Passive Solar Heating

[BenATA]

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

[Andrii Levko]

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

[Mjules]

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

[Mjules]

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.

[Andrii Levko]

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

[Mjules]

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

[Francois_MCD]

@Mjules 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.

[Mjules]

@Francois_MCD 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.