extensive testing procedure undertaken by Solar Logic and the NatHERS administrator. As a result BERS was the first software package to fully comply with the "Procedure for accrediting software under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme Part A – Software incorporating the Australian Government endorsed calculation engine", which has recently been amended to include the printing of a standard NatHERS certificate of compliance.
The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, on behalf of the Ministerial Council on Energy’s Energy Efficient Working Group, has advised all State Building Regulatory Authorities that they have accredited BERSPRO v4.2 110811
Cessation of provisional accreditation arrangements
The formerly provisionally accredited BERS V4.1 ceased to be accredited on 30 September 2011. The DCCEE recommends that state and territory building regulatory authorities use only accredited certificates issued by BERSPro V4.2 110811 for regulatory compliance after 30 September 2011. Both NSW and Queensland have advised assessors of a transition period until the end of December 2011 during which certificates from BERS V4.1 continues to be accepted. Only certificates generated by BERSPro V4.2 110811 will be accepted from the start of 2012.
Training and BERS Pro Updates
As a result of the accreditation procedure a number of important changes have been made to the BERS software. In order to fulfil its obligation to provide the training needed to ensure that BERSPro V4.2 assessors are fully competent in the use of the software Solar Logic has been providing one day training courses throughout Australia. This training continues to be conducted by SmartRate on behalf of Solar Logic with bookings made through the Solar Logic website, http://www.solarlogic.com.au/bers-pro/purchase-training-form
CDs with the full version of the NatHERS accredited software BERSPro V4.2 110811 will be distributed for free at the one day training session. Installing this new version 4.2 will not affect your old version 4.1 so you will be able to use both versions during the transition period. BERSPro V4.2 110811 will not be able to be downloaded from the website because of the training required in its correct use.
Those early adopters who have undergone the one day BERS V4.2 training course using the earlier version of BERSPro V4.2 010311 can download the update to BERSPro V4.2 110811 below.
NB. The following update cannot be used to update the earlier BERS Pro Plus V4.1. If you try to do this your BERS Pro Plus V4.1 software will be corrupted and will cease to work. Solar Logic cannot provide assistance in this case and you will have to reload the V4.1 files that have been overwritten.
31/08/2011
Updates BERSPro V4.2 010311 to BERSPro V4.2 110811
- Extract cadtry.exe
- Replace the cadtry.exe file C:\ProgramFilesFolder\BERSProPlus42\cadtry.exe
Check Your V4.2 Software
BERS Pro V4.2 Release 110811 comes with a BERS house file Trial1_2.BER.
When simulated with this version using the engine CHENATH 2.13 the area adjusted C and H loads should be 10.7 and 8.6 MJ/m² respectively.
BERS Pro Plus V4.1
BERS Pro Plus V4.1 was provisionally accredited by the NatHERS administrator in November 2007. That accreditation was withdrawn on the 30th September 2011. Now only BERS Pro V4.2 110811 is NatHERS accredited. This new version has been fully accredited since the 26th August 2011. The following information and updates apply to the now defunct BERS Pro PlusV4.1 and do not apply to the fully accredited version BERS Pro V4.2 110811.
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.zip
The 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.
