Arup adopts energy modelling plug-in

The plug-in enables users of the IES Virtual Environment to import Revit or Rhino building models effortlessly by writing the design directly to IESVE’s native.gem file format. The full model, including elements such as slanted roofs, complex shading, and ceiling or floor plenums, arrives intact, allowing engineers to begin whole-building performance simulations immediately.

Arup introduced the plug-in soon after its launch and is already using it on projects worldwide. Importing models now takes only minutes, enabling earlier simulations and real-time design adjustments.

Before implementing Pollination, Arup’s modelling teams faced persistent interoperability problems when turning BIM files into analytical models. They had limited ability to interact with models during export, complex geometries were often oversimplified, and converting a single building could take days. Traditional workflows struggled with intricate shading devices, splitting architectural models into separate analysis models, retaining windows and doors, aligning surfaces and combining glazing panels.

Pollination resolves each of these issues, IES said, so the room-level data already stored in a BIM model is available immediately. IES now distributes and supports the plug-in through a partnership with Ladybug Tools, Pollination’s creator.

Levent Kocalioglu, senior consultant at Arup, said: “The Pollination Revit-to-IESVE plug-in enables modelling teams to speed up and to encourage high-performance building design from early stage through detailed design.