Aviara East | Located at Pompano Beach, Florida
In brief, Aviara East comprises of 3 buildings – an eight story residential building (271,000 SF), six story mixed use building (80,000 SF), and a single-story recreation building (10,000 SF). Residential Building has parking slots at ground floor followed by residential units on floors above, mixed use building has commercial space on ground floor followed by residential units on floors above.

SERVICES OFFERED
Having a remarkable track record of successfully delivering Revit architecture and structure modeling including sheet preparation scope, AEODC was brought on board to deliver the defined scope with quick turnaround at LOD 350 within a tight time-frame of 6.5 to 7.5 weeks.

The scope of work included in the project:

Revit Modeling: Creating detailed 3D models of the architectural and structural services using Autodesk Revit software.
Architecture & Structure Sheet Preparation: Generating accurate and comprehensive construction documents, including plans, elevations, sections, and details.
 

PROJECT CHALLENGES
The project presented several complex challenges, including:

Tight Deadlines: The project construction timeline demanded efficient workflows and rigorous project management.
Interdisciplinary Coordination: Coordinating among multiple disciplines such as civil, architecture and structure discipline required meticulous planning and communication.
Model Complexity: The large scale and intricate architecture design of the project necessitated robust BIM methodologies and advanced software tools.
 

STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTED
The strategies implemented for successfully delivering the project:

Optimized Workflows: Leveraging advanced Revit plug-ins and streamlined workflows to maximize productivity.
Collaborative Approach: Fostering strong collaboration between the design and construction team to ensure timely issue resolution of critical RFI’s using project documentation software’s such as Procore.
Quality Assurance: Implementing rigorous quality control measures to maintain accuracy and consistency throughout the project.
 

By successfully addressing these challenges, AEODC successfully delivered the defined scope within timeline that facilitated efficient construction by minimizing costly errors and delays in record time at site.

Aviara East, Florida

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Import 3D for Autodesk Revit is a robust extension engineered to translate external 3D models into native Revit geometry and material definitions. It accelerates development of custom components and detailed entourage by reusing models produced in other 3D applications or sourced from online asset libraries. This approach streamlines family creation and project setup by eliminating redundant modeling tasks and maintaining design consistency across disciplines 
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With a single-click operation users can import complete mesh models including embedded materials directly into project environments or family templates. Import 3D automatically detects and groups imported geometry into existing Revit materials based on color and transparency properties. Intelligent material sorting ensures that furniture entourage mechanical parts and site elements retain their intended appearance without additional manual mapping 


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The extension supports all industry-standard exchange formats including glTF Wavefront OBJ and Collada DAE. This broad format compatibility lets teams leverage 3D assets created in SketchUp Blender Rhino and other modeling tools without file conversion overhead. Import 3D functions seamlessly in both project and family editing modes to accommodate architects mechanical engineers landscape designers and visualization specialists 

Licensing and deployment are tailored for both individual practitioners and enterprise teams. Import 3D is available as a desktop license or multi-user floating license through the archi web store with secure checkout provided by Stripe. Each license includes a fully functional seven-day trial and ships with a demonstration Wavefront file that can be loaded using the integrated Load Demo button to evaluate performance on custom workflows. The installer is digitally signed and uses a custom setup routine independent of the standard Autodesk installer to ensure full compatibility with virtual desktop environments. Version twenty-four point four adds robust vertex referencing support to handle a wider variety of OBJ file specifications and extends stability in large model scenarios. The plugin is compatible with Autodesk Revit versions two thousand twenty through two thousand twenty-five running on Windows x sixty-four with a download size of approximately two point eight megabytes. Comprehensive user documentation and a dedicated online forum are available for self-paced learning. Archi technical support can be reached via email and community channels to assist with deployment and customization within existing BIM standards 

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ASHRAE are one of the foremost industry pioneers in the decarbonization of the built environment and their new global Headquarters building in Atlanta, renovated to operate as a net-zero-energy (NZE) building, is testament to this. The project design team, which includes IESVE users, Integral Group, employed a range of innovative design strategies to achieve this net-zero energy ready building.

Subsequent building performance analysis from a group of ASHRAE Technical Committee 4.1 Members, including IES’ Liam Buckley, highlighted some of the simulation-aided design analysis on this ASHRAE Headquarters building. The following overview summarizes the many innovative categories worth highlighting from the project, in which an IESVE building performance model was able to support.


(1)   Net-Zero Energy Building

ASHRAE’s new headquarters is designed to operate as an all-electric at Net-Zero Energy (NZE) building, thanks to the installation of a 332-kW photovoltaic (PV) system. The PV system is a combination of three sub-arrays, which are sub-metered in the Building Energy Model shown below:

187 kW ballasted rooftop array on east & west wings
65 kW ground mount on a south-facing hill adjacent to the building
81 kW ground mount situated in an unused section of a car parking area

(2)   Simulation throughout Design Phases

Thanks to the PV installation, a limiting Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 21 kBtu/ft2 was targeted for this existing building refurbishment.  Iterative design options throughout the design phases resulted in a range of low-energy solutions. These include:  

A reconfigured window-to-wall ratio (WWR) and 18 new skylights.
Common Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems (DOAS) for outdoor air ventilation, coupled with enthalpy heat recovery.
Radiant panels and Ceiling Fans.
Demand Control Ventilation (DCV) in high occupancy spaces and Displacement Ventilation (DV).
Six water source-heat pumps (WSHPs)

(3)   Optimized Load Calculations using the ASHRAE Heat Balance Method

For over 20 years, ASHRAE has recommended the Heat Balance (HB) Method as the preferred method for calculating heating & cooling loads. With such a low-energy target in mind, a considerate zoning strategy and accurate load calculations are very important.  Included in the load’s analysis:

Horizontal and vertical solar shading on most windows.
Sensible Loads analysis at the zone and Latent Loads Analysis at the AHU.
Heat gains from the reversible ceiling fans.
Analysis of Adaptive Thermal Comfort for Occupants and Operative Temperature.
(4)   Exceptional Daylight Performance (Spatial Daylight Autonomy, sDA)

Of the many daylighting metrics available, Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA) likely best considers the annual sufficiency of indoor daylight levels. In the in regularly occupied spaces of the ASHRAE HQ, the working plane analysis areas are considered for sDA, for the percentage that meets a minimum illuminance level of 300 lux, for 50% of the operational hours per year. The 18 new skylights provide an exceptional daylight performance, which is especially impressive considering the simultaneous requirements from a thermal/energy perspective





ASHRAE Headquarters - Net-Zero Energy Building Design

Over the last 30+ years, IES has built a solid reputation as the leading global innovator in integrated performance-based analysis for the built environment.

The IES Virtual Environment (IESVE) is a powerful, in-depth suite of building performance analysis tools. It enables the design and operation of low/zero carbon, healthy and comfortable buildings. Whether working on a new build or renovation project, IESVE allows designers to test different options, identify best passive solutions, compare low-carbon & renewable technologies, and draw conclusions on energy use, CO2 emissions, occupant comfort, and much more.
There are various applications in the suite; each designed to provide sustainable analysis at levels suitable for different design team members and design stages. All utilize our Apache dynamic thermal simulation engine, and an integrated central data model. 

Building Energy Modeling (BEM) with the IES Virtual Environment software is the perfect industry design tool for electrification and decarbonization of the built environment. Various design strategies are available with decarbonization as an end goal, such as: passive design, energy conservation, energy efficiency, electrification, incorporating renewable energy technology, or energy storage.

From optimizing room and zone loads to detailed HVAC system and equipment sizing, IESVE HVAC software offers the most practical, efficient, and accurate tools available. IESVE can quickly and easily undertake CIBSE & ASHRAE heating and cooling loads calculations, with efficient inputs for 3D geometry, envelope, internal gains, external design conditions and location. Minimum ventilation requirements can be included, or local code minimum ventilation can be utilized. Reports can be generated in either spreadsheet or PDF format, and can be shared to help gain insights from in-depth results analysis, or iterate on building design. These calculations transition seamlessly into detailed HVAC system sizing and optimization.

IESVE can also be utilized for quick and easy CFD airflow simulation. An existing IESVE model can be used for early stage CFD simulations, without needing to import further data or export into other tools. MicroFlo-CFD performs ‘snapshot’ CFD simulation by importing boundary conditions from APACHE’s dynamic simulation, or allows manual boundary conditions to be added. Ventilation from passive sources (e.g. operable windows) or mechanical devices (e.g. diffusers) can be included in these simulations. MicroFlo-CFD can be utilized for a range of CFD use cases, such as: passive natural ventilation design, passive atrium design, data center design, hospital operating room design, HVAC design for occupant thermal comfort, external wind studies, or normal use ventilation of car parks.

There is also the option within IESVE to utilize Parametric Simulation. This feature empowers users to compare a large range of design possibilities, be it for a single-variant design study or a multi-parameter whole-building design perspective. The Parametric Simulation feature has access to a large number of model variables and is integrated into the full range of APACHE’s links (Solar, Daylight, Airflow, Loads/Sizing and HVAC Systems). Over a thousand permutations are possible with one model. 

With the IESVE software, you can undertake daylighting for LEED and BREEAM, electric lighting design, glare prediction, daylight harvesting, daylight autonomy, user-specified visualizations. IESVE can ensure good natural daylight and visual comfort, reduce lighting gains, and test how your lighting designs will look and perform. Daylight, sunlight and overshadowing analysis can be carried out, with results generated for climate-based daylight modeling and daylight autonomy. For lighting design, daylight harvesting and dimming control assessments can also be undertaken. All of this combined can help you meet the requirements of local codes and best practice guides. 

Complex solar shading calculations can also be undertaken within IESVE, to determine how solar rays pass through both external and internal openings.  The path of the sun is tracked across rooms and atriums into internal space allowing the exact location and impact of solar gain to be understood. Internal and external solar shading devices can be tested, along with assessing the shading or right to light impact of surrounding buildings and terrain. Any solar shading calculations can then inform Loads Calculations and Energy Simulations. 

IES also offers unrivalled interoperability with other CAD design and analysis tools. The smooth and robust two-way information exchange between IESVE and BIM platforms speeds up the design process and facilitates digital design. 

Virtual Environment (IESVE)

Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (AEI) were contracted as the MEP Engineers for this 32,000sf mass timber architectural teaching facility with a metalwork, 3D printing and high bay workshop, auditorium, teaching studios and ancillary support spaces.

AEI used the IESVE to carry out detailed performance modelling of the building and its systems to ensure optimal energy efficiency, occupant comfort, and that it delivered against the University’s high aspirations for sustainable performance but remained within the project’s budget.

Central to the build design was the unique profiled roof and its ability to drive a stack natural ventilation of the high bay workshop to deliver passive cooling and ventilation requirements per ASHRAE 62.1-2019. In coordination with Grafton and Modus (project architects), the location and size of the apertures were integrated into the fenestration. IESVE Macroflo was used to test and optimize the natural ventilation system design, with IESVE Microflo supporting to validate the airflow patterns and distribution across the large volume. The CFD studies were used to identify thermal comfort concerns for upper level gallery space adjacent to the large atrium, with the thermal line of the building changed to mitigate potential issues.

“From the commencement of the project IESVE provided the ability to create complex geometry, allowed the team to quickly iterate building forms and shading solutions. As well as model a range of different HVAC strategies, including geothermal heating and cooling, VRF and the final selection of a dual wheel DOAS and air source heat pump with heat recovery. Throughout the project, IESVE was used to optimize the insulation and glazing performance and for load sizing of the HVAC equipment.”
Joss Hurford, Building Performance Engineer, Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
 

Affiliated Engineers Inc. - Detailed Energy Modelling

Since 2020, UMC’s Building Analysis & Modeling team has been expanding their use of IESVE to deliver the best in whole-building performance simulation for their clients across several impressive projects. 

In fact, IESVE has now become an essential tool for the UMC team across a whole spectrum of new construction and retrofit projects delivered across the UMC business. 

For the Engineering group, which deals largely with new construction, this can encompass a wide variety of building performance studies, but will most typically involve providing detailed loads calculations, natural ventilation, and shading studies, to help inform their design decisions. Using IESVE’s load analysis tools has proved particularly invaluable for the team, allowing them to perform everything from room and zone loads optimization studies, through to detailed HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system and equipment sizing. This enables their team to design more accurately and right-size their clients’ systems, to avoid unnecessarily high energy consumption and capital costs.

Within the scope of UMC’s Energy & Environment division, the modeling team is often required to support the testing of different energy efficiency measures for retrofit clients. Here, they will use IESVE to produce highly accurate models, calibrated with real data from the existing buildings, to provide a reliable baseline matching the real building's performance as closely as possible. These calibrated models can then be used to run simulations incorporating potentially dozens of different energy optimization measures, ultimately allowing UMC to deliver a report to the client that will help them compare all the different solutions available to them and formulate a detailed energy management and retrofit plan. Very often, this process will highlight simple adjustments that can be made to a building’s operation, allowing the client to achieve immediate savings which can free up funds for any deeper energy efficiency investments that may be required.

Some of UMC’s more recent projects have even expanded into looking at district energy systems and opportunities to recover waste heat, to help deliver energy savings at the community scale. With the mounting pressure of net-zero energy targets and a growing trend towards distributed energy systems, these services are proving increasingly valuable to UMC’s clients.

The following is one example of the innovative projects UMC has delivered recently, with the help of IESVE.

Calibrated Modeling of Overlake Medical Center

Overlake Medical Center brings best-in-class, modern healthcare to Seattle’s growing Eastside. For this project, UMC was able to apply IESVE and their expertise in Building Analysis and Modeling to help the medical center identify energy efficiency measures and paths to compliance with the Washington State Clean Buildings Standard (CBS).

The UMC team began by conducting a comprehensive energy audit of the entire facility, identifying trends across all of the medical center’s current systems, equipment and scheduling while taking account of other key factors, such as occupancy. During the audit, the team found that significant opportunities existed to improve Overlake’s current Energy Use Intensity (EUI).

Using the data gathered from the audit, UMC was able to produce a highly accurate model, calibrated within a 4% range of the facility’s recent utility data. This meant that UMC and their client could be confident in the accuracy of the results produced.

UMC then used the calibrated model to simulate and analyze a range of possible energy efficiency measures for Overlake, including scheduling improvements for equipment that was operating 24/7 and even waste heat recovery. They outlined over 40 interventions the medical center would need to prioritize to comply with the CBS, amounting to a potential 45% reduction in Overlake’s total energy consumption. 

“What I like about IESVE Software is that it is continuously improving its features so that recent technologies can be modeled. There are always new features we can utilize to make our models more accurate and useful in their real-life application. Our main reason for choosing IESVE was the detail of the analysis that can be achieved, from the geometry, through to loads, shading effects, and natural ventilation. We have also received a lot of great feedback on how detailed and visual the reports that we pull out of the software are, which makes it easy for our clients to understand the impact of the measures we are proposing.”

David Park, Building Analysis & Modeling Manager, UMC

UMC - Calibrated Energy Modeling & Analysis

The atrium of the Engineering II building represents a unique space, with students passing through 24 hours a day for their studies and research projects.

With the goal of creating a “home-away-from-home” environment, University officials sought to renovate the building to be a place where students and faculty could feel comfortable and experience natural daylight, views and ventilation. Officials also wanted the atrium to be highly efficient, keeping carbon emissions and energy costs to a minimum.

With students and faculty occupying the building at all times of the day, officials were faced with a particularly difficult challenge: ventilating the atrium while maximizing the use of daylight to naturally light the space. A stringent temperature comfort range meant both daylighting and ventilation had to integrate flawlessly, as the minimum temperature could not drop below 66 degrees Fahrenheit and the maximum could not exceed 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

University officials enlisted Ambient Energy, a consulting and engineering firm specializing in sustainable technologies and building, for the renovation. Using IESVE, Ambient Energy engineers were able to test and verify the architectural and passive strategy concepts for the atrium before implementing them. Initially, wind and climate analysis gave a better understanding of how natural factors would impact the building. Analyses showed that because of varied wind direction, natural ventilation would rely predominantly on buoyancy instead of wind driven data.

By providing tangible data early in the schematic redesign process, IESVE provided designers and their clients with a way to test and verify their building efficiency theories before putting them into practice. This led to the effective utilization of skylights and natural ventilation to improve daylighting, cooling and energy efficiency in the atrium. Ambient Energy has been using IES’ software for several years and utilized its capabilities on many projects to prove concepts and radically reduce building energy consumption.

“VE for Engineers is one of the only tools that can provide integrated daylight, thermal and mixed-mode ventilation analysis in great detail, which allowed us to test the integration of all components across the year.”

Linda Morrison, Building Performance Team Leader,  Ambient Energy

Colorado State University - Daylight, Thermal and Mixed-mode Ventilation Modelling

Since 2012, Chicago-based consulting firm, Cyclone Energy Group, have been providing analysis, cutting-edge insights, and practical solutions for achieving energy efficiency at all stages of the commercial building life cycle. During this time, they have used IESVE software on between 400-500 models, to help deliver the best results for their clients.

As many of their projects involve extremely complex high-rise buildings, Cyclone Energy Group required a reliable software tool which could handle the complexity of such buildings and their unique systems. With a major focus of their services centring around code compliance, LEED and systems modelling, they found IESVE to be the most comprehensive suite of energy modelling software to provide the capabilities and level of technical detail which their projects require.

Most of Cyclone’s projects begin with geometry creation in IESVE’s ModelIT tool. This has been particularly useful for many of their large-scale high-rise projects, where they have found the capacity of other modelling software to be too limited. ModelIT has also become their go-to geometry tool for Californian Title24 compliance projects. The  detailed geometry option for Title24 can be especially challenging. While a common approach involves building the geometry in one tool, then translating in another before it can be read by the Californian government’s CBECC-Com platform, the Cyclone team have found this approach to be fairly time consuming, due to the amount of debugging required at each stage of the geometry transfer. Instead, they create all of their geometry in ModelIT and export the XML file directly to CBECC-Com, eliminating the level of debugging typically required. In fact, Cyclone estimate that this approach has helped them make time savings of approximately 50% on their Title24 projects.

The Navigators embedded within the software - in particular the ASHRAE 90.1 and LEED navigators – have also helped make life much easier for the Cyclone team when delivering LEED and code compliance projects. This has been especially true for their entry-level modellers, providing them with a step-by-step workflow to streamline their projects and take a lot of the pain out of what may otherwise be a fairly complex learning process.

However, the favourite application of Cyclone’s team is ApacheHVAC. Most other energy modelling software tools on the market do not offer logic level controls, meaning the user simply selects a generic system type, assigns the zone and then runs the simulation. However, this approach is not adequate for reliable modelling of complex HVAC systems and can often lead to inaccuracy in the end results. IES’ ApacheHVAC tool provides a much more detailed and customizable approach, allowing the user to model almost any type of HVAC design, using logic level controls to generate reliable results and simulate aspects such as plant level heat transfer and chiller plant. This capability is particularly important to Cyclone when dealing with detail-oriented clients and is a level of functionality which the team have found to be rare in the market.

The ability to perform a wide range of different analyses from a single platform is another added benefit to Cyclone. Recently, they have noticed a growing demand for daylight simulation studies which the RadianceIES tool has enabled them to provide. This has been particularly useful for LEED applications, including Spatial Daylight
Autonomy (sDA) and Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE) calculations, as well as glare possibility studies. Meanwhile, the VE’s airflow applications – MicroFlo and MacroFlo
– have enabled them to include building type CFD and other airflow analyses within their services, with recent project examples including a chiller plant temperature
distribution study and a wind analysis of an office building, looking at wind directed odors to outdoor air louvers.

Cyclone are clearly passionate about providing accurate results for their clients and the results analysis capabilities of VistaPro, they believe, help them achieve this - especially when it comes to debugging HVAC systems components within a model. Through a combination of high-quality visualisations and comparisons, and the ability to evaluate how the design operates on a step-by-step basis, the team can easily pick up errors and deliver reliable results to their clients with confidence.

“For us, reliability is key. We have explored other modelling tools in the past but have never felt like those are capable of doing what we as a business need. I’ve trained several modellers now and always tell them, to model in a detailed and technical way, go for IES.”

Allen Mei, Building Analyst, Cyclone Energy Group

Cyclone Energy Group - Energy Modelling for LEED, Code Compliance & Net-Zero

Higher education institution in Northern California

Zero Envy used IESVE to achieve 46% less Time Dependant Valuation (TDV) energy than Title 24, equating to $400,000 cost savings per year for this 95,000 sf new construction project. The project was also awarded $150,000 utility incentive which is the maximum available via the statewide incentive program for energy efficiency ‘Savings by Design’. This incentive helped to cover modeling and other design costs.

Using IESVE, the Zero Envy team modeled and advised on the implementation of the following energy efficiency measures:

Unique 4-pipe VAV terminal units: Adds a chilled water coil to terminal unit with a changeover valve & piping arrangement. This allows the AHU supply air temperature (SAT) to “float” in a wider range without jeopardizing zonal temperature and significantly reducing wasteful sub-cooling and reheat energy.
 
VAV lab exhaust was applied to all laboratory zones, regardless of minimum air change requirements. This allows zones to use reduced minimum airflow rates during the majority of hours as it can increase as needed based on increased ventilation demand (e.g. fume hood sashes being raised) or heating/ cooling demand.
This project is also pursuing LEED certification, and is on track to achieve a Gold rating.

Medical Research Facility in Southern California:

Using IESVE, the Zero Envy team were able to achieve 38% less Time Dependant Valuation (TDV) energy than Title 24, equating to $170,000 cost savings per year for this 60,000 sf existing building. The project was also awarded $500,000 utility incentive which is the maximum available for exceptional projects via the statewide incentive program for energy efficiency ‘Savings by Design’. This incentive helped to cover modeling and other design costs.

Using IESVE, the Zero Envy team modeled and advised on the implementation of the following energy efficiency measures:

VAV lab exhaust (very similar to higher education institution project, except that it utilized the centralized DCV system as described below)
 
Centralized DCV system - This system provides a centralized air quality monitoring station and pneumatic tubing that extracts air from each individual room, tests it for various contaminants, and can raise alarms and controls the building automation system (BAS). The BAS uses concentrations to increase airflow rates to zones that need it - either from CO2 rise from occupants or more harmful contaminants.

“California’s prescribed software and simulation engine does not accommodate the modeling of many features used in advanced building designs, including the major efficiency measures used in both of these case study projects. For this reason, our team chose to use the VE for its ability to handle custom systems and detailed tuning of HVAC sequences. In general, the VE allows us to model and inform most buildings and systems without constraint.”
Greg Collins Principal Engineer, Zero Envy

“Design innovations are becoming increasingly more challenging to model and quantify benefits for our clients. Utilizing VE helped quantify the performance benefits that our clients received from these novel designs.”
Nathan Ho Associate Principal, P2S Engineering*

* Zero Envy worked in partnership with P2S Engineering, the design engineer for both projects



Zero Envy - Title 24 Energy Code Compliance

The McDonalds’s restaurant in Orlando, Florida combines modern architecture with technology to create enough renewable energy on-site to cover its energy needs on a net annual basis. Its aim is ultimate efficiency in energy usage and performance.

To help the popular restaurant group achieve this, WSP used IESVE to conduct detailed and extensive energy analysis to help inform the design and ensure it was on track for net-zero targets. This was particularly challenging due to the high Energy Use Intensity (EUI) level that you would expect from this building type. Most projects pursuing net-zero have lower EUI and for the most part improving the efficiency of the building envelope is enough to reach net-zero. However, for this project the team had to think outside the box and go above and beyond usual strategies.

IESVE was instrumental to this as it allowed WSP to model complicated scenarios and carry out really extensive analysis, including natural ventilation, detailed modelling of the kitchen equipment, including the different controls, and setting up the advanced VRF system that serves the space. 

The IESVE facilitated an integrative design process where the WSP team worked closely with the Architect and were able to quickly edit the model geometry in line with changes to the design and get results to make informed decisions throughout. Getting accurate results was particularly important to this project as they had to size the PV panels based on the results from the energy analysis, and they found IESVE very reliable for this. 

Another challenge for the team, was investigating Passive strategies. Orlando has a very hot climate, so the team had to explore possibilities to reduce solar gains in the project. IESVE was used to analyse shading strategies, different geometries and different facades to measure and control solar gains. 

Other passive strategies such as natural ventilation was tested in MacroFlo. The WSP team found it useful to have a simple version of CFD to measure how natural ventilation and different openings were helping and how to reduce cooling consumption in the building. The hot climate meant that cooling was definitely one of the big end uses for the project. From the beginning the Architect wanted to use natural ventilation where possible, so WSP ran analysis to see how many openings were needed and where, which was all made possible using MacroFlo.

It was decided to use a Hybrid HVAC system which is a combination of VRF and natural ventilation. The team were impressed with the ability to model this complex system in IESVE, noting that no other tool could detail a system like this and switch between natural ventilation and mechanical air conditioning.

Modeling the kitchen equipment loads was challenging for the team. As previously mentioned, the energy-use for the project is very high, with the kitchen equipment accounting for almost half of the total energy. Another goal of the project was electrification, so all the kitchen equipment is electric including the grills and fryers which use a lot of energy. The building will serve thousands of meals a day and Disney World is a crowded place all year.

For calculating the kitchen equipment, WSP sub-metered another McDonald’s restaurant project to figure out the schedule of each piece of equipment and they then created a schedule for them in the IESVE. This was useful as they discovered that grills and fryers were not running all day even though it is a 24/7 restaurant. Using actual real-time data and translating it to include better scheduling in IESVE for each piece of equipment enabled the team to lower the energy result at the end of the project and also understand better which equipment is using the most energy. 

With the high volume of meals being served, even the heat gain from the food has an impact on the space. WSP included the food as a load in the VE so they were capturing that for the cooling consumption in addition to the usual occupancy and other sensible latent loads for the space. Fans were also incorporated to accelerate natural ventilation.

The final result was one of the first net-zero projects that has had this level of energy intensity. The 8,024 square-foot restaurant features an expansive, v-shaped solar-paneled roof and photovoltaic glass panels integrated throughout the building. Green, plant-covered walls absorb CO2, promoting biodiversity and retaining water. Louvers open and close automatically ‘inhaling” cool air in and “exhaling” warm air out. Solar parking lot lights help offset more than 9,000 kWh per year.

To solidify the restaurant’s Net Zero Energy status, the project is pursuing the International Living Future Institute’s Zero Energy Certification. Data and learnings from the restaurant will also inform McDonald’s global sustainability efforts, including progressing toward the company’s science-based target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36% in restaurants and offices by 2030 compared to a 2015 base year.

This global flagship restaurant will now serve as a learning hub for McDonald’s to test solutions for reducing energy and water use, a testament to the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainable innovation.

“This was a very exciting project with aggressive net-zero targets and a real passion to meet these goals. The design process was truly integrative and holistic and required a software that enabled this. We believe IESVE is the only software available to truly enable this. For this project, the analysis was so in-depth and extensive that we used all the energy applications – ApacheSim, ApacheHVAC, MacroFlo, and Suncast. A great benefit was the ability to model the openings and how they open up in great detail in IESVE. Being able to set up the actual control profiles and tie that to the actual sequence of operation for the project is crucial when it comes to natural ventilation, as most of the time software will use default controls that wouldn’t be used in reality. In IES we were able to match that precisely to the sequence of operation in reality or an accurate measurement.”

Mohammad H. Abbasi  
WELL Faculty & AP, CPHC, RESET, LEED AP, Assoc.AIA
Building Performance Consultant 

McDonalds Restaurant Orlando - Net-Zero Energy Building Design

Using architectural drawings to create a 3D model of the building, VE Solutions were able to use the IES VE to consider how heat conduction from people, lighting, the sun and through the building itself would affect comfort levels.

When it came to right-sizing the HVAC equipment, many different parameters affecting performance and comfort levels were considered. The resulting 3D model meant VE Solutions could really visualise the space and analyse specific areas of concern in more detail, in a way not possible with just a spreadsheet full of data.

As well as reducing the cost of the HVAC equipment, the integrated nature of the VE modules and their ability to handle heavy load calculations and hourly data, meant that VE Solutions could more accurately size equipment to optimise performance by room.

As well as providing ample cooling on a hot day, right-sized fan coil units de-humidify more effectively on a humid day. That was very important to the Four Seasons because New York gets very humid in the summer and oversized equipment won’t take out the moisture.

“The VE has taken our ability to value engineer HVAC systems to a new level. The sophisticated way the ApacheSim, ApacheHVAC and SunCast modules integrate together enabled us to gain a better understanding of the building loads, which helped us reduce HVAC costs while actually improving the comfort of the building. We were able to reduce the amount of equipment, ductwork and piping required, significantly reducing costs and contributing to the client’s goal to start construction this year.”

Eugene Siterman, Managing Director, VE Solutions Group

Four Seasons Hotel - HVAC Analysis

Boca Raton Regional Hospital is currently undergoing an extensive retrofit which includes the new Gloria Drummond Patient Tower as its centrepiece, due to be completed in 2025. The seven-story facility will include retail, dining and meeting space, as well as a sanctuary, and outdoor courtyards. Beyond the tower, other enhancements to the hospital campus include the conversion of all existing patient rooms to private, as well as comprehensive renovations to all units including maternity, oncology and orthopaedics.

The IESVE is officially approved by the Florida Building Commission as a code compliance software tool and utilizes the ASHRAE 90.1-2016 Appendix G Performance Rating Method compliance procedure as a method in the 2020 Florida Energy Code. Using the IES Navigator technology within IESVE, TLC was able to quickly and easily step through the process of creating the proposed building model with numerous Energy Conservation Measure (ECM) options such as series counterflow chillers, bespoke shading elements customized by façade, dehumidification air handling units, and complex controls strategies to name a few. The Navigator also allowed them to auto-generate the baseline/budget building model, and auto-generate all the required reports.

IESVE was also used to quickly and accurately generate all of the loads for the project, taking into account ASHRAE Standard 170, 62.1, and calculating heating/ cooling loads. The TLC team also modelled each of the various shading elements to reduce the solar load to near zero on the exterior patient rooms as illustrated below.

By implementing the suggested Energy Conservation Measures the hospital would achieve 40.22% energy savings.

“The team used IESVE to quickly provide quantitative analysis on the exterior and MEP systems of the building. The speed at which we could make model adjustments and rerun to get results, allowed us to study each iteration of ECM fully and completely to optimize which ones would provide the owner the most value to implement.”
Anthony Scaccia, Associate, TLC Engineering Solutions

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