04
Feb 14

Cloud Collaboration Through gWorkspace

gWorkspace is a cloud-based storage system we developed here at greenspaceLive. It allows multi-disciplined users to work collaboratively on building projects. We see gWorkspace as the central hub for a project, with users sharing images, floor plans, survey reports, simulation analysis and more.

We recently partnered with Hebridean Housing Partnership (HHP) as part of a study looking at energy efficient housing and the reduction of fuel poverty in the Western Isles. gWorkspace was the perfect tool for this, it held all the project data and provided a shared area for the participants to upload files and ensure that all parties were made aware of additions as the project progressed. Storing this data on the cloud means it can be accessed at any time, from anywhere in the world. Once the study is completed it allows for future analysis to be undertaken by HHP on different house types as technologies improve and become more cost effective.

gWorkspace comes integrated with all of our products, your workspace can be viewed from your desktop, tablet or smartphone and it even allows you to share through social media applications like Facebook and LinkedIn. We want to connect all participants of a project and make the whole process that little bit easier. Sign up for a free 30-day trial today and see for yourself!

“[Cloud computing is] the best thing for small business since the creation of the stapler. Cloud computing is a playing field leveler; it gives small businesses access to technologies that previously were out of their reach and lets small businesses compete with both other small businesses and larger ones.

And to make the deal even sweeter, cloud computing can save your small business money, too.”

 

– Susan Ward, “Why Cloud Computing Is Ideal for Small Businesses”

 


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)


17
Aug 11

Share and Share Alike

(image from flickr)

Sharing is am important part of day to day life – people rarely work in isolation, particularly when it comes to building projects where we usually see people from many disciplines working together to design, construct, and manage buildings – often with amazing levels of complexity. However, in the paper based world this can be difficult. Versions of documents can get mixed up, Engineers may not have the latest versions of an architect’s plans, etc. etc.

We believe that gWorkspace can help with this. Using gWorkspace, a team of people (not just building professionals!) can organise documents, files, and information relevant to them and then share with the rest of the team! Today, I thought that I would show how simple it is to begin sharing with gWorkspace in 3 easy steps.

Invite

The first step in collaborating with gWorkspace is to build your network of contacts. To do this, simply invite others to join you at GreenspaceLive by using our web based invitation form to establish a connection!

 

Share

To actually share a project with someone in your network, simply go to the project in gWorkspace, select the drop down menu and click on ‘Invite Collaborator’

Then select the users that you want to share the project with from the resulting popup menu, and press ‘Share’

 

Accept

After you’ve shared a file with a contact, they will have to accept the share before it is finalised. When a project is shared with a user, they will see a popup window asking them to confirm the connection.

 

Done!

That’s it! the project is now shared, and collaboration can begin!

Remember that you always have full control of your project, if at any time you want to unshare  a project you can easily do this by going to the project’s drop down menu. Unsharing is as easy as sharing – but not as much fun!

For more information on how to use gWorkspace, and to find out what else you can do with it, please visit our comprehensive gWorkspace User Guide.

Let us know how you get on with gWorkspace, we’d love to hear what you are doing with it – and what you would like to see in gWorkspace. Also, keep an eye on this blog for more updates on gWorkspace, gModeller and the GreenspaceLive software suite!

– Malcolm