IES Blog

(image: es74273 under Creative Commons)

When you think of green building in the last ten years, you think primarily of two verticals - housing and office space. So there is one massive vertical missing in the equation - retail.

Retail development has traditionally been the slowest to warm up to the whole concept of green building, but according to a recent article in Retail Traffic Magazine, retail developers are finally turning the corner.

In fact, green retail construction has moved ahead at an increasing pace, even despite the sour effects of the economy. Retail developers have recognized that not only is it the right thing to do, it can also help their bottom line, and that of their customers, in the long run.

LEED has gotten a boost in the retail market as well. According to the article, the USGBC reports that there are more than 2,600 projects registered for LEED in the retail sector. This is quite remarkable, especially when you consider that developers don’t even have a true LEED standard specifically for retail. After more than a half-decade of waiting, though, those standards should be released sometime this year.

The truth is, retail developers have always been looking to save money on water and power – after all, making money is what retail is all about. So they’ve been further ahead of the curve than even the USGBC.

There is still much work to be done, but another good thing is that the developers are not the only ones who see the value of LEED certification – so do the marketing guys, who now have a huge selling point for their customers. The savings get passed on to them, and thus, to the rest of us.

Now if we can only get them to ditch those darn plastic bags…

Tweet This Post

No Comments

Tags:Building, green retail construction, housing, LEED, LEED Certification, office

(image via totalAldo photostream under Creative Commons)

By now, there should be little debate over whether going green can save you plenty of money in the short term, especially in the commercial real estate market.  Whether going green is truly the wisest long-term financial decision has been the subject of debate for some time.  Well, it shouldn’t be any more.  Witness this article from Rob Watson at Greener Buildings:

“The latest is from the Earth Advantage Institute in Portland, Oregon, which shows that third-party certified homes … command a whopping 18 percent price premium over non-certified homes … More interesting is that existing homes with green certification commanded an even higher premium of 23 percent compared with other existing homes sold, which indicates that the value of green grows over time. This value trend reflects the RealGreen Index data from the San Francisco Bay area, which shows that LEED Certified office and retail buildings have literally half the vacancy rate of non-certified projects.”

That’s backed up by the US Green Building Council:

“Executives reported that Green buildings have better financial performance than non-Green buildings in the following areas:

• Higher building values (72%)
• Higher asking rents (65%)
• Greater return on investment (52%)
• Higher occupancy rates (49%)”

There’s little question that going green can save you money on utility bills, for example.  But there have been questions as to whether green structures, particularly commercial buildings, make more money over the long term.  This should settle that debate.

The true value of any piece of real estate is its resale value.  The premium that green-certified buildings now demand should be enough of an impetus to get everyone on board, especially considering how brutal the real estate market has been over the past couple of years.  If commercial developers and property owners want to get back to the good old days of making serious money, they can do so in a hurry by arming themselves with this information.  So if you want to re-coup some lost green, you should go green.

Tweet This Post

1 Comment

Tags:Building, Green Building, LEED, real estate, saving money

According to Wikipedia, “Sustainable Building Consulting is a practice or service where an intermediary party or company is utilized as a way to forecast levels of sustainability during conceptual architectural stages.” In other words, consultants are a great way to maximize the sustainable potential of your project while ensuring your company is LEED compliant throughout the entire design process.

With mandates coming from states, cities and the federal government, companies are realizing that green building is no longer a fad, but a way of life. In the recent article, “How to use insurance to handle the risks of building to LEED standards”, Philip Glick stated, “Construction of environmentally friendly and sustainable buildings will represent a significant new market for the construction industry. However, it’s also likely that new risks are being created that can have an impact on the building owners, developers, contractors and design professionals involved in these projects.”

To combat these risks, a company preparing to move or even remodel their current space should utilize a consultant (always make sure this service is offered before signing on the dotted line) - ensuring they are following the most up-to-date standards throughout the entire design process.

An additional benefit of using a consultant is that they can explore the feasibility of potential sustainability strategies at a more in-depth level. Drawing on previous experience and knowledge in the field, sustainable design and LEED to help inform a building’s design, consultants can ensure the design process is successful and cost-effective.

At IES, we have a dedicated group of consultants who are available to instruct building managers and architects using IES’ software from the earliest stage of the design process. Without help, companies are often left to trust their vendors, which might cause issues when trying to obtain LEED or even government green building certifications.

Tweet This Post

1 Comment

Tags:Architects, Building, IES, LEED, Sustainability

SimBuild 2010 in New York is right around the corner now - August 11-13 - and it’s not a moment too soon.  SimBuild is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, building modeling and simulation conferences in the world.  It only happens once every two years, so we anxiously look forward to everything that goes on there when it comes around.  We also have plenty in store for this event, too.

IES is sponsoring the show, and that gives us the chance to offer some extra training sessions to attendees.  We will be holding two workshops prior to the show.  Here’s the schedule:

• August 9 – Intermediate 3D Modeling, Daylighting, Loads Analysis, and HVAC Systems
• August 10 – Advanced and Building-Integrated Systems Modeling

Both workshops are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., including lunch and breaks, and will be held on the NYU campus (exact location TBA). 

Timothy Moore, our Senior Consultant for Special Projects, will be on hand to direct the workshops and show you the expanse of things you can do with IES <Virtual Environment> Version 6.1, such as  importing from SketchUp and Revit, daylighting simulation and whole-building energy modeling for the LEED/ASHRAE-90.1 Performance Rating Method.

Cost for the workshops is $350 for one session and $600 for both.  Registration is open now, but seats are limited, so don’t wait!

We will also have a demo of IES <VE> at the show on August 12 from 10:30-11:45 a.m., and Timothy will be making a presentation at the show as well (details still TBD).

Of course, our activities are just a small slice of all the exciting things going on at SimBuild this year, from all the workshops and presentations to the banquet that closes everything out.  For more on all that’s going on, visit here.

It’s shaping up to be a busy week for IES at SimBuild 2010.  We hope to see you in New York City!

Tweet This Post

No Comments

Tags:Building, daylighting, HVAC, IES, LEED, Revit, sketchup

To be truly sustainable, a building needs to last in excess of 100 years, and current design regulations and sustainability rating systems only require you to design against weather data that represents at best the next decade or so. Sustainable designs really need to make some assessment of the impact of climate change on determining built form suitability for the long term.

Therefore, I thought I’d take this opportunity to expand on my recent Weather Design and Data blog.

IES cannot tell you what is going to happen, however there is huge consensus around a 3oC global warming target as you will have no doubt heard. What does this mean to building design?  It seems reasonable to assume investors and insurers will consider this target and what it might mean for buildings in the future.

Let us take the CIBSE published UK weather predictions for a medium-high climate change scenario, which represents about a 3oC rise, and consider London, by far not the worst location in climate change terms, over the next 70 years.

Just glancing at the headline information you see that:

• The summer is extending and getting hotter in the Mahoney analysis (monthly average);

• The reduction in heating degree days -31% from now to 2080;

• The growth in cooling degree days + 65% from now to 2080;

• The climate classification shift – mixed humid to warm marine;

• How built form design focus shifts to be dominated by summer issues.

Just from this brief overview you can start to see how selecting and comparing weather data, especially climate change impacts, can allow you to assess fundamental built form suitability and its ability to adapt to climate change over the long term.

For locations outside of the UK this analysis is possible using morphed data from any epw weather file; a free tool allows you morph climate change scenarios worldwide.

Tweet This Post

No Comments

Tags:Building, CIBSE, climate, free, 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.

Tweet This Post

No Comments

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

In Architecture there is a persistent organic theme of using the environment to inform both urban and built form; obviously vernacular architecture is a demonstration of this, but in the latter half of the 20th century people have explored this theme in more detail, such that cause and effect is well explained.

In the past, greatest interest in this theme has occurred at times of energy crisis and now with climate change high on the global political and social agenda, there is a real demand for solutions that are climate responsive and adaptive to climate change.  Some of this is taught in Universities and so has a familiarity especially to Architects.

The main reason why Bio-Climatic analysis has not been applied extensively in the past is due to the breadth and depth of the subject and the fact that the logic is somewhat fuzzy.  Manually doing it properly is complex, difficult and very time consuming.  Thus few have been able to master it and turn it to everyday use.  However, the desire to utilise Bio-Climatic analysis is still alive and kicking.

Over the past few years, IES have researched this subject globally and developed the logic to a level where we can automate it, and have consequentially developed a Bio-Climatic tool, which we recently launched.

As part of the evolving VE Gaia product, Bio-Climatic analysis is used in conjunction with other Gaia tools to provide a rich source of knowledge about weather / climate data and the built environment.  It delivers complex knowledge and analysis about what may be appropriate design strategies by providing a detailed list of suggestions appropriate to the specific climate data chosen.

Tweet This Post

No Comments

Tags:Architects, bio-climate, Building, climate

Finally, it has arrived!  The long awaited redistribution of points for Core & Shell projects pursuing EAc1 was issued.  The USGBC finally acknowledges that “energy neutral” does not benefit projects under the LEED-CS v2.0 rating system. 

The tenant’s components in the energy model, such as lighting and plug loads, is kept the same in both the proposed and baseline building.  This “dilutes any energy cost savings percentage the developer is able to attain by at least 40% to 60%.”  The developer could only push the envelope so much.  Really, the only option for achieving points under EAc1 was if the developer mandated specific energy usage thresholds through a tenant sales/ lease agreement.  Even in good markets, you rarely see a developer willing to restrict future prospective tenants.

Now, projects registered prior to April 24, 2009 can use a new Excel spreadsheet tool that provides the updated reporting methodology and is now a submittal requirement for LEED-CS v2.0 EAc1.  Trying it out, it looks like a project can easily achieve, if not too easily, all the energy credits under EAc1 and is no longer penalized.  For more information visit “LEED Resources & Tools” for LEED-CS v2.0 at www.usgbc.org.

Tweet This Post

No Comments

Tags:Building, LEED, USGBC

Freakonomics, first a book and now a syndicated column, brings up topics and makes you go, ‘Huh, I never thought of it that way before…’

One of the recent posts, titled, “Green Building: LEEDing Us Where?” did just that. In the green building industry, we all focus on LEED and sustainability and improving the overall output of a building. But is it enough?

“We have built our country as we have built it,” writes Owen, “and we’re obviously not going to tear it down and start over.”

This is true. So what does that mean? Using LEED as a guide, I think we can inspire great change in the way we do things, starting with our buildings. Just resting on our “green building” laurels isn’t going to cut it in the long run. So yea, your building is “smart” and can sense when you leave a room, thus turning off the lights. But if you are leaving to hop into your oversized SUV and drive 2 blocks to the nearest coffee house to big up an über-large drink in a disposable cup and then driving another block to drop off your dry cleaning, there is a disconnect.

How can we take what we are learning through LEED and other initiatives in green building and take it to the next level in our everyday lives?

Tweet This Post

No Comments

Tags:Building, LEED, Sustainability

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

Tweet This Post

No Comments

Tags:Academic, BIM, Building, Environment, Renewables