Graphisoft must keep developing EcoDesigner Star

[Martin Jules]

There will be more added values for Archicad with EcoDesigner Star than the structural features that Graphisoft is trying to integrate in Archicad actually. I know the thermal bridge performance requirements are very high to meet and there are too many obstacles with EcoDesigner Star. The best thing to do is to put it on the market as a beta version so that we can help Graphisoft improve it. 

It's about a bad idea to stop developing it!

[Aaron Bourgoin]

Make EcoDesigner Star available for the North American Market. Regardless of which standards it supports.

Better Yet, bundle it with AC. Today.

[Martin Jules]

Put it on the market as a beta version would be the wise decision because of some legal aspects regarding this matter.

[jl_lt]

Totally on board on this one. And i agree, i would totally prefer to be able to reliably analize a building from a bioclimatic system point of view than structural within Archicad. 

[Martin Jules]

Considering my major in architecture, EcoDesigner Star is my preference in Archicad. 

With the trends of the moment and the challenges of the future, its development must continue. 

[Francois_MCD]

Hi @Martin Jules & @Aaron Bourgoin 

EcoDesigner ("standard") does come included in Archicad and this works very well as a permanent demo / trail to do initial stage energy performance analysis of buildings (or even for retrofit As-Built conditions). It is a great way to get immediate energy performance feedback from the model of each design change or alternative design options. This already optimizes the design either before the energy consultant gets involved or even with their input and participation in the early stage of design. For full rational design workflows and code complaint reports, EcoDesigner STAR only require a license (no additional installation) and note, it is only available in specific countries. Check this page to see if your country is on the list - EcoDesigner STAR info page 

EcoDesigner STAR is "for most part" already complete. The real challenge is to get the software accredited for compliance with the local standards codes in each country. 

We tried to get EcoDesigner Star for Archicad accredited for our local rational design codes in South Africa some years ago. It is an amazing piece of integrated software but our accreditation project was stopped before we could complete the accreditation. 

[Martin Jules]

To that end, Graphisoft can't neglect the North American market. The future of Archicad is EcoDesigner Star integrated for all users without any special licenses. 

[DGSketcher]

@Noemi Balogh I see this has been added for AC26 Forward subscribers, can you advise what if any development work has been done to it improve it recently & justify its release?

[Balint Kezer]

@DGSketcher We have seen in the past the Building Material properties we provided as template content were outdated and their source is not indicated, so that these values could not be used for downstream building lifecycle calculations as validated input.

We wanted to improve in this area, so we have updated Archicad Building Material property sets and values, based on data published in the German ÖKOBAUDAT database. With this improvement Archicad users will receive validated and reliable Building Material data out of the box and can use it confidently for various analysis purposes.

On the longer term we are seeing the industry trend of rising importance in sustainable designs, so we are planning to provide a good feature functionality for all professionals aiming to do more in sustainability. We especially want to focus on Early-stage performance-based design analysis and optimization, where the biggest energy-savings can be made.

[Francois_MCD]

Great feedback 👏 thanks @Balint Kezer 

[DGSketcher]

@Balint Kezer Thank you for the quick response. It is good that AC is again moving in the direction of supporting sustainable design. You may be seeing it as a rising industry trend, I can assure you it was a trend that started decades ago and GS have some catching up to do.

This is almost a specialist area, but it is also very relevant to early architectural design development; so availability of EDS within AC is a positive step provided it isn't so complicated no one wants to use it.

I do hope that EDS is being allocated sufficient resources to see it develop, provide guidance & support for those us adopting it in to our workflow and you will address the genuine need to allow correct export of data to address local standards.