IES Blog

2011 was a busy year for IES! We made some upgrades to our award-winning software, consulted with a number of architects and engineers on some exciting projects, and we launched a series of training sessions and architectural seminars throughout North America. These Road Show events proved to be successful, and something we plan to continue in 2012. But for now, a recap…

Starting off in Chicago and Denver in August, our Road Show carried on to Portland, Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Houston and other great cities across North America through the rest of the year. Our Road Show gave us a great opportunity to connect with both existing and new IES users face-to-face. We were able to show them capabilities of the software, including many of the new features launched this year, and answer any questions they might have about our suite of products. We were also able to establish relationships with various local groups, and we love all the contacts we’ve made throughout North American this year!

Our final training event of the year was in Washington, D.C. last week. There were a lot of new faces, and we had a very successful event. Thanks to our hosts at AECOM!

Also in D.C. last week was our final architectural seminar of the year. Approved by the AIA for Continuing Education System credits, our seminars offer hands-on training focusing on conceptual analysis in sustainable design. Participants who are AIA members receive 2.5 learning unit hours.

Thanks to everyone that joined us this year, and to all of our customers and partners who helped us out with venues and our presentations. We’re looking forward to meeting more of you in 2012 as we continue to hit the road. Next year, we’re heading to Omaha, Seattle, Kansas City, Nashville, St. Louis, Birmingham and more. Stay tuned for more details about when we’ll be in a city near you!

No Comments

Tags:AIA, Architects, design, education, Engineers, event, IES, Seattle, Training, Washington

In the architecture and design realm, keeping it simple often yields the best results. Keeping it sustainable doesn’t hurt either.

A push by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), as highlighted in a recent article in The Washington Post, supports this idea. All across the United States, AIA chapters are “taking a stand for visibility, transparency and sustainability.” Brick and mortar no longer separates the AIA buildings from the public, something that becomes clear if you’ve seen the new building of the AIA’s chapter in D.C.

Thomas Corrado, project architect with the Washington firm that created the design, described the concept as “clear, simple and concise.” He went on to say that “the idea was about how to make the space a connection between architecture and the person on the street.”

What I find most interesting about this new open-door style is its appeal to the public. As the United States pushes for a greener, more efficient future, anything that can draw in the public to gain some traction is positive for the sustainability industry as a whole. When pedestrians peer through the floor-to-ceiling glass of the D.C. building, for instance, they see an open gallery that currently showcases the winners of a recent design competition. Next month, the gallery will feature an exhibit on art nouveau architecture from Brussels.

Another example of the AIA’s new design efforts is the soon to be completed Center for Architecture and Design in North Carolina.

The nation’s only AIA building to be built from the ground up, it was designed by Raleigh-based architect Frank Harmon after a statewide competition. Inside, the lighting adjusts to demand, monitored by a donated state-of the-art computer server that responds to the amount of daylight admitted. Early modeling projects energy savings as high as 64 percent.

As we head into 2012, we look forward to seeing the AIA’s new push for design transparency continue to generate public appeal and translate to more sustainable designs nationwide.

No Comments

Tags:AIA, Architects, design, energy, Modeling, North Carolina, sustainable, Washington

Earlier this year, AIA challenged its member to design a dream house for Barbie – yes, Ms. Barbra Millicent Roberts herself. The AIA Barbie® Dream House™ Design Competition is part of Mattel’s spotlight on architecture as its “Career of the Year” for Barbie.

And it looks like the competition was a success! With more than 30 entries, the design submitted by Ting Li, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP and Maja Paklar, Assoc. AIA, took home top honors.

This Mother Nature Network article, “A palace fit for a doll: Barbie gets new green digs in Malibu,” links to the winning design.

Now you would think with such a high-profile “character” as Barbie, this would be a positive for the architecture community. Unfortunately, some of the articles I’m seeing online actually think the architecture profession itself needs a makeover, not just a new spokeswoman.

In an opinion piece on The Christian Science Monitor, John Cary states‘’Architect Barbie’ builds a dream home, but her profession needs a makeover.’

According to the article, “The American Institute of Architects has announced the winners of its contest to build a dream home for the Mattel doll, ‘Architect Barbie.’ The contest misses the point that the severe gender gap in architecture is a problem of retaining women – not one of recruiting them.”

What do you think? Does the architecture community have an issue retaining women? And if you answer yes, is that an issue exclusive to architects, or all professional careers?

No Comments

Tags:AIA, Architects, Barbie, Building, careers, LEED

New Orleans. NOLA. The ‘Big Easy.’ A city full of rich architecture and in the last few years, one on the forefront of the building industry as they rebuild.

Jane Kolleeny of Architectural Record noted the same thing in her blog post last night.

Yes its about 90 degrees and humid, but it’s a great pleasure to be in New Orleans whose recovery since Katrina seems remarkable.

Walking around the city on Wednesday when I arrived in town, I was truly amazed. Having never been here before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But this city truly is rebuilding, and it’s amazing to see how the city is evolving, yet still sticking to its root.

I caught some of the keynote presentation with Thomas Friedman yesterday. What I walked away with was a reaffirmation that we need to focus on sustainable design practices. (But we already knew that, right?)

“This is your warning heart attack,” Friedman told the nearly 4,000 architects assembled to hear him in New Orleans. “In both the markets and Mother Nature, we’ve followed two common economic principles—IBG (I’ll Be Gone) or YBG (You’ll Be Gone), leading us to do what we want now. There’s a deeper values breakdown behind that. Our parents built us a world of incredible abundance based on sustainable values. We’ve moved to a world of situational values and that isn’t sustainable.”

The theme for AIA 2011 is Regional Design Revolution: Ecology Matters. As I thought about this theme, and listened to Mr. Friedman, I was really proud of the work we are doing at IES. Reducing the energy consumption of buildings has been at the heart of IES since its inception 15 long years ago. The team here have worked hard to get to where we are today and we are now widely respected as the leading company in the performance analysis field – the one the innovators come to.

Bringing our knowledge and expertise to the US market has been a real privilege and in recent years we’ve seen the scales tip with US designers increasingly concerned with combining aesthetics and performance to ensure their design’s sustainability.  We are happy to be playing our part in this revolution.

That’s all from the show floor today. We’ve got to get back to the booth and continue the great conversations about sustainability.

But we’ll be at the TweetUp tonight to chat. Will we see you there?

No Comments

Tags:AIA, Architects, IES, Sustainability

What country are you cheering for in this year’s World Cup games?  As a billion viewers watch the World Cup with anticipation of their country winning, they may not realize all the work that went into prepping for this massive sporting event.  Transportation, lodging and security were key components in preparing for these games, sure. But have you thought about the construction and refurbishment of the 10 stadiums that are being used for this global competition? The A/E/C community might be happy to know that BIM (Building Information Modelling), a tool which you more than likely use every day, played an integral role in building the new stadiums, home to over 40,000 people attending each of the 32 games.

In a recent article in Constructech Magazine, it’s mentioned that 5 new stadiums were built in preparation for the World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa - 2 of them using BIM techniques and software.  The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and the Mbombela Stadium were both constructed using BIM since “arenas are typically unique structures, with complicated rooflines, curved beams, and heavy structural steel design.”  The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium had to be devised and constructed within a very quick timeframe, since Africa had few arenas that could support the World Cup audience so the designers used BIM technology to streamline 4,200 drawings between multiple participants including designers, architects and building managers.

While BIM might not be an everyday word to most, high profile projects like these provide great proof points for the A/E/C community.  This technology has continued to grow over the years and continues to be a subject people want to learn more about, including the audience at the recent AIA convention in Miami.  According to Reed Construction Data, “BIM was the hot topic” at this year’s show.  The constant buzz around BIM just helps to further underscore its importance to the design process and longevity within the market.

As you watch your favorite team compete for the highly prized cup, keep a close eye on the stadiums, too. You’ll see that BIM played a pivotal part in the 2010 games.

No Comments

Tags:AIA, Architects, BIM, Building, communications, Fifa, World Cup

We’re celebrating Architecture Week. No, we’re not talking about the magazine. (Although I highly recommend adding said magazine to your list of weekly reads. Always great content!)

We are talking about National Architecture Week. With a series of online conversations about “design matters” over on AIA’s website, and ongoing conversations on their Facebook Fan Page, it’s already turning out to be an exciting week!

According to the website, “How can you take part in this initiative? If you haven’t done so already, set up your personal accounts on Twitter and Facebook now. Become a fan of the American Institute of Architects on Facebook and follow AIA National on Twitter. From both accounts, you’ll begin receiving updates about Architecture Week 2010. Then, get ready to partake in what we hope will be some lively, thought-provoking conversations about design matters, which end this Sunday, April 17.”

And while you’re there, become a fan of IES and follow @IESVE on Twitter.

No Comments

Tags:AIA, Architecture Week, Facebook, IES, Twitter

The Boston Architectural College/Worcester Polytechnic Institute Advanced Studio Course Comes to an End

In a previous blog, I had written about a class that I was assistant teaching during the Spring 2009 semester, along with Andreas Savvides AIA, AICP of Boston Architectural College and Alan Quinn of Sasaki Associates, Inc., Masters and Bachelors of Architecture students have been teamed with, Worchester Polytechnic Institute, cost estimating students to evolve their creative designs into affordable, energy efficient structures.

Through the use of the VE-Ware, Revit plug-in, and the VE-Toolkits, students were able to explore their designs in a way they had not experienced before. Perhaps the most surprising thing to the students was how badly their buildings performed initially before making changes to the building envelope, heating and cooling system, orientation, etc., especially when compared again CBECS (Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey) data. Once students had successfully translated their Revit models to IES, the initial results were noted and became the starting point for a competition. The student who could make the greatest impact on their building energy consumption, looking at the variable of “design building energy use intensity”, would receive a year student license of IES’ full suite of software, as well as a write-up on the IES Blog.

Craig W. Herrmann, a student at Boston Architectural College in the Bachelor of Architecture program and a Project Coordinator at Jacobs Engineering, employed multiple strategies to reduce his building’s energy consumption. By incorporating roof overhangs, external shading devices, a very energy efficient building envelope, and the most appropriate heating and cooling system, Craig was not only able to win the contest, but was also able to cut the energy consumption almost in half. As you can see from Craig’s presentation, the resulting structure was both aesthetically appealing and thoughtful to its environmental impact.

You can view the full presentation here

In the next few years, courses that include energy modelling are becoming more and more prevalent at architectural colleges around the country. The Boston Architectural College pushes to stay at the forefront of this technological movement, and I will be back to teach more courses like this in the future.

However, I need to finish my own Master’s thesis first. Wish me luck!

Michelle

No Comments

Tags:AIA, Boston, Engineers, plug-in, plug-ins, reduce, Revit, VE-Toolkits, VE-Ware

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.

No Comments

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

Great news for all our US AIA members - the majority of our training courses have been registered with the AIA CES program - allowing you to gain AIA CES Learning Hours when you undertake them.  Twelve courses also count towards the new mandatory Sustainable Design credits.

Our FREE online introduction to IES is included in this - providing 1 LU hour and also counting towards the mandatory Sustainable Design credit.  Register here to attend.

Our expertise in sustainable design, both in creating analysis software and providing expert consultancy services, helps educate on how to leave a greener footprint within all stages of the design process.  The courses include sessions on solar analysis, artifical/daylighting design, and natural ventilation.  See our website for more information.

We commend the AIA Board for taking notice and making sustainable design a mandatory course requirement through 2012.  This initiative shows the importance of the growing emissions challenges within the industry, and the need to solve them immediately.

Read more about AIA CES Sustainable Design credits here…

No Comments

Tags:AIA, AIA CES, daylight analysis, energy analysis, free, natural ventilation, solar shading, Sustainable design