IES Blog

The first paragraph of Philip Wenz’s article, “The Future of Sustainable Design,” doesn’t paint such a pretty picture for those of us involved in commercial building…

“We have entered what I call the Not-So-Great Depression, a double whammy of eco-nomic and ecological crises.”

But it can’t be that bad, can it? I did some digging, and I’m happy to report that there is hope for the future and sustainable design is part of that.

The latest issue of AAMA’s newsletter opened with a note from President and CEO, Rick Walker. He said, “Moving forward in 2010, green building and energy efficiency continue to be buzzwords prevalent within the industry, as well as in economic sectors. Green building has shown itself to be much more than a passing industry trend, but has proven itself both as a movement that has the potential for financial savings, as well as job creation and general stimulus of the economy.”

That’s what I like to see - Green building is much more than a passing industry trend. Green building is a part of our lives, and it’s up to us to take the regulations and requirements and make the best, most sustainable buildings we can.

Another recent example of advancing sustainability is a Top 10 list of green building legislation, pointed to pending bills in the House and the Senate.  Some of these bills include The American Clean Energy and Security Act, The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act, The Clean Energy and American Jobs Act, and The American Clean Energy and Leadership Act. These bills are all designed with one goal in mind – a sustainable future.

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Tags:Building, Sustainability

Yesterday, the UK Green Building Council’s chief executive Paul King urged architects and builders to reduce carbon emissions as a result of the built environment by 50 percent by the year 2020 (BD Online). At the annual conference in London yesterday, he said, “We have the technology and the know-how in the industry, but we haven’t managed to mainstream these yet.”

According to the UKGBC, buildings are responsible for 44 percent of the UK’s CO2 emissions, a number that needs to be drastically reduced if we hope to solve the global climate crisis. Following our recent attendance at Greenbuild , we know people are on board with change. But what is it going to take to get us there?

Read our PDF research paper on “Building Simulation as an assisting tool in designing an energy efficient building: a case study” to understand our take on how you can start to incorporate these techniques and technologies into the design process right from the early stages.

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Tags:Architects, Building, climate, Environment, Greenbuild, reduce

This year at Greenbuild, we are excited to join the estimated 25,000+ exhibitors and attendees connecting Main St. to the world of green building, with the goal of bringing green building home to all people, boosting the quality of life on main streets across the country and around the world.

Our own Don McLean was at the booth last night, discussing what he hopes will come out of the show this year, including the need to start weeding out the greenwashing from years prior. Don said we’re all here for the most important reason: sustainability.

Check out more from Don below:

And for more news, live from the show floor, follow us on Twitter at @IESVE. You can also follow the official Twitter feed of #Greenbuild09 at @USGBC.

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Tags:Building, Greenbuild 2009, Sustainability

Congratulations to our clients, highlighted in yellow, that were shortlisted for the 2009 Building and UKGBC Sustainability Awards - keep up the good work and good luck at the awards ceremony on 24th November.

You can view all the shortlisted entries by visiting the Building Magazine article

Sustainable Designer of the Year (Architect or Engineer)

Aedas Architects Bennetts Associates Cundall Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios Jestico + Whiles pha Consult PRP Ramboll

Sustainable Consultant of the Year

• AECOM
• Atelier Ten
• Atkins / Faithful+Gould
• BDP
• Davis Langdon
• Hilson Moran
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• WSP

Sustainable Contractor of the Year (Main or Specialist)

• Breyer Group
• Byrne Bros Ltd
• NG Bailey
• United House, Islington
• Wates Group
• Willmott Dixon

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Tags:Architects, Awards, Building, Engineers, Green Building, Green Design, Sustainability, UK GBC

A NEW training course from IES….

As you’re probably aware, a sustainable design revolution is underway in the building industry, and the use of performance analysis (climate, daylighting, energy, airflow) is a vital component – creating understanding of the impact of different strategies on energy consumption and other environmental metrics.  Ultimately helping to shape designs that meet sustainable goals (BREEAM, LEED) and go beyond to carbon neutral.

In achieving these targets the importance of analysis inclusion right from the early design stages is becoming increasingly recognised, with the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report highlighting that the building sector offered the best mitigation opportunities, and that:

> “An integrated design approach is required to ensure that architectural elements and engineering systems work effectively together.”

> “At early design stages, key decisions usually made by the architect can greatly influence subsequent opportunities to reduce building energy use.”

> “New software based design tools can provide good design techniques, …and virtual testing…”

This has left many with unanswered questions, such as:

> What analysis should I do when?

> What do the numbers mean?

> How can analysis inform the design process?

> What about climate?

> Will this help me incorporate passive/hybrid strategies?

> What about innovative LZCT technologies?

As a widely recognised expert in the global building performance analysis field IES has decided to take a lead on this and create a course addressing these questions. “Understanding the Fundamentals of Sustainable Design, Striving Towards Carbon Neutral”.

We’re planning on covering top tips and rules of thumb in an interactive half-day format; teaching architects, engineers and other professionals within the built environment how to better understand and visualise performance analysis within an integrated design process.

The main objectives include creating a better understanding of climate data and key weather variables, how to recognise opportunities to incorporate passive/hybrid strategies, as well as being able to ‘step into the numbers’ and interpret and understand analysis metrics within the design process and in real buildings.

The course has been developed by the head of our Sustainable Initiatives team Richard Quincey, a former Director of Building Sciences at Gifford, and a Partner at Max Fordham Associates.

We’re trialling it in London, UK during October 2009 – please email nicola.hilliard@iesve.com if you’re interested in attending.

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Tags:Architects, BREEAM, daylighting, Engineers, Environment, hints and tips, LEED, reduce, Sustainability

I just read this great perspective on the bill from Matt Macko on CleanTechies.  Working at IES, which is solely focused on enabling low-energy building design and has a presence on both sides of the pond, I’ve seen the rise of the importance of carbon reduction first here in Europe and now in the US. Public opinion here is still divided, but the tide is definitely turning…

Matt comments on how US public opinion to the bill has been quite negative…

“The public response to this bill has not been good. Googling the bill generated several articles: almost all were in opposition. Sadly, people tote it as another method Obama has found to increase taxes. They claim it is an unnecessary step to solve a group of alarmists’ wild and false theory, Global Warming. Without arguing the validity of Global Warming, one friend put it to me this way: “If the believers are wrong and Global Warming is not true then we have implemented changes that will improve our environment and the Earth, if the naysayers are wrong and Global Warming does exist and we do nothing, our cities are underwater.”

There are however many (like Matt) in the US completely behind this bill and 100% committed to sustainable building design, not least Ed Mazria of Architecture 2030 - you should definitely read his take on the bill at http://www.architecture2030.org/news/news_072209.html

Or Jerry Yudelson, a US green building consultant, who released today a video looking at the differences of energy consumption between Europe and the US http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF4lZsx9Ifs. With advocates like this pushing alongside the bill you have to hope that general US public opinion will start to sway towards the positive sometime soon…

Even from a purely commercial perspective, the fact that there is now a market in the US for our building energy analysis software is pretty telling.  It’s been used here in the UK by the top building design firms for over 10 years now.  In the last 3, we’ve been able to open offices in both Boston and San Francisco, with all the major A&E firms engaging with us!

Bring on the change!

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Tags:Architecture 2030, carbon reduction, climate bill, climate change, Ed Mazria, Environment, Green Building, Sustainability, US vs. UK, waxman-markey, zero-carbon building

Check out this great round-up of sustainable analysis tools exhibited at AIA by Lachmi Khemlani, founder and editor of AECbytes www.aecbytes.com/feature/2009/AIA2009_EnergyApps.html.

It includes our new VE-Gaia tool which we previewed there… “IES, the leading vendor in the performance analysis field, introduced a new application, VE-Gaia, to add to its already substantial product repertoire.”

However, it was her comments in the conclusion that really struck a chord with me. It is very encouraging to have finally reached a point where the importance of analysis tools and optimisation of building performance in sustainable design is becoming widely recognised. Enabling this ease of use and access to analysis tools is at the very center of our entire ethos. These are very exciting times for us!

“The increase in the number of analysis tools is a testament to the increasing importance of sustainable design in architecture and the need to optimize building performance. Unlike in the past, when performance analysis was primarily the purview of energy experts, academics, and research institutions, they are now becoming a part of the mainstream architectural toolset, with interfaces that non-technical people can also easily use and understand. Of course, the maxim of “garbage in, garbage out” very much holds true for sustainable design tools as well, and it is easy to be seduced by the colorful diagrams and charts and omit to question the veracity of the input and the accuracy of the output. It’s terrific that we have finally reached the point where the input of building geometry to the analysis tool directly from a BIM application has become a commonplace feature—but we have to keep in mind that geometry is only one of the inputs, and that an accurate analysis depends upon a whole host of other input data that has to be specified correctly as well. It is here that the experiences and insights of an energy expert come in and play a critical role in the design of sustainable buildings. Thus, while it is great to have the tools with their ever-increasing capabilities, it is important to not forget the human element that is ultimately needed for the creation of successful sustainable architecture.”

Lachmi has a Ph.D. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, specialising in intelligent building modelling; she both consults and writes on AEC technology.  Read the full article and sign up to her newsletters at www.aecbytes.com/feature/2009/AIA2009_EnergyApps.html.

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Tags:AIA, BIM, building energy analysis, building information modelling, building performance, energy analysis, energy modelling, Green Building, performance analysis, Sustainable design, VE-Gaia