IES Blog

One of the key challenges facing today’s building designers is understanding and tackling how to incorporate sustainable design principles into existing workflows and processes.

A ‘good design is sustainable design’ ethos promoted by quantitative analysis can make a great impact.  Architects get quick environmental feedback on design iterations and environmental engineers can input more into the design.  Achieving this kind of effective collaboration and cross-discipline understanding, in my opinion is core to achieving truly sustainable, energy-efficient building design.

The advent of BIM (Building Information Modeling), and better integration between analysis and design tools, is helping push this more integrated, information sharing approach to design team working.  In particular, the Green Building XML schema, referred to as “gbXML”, was developed to facilitate information transfer from building information models to design/energy performance analysis tools.

We’ve working hard at IES to drive such integration by developing plug-ins that link our tiered suite of analysis tools to Revit Architecture, Revit MEP and Google SketchUp so users can build their designs in Revit or SketchUp and then easily translate and analyze  them in an iterative fashion.  gbXML was used to streamline the data flow from Revit to the IES <Virtual Environment> in the IES VE Revit Plug-in.

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Tags:Autodesk, daylighting, gbXML, LEED, plug-in, reduce, Revit, sketchup

 Well not really, but it’s potentially been usurped.  The GBCI unveiled the new three tiered LEED-AP program last year, and since then, those in the building profession world have been waiting to see how the market responds to figure out what to do next.  Myself included.  I’ve finally buckled down and figured out what I should do and I thought I’d share my process with you.  Here’s the CliffNotes version.

First, I had to figure out what’s what in the world of LEED-AP with this latest tiered program. 

• Pre May 2009, there was simply LEED AP.
• The new version keeps the LEED AP, now known as LEED-AP without Specialty or Legacy LEED AP.
• LEED Green Associate: usually students or manufacture representatives.
• LEED-AP with Specialty (i.e. LEED-AP BD+C): core exam for those who work on LEED projects. 
• LEED Fellows: are the gurus and the exam has yet to be created.

Here’s my frankensteined diagram trying to explain this:

Second, I figured out what options I had.  When I took the exam eons ago, there was one exam.  The choices were:
1. Take the LEED-AP exam
2. Don’t take the LEED-AP exam

Over time it has grown more complicated, not to mention more expensive and there’s more paperwork. (Click Image to open PDF)

** All dates are based on my personal Enrollment Window: 10/5/2009 – 10/4/2011.  Check “My Credentials” on www.gbci.org for your dates.

Finally, I came to a decision: I’m waiting.  I’m not convinced the market will require anything more than a LEED AP which I have and will always have.  Maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe we’ll start seeing “LEED AP with specialty” requirements in RFPs.  Maybe I’ll change my mind next summer.  But until then, I’ll forgo the paperwork and save my money.

Check out www.gbci.org for more information.  And if you’re working on LEED projects, your old LEED AP still counts for IDc2.

Next Time:  LEED AP: Continuing Education
LEED AP: What to Study and How to Study.

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Tags:Building, LEED, students

As an IES energy modeling Consultant I spend a lot of my time creating & populating large HVAC networks, but life has just got a hell of a lot easier for me. The new Multiplex feature in Version 6 of our software allows me to condense large complex ApacheHVAC networks into a much more manageable format with minimum effort. As the demand grows for more detailed HVAC system analysis tools we have been working hard on enhancing ApacheHVAC’s current capabilities in order to meet these demands. I really feel like it now addresses the practical issues that previously existed within the module. Combining Multiple inlets and outlets with the new Multiplex feature allows for multiple HVAC systems to be arranged and organized in such a way so that detailed air side schematics can be mapped accurately on to the ApacheHVAC work space. Creating and assigning layers to a Multiplex is a very simple process especially when using the “assign from room group” feature. Users can now quickly assign HVAC zones to any number of Multiplexed ApacheHVAC networks and populate any number of network controllers with the simple click of a button using a copy and paste command.

I have been putting the new Multiplex feature to the test over the last couple of months on some real life projects of considerable size and have been amazed with the results. Gone are the days of slogging over 400-1000 zone ApacheHVAC networks populating controllers one by one, this new feature increases productivity by an infinite magnitude. Forgive the rave, but I truly believe that through the invention of the Multiplex we will see a shift in the level of system analysis performed throughout the building industry, especially in the UK, this new feature really breaks down a lot of barriers and gives users of all levels and technical ability the power to perform detailed system analysis quickly and easily at concept or detailed design stage.

Kieran

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Tags:Building, HVAC, multiplex

We love coming back from the holidays to good news. According to Environmental Leader, and specifically by research released by Zpryme, the U.S. green building market is set to grow 146 percent by 2013.

According to the Environmental Leader article, “The commercial sector should get a boost from the news that major real estate firms have signed up for a pilot program that would help building owners, prospective tenants and buyers ascertain the energy efficiency of a building. The Building Energy Quotient program – Building EQ for short – is administered by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).”

We are looking forward to the results of the Building EQ program. Given our position in the industry, it is (and has been from the beginning) our hope that buildings are as energy efficient as possible. For new buildings, this starts from the earliest stages of design. For retrofits, there are many changes architects can implement during the remodel to ensure a building not only reduces its energy usage, but also reduces it carbon emissions.

On another note, and for a little fun to start your new year off right, our partners at Autodesk have created RetroFits, a game to help raise awareness about the benefits of better, greener buildings. Stop by and check it out! Buildings continue to be the #1 source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. But we can make them more energy efficient, little by little.

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Tags:Architects, ASHRAE, Autodesk, Building, Engineers, reduce, USA

I am going to step away from building this time and have a look at the pollution and environmental damage from aviation sector.

I have taken two pictures in Beijing while making a trip there, we can see that the air quality is rather poor during the daytime, the visibility in the city is low and it is not due to the moisture on that day, it is air pollution! I know there are a lot of factors that contribute to the pollution, factories, cars, planes etc. But in this article, we will just focus on aviation.

According to IATA’s Director General, Giovanni Bisignani, by 2010, Asia will be the largest single market for aviation. IATA is focused on reducing fuel burn hence reducing carbon emission, with every litre of fuel saved, reduces about 3kg of CO2 emission.

For speech of the IATA’s Director General, please visit:
http://www.iata.org/pressroom/speeches/2008-02-25-01.htm

The aircraft companies are working hard nowadays to reduce the fuel consumption of their airplanes. We now see better design and better engines, all these are to help create a cleaner environment around. But there are only certain limits that the aircraft companies can do, to solve the problems, everyone (including government body, airlines companies and passengers) should play a role as well in reducing the green house gases emission. With government body, airport management groups and airline companies working on shortening routes, improving air traffic management and spreading best practice in fuel conservation, what can we as passenger do to help?

I recently read one short article from a forum in Asia, one Asian airline has set up a trial policy on certain flight route that they will ask passengers to go to the toilet before boarding the plane in order to lose some weight. By doing this, they estimated that can save around 4.2 tonnes of CO2 emission per month. I personally welcome this approach as not only you help reduce the overall weight of the plane while it’s travelling, but it also gives you bigger and cleaner spaces in modern airport’s toilet. And not to mention the washrooms queuing time that I always see inside the plane!!

Here are some extra small tips that I picked up from an airline magazine about travelling:
1. Bring clothes that can mix and match easily, so you don’t need to bring too many clothes.
2. Only bring necessary accessories.
3. Roll clothes up for tidy packing, so you can use a smaller suitcase.
4. Bring lightweight equipments for business trip.

These are just some examples how we can help to reduce carbon footprint.

Nowadays I have also seen airlines applying strict restrictions and penalties on the weight of check in and hand carry luggage, I think a lot of these penalties are purely to cover the extra fuel that the airlines might need for heavier planes and not from the environmental point of view, but it certainly will help our future generation if we start using less fuel. So let’s start travel as light as possible or even better travel less where possible!

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Tags:Building, Engineers, Environment, reduce, Welcome

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

Now a protest on smoking in LEED buildings was not quite the sight I expected to see as a rocked up for the first day of Greenbuild! I believe the protesters were referring in particular to the newly certified ARIA resort and casino in Las Vegas which allows smoking on the casino floor.

On closer inspection and investigation however, it appears that the casino itself was excluded from the LEED submission, which only covers the hotel resort tower and convention center.

“The USGBC already has awarded LEED Gold certification to ARIA’s hotel tower, convention center and theater; as well as Vdara Hotel. CityCenter’s remaining venues are poised to receive a combination of Silver and Gold LEED ratings.” (For full article click here)

But even if it had been included smoking could be allowed in designated areas with measures taken to avoid second-hand smoke in other areas according to EQ Prerequisite 2: Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control. See the blog and comments at Cooper Green Design for more detail.

I wonder if the protesters knew this or if it would make much difference to them? However, it does raise some interesting questions about what LEED should and can demand of facilities, and how boundaries are set. Though I believe the Minimum Program Requirements (MRP) in the latest version of LEED (2009) would now not allow this kind of exclusion.

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Tags:Greenbuild, LEED, Sustainability

Last week Greenbuild announced that Carol Browner, Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in the Obama Administration, will be speaking at the Greenbuild 2009 closing plenary session on Friday, November 13th.  Browner previously served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton Administration and has been making strides throughout her career towards a more sustainable environment.

I am truly inspired by her hard work and accomplishments over the years.
 

To learn more about Carol Browner please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Browner

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Tags:Carol Browner, climate change

It was on a recent trip to Sweden that I met a very colourful gentleman called the Swedish Chef. On discussing how to design a true sustainable building he replied “Don’t worry if you have to design a sustainable building, just use the VE!”

Sweden as a country has a great reputation in sustainability and energy efficiency and has recently been selected as the European Green Capital for 2010.

During my trip there I spent a number of days in Stockholm and learnt that it was the city council’s holistic vision that has lead the way for Stockholm becoming one of Europe’s most sustainable cities. It combines both growth and sustainable development. The city council has an ambitious target of becoming fossil fuel free by 2050 and many design teams are using BREEAM Europe to ensure buildings are playing there part in achieving the 2050 goal.

Overall Stockholm can be depicted as a city with very strong green programmes and effective measures across the board. Innovative ideas such as vegetated roofs have been put into practice. The city has an excellent structure of green and blue areas and, in fact 95% of the population lives only 300m away from green areas, thus catering for better well being, recreation, swimming, boating, water purification, noise reduction, enhancement of biodiversity and ecology.

The local transport system has taken several positive steps towards sustainability over the last ten years. A very broad and extensive range of measures have been adopted, including a successful and pioneering congestion charging system with good documented results in terms of reduced car use, and an increase in public transport share, included cycling. More than 75% of fuel stations in Stockholm now offer ethanol or biogas and all petrol solid in the region contains 5% ethanol.

As far as CO2 emissions are concerned, there has been a 25% reduction per capita in Stockholm emissions since 1990 which I believe can act as a bench mark for the rest of Europe.

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Tags:BREEAM, Building, cycling, free, reduce, Sustainability, Sweden

Responses to consultations on the proposed changes in Part L 2010 have been talking up quite a bit of my time recently.  Obviously, an area of particular interest to us is the calculations tools. 

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) developed SAP and SBEM drafts to support the Part L 2010 consultation package, both of which we’ve been looking at in-depth.  However, in this blog I’m just going to look at the proposed changes to SAP.

For SAP 2009, the proposals centre around the adoption of a monthly calculation method instead of the current annual calculation, with the addition of factors to address thermal mass and cooling.  This has a number of ramifications for various parts of the calculation.  The justification for this is the need to consider the energy balance at different times through the year with more rigour, for instance within very-low energy dwellings.

While there is certainly a need to ensure compliance methodologies don’t penalise the design techniques required to achieve very low-energy dwellings, could it be that that changing the current SAP methodology is an unnecessary route – one that is both expensive and potentially a disruptive burden on the industry?

The current SAP approach, based on a worksheet, is well understood by its users and is a simple, but reasonably transparent assessment suitable for the majority of conventional dwellings.  When you consider that there are other monthly calculation tools already developed and in-use in the non-domestic arena, why would the government invest taxpayers money in the research, development and implementation of another methodology especially when public spending is under severe constraints?

SBEM and DSM could cheaply and easily be extended to the domestic sector at virtually no cost, as could the existing training and accreditation routes.  In fact, many designers of low energy dwellings have already tried and tested dynamic thermal simulation in their day-to-day design.  SBEM is a monthly calculation (as is being proposed for SAP 2009), whereas DSM is a 8760 hourly annual calculation.  SBEM and DSM also provide a way to include treatment of thermal mass and cooling.

By offering a choice of calculation engine at the domestic level; SAP (simple heating only dwellings), SBEM (most dwellings) or DSM (all dwellings), all low energy technologies could be studied in the right level of detail by those with the right level of skills and without needless upheaval and cost.

The current SAP calculation could be left essentially as it is – negating the need to develop yet another publically funded energy calculation tool, with the associated significant upheaval and burden on the industry of re-training and accreditation.

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Tags:Building Research Establishment, Part L 2010, SAP 2009, SAP Calculation