#24 -2022 Energy Modeling Consistency with Neal Kruis Energy Modeling Director for RESNET

October 23, 2022

Neal Kruis has a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has been developing building energy modeling software since 2007. He is the Vice President of Big Ladder Software and has been contracted as RESNET’s Energy Modeling Director. In addition, Neal has been Chair of RESNET’s Software Consistency Committee since 2018 and is a core developer of the Department of Energy’s EnergyPlus simulation engine, as well as the State of California Simulation Engine (CSE) used for residential Title 24 compliance calculations.

It was a pleasure speaking with Neal and learning more about residential energy modeling, which is becoming more and more important for code and program compliance, as well as, for developing means to measure house performance as we continue our quest for zero energy and carbon neutral homes.

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Neal Kruis on LinkedIn

Big Ladder Software

RESNET Software Consistency Committee

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Our expectations of the performance of houses has changes faster than how we build to achieve that performance. So, at the beginning of a conversation in the construction industry, when I hear, “I have been building for 30 year” I think to myself, there are only two outcomes from this conversation. First, the person is putting up a guard and will not be receptive to an applied building science approach. You know, houses have to breath or your telling me to tighten up the house and then pouch a hole in it for ventilation. On the other hand, the person may have amazing insights and experiences to share.

When I step back, I realize that I’ve almost been working in this industry for 30 years. With an emphasis on sustainable High-performance building I still struggle to integrate what I do into mainstream building, yet I tend to learn something new everyday that takes me one step closer. Having these difficult yet enlightening conversation is often were I learn the most.

At BuildTank, our mission is to use what we learn by applying building science in the field to affect meaningful change in the construction industry. This BUILDcast is the next step. By having broad conversations with the players in the industry we will learn something new from their story that will move us forward toward taking sustainable buildings to mainstream building.