College and University BEM Programs

A list of college and universities offering programs with BEM education has been assembled and is available below. The list is by no means complete, and we encourage you to add to the list!

Name of Educational Institution	Type of Institution	Location	Degree Type	Name of Program / Department	Short Description/BEM Courses	Links
California College of the Arts	Private University	California, USA	BArch, MArch	Master of Architecture	Required course for BArch and MArch students in Building Energy, which covers heat transfer and comfort (ARCHT 4340/MARCH 6340). Have offered architecture electives with BEM in Parametric Design for Energy Autonomy, Luminous Space, and High Performance Facades (ARCHT 540/MARCH 640).	CCA Course Schedule
California Polytechnic State University Pomona	Public University	California, USA	BArch, MArch, MS	College of Environmental Design: Architecture & Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies	BArch, MArch, and MS in Regenerative Studies all include some degree of BEM coursework. BArch and MArch both have a required course (ARC 3310 Environmental Controls) that involves introductory building sim and building physics. Both programs also offer advanced electives and topic studios that incorporate simulation, design, and/or passive systems. Regenerative studies program includes a course that does climate analysis (RS 5350 Regenerative Environments). Solar class open to all majors includes passive systems, codes, and some energy modeling (RS 4300 Solar Energy Systems).	MArch Catalog
California Polytechnic State University SLO	Public University	California, USA	BS, MS	Mechanical Engineering Department	BS in Mechanical Engineering with HVAC&R specialization includes BEM elective; MS degree with BEM elective. Courses: ME 455: Introduction to Building Energy Modeling, ME 454: Benchmarking and Assessment of Building Energy Performance.	Mechanical Engineering Course Descriptions
			BArch	Architecture Department	BArch includes 2 weeks of introductory BEM (daylight and energy modeling) in required coursework, Architectural Systems Integration, and knowledge is expected to be applied throughout the year.
College of the Desert	Community College	California, USA	AS, Certificate	Building & Energy Systems Professional program	Includes AS degree and Building Energy Consultant Certificate, among others. Courses: ESYS 021: Residential Energy Modeling, ESYS 022: Residential Energy Modeling Design Project; Prerequisite is a course on Building Energy Codes.	BESP AS Degree Course List
Cosumnes River College	Community College	California, USA	Courses	Construction Technology Program	CONST 161: Intermediate Residential Building Performance and Energy Auditing, CONST 163: Advanced Energy Auditing and Energy Modeling; Certificate in Green Buildings includes Energy Efficiency code standards elective (BIT 150).
DeAnza College	Community College	California, USA	AS, Certificate	Energy and Facilities Management	AS and Certificate in Energy Management and Building Science. BEM is an integral part of the course and lab curriculum and certificate/degree program. The campus and its buildings act as a learning laboratory. They have a VMI Student Energy Database that allows students to model, analyze, and manipulate real-time energy data from buildings across the campus.	EMBS Degree Requirements
Laney College	Community College	California, USA	Certificate, AS	Department of Environmental Control Technology (HVACR)	Residential and commercial HVAC programs offer ECT 28, Certificate in Building Performance and Energy Efficiency is currently inactive; Courses: ECT 28: Energy Management and Efficiency in Building Systems, ECT 38: Measurement of Building Energy Efficiency, ECT 39: Energy Auditing and Computer Analysis of Energy Efficiency (residential).	ECT Course Descriptions
Sacramento City College	Community College	California, USA	Certificate	Mechanical -Electric Technology	Commercial Building Energy Auditing and Commissioning Specialist Certificate. Courses: MET 393: Commercial Building Energy Audits and Calculations ("Students will perform a detailed energy audit of a state-of-the-art commercial building design using energy modeling simulation software and develop energy conservation strategies...")	Mechanical- Electrical Technology Course Descriptions
San Francisco State University	Public University	California, USA	BS, MS	School of Engineering	BS in Mechanical Engineering with HVAC elective; MS in Engineering, concentration in Energy Systems with building electives. Courses: ENGR 465: Principles of HVAC, ENGR 865: Energy Efficient Buildings, ENGR 867: Energy Auditing, Measurement, and Verification	MS Energy Systems Degree Requirements
Sonoma State University	Public University	California, USA	BS	Department of Geography, Environment, and Planning	Formerly offered a BS in Environmental Studies with focus in Energy, Management, and Design. Current offering is GEP 476 Energy Systems and Efficiency, which may include BEM ("You'll use mathematical models to estimate the energy use, cost, and carbon emissions for insulated buildings, heating and cooling, electric motors, and refrigeration. We'll use analytical and numerical methods for estimation and measurement").	GEP Course Descriptions
Southwestern College	Community College	California, USA	AS, Certificate	Sustainable Energy Studies	AS/Certificate in Sustainable Energy Studies. Courses: SES 205: Building Energy Analysis using BIM required for both programs. Further discussion with faculty is needed to verify BEM presence.	SES Course Descriptions
Stanford University	Private University	California, USA	MS	Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering	BS in Civil Engineering with building system elective, MS in Sustainable Design and Construction with Energy Track with required coursework in building systems; Courses: CEE 159/256: Building Systems (covers HVAC, lighting, and envelope systems for commercial and institutional buildings, with a focus on energy efficient design. Assignments include engineering problems, energy simulation exercises and a lighting design task).	Energy Concentration Program Sheet
University of California Berkeley	Public University	California, USA	MS	Department of Architecture	MS in Architecture with emphasis in Building Science, Technology, and Sustainability is intended to supplement a professional Architecture degree. College of Environmental Design offers graduate-level coursework in energy modeling (ARCH 249 Building Energy Simulations) that includes enrollment from MS in Building Science Sustainability Technology, Civil and Environmental Engineering Masters students, and Architecture students. Daylighting and building performance modeling also taught at UC Berkeley. Undergraduates also get exposure to building performance in the Architecture and Sustainable Environmental Design programs through the Energy and Environment course. ARCH 149 Special Topics (Zero Energy Building) summer course includes BEM.	BSTS Course Descriptions Handbook for Master of Science - Building Science, Technology and Sustainability
University of California Davis	Public University	California, USA	Course	Program for International Energy Technologies	Multidisciplinary graduate course sponsored by facilities management office. "Over the duration of the course, student groups work on client-based energy projects, ranging from audits, behavioral studies, energy modeling, and more." Project-based, simple/spreadsheet BEM may be taught but is project- and guest-speaker contingent depending on the term.	ZNE Course Page
University of California Irvine	Public University	California, USA	MEng	Master of Engineering - Mechanical and Aerospace	M. Eng with Energy Systems concentration. Course: ENGR 209P: Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment: Energy and power for the built environment; building energy modeling; heat transfer and losses; heating and cooling cycles; control hardware and software; carbon neutrality, optimization.	MAE Course Descriptions
University of California San Diego	Public University	California, USA	BS	Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering	BS in Mechanical Engineering with upper-division elective in BEM. Course: MAE 125: Building Energy Efficiency includes a design project using BEM software. Class not offered in 2021-22 school year.	MAE Course Descriptions
University of Southern California	Private University	California, USA	MS	School of Architecture	Masters in Building Science includes required coursework and electives that cover BEM topics but further discussion with USC faculty is needed to provide more detail on BEM instruction. Program has been recommended as including BEM from interviewees.
Carnegie Mellon University	Private University	Pennsylvania, USA	BA	School of Architecture	48-524/722 Building Performance Modeling 48-733 Environmental Performance Simulation
Drexel University	Private University	Pennsylvania, USA	BS	College of Engineering	AE 561 Airflow Simulation in Built Environment Introduce concepts about both computational and physical modeling of airflow in and around buildings. Help students to acquire skills in using computation fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques as design tools for buildings via the use of commercial software packages.	AE 561 Airflow Simulation in Built Environment
Georgia Institute of Technology	Public University	Georgia, USA	BS Architecture		ARCH 4240 Building Simulation in Design Practice - Numerical simulation of performance of characteristics of whole buildings. Review of the finite element method for uniform treatment of transport phenomena in different building technology domains. ARCH 6241 Building Simulation in Design Practice - Learn to use mainstream simulation packages to support building design in domains of Energy, CFD, Lighting, Ventilation. ARCH 6242 Building Physics Modeling - Survey of basic thermo-fluid energy and mass flows in buildings, the interrelations between these flows, physical system modeling, and implications for building performance goals. ARCH 7252 Computational Building Simulation - Students learn how to develop their own extensible Building Simulation software using Finite Element discretization in Matlab and apply it to research problem. ARCH 8685 Building Simulation Seminar - Numerical simulation of performance characteristics of whole buildings. Review of the finite element method for uniform treatment of transport phenomena in different building technology domains.
Harvard University	Private University	Massachusetts, USA	MArch	Graduate School of Design	SCI-6125 Building Simulation SCI-6374 Advanced Applications in Sustainable Architecture SCI-6484 Data Science for Performance-Driven Design	Harvard GSD Courses
Illinois Institute of Technology	Private University	Illinois, USA	BS	Civil and Architectural Engineering	CAE 405/505 Applications of Computational Fluid Dynamics in Engineering CAE 465/526 Energy Conservation in Buildings CAE 515 Building Information Modeling Applications for Building Performance CAE 550 Applied Building Energy Modeling	Course list
Kansas State University	Public University	Kansas, USA		Architectural Engineering	ARE 6431 Building Energy Simulations	Simulation courses
Lawrence Technological University	Private University	Michigan, USA		Architecture	ARC 4813/5043 BIM for Energy & Ecology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Private University	Massachusetts, USA		Architecture	4.421 Space-Conditioning Systems for Low-Carbon Buildings
Milwaukee School of Engineering	Private University	Wisconsin, USA		Architectural Engineering	ARE 6431 Building Energy Simulations - An introduction and study of building energy assessment principles and protocols for new and existing commercial buildings.  Course topics include hands-on techniques of energy measurement and verification, indoor environmental quality parameter identification and measurement, and energy metric comparison/analysis for the application and submission of a building disclosure, rating, and labeling program. The course will also focus on energy modeling to inform and guide design of a new commercial building.
North Carolina A&T State University	Public University	North Carolina, USA		Civl, Arch & Environmental Engineering Department	AREN 762 - HVAC Sys Analy & Simulation - The course deals with the analysis of HVAC computer programs used to predict energy-use. Hour-by-hour simulation programs are compared with bin weather data programs for accuracy and care of use.
Northeastern University	Private University	Massachusetts, USA			SBSY 5250 Building Performance Simulation - Studies principles of building performance simulations and the application of these tools to improve the design and operation of buildings. Covers the basic principles of simulation and uses a spectrum of available tools for early stage modeling, daylight estimation, analysis of comfort, and whole building validation. Introduces interpretation and validation of results and code-mandated protocols.
Penn State University	Public University	Pennsylvania, USA		Architectural Engineering	AE 453: Load and Energy Use Simulations for Buildings AE 553: Building Energy Analysis AE 559: Computational Fluid Dynamics in Building Design
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Private University	New York, USA		Architecture	ARCH 2360/5310 - Environmental and Ecological Systems ARCH 2468 - Digital Constructs for Building Sciences ARCH 6390 - Energy and Systems Simulation
Syracuse University	Private University	New York, USA		Architecture	ARC 322 - Building Systems Design II ARC 622 - Building Systems Design II ARC 423/623 - Advanced Building Systems ECS 555 - Virtual Design Studio for Green Building Systems (VDS-GBS) CEE 648/MAE 658 - Building Environmental Modeling and Simulations
University of Arizona	Public University	Arizona, USA		Architecure	ARC 461D/561D Computer Energy Analysis ARC 461N/561N Energy Auditing and Modeling	Course links
University of Cincinnati	Public University	Ohio, USA		Architectural Engineering	AE 6030 - Building Energy Modeling	Course links
University of Colorado at Boulder	Public University	Colorado, USA		Building Systems Engineering	AREN 4990/5990 (3) Compu Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Analysis for Built/Natural Envmnts AREN 5070 (3) Thermal Analysis of Buildings AREN 5080 (3) Computer Simulation of Building Energy Systems
University of Massachusetts Amherst	Public University	Massachusetts, USA		Building and Construction Technology	BCT 521 – Environmental Control Systems and Lab BCT 597BE – Introduction to Building Energy Modeling
University of Miami	Private University	Florida, USA		Civil and Architectural Engineering	CAE 582./682. Building Energy Modeling and Simulation CAE 780. Indoor Environmental Modeling CAE 781. Advanced Building Energy Modeling and Simulation
University of Nebraska at Omaha	Public University	Nebraska, USA		Architectural Engineering	AREN 8140 Building Energy III: Advanced Building Energy System Modeling AREN 8150 Building Energy Simulation and Performance Contracting AREN 9180 Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Indoor Environments
University of Oklahoma	Public University	Oklahoma, USA		Architecture	ARCH 5822. Foundations of Building Physics and Analysis ARCH 5832. Introduction to Building Performance Analysis
University of Oregon	Public University	Oregon, USA		Architecture, Environmental Studies	ARCH 493M/593M. Passive Cooling ENVS 493M/593M. Passive Cooling ARCH 494M/594M. Passive Heating ENVS 494M/594M. Passive Heating
University of Texas at Austin	Public University	Texas, USA		Architectural Engineering	ARE 371/389U. Energy Simulation in Building Design ARE 372/389V. Modeling of Air and Pollutant Flows in Buildings
University of Wyoming	Public University	Wyoming, USA		Architectural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering	ARE 4430/ME 4430 - HVAC Systems Analysis and Design ARE 4490/ME 4490 - Modeling and Optimization of Energy Systems
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Private University	Massachusetts, USA		Architectural Engineering	AREN 3020. Architectural Design IV – Building Energy Simulation AREN 3025. Building Energy Simulation	Course links

Acknowledgements

This table was initially developed from content developed by the CalBEM initiative led by Southern California Edison. In 2021, CalBEM led a research effort to evaluate educational opportunities and make recommendations for future opportunities which were documented in the report Recommendations for BEM Education in California. A list of college and university programs in California was included in Appendix 2 of the report.