IES Blog

We’re proud to call San Francisco home to one of our North American offices. We’ve always loved the unique architecture and the unparalleled atmosphere of the city by the Bay.

But now there’s another reason for us to love this city a little more. San Francisco has been named the ‘greenest city in America’ by the Economist Intelligence Unit as part of the ongoing Green Cities Index research project.

The chart below shows the areas in which the 27 cities were evaluated.

Looking at the various facets these cities were judged on, I can’t help but smile. Every day, I work with companies to help design low-energy, high performance buildings utilizing our performance analysis products. To see that it’s making a difference in the output of large commercial buildings in some of the greatest cities in this country makes me realize that what we are doing is not just about designing buildings to be pretty. It’s about reducing energy consumption and making buildings as efficient as possible for the long haul. Large commercial buildings in these cities are going to be around for many, many years to come, and it’s our goal to build them to not only last that long, but to be icons of the future of building.

This is an exciting time for our industry! We can’t wait to see all the cities on the list (and more) with scores in the 80s.

If you’re interested in all the specifics, the full report can be downloaded here.

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Tags:Green Building, IES, San Francisco

(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.

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

I was recently asked to complete an interview questionnaire for the CIBSE Young Members website. Having benefitted from CIBSE Young Engineer’s activities over the years, I was more than happy to help out.

CIBSE YE offers graduates and school leavers an opportunity to find out more about the industry, meet recent graduates working in the profession, and gives young engineers a chance to network with peers and even prospective employers.

One of my interview questions focussed on advice to students and graduates. My guidance was to take heed of the rapidly changing nature of the industry. With sustainability at the centre of what we do, forward-thinking young engineers are in a strong position to make a real difference to the way we design buildings. This was summed up very well in an interview I read recently with David C.J. Peters, an HVAC consulting engineer for US firm Southland Industries. You can read the full interview at Consulting Specifying Engineer here.

In addition, one of my colleagues Liam Buckley, was one of the six shortlisted in the this year’s CIBSE/ASHRAE Graduate of the Year Award.  You can read about all their hopes for their careers and the future of building services engineering in CIBSE Journal - unsurprisingly it oozes green ambition!

Many graduates and school leavers are unaware of the sheer scale of the building services industry, and the myriad of career opportunities within. So, if you’re a student or recent graduate considering a career in the built environment, CIBSE YE is a great first point of reference.

Check out mine and past interviews on the CIBSE YE website.

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Tags:ASHRAE, building services, careers, CIBSE, graduates, Green Building, students, sustainable buiding, young engineers

Congratulations to our clients, highlighted in yellow, that were shortlisted for the 2009 Building and UKGBC Sustainability Awards - keep up the good work and good luck at the awards ceremony on 24th November.

You can view all the shortlisted entries by visiting the Building Magazine article

Sustainable Designer of the Year (Architect or Engineer)

Aedas Architects Bennetts Associates Cundall Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios Jestico + Whiles pha Consult PRP Ramboll

Sustainable Consultant of the Year

• AECOM
• Atelier Ten
• Atkins / Faithful+Gould
• BDP
• Davis Langdon
• Hilson Moran
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• WSP

Sustainable Contractor of the Year (Main or Specialist)

• Breyer Group
• Byrne Bros Ltd
• NG Bailey
• United House, Islington
• Wates Group
• Willmott Dixon

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Tags:Architects, Awards, Building, Engineers, Green Building, Green Design, Sustainability, UK GBC

Reviewing the new Green Building Design and Construction LEED Reference Guide (aka LEED 2009) I found it ‘interesting’ how EQc8.1 Daylight 75% of Spaces has been revamped.  I’ve entered the arena of air quotes as I’m torn on whether this latest change will benefit the industry or create a roadblock.  First, though, some context:

Back in the day when it was just LEED-NC (New Construction), there were three main options for meeting the requirements for EQc8.1, Daylight 75% of Spaces:
 Option 1: Glazing Factor Calculations
 Option 2: Daylight Simulation Model
 Option 3: Daylight Measurement

I would hazard a guess that the majority of projects pursued Option 1.  Although not so simple, it was still a glorified excel spreadsheet that you filled out, room by room, using the long equation provided that incorporated room and window areas, window properties and locations.  It was something simple enough that anyone could learn.

However, I remember one lab building I worked on where we ended up trying out all three options.  The daylight simulation (Option 2) and field measurement (Option 3) results were relatively similar but the glazing factor calculations (Option 1) was that strange outlier that started to reveal the gross limitations that occur when reducing a dynamic situation such as daylighting into a linear equation with only a few variables.

Then came along LEED-CS (Core and Shell) and a fourth option was added, geared mainly for the generic office building that would use the rating system – simple rectangular floor plate with a central core:
Option 4: Prescriptive

This was the simplest calculation that replicated the good old rule of thumb used in bygone days – i.e. for a building with floor depth X you need Y for window area.

Now fast forward to today and LEED 2009.  There are really just three main options: Options 2 - 4 listed above.  Say goodbye to the glazing factor calculations (Option 1). If you consider most buildings are not simple rectangles and project owners don’t want to gamble and wait to see if they qualify for the daylight credit, you’re really just left with one option – daylight simulation model.

For a public comfortable with a simple spreadsheet to show compliance, the thought of using a computer model is, well, like night and day.  Most will initially think of daylight modeling as something outside their ability.  The good news is that this isn’t the case.  We’ve been seeing an increase in engagement with daylighting software to inform design, especially in the architectural field – be it through purchasing IES software to use directly or subbing it out and using our consultancy services.

Will this be seen as moving LEED away from streamlining and simplifying the process?  Or will it be perceived as encouraging a more informed and iterative design process?  One conclusion we can all agree on is that at least it’s one less long equation to memorize when studying for the AP exam!

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Tags:daylighting, Green Building, LEED, LEED 2009, LEED AP, LEED NC

I just read this great perspective on the bill from Matt Macko on CleanTechies.  Working at IES, which is solely focused on enabling low-energy building design and has a presence on both sides of the pond, I’ve seen the rise of the importance of carbon reduction first here in Europe and now in the US. Public opinion here is still divided, but the tide is definitely turning…

Matt comments on how US public opinion to the bill has been quite negative…

“The public response to this bill has not been good. Googling the bill generated several articles: almost all were in opposition. Sadly, people tote it as another method Obama has found to increase taxes. They claim it is an unnecessary step to solve a group of alarmists’ wild and false theory, Global Warming. Without arguing the validity of Global Warming, one friend put it to me this way: “If the believers are wrong and Global Warming is not true then we have implemented changes that will improve our environment and the Earth, if the naysayers are wrong and Global Warming does exist and we do nothing, our cities are underwater.”

There are however many (like Matt) in the US completely behind this bill and 100% committed to sustainable building design, not least Ed Mazria of Architecture 2030 - you should definitely read his take on the bill at http://www.architecture2030.org/news/news_072209.html

Or Jerry Yudelson, a US green building consultant, who released today a video looking at the differences of energy consumption between Europe and the US http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF4lZsx9Ifs. With advocates like this pushing alongside the bill you have to hope that general US public opinion will start to sway towards the positive sometime soon…

Even from a purely commercial perspective, the fact that there is now a market in the US for our building energy analysis software is pretty telling.  It’s been used here in the UK by the top building design firms for over 10 years now.  In the last 3, we’ve been able to open offices in both Boston and San Francisco, with all the major A&E firms engaging with us!

Bring on the change!

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Tags:Architecture 2030, carbon reduction, climate bill, climate change, Ed Mazria, Environment, Green Building, Sustainability, US vs. UK, waxman-markey, zero-carbon building

We all know that buildings are responsible for most of our water consumption and more than their fair share of carbon dioxide emissions, in fact Australian’s have the 4th highest carbon footprint.  So just what is Australia doing about it?  Well quite a bit actually.

The New Labour Government (ALP) have been in power since November 2007, and within weeks of entering office had pushed forward with ratifying Kyoto and setting up an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).  The ETS has unfortunately been delayed due to the current global financial crisis but it targets a 25% reduction on 2000 levels by 2020, equivalent to stabilising levels of CO₂ to 450 ppm.  Permits are set to start at $10 a tonne with market trading to begin in 2012.  In essence the Australian government is keen to mandate green.

Australia lags the UK and US in terms of its green building initiatives, but momentum is growing especially within the property industry which is keen to future-proof its assests.  Many of the industry’s leading building owners, investors and developers have signed up to the Green Star Business Partnership and pledged their support to adopting this rating system.  These include ASX 200 firms like Lend Lease, Stockland and Multiplex.  

A building’s performance is measured using a number of regulatory and voluntary schemes in Australia; like Green Star, Nabers, BCA Part J, and Nathers etc.  As in the US, there is a large variation in climate types across Australia; from mild temperate to tropical.  This means sustainable solutions and techniques to improve building performance and ratings need to be varied and well understood.  For example, Canberra has a large diurnal range and is therefore more suited to passive solar and thermal mass, whereas Queensland may find systems to combat large latent gains and control of humidity more important.

IES has had a presence in Australia since 2006.  Our consulting services and <Virtual Environment> software, with its powerful analysis capacity, has helped many in Australia deliver more energy efficient, better performing and future-proofed buildings.  We’ve worked on 6 Star Green Star projects such as the refurbishment of the new AEI HQ in Canberra, and share a growing sense or pride and responsibility with Australia’s burgeoning green building industry.

Last month the company’s founder and MD, Dr Don McLean visted us here in Australia and we went on a roadtrip across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane - 3 seminars to 80+ people and 17 face-to-face meetings in 3 days!!!  Australia’s M&E Engineers, are the best in the world, and it was great to receive such positive feedback from them on the new HVAC features in the latest version of our software (V6).  Comments like “we’ve been using IES for 4-5 years now and it just gets better and better!” were music to our ears, making all the hard work worth while!

Our other architect orientated new additions were also met a very positive response - one customer commented; “I don’t believe you can do that by pressing one button”…the button was pressed…”Wow you can! Brilliant!”

I can’t wait to see what the next 3 years bring - it’s definitely very exciting times…

Roger

Sydney Opera House

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Tags:Australia, BCA Part J, Green Building, Green Star, Green Star Business Partnership, NABERS, 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

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

gbXML.org has formed a new Green Building XML (gbXML) Advisory Board which is comprised of 11 member companies, including IES.

The independent board is comprised of eleven (11) member companies that all have an interest in maintaining the gbXML schema as an open standard. The schema is the mostly widely used metadata format for transferring intelligent building information to facilitate thermal, energy, carbon, and water analyses associated with buildings.

The first meeting of the gbXML Advisory Board was held on April 21, 2009. The following companies were represented: AiRNAB, Autodesk, Bentley, Cadsoft Corporation, Carmel Software, EDSL, Greenspace Research, HVAC Solution, Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), Trane, and Wrightsoft.

Click here to read the full gbXML.org press release.

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Tags:BIM, building energy analysis, building information modelling, gbXML, Green Building, green building XML