Questions we get asked about the 2025 software, answered the way we would answer them on the phone.
What is a .ribd25 file, actually?
It is the project file for residential work in CBECC 2025 — a structured text file describing your entire building model. Open one in a text editor and you can read it: a Proj object at the top, zones inside it, walls inside the zones, windows inside the walls, HVAC and water-heating systems referenced by name. Every object has properties (areas, U-factors, azimuths, efficiencies) and the hierarchy mirrors the tree you see in CBECC's left panel.
The extension encodes the code cycle: .ribd for 2019, .ribd22 for 2022, .ribd25 for 2025. That is not cosmetic. Each cycle's file carries different objects and enumerations, because the ruleset changed underneath. CBECC 2025 will not silently accept a .ribd22 as a 2025 project.
Why does everyone keep saying “unified” CBECC?
Through the 2022 cycle there were two programs: CBECC-Res for low-rise residential and CBECC (nonres) for everything else. For 2025 the CEC merged them into a single application, plain CBECC, that handles both residential and nonresidential compliance. If you go looking for a “CBECC-Res 2025” download you will not find one — that name retired with the 2022 code. One installer, one interface, with the residential ruleset selected by your project type.
Day to day the residential workflow feels familiar: same tree-style model, same analysis run, same CF1R-PRF output. The plumbing under it is new.
Does the software file my paperwork for me?
No, and this trips people up. CBECC produces the compliance analysis and the CF1R-PRF report. Getting that CF1R registered — which most jurisdictions require before permit issuance whenever field verification is involved — happens through an approved registry such as CHEERS, and it involves a human being applying an e-signature.
That manual step is not a missing feature. The signature is the responsible person taking legal responsibility for the compliance documents, and the registries are built so that a person, not a script, performs it. Any tool that claims to fully automate CHEERS registration is describing something the process is designed to prevent. The honest division of labor: software prepares the model and the file; the professional of record reviews and signs.
Can I edit a .ribd25 by hand?
You can, and occasionally it is the fastest way to fix something — renaming an object, correcting a typo'd azimuth. But the file format is unforgiving. Every cross-reference is by name, every enumerated property must use an exact legal value, and CBECC's error messages on import range from specific to cryptic. When an import fails, the first place to look is the .log file CBECC writes next to the project — it usually names the exact object and property it choked on, which the dialog box often does not.
Do I need to keep old versions around?
Yes. Projects are locked to the cycle they were permitted under, and a job permitted in 2025 under the 2022 code may need its .ribd22 touched in 2027. Keep the matching CBECC version installed for as long as you have open projects on that cycle — the CEC keeps old installers available, but a working setup you already trust is worth preserving. Check your jurisdiction's rules on revisions; some allow minor changes under the original analysis, some want a rerun.