Free Energy Modeling in Google SketchUp

Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) has launched a plug-in for Google SketchUp that delivers energy and carbon footprint simulations to inform early-stage design decisions. The free plug-in provides results without any additional software, although owners of IES’s Virtual Environment package or its VE-Toolkits can perform additional analyses, such as daylight or airflow modeling. The plug-in provides functionality from SketchUp that IES previously offered only from Autodesk’s Revit Architecture and Revit MEP, including documentation for the LEED daylighting credit.

Beginning with a SketchUp model, the plug-in prompts a user to define the building’s location (if it isn’t already linked to a location in Google Earth). Using a series of pull-down menus, the user assigns the building’s function, the type of mechanical system, how the building envelope is constructed, and, optionally, the uses of specific spaces within the building. Based on these definitions, the software assigns default values for typical occupancy schedules and internal energy loads.