Paul et al,
Apologies if my comments were misconstrued either as a bash
against Designbuilder or a sales pitch for Sketchup. My post was and is intended
to clarify Sketchup’s current .dwg file support and the related cost
implications. I personally am in full support of any and all
options/progress/market competition as necessary to advance the science of
building energy modeling.
Both Sketchup (in tandem with a variety of plugins and external
software) and Designbuilder are unique and powerful tools that each do a
variety of specific things very well.
“…but let’s face it, as building physicists we’re generally
not interested in architectural fancifulness. We are interested in boxes
(well more or less) that make the maths quicker. “
To be fair, sometimes the task-at-hand does call for a bit of “architectural
fancifulness,” such as when presenting results of preliminary massing
studies to an architect/client! From my perspective, Sketchup and
Designbuilder both have a definite advantage over some of the “for-cost”
competition in this regard.
I’d also like to kindly clarify for any newer subscribers:
you don’t have to be a hardcore physicist with zero aesthetic
inclinations to participate in [bldg-sim] or other onebuilding.org mailing
lists! I’ve only been subscribed for a year, but it’s apparent
that experienced and inexperienced energy simulation enthusiasts alike are
welcome from all walks of the academic world and design industry.
~Nick
NICK CATON, E.I.T.
PROJECT ENGINEER
25501 west valley parkway
olathe ks 66061
direct 913 344.0036
fax 913 345.0617
Check out our new web-site @ www.smithboucher.com
From: Paul Carey
[mailto:paul@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 5:04 PM
To: Nick Caton; 'Kevin Kyte'; 'Jackson, Alan';
EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: bldg-sim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Bldg-sim] [EnergyPlus_Support] I need advices for choosing
a GUI
Nick et al,
I still think DesignBuilder offers good value for money when you
compare it to the cost of the pro-version of sketch-up. It imports dxf,
pdf, tiff, bmp, jpg (for 2d extruded modelling) & gbxml (for 3d
importing). Ok, perhaps it isn’t quite as pretty as SketchUp in
places, but let’s face it, as building physicists we’re generally
not interested in architectural fancifulness. We are interested in boxes
(well more or less) that make the maths quicker. DesignBuilder does all
that just the same. It also has the advantage of the CFD tool module that
allows you to look more closely airflow distribution based on the results from
your EnergyPlus simulations which are directly linked if you want them to be
and produces mean age of air results, that you could use for other ventilation
& comfort analysis.
Just my tuppence/2 cents worth.
Cheers
Paul
|
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Dr Paul Carey BSc (Hons) PhD FRSA Director Low Carbon Energy Assessor |
Zero Energy Design Ltd 10A Portland Place 2-22 Mottram Road Stalybridge SK15 3AD |
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T: 0161 3386200 F: 0161 3031281 M: 0789 4098012 |
E: paul@xxxxxxxxxx W: www.zed-uk.com |
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From:
bldg-sim-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bldg-sim-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nick Caton
Sent: 29 October 2009 21:41
To: Kevin Kyte; Jackson, Alan; EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: bldg-sim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] [EnergyPlus_Support] I need advices for choosing
a GUI
The current version of free sketchup (as of this month I
believe) does not support .dwg importing, actually. If you continue using
any older version – it shouldn’t lose this functionality (keep your
installation files). The Sketchup development team has been clear on
their intent to continue .dwg and other proprietary format file support in the
Pro version.
**A moment on my soapbox**
Our office took this as a cue to recognize that the free version
of Sketchup is explicitly intended for educational/trial purposes, however
powerful it may be – not for professional design use. Our office
purchased a Pro license in response to ensure continued support of
import/export of .dwg and other formats we use. I’d encourage
others on bldg-sim to consider this carefully. The cost:benefit ratio of
the free version of Sketchup, for many of us, is pretty extraordinary. To
top it off it’s actually fairly inexpensive as far as professional design
tools go.
**Stepping off the soapbox**
On a Sketchup-related note – I haven’t mentioned
this on [bldg-sim] yet, but Sketchup-savvy users using a version with .dwg
export support can actually export their models into AGI32 for photometric and
rendering lighting/daylight studies after a little work in CAD to ensure a
clean import. I might write up an illustrated guide or post the full scoop
here at some point in the future, but for those interested in learning
immediately I’ll just say to head over to the AGI32 forums to find a
lengthy post (intended to troubleshoot other AGI32-specific issues) where I
composed a pretty decent outline of the process to start.
~Nick
NICK CATON, E.I.T.
PROJECT ENGINEER
25501 west valley parkway
olathe ks 66061
direct 913 344.0036
fax 913 345.0617
Check out our new web-site @ www.smithboucher.com
From:
bldg-sim-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bldg-sim-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kevin Kyte
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:43 PM
To: Jackson, Alan; EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: bldg-sim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] [EnergyPlus_Support] I need advices for choosing
a GUI
Free sketchup is not going to support dwg importing for much
longer.
From: Jackson, Alan
[mailto:ajackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:09 PM
To: EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: bldg-sim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] [EnergyPlus_Support] I need advices for choosing
a GUI
In what sense?
If you mean it doesn’t have every single capability of
modeling like the IDF or Text editor would, yes. But nothing does. It’s hard
to keep up with the E+ developer cycle ;-)
If you mean it doesn’t run off Energyplus 3.0. It does.
I don’t use it because it’s too expensive. I prefer
OpenStudio and the IDF Editor/Textpad because you have access to all the
capabilities that E+ has to offer, but it took me years to become even semi
comfortable (read: confident) with modeling through a txt file.
Either way maybe this should be moved over to BLDG-SIM.
Alan
Jackson, LEED AP
KlingStubbins
From:
EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Emanuele Naboni
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:03 PM
To: EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [EnergyPlus_Support] I need advices for choosing a GUI
Yes, but Hevacomp does not have the capabilities of
EnergyPlus.
--
Emanuele Naboni
per l'Italia: 346.4133337
from US: +39.346.4133337
skype: emanuelenaboni
MArch, PhD Building Science, LEED AP, EU licensed architect
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
2009/10/29 Jackson, Alan <ajackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
You should look
into Hevacomp which is being revamped for the US.
Alan Jackson,
LEED AP
KlingStubbins
From: EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Josh K
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 12:00 PM
To: EnergyPlus_Support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [EnergyPlus_Support] I need advices for choosing a GUI
Hello;
My feeling is that their currently is not a *perfect* GUI for EnergyPlus,
especially if you're interested in interoperability (ie IFC, gbXML, etc).
Designbuilder seems to be getting closest in this regard, but when I tested it
a while ago I found the modelling interface to be a bit clumsy and restrictive.
OpenStudio is not bad, but still needs a little work to be practical for every
day use (for instance, to my knowledge there is currently no good way to
specify a heat transfer surface's adjacency conditions). I currently use
ECOTECT, which had a lot of promise when I started using it three years ago but
has progressed exactly zero since then. I don't know much about the other
system you mention.
To summarize: the three you mention will all probably work for you, and each
have their own advantages and disadvantages. If you're specifically interested
in IFC compatibility, I'm not sure about the status of DesignBuilder in this
respect, but neither OpenStudio nor ECOTECT currently have this capability.
Josh
On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 7:14 AM, bcavallier <bruno.cavallier@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hello,
I want to learn EnergyPlus but I need a GUI. As it is a new activity for me, I
would like to find the better couple [E+/GUI] regarding my needs. I am mainly
interested in building energy simulation, particularly on the topics of energy
efficiency and the smart use of solar energy for solar passive designing. I saw
a lot of software on the web : Google Sketch Up with Openstudio, Designbuilder
(well described at Harvard), Ecotect...
How can I make the best choice? My choice will use the IFC standard. I saw
another software : Digital Project of Gehry Technologies which is based on
Catia (Dassault Systemes) that works with IFC standards, but has anyone made
simulation with [E+/this soft]?
Could you give me advices, please...
Best regards
B.Cavallier
--
Josh Kjenner, P.Eng., LEED AP
Manasc Isaac Architects Ltd.
10225 100 Avenue :: Edmonton, AB T5J 0A1
780.429.3977
--
Emanuele Naboni
per l'Italia: 346.4133337
from US: +39.346.4133337
skype: emanuelenaboni
www.emanuele-naboni.com
sustainable design consultant - consulente per la sostenibilita' di tecnologie,
edifici e citta'
MArch, PhD Building Science, LEED AP, EU licensed architect
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