Neal Kruis
Vice President at Big Ladder Software
Golden, Colorado, United States
Summary
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Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolNeal Kruis is a Vice President and seasoned engineering leader with 12 years of experience building software tools for energy system simulation and analysis. Based in Golden, Colorado, he leads product and technical strategy at Big Ladder Software after rising through senior engineering roles focused on energy modeling. Trained as a PhD in Building Systems Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and a BS in Mechanical Engineering, Neal blends deep domain expertise in thermal physics with practical software delivery. He is an active contributor to the widely used EnergyPlus project, improving Kiva foundation heat-transfer algorithms and surface boundary condition calculations to boost simulation accuracy. Known for translating complex building science into robust, production-ready code, he bridges research-grade models and customer-facing tools. His background at NREL and ongoing open-source work signal a rare combination of research rigor and product-focused engineering.
12 years of coding experience
8 years of employment as a software developer
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Building Systems Engineering, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Building Systems Engineering at University of Colorado at BoulderBachelor of Science (B.S.), Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Mechanical Engineering at Calvin College
English, Spanish
Stackoverflow
2,105reputation
205kreached
11answers
41questions
Github Skills (18)
algorithms10
c-language10
mathematical10
cprogramming-language10
modeling10
computational-physics9
numerical-methods9
energyplus8
computational-fluid-dynamics8
fluid-dynamics8
eclipse6
boost6
sql-server6
sql6
mingw6
Programming languages (12)
Github contributions (5)
NREL/EnergyPlus
Apr 2014 - Sep 2022
EnergyPlus™ is a whole building energy simulation program that engineers, architects, and researchers use to model both energy consumption and water use in buildings.
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer & Algorithm Engineer
Back-end Developer & Algorithm EngineerContributions:73 reviews, 623 commits, 55 PRs in 8 years 5 months
Contributions summary:Neal's commits focus on enhancements and bug fixes within the EnergyPlus codebase, specifically involving the Kiva foundation heat transfer model. Their contributions primarily revolve around the development and refinement of algorithms used in this simulation, specifically focusing on the accurate calculation of heat transfer through the ground, wall geometry, and the influence of interior building features. The code changes address issues related to surface boundary conditions and the calculation of radiant temperatures within buildings. The contributions suggest a focus on improving the accuracy and efficiency of thermal modeling within the EnergyPlus simulation environment.
renewable-energypower-systemsenergy-consumptionenergy-simulationsimulation
bigladder/chiller
Jul 2022 - Feb 2025
A python package for modeling chillers
Contributions:3 PRs, 23 pushes, 7 branches in 2 years 7 months
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