Jun 3 2010
A unique new partnership between building performance analysis specialists Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), and developers of the fast and intuitive 3D modeling tool Google SketchUp, was announced today.
Solidifying the existing relationship between the two companies, which has been built over the last two years, this official partnership will support both parties’ drive to facilitate and encourage wide-spread, low-energy sustainable building design and to provide the worldwide audience with important tools that support this movement.
“Potentially, I think that this development could be as significant for the building design industry as the introduction of AutoCAD in the late 80’s – it might just be the catalyst to joining up environmental thinking between the architect and engineer." IES and SketchUp have taken the step to formalize a partnership agreement, following the worldwide success of the IES VE plug-in which links the four levels of VE analysis software to both the Free and Pro SketchUp platforms. SketchUp is one of the most widely used 3D design tools for early stage building design and IES VE tools are recognized as being at the cutting edge of building performance analysis and simulation. As part of the partnership, a discount on SketchUp Pro licences is being offered to all IES VE users, including users of the free IES VE-Ware energy and carbon calculation tool.
Enabling performance analysis of design iterations across a range of areas such as energy, carbon, water, climate impact, solar and daylight at very early design stages is a crucial element of achieving low-energy sustainable building design and assessing the economics of low/zero carbon technology and renewable energy use. The integration between SketchUp and IES addresses this need with a high-quality solution.
Architects at the leading edge of sustainable design are already excited by the potential of the current integration between IES and SketchUp tools; “Potentially, I think that this development could be as significant for the building design industry as the introduction of AutoCAD in the late 80’s – it might just be the catalyst to joining up environmental thinking between the architect and engineer,” states Ian Walker head of Environmental Engineering at Architects’ Broadway Malyan. “The only successful way to approach sustainable design is through integration across the entire design process.”
This official partnership demonstrates both IES and SketchUp’s continued commitment to the existing plug-in link between the two software platforms. An enhanced version of the IES VE SketchUp plug-in is due to be released later this month (June 2010). Proving a great springboard for future development, this joint willingness will help strengthen interoperability, and facilitate the addition of new features.
Dr Don McLean, Founder and CEO of IES comments: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to strengthen our relationship with Google SketchUp through this official partnership. As the need for accurate analysis tools increases throughout the world, the importance of providing low-cost, high-quality solutions increases. This partnership allows both parties to do just this, and offer a unique solution in terms of global reach, range of analysis options and suitability for different user types.”
Source: http://www.iesve.com/