ABSTRACTWILLIAM NATHANIEL LAWLESS. Methodology and Visualization Tools for Managing Energy Goals in Commercial Office Designs. (Under the direction of DR. ROBERT COX)Managing buildings energy usage is crucial for reducing emissions worldwide along with creating a more energy sustainable future. Building energy goals determined in the initial Phase of the design process is necessary for the development of energy efficient commercial office designs. These energy goals can be used to quantify the tradeoffs associated with different envelope constructions as well as the mechanical system’s control strategies and operation. With more complex systems and strategies being available for building design, many new energies saving technology packages are implemented in the building standard as well as other resources dedicated for building energy savings. To understand how these recommendations are implemented, the ASHRAE 90.1 standard is discussed regarding its requirements for key building design choices throughout the envelope and HVAC sections. How these new technology packages are implemented in to the building as well as their resulting energy impact are analyzed by utilizing building models. Each change in the ASHRAE 90.1 standard from versions 90.1-2007 through 2013 are applied to the AHSRAE reference building models to determine each change’s energy impact. Once the changes are quantified in terms of energy use, the evolution of key building design choices are understood. Along with the knowledge gained from the standard, historical data is analyzed to determine how real buildings operate in comparison to the building models. The energy impacts due to these operational differences are studied. With the insight from the different building design choices and the operational differences, a realistic energy goal is developed for new commercial office space constructed in the North Carolina Piedmont. Over one million combinations from the key design choices and operational differences are simulated using building models to create a large building database. To be able quickly analyze the energy tradeoffs shown by the database simulations, The Building Design Visualization Tool was developed. Using the Building Design Visualization Tool, users can quickly understand energy tradeoffs when implementing different design choices. When used during the initial phase of the building design process, The Building Design Visualization Tool is able to establish energy goals as well as help make key design and operational choices so that the energy goal can be met once the building is constructed and occupied.