Welcome to the first edition of IBPSA-USA’s simulation horoscope. This new monthly feature provides IBPSA-USA members with current, accurate, and trustworthy advice for technical problem-solving and career growth.
Aries (March 21 – April 19) – The Bold Modeler
You approach energy modeling like a CFD solver at full turbulence—fast, intense, and occasionally unstable. This month, your confidence will be tested when a client asks, “Can’t we just make the building net-zero without changing anything?” Stay strong. And maybe stop overpromising results to clients before checking for unmet load hours.
Taurus (April 20 – May 20) – The Stubborn Calibrator
You believe in precision, even when reality refuses to cooperate. You’ll spend hours calibrating your model, only to realize you chose the wrong weather file. Don’t worry—your patience is legendary, and your reward will be a slightly less unrealistic energy use intensity (EUI).
Gemini (May 21 – June 20) – The Parametric Enthusiast
One moment, you’re running a simple daylight study. The next, you have 4,000 simulation variations running simultaneously. Your curiosity is unmatched, but so is your ability to crash your own workstation. Maybe take a break before your laptop catches fire.
Cancer (June 21 – July 22) – The Comfort Modeler
You care deeply about indoor environmental quality… possibly too deeply. Someone will question your obsession with thermal comfort, and you will respond with a very detailed explanation of the PMV model. This is why people invite you to meetings but not to happy hour.
Leo (July 23 – August 22) – The Star Presenter
You can turn a basic energy model into an award-winning presentation. Expect praise for your incredible insights—just don’t let anyone dig too deep into your assumptions. Remember: a well-designed color gradient can make any result look impressive.
Virgo (August 23 – September 22) – The Spreadsheet Whisperer
You’ve never met a data set you couldn’t organize. Your biggest challenge this month? Resisting the urge to fix someone else’s chaotic Excel file. Deep breaths. Not everyone understands the magic of properly formatted input sheets.
Libra (September 23 – October 22) – The Diplomat
You can explain complex energy modeling concepts in a way that even a room full of developers can understand. But this month, you will face an impossible task: convincing an architect that “glass from floor to ceiling” is not a viable energy efficiency strategy. Even your legendary patience has limits.
Scorpio (October 23 – November 21) – The Simulation Detective
You love finding hidden inefficiencies, whether in a building system or someone’s dubious model assumptions. This month, your instincts will be spot-on when you uncover a rogue plug load that’s throwing off the whole simulation. Victory will be yours—if anyone actually listens to you.
Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21) – The Energy Modeling Adventurer
You thrive on trying new tools, writing your own measures in Ruby, and downloading Grasshopper plug-ins that are still in beta. This month, you’ll convince yourself you can run an urban-scale simulation on your laptop. You cannot. But the effort will be admired.
Capricorn (December 22 – January 19) – The Code Compliance Warrior
You know ASHRAE 90.1 better than you know some of your friends’ birthdays. Your greatest challenge this month? Resisting the urge to correct every single mistake in someone’s compliance report. Choose your battles—your sanity depends on it.
Aquarius (January 20 – February 18) – The Innovator
You love automating workflows, streamlining processes, and making simulation faster—so naturally, IT is about to revoke your admin privileges. This month, your ideas will be groundbreaking, but your biggest obstacle will be office firewall settings.
Pisces (February 19 – March 20) – The Daylight Dreamer
You want every space to be beautifully lit with natural daylight. Sadly, reality includes actual building occupants who insist on things like “walls” and “glare control.” Keep fighting the good fight—you know deep down that daylighting is a lifestyle, not just a LEED credit.
Final Prediction
Your simulations will take longer than expected, they might crash, and someone will still ask why the results don’t match their gut feeling. But don’t worry—if you can’t find all the answers written in the stars on today’s date, try looking on unmethours.com tomorrow.
