Sustainable Design & BIM

Integrating Building Performance Analysis

 


Early design phase

Rendering by Brian Hearn

The truth of sustainable design is that approximately 80% of the design decisions that influence a building's energy performance are made by the architect in the early design phase; the remaining 20% are made by engineers at the later phases of design. Therefore it is crucially important for architects to be able to utilize a quick and reliable energy performance evaluation at the very early stage of the building design process.


Informed decisions

"Sustainable architecture" is the practice of designing, constructing and maintaining buildings in a way that their environmental impact is minimized. One of the most important aspects of sustainable design is energy efficiency - a drive to reduce the amount of energy a building consumes over its life-span.


The relationship between building volumes, proposed area and orientation of glazed surfaces, as well as the properties of the external shading options, all greatly influence the future energy consumption and also determine the overall look of the design.


Design Solutions

Our Sustainable Design solutions are intended for early design where the influence on design decisions is the most effective. Our solutions are divided into two catagories:

  • Internal Analysis within ArchiCAD
    • The built-in Energy Evaluation functionality of ArchiCAD 16 is similar to the former standalone EcoDesigner™ product, but is based on entirely new technology which allows architects to perform reliable dynamic energy evaluation of their BIM model within ArchiCAD, relying on BIM geometry analysis and accurate hour-by-hour online weather data of the building’s location.
    • Maxwell Render - Light Simulation

  • External Analysis Solutions
    • gbXML Export Tool - for linkage between ArchiCAD and External Anaysis Software
    • IES Virtual Environment
    • Ecotect
    • Green Building Studio
    • Energy Plus

 


A new high school being built in California's Napa Valley will be one of the country's first to be a Collaborative for High Performance School (CHPS) - verified "green" school. The CHPS program helps communities design and build high performance school environments that are not only energy and resource efficient, but also healthy, comfortable, well lit, and containing the amenities for a quality education.


"We considered the environment in every design decision with the same importance as program and budget. It was an integral part of the design process" - Aaron Jobson, a QKA associate and the project architect.


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