Trying to find a program to refer the student members in my universities ASHRAE chapter to use in their competitions.

I've had experience with IESVE and really liked that, but thought the learning curve was kind of steep. Also tried TRACE 700, but from what I hear it's in the process of being phased out.

Does anyone know of a beginner friendly heating/cooling loads program that students can teach themselves? (Also please no one say eQuest )

It's fine if its also an energy modeling program, just needs to be able to run loads in an easy to understand manner. Prefer compatibility with ASHRAE 90.1 2007 or newer.

Thanks!

Manual J?