New to CalBEM’s Working Groups? Explore some quick context or join a group.
Summer 2024 Activities
Updated each Spring and Fall
7/25/2024
Group 1: Creating a Streamlined BEM Process
Co-Chairs: Supriya Goel, Neal Kruis, and Dimitri Contoyannis
Working Group 1 started the year off reviewing the results of the “Third Party Energy Code Verification: Market Characterization” project. In the group’s January webinar Sally Blair (NORESCO) and Hwakong Cheng (Taylor Engineering) shared the project objectives, approach, and findings. They reviewed five different frameworks to third party energy code verification, identified through literature and policy review and interviews with subject matter experts. Attendees engaged in a detailed Q&A session, which inspired a follow-up Q&A discussion meeting.
The Spring Meeting hosted updates from NORESCO on two active projects: the PRM Project and the CBECC-Com GitHub Migration Project. Xia Fang and Rob Guglielmetti presented project updates and attendees contributed to a lively Q&A session.
If you have missed these recent meetings, meeting notes and materials can be found in the CalBEM Collaborative Efforts SharePoint here.*
The Prototype Unification Technical Advisory Group led by Bryan Boyce (Energy Solutions) and Rahul Athalye (NORESCO) continues to make progress on advancing its goal to develop a single set of prototypes for use by all California state agencies and other public research/policy purposes. The TAG plans to meet in July to present their progress: The single- & multi-family work has been focused on validating the prototypes while non-residential work has been focused on gathering necessary inputs.
Efforts on the “PRM Case Studies by Practitioners” led by Greg Collins (Zero Envy) and Panos Bakos (Atelier Ten) kicked-off in the fall of 2023 and will be starting its next phase late summer 2024.
To attend future Group 1 meetings, or simply to keep in the loop, sign up for the WG1 mailing list.
Group 2: Developing BEM Education and Resources
Co-Chairs: Erik Kolderup and Nick Brown
Working Group 2 began the year with the passing of the Co-Chair torch from Brian Selby to Nick Brown! We thank Brian Selby for his dedication and many contributions to CalBEM Group 2, and welcome Nick Brown to the Co-Chair role.
Working Group 2 held two meetings this past winter and spring. At the January Webinar, Group 2 focused on a problem statement identified during the 2023 CalBEM Symposium, that there is “a lack of BEM Industry awareness, particularly among students and early-career professionals.” The group discussed various strategies to increase awareness and identified many great ideas, primarily centered around leveraging existing job fairs, organizations, and university programs to share BEM education resources and boost knowledge of job opportunities through each of those avenues. The Co-Chairs are still seeking an individual to spearhead this effort, or to submit a CalBEM project proposal to receive funding to conduct this work.
The Group 2 Co-Chairs also hosted a Spring Meeting on “Performance Metrics for Energy Modelers,” which included presentations from RJ Wichert (CEC), Jared Landsman (E3), and Carrie Brown (Resource Refocus). The panelists spoke to the reasoning behind our compliance metrics, how California’s compliance metrics are derived, and a discussion around ASHRAE standards and operational carbon emission factors, respectively. The panelists and attendees discussed education needs surrounding metrics, especially the upcoming metrics changes in 2025 Title 24, Part 6. The Co-Chairs will seek pathways to executing the educational resources identified during the discussion.
If you have missed these recent meetings, notes and slides can be found in the CalBEM Collaborative Efforts SharePoint here.*
These two meetings, along with the difficulty locating a funding fit for the 2023 “Educator Community of Practice” proposal, highlight the need for funding allocated to BEM education throughout the educational pathway. The CalBEM Planning Team and the Working Group 2 Co-Chairs continue to investigate solutions to address this funding gap.
The “Open Source Data Visualizations for BEM Quality Assurance” project led by Greg Collins (Zero Envy), was approved by the Steering Committee in June 2024 and is currently seeking project funding.
To attend future Group 2 meetings, or keep in the loop in real-time, sign up for the WG2 mailing list.
Group 3: Advancing BEM Capabilities and Metrics
Co-Chairs: Haile Bucaneg, Neil Bulger, and Michael Sawford.
Working Group 3’s January Webinar reviewed takeaways from the CalBEM 2023 fall Symposium, provided updates on the Title 24 Part 6 update process and the CEC Tools Team activities, and identified next steps. Attendees discussed five key topics from the symposium: compliance option process for reviewing and defining accuracy, compliance measure prioritization, HVAC/DHW performance maps in BEM and compliance tools, modeling mandatory measures to improve BEM accuracy, and updating modeling internal gains assumptions in the Title 24 ACM. The attendees discussed actions for each item including upcoming meetings, which led to the development of the Spring Meeting.
The Group 3 Spring Meeting primarily focused on ranking compliance measures; they took measures identified during CalBEM 2023 and the January Webinar and asked attendees to select their priority measures via a poll, and then discussed the top three voted measures. The Co-Chairs plan to summarize the feedback and share it with the CEC.
If you have missed recent meetings, notes and slides can be found in the CalBEM Collaborative Efforts SharePoint here.*
The Alternative Calculation Methods (ACM) Manual Enhancement project, led by Elizabeth McCollum (TRC), continues to make progress towards the project goal of drafting revised content improving the structure and clarity of the manuals. The team has also completed interviews to gain input and vetting from key software, energy consultant, and policy stakeholders. The CEC aims to publish the 2025 ACM Manuals for public review in April 2025.
To attend future Group 3 meetings, or keep in the loop in real-time, sign up for the WG3 mailing list.
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* Working Group participants can email info@calbem.org to gain access.
What are Working Groups?
A Working Group is a team of CalBEM participants dedicated to furthering one of CalBEM’s core goals. During CalBEM events they discuss potential solutions (imagined or inspired by solutions seen in other jurisdictions) to issues identified in the sub-topics explained below. In-between CalBEM events, they work to finalize and execute on projects inspired by these events.
Each Working Group has two designated co-chairs selected based on their experience and involvement related to the Working Group sub-topics. Prior to each event, these individuals work with the host (SCE) and facilitators (2050 Partners and Red Car Analytics) to structure the Working Group breakout sessions (e.g., sub-agenda, presentations, handouts, activities, etc.).
The Working Group sub-topics were chosen with the following criteria in mind:
- Responsive to feedback from BEM stakeholders,
- Addresses issues that are not being addressed in another forum, or adds value to an existing process but is not duplicative, and
- Focuses on issues for which the Working Groups can reasonably develop useful draft Action Plans within a two-day event.
The Working Groups are organized around three core CalBEM goals:
Creating a Streamlined Process for Building Simulation
This group focuses on opportunities to streamline compliance processes through software enhancements, new innovative methods in validation or types of performance compliance, compliance metrics, and software application interoperability.
Co-Chairs: Supriya Goel (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), Neal Kruis (Big Ladder Software), and Dimitri Contoyannis (Model Efficiency)
Key Sub-topics:
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- Future of Public and Private Code Compliance Software – What strategies could CA explore to expand compliance software to be more accessible, easier to use, and easier to develop by the market? Shaping a Ruleset Validation Standard is one example related to the idea of moving regulatory bodies out of the role of creating software and yet maintaining a level of control and calculation quality.
- National Alignment – What efforts are being undertaken by national code agencies or green building rating groups to streamline energy modeling compliance and new performance pathways for users? What alternate strategies should CA agencies for codes, programs, or local incentives consider which may be currently implemented or being piloted elsewhere?
- Software Interoperability and New Developments – With energy modeling tools improving and expanding to now include whole eco-systems of software, what needs exist for interoperability? Where the need exists today for multiple models, how could interoperability be enhanced to streamline or change the current dilemma of non-interoperability?
Educating BEM Users and Developing Resources
Group 2 focuses on enhancing resources for the energy modeling community of technical users and agencies, including enhancing shared resources, developing robust methods and documentation for compliance with codes, incentives, and state programs, and prioritizing the most educational items.
Co-chairs: Erik Kolderup (Kolderup Consulting) and Nick Brown (Build Smart Group)
Key Sub-topics:
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- Creating a Robust Reporting Process – In both code compliance and in green building standards, review of results and documentation of calculations is necessary. What best practices exist for enhancing compliance of models that are created, such as peer review and automated checks of modeling files? For documentation itself, where could enhancements or simplifications be made in state documents for codes and program administrators’ documents for incentives and where are examples for such available in the industry, be it states or through private rating systems such as LEED?
- Educating a Larger Workforce & Advancing Skills – As energy modeling and software inform more elements of the built environment, what ways can the BEM community further attract talent and teach the necessary skills to support this expanding scope? What gaps exist today? What are the priorities for enhancing workforce education? What educational resources could be developed to enhance the general knowledge for properly modeling in specific software or in general?
Advancing BEM Simulation Usability, Accuracy, & Capabilities
CalBEM Group 3 focuses on increasing the usability, accuracy, and capabilities of California building energy modeling documentation, software, and technologies. Topic areas include energy modeling software for Title 24, Part 6 and for statewide programs. Efforts focus on short-term enhancements, encompassing the current or near-term energy code software, or long-term over the upcoming one to two code cycles.
Co-chairs: Neil Bulger (A2 Efficiency), Haile Bucaneg (California Energy Commission), and Michael Sawford (A2 Efficiency)
Key Sub-topics:
- Advancing Software Usability and Accuracy – Through assessment and testing of Title 24 code, modeling methods, and new software updates impacting the current and next one to two code cycles.
- Advancing Methods and Capabilities of Compliance and Program Software in the Market – through enhancing interactions between programs and compliance, improving efficiency measures that are allowed in compliance software to streamline the use in incentive programs (reduce workarounds for clean compliance documentation).
- Advancing the Usability of Documentation and Rulesets – Through assessment and review of the Title 24 reference manuals align documentation with original intent improving usefulness to practitioners and software developers. What adjustments should be made to improve the usability of existing documentation and technical educational materials?
Interested in joining any of these Working Group meetings? CalBEM participants can view the live schedule and copy events to your own calendar. Note that if you haven’t directly received email notifications for these meetings, it means you aren’t signed up to receive updates for the Working Group. You can still join any meeting you are interested in from the calendar, but you’ll only be notified when events are added to your Working Group if you are signed up below.
Want to delve deeper? Check out past updates and public meeting notes. Notes from recent Working Group meetings can be viewed by CalBEM participants in the CalBEM Collaborative Efforts Notebook. If you are an active CalBEM participant and do not have access to these notes, please email Carrie Hillen (carriehillen@2050partners.com) for access.
Just want occasional updates and news? You can also sign up for general interest emails here.
What are Action Plans?
During CalBEM events, the Working Groups prioritize sub-topics and then refine and develop problem statements, goals, and actions for the prioritized sub-topics. These materials form the backbone of robust Action Plans.
The Action Plan structure is organized around the problem statements. Each problem statement will have one or more actions to be taken that create movement towards resolution of the stated problem. Each action includes priority, status, lead stakeholders, other stakeholders, key barriers, schedules and notes.
* Working Group participants can email info@calbem.org to gain access.
Meetings and Webinars
After the completion of the annual CalBEM event, the Working Groups develop projects based on the issues identified in the Action Plans and continue to support a developed and functional building energy modeling ecosystem in California. Visit the CalBEM events calendar here.