EPBD-NCM

Although SBEM's calculations run fine with the Windows 7 operating system, some users have been reporting problems in connecting to "EPCgen.net" through the internet connection, which the software needs to do in order to carry out the necessary verifications (for generating the XML file and unwatermarked documents). We suspect this is due to some new security features added in Windows 7 (that were not in Windows XP or Vista) with regards to outside internet connections. In most cases, this problem resulted in the error message "SSL connection timeout".

As a workaround for this Windows 7 problem, we have put together a patch for iSBEM v3.4.a. This patch should be downloaded ONLY by energy assessors who are running iSBEM to generate EPCs on computers with Windows 7 as the operating system. Users with Windows XP or Vista on their computers are not affected and need NOT take any action. The patch exists in two formats: "iSBEM_v3.4.a_patch03w7.exe" for assessors using MS Office 2002/2003 and "iSBEM_v3.4.a_patch03w7_Off07.exe" for assessors using MS Office 2007. Please ensure that you download the patch in the format suitable for your version of MS Office.

We hope to be able to develop a more robust solution for Windows 7 in time for the next public release of SBEM. 

Important Note:

Before downloading and installing the Windows 7 patch on your computer, it is crucial that you keep a record of all the details you have already input under "Energy Assessors Details" and "Insurance Details" in the General form > General Information tab > Energy Assessors Details sub-tab of your current installation of iSBEM as these fields will be cleared by the installation of the patch, and you will need to input them again. This includes your assessor number and your activation code.

As an alternative to keeping a hard copy of these details, you can instead make a copy of your current iSBEM installation "iSBEM_v3.4.a" and give it a different name (for e.g., iSBEM_v3.4.a_BACKUP). After you download and install the Windows 7 patch, you can use the "Import details" facility button from within the General form > General Information tab > Energy Assessors Details sub-tab of iSBEM to import all your assessor and insurance details from the copy (iSBEM_v3.4.a_BACKUP) so you do not have to re-type them. For more details on this facility, please refer to the iSBEM User Guide.

Successful installation of the patch:

If the patch has been installed successfully on your computer, you should be able to see a text file (openable with a text editor such as Windows Notepad) with the name "patch03w7.txt" inside your "iSBEM_v3.4.a" folder and which contains the line "Patch03w7 installed successfully!".