Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011:

12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Sydney, 14-16 November.

BUILDING ENERGY MODELING: INDUSTRY-WIDE ISSUES AND POTENTIAL

SOLUTIONS

Kendra Tupper1, Ellen Franconi1,Coreina Chan1, Stephanie Hodgin1, Aaron Buys1 and
Merritt Jenkins2
1
Rocky Mountain Institute, Boulder, CO, 2Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

ABSTRACT serve as stakeholder representatives as we engaged in

industry-wide problem solving. Approximately 55
The need to identify best practices and deliver invited guests attended the resulting BEM Innovation
quality tools to perform in-depth building Summit from the various stakeholder groups (see
performance analysis has never been greater. An Figure 1). Individuals were chosen based on industry
important starting point is to identify the major experience and contributions, as well as peer
barriers faced by the energy modeling community, recommendations.
convene fragmented stakeholders and begin
collaborative dialogue. Based on input from relevant Practitioners/
stakeholders, steps to overcome these issues have 8% Educators
been identified. This paper discusses the major issues Industry
(within the U.S. energy modeling community) 32% Organizations
26% DOE & National Labs
preventing building energy modeling from best
supporting widespread solutions for low-energy
Software Developers
buildings. It also summarizes potential solutions that
11%
were developed to address many of these issues. 23% Customers (owners,
utilities, etc.)
INTRODUCTION
Reliable and consistent whole-building energy and Figure 1:Summit Participant Breakdown
financial analysis is necessary to achieve
increasingly aggressive performance targets in the
buildings sector, and to motivate building owners to Identification of Issues
invest in energy efficiency. RMI brainstormed multiple key issues and barriers
During the rapid growth of this industry, professional facing the industry and received feedback from the
organizations, national labs, and even private stakeholders in the form of written correspondence
consulting firms, have all made great contributions to and also an in-person meeting held at the ASHRAE
the field of energy modeling. Despite these Winter Conference in Las Vegas, NV in January
intentional (and often self-funded) efforts, there are 2011.
still significant opportunities to improve
Through these efforts, the following four main issues
collaboration among stakeholders and to increase the
were identified:
effectiveness of modeling. In order to realize these
opportunities, we need address several issues within 1. Lack of Credibility: Customers (of energy
the industry. These issues, and associated action modeling services) and other stakeholders do not
plans, were identified through a series of efforts have confidence in energy modeling results, for
including written correspondence, meetings, and a 2- the following reasons:
day Building Energy Modeling (BEM) workshop. a. Lack of Quality: Energy modeling results
may not reflect realistic building energy
METHODS
consumption and costs.
Selection of Participants
b. Lack of Reproducibility: Different
A collaborative approach was needed to identify the practitioners do not produce the same energy
biggest issues facing the building energy modeling modeling results, even when using the same
(BEM) industry, and potential solutions that might tools and building characterization data.
require cross-industry partnership. We identified a
c. Misguided Expectations: Customers do not
set of industry professionals who represented the
have a clear understanding of what modeling
broad spectrum of needs and services; these would
can and should provide.

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 Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011:
12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Sydney, 14-16 November.

d. Difficulty in Assessing Skills: It is difficult

for customers to assess the skill level of a Table 1: Topic and Scope of Focus Groups
practitioner.
Focus
2. Limited Time for Critical Thinking: Currently, Scope
Group
practitioners do not spend the majority of their
How can we modify methods and
time on critical thinking and informing design. Methods processes to maximize effectiveness? What
3. Need for More Experienced and Skilled and aspects of should we standardize and/or
Practitioners: A limited number of energy Processes automate?
modelers possess sufficient skills and experience.
Simulation How might simulation tools better serve
4. Low Market Demand: The demand for and Engines and the industry? What do software developers
value of energy modeling services could be much Platforms need to improve their development efforts?
higher.
What is the best way to develop a skilled
Education, and experienced workforce? Who should
More complete information on these issues, a current
Training, we be educating and how should they be
status report of the industry, and complete details on and
potential solutions can be found in documents educated? How can certification efforts be
Certification improved?
available on the RMI website (Tupper, 2011a)
(Tupper, 2011b). What market shift is required to support
Market the best uses of BEM? What is the value
Convening and Collaborating Drivers and proposition for these uses? Quantify
To explore the issues identified above, a Customer market potential and identify untapped
Demand markets.
multidisciplinary focus group workshop (the
Building Energy Modeling Innovation Summit) What are the gaps in supporting resources
consisting of key stakeholders was held. Support and that currently exist when a practitioner has
Government, industry, and non-profit organizations Resources a question or needs data?
are exerting a significant influence on the energy
modeling industry, and are recognizing the
The following sections summarize key issues,
importance of collaborating with other efforts. This
opportunities, critical needs, and future work
Summit aimed to leverage this cooperative spirit and
identified for these focus group topics.
pursue opportunities for continued growth and
success. Methods and Processes
The objective of the Summit, and subsequent follow-
up efforts, is to collaborate and capitalize on the
biggest opportunities for building energy modeling 10% Practitioners/Educators
to support widespread solutions for low-energy
buildings with reduced electric demand. The Summit
was a two-day event that combined targeted large 50% Industry Organizations
40%
group discussions with smaller focus group working
sessions that addressed more discrete parts of the
problems. DOE & National Labs

RESULTS
Figure 2 Participant Breakdown for Methods and
Focus Areas Processes Focus Group
The smaller focus group working sessions each
Due to a lack of defined methods, practitioners
consisted of 10-15 people. Each group was tasked
follow a variety of processes in delivering energy
with identifying the critical needs and solutions that
modeling services. As a result, the building energy
are immediately actionable, prioritizing efforts, and
modeling industry has suffered from issues regarding
brainstorming solutions within their assigned focus
consistency, reproducibility, and credibility.
topic. The topic areas were chosen to address the
four main problems that were identified within the In developing modeling scopes-of-work, design
industry: professionals rarely differentiate between various
types of applications (e.g. comparison, prediction, or
(1) lack of credibility,
validation). This has led to a mismatch of
(2) limited time for critical thinking, expectations between customers and practitioners.
(3) the need for more experience and skilled Additionally, potential customers do not see
practitioners, and modeling as a service to be used throughout the
(4) low market demand. building life cycle.
Further, measurement and verification (M&V)
procedures, which can provide a much-needed

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 Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011:
12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Sydney, 14-16 November.

feedback loop for linking achieved performance with efforts to address some of these critical needs, there
design predictions, are often considered too cost is still much work to be done.
prohibitive. This lack of feedback is a missed
opportunity for improving future modeling efforts. Table 3: Current Status and Future Work – Methods
and Processes
Indeed, many opportunities could be realized by
improving the current methods and processes that are - The content for the customer brochure was

Achievements to Date
employed within the U.S. energy modeling developed and integrated into a document being
community. prepared for the Colorado Governor’s Energy
Office (CO GEO). It has been published as the
Table 2: Opportunities – Methods and Processes “Energy Modeling Guide” and is available on the
CO GEO website.
The energy modeling community could better support the
- An initial set of key parameters and a framework
current and upcoming energy-efficiency market drivers,
for organizing various modeling applications has
such as building codes, disclosure requirements (e.g. asset
been defined for the Methods and Processes
ratings), and risk evaluation and mitigation.
Guidelines.
Having industry accepted guidelines would help improve
- Produce a white paper describing the framework
modeling consistency and reproducibility.
and specifications for methods, which will lay the
Practitioners and customers would have a better groundwork for the full Methods and Processes

Future Work
understanding of how to use modeling to support design Guidelines.
and operational decisions throughout the building life- - Seek funding to develop the Guidelines
cycle.
- Create work plans for developing the Guidelines
Practitioner and customers would have aligned (consistent with the framework white paper)
expectations for modeling services, including - Release RFP(s) and select awardee(s)
differentiating modeling scopes of work, clarifying - Develop Methods and Processes Guidelines
modeling terminology, and adding uncertainty analysis to
simulation tools to report performance results as a range of - Field test the Guidelines
probable values.
Simulation Engines and Platforms
Streamlining measurement and verification (M&V)
processes would increase the implementation rate, and thus
provide more feedback to the modeling process. Practitioners/Educators
17%
In order to realize these opportunities, some critical Industry Organizations
8%
needs must be satisfied:
8% DOE & National Labs
• Customer Brochure: A customer brochure is 67%
needed to define scopes-of-work for various
modeling applications. Software Developers
• Methods and Processes Guidelines: There is a
critical need for a set of procedures defining the Figure 3 Participant Breakdown for Simulation
overarching process of energy modeling Engines and Platforms Focus Group
throughout the building life-cycle, as well as
processes for using modeling to inform new Among the tools that are currently available for
building designs, retrofits, and operations. building simulation, there are many competing
platforms and none is using a standard for data
These “Methods and Processes Guidelines” would exchange, model exchange, or simulator exchange.
define key modeling terminology, present a This makes collaboration and sharing across models
framework for organizing modeling methods (which very difficult.
currently just have an “a la carte” approach), and Practitioners often find the tools difficult to use,
determine methods that are best defined as either: a largely because there is not enough support or
set of procedures, a standardized process, or fully guidance on how the architectural community should
automated within simulation tools. interact with energy modeling tools. Additionally, a
The guidelines would also address specific significant amount of translating and pre-processing
procedures for the following tasks: using baselines, is required to bridge the gap between project
performing quality assurance, using data sources for specifications and energy model inputs. Multiple
calculating input values, making operating tools and models are often required for a single
assumptions, benchmarking, completing model building, with no easy way to convert and share data
calibration, performing uncertainty analysis, defining between the tools. Many commonly used energy
the appropriate level of detail, communicating modeling platforms are not capable of analyzing the
results, and documenting results. energy savings and cost implications of many new
While the BEM Summit participants have made technologies.

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 Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011:
12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Sydney, 14-16 November.

Some of these issues result from challenges that In order to address these critical needs, we have
software developers face. Compared to other identified the following future work.
industries, the resources to develop computational
tools for buildings are very small and there is little Table 5: Future Work - Simulation Engines and
collaboration between the developers. Often tools are Platforms
developed in rather homogenous teams that tend to
- Form a venue for developers that would
consist of mechanical or civil engineers and the coordinate efforts for realizing these opportunities.
teams typically do not include experts from domains IBPSA-USA is in process of organizing a
such as controls, language design, numerical Developer Group to address this need.
methods, computer science, and software

Future Work
- Ensure that software developers are represented
architecture. Also, customers tend to expect tools to and involved in other key industry efforts, such as
be free or low cost. the Methods and Processes Guidelines, the
Many opportunities could be realized by addressing development of applicable ASHRAE Standards,
these issues with simulation tools commonly used in and other work through ASHRAE TC 4.7.
the U.S. energy modeling community. - Publicize the “Energy Modeling Guide”
(produced by the Methods and Processes group)
Table 4: Opportunities – Simulation Engines and among developers as a resource for prioritizing
Platforms future tool improvements.

Improved building simulation engines and platforms will Education, Training, and Certification
advance the overarching goal of helping practitioners
design and operate better buildings.
Increased transparency within the tools, both in terms of 11% Practitioners/Educators
assumptions and algorithms, will improve the ability to
model complex systems.
55% Industry Organizations
Multiple levels of models could be developed to address 36%
the appropriate level of detail throughout the building life-
cycle (e.g. schematic design, design development,
operations). DOE & National Labs

Software development efforts that are more flexible and

extensible will better respond to future needs and growth. Figure 4 Participant Breakdown for Education,
This could improve the ability to model new technologies Training and Certification Focus Group
as well as the ability to adapt the tools to new use cases,
such as building operations. The opportunities for learning about building science
and energy modeling are currently fragmented and it
In order to realize these opportunities, some critical is difficult to differentiate skill levels in these areas.
needs must be satisfied: While some practitioners have engineering degrees
that can provide a solid foundation, the industry does
• Increase Collaboration: While it would be not have clear agreement on a comprehensive body
unrealistic to expect so many competing entities of knowledge for training and education programs.
to work together to form a single tool or a set of
There are few Universities that offer a strong
non-overlapping tools, there is a lot to be gained
curriculum that raises the skill-sets of architects and
from more collaboration between developers
energy modelers. The programs that do exist provide
and practicing energy modelers, particularly in
education that is inconsistent across Universities and
the areas of standardization and automation.
is not aligned with professional certification
Developers should be more involved in writing
programs.
the industry standards and guidelines so that it
can become easier to automate these within the Additionally, most modelers learn from doing, and
tools. follow ad hoc methods along the way. Companies
often assign energy modeling to men and women just
• Improve Validation: A critical aspect to
entering the industry, and these practitioners are
increasing the credibility of energy modeling is
frequently self-taught. Multiple professional
through validation efforts that demonstrate that
certification programs are now available to
the tools are accurate compared to actual
demonstrate modeling knowledge, but none have
building operations (with the understanding that
gained real traction in the industry, nor are they able
accurate inputs and occupant behavior are
to distinguish between different skill levels.
determining factors).
Many opportunities could be realized by addressing
• Define User Needs: In order to better prioritize
these issues with education, training and
development efforts, the industry must define
certification.
user needs for building energy, both for the
design process and for operations.

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 Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011:
12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Sydney, 14-16 November.

Table 6: Opportunities – Education, Training and knowledge for BEM, which is being developed
Certification through IBPSA-USA’s BEMBook wiki.
With a more coordinated approach, comprehensive and While the BEM Summit participants have made
formalized education and training opportunities would be efforts to address some of these critical needs, there
available to students and industry professionals. is still much work to be done.
Practitioners could develop a solid understanding of Table 7: Current Status and Future Work –
building science, system design, correctly translating Education, Training and Certification
building information into simulation inputs, and
identifying the proper tool for any given application. - A BEM Summit attendee applied and was
selected to participate in DOE’s development of

Achievements to Date
Improvements to professional certification programs could
better define necessary skill sets and allow the ability to “national guidelines” for energy modeling
distinguish between skill levels. As a result, the career path education and certification programs. The draft
for energy modelers would be more clear and rewarding. guidelines were completed in May of 2011.
- Encouraged BEM Summit attendees to take the
Practitioners would have a greater ability to effectively use BEMP exam (if applicable).
modeling to promote low-energy buildings.
- From on-site and post Summit surveys, RMI
With a highly educated, trained, and certified workforce, identified industry professionals willing to
customers and other stakeholders would have greater contribute to the BEMBook wiki, and passed this
confidence in energy modeling results, thus increasing the information along to IBPSA-USA.
demand for modeling services.
- Start a dialogue between ASHRAE and AEE
Future Work about how to merge their certification programs
In order to realize these opportunities, some critical (ASHRAE committed to leading that effort).
needs must be satisfied:
- ASHRAE to phase in improvements to the
• Form a Single Certification Program: The two current BEMP exam, based on the critical needs
current energy modeling certification programs identified.
(BEMP, developed by ASHRAE and BESA, - IBPSA-USA to assign wiki content areas to
developed by AEE) should be merged into one those individuals interested in contributing.
certification that has support from all the major
industry organizations and is aligned with Market Drivers and Customer Demand
DOE’s “National Guidelines”. DOE and NREL
are developing a set of national guidelines that Practitioners/Educators
define a common body of knowledge for six
commercial building jobs, including energy 27% 27%
Industry Organizations
modeling. Content for training and certification
must be consistent with these guidelines.
Software Developers
• Improve BEMP Certification Program: As the 9%
BEMP exam is the most recognized certification
37% Customers (owners,
program within the U.S at this time, utilities, etc.)
improvements should be in parallel with efforts
to form a single program. These improvements Figure 5: Participant Breakdown for Market Drivers
include requiring more stringent and and Customer Demand Focus Group
comprehensive professional recommendations,
developing hand-on test questions, developing a The two biggest drivers of today’s modeling demand
desk reference that includes more practice are the need to comply with regulations and codes
problems, and creating more demand for the and the owner’s desire to comply with voluntary
certification. programs like LEED certification, tax credits, and
utility incentives. Thus, most energy models are
• Define Career Progression: Refine the levels of
developed to answer questions such as, “How many
career progression for BEM practitioners from
LEED points can I achieve?” or “Do I qualify for
RMI’s ‘Black Belt’ Concept (Franconi, 2011) to
this incentive?”
two to three clearly defined levels.
While these market drivers have spurred steep
• Form Higher Education Committee: A
growth for modeling over the last decade, they do
committee should be formed to examine
not necessarily best support the design and
opportunities to improve higher education for
operations of low-energy buildings. There is an
BEM and standardize the body of knowledge
opportunity to better align market drivers with the
being taught.
end goal of reducing energy use. In the future,
• Build Body of Knowledge: There is a need to modeling could be used by a wide range of end-users
contribute, review, and revise the body of to inform a broader array of decisions. While some
of these uses are currently practiced, most represent

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 Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011:
12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Sydney, 14-16 November.

underserved markets. The following is a subset of

Table 9: Future Work – Market Drivers and
potential future uses. Please refer to the complete
Customer Demand
Post-Read Summit report for a more complete list
(Tupper, 2011b): - Form a Market Drivers and Customer Demand
Steering Committee.
Table 8: Potential Future Uses for BEM
- Conduct a study to identify market opportunities
Architect and A/E team could use modeling: for using BEM, define the value proposition for

Future Work
modeling in each of these uses, size the potential
• To improve the design and performance of buildings
market opportunity, and prioritize the opportunities
(including currently underserved building types)
in terms of ease, impact, and timeline.
• To qualify for a building permit and to meet building
codes (e.g. 2012 IgCC) - Launch a BEM awareness campaign through a
• To meet increasingly stringent Federal and coalition of industry partners to communicate the
Municipal/local regulations and legislation value proposition for BEM and inform potential
  customers when and how to incorporate modeling
Building purchaser could use modeling: into decision-making processes.
• As part of due-diligence for assessing real estate value
• To help choose between consumer products Support and Resources
Federal government could use modeling:
• To help set goals for energy efficiency
Practitioners/Educators
8%
• To help assess grant/loan risk or qualification for
federal efficiency programs (e.g. the Better Buildings Industry Organizations
32%
Initiative) 26% DOE & National Labs
Banks/investor entities could use modeling:
• To assess real estate value for new construction and Software Developers
retrofits via operational asset rating models 11%
23% Customers (owners,
In order to better align market drivers with the end utilities, etc.)
goal of widespread low-energy buildings, some
critical needs must be satisfied: Figure 6: Participant Breakdown for Support and
Resources Focus Group
• Address Public Perceptions: The BEM
community needs to address damaging public When practitioners construct an energy model, they
(e.g. modeling is cost prohibitive, results cannot rely on diverse, and sometimes fragmented,
be trusted, etc.). insufficient, or conflicting, resources. In many cases,
• Communicate Value Proposition: The value the necessary information is not available or is not
proposition of modeling must be clearly easily accessible. As a result, modelers continually
communicated to potential customers, along come up with their own strategies and workarounds,
with more compelling case studies. Both worsening reproducibility and credibility issues.
practitioners and customers need to understand Practitioners frequently pass down knowledge from
how to best leverage modeling (and its person to person, relying on a few experts within
associated costs). their professional networks to inform modeling
• Understand Market Demand: An industry effort procedures. Existing resources, such as research
is need to research, define and understand papers, training sessions, list serves and software
market demand for building energy modeling. documentation, are often underutilized because they
are hard to access, inconsistent in quality, and
One productive approach could be the formation of a uncoordinated.
Steering Committee tasked with directing further Performing quality control (QC) on energy models is
analysis and actions that target the following goals: difficult and time-consuming. Practitioners do not
• Align energy modeling market drivers with have a consistent QC process to follow and have a
energy efficiency end goals limited ability to check modeling inputs and outputs
• Leverage collective market influence to help within the current simulation tools. There is a lack of
shift demand in support of the “best uses” of good end-use benchmark data from existing
modeling buildings, which could be used to inform the
• Address damaged public perception regarding modeling process.
the accuracy, quality, and usefulness of energy Many opportunities could be realized by addressing
models these issues with support and resources for BEM.

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 Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011:
12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Sydney, 14-16 November.

Table 11: Future Work – Support and Resources

Table 10: Opportunities – Support and Resources

Existing resources and data could be organized, shared, - IBPSA-USA to champion the Knowledgebase
searchable, and reported in a standardized format. development (building on their BEMBook Wiki):
Practitioners would then know where to find trusted and - Develop framework and collect resources
up-to-date information. The level of accuracy and validity - Identify gaps in current information
of data sources could be determined using collective - Continuous update of knowledge

Future Work
ratings. - NREL to champion the Database development:
- Develop framework and collect resources
If software developers embedded more resources within
- Identify method for ongoing collection of
the modeling tools, it would provide context-sensitive help
measured building data
and seamlessly integrate learning into the workflow.
- ASHRAE Technical Committee 4.7 to champion
Standardized, third-party verified data transformation rules development of QC Framework:
could allow practitioners to import data (e.g. - Create standard approach to QC
manufacturer’s data) from a trusted resource into - Develop processes to ensure QC resources are
simulation programs. easily available to practitioners
Strategies for workarounds could be vetted through an
Crosscutting Industry Needs
industry-approved process and made available as short-
term solutions. The need for workarounds could be The following needs permeate across the discussed
eliminated as software developers incorporate this focus areas (above), and require coordinated industry
functionality into tools. efforts to effectively address:
In order to realize these opportunities, some critical 1. The industry needs targeted marketing and
needs must be satisfied: customer education, to improve its credibility
and strengthen its value proposition. The role of
• Industry “Knowledgebase”: There is a need for a
BEM within the green building movement is
new coordinating framework of building science
and simulation information that includes still unclear to many individuals with decision-
expertise-based ratings and is continually making power. We can lay the foundation with a
updated. coordinated campaign that broadcasts a simple
message: the advancement of energy modeling
• Industry “Database”: Practitioners need an is critical to improving the health of our building
accessible, industry library of measured field stock.
data from individual buildings that can be used
to inform modeling inputs such as operating 2. We need to determine how to leverage energy
schedules, plug load data, etc. The Database modeling in different processes and at different
should also include vetted and ready-to-use decision-making levels (individual building,
definitions, such as material properties, wall municipal, national) to best support reducing
constructions, and representations of appliances. energy use in buildings. For individual building
design and maintenance, we should be able to
• Standardized framework for quality control effectively utilize energy modeling throughout
(QC): A framework is needed to improve access the building life cycle, including building
to data that can be used during the QC process, operations.
e.g. to check inputs and outputs. The framework
could involve access to meta-data about inputs 3. Most service providers need more education and
and outputs and expose assumptions within training (especially around building physics).
models, comparing data to typical norms. 4. We need to determine what can (or should) be
standardized and/or automated.
In order to address these critical needs, future work
5. We need to improve the quality of analysis by
is needed.
providing practitioners with access to better
knowledge and data resources.
6. Modeling many standard and innovative
building technologies requires workarounds; we
need to question whether the functionality of
current tools captures the relevant phenomena.
7. Software validation tests need to address many
low energy technologies and interactions
between HVAC and control systems.
8. Increased coordination and information
exchange is essential.

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12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Sydney, 14-16 November.

SUMMARY: WHERE TO GO FROM • Launch a BEM awareness campaign

HERE • Develop the Knowledgebase
Even though the building energy modeling industry • Develop the Database
has experienced rapid growth over the last two • Develop a framework for quality control
decades in the United States, several major industry
issues need to be addressed before BEM can enjoy NOMENCLATURE
sustained market uptake, and increased application in AEE – Association of Energy Engineers
a broad array of decisions related to energy AIA – American Institute of Architects
efficiency. Potential customers and other
stakeholders need to be confident in energy modeling ASHRAE – American Society of Heating
results. Energy modeling processes need to be Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers
clarified and streamlined so practitioners can spend BEM – Building energy modeling
more of their time on the critical thinking required to BEMP – Building Energy Modeling Professional
make recommendations for improving actual BESA – Building Energy Simulation Analyst
building performance. We need a greater number of
experienced and skilled energy modelers with DOE – U.S. Department of Energy
adequate building physics knowledge who can IPBSA-USA – U.S. Affiliate of the International
properly shape the modeling studies required to Building Performance Simulation Association
address energy questions at the individual building IMT – Institute for Market Transformation
level and at the municipal, utility, and national level.
M&V – Measurement and verification
Industry stakeholders are negatively impacted by
NREL – National Renewable Energy Laboratory
these issues; in turn, complying with the status quo
can reinforce industry weaknesses. A concerted RMI – Rocky Mountain Institute
industry effort with increased stakeholder USGBC – U.S. Green Building Council
collaboration is required. Following the Summit, we
have already seen evidence of increased ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
collaboration and focused efforts on the issues The BEM Innovation Summit was a Rocky
identified, including: Mountain Institute (RMI) event, developed in official
partnership with the following organizations:
More coordination ASHRAE, IBPSA-USA, IMT, and USGBC.
Increased collaboration
between software
developers and the between ASHRAE, DOE, REFERENCES
and IBPSA-USA
Department of Energy Franconi, E. 2011. Black Belt Energy Modelling.
Rocky Mountain Institute.
<http://www.rmi.org/Content/Files/Black%20Be
Contributions from lt%20Modeling%20Matrix%20RMI%2008-27-
Summit attendees to 10.pdf>
AIA’s practitioner guide
for energy modeling
Tupper, K. 2011a. Pre-Read for BEM Innovation
Summit. Rocky Mountain Institute.
To build on these efforts, we have identified <http://rmi.org/Content/Files/Summit_PreRead_
important future work that must occur in order to Apr-19-2011(2).pdf>
address the needs of the industry. This future work Tupper, K. 2011b. Collaborate and Capitalize: Post-
includes: Report from the BEM Innovation Summit.
Rocky Mountain Institute.
• Develop and field test the Methods and
<http://rmi.org/Content/Files/BEM_Report_FIN
Processes Guidelines
AL.pdf>
• Form a venue for software developers that
would coordinate efforts and ensure that
software developers are represented and
involved in other key industry efforts
• Start a dialogue between ASHRAE and AEE
about how to merge their certification programs
• Phase in improvements to ASHRAE’s current
BEMP exam
• Form a Market Drivers and Customer Demand
Steering Committee
• Conduct a market opportunity study for BEM

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