[Bldg-sim] SunTools Plugin for SketchUp available

Guedi Capeluto arrguedi at techunix.technion.ac.il
Fri Mar 27 01:02:16 PDT 2009


SunTools is not a "simulation" program; in fact there are almost no
calculations in it.  I started working on it during a sabbatical leave at
LBNL, and we discussed with colleagues there the idea of exploring how you
can present "existing" internal data, in a new, meaningful way, all in the
same program and model. Sun Position is internal SU data; the question is if
the visualization of this data is valuable, for students, architects and
clients during design.. 

Sunviews can be understood as a different representation of shadow casting;
however you can use them to understand also the cause of shading in you
facades, solar systems or open spaces, difficult to do see with regular
shadow casting in complex environments. With the Sun penetration analysis
tool, you can see in one single view a full range of information, valuable
for design. The majority of these features are already available in
different ways and packages, but again the idea was bringing all this
information at any design stage into one tool that architects use at the
same moment that they work with the model in SU.

 

Rob, I'll implement your suggestion of a special layer for the sun objects,
thanks! Regarding the Mac, it is not a problem; I can put the files in a zip
format for downloading if you want to give them a try in a Mac. However,
I'll need to cancel the automatic saving of sunview pictures, to avoid
problems with file paths.

 

Guedi       

 

  _____  

From: bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
[mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Rob
Guglielmetti
Sent: 2009-03-27 03:45
To: Bldg-Sim
Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] SunTools Plugin for SketchUp available

 

Actually Mark, I think the tool shows quite a bit of promise.  The readme
clearly states that several features are works in progress or yet to be
implemented, but some of the stuff in there is already useful, and
definitely not part of the "internal SketchUp tools". The sun path
visualizations are nice, and the views from the sun perspective are also
useful.  From a shading study perspective, these tools are useful right now.
I guess it all depends on what you call "analysis".  No, the tools do not
calculate energy savings from shading devices, but they do illustrate very
well the issues around a particular fenestration.  You can clearly see the
range of time where direct sun is a problem, and the best part is, with this
presentation a client can see the issues too. Our internal tools where I
work are faster to use, but aren't all that great at illustrating the issues
to the client. I think this presentation is very clear (and is also the way
Ecotect presents this info). 

 

Guedi, a couple of comments: can you provide the plugin as a set of files
instead of a windows installer, so I can install the plugin on a Mac too?
Also, it'd be nice if the sun objects are placed on a separate pre-defined
layer instead of the current layer, just for organizational purposes. 

 

- Rob Guglielmetti

 

On Mar 26, 2009, at 12:24 PM, Zoeteman, Mark R. wrote:





Guedi:

This does not seem ready for real use.  We tried it and is very simplistic
and does not seem to give functionality.  It seems to do little more than
plot points in model, but not analyze model.  The internal SketchUp tools
will do more than SunTools.

Mark Zoeteman, FTC&H

 

From:  <mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org>
bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [
<mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org>
mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Guedi Capeluto
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 1:17 PM
To:  <mailto:bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org> bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: [Bldg-sim] SunTools Plugin for SketchUp available

 

SunTools a new Plugin for SketchUp is available now.

 

Plug-in Features

- SunPATH: visualization (month and year)

- SunPOS: Sun Position for a date and time

- SunVIEW: Axonometric views from the Sun

- SunPENETRATION: Analyze Sun Penetration/Access in any specific analysis
point.

 

The plug-in can be downloaded after registration from:
<http://tx.technion.ac.il/~arrguedi/SunTools/download.html>
http://tx.technion.ac.il/~arrguedi/SunTools/download.html

 

Enjoy SunTools.

 

Guedi Capeluto

 <mailto:arrguedi at technion.ac.il> arrguedi at technion.ac.il

 

Arch. Guedi Capeluto, D.Sc.
Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Technion City,  Haifa 32000. Israel
Tel:+972.4.8294012  Fax:+972.4.8294617

email:    <mailto:arrguedi at tx.technion.ac.il> arrguedi at tx.technion.ac.il
web  :    <http://www.technion.ac.il/~arrguedi/>
http://www.technion.ac.il/~arrguedi/

 

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