Integrated Environmental Solutions is releasing a free plug-in for Google's SketchUp software that allows users to run sustainability performance simulations.
"The same type of plug-in exists for AutoDesk Revit Architecture and MEP Building Information Modeling applications, but more designers and architects use Google SketchUp in the early stages of design, when sustainability is best addressed, according to Don McLean, IES' founder and managing director. The IES Toolbar plug-in to SketchUp makes sustainability analysis tools available to a wider range of professionals earlier in the design process, he says.
While designing in SketchUp, users assign sustainable design information such as location, building and room type, construction type, and HVAC systems, then engage with IES' software tools at varying levels to produce basic or complex analyses on multiple design iterations. The VE-Ware application provides basic energy and carbon performance analysis, using the Architecture 2030 Challenge as a benchmark for performance."
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