Does anyone know of any energy modeling software that was simple enough for an architectural office to use.
I am thinking about trying one out for a residence with passive solar heating/daylighting strategies, and maybe other projects in our office. My web search came up with hundreds of options.
Nothing too complicated. If I want a thorough analysis, we'll use an engineer. Quick and simple tool to give me an idea of performance. Plug-in R-values, materials, glazing, and orientation,
If you are in the US try DesignBuilder. It interfaces with Energy+, which can do t-24(2001 with 2005 in progress) documentation as well. If you just want the numbers, ecotect is probably the best I have seen.
j
Oh, and if you are using Revit or ArchiCAD, Greenbuildingstudio will do free preliminary energy analysis', up to 5 variations for free. It is best suited for early use in a project, but is limited to energy, not much use for daylight at the moment.
j http://www.greenbuildingstudio.com/gbsinc/index.aspx
freeware offered by DOE. I used this to get an idea of LEED EA credit potentials on a couple of large projects before the PE ran their detailed models on Trane Tracer and it was surprisingly close.
Does T24 reports, LCCA's, a series of comparative results (day month annual) with multiple seasons, cumulative savings, crude but effective daylighting, and off peak demand. learning curve was about a day (with very little modeling experience) and about an hour on the phone with PE to make sure I had water side stuff right. also offers default buildiing types (education, commercial, assembly, etc.)
if you are purusing leed cert. you have to watch the default values as they are somewhat different than ASHRAE's minimum design requirements. also watch what other programs you have open when simulations are run. sucks 100% of the cpu and it crashed a fairly brawny graphic station twice.
energy modeling/simulation software
Does anyone know of any energy modeling software that was simple enough for an architectural office to use.
I am thinking about trying one out for a residence with passive solar heating/daylighting strategies, and maybe other projects in our office. My web search came up with hundreds of options.
Nothing too complicated. If I want a thorough analysis, we'll use an engineer. Quick and simple tool to give me an idea of performance. Plug-in R-values, materials, glazing, and orientation,
Got any recommendations?
If you are in the US try DesignBuilder. It interfaces with Energy+, which can do t-24(2001 with 2005 in progress) documentation as well. If you just want the numbers, ecotect is probably the best I have seen.
j
http://www.designbuilder.co.uk/content/view/43/64/
Oh, and if you are using Revit or ArchiCAD, Greenbuildingstudio will do free preliminary energy analysis', up to 5 variations for free. It is best suited for early use in a project, but is limited to energy, not much use for daylight at the moment.
j
http://www.greenbuildingstudio.com/gbsinc/index.aspx
Take a look at E-quest, quick energy simulation tool.
http://www.doe2.com/
freeware offered by DOE. I used this to get an idea of LEED EA credit potentials on a couple of large projects before the PE ran their detailed models on Trane Tracer and it was surprisingly close.
Does T24 reports, LCCA's, a series of comparative results (day month annual) with multiple seasons, cumulative savings, crude but effective daylighting, and off peak demand. learning curve was about a day (with very little modeling experience) and about an hour on the phone with PE to make sure I had water side stuff right. also offers default buildiing types (education, commercial, assembly, etc.)
if you are purusing leed cert. you have to watch the default values as they are somewhat different than ASHRAE's minimum design requirements. also watch what other programs you have open when simulations are run. sucks 100% of the cpu and it crashed a fairly brawny graphic station twice.
Thanks Cris, joshcookie, and mother!
I'll definitely check out those programs/websites.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.