IES Blog

IES sat down with 16 architects, engineers and contractors at the Denver Revit Users Group last Thursday for a roundtable discussion. The result? Some great conversation about how best to utilize Building Information Modeling, a sustainable building analysis tool.

IES worked with Colorado-based Ambient Energy, a building performance and sustainable design consulting company, to showcase some of BIM’s more practical uses. The relatively new technology doesn’t just spit out data and geometric designs anymore. More and more often, we are seeing BIM taking on a different role. The spatial relationships and geographic information can help architects and engineers out in a big way; from daylight penetration to average temperature and wind direction, analysis software is an integral part of sustainable design.

An IES and Ambient Energy project at Colorado State University in 2011 proved the point. Faced with the challenge of designing a more efficient atrium for the school’s Engineering II building, Ambient Energy consultants used IES’ VE-Pro software to test and verify their various energy efficiency concepts. Daylight and mixed mode ventilation analyses run early in the schematic redesign process determined which window and ventilation solutions would work best with maximized use of natural daylight. The end result was a more efficient atrium with a much smaller carbon output. You can view the video case study for this project on the IESVE YouTube page.

This type of integrated design process is something we expect to see a lot more of as sustainable design continues to work its way into the commercial space.

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Tags:Architects, BIM, Building, daylighting, design, Engineers, IES, Modeling, Revit, Sustainability, VE-Pro, YouTube

I’m at Autodesk University this week. What is Autodesk University? It’s an annual event that ‘provides Autodesk enthusiasts from around the world the opportunity to learn, network and celebrate the power of Autodesk technology and the international AU community.’ Probably one of my more favorite events each year…

On night one, the International Community Reception recognized the international presence of attendees and companies at AU this year. Quite the group of people, which was great to see!

At the IES booth, we are focusing on VE-Gaia for architects and PRM for engineers. Lots of great discussions so far. We are also spreading the working about our roadshow, which continues to get great response.

I pulled this from Jeffrey McGrew’s keynote presentation. I think it shows where the industry has been, and where we see if going in 2012. And it’s exciting!

Now I originally became an architect because I wanted to build great things. But I got stuck, pushing CAD lines around to draw yet another bathroom plan, or debating BIM standards endlessly, watching myself growing more and progressively bitter. We all went into this industry wanting to make stuff, just to come out not making much of anything. But then along comes digital fabrication. This powerful, affordable, disruptive technology. Suddenly we can all make stuff, all the stuff we’ve always wanted to make. And find lots of people to make it for.
{Courtesy of Core 77}

I’m heading to the exhibit hall now. And if you are reading this and you aren’t in Las Vegas, you can participate via your computer this year, thanks to a Facebook app.
https://apps.facebook.com/autodeskuniversity/

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Tags:Architects, Autodesk University, BIM, Engineers, event, VE-Gaia

Is the dream of BIM and energy modeling not being fully realized?

Last week, our BDM Nathan Kegel participated in the panel discussion “How to better BIM to Energy Modeling Transitions, Issues and Discussions” at the USGBC CT-B Green School Symposium – a regional event in Central Texas for educators, administrators, facility managers, architects and contractors.

Along with fellow panellists, Nathan presented architects and engineers currently using BIM and energy models with examples of energy modeling tools, pointing to some real-life projects as examples.

It was a great session, and one we hope to participate again in next year. The greening of our schools is certainly a topic that isn’t going away. And it’s not just architects and engineers talking about it. A recent poll revealed that one in three Americans think U.S. schools are in “poor shape,” and there is support for federal investment in “green” schools.

According to the press release issued by the USGBC, our schools are bleeding money, specifically when it comes to the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings.

“Americans understand the importance of our nation’s school infrastructure and see the urgent need for significant investments,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. ―Too many of our schools are outdated, woefully energy inefficient, unhealthy and negatively affect our children’s ability to learn – and ultimately to compete in a global marketplace. In 2008 alone the U.S. deferred an estimated $254 billion in school facility maintenance and inadequate investment into maintaining our nation’s school infrastructure has led to a significant number of schools in need of major repair and replacement. That’s unacceptable.”

In closing, I thought I’d pose the question to those involved in schools and universities – how will you change the way we design, construct and operate our schools so that they are more energy efficient in the 21st century and beyond?

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Tags:Architects, BIM, Engineers, event, Schools, Texas, USGBC

I think Frank Sinatra would be excited to see the boom in architecture in the Windy City. Well, if Mr. Sinatra was interested in architecture. Which I imagine he was ;).

There certainly seems to be an architectural revival of sorts in Chicago these days. It seems more often than not, my Google alerts about “architecture” contain some sort of article relating in some way, shape or form to Chicago.

The article I read this morning was a recap of the recent BIMForum event in Chicago. The BIMForum’s mission is to “facilitate and accelerate the adoption of building information modeling (BIM) in the AEC industry [and] lead by example and synchronize with counterparts in all sectors of the industry to jointly develop best practice for virtual design and construction (VDC).”

Federico Negro recently attended the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) event. He was there to present his work, but he walked away with further knowledge on the adoption of BIM and how it is understood.

I’ve spent a good deal of time on the BIMForum website this morning, and there is some great content that I think all architects should spend some time reading. The focus of last month’s event - how BIM is used to find the optimal balance of allowing the best decisions to be made at the most appropriate time without impacting construction costs and schedules and how this is shifting when design ends and construction begins – is certainly a topic of conversation that is here to stay.

It begs the question – in today’s integrated BIM projects, where does design end and construction begin?

What do you think? How do you integrate BIM into your projects? This topic fascinates me, and I hope you’ll share your thoughts below.

PS – I thought I’d close this blog post with a mini plug for our upcoming Training Road Show series. The first one is in Chicago, so you see, there’s a tie-in!

The IES Training Road Show is a series of two-day training programs taking place across North America, offering attendees the opportunity to learn simulation techniques and methods to enable more sustainable design practices. First up on the road show we will touching down in Chicago on August 17th & 18th, followed by Denver on the 22nd & 23rd. A lot more cities to be announced very soon!

Full details here: http://www.iesve.com/training/events

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Tags:Architects, BIM, chicago, event, IES, Sustainability, Training

Building Information Modeling, or BIM, is the process of generating and managing building data during its life cycle. And in a recent article, RIBA Construction Strategy Group’s (and the government’s chief construction adviser) Paul Morrell noted that the time for BIM is now and evolving to make architects “integrators of projects.” He stated, “BIM technology could herald the return of architects to the role of master builder”.

Last week I attended a webinar entitled “BIM – A new way of working”, which featured Mr. Morrell, as he continued to explore the future impact of BIM on our industry.  A playback of the webinar can be found here.

Let’s take a step back for a second, though, shall we? As I was Googling to see if there were any additional sound bytes from Mr. Morrell regarding the subject, I came across this article on ‘Breaking Down the Walls.’ The post, entitled, “BIM – What is it, why do I care, and how do I do it?” was written over six years ago, but I think what Matt touches on still rings true today.

First, emphasis needs to be placed on the “I” in “BIM” - “Information”. That information can be either graphical or non-graphical, either contained directly in the building model or accessible from the building model through linked data that is stored elsewhere. If you really think about it, in some ways, at a basic level “BIM” doesn’t necessarily require that the geometry that describes the building be a 3D model at all.

That being said, BIM is an important component of architectural design, especially as architects continue to have to meet sustainable benchmarks such as Part L of the Building Regulations and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). The idea is whole-building analysis, getting a sense of the building at the earliest stages of design to truly develop the best building possible.

As Mr. Morrell notes, using BIM, architects can become “integrators” and that’s exactly the goal we are going for – integrated design throughout the entire process.

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Tags:Architects, BIM, EPCs, Part L, Sustainability

Today we’re pinching our blog from our MD’s own site…

Speaking at a recent Autodesk BIM conference Paul Morrell, the UK Government’s chief construction adviser said “We have commissioned a team drawn from BIM users across the industry, both clients and suppliers, and software developers, to prepare a route map that shows how we can make a progressive move to the routine use of BIM. I am convinced that this is the way to unlock new ways of working that will reduce cost and add long-term value to the development and management of built assets in the public sector”.

Mr. Morrell said that the findings of this team will be available in March next year and that he “hopes and believes it will mark the beginning of a commitment to a timed programme of transformation”.

It is great that not only the UK government but many governments such as Singapore and Government Agencies such as the GSA in the US strongly promote BIM.

Consequently, I think it is time for Governments throughout the world to push BIM to accelerate the need for transformation in the construction industry.  I believe a number of governments should fully fund the research and develop of their own BIM products.  These BIM products should be made free to the construction industry to facilitate the required transformation.

Furthermore these new BIM product should be made mandatory for all government projects which will encourage their uptake in the industry.

The cost of the development of these BIM systems will pale into insignificance compared to the benefits of providing free BIM to the industry.

I strongly suggest you petition your local government officials to fund your national free BIM tool to be developed ASAP.

And we concur! (and not just because he is our boss!)

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Tags:Autodesk, BIM, Morrell, UK Government

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.

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

eSim, IBPSA-Canada’s biennial conference, brings together professionals, academics and students interested in building performance simulation. Being held, in Winnipeg, Canada on May 19 and 20, this year’s conference will focus on recent developments for modelling the physical processes relevant to buildings, methods for modelling whole-building performance (including integrated resource management, renewable energy sources and combined heat, cool and power generation) and the use of building simulation tools in code compliance and incentive programs.

IES is happy to have been asked to be a part of the conference, as performance modelling becomes an ever-important part of the design process. Not just a software developer, but also a respected International consultancy, IES is trying to tackle the big problems of sustainable building design, focusing on analysis of a design throughout the entire process.

One of our consultants will be showcasing the IES Virtual Environment as part of the Software Demo Sessions. Much like technical presentations, these special demo sessions will be presented in front of a live audience during the show.  We’ll be covering the latest step-by-step workflow interface capabilities and LEED developments in our software.

A quick overview of us for those less familiar – IES provides advanced performance analysis for all types of sustainable strategies and LEED evaluation for existing buildings, new construction and core and shell projects, among others. Its software and consulting services help design teams to integrate ‘green’ design strategies throughout all stages of the design process and beyond to create low-energy sustainable buildings. IES Consulting is also a BIM GSA contract holder.

If you won’t be at eSim this year and are interested in a demo of the Virtual Environment either in-person or via web conferencing, we would be happy to arrange one at your convenience. We run regular weekly web demo sessions.  Please register online at http://www.iesve.com/Software/Web-Demo

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Tags:Academic, BIM, Building, Environment, Renewables

‘Sustaining our Future by Rebuilding Our Past’ – The title of the presentation given by ASHRAE President Gordon Holness, and the highlight of the recent annual ASHRAE Presidential event in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Westminster, London. This was a joint meeting with CIBSE, ASHRAE Group and the IMechE CBSD.

The current ASHRAE President firmly believes that energy efficiency in existing buildings is the key to a truly sustainable future… and with existing buildings being responsible for 40% of primary energy consumption in the US, you can see why. 

One of the most fascinating things about this presentation was the ability of Gordon Holness to produce detailed facts & figures at will. He has clearly been preaching the role of the existing buildings and their impact on our environment for quite some time now… Kudos!

Personally I believe to achieve an energy efficient existing building; we must first understand its complexity. I also believe that along the critical path to achieving an energy efficient existing building, we must first encounter its ‘virtual building’. Once calibrated, the virtual building with BIM will be the key to the design, redesign or retrofit. The existing building landscape as I see it is as below.

Bottom line: In this economic climate, achieving an energy efficient existing building can make all the difference to maintaining commercial survival or increased financial prosperity.

By the way, it is said that 75 – 80% of all buildings that will exist in 2030, exist today! I wonder how much of an issue carbon tax will be in 2030!

Liam

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Tags:BIM, Building, climate, Engineers, Environment, Sustainability

One of the key benefits of IES VE tools is our collaboration with Autodesk, Google and Graphisoft which allows designers and architects to use their BIM/CAD model to start performing analysis at the very early design stage. It can simplify the process of recreating the model from scratch, as you would have had to do in the traditional way.

Through this, many architects are starting to realize that building performance analysis is not only for engineers, and that by working holistically from conceptual stage, the project can achieve much better efficiencies than when analysis is left till later phases of the project.

In traditional building performance modeling, the modeler uses information from drawings, photos, etc. to construct a model within simulation software from scratch. Misinterpreting the information from CAD to building performance model is common, and in some cases important geometry might be missing from the information provided or left out of the model by accident.

As BIM becomes increasingly popular in the architecture industry and more connections to analysis tools appear and strengthen, architects can start performing analysis on different design options, including climate understanding, building orientation, massing during conceptual stages, and as the design develops, analysis such as daylight assessment, water review, heating/cooling loads, renewable use, etc. IES has a direct plug-in for both Autodesk Revit and Google SketchUp, as well as direct connectivity to Graphisoft ArchiCAD.

One important thing to note is that there are some fundamental differences between an energy model and an architectural model used to generate construction documents. Schema’s such as gbXML (www.gbxml.org) are used to streamline the data flow between BIM platforms and analysis tools, so users should have an understanding of how this works and what will translate, and what will not. 

A model that is very heavy in details will affect the computation time of the simulation. One of the things I like to do whenever I start running simulation is to spend 15-30 minutes cleaning up any elements that are not necessary for energy analysis (of course doing a “Save As” on your existing model first). I know a lot of architects are probably saying if we have a direct plug-in, why do I want to waste all this time cleaning up the model? Isn’t that the reason why we want to use the plug-in?

Spending a little extra time cleaning up a model before running a simulation, will reduce the file size and run time; if you are doing a few simulations it’s definitely worth the time. The IES VE will still run the simulation if you don’t clean up the model, but it will go through every element within it trying to figure out what needs to be included and what doesn’t, which can take a lot of time. Plus, the more detail you have in the model, the more risk of inaccuracy during translation. If you want to understand more about model translation, visit our website for whitepapers on both SketchUp and Revit to IES: http://www.iesve.com/Learning/IES-Whitepapers

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Tags:Architects, BIM, daylighting, Engineers, gbXML, plug-in, plug-ins, reduce, Renewables, Revit, sketchup