Customized environmental performance analysis provides specific output to help create sustainable designs

Boston – October 20, 2009 – Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), a provider of integrated performance analysis software for sustainable building design, today announced MCW Consultants Ltd. has selected its IES for use on three projects. With direct plug-ins to Autodesk Revit and Google SketchUp™, IES’ software tools provide MCW Consultants Ltd. customized environmental performance analysis for fast, easy-to-implement, sustainable engineering and design.

The first project is a new 230,000 ft2 speculative office tower which is targeting LEED Gold certification. On this project, MCW Consultants Ltd. is using IES to perform LEED energy modelling and evaluate design options. In the early stages, IES’ energy model was used to advise the architect on their envelope design based on energy consumption and peak loads. The same model is now being used to evaluate HVAC equipment. It will also be used for the LEED submission to the U.S. Green Building Council.

The second project is a major renovation of an existing senior citizens facility. The building systems are being redesigned/upgraded to make the building at least 40 percent more energy-efficient than the Canadian Model National Energy Code for Buildings. MCW Consultants Ltd. is using IES to size the equipment and evaluate the energy performance during the design stage. This building will feature many unique systems, including ground source heat pumps, heat recovery, superior building envelope components and low wattage lighting.


The third project is an education centre and animal hospital, which is an existing LEED Gold building. MCW Consultants Ltd. has used IES to size equipment for energy retrofits and upgrades, such as a ground source heat exchanger and changes in building operation. The model geometry was created in Revit and imported via gbXML.


“We selected IES as part of an overall shift toward Building Information Modelling (BIM),” said Brian Tysoe, M.Sc., LEED AP and Building Simulation Specialist for MCW Consultants Ltd. “The established methodology of performing manual takeoffs to do load calculations with one program, and energy modelling with another program is extremely time consuming and repetitive. IES allows us to use a common model for both of these tasks, and the interoperability of IES with SketchUp and Revit allows for a more iterative process, where we can get involved in design at an earlier stage of the project.”


MCW Consultants Ltd. is using a range of IES solutions on these projects, including ApacheSim, ApacheLoads, ApacheHVAC, RadianceIES and MicroFlo. ApacheSim to perform hour-by-hour simulation; ApacheLoads to size equipment; ApacheHVAC to create detailed HVAC network models; RadianceIES to produce high quality, photorealistic images of the buildings and analyze daylight levels; MicroFlo to visualize air movement and temperature stratification; and Apache Constructions Database Manager to evaluate condensation in exterior wall constructions.


“Our software tools enable designers and engineers to customize their analysis, providing them with specific output to fit their needs and identify solutions for the questions they are investigating,” said Kevin Settlemyre, president of IES North America. “Combined with the integration directly with Revit and SketchUp, MCW Consultants Ltd. is able to make and evaluate changes throughout the process. We are providing them with the tools to design high performance buildings in a shorter period of time, while assisting to facilitate an integrated design process and on into operations.”


About Integrated Environmental Solutions

Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) Ltd. is an innovative company at the forefront of the use and development of powerful software simulation tools which help architects, engineers, facilities managers, and all those involved in the development and management of buildings design and maintain truly sustainable properties. IES was established in June 1994 and is headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, with offices in Dublin, Eire; Boston and San Francisco, USA and Melbourne, Australia. IES’ services and products aid significantly in the provision of healthier and more energy efficient built environments. For additional information, please visit www.iesve.com



About MCW Consultants Ltd.

MCW Consultants Ltd. is a Mechanical & Electrical Consulting Engineering Firm, which was formed in 1964. The firm is wholly owned by 21 active Canadian Shareholders and employs over 300 people across Canada – comprising 59 Registered Professional Engineers and 35 LEED Accredited Professionals. MCW has offices in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Kelowna, Trail, Moncton, St. John, Halifax and Cayman Islands.



MCW Consultants Ltd. has a successful history of providing new building design, building renewal design, new infrastructure design and infrastructure renewal design services. The MCW Group of Companies have created the largest block of verified carbon emissions savings of any Canadian Consulting firm. For more than a decade MCW Consultants Ltd., and its sister company, MCW Custom Energy Solutions Ltd. has been providing sustainable building designs with the goal to permanently REDUCE OUR CLIENTS’ ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT. Learn more at www.mcw.com