Actually, DOE-2 does not do a heat balance
solution.
EnergyPlus uses a heat balance solution.
The Gettting Started document provides a quick overview of "What is
EnergyPlus?"
A paper comparing and contrasting Energy Simulation Programs can be found
here:
http://www.eere. energy.gov/ buildings/ tools_directory/ pdfs/contrasting _the_capabilitie s_of_building_ energy_performan ce_simulation_ programs_ v1.0.pdf
As this paper was published in 2005, it is out of date (at least with
current EnergyPlus capabilities) .
The feature highlights from EnergyPlus releases can be seen here:
http://apps1. eere.energy. gov/buildings/ energyplus/ pdfs/featurehigh lights.pdf