10
Aug 21

CLIMATE CHANGE EMERGENCY

Climate change is having a significant impact on businesses, society, and individuals. It is increasingly understood that a shift towards a low-carbon economy is needed. The building and construction sector plays a central role in this shift. The sector’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions account for approximately 40% of global GHG emissions. The major contributors to these emissions are the materials used as well as the heating, cooling, and lighting of buildings and infrastructure.

For example, around 80% of UK buildings that will be occupied in 2050 have already been built. Long-term adaptation strategies are therefore necessary to ensure that buildings and the built environment are resilient to future climate impacts.

For high performance buildings an early exercise with Building Performance Simulation by Energy Modelling enables the evaluation of numerous solutions to explore these parameters:

  • Low embodied energy with environmental appropriate materials
  • Lower costs with selection of new materials and technologies
  • Hybrid solutions
  • On-site generation and energy storage systems
  • Level of disruption to occupants

These are just some of the factors and this process starts with simple modelling.

Building professionals including Architects will generally require a visual 3D model at an early stage.

 The Greenspace Live gModeller based on Trimble Sketchup enables an early exercise in Energy Modelling and energy analysis engine gEnergy enables full dynamic simulation to optimise solutions and address the emergency.


10
May 19

Climate Change

To reduce emissions in the built environment to demanding levels requires both conversation measures and low carbon heating/cooling sources.

This requires deep renovation of buildings and higher rates of renovation.

For high performance buildings an early exercise with Building Performance Simulation by Energy Modelling enables the evaluation of numerous solutions to explore some example parameters:

  • Low embodied energy with environmental appropriate materials
  • Lower costs with selection of new materials and technologies
  • Hybrid solutions
  • On-site generation and energy storage systems
  • Level of disruption to occupants

These are just some of the factors and this process starts with simple modelling.

Building professionals including Architects will generally require a visual 3D model at an early stage.

The GreenspaceLive gModeller based on Trimble Sketchup enables an early exercise in Energy Modelling. The energy analysis engine gEnergy enables full dynamic simulation.


04
Apr 19

JV project ECCOlab is on the move!

Circular London is running a six-month accelerator programme to drive circular economy innovation in the built environment.

The accelerator, which is powered by LWARB and Carbon Trust is located in LWARB’s circular office in Shoreditch. The programme is currently offering bespoke support to seven start-ups working to create innovative solutions for challenges in the built environment.

Rapiere Software Ltd (with GreenspaceLive as a partner) created ECCOlab, a web application, to aid building design for the circular economy including lifecycle carbon and cost. ECCOlab is both an integrated BIM (Building Information Modelling) and carbon modelling tool for lifecycle carbon.

As a cloud-based tool, accessed through a web application, and using the IFC file format (the standard BIM interoperable file format) it is OS and BIM-tool agnostic, allowing access to all parts of the construction value chain. By allowing multiple users to access the model (like Google Docs) it is also a collaboration tool, as well as a modelling/simulation tool.


03
Dec 18

gEnergy is the web interface to EnergyPlus

Our software provides a user interface for the EnergyPlus simulation engine. gModeller facilitates easy entry of building geometry and fabric constructions using Sketchup and gEnergy allows the full scope of EnergyPlus objects to be edited.

For detailed information on the actual energy simulation you are best to refer to the Energy plus Input/Output and Engineering Reference manuals:

Input Output Reference (PDF)
Engineering Reference (PDF)

Also, Big Ladder Software provide training on EnergyPlus and have some very good reference material on their website that is easier to navigate.

EnergyPlus Web-Based Documentation

Weather data is available for over 2000 global locations. Data is in a standard, well documented, EPW format so it is also possible to construct your own weather files if you have localised data available of if you wish to push your model through some extreme weather events. The following link provides a map of locations:

Weather

The link below is to a guide on using EnergyPlus for producing compliance reports:

Using EnergyPlus for Compliance (PDF)


26
Aug 14

Project AIDA Study Tour

In April 2012, GreenspaceLive were confirmed as the UK’s official consortium in The Affirmative Integrated Energy Design Action (AIDA) project. AIDA is a project funded by Intelligent Energy Europe with a view to supporting building professionals and local authorities in the design and implementation of nZEB’s (nearly Zero Energy Buildings). Through a series of study tours, sustainable policies and web-based BIM (Building Information Modelling) software; the AIDA project aims to achieve several targets. To increase the number of nZEB buildings throughout Europe, the number of building professionals trained on integrated energy design, and the number of municipalities beginning to build and refurbish buildings to nZEB levels.

On Friday the 29th of August we will present our fourth study tour, a local building; the newly completed Temporary Accommodation Centre located in Stornoway. It has been built to high energy efficiency standards, incorporating air source heat pumps and solar PVs.

 

IMG_1236

 

The tour will consist of a design presentation and tour of the building, followed by a Q&A and a demonstration of our Energy Design Tools.

If you wish to attend the tour please, register using the following link:

www.aidaproject.eu/study_tours_en.php

or call 01851 707876

 

 


13
Jan 14

The European Project

In April 2012, we were confirmed as the UK’s official consortium in The Affirmative Integrated Energy Design Action (AIDA) project. AIDA is a project funded by Intelligent Energy Europe with a view to supporting building professionals and local authorities in the designing and implementation of nZEB’s (nearly Zero Energy Buildings). Through a series of study tours, sustainable policies and web-based BIM (Building Information Modelling) software; the AIDA project aims to increase the number of nZEB buildings throughout Europe, the number of building professionals trained on integrated energy design and the number of municipalities starting to build/refurbish buildings to nZEB levels.

We have already completed one study tour of a primary school in Wolverhampton, which was the UK’s first Passivhaus certified primary school. The tour proved to be a success and the full document can be read here (OakMeadow_successStory_2012_02_15). In addition, our gEnergy tool is now ready to be presented in workshops during the study tours. gEnergy is being offered for use to project partners and participating municipalities, architects and engineers. It will be used to identify where improvements are needed in existing buildings and to demonstrate that proposed new designs meet nZEB requirements.

On the 22nd of January we will be presenting our second study tour, a local island building; The Galson Trust Business Centre:

 

galson

 

This will feature a design presentation and tour of the building, followed by a Q&A and a demonstration of our Energy Design Tools. Finally we will be stopping at the Galson Wind Turbine where our AIDA Project Manager will be giving a brief technical lecture. If you would like to be present at the study tour please follow the link and register:

http://www.aidaproject.eu/study_tours_en.php

AIDA’s core objective is the eventual widespread adoption of nZEB throughout Europe and to help the EU’s 2020 objectives for reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. We at GreenspaceLive are excited to be part of this collaboration project, and we hope it’s the beginning of a sustainable future.

 

 

AIDA CONSORTIUM

Vienna University of Technology – Energy Economics Group

AEE – Institute for Sustainable Technologies

CIMNE BEEGROUP, – Building Energy and Environment

Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving – Energy Policy Analysis Department

EURAC research – Institute for Renewable Energy

Geonardo Environmental Technologies Ltd.

HESPUL – énergies renouvelables & efficacité énergétique

IREC – Catalonia Institute for Energy Research

Greenspace Live Ltd.

Energy Cities (sub-contractor)


27
Nov 13

Introducing the gEnergyWiki and Public Projects!

We’ve just activated our gEnergy wiki – 450 EnergyPlus sample projects linked to gEnergy Public Projects. Click here to visit it! 

Each wiki page links to a corresponding gEnergy Public Project which can be used to inspect and query the EnergyPlus model. Eg:
http://greenspacelive.com/genergy/gsl/publiceditor#PublicProjectPlace:9226

We’re looking to add more and get world-class Revit/gbXML/SketchUp/EnergyPlus experts contributing, why not contact us to get involved?

Daily updates and focus projects can be found and followed on Twitter @greenspaceLive

26
Oct 11

SketchUp your way to low carbon building design

With all the hype being about low carbon building design these days and with an array of tools to choose from, Google SketchUp continues to grow in popularity.  Gone are the outdated conceptions’ that architects manipulate primitive, simple shapes like virtual putty in 3D space, and now in, are new methods involving intelligent wall assemblies that “know” their own material make-up and that can be used to generate an information rich building model.

You could be forgiven if  at first glance, you perceived this as a trend towards increasing complexity, and that future architects will need to be specialists in BIM methodology in order to contribute to architectural practice. Think again. Google SketchUp, is perhaps the easiest 3D CAD based software to learn on the market at the moment and is rapidly becoming the number one choice for architects in early phases of building design.

Building created with Google SketchUp

Although SketchUp does not provide the BIM functionality that is present in other far more expensive solutions, I believe the future is very promising. SketchUp has a short learning curve, competitive price (free), 3D-based focus (a prerequisite for BIM programs), pleasing visualization capabilities make SketchUp a strong contender to begin with. Now add the fact that it is part of the “Google Empire,” directly connected to Google Earth and its repository of 3D buildings, terrain, and street views—as well as the 3D Warehouse—and you have a contender with enviable if not inevitable odds for success.

Google SketchUp gModeller

Of course, SketchUp does not currently possess all of the functionality of more expensive programs—far from it. Nevertheless, now in its 8th Version, SketchUp has already become a far more sophisticated program than version 1.0.  greenspaceLive plans to  harness the capabilities of SketchUp, by offering gModeller an energy analysis plug-in, which allows Architects to make informed decisions on building design.

– Derek


08
Sep 11

gModeller for Google SketchUp Overview

My name is Alexander Nicolson and I have been working at Greenspace Live for just over 2 years now and in that time my main responsibilities have been to create gbXML models using the Greenspace Live gModeller plug in for Google SketchUp and to help develop the tool.

There are other energy analysis plug ins for SketchUp on the market such VE-Ware from IES and Open Studio from Energy Plus but what makes us unique is the fact that the gModeller plug in is still the only way to export gbXML from SketchUp. What this means is that unlike other plug ins, you are able to use gModeller as the first step in the energy analysis of your building to take into popular analysis tools such as GBS (Green Building Studio), Ecotect, IES, Design Builder and any other software that supports gbXML.

The tool has come a long way in the time that I have been at Greenspace Live. The speed, performance and reliability are constantly being improved and you can now use gModeller to generate gbXML’s of very large buildings.

The first task is to model your building in SketchUp using single surfaces for each building element i.e. walls, floors, roofs etc. An x-ray view of a building model which is suitable for gModeller is shown below.

Still the most common problem new users of the plug in seem to have is the generating your building model in SketchUp in a way that allows you to use gModeller to generate a gbXML file of the building. I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to read the gModeller user guide prior to downloading and installing gModeller.

Once you have modelled you building you then populate your model using the SketchUp paint tool by simply selecting the element from the gbXML palette and clicking on the desired surface, basically select exterior wall from the paint gbXML folder and click on all the exterior walls of your building and follow the same process for your floors ceilings roofs, windows and doors. Once you have done this you then have to identify all the spaces in your building and this is done using gModellers select space and create space tools. Using SketchUp’s section plane tool allows you to view the inside of the building, using select space you click on part of the floor of a zone and gModeller will automatically identify all the surfaces which make up that space and you simply name appropriately and continue this process until you have identified all the zones in your building. Once that is done you are then ready to export your gbXML and use it for energy analysis purposes.

We are constantly looking for ways to develop and improve gModeller. The next release of gModeller, coming this month, will see the biggest developments in the tool in my time at Greenspace Live. The main new features we are currently developing are an auto-apply surfaces button option and an auto-apply spaces option. These new features will dramatically reduce the time taken to generate a gbXML by eliminating the task of manually assigning the gbXML surfaces and spaces in your building model. Other improvements include a gbXML data sheet; giving you detailed information about your gbXML which will highlight any errors that may be present in your building model.

– Alex


01
Sep 11

Describing buildings

A house of cards, built by robots.“In need of some modernisation.”
“Many period features.”
“Compact and bijou.”

There are many ways to describe a building (particularly if you are an estate agent) but when it comes to pinning down exactly how much energy it’s using — and how energy use can be minimised — then you need to be much more precise.

Many modern energy analysis tools approach this problem by having you construct a 3-D model.

One problem with this approach is that each of these tools have their own interfaces, and you often need to spend a substantial amount of time learning how they work (and how to avoid their quirks).

Another problem is that they are often closed systems. Even if you already have a 3-D model created somewhere else, it may not be possible to import it. And once your masterwork of a model is created in one tool, you generally cannot reuse it in another one.

At GreenspaceLive we believe in collaboration. We also believe in second (and third, and fourth) opinions when searching for energy-efficient and low-carbon solutions.

That’s why our approach to modelling (gModeller) uses Google Sketchup: no new tools or difficult paradigms to master, no awkward interfaces to learn your way around. Just Google’s ridiculously easy-to-use — and free — modelling tool.

To that, we’ve added the ability to export (and import) the model in gbXML format. gbXML is an open standard, and is a vendor-neutral way of describing a building (it’s a bit like the PDF of the building-model world).

Model, export and analyse flowchart

Model, export, analyse

Once you’ve made your building in Sketchup, export it in gbXML format and then import it into a wide variety of other tools for further analysis.

Of course, we provide our own cross-platform energy analysis tool, gEnergy, and we hope you’ll try it first. But you’re not limited to it. As gbXML is totally non-proprietary you can use it in any tool that supports it — see the comprehensive list on the gbxml.org website.

Why not start analysing today?

– Donald I