Made in UAE · HVAC Heat Load Calculator
Pick the emirate, add your rooms, and get room-by-room cooling loads, plant size in kW and TR, and a printable report. NOVAC uses the ASHRAE heat balance method and checks every input against UAE building codes.
Minutes, not hours
UsuallyLook up the DBC, ASHRAE, Al Sa'fat or Abu Dhabi DoE Cooling Load Manual 2026 tables, then correct for elevation and daily range
With NOVACPick the emirate and sub-location. Outdoor, fresh-air and indoor conditions fill in.
UsuallyCompare U-values and glazing with the code limits by hand
With NOVACEnvelope inputs are checked against the selected code as you type.
UsuallyRe-enter the same rooms for every repeated floor
With NOVACSet a floor once and repeat it; the building total updates live.
UsuallyConvert to TR, apply ESMA ratings and work out electrical power separately
With NOVACPlant load in kW and TR, nominal and actual efficiency, and power required, together.
UsuallyCopy figures into a spreadsheet and format a submission
With NOVACA printable PDF report and a CSV load schedule from the summary step.
Why NOVAC
Design conditions for every emirate from the Dubai Building Code, ASHRAE standards, Al Sa'fat green building codes and the Abu Dhabi DoE Cooling Load Manual 2026, with sub-locations from the coast to the inland desert and Hatta that set elevation and daily range. Fresh air is designed to DBC 34 °C DB / 32 °C WB, or the Abu Dhabi DoE Cooling Load Manual 2026 condition.
Dubai Building Code and ASHRAE 90.1-2025 limits checked input by input, with Al Sa'fat, Estidama and Barjeel alongside. ESMA star ratings at T3 46 °C are converted to the 35 °C nominal rating, so equipment efficiency is compared like for like.
The ASHRAE heat balance method, hour by hour for every month, with walls and roofs modelled layer by layer. Checked against an independent time-stepping simulation, it agrees within 0.15 % at every hour.
Runs in any browser on Windows, Mac or a tablet. No licence key, no admin rights, no sign-up, and your projects stay on your own computer.
Every room peak is split into walls, roof, glass, people, lighting, equipment, infiltration and fresh air, and the parts add up exactly, with the hour each room peaks.
A guided five-step workflow from project brief to plant size, opening on a worked example. Loads update as you type, so there is no run button and no weeks of training.
Workflow
Methodology
NOVAC follows the ASHRAE heat balance method (Fundamentals, Ch. 18). Rather than looking up tabulated factors, it balances the heat flowing through every surface and the room air, hour by hour.
Each design day is solved in its settled, repeating state, with no warm-up error. This gives the same result as running hourly balances until one day matches the next.
All 24 hours of all 12 months are calculated for every room. NOVAC reports each room at its own peak and the building at its coincident peak.
The model is linear, so the peak splits exactly into walls, roof, glass, people, lighting, equipment and infiltration. Fresh air and margins are then added for plant sizing.
Features
Sensible and latent loads from walls, roof, glass, people, lighting, equipment and ventilation for every room, with project totals in kW and TR.
Group rooms by floor, repeat typical floors, and drag spaces between them. A building stack and schematic plans show where the load sits.
Pick the cooling system and FAHU arrangement; see actual and nominal efficiency, capacity and electrical power for room, fresh-air or total load.
A psychrometric chart of every design state, supply-air checks, and PMV/PPD comfort figures for the indoor design.
A printable calculation report as PDF, the load schedule as CSV, or the whole report copied into Word or email.
Save to a project file on your computer and keep saving with Ctrl+S, or keep copies in the browser. Try a different glass or occupancy and step back with Ctrl+Z.
NOVAC Pro
Pro takes your heat load project further, from annual energy to system design. Pro is locked for now.
Heat balance loads hour by hour and month by month, by component. Run a full year of real weather from Open-Meteo or NASA POWER for annual energy, extremes and climate charts, with EPW export.
The ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation rate procedure applied to your rooms, an hourly contaminant balance with outdoor air quality, and filter selection.
Compare an existing building's metered energy with its calculated loads and find where savings sit.
Whole-building annual energy simulation, building on the heat balance engine.
Tools that take your heat load results through to system design, submissions and your team. Add the ones you need.
Supply ducts sized by equal friction or velocity, with fittings, the worst branch and fan external static pressure (ASHRAE Ch. 21), and every space checked against ASHRAE acoustic velocity limits. Use it with your heat load project or on its own.
Open the duct sizerFCU, AHU and FAHU selections from your room loads and airflows, and VRF outdoor units corrected for pipe length.
Hood extract and make-up airflows, and the kitchen and building pressure balance, to DBC H.4.12.15.
CO control, jet fans and smoke clearance to DBC H.4.12.11.
Supply airflow to keep protected stairs and lobbies free of smoke: leakage through closed doors, airflow through open doors and pressure relief, to UAE Fire and Life Safety Code Ch. 10.
Number and size of chillers from the plant load, part-load efficiency to ESMA and ASHRAE 90.1, and chilled-water flow.
Pipe sizes, velocity and pressure drop through the building, and the pump head for the index circuit.
Pipework from the energy transfer station to each riser and terminal unit, checked against the provider's ΔT.
Storage size to shift the peak load, for district cooling tariffs and smaller plant.
Al Sa'fat, Estidama and Barjeel documents built from the code checks NOVAC already runs.
Recoverable condensate from the latent load, for buildings above 350 kW (DBC H.5.2.4).
Compare district cooling with on-site chillers, or ESMA star ratings, over the life of the plant.
Your company logo and details on every calculation report.
Projects saved online and opened from any computer.
Share projects with colleagues and review each other's calculations.
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Standards
Your projects stay on your computer. Nothing is uploaded; save them as files to share with colleagues.
FAQ
Yes. NOVAC runs in your browser with no licence, no installation and no sign-up. Pro tools are locked for now.
Minutes, not hours. Design conditions fill in from the emirate you pick, and room loads, plant size in kW and TR, and the report update as you type.
The ASHRAE heat balance method, hour by hour for every month, with walls and roofs modelled layer by layer. It agrees with an independent time-stepping simulation within 0.15 % at every hour.
Dubai Building Code, ASHRAE 90.1-2025 and 62.1-2025, Al Sa'fat, Estidama and Barjeel envelope limits, the Abu Dhabi DoE Cooling Load Manual 2026, and ESMA UAE.S 5010 efficiency ratings.
On your own computer. Nothing is uploaded; save projects as files to share them with colleagues.
Not yet. NOVAC sizes peak cooling loads and plant, and energy modelling is coming to NOVAC Pro. For ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G or LEED energy models, use a full building simulation tool.
Changelog
Open NOVAC with a worked example, or start a new project.
Start a calculation