Sketchup with Energy Modeling

Sketch is a great tool for architects and engineers to figure out the energy performance of a building early in the design stage.

Sketchup contains IES VE plug-ins(VE-Ware, VE-Toolkits VE-Gaia and VE-Pro) which facilitates sustainable & energy-efficient building design by analyzing a building’s energy performance, carbon dioxide emissions, daylighting, air flow, solar analysis etc. It can be used on new builds, refurbishment projects and in-use evaluation to answer key sustainable design questions.

With the help of sketchup architects and designers perform energy modeling and create concept models into their design process as early as possible.

The sketchup plug-ins helps designers and architects to categorize window size, room type, orientation, building location, and materials to take the multi-disciplinary decision making of an integrated design process.

The plug-ins also facilitate design iterations in the areas of energy, carbon, water, climate impact, solar and daylight analysis early in the design phase that leads to a low-cost, high quality solution for sustainable building.

Download SketchUp and installed the IES SketchUp Plug-In. After that build a new SketchUp model or start with one of IES’s models. You have to define the building’s location and function including its HVAC system, envelope, and the distribution of specific spaces all through the structure. The plug-in will then calculate its energy performance in contrast to an average U.S. building and to 2030 Challenge targets for that building type.