Case Study: City of Richmond achieves Passive House comfort and energy savings with Integrated Environmental Solutions’ IESVE

City of Richmond reduces energy use 62% with Integrated Environmental Solutions

The City of Richmond faced the challenge of designing its first Passive House targeted building, a 10,000 sq. ft. community fieldhouse, while aiming for certification and managing overheating risks from large glazed façades. Integrated Environmental Solutions provided its IES Virtual Environment (IESVE) software to support a detailed dynamic thermal comfort analysis as a complement to the required Passive House Planning Package (PHPP).

Using IESVE's Apache, ApacheHVAC, VistaPro, and ASHRAE 55 Comfort Analysis tools, Integrated Environmental Solutions enabled a simulation-based assessment to balance winter heat retention with summer comfort. The solution helped achieve an estimated 62% energy savings compared to the NECB 2020 reference building and an estimated 180 MWh reduction in annual energy consumption, while also ensuring occupant comfort was a central part of the high-performance design.

City of Richmond