Minutes of the IBPSA England Board Meeting,
De Montfort University, Leicester, 30 November 2006

Attendees
Malcolm Cook, De Montfort University (Host and Chair)
Mike Davies, University College London
Simon Rees, De Montfort University
Pieter de Wilde, University of Plymouth
Jonathan Wright, Loughborough University

Apologies
Ian Ward, University of Sheffield
Dejan Mumovic, University College London


Agenda
14:00 Welcome
14:05 Matters arising from previous meeting
16:30 Summary, and date + location of next meeting


Minutes
Malcolm welcomes everyone to DMU and thanks those present for coming. He informs the Board that Ian is absent due to family matters, but has sent a long email regarding his actions. Mike gives apologies for Dejan and represents UCL on the Board.

The minutes from the previous meeting are accepted, apart from a small mistake in the date (still carries those of meeting before). Pieter will change these. Furthermore, it is noted that the text on CIBSE network should be reading CIBSE Groups.

The meeting follows the matters arising on the agenda.
• Thank-you letter to speakers of launch event: carried out by Ian, as mentioned in his email to the Board.
• Article for IBPSA Newsletter on the establishment of IBPSA-England: completed and published by Pieter, with input from Ian and Jonathan.
• Article for CIBSE Journal: status uncertain. Pieter has emailed Martin Mayfield, and is awaiting response. Ian mentions in his email that Mott McDonald might have taken some action regarding this, but he has not seen any publication. Action to be carried forward.
• Update of email/member list: Mike informs us that Dejan has been moving this forward and has a list of 50-plus IBPSA-England members. Detailed status of this database is unknown.
• IBPSA-England Website, Talk, and Member Section: Dejan has done a major job on the website, expanding it with a discussion board session named IBPSA Talk. Mike shows printouts. The Board then discusses the set-up, and compares with other systems like the BLDG-SIM mailing list. Dejan is thanked for his significant input; the Board will need to access the site through a PC to get a better look, and to see whether and how the Board itself can use it while getting a better understanding of the facilities available. The Board also realises that this type of layout does not actively reach out to members; it is decided that it would be good to have a number of highly informative emails from IBPSA-England to its members, pointing out things like conferences and the international IBPSA Newsletter to those interested. These emails should be chanelled through Pieter (secretary) using Dejan’s list. For the privacy of the members, such messages should be sent BCC. It is also noted that the Board does not think it wise to enable member’s full access to the member mailing list other than through the Board, to prevent SPAM and other unwanted mailings.
• FAQ for the website: Simon has made an initial item list for the FAQ. This list is accepted as a good framework by the Board. A follow-up might be to have some of this list (section 1) as open information on the website, whereas another part (section 2) might go to a members-only area. Simon will give an initial take on the answers to the questions, and will circulate those amongst the Board for comment before giving them to Dejan for inclusion in the site.
• Options to hold money: both Malcolm and Mike report that their universities can facilitate IBPSA events as ‘short courses’, but are not able to open an account. Jonathan reports that he could open one at Loughborough, but that it would be connected to his person and not accessible for others. There is discussion about the potential surplus of events, that all goes to the organising university in a ‘short course’ set up, but also of the risk of making losses and being personally accountable if opening an IBPSA account with a bank. It is decided that the upcoming event at DMU will be organised as a short course, and Malcolm will explore the possibilities of an agreement between IBPSA-England and DMU to claim a part of the profits (no guarantee). Furthermore, the Board might try to get sponsors for BS’07 and thereby aim for a small share in BS’07 profits, which would be a low-risk way to start with a positive balance.
• EPSRC network funding: Ian has investigated this and is formulating a proposal. This will have to focus on outreach to people not yet involved, especially industry. Ian has some support for this and will take matters forward.
• CIBSE Groups: Malcolm will investigate options. It is noted by the Board that there are different ways to relate to CIBSE, of which becoming a CIBSE Group is only one. Malcolm will try to get an overview of different options, as well as the advantages and disadvantages. Good contact with CIBSE seems important, but the Board currently has a preference for an informal relationship.
• DMU Symposium on ‘Good Practice in Building Simulation’, 13 March 2007: Malcolm presents a draft programme for the day, which is accepted by the Board. As stated previously this will be organised as DMU short course. There will not be a Board meeting on the same day.
• Plymouth ‘Simulation in the Southwest’ Symposium, 16 November 2006: Pieter has been building a framework, with contacts from University of Exeter, UWE and Bath joining in. Things are currently well on track.