SimBuild is back!

IBPSA-USA will host the SimBuild 2024 conference May 21st to 23rd, 2024 in Denver, Colorado at the Hilton City Center Denver. After hosting joint conferences with ASHRAE from 2014 to 2022, IBPSA-USA returns to hosting SimBuild as an independent conference in 2024.

SimBuild 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the first SimBuild conference, held in 2004. The theme of the conference is “Celebrating Two Decades of SimBuild.” Join us as we commemorate IBPSA-USA's contributions to sustainability and building performance simulation and look toward the future. The program will highlight the work of IBPSA-USA and its members and provide a platform to envision the future of simulation, as we explore emerging technologies, trends, and strategies that will continue to drive building performance excellence in the years ahead.

Join us as we honor the past, embrace the present, and envision a brighter and more sustainable future. Keep an eye on our conference website, follow us on social media platforms, and join our mailing list to receive the latest conference updates.

HackSimBuild will take place immediately before SimBuild 2024, May 19-20th.  Participants will present their work to SimBuild attendees and a panel of judges during SimBuild 2024.

See you in Denver!

Registration for IBPSA-USA is open! Please join our mailing list and follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on event updates.

*EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS MARCH 31, 2024.

TERMS OF REGISTRATION

• The registration of participation is binding.
• If you have to cancel the registration, you get 80% back until 30 days before the start of the event. In all other cases, the financial responsibilities of the participants remain fully effective.
• The participation fees are owed upon registration and are payable within 7 days following submission of the registration (but not later than 7 days before the starting day of the event).
• Participation is not guaranteed until full payment of the registration fee is received.
• The conference program may be subject to changes.
• Payments will be refunded if the conference will be canceled by the organizer. In that case, the organizer will have no further liability to the client. Registrations remain valid if the conference has to be postponed.

Download the SimBuild Conference App

The SimBuild conference app is available to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play. You can scan the QR code or in your app store, search for Conference4me, download the free app, and in the app's search engine look for "IBPSA-USA SimBuild 2024."

The SimBuild 2024 Schedule is Live!

View the live, interactive SimBuild schedule here. Anytime you want to return to the beginning, click on Session Overview.

The theme of SimBuild 2024 highlights the future of IBPSA’s mission: Building Sustainability and Performance Through Simulation. We seek papers demonstrating innovation in methods, workflows, and modeling tools for better building design, performance, and operation to meet aggressive targets for energy reduction, environmental quality, decarbonization, and resiliency.

Sample themes include:

SimBuild is the premier US venue for sharing cutting edge research in building performance simulation. The 2024 conference will include multiple formats of presentations to encourage discussions and exchange of ideas over the three days of the event. The theme of SimBuild 2024 highlights the future of IBPSA’s mission: Building Sustainability and Performance Through Simulation.

We seek papers demonstrating innovation in methods, workflows, and modeling tools for better building design, performance, and operation to meet aggressive targets for energy reduction, environmental quality, decarbonization, and resiliency.

The Call for Papers contains information about key dates, templates, and policies. 

Click here to view the Guide for Reviewers
Click here to view the Guide for Authors

Submissions for program ideas, presentations, and session proposals are now closed!  Click here for more information.

Committee is currently reviewing submissions and schedule will be published in the next coming weeks.

HackSimBuild ‘24 is a 24-hour hackathon where participants (you) develop and test creative new approaches to building performance simulation. This event will bring together modelers, programmers, students, academics, designers, and engineers of all types to collaborate in a design sprint. At the end of this fun and immersive event, we will award prizes to the teams with the most original, innovative, and market-ready tools, metrics, ideas, or other hacks they present to our industry-leading panel of jurors.

For more information, please visit HackSimBuild '24.

2024 SimBuild Conference Scholarships applications are closed. Winners were notified on March 13th.

For more information, including eligibility and applications, please visit the Scholarships web page. 

Pre-Conference Workshops - Monday May 20th

IBPSA-USA is excited to partner with our sponsors to offer pre-conference add-on opportunities for our attendees. You can sign up for pre-conference sessions through attendee registration. Please note that some sessions may have limited seating and will be given on a first-come-first-serve basis. 

Attendees can sign up for these events through our registration system, ConfTool.

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM Extracting Valid Building Performance Simulation Models from Revit Models using Pollination Revit Plugin

In this workshop, we will cover the core features of the Pollination Revit plugin (https://www.pollination.cloud/revit-plugin) for extracting valid analytical models from Revit for energy, daylight, and comfort simulation. Our goal is to ensure that you will never redraw an analytical model from scratch after this workshop.

We will discuss the best practices for preparing the model, the most common issues in Revit models, and the appropriate workflows to address these issues using the basic and advanced Revit sample models. We will also discuss the best practices for exporting the models to 3rd party tools such as IES VE, eQuest, OpenStudio, DesignBuilder, and IDA-ICE.

This workshop is primarily intended for building performance analysts, energy modelers, engineers, and architects looking to streamline the process of producing and simulating analytical energy models from design models.
Expected Knowledge/Requirements:  

• Revit 2021-2024
• Pollination Revit plugin (https://www.pollination.cloud/rhino-plugin).
• All the attendees will be given access to a Pollination Revit plugin license during the workshop.

Instructors: Chris Mackey & Mostapha Sadeghipour Roudsari, Ladybug Tools, LLC

Details: $200 USD/pp

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ASHRAE 90.1-2019 Code Compliance Modeling

This workshop will use IESVE Software to generate performance-based compliance reports for ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019 PRM.  Simulation analysis will include energy, carbon, cost and Performance Cost Index (PCI).  Free training licenses will be provided as necessary. Trainees are to have IESVE Software installed prior to arrival.

Expected Knowledge:  Attendees should have completed the free “Creating Model Geometry in IESVE” tutorial.

Instructors: Birajan Bhandari, Nathan Kegel, IES

Details: 20 people capacity;  $150 USD/pp;

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM Creating Building Performance Simulation Models with Pollination Rhino

In this workshop, we showcase a range of workflows using the Pollination Rhino Plugin starting from different options to create a valid analytical model from scratch, review and find the issues in your model, and geometry cleanup process to eliminate the need to manually re-trace or rebuild the design geometry to create a valid analytical model. The workshop will also discuss the export pathways to IES-VE, DesignBuilder, and eQuest as well as Pollination, Ladybug Tools, OpenStudio, and Radiance.

This workshop is primarily intended for building performance analysts, energy modelers, engineers, and architects looking to streamline the process of producing and simulating analytical energy models from design models. We assume that you are familiar with the basic concepts of energy modeling.

Our goal is to ensure that you will never redraw an analytical model from scratch after this workshop.

Requirements

• A Windows laptop computer with Rhino 7 or 8 installed along with the Pollination Rhino Plugin (https://www.pollination.cloud/rhino-plugin). All the attendees will be given access to a Pollination Rhino plugin license during the workshop.

Instructors: Chris Mackey & Mostapha Sadeghipour Roudsari, Ladybug Tools, LLC

Details: $200 USD/pp

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM Impactful Data Visualization

For building performance analysts, one of the most difficult challenges is condensing a great deal of data into an intelligible format so architects can understand it. Architects are looking to simulation professionals to help them make early design decisions that align with energy, cost, and design goals.

This 4-hour workshop is taught by the core team at Project StaSIO, led by Alejandra Menchaca, founding principal at AIRLIT studio and co-founder of Project StaSIO, and Guanzhou Ji, PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University. Starting with graphics theory, the facilitators will take participants through pragmatic steps to improve communication as well as common mistakes simulation professionals make in creating reports for Architects. They will focus on helping attendees find the right data to communicate and then present it simply and compellingly. A final exercise will ask participants to create a graphic using techniques covered in the workshop. 

The workshop will only use freely/commonly available software tools such as Excel. No experience in creating advanced graphics is necessary.

Requirements

• No prior experience is required. Attendees should bring a laptop.

Instructors: Alejandra Menchaca, AIRLIT studio & Guanzhou Ji, Carnegie Mellon  

Details: $150 USD/pp

Visit to National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO 

Organized by IBPSA-USA EPSI Committee

Getting To Denver

The closest airport to fly into is Denver International Airport (DEN). United Airlines is offering a discount for conference attendees. To make flight reservations on United Airlines use IBPSA-USA exclusive promotional code ZPJ2179096 or copy and paste the code on United Airlines

The Denver Train A Line provides economic transportation to downtown Union Station, nearby the Auraria Campus (900 Auraria Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204) where SimBuild 2024 will take place.

Staying in Denver

Hilton Denver City Center

Stay at the official SimBuild 2024 Venue! Contact 303-297-1300 and mention IBPSA-USA for the specially contracted room rate. 

Notice 5/17/24:

Attendees who have reservations at the SpringHill Suites next to Auraria Campus will have their reservations converted at the same rate to stay onsite at the new venue by the IBPSA-USA team. You will receive more information shortly. Those that prefer to stay onsite at the new venue can contact +1 303-297-1300 and mention the IBPSA-USA room block for a rate.

Teatro

Located in the heart of Denver, Hotel Teatro blends Denver's history with the comforts of today, inviting you to experience a stay like no other.  You can book by phoning the reservations department at 888-727-1200 and mention the "IBPSA-USA" room block. Special room rate of $249. 

NOTE: No other booking agent is authorized to sell rooms outside of this link or the phone number provided.

Visit Denver

Denver Deals & Discounts

Discover travel deals, coupons and discounts on restaurants, entertainment, festivals,  museums and more during your stay in Denver.  More info HERE.

Meet the Speakers 

IBPSA-USA is proud to present the keynote lineup for SimBuild 2024. 

How Did We Get Here? Exploring Past Perspectives : Chip Barnaby, Consultant and past IBPSA President; Dru Crawley, Bentley Systems and IBPSA President; Ellen Franconi, PNNL. Panel moderated by Conference Co-Chairs Carrie Brown, Resource Refocus and Supriya Goel, PNNL

Present State of the Industry: Amy Jiron, Director of Building Decarbonization, Colorado Energy Office.

Revolutionizing the Future: Christopher Mackey, Ladybug Tools; Alejandra Menchaca, AIRLIT studio; Zoltan Nagy, University of Texas. Panel moderated by Scientific Committee Chair and IBPSA-USA President, Nathaniel Jones, Arup

Charles S. "Chip" Barnaby, Consultant

Independent Software Developer

Charles S. “Chip” Barnaby is an independent software developer specializing in building performance simulation, focusing on modeling residential performance in support of California’s Title 24 energy code.  In the past, he worked at Wrightsoft and Xenergy developing loads and energy calculation software. He is past President of both IBPSA-World and IBPSA-USA.  He serves on several ASHRAE technical committees and is chair of SSPC-205 (Representation of Performance Data for HVAC&R and Other Facility Equipment).  He is a Fellow of IBPSA and ASHRAE.

Dru Crawley, Bentley Systems

Bentley Fellow / Director, Building Performance at Bentley Systems, Inc

Dr. Crawley is Bentley Fellow and Director, Building Performance, thought leader focusing on building performance, zero-energy buildings, decarbonization, digital twins, climate change, resilience, and sustainability. Before joining Bentley in 2010, Dr. Crawley developed, launched, and managed USDOE’s Commercial Building Initiative (zero-energy commercial buildings (now Better Buildings)). He also managed DOE’s building energy software research and development including EnergyPlus, OpenStudio, Energy-10, and DOE-2. With more than 45 years of experience in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability, he has worked in engineering software, government research and standards development organizations, as well as building design and energy consulting companies. A registered architect, he received a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland on the topic of building simulation as a policy tool focusing on impacts of climate change on the built environment and holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Tennessee.

Ellen Franconi, PNNL

Senior Research Engineer, Buildings & Connected Systems

Ellen Franconi, Ph.D. Building Systems Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, has aimed to be a change-agent to promote energy efficiency in buildings through energy modeling, design assistance, and policy analysis over her 35-year career. She works at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory supporting DOE’s efforts to advance building energy codes. Ellen has also worked at RMI, Architectural Engineering Corporation, LBNL, and SERI (now NREL).

Amy Jirón, Colorado Energy Office

Director of Building Decarbonization

Amy is thrilled to be building an all-star team to design policy and programs at the intersection of climate and the built environment, for the people of her own, native place and to improve the performance, comfort, safety and resilience of Colorado's 2.5 million buildings. Prior to the Colorado Energy Office, Amy served for more than a decade at the U.S. Department of Energy, as the executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council Colorado Chapter, and evaluated, commissioned, and verified high-performance building design and retrofit strategies as an architectural engineer. Amy graduated with a Bachelor of Science in architectural engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder (Go Buffs!) and a Juris Doctor from American University Washington College of Law.

Chris Mackey, Ladybug Tools

Co-founder, Ladybug Tools LLC

Chris Mackey is a Co-founder of Ladybug Tools LLC and has been a lead developer of its software since the Ladybug Tools project started in 2013. Chris develops and maintains many of the project's core libraries, which form the backbone of the Pollination software product line as well as the free Ladybug Tools plugin for Grasshopper. The latter has been downloaded over half a million times and supports an online community forum that receives over 5,000 human pageviews per day.

Alejanadra Menchaca, AIRLIT studio

Founding Principal, AIRLIT studio

Alejandra is a Principal at AIRLIT studio, an environmental consultancy with a design-centric approach rooted in technical excellence. Alejandra combines expertise in mechanical engineering and building science to give clients a clear understanding of the impact design strategies and innovative solutions have on long-term building performance. Alejandra’s expertise includes passive design, visual and thermal comfort assessment, and indoor air quality. She’s an advocate of the power of early design analytics and is passionate about finding new ways to quantify energy, comfort and air quality quickly and simply. She is a co-founder of Project StaSIO, a community of building performance simulators (consultants, architects, in-house building scientists) that strives to teach others how to ask the right building analytics questions and convey the results in ways that are beautiful and impactful. She holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and has lectured at MIT and the Harvard GSD, where she’s had the good fortune to mentor several brilliant students who have become inspiring disruptors in the building simulation industry.

Zoltan Nagy, University of Texas

Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Nagy directs the Intelligent Environments Lab at UT Austin since 2016. A roboticist turned building engineer, his research interests are in smart buildings and cities, control systems for zero emission building operation, and the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence for the built environment for a sustainable energy transition. He is a fellow of IBPSA World and has received the Outstanding Researcher Award from IBPSA-USA in 2022, several Best Paper awards from the CISBAT conference, Building & Environment journal, as well as a Highest Cited Paper award from Applied Energy. Dr. Nagy holds a PhD and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich.

Get ready to embark on a thrilling networking adventure like never before! 

Join us for the EPSI committee's Power Networking Challenge, exclusively at the SimBuild Conference.

Get your game face on as you conquer thrilling tasks designed to turbocharge your professional network. This challenge is your golden ticket to forging new friendships, sharing insights, and sparking creativity.

 So dive in, take on the challenge, and earn recognition in the conference highlights!
It's not just a chance to mingle—it's your ticket to teaming up with industry bigwigs and making waves!

Challenge Rules:

• The EPSI Power Networking Challenge kicks off on Day 1 of the conference: Tuesday, May 21st at 7:00 am, and keeps the fun going until the final day of the conference: Thursday at 12:00 pm.
• Calling all current students or emerging professionals with less than 5 years of industry experience to join the excitement!
• Whether you're a lone ranger or prefer to team up (2 members only), everyone's welcome to tackle the challenge together!
• Post the images on LinkedIn as one or multiple posts (Posting task language on LinkedIn is optional). Use #simbuild #EPSIPowerNetworkingChallenge
• Submit your triumphs via direct messages to the IBPSA-USA Instagram channel or through email at epsi@ibpsa.us (for our non-Insta-savvy friends). You can choose to provide links from LinkedIn as well to avoid retyping. 
• The first 3 individuals or teams to complete all tasks will snag a shiny spotlight mention in the next IBPSA-USA newsletter!
• But remember, to be considered, all 5 tasks provided below must be completed. No shortcuts allowed!

Challenge Tasks:

1. Snap a Pic with an IBPSA-USA Board Member: Say cheese with an IBPSA-USA board member and make sure to flaunt that IBPSA-USA logo in the background!
2. Connect with a Keynote Speaker: Engage in a friendly chat with a keynote speaker, charm them into accepting your LinkedIn request showcasing your professionalism and genuine interest in their work. Remember, never pressure anyone to accept your request. Once they've accepted, capture a screenshot and share it as proof of completion.
3. Photo Op with a Presenter: Strike a pose with one of our fabulous presenters and spill the beans with a two-sentence summary of their work. Share how their presentation resonated with you and what insights you gained from it.
4. Engage with a Committee Member: Have a chit-chat with a committee member to learn about their committee's role in just two sentences, and snap a selfie for proof!
5. Chat with a Credential Holder: Dive into a conversation with someone holding multiple credentials (for example LEED, BEMP, WELL etc.)  and uncover their motivations behind those fancy titles. Share their wisdom and journey to SimBuild in two sentences, accompanied by a pic!

Gear up, get set, and let the networking games begin! 

See you at the EPSI Power Networking Challenge at SimBuild Conference—where fun meets networking magic!