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Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) Virtual Environment
As I have arrived at the design office the Mechanical section has just got a new design program called IES (https://www.iesve.com/). Until now they have been using a manufacturer specific free to use program which obviously comes with some significant restraints, mainly that you can only use that manufacturers equipment. It seems they have been using this for some time to estimate design loads for the LEED reports which seems very inefficient to me!
I have been tasked with learning how to use IES, teaching it to the rest of the section and using it to complete the Mechanical 65% design for a fire station. One of the main focuses of using IES is that it will generate the LEED report based on what I design in the program, perfect for hitting my sustainable development competency! Appropriately the IES tagline is “Make every element of your building sustainable”.
So has anybody had any experience with IES? If so, any pointers on some good tutorials?
Is IES any good? How does it perform compared to other programs anyone has experience with?
Also, what design programs are people using outside of AutoCAD and Revit?
UK Spec – Sustainable Development
Jambo’s comment on A Blog on Blogging below has actually given me the inspiration for my first blog!
Working over in the ‘freest country on earth’ sustainable development just hasn’t come up as an area to gain experience. In order to be so free Americans avoid Federal Government ‘meddling’ as much as possible leaving it to the states and individual counties, which business then takes advantage of. Examples can be easily found in H&S as well as environmental impacts of how this can cause a race to the bottom in certain areas.
The only time I have seen sustainable development is a tick box form to question if light bulbs meet minimal efficiency standards and if the manufacturer uses sustainable methods where Unknown was an acceptable answer. This form was a requirement as it is a government contract however nobody was interested in the answers, just that the form was complete.
How are others getting on with this competence?
Is sustainable development taken seriously in the UK and Aus, or just individual projects (if at all)?
@bnrbwoods, I expect BP aim to have buzzwords like sustainable development covered off to help with their image? Is this realistically a tough sell?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all!
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