topic Re: Passive Solar Heating in Modeling

Passive Solar Heating

BenATA — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 03:16:21 GMT

Hi all,

Has anyone used Archicad, assessment plugins, or exported Archicad models to assessment tools with the aim of testing and measuring passive solar heating capacities of a building? My office is searching for a way we can quantify the value of passive design, and also contrast and compare different passive design options early in the design process.

The obvious but very useful value of being able to measure the effectiveness of passive solar heating design early in a project is that an effective scheme can be tested and implemented early on.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Ben

AC 22/23

Macbook Pro Big Sur

Re: Passive Solar Heating

Andrii Levko — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 06:13:58 GMT

Maybe EcoDesigner Star can helps.

Recently I found the GreenBIM plugin. However as I know this plugin accounts embodied energy, and helps optimize grey energy in buildings, look at the link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tncFnCoMTZ4&t=1s

Re: Passive Solar Heating

Martin Jules — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 12:12:48 GMT

@ Andy Thomson could help answer this question. Meanwhile, you can try FormIt from Autodesk.

Re: Passive Solar Heating

Martin Jules — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 17:18:44 GMT

It appears EcoDesigner Star has been discontinued by Archicad. If it was true, I would consider that as one of the worse decisions made by Graphisoft.

Re: Passive Solar Heating

Andrii Levko — Sun, 20 Mar 2022 19:39:15 GMT

As far as I know, eco designer is supported in Archicad for free, but it has reduced functions, but eco designer Star is a paid plugin that you can buy

Re: Passive Solar Heating

Martin Jules — Sun, 20 Mar 2022 20:01:14 GMT

@Andrii Levko it seems EcoDesigner Star has been discontinued by Graphisoft. The license is not available to buy in North America anymore unfortunately.

Re: Passive Solar Heating

Francois Swanepoel — Tue, 24 May 2022 12:23:04 GMT

@Martin Jules see my reply (HERE) to your post about request for the continued development of EcoDesigner STAR. There I also outline how to use EcoDesigner ("standard") in your projects for early energy performance optimization.

@Andrii Levko is correct, EcoDesigner does come included with all Archicad's. EcoDesigner STAR only needs to be accredited for compliance with the local standards codes in each country.

I suggest to reach out to your local reseller office for their support to get EcoDesigner STAR accredited on your country just like we had to do for South Africa.

Re: Passive Solar Heating

Martin Jules — Sat, 11 Jun 2022 10:07:50 GMT

@Francois Swanepoel Andy Thomson, one of my architectural thesis advisors, is working hard on that in order to get it accredited in Canada, specially in Ontario.

To do so, it's most important for Graphisoft to take his expert opinions seriously into account.