SketchUp and EnergyPlus
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Greetings,
Frist, let me introduce myself:
I am an architect practicing at a large international firm in Atlanta. I really love using SketchUp- but have wondered about using it to pursue green building solutions, energy and thermal simulations, etc.
I've trained with ECOTECT as well as IES-VE. The graphical interface and output of ECOTECT is great...see http://www.squ1.comLast year I came across some discussions about a plugin for SketchUp being developed by the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)...you can see a presentation of this here:
http://www.energycodes.gov/news/ecodes2007/presentations/crackerbarrel/Ellis.pdfI contacted them earlier this year about the status of the plugin...and asked if I could beta (or alpha) test it. I was sent a link to the download, but, due to project issues here at work, never got around to downloading it. I've since tried to refind the link, but to no avail. (If I do get this again, and you are interested, let me know).
Some people report that this plugin is taking much longer:
http://www.buildinggreen.com/live/index.cfm/2007/11/9/Building-Energy-Analysis-plugin-for-SketchUpThere is one plugin already out...it allow SketchUp to output files for Green Building Studio using gbXML:
http://www.simplyrenewable.com/quantity_surveyors_news_27.htm
see also:
http://greenspaceresearch.com/demeter.htmlJust thought I'd share this with everyone.
Cameron
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Thanks Cameron for the links, coincidentally I was just
checking out things on the Square One site!Mike
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I have been looking for an integrated building energy analysis tool within SU for well over a year. I have tried Demeter and Ecotect and neither are ideal. Demeter is too limited, doesn't work terribly well for me and the gimmicky cube dialog they use as a 'feature' is so big that it fills most of my screen area, obscuring the model. Someone should force the developers to work with a 17" monitor.
Ecotect just isn't easy to use by any means. I have met Dr Andrew Marsh, the author on 2 occasions, and was mesmerised by what he can do with the package, and how quickly. For everyone else who hasn't the benefit of having designed the application, or had a lot of training or experience, it is a bit of a b*stard to use. The UI is confusing and very complex, and unintuitive. You really need to remodel your building in Ecotect. Sure it imports data, but you still need to do some modelling to define your zones. If you are used to SU, you might look at the Square1 website and conclude that there are lots of similarities, its sketchy display was lifted straight from the application we all know and love.
Don't be fooled though, even the 3d navigation tools are (certainly were) nowhere near as good as SU. By comparison, modelling in Ecotect is like pulling teeth. That said, the analysis tools are really clever - if you can use and understand them!
I sent some e-mail to them over a year ago suggesting that they develop some of the modules as SU plugins. This way we could have all the analysis in place. IMO there is much to commend this approach. To start with you could position your building in Google Earth (Ecotect's tools for this just suck) and use the shadow settings in SU. This should enable building orientation and climate data retrieval at a stroke. It would also leave architects to use their favourite tools for modelling, modification and navigation. Ecotect is potentially a brilliant application, but it is hiding behind an awful UI and workflow. No response from Square 1 though.
IES is really complicated, and very inflexible. Again a building needs to be remodelled, and again, it is really difficult. Some of my building services engineering consultants have been struggling to produce an environmental model for one of my buildings, and they are giving up on the package, having invested tens of thousands of pounds in it.
Also, analysis is very slow indeed. I mean, leave the machine on to process over the weekend...This brings me to Energy+. In theory, excellent, comprehensive complex analysis tools, but only command line with no way of passing data from SU. They are working on a SketchUp plugin, and a version is in beta. I haven't tried it, but have spoken to some people involved in developing energy analysis software who have. Certainly at this stage, if what I am told is correct, it will not be the solution many of us were hoping for by any means, particularly with the initial release.
So, if we want to appraise potential energy analysis at an early stage in a design, to truly allow environmental considerations to shape a design at the outset and as the work evolves without too much data exchange and duplicate work, we are going to need another solution. Demeter should have been it, but I was really disappointed by what it could do. Also the cube UI is just terrible and a real obstruction to usability. If anyone from Greenspace is reading this, please, just bin it - now.
The frustrating thing is that there are so many fantastically clever plugins around, that developing something to create building zones, assign material preset types and allow input of some building services information for export and analysis by other tools; should be reasonably straightforward. Many applications support the GBXML format, that might be a good option.
If anyone is working on this sort of thing, I will gladly help test it, and if anyone is thinking of developing something, this is potentially a massive and lucrative market and I would love to help out - albeit with the very limited spare time that I have.
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I just got an email notice that the NREL EnergyPlus SketchUp plugin has been released for public beta:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/energy_design_plugin.html
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Just to let you know that Demeter has now be renamed LiveEnergy Modeller and a new version is available for download on our website at: http://greenspacelive.com. LiveEnergy Modeller is currently available on an Alpha testing basis unti 31st October 2009. We would value any feedback suggestions etc.
I've also put more information in a SketchUcation post here: http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=21789.
Thanks,
Malcolm Murray
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