Carrier is celebrating the 30th birthday of its Hourly Analysis Program with its engineering customers around the world. The celebration commemorates the original launch of HAP and its evolution over the past three decades. Introduced in 1987, HAP was among the first hour-by-hour energy modeling tools to run on an engineer’s own desktop computer.
Before HAP software was available, energy modeling was accomplished manually or with software tools run on the vendor’s mainframe computer. The original HAP software was groundbreaking by making energy modeling more affordable, accessible and flexible for engineers.
In addition, HAP was one of the first tools to offer seamlessly integrated system design and energy modeling capabilities for heating, ventilating and air conditioning applications. Over the past 30 years, HAP has continuously improved to keep pace with changes in HVAC technology industry practices, ASHRAE standards and computer technology. It is now used by engineering firms worldwide.
“It’s important for us to celebrate this anniversary with our HAP subscribers, as their engagement and feedback over the years has been key to HAP’s longevity and success,” said Chris Opie, director, North America commercial marketing. “Through literally thousands of interactions — with our software help desk experts, in training classes, surveys and focus groups — our customers have guided us in advancing the software and keeping it at the leading edge of HVAC engineering tools.”
He added: “Those customer consultations have led us to create a new generation of HAP software starting with HAP version 6.0, [which] will include graphical methods for defining building floor plans and elevations, to greatly improve modeling productivity as well as advances in load calculation and simulation capabilities.”
Expected to be available in 2018, HAP v6.0 will transform how building spaces are designed while retaining its familiar look and feel to help users apply their expertise and remain productive with the software.
To support consulting engineers, Carrier University provides online and classroom training for system design theory and specific programs, online videos, seminars and symposiums, newsletters and even fully functioning 90-day free trials of select programs, including HAP.
The HAP program is part of the Carrier eDesign software suite created specifically for the HVAC system designer.