Tag: environmental sensitivity

Calculating the U-value of walls in Revit

Luke Johnson

What is the U-Value?  It is:
Also known as the U-factor or coefficient of heat transmission, a measure of the rate of non-solar heat loss or gain through a material or assembly. U-values gauge how well a material allows heat to pass through.
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/U/AE_U-value.html

autodesk.de recently carried a detailed post on formulas related to the U-value.

Read more at:
Google Translate
of
http://www.autodesk.de/adsk/servlet/pc/item?siteID=403786&id=20378691

Summary

To get the U value of a wall structure, add the sum of the heat transfer coefficients for the wall types specified thermal resistance R T by this value to be used as a divisor.

With walls so:

U = 1 / (Rt (from Revit) 0.17 (K · m) / W)
formel_03

Built-in Energy calculations in Revit Architecture

Luke Johnson

Depending on where you live in the world, you likely have to satisfy certain regulatory authorities as to the environmental performance of you building.  Various external tools may be used for this.

However, what if you could configure your Schedules in Revit to do these calculations for you?  Youtube user FreshgroundEarth has uploaded a video describing how to do this to satisfy SANS (South Africa National Standards) requirements:

At about 7 mins, he demonstrates the use of a ‘gizmo’ placed on elevation, enabling the calculation of facade area, which in turn relates to mechanical heating / cooling calculations.  He also calculates glazing areas using a parameter filtering method.

This is a good demonstration of leveraging the Revit model for a specific regulatory condition.

It would be nice if  *one day*  the various regulatory authorities actually provide Revit templates that are already set up for these calculations, to save each company in each part of the world from reinventing the wheel to suit the regulatory constraints of each particular project.

Come on! Who isnt pedalling?

Luke Johnson

Is what you might say if you were finding it hard to ride in this pedal powered bus.  Yep, it is a “Fourteen-rider, pedal-powered vehicle”.

What has this got to do with BIM?  At least four things: its innovative, environmentally conscious, an interesting piece of design, and its put together by an engineering firm.

Unlike BIM, this device has one distinct individual in control of the wheel…

Learn more at:
CAZTEK Engineering :: CityCycle:

Dimond Architects – Affordable Accommodation Proposal

Luke Johnson

At Dimond Architects, we recently responded to an interesting client brief.

The Client was seeking a scheme that retained existing trees, provided affordable housing and was highly rated in terms of energy efficiency.


Our design essentially achieved these aims. We were sensitive to the significant existing trees on the site, and a vegetation buffer was maintained along 3 sides of the lot. The overall impact of the provision of carparks was minimised.


Given the need for affordable housing in Australia, and indeed in many parts of the world, we feel that our experience in combining affordability with energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity will be of great benefit to future Clients.

The Dimond Architects team has a combined focus for 2010 on professional development in the area of sustainability. We aim as a team to further build upon our green credentials which will affirm our profile as an environmentally focused architectural practice. These goals are exemplified by our membership to the Green Building Council of Australia and our Director’s Professional Development commitments impacting the whole team.

Feel free to contact us:
Dimond Architects Pty Ltd
Unit 2 Ground Floor
13 Carnaby Street
Maroochydore Qld 4558
Australia PO Box 980
Buderim Qld 4556
Australia Ph: (07) 5451 0988
Fax: (07) 5443 6866 Email: info@dimondarchitects.com.au

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