IES Blog

This month, our Founder and CEO Don McLean published an article with Area Development titled, “Building a Strong Energy-Efficient Foundation”. In the article, he explores the value of quantifying and incorporating building performance analysis into the earliest stages of the architectural design process.

Why is early-stage performance analysis so important? To answer that question, here are a few take-aways from the article:

•    When it comes to designing sustainable buildings, building performance analysis is key. After all, by using performance analysis software, architects and engineers can not only virtually test the feasibility of different energy-saving strategies, but they can also make much better decisions on elements that play an important role in reducing the energy consumption of a building.

•    Performance analysis helps to understand how a building will perform under predictable circumstances, which is required for a sustainable, energy-efficient design. What’s more, the biggest impact in terms of designing a sustainable building can be made by using performance analysis software from day one and through every step of the way.

•    With performance analysis, realistic energy goals can be set and reached. How? Analysis can identify and understand the big issues related to building energy use and performance, which supports the setting of goals and the ability to choose and design strategies to achieve them.

At the end of the day, it’s all about achieving true sustainable design. As architects and engineers act on performance analysis metrics and identify the key drivers for an energy-efficient foundation in the earliest stages of the design process, we can expect to see much more sustainable design in the years to come.

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Tags:Architects, Building, building performance, design, IES, software, Sustainability

Have you heard the latest?  Just issued at the end of last month, the USGBC announced that as part of LEED v3, they will be requiring all projects pursuing LEED certification to comply with a new performance requirement.

They provide three options for fulfillment:

- Recertify the building on a two-year cycle with their existing buildings program - LEED-EBOM

- Provide the building’s energy and water usage data annually

- Building owner allows USGBC to access data directly from the utilities provider

So, what do you think?  Me, I think this is huge.  But in a positive way or a worrying way?

Initially LEED v3 seemed like it would completely revamp the building certification program and really get to the bottom of critical items – add new credits, drastically edit existing ones, add new categories. 

In the end, LEED v3 was mainly a realignment of the existing LEED rating systems to set up for the next big move.  And that’s what it looked like, until this latest requirement associated with LEED 2009 was issued.

On paper, I couldn’t agree more, there is a big disconnect between building design/construction and building operations.  Very few architectural design firms perform a Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) or something similar to inform and improve future design.  Same goes for engineers, contractors and others in the field.

As someone in the field of analyzing the real or virtual performance of a building, I fully recognize the importance of this dataset.  The question is how will this information be shared so that the general public can benefit?  Will the USGBC be making public this new database similar to what the Department of Energy does with the CBECs database of commercial energy uses and costs? 

The reaction I’ll be curious to see is from the owners.  Is this request just too much?  Will it discourage some owners from pursuing LEED?  Especially those that are new to the arena and still unsure.  I’m not sure, based on my experience and having worked with the full spectrum of owners: developers complying with regulations (i.e. Boston’s Article 37) to non-profits pursuing sustainability regardless (i.e.  The Audubon Society).

In the end, this is the right move forward.  USGBC is about market transformation.  This will start changing the norm.  However, critical at this juncture is the execution, dissemination and utilization of this new measure and the information collected.  If not handled properly, it may be perceived by the general public as a way for the USGBC to make more money through LEED-EBOM.

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Tags:building energy analysis, building performance, Green Building, LEED, performance data, Sustainable design, USGBC

Our managing director, Dr. Don McLean, came to visit me in Hong Kong for 2 days last week.  While he was here has gave a free seminar to introduce the forthcoming <Virtual Environment> version 6.0; including the new VE-Gaia, enhanced Sustainability and LEED Toolkits, and other new (hush hush) additions and enhancements.

The seminar was held in Caine Room, Level 7, of the Conrad Hotel on 26th June 2009 from 9:15am to11:30am.  We had 28 out of 35 people turn up, mainly engineers with a few architects, representatives from academic institutes and specialists in BIM. Companies included: Arup, Hyder Consulting, AECOM, Scott Wilson, Cundall, MTR, RMJM, InteliBuild, Integrated Design Associates Ltd, Form and Structure, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

We received a great response from the audience with the concept of VE-Gaia drawing the most attention - people could really see how it will be much easier for them to step from the VE-Toolkits into the full capabilites of VE-Pro using VE-Gaia.  The new features of the Sustainability and LEED Toolkits also received a lot of interest among companies working on LEED projects.

We’d like to thank everyone for attending and the assistant of Tecton Limited in organising this seminar.

Jimmy Lee

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Tags:building performance, Hong Kong, LEED, perfromance rating method, PRM, sustainable cities, V6, VE-Gaia, VE-Pro, VE-Toolkits

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