The use of building performance simulation is becoming a common norm as part of integrated design practices. Besides their use for verifying code and certification compliance, energy models are often used for target setting for projects and to support early design phase and capital investment decisions. It is therefore crucial that these energy models are of high quality and provide sufficient accuracy, specificity and reliability as required for the task they are used for. Despite their significance, quality control/assurance for energy models is not standardized or common practice in the building performance simulation world.

This panel discussion brings together experts from the practitioner, consumer, regulatory and academic side. The panelists will provide 5-7 minute presentations on their view of the QA/QC process and discuss further need for improvement. In the second half of the webinar, the floor will be open for the audiences to ask questions to the experts and join the discussion. This will inform IBPSA-USA how to further approach the topic of QA/QC for energy modeling and to determine what additional resources might be needed and valuable to the community.

During the webinar, a reference was made to a document:

Strategies for Deploying Virtual Representations of the Built Environment.

This is hosted on:

http://contrasting.onebuilding.org/Strategies/Index.html

Here is a link to an older version in PDF form:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uhuskkm7znj05se/strategies_may_2018.pdf?dl=0

Moderator:

Oliver Baumann – Baumann Consulting

Oliver has 25 years of experience in design, commissioning, and measurement & verification for high-performance buildings. In 2006, he started Baumann Consulting, successfully growing the business to a firm with international reputation. Building on his transatlantic experience, Oliver’s expertise covers the entire lifecycle of buildings, from innovative energy concepts, building simulation, commissioning, to building performance verification. As an advisory expert to building owners and project teams, Oliver advances cutting-edge best practices for high-performance buildings to maximize return on investment. Oliver also works to guide universities and communities to develop and implement campus and community wide integrated energy master plans.

Presenters:

Greg Collins – Zero Envy

Greg is the founder and principal of Zero Envy, a consulting firm that provides expert energy modeling and building performance analysis for new and existing buildings. Twelve years of experience working in many facets of the building design and construction industry allow Greg to provide focused technical support from a holistic, balanced perspective. Greg’s current work includes consulting services for owners and architects, sub-consulting for engineers and sustainability consultants, and technical engineering support for utility energy efficiency programs. Greg is a Professional Engineer, LEED AP (BD+C), ASHRAE BEMP and a member of the USGBC’s Energy and Atmosphere Technical Advisory Group.

Kyleen Rockwell – HKS

Kyleen Rockwell is an experienced Building Performance Engineer and Architect with a strong track record of designing and implementing design strategies that improve the built environment for all stakeholders. She is a Senior Sustainable Design Engineer at HKS. An engineer and architect, Kyleen informs designs with energy performance evaluations, daylight and glare analyses, building envelope hygrothermal modeling, wind and thermal comfort analyses. She uses data to enhance how buildings perform.

Jon Hand – University of Strathclyde

Jon Hand is an IBPSA fellow and has been active in the simulation community for quite a few decades. He has worn many hats along the way from explorations of long-wave heat losses to the sky at The University of Texas, practicing architecture, investigating the climate interactions of vernacular designs in Southern Africa. For the last 30 years he has fed his curiosity via a Senior Research Officer position within the Energy Systems Research Unit at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow with occasional stints in Ottawa and Seoul.  He has contributed to a number of engineering tools, the latest being ESP-r, he co-developed the EPW weather file format with Dru Crawley and might be one of the few folk who have an Engineering PhD which includes no equations.

A long time fascination with what it takes to deliver better information into the design process has included strategies for how to coerce tools to allow us to create models fit-for-purpose. Contributions to the evolution of ESP-r derive from the need to support various levels of detail and capture the observed characteristics of real spaces. As the designated paranoid guy of the group questions of how the quality of models can be tested and communicated with simulation teams has been a long term itch to scratch.  Recent explorations include evolving methodologies to physically test buildings and use this to calibrate digital twins.

Maria Karpman– Karpman Consulting

Maria has over 20 years of experience in building science, energy modeling, and software design. She has completed numerous energy modeling projects for new and existing buildings and has led the development of technical polices and submittal review processes for major modeling-based programs for high performance buildings. Maria has developed and delivered trainings on energy modeling and performance-based code compliance that have been attended by several thousand building industry professionals. She led development of DOE/PNNL ASHRAE Standard 90.1 Performance-based Compliance Form and the Submittal Review Manual. She has authored papers and presented at the ASHRAE, IBPSA, and AIA conferences, and is a member of the ASHRAE Standard 90.1 committee. Ms. Karpman holds advanced degrees in engineering and computer science and is the principal of Karpman Consulting.