Non-technical barriers to energy model sharing and reuse

An energy model generated during the design phase of a building could - in principal - be converted into a calibrated energy model and used to improve the building’s operational performance. However, this rarely happens in practice. Through a survey of 306 building professionals, this research investigates whether this model reuse is technically feasible, based on today’s design-phase models, and what non-technical barriers might stand in the way of its implementation. An important finding is that 75% of the engineers/energy modelers surveyed believed that their models could be used by a third party in building commissioning and operation. At the same time, many modelers voiced various reservations that might prevent them from sharing their energy models with the owner or design team. These reservations varied from a desire to protect their intellectual property, to liability concerns, to the fear of incurring additional unpaid work. In response to these findings, this paper provides suggestions for overcoming these non-technical challenges and includes references for contract precedents.