Ekotrope, a provider of software for the building energy design and analysis, has raised $1.7 million of venture capital, according to a new filing by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ekotrope offers unique software solutions for designing energy-efficient buildings to maximize owners' investments as well as ensuring energy code compliance in today's changing construction environment.

Founded in 2010, the inspiration for Ekotrope's optimization engine grew out of MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Professor Edward F. Crawley's quest for a way to find the most energy efficient design for a home he was building in 2009. Crawley found there was no way for his architect to easily analyze component tradeoffs to find the best energy and investment combination. The enterprising rocket scientist drew on NASA technology and assembled a select group of industry experts to come up with the Ekotrope solution.