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Building Energy Modeling

collage of BEM-related materials

DOE’s Building Energy Modeling, or BEM, is a versatile and multifunctional tool employed in the construction industry for new building design, retrofit planning, compliance with building codes, green certification, tax credit eligibility and utility incentives and real-time building management.

ORNL is a contributor to the research, development and implementation of BEM and supports the following initiatives:

  • Develop and maintain BEM engines and tools, including EnergyPlus, OpenStudio, and Spawn-of-EnergyPlus.
  • Support development and maintenance of ASHRAE Standard 140 and 205 for the standardization and evaluation of building energy modeling engines and processes.
  • Perform empirical validation of BEM through the utilization of ORNL’s Flexible Research Platform to ensure models align with real-world building performance data and promote utilization of BEM engines in applications.