Committees and Working Groups
We encourage all IBPSA-USA members to participate in our BEM Community. Our wide array of Committees and Working Groups offer members the opportunity to participate in important conversations, move our industry forward, and keep our initiatives active. Learn more about each IBPSA-USA Committee below.
All committee meetings are open and we encourage you to drop-in to a meeting that suits your interest. We look forward to having you!
The Building Data Exchange Committee was formed to provide an inclusive forum to support the development of tool-agnostic consensus-based data models for the design, analysis, and operational performance of buildings. Our committee members co-author and publish Consensus Documents for Building Data Exchange and participate in related industry forums to encourage open information-sharing in the development of pertinent data infrastructure for buildings.
Get more details about what we are doing on our Website.
Meetings: every second Thu of Jan, Apr, Jul, and Oct from 12-1 PM Pacific
Contact Apply To Join
Vision:
To maintain a communication channel between the IBPSA-USA membership and the stakeholders driving California policy related to building energy modeling, and utilize the channel to affect policy development in ways that benefit IBPSA-USA members’ interests.
Mission:
→ Collect feedback from the IBPSA-USA simulation practitioner membership, develop consensus and relay this information to the California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) and other stakeholders developing energy standards, software, protocols and other work related to building energy/compliance modeling.
→ Provide updates and insight to IBPSA-USA simulation practitioners and other stakeholders with respect to energy efficiency standards as well as software needs and requirements in California.
→ Affect policy development related to California energy code compliance in ways that reflect the interests of IBPSA-USA membership, including making compliance faster and easier for those with more effective ways of delivering high-performance projects.
Meetings: Tri-weekly at 2 PM Pacific
Quality control of building performance analysis is often handled (or not handled in some cases) independently by individual authorities. This wide range of approaches leads to:
-Inefficient (due to redundant efforts) and under-supported programs (including many programs that do not exist due to the barrier of entry)
-Inefficient and confusing processes for building energy modelers.
-Inefficient for software developers needing to comply with several approaches.
-An overall lack of rigor in the quality assurance process for building performance software and modeling practices.
Purpose:
- Improve the credibility of building performance simulation in specific applications (e.g., authorities and program administrators) through standardized software, modeler, and model reviewer certifications
- Administer and maintain certification and QA processes for AHJs and organizations that do not have the bandwidth internally
- Establish partnerships with organizations looking for greater BPS quality control (e.g., state/local energy offices, USGBC, Energy Star, DOE tax credit programs, utilities)
- Provide IBPSA-USA with a source of revenue
- Develop a scalable solution to promote wider adoption of performance based compliance and incentives and to better support the increased use of BPS to meet aggressive emission/energy goals
Meetings: 3rd Mondays at 11 AM Pacific
The Chapters Committee is responsible for establishing, sustaining, and supporting IBPSA-USA Chapters. The committee will assist local chapters to help each other and IBPSA to share ideas, resources, and best practices for success.
List of Activities:
- Maintain guidelines for establishing a local chapter and create a repository of available resources that is useful for chapters.
- Develop procedures and provide training on technical issues such as reserving and operating the on-line meeting software.
- Convene meetings of representatives from each of the local chapters to discuss ways IBPSA-USA can support the local chapters and best practices.
- Maintain contact list of chapter leaders.
- Create procedures for organization of the chapters including diversity/inclusivity.
- Send out regular communications (info to share with members, ideas for programs, etc.) to chapter leaders.
Meetings: 1st Wednesdays at 2 PM Pacific
The Communications Committee is responsible for developing and maintaining all public facing material such as the IBPSA_USA website, newsletter, and email listservs.
Committee Activities:
- To identify, prioritize, and execute website and publications changes and updates
- Keep the website and other IBPSA-USA web properties current and up to date with events, news, and technical resources while maintaining quality and consistency
- To increase Chapter, Committee, and Member visibility, involvement, and activity across all IBPSA-USA web properties.
- To make IBPSA-USA web properties the first place to go for technical resources
- To use the website to increase IBPSA outreach by using social networking
Meetings: Last Wednesday of the month, at 1 PM Pacific
CONFERENCES
- Oversee SimBuild conference series, including negotiating MOU terms with co-sponsoring organizations (e.g. ASHRAE).
- Develop and promote additional regional or single topic meetings, per initiative now underway.
- Oversee semi-annual IBPSA-USA meetings.
- Provide a liaison to the IBPSA-World conference committee
- Formulate and present BOD recommendations related to the above.
Meetings: 2nd Monday at 9 AM Pacific
DEI - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Over the past year, the D.E.I committee developed the following plan for improving Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion within IBPSA-USA and the building simulation industry in general.
The Committee identified the following areas to focus our efforts:
- Training
- Safe Space/Affinity
- Industry Advocate/Networking
- Internal Operations
Read about our strategic plan.
Meetings: 1st Thursdays at 9 AM Pacific
The Education committee is concerned with workforce development and with supporting market development for the building performance simulation industry. Its purpose is to support career development for IBPSA-USA members, inform consumers of simulation services about value and proper application, increase the availability and quality of dedicated university building simulation courses, and increase awareness of building simulation for students in related university courses.
Meetings: 3rd Friday at 10 AM Pacific
Contact Apply To Join
Ever struggled with questions related to career, software, salary that you didn't know who to ask about? Emerging Professionals and Students of IBPSA-USA (EPSI) is a group aiming to serve and bring together IBPSA-USA members who have less than 5 years of experience in the building performance industry. Its purpose is to connect aspiring and early career building performance analysts and others to industry resources, provide insights about IBPSA-USA groups, events, leadership roles, and facilitate a comfortable and a safe platform to network and share resources with peers.
Interested in joining EPSI? Please fill out our short application form today.
If you are interested in serving on the EPSI organizing committee don't forget to select the 'Being part of the organizing committee' option in the application form. As a member of the EPSI organizing committee your responsibilities will include participation in monthly EPSI meetings to help with brainstorming/planning events in addition to administrative tasks to ensure the success of the social channel for EPSI network members.
List of activities:
- A networking group for students and emerging professionals to connect, share knowledge and collaborate with their peers.
- Organize educational events geared towards the member interests, including advice on career development, academic paths, and early developmental BEM skills.
Please contact us at epsi@ibpsa.us if you have any questions.
Meetings: 1st Wednesdays at 3:15 PM Pacific
The Finance and Development Committee’s purpose is to monitor the financial of IBPSA-USA to ensure its continued operation. This is achieved through tracking finances and maintaining a budget, approving major expenditures, and securing funding through sponsorship packages.
Committee Activities
- Establish and track annual budgets for IBPSA-USA
- Continually monitor and approve expenses
- Identify and track past, present, and future (potential) sponsors of IBPSA-USA
- Create and maintain relationships with identified sponsors
- Secure funding from sponsors
- Create enticing and appropriate benefit packages for sponsors
- Ensure benefits packages are implemented
Meetings: 3rd Mondays at 11 AM Pacific
Contact
The Projects Committee is an overarching committee that engages with project sponsor(s) to develop proposals and solicit funding. It works with the Project Execution Committee to review and track progress for each of IBPSA-USA’s projects. The committee’s goal is to ensure that IBPSA-USA’s scope of work is adequately defined during the project and contract development and all deliverables and milestones are met during project execution.
The IBPSA-USA Research Committee promotes research activities in building performance simulation by advocating research outcomes, facilitating research exchange, and generating new research ideas and so on. Additionally, the committee hosts and sponsors webinars, events, and conference panels to develop research objectives and make building simulation practitioners aware of new advances in the field.
See current and upcoming events.
Ongoing Projects:
- Project Stasio - IBPSA USA’s Project Stasio is a crowd-sourced, public website that connects performance questions with graphics from simulation outputs that succinctly answers the question.
- Ask a Modeler - Ask a Modeler is a monthly advice and discussion column in the IBPSA-USA newsletter, think Dear Abby for energy modelers. Each month, we match an interesting user submitted question to a selected expert to get their unique take.
- Webinar Series - IBPSA-USA's Education on Demand video catalog features videos on a variety of building sim topics, and more.
Meetings: 2nd Thursdays at 11 AM Pacific
*Working Groups have separate meeting times.
Contact Apply To Join
The Building Data Exchange Committee was formed to provide an inclusive forum to support the development of tool-agnostic consensus-based data models for the design, analysis, and operational performance of buildings. Our committee members co-author and publish Consensus Documents for Building Data Exchange and participate in related industry forums to encourage open information-sharing in the development of pertinent data infrastructure for buildings.
Get more details about what we are doing on our Website.
Meetings:
Quarterly, first Thursday of the month
Contact Apply To Join
Vision:
To maintain a communication channel between the IBPSA-USA membership and the stakeholders driving California policy related to building energy modeling, and utilize the channel to affect policy development in ways that benefit IBPSA-USA members’ interests.
Mission:
Collect feedback from the IBPSA-USA simulation practitioner membership, develop consensus and relay this information to the California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) and other stakeholders developing energy standards, software, protocols and other work related to building energy/compliance modeling.
Provide updates and insight to IBPSA-USA simulation practitioners and other stakeholders with respect to energy efficiency standards as well as software needs and requirements in California.
Affect policy development related to California energy code compliance in ways that reflect the interests of IBPSA-USA membership, including making compliance faster and easier for those with more effective ways of delivering high-performance projects.
The Building Data Exchange Committee was formed to provide an inclusive forum to support the development of tool-agnostic consensus-based data models for the design, analysis, and operational performance of buildings. Our committee members co-author and publish Consensus Documents for Building Data Exchange and participate in related industry forums to encourage open information-sharing in the development of pertinent data infrastructure for buildings.
Get more details about what we are doing on our Website.
Meetings:
Quarterly, first Thursday of the month
Contact Apply To Join
Vision:
To maintain a communication channel between the IBPSA-USA membership and the stakeholders driving California policy related to building energy modeling, and utilize the channel to affect policy development in ways that benefit IBPSA-USA members’ interests.
Mission:
Collect feedback from the IBPSA-USA simulation practitioner membership, develop consensus and relay this information to the California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) and other stakeholders developing energy standards, software, protocols and other work related to building energy/compliance modeling.
Provide updates and insight to IBPSA-USA simulation practitioners and other stakeholders with respect to energy efficiency standards as well as software needs and requirements in California.
Affect policy development related to California energy code compliance in ways that reflect the interests of IBPSA-USA membership, including making compliance faster and easier for those with more effective ways of delivering high-performance projects.
Quality control of building performance analysis is often handled (or not handled in some cases) independently by individual authorities. This wide range of approaches leads to:
-Inefficient (due to redundant efforts) and under-supported programs (including many programs that do not exist due to the barrier of entry)
-Inefficient and confusing processes for building energy modelers.
-Inefficient for software developers needing to comply with several approaches.
-An overall lack of rigor in the quality assurance process for building performance software and modeling practices.
Purpose:
- Improve the credibility of building performance simulation in specific applications (e.g., authorities and program administrators) through standardized software, modeler, and model reviewer certifications
- Administer and maintain certification and QA processes for AHJs and organizations that do not have the bandwidth internally
- Establish partnerships with organizations looking for greater BPS quality control (e.g., state/local energy offices, USGBC, Energy Star, DOE tax credit programs, utilities)
- Provide IBPSA-USA with a source of revenue
- Develop a scalable solution to promote wider adoption of performance based compliance and incentives and to better support the increased use of BPS to meet aggressive emission/energy goals
Meetings:
3rd Mondays at 11 AM Pacific
Contact
The Chapters Committee is responsible for establishing, sustaining, and supporting IBPSA-USA Chapters. The committee will assist local chapters to help each other and IBPSA to share ideas, resources, and best practices for success.
List of Activities:
- Maintain guidelines for establishing a local chapter and create a repository of available resources that is useful for chapters.
- Develop procedures and provide training on technical issues such as reserving and operating the on-line meeting software.
- Convene meetings of representatives from each of the local chapters to discuss ways IBPSA-USA can support the local chapters and best practices.
- Maintain contact list of chapter leaders.
- Create procedures for organization of the chapters including diversity/inclusivity.
- Send out regular communications (info to share with members, ideas for programs, etc.) to chapter leaders.
Meetings:
1st Wednesdays at 2 PM Pacific
Contact
Building Data Exchange
The Building Data Exchange Committee was formed to provide an inclusive forum to support the development of tool-agnostic consensus-based data models for the design, analysis, and operational performance of buildings. Our committee members co-author and publish Consensus Documents for Building Data Exchange and participate in related industry forums to encourage open information-sharing in the development of pertinent data infrastructure for buildings.
Get more details about what we are doing on our Website.
Meetings:
Quarterly, first Thursday of the month
Contact Apply To Join
California Advocacy
Vision:
To maintain a communication channel between the IBPSA-USA membership and the stakeholders driving California policy related to building energy modeling, and utilize the channel to affect policy development in ways that benefit IBPSA-USA members’ interests.
Mission:
Collect feedback from the IBPSA-USA simulation practitioner membership, develop consensus and relay this information to the California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) and other stakeholders developing energy standards, software, protocols and other work related to building energy/compliance modeling.
Provide updates and insight to IBPSA-USA simulation practitioners and other stakeholders with respect to energy efficiency standards as well as software needs and requirements in California.
Affect policy development related to California energy code compliance in ways that reflect the interests of IBPSA-USA membership, including making compliance faster and easier for those with more effective ways of delivering high-performance projects.