IBPSA-USA

IBPSA-USA SimBuild 2024 Conference

Registration is Now Open!

Join us at the Auraria Campus, in Denver, CO May 21st-23rd, as we honor the past, embrace the present, and envision a brighter and more sustainable future. Dive into HackSimBuild, engaging workshops, and networking receptions. Cap it off with an award banquet recognizing leaders in the field. Don't miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and shape the future of building simulation.

SimBuild is back!

IBPSA-USA will host the SimBuild 2024 conference May 21st to 23rd, 2024 in Denver, Colorado at the Auraria Campus. 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.

ATTENDEE REGISTRATIONEarly Bird Price*Standard Price
IBPSA-USA Member$699$849
Nonmember$799$949
IBPSA-USA Student member$350$400
Student nonmember$400$450

*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.

Please note, that this is an overview schedule to allow attendees and sponsors to make travel arrangements. The schedule is subject to change. 

The events on this schedule will take place at the Tivoli Turnhalle at the Auraria Campus, unless otherwise noted. (900 Auraria Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204)

Sunday, May 19th (pre-conference)

12:00 PM      HackSimBuild’24 Workshops– Separate registration required.

3:00 PM        HackSimBuild’24 BeginsSeparate registration required.

Big Ladder Software Office

Monday, May 20th (pre-conference)

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM        Morning Pre-Conference Workshops

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM           Afternoon Pre-Conference Workshops

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM          NREL Tour (free - RSVP required) 

2:00 PM – 6:00 PM         Attendee Registration & Sponsor Table-Top Exhibit Set-Up

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM          Opening Reception – Dinner & drinks provided @ Tivoli Brewing Co. Tap House, 900 Auraria Pkwy #240, Denver, CO 80204

Tuesday, May 21st

7:00 AM – 5:00 PM          Attendee Registration & Check-In 

7:00 AM – 5:00 PM          Speaker’s Lounge Opens

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM         Coffee & Networking – light breakfast provided.

9:00 AM – 12:30 PM        Sessions & Networking

12:30 AM – 1:30 PM         Lunch and Networking 

1:30 PM– 5:00 PM            Sessions & Networking 

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM          IBPSA-USA Awards Banquet Dinner & cash bar provided @ Tivoli Turnhalle.  

Wednesday, May 22nd

7:00 AM – 5:00 PM          Speaker’s Lounge Opens

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM         Coffee & Networking – light breakfast provided.

9:00 AM – 12:30 PM        Sessions & Networking

12:30 AM – 1:30 PM         Lunch and Networking 

1:30 PM– 5:00 PM            Sessions & Networking 

Thursday, May 23rd 

7:00 AM – 12:00 PM       Speaker’s Lounge Opens

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM        Coffee & Networking – light breakfast provided.

9:00 AM – 12:30 PM       Sessions & Networking

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:

Climate Resilience and Forecasting

  • Approaches to Modeling Future Weather, Climate, and Extreme Events
  • Modeling of Adaptation Strategies
  • Modeling for Carbon and Embodied Energy
  • Regulatory Approaches to Carbon Neutrality
  • Urban Renaissance & Cultural Heritage

Intelligent Building Operations

  • Efficiencies and Load Management
  • Grid Interactions and Distributed Energy Resources
  • Active, Passive, and Zero-carbon buildings
  • Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning
  • Commissioning, Diagnostics, and Control

Workflows and Simulation Case Studies

  • Building Information Modeling and Interoperability
  • Evolving Performance Indicators
  • Modeling Existing Buildings
  • Performance-Driven Design, Design Automation, and Optimization
  • Validation, Calibration, and Uncertainty

Simulation Technologies and Applications

  • Building Physics, Heat, and Moisture
  • CFD, Airflow, and Microclimate
  • Life-Cycle Modeling
  • Lighting and Daylighting
  • Machine Learning and Big Data Applications to Building Simulation
  • Passive and Hybrid Heating and Cooling
  • Urban and Community Scale Modeling

Human Factors

  • Education and Training
  • Energy Equality, Access, and Justice
  • Health and Indoor Environmental Quality
  • Occupant Health, Wellbeing, and Comfort
  • Occupant Behavior

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:  

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

The tour includes a unique opportunity to learn about various research facilities and buildings on the NREL campus and will be hosted by current NREL employees.

The tour will include a visit to: 

  1. Research Support Facility (RSF)
    A 442,907 ft2 award-winning model for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum, zero energy, and high-performance building design facility known for the use of an innovative performance-based design-build process. It was the world’s largest zero energy building of its time.
  2. Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF)
    A 182,000-square-foot LEED Platinum research facility housing 17 commercial and residential high bay laboratories, 3 mock homes, and the Insight Center, hosting both 3D and 2D visualization laboratories in addition to immersive visualization and interaction technologies.  
Tour Date: Monday, May 20, 2024
Time: 3:00 to 4:30 PM Mountain Time
Additional documentation or information may be requested after registration, and failure to provide such information promptly may result in delays in tour approval. Approval for each individual solely depends on NREL's security clearance. Confirmation of the tour is contingent upon obtaining clearance. *This tour is full. Please email us at admin@ibpa.us to be added to a wait list.

*Additional instructions will be provided a few days prior to the tour.

 

Wind Tunnel Lab Tour in Windsor, CO

CPP Wind Engineering invites SimBuild attendees to do a pre-conference tour. The Wind Tunnel Lab Tour includes a unique opportunity to learn advanced and innovative wind tunnels. Space is limited to 50 attendees and RSVP is required.
 
Tour Date: Monday, May 20
 
 

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

SpringHill Suites Marriott

Stay right by the 2024 SimBuild Venue, the Auraria Campus in Downtown Denver at the SpringHill Suites Marriott (1190 Auraria Parkway Denver, CO 80204). You can book online HERE or by phoning the reservations department at 877-249-9279 x 2800 and mention the "IBPSA-USA" room block. Special room rate of $239 with free breakfast for guests. Deadline May 1, 2024

 

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 online HERE  or by phoning the reservations department at 888-727-1200 and mention the "IBPSA-USA" room block. Special room rate of $229-$249. Deadline May 1, 2024

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.

Sponsorship Opportunities

SimBuild 2024 is pleased to offer numerous opportunities for sponsors. Our sponsors are vital to creating a meaningful and memorable experience for our attendees. By becoming a sponsor, you will gain prominent visibility among researchers, academics, practitioners, and more. SimBuild is also an excellent place to meet graduate students who may be looking for career opportunities with your company.

If you have questions or are interested in becoming a sponsor for SimBuild 2024, please contact events@ibpsa.us.

SimBuild 2024 Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for their support of IBPSA-USA & SimBuild 2024.

 

Platinum Sponsor

 

Gold Sponsors

 

Silver Sponsors

 

HackSimBuild Sponsors

Meal Sponsor
Venue Sponsor
Award Sponsor
Software Sponsor
Hackathon Sponsor

Stay tuned for more information about key dates, registration, and program.

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