The IES Virtual Environment (IESVE) has been officially approved for compliance with the state of Minnesota’s Sustainable Building 2030 (SB 2030) Energy Standard.
The standard requires all Minnesota state bond funded projects built after 2015 to be 70% more energy efficient than an average building. Based on the Architecture 2030 challenge, the goal is for all projects to reach net-zero by 2030.
To meet the standard, projects must use whole building energy simulation to determine the basis for the designed energy performance (kBtu/SF/Yr) and carbon emissions (lbs of CO2/SF/Yr). For construction phase documentation, as required by SB 2030, hourly building simulations will be necessary using approved software with weather data from a nearby location.
The Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR) and the Center for Energy and the Environment (CEE) have named IES as an official software provider to comply with the standard, stating that it provides adequate detail to satisfy the SB 2030 simulation requirements.
“We are very pleased to be accepted as an official software provider for this program”, said Nathan Kegel, Business Development Manager for IES. “IES has been at the forefront of sustainable building design for some time now and our software has been used to design tens of thousands of energy efficient buildings world-wide. We’re proud to be helping Minnesota projects meet the SB 2030 standard and achieve net-zero energy by 2030.”
The CEE are in the process of creating more detailed guidance on submissions and projects wishing to use IESVE prior to completion of this guidance can contact Patrick Smith for more details.
About IES
Integrated Environmental Solutions’ (IES) mission is to advance the sustainability of the world’s built environment through the use of integrated performance modelling technology, delivering resource efficient, low-energy, zero-carbon buildings and cities for future generations. For additional information, please visit www.iesve.com or www.iestap.com. You can also follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook and LinkedIn for the latest IES news, or read our blog.