IES Blog

I’ve got a workflow conundrum for you today:

I’m using SketchUp or Revit and I’ve delved into the Full <Virtual Environment> made some changes to the Templates in the Full <Virtual Environment>. I’m happy with the analysis. I now want to go back to the original model in SketchUp or Revit and want to change (for example) some geometrical detail. When I go to set room or building properties I don’t get the detailed choices I get in the <Virtual Environment> so when I get to the <Virtual Environment> I’ll need to start all over and re-apply all the room data, Right??

Luckily No!

There is a feature in the full <Virtual Environment> that’s been around for a few years now called Model Merge. Specifically it’s a feature within ModelIT and allows the merging of IES Template and Room data from a previously saved model.

It’s important to follow the correct steps to avoid heartache so I have produced a flow chart and a worked example of how to approach this. I’ve used SketchUp but the approach is the same in Revit. Attached are the models too. This is a great tool that avoids repetitive input of data!

Workflow Summary:

• Create Model in SketchUp  

• Make template changes in <Virtual Environment> 

• SAVE AS!!!

• Edit model in SketchUp: 

• Open in <Virtual Environment> 

  
• Merge Model Data (Apply Original model template data onto New model)
• Continue Analyzing from where you left off.

For more details you can download a powerpoint here

Thanks

Craig

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Tags:hints and tips, model merge, Revit, sketchup

Welcome to very exciting times here at IES. Our new link to Google SketchUp, we think, is a real game changer and means there’re no longer any barriers for considering energy performance and the Architecture 2030 Challenge right from the very earliest stages of design.

However, you can read all about the benefits of the plug-in on our new dedicated web section.  What I really wanted to point you all in the direction of is the example models that we’ve placed on Google 3D Warehouse. You can use these models to test and learn how to use the SketchUp plug-in.  Find them on the Google 3D Warehouse site by searching for IESVE.

We’ve developed these to show good practice for creating SketchUp models for the purpose of analysis, and show examples of different building types and sizes.  They demonstrate why enclosed volumes, which are required to generate rooms that will be used in the analysis, are so important, and much more…

I would suggest you take the models as a starting point and have a go at varying shape, form, massing, room layout or properties and maybe also try seeing the effect of surrounding buildings or shading devices.  Our associated How To… and User Guide should help you along the way.  Check out, how we have:

• used opacity to describe walls and fenestration
• set building properties
• located the building
• set the orientation using (Get View) from Google Earth

Happy Green Building…

Craig

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Tags:3D Warehouse, Architecture 2030 Challenge, hints and tips, sketchup

Well the answer is To Blog and therefore welcome to the new IES Blog. I’ve been volunteered by our Marketing Team to write the first entry. No pressure then.

So what can I write about that will wow you? Well, I don’t want to do that.

This Blog will not be about marketing, but about helping an amazing and passionate group of people at IES communicate with you in a different way. I am old enough to remember getting a new communication device called a Facsimile machine. It was fantastic as it was so much better than a Telex, but if you have your own Blog you have probably only seen a Fax in a museum.

What hasn’t changed is my, and the people at IES’ commitment to helping you design buildings that are more energy efficient. I have been working in this field for nearly thirty years and it is great to see our work being used on more and more projects throughout the world. So much so that the accumulated impact of your work with our software has avoided numerous power stations being built.

So IES are not jumping on the ‘green’ bandwagon – we don’t do ‘Greenwash’. We have been innovating at the vanguard of the sustainability movement since we started in 1994 and several of us for many years before that. We have made dramatic changes and we will continue to innovate and work with you to provide tools that help you achieve your sustainability objectives.

This is why I am so excited about our new plug-in to Google SketchUp. There are a vast number of SketchUp users throughout the world that use this fantastic tool at the early stages of the design process but who don’t have access to building analysis software. This reduces the potential for much better sustainable designs as the maximum impact is achieved at the early stages. Now with our plug-in SketchUp users have access to tools that facilitate analysis from the massing model and throughout the design process. This is a massive breakthrough and will revolutionise sustainable design.

I am also extremely excited about the ability this gives for anyone to undertake sustainable design for FREE. SketchUp is free and our VE-Ware is free. So anyone can build a SketchUp model and quickly assess its annual energy consumption and carbon emissions with internationally recognised building thermal simulation tools.

If you don’t already have SketchUp and VE-Ware then install them and try for yourself. You have nothing to lose.

Cya

Don

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Tags:sketchup, VE-Ware, Welcome