Modeling help resources

If you're stuck with a modeling problem, check out these resources which offer assistance in various formats.

Also, refer to the BEM Links page for more BEM informational websites.

Q & A Forums

• UnmetHours - Unmet Hours is a question and answer website for building energy modelers. Its design is based on a popular site for programmers called Stack Overflow. Unmet Hours allows users to post questions and other users to answer them. If multiple answers are provided, other users can “vote” for what they consider the best answer, and top answers rise to the top of a list. Users may also search for a topic and find previously posted Q&A’s relevant to their search. The site has gained good traction over the years and is still actively developed and used by the modeling community. Most of the questions and answers are for the EnergyPlus and OpenStudio modeling tools.

• BLDG-SIM - BLDG-SIM is a mailing list for users of building energy simulation programs. Building energy simulation programs allow users to estimate the energy use and operating cost of residential, commercial and other types of buildings. Since the users of building energy simulation programs are spread across the world, this mailing list is an attempt to foster the development of a community of those users. Experienced and inexperienced users of building energy simulation programs are welcome and are expected to share their questions and insights about these programs.

Vendor Support

Vendors of most of the popular modeling software tools offer technical support, so if you have questions about how to use a particular tool, the vendor will often be standing by to provide support. Links to many of the popular whole-building modeling software tools are available on BEMcyclopedia's Links page. Many more software tool vendor links can be found on IBPSA-USA's Building Energy Software Tools Directory.

Educational knowledge bases

• Q & Ace - a Q&A knowledge base designed to deliver information about California's Title 24 energy code in an FAQ style format
• Energy Code Ace - a wide range of reference information, training, and tools related to California Title 24, Part 6 Energy Code compliance
• BEMcyclopedia - 😎

Code compliance modeling support

CalBEM has compiled a list of resources to direct modelers to various online resources (educational and forums) to help understand code compliance requirements broadly, and also, more specifically, resources focused on modeling for code compliance. Many, but not all, of these resources are focused on California's Title 24 energy code.