CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

11 November 2009

Company News

Autodesk and ICF Outline Path to Achieving Carbon Reductions in Buildings

Autodesk Inc. and ICF International, the global professional services firm that studies climate change, have launched a study that posits a new technique to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, the world’s biggest polluters.

The findings were outlined in a joint research report entitled “Rapid Energy Modeling for Existing Buildings: Testing the Business and Environmental Potential Through an Experiment at Autodesk” presented today at Greenbuild Expo.

“Buildings represent 40 percent of global energy consumption and are the linchpin to achieving climate stabilization in a cost-effective manner,” said Lynelle Cameron, director of sustainability at Autodesk. “Rapid energy modeling has the potential to vastly accelerate the number of buildings that undergo energy assessment and subsequent upgrades.”

“The majority of buildings globally will either be new or have undergone significant renovation over the next 30 years,” said Emma Stewart, senior program lead for Autodesk’s sustainability initiative. “As our built environment undergoes a massive reboot, Autodesk aims to provide the tools necessary for our customers. Autodesk Revit and Ecotect Analysis are examples of products leading the charge.”

Autodesk and ICF worked together to interview leading architecture firms to better understand major obstacles to wide-scale green building retrofits. The study then applied rapid energy modeling techniques to six Autodesk facilities across three continents, comparing the modeling results with Autodesk’s carbon footprint data and contrasting the workflow with traditional energy modeling and energy audit approaches.

The report concludes that rapid energy modeling can be a:

• Shortcut to estimating actual energy performance with a good level of accuracy;
• Screen for high-potential buildings for renewable energy generation and carbon reductions;
• Stepping stone between basic building benchmarking and detailed audits;
• Financial tool for identifying lucrative building upgrades;
• Driver of high-quality green jobs with highly transferable skills.

About ICF International

ICF International is a global professional services firm that addresses today’s most complex management, technology, and policy challenges in four key markets: energy and climate change; environment and infrastructure; health, human services, and social programs; and homeland security and defense. Over 3,500 employees on four continents combine passion for their work with industry and technical expertise to protect and improve the quality of life.

For 30 years, ICF has provided a portfolio of strategy, analysis, advisory services, and implementation tools to clients in the building energy and climate space. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, utilities, municipal power authorities, U.S. federal government agencies, international and multinational organizations, energy enterprises, power developers, regulated transmission and distribution companies, energy traders and marketers, oil and gas companies, industry associations, investors, financial institutions, and regulators. ICF regularly performs detailed analytic studies to help its clients understand leading building industry trends and the value of a wide range of building modeling and analysis tools.

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