It allows users to calculate the impacts of different heating, cooling and ventilating equipment and various types of lighting and windows to maximize building energy efficiency and occupant comfort. Users can simulate the effect of window blinds, electrochromic window glazings, and complex daylighting systems, features not seen in earlier DOE software. A partial list includes the Pentagon, the U.S. State Department headquarters, the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the San Francisco Airport, the Ronald Reagan Library, the Intel and American Express corporate headquarters, numerous federal courthouses, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Museum in Wisconsin. DOE developed EnergyPlus in cooperation with the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, the University of Illinois, Oklahoma State University, the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Florida Solar Energy Center, and GARD Analytics. As temperatures become warmer, bears are emerging from wintering dens and may be seen moving through the countryside and investigating things that arouse their curiosity.
Food is a major attraction for the bears.
People can help minimize bear visitations by removing the attractions that can cause the bears to be nuisances, such as garbage, pet food on porches, and bird feed in bird feeders, said Mike Gappa, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regional wildlife biologist stationed in Eau Claire. The only bears still in their dens, or close to dens now, are sows with newborns. Gappa said cubs are still developing in April, and until their back legs are stronger, they can not follow their mother or climb trees, which is their primary protection against enemies. It will usually mean premature departure of the bear leaving the den. When that happens, ultimately the animal will get into trouble through no intention of its own.