CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

30 April 2009

Product News

New Autodesk Tools Help Simplify Energy-Efficient Building Design and Renovation

Autodesk, Inc., announced the availability of Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010 software, a whole-building performance analysis tool, and the Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design, a new free online resource for designers that illustrates sustainable design principles, decisions and technologies for every phase of the building project lifecycle. This new product and online resource provide architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms with tools that help simplify and enable sustainable design decisions.

"Accelerating climate change and decreasing energy security are driving a growing number of voluntary and regulatory initiatives to improve new and existing building performance and reduce carbon emissions," said Phil Bernstein, FAIA, Autodesk vice president of AEC industry strategy and relations. "Our Green Index Survey consistently reflects these new initiatives and finds that owners are demanding green buildings at a steadily increasing rate. Autodesk's goal is to make sustainable design easier so architects can meet this growing demand, and we're doing so today by offering new sustainable design analysis software and a free online guide to building sustainably."

Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010 provides architects and engineers with a wide range of simulation and analysis functionality, which helps users to better understand earlier in the design process how environmental factors--such as solar, thermal, shading, lighting and airflow--will affect building performance. Design firms can use the newest version of the product within extended building design teams using Autodesk applications for building information modeling (BIM), applying all the tools necessary for building performance analyses that help enable energy-efficient and sustainable designs.

With the information inherent in the BIM process, design data can be imported using the gbXML file format from software such as Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 and Autodesk Revit MEP 2010 into Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010, helping to provide more accurate simulation and analysis at any phase in the design process. Autodesk Ecotect Analysis subscription members now have access to the Autodesk Green Building Studio web-based service, allowing for whole-building energy analysis to help determine estimated total energy costs, carbon emissions based on local electric grid data and net-zero energy potential with the application of renewable energy sources. In addition, customers can run several simulation and analysis studies, such as calculating solar availability, determining heating/cooling loads, calculating daylight factors and determining potential ENERGY STAR scoring.

The Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design is another tool that helps project teams, including owner, architect, engineer and contractor, address sustainable design decisions earlier in the project lifecycle. This online resource can help users first decide what the sustainability goals of the project should be, which decisions are crucial, and what tools to use and steps to take to create and deliver more sustainable designs from start to finish.

"Autodesk created the Guide to Sustainable Design because green building begins when projects are first imagined, and this requires thinking green at every stage in the lifecycle," said Bernstein. "By giving people a detailed view of the green building and renovation process, we hope to make a wider range of firms and individuals aware of achievable designs with more sustainable results."

The guide assists users in selecting their building paths and in viewing the consequences of their design choices on the efficient use of water, energy, materials and land. Users can see the potential they have to influence the sustainable use of these resources at every phase of the process, with scales that increase or decrease depending on where you are in the design-build phase; the higher the scale, the greater the effect of design decisions made at that phase on the sustainability potential of the finished project.

Availability

Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010 is currently available in English in North America, and the free Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design can be found at Autodesk's sustainable design site.

Become a member of the CIMdata PLM Community to receive your daily PLM news and much more.

Tell us what you think of the CIMdata Newsletter. Send your feedback.

CIMdata is committed to your privacy. Your personal information will never be sold or shared outside of CIMdata without your express permission.

Subscribe