For practitioners new to the industry, learning BEM is not easy. It is not commonly taught to undergraduate students, and learning on the job is very difficult! To address this challenge, BEMcyclopedia was created.

BEMcyclopedia is a centralized collection of information about BEM, how it works, and how to apply it effectively to the design of buildings and their systems. Content is presented in a wiki, which is a great format for creating a knowledge base. It is easy to create content, link content, and have multiple collaborators working together.

The long-term goal of BEMcyclopedia is to consolidate the BEM body of knowledge, drawing on the collective knowledge of the community and making it easily accessible and freely available to practitioners. For BEMcyclopedia to fulfill this vision, we need your help!

This session is designed to be an interactive writing session. The moderators will propose several BEM-related topics including, but not limited to, building science concepts, HVAC system modeling, early-stage analysis, optimization studies, and others. Participants will be welcome to propose topics of interest as well. The participants will be encouraged to break into groups and work together to write educational content to support these topics. At the conclusion of the session, groups will have the opportunity to share their work. No contribution will be too big or small, but the benefit to our industry will be immense!

Attendees of all levels of experience are welcome. Modelers new to industry can share their pain points, and seasoned professionals can help to address them during the writing sessions. A diverse set of backgrounds and perspectives will make this initiative a success!