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Title 24 compliance and cove.tool

Title 24, T24, California Compliance, CBECC, EnergyPro, sddXML, gbXML

Patrick Chopson avatar
Written by Patrick Chopson
Updated over a week ago

California Title 24 is the building energy code used for projects in California. Setting it apart from other states' energy codes, Title 24 requires specific software tools to be used for final modeling and documentation of compliance. Two such tools are CBECC-Com and EnergyPro.

cove.tool can connect to both of these tools thanks to the platform's extensive interoperability features. This help article will walk through the details of transferring a project from the loadmodeling.tool or Baseline Energy into the Title 24 compliance tools.

Remember, compliance models only need to be run at the end of each project and thanks to the continuous checking of performance with the cove.tool Baseline Energy Model, teams can have confidence there will be no surprises! The final compliance check becomes a simple documentation exercise as the project's performance has already been modeled and checked.

Via CBECC-Com

When using CBECC-Com, importing geometry from cove.tool for final compliance modeling is simple. For export from loadmodeling.tool these steps:

  1. In loadmodeling.tool, go to the Settings Page.

  2. Click on Export Building Analysis Model.

  3. A zipped folder will be downloaded to your system. A number of files including the OpenStudio .osm file will be available in the folder.

  4. Open the .osm file in OpenStudio

  5. Once the project opens in OpenStudio, click on File > Export > SDD. Save the XML export to your computer.

  6. Open the CBECC application, and on the CBECC Startup Options window, select the option "Select an Existing Project to Open", and click "OK"

  7. Select the appropriate XML.

  8. A series of warning messages may appear. These can all be closed by hitting OK till the file opens. It may be helpful to note what each says as CBECC is not able to import all information.

  9. That's it! you will have all geometry & zone information in CBECC. Now you can go ahead and work towards compliance documentation.

    Video walkthrough of connecting cove.tool to CBECC-Com:

If you are using Baseline Energy, the steps are the same, except you'll be downloading the OpenStudio file directly from Baseline Energy via the OpenStudio Export button. A gbXML model is included with the OpenStudio Export zip file. This article should explain the entire process of exporting the OpenStudio model from Baseline Energy.


Via Energy Pro

If you are using Energy Pro, you can follow these steps:

  1. In loadmodeling.tool page, go to the Settings Page.

  2. Click on Export Building Analysis Model

  3. A zipped folder will be downloaded to your system. A number of files including the XML file will be available in the folder

  4. Switch to EnergyPro. In the File menu, click on Import. You will get an option with Green Building XML export. Make sure that is selected and press okay.

  5. Select the XML file from the extracted cove.tool folder. That's it, you will get all your geometry and zone information in Energy Pro. Now you can go ahead, and work towards compliance documentation.


    Video walk-through of connecting cove.tool to EnergyPro:

If you are using Baseline Energy, the steps are the same. A gbXML model is included with the OpenStudio Export zip file. This article explains the entire process of exporting the OpenStudio model from Baseline Energy.

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