Your optinions on AC capability

[Anonymous]

I work for a company that helps residential track home builders make their homes more energy efficient and friendly. We go through a long process of benchmarking and optimization with several builders a year. To streamline this we have begun looking Building Information Models to include costing details, energy usage as well as construction information.

I’ve been looking at ArchiCad for a short time and have not drafted with it yet. I have a background in AutoCad and Vectorworks. Through the demo’s and some playing around things seem to point to good possibility of this having the power and flexibility we need. Through this form though I’ve become worried about the degree of programming, or advanced usage of Microsoft Access needed to attain a high level of accuracy.

Our projects demand a high degree of fluidity as the process goes back and forth with a huge amount of small changes. ArchiCad and the material lists, costing, etc need to keep up with subtle changes made to the design. Compatibility is also key as many consultants, trades and builders are involved.

I thank you in advance for your expertise and advice.

Tyler Hermanson

EnerVision
Room MD115, SAIT Polytechnic, 1301-16th Avenue NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2M 0L4
Direct 403.210.5728 Main 403.210.4380 Fax 403.210.4373
Visit us online at www.enervisionalberta.com

[Anonymous]

ArchiCAD is probably the best system available for what you want to do, but it will take some (perhaps considerable) set up depending on what your specific requirements are. It's worth looking into as I am sure that it will be much easier (once set up) than using Vectorworks or AutoCAD. I don't think Revit is really up to what you need yet, but I haven't looked at the latest version with this in mind.

[Andy Thomson]

Tyler, I've been trying out several energy software interfaces for ArchiCad, and none of them are quite there yet.

Is it R2000 sims you are running with Hot2000? Your best bet is still manual take-off, but you can set up the plans/dimensions in ArchiCad to simplify this greatly. I have done over 3000 such take-offs for tract builders, and always found it a pain to flip back and forth from plan to elevation to get the building window geometry, in AC, you can have the window labels tell you that, so the entire take-off comes from one floorplan.

I have long wanted to port AC gbXML models to Hot2000. Right now, AC energy-add-ons support LEED numbers and strategies, but not Canada's (CGBC NC1.0), aka. CBIP standards, using OE4 software. LEED for Homes in Canada is not due out for another year. The biggest AC user I know in Alberta is Manac-Isaac, in Edmonton. They use Keen engineering, who bought ArchiCad for this purpose (daylight and thermal calcs), but didn't ultimately find it productive....

message me if you want more info.

A