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Is anyone aware of a good way to get REVIT to report or assist in
reporting building energy use? We currently use HAP however are not
opposed to purchasing new software.

Thanks;

Wes Bonafe, P.E.

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Wes,

You should take a look at the IES . It will link
into Revit, both Architecture and MEP by using a plug-in. The toolkit
within the plug-in can be used to assess building energy performance
early stage, along with loads, daylighting, solar shading and some
aspects of LEED analysis. The Revit model can then be imported into the
for more detailed studies like assessing
lightshelves for daylighting, double skin facades, advanced solar
shading, comfort assessments and CFD analyses to gauge the impact of
both natural and mechanical ventilation strategies. More information can
be found at www.iesve.com where you can download a trial of the for
30 days.

Hope this helps

Pete Murray

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Wes,

I recommend you take a look at Tas, which has support for importing
REVIT gbXML data. You can either import a building directly to the
analysis stage or convert it to a Tas 3D model first, which gives you
the option to make any changes for analysis. The lead developer of the
Tas 3D Modeller has worked directly with REVIT to ensure that the two
products link together properly, so you can be sure that Tas will
perform well with a REVIT model and vice-versa.

You can download Tas for an 8-week trial at www.edsl.net
. There's also a video (with voiceover)
demonstrating a REVIT gbXML import and simulation at
http://www.edsl.myzen.co.uk/downloads/videos/gbxml.htm.

Regards,

Jonathan Catterall

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Another way to go is with the green building studio. You can get an inp
file for eQUEST from revit.

Vikram Sami, LEED AP

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How do you get an inp file from Revit? We have been trying to do this and the only way we found was to first go to ecotect then export inp. If you can go from Revit please let me know.

Thanks,

Danny

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You need to us Autodesk's Green Building Studio.

You export a gbxml file out of Revit into GBS, and then an INP file out
of GBS.

A caution here - it's not as simple as it sounds. We are finding that
most Revit models have too much information to be useful once they are
past the DD phase. Very often it's easier to build from scratch in the
wizard than it is to 'dumb down' the Revit model for export.

Vikram Sami, LEED AP

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Dear Wes,

We currently use IES for running analysis on our major projects from
Concept Design to Contract Documentation using IES (the full suite). I
find it extremely useful during the early stages of design to determine
the GreenStar, Australian LEED equivalent, achievements of multiple
designs. It is very quick in its, early design stages, results and is an
accepted software analysis as per ASHRAE requirements.

During the final stage of design, its downfall is the calculation time
for daylight analysis. The software also has no water analytical
modelling, as where EnergyPlus does. This can be a downfall where you
have large water chillers. However, the calculation time for doing
energy analysis is fast. I have found that the software does all that we
require of it, from PID control of multiple HVAC room components to
comfort analysis.

Our company has benefited from purchasing this software in it's
deliverance of GreenStar submissions and additional analysis within a
niche market. IES has just released version 6 of its suite (yet to get
my hands on it) and I'm quite excited to use it. I find the IES company
very helpful and they do try to answer all of our questions, usually by
a rep ringing us back within minutes.

I've used EnergyPlus but find that it is not great in a Revit
environment. Hopefully EnergyPlus will bring back its IFC functionality
and we may revisit testing the software. We also use ArchiCad. To do our
energy, thermal and CFD analysis of our ArchiCad models, we export IFC
to Revit and gbXML to IES. It works quite well for us and I do it on a
weekly basis. However much testing was required.

yourself with, after that you'll notice its advantages.

I've not tested TAS or Equest and would also like to hear of other
people's detailed comments on the software to help me persuade my
seniors to acquire a copy for testing in our Revit/ArchiCad environment.

Regards,
Ronan Carney

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Dear prospective PhD candidate

I would like to bring your attention to two full time PhD Knowledge Economy
Skills Scholarships being offered at UWIC, which are partly funded by the
European Social Fund Convergence Programme (West Wales and the Valleys). One
project (listed as project two on the link below) is related to the
'Assessment of the construction process and thermal performance of Low
Carbon Dwellings' and the second project (listed as project three on the
link below) is related to 'Low Carbon Dwelling Design'.

Each PhD scholarship provides an annual stipend of ?13,290 p.a. for three
years in addition to ?5200 p.a. to cover travel, equipment, conference
costs, consumables, training etc.

Each PhD project is also part funded by one industrial partner (both
partners are housing associations operating in South Wales) based within the
convergence areas of Wales and the project will involve working with this
partner on the PhD project. Both projects will be supervised by staff from
the Ecological Built Environment Research and Enterprise Group (EBERE) at
UWIC. The closing date for applications is 12 October.

For a student to be eligible for a KESS award they must be resident in the
Convergence area in Wales on registration and they must be able to take paid
employment in the Convergence area in Wales on completion of the
scholarship, which includes:

Isle of Anglesey;
Carmarthenshire;
Rhondda Cynon Taff;
Gwynedd;
Pembrokeshire;
Caerphilly;
Conwy;
Swansea;
Torfean;
Denbighshire;
Neath Port Talbot;
Ceredigion;
Bridgend;

The industrial partner for project two is Coastal Housing Group (CHG), whom
are based in Swansea and whom operate in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. This
project will also involve collaborating with Pembrokeshire Housing
Association and Valleys 2 Coast Housing Association, on a series of
residential schemes spread across some of the conversion areas. In addition,
it may involve collaborating with the PhD student working on KESS project
two.
The student will based for a minimum of one month per year (spread
throughout the year/or one block) in CHG's office in Swansea and will also
travel (the student will expected to have a clean UK driving licence) to
Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire.

The industrial partner for project three is United Welsh Housing Association
(UWHA), whom are based in Caerphilly and whom operate in Caerphilly and
Torfaen. This project will also involve collaborating with Pembrokeshire
Housing Association and Valleys 2 Coast Housing Association, on series of
residential schemes spread across some of the conversion areas.
The student will based for a minimum of one month per year (spread
throughout the year/or one block) in UWHA's office in Caerphilly and will
also travel (the student will expected to have a clean UK driving licence)
to Torfaen.

Please see projects two and three at this link:
http://www3.uwic.ac.uk/English/uwicresearch/researchdegrees/Pages/KESSSchola
rships.aspx

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I am going to touch on a couple issues that haven't been mentioned yet.

First let me start off by saying that 3rd party software representatives
replying to this thread saying their software works great makes me
cringe a little bit, so any recommendations in that regards should be
taken with a grain of salt.

The underlying issue here is whether or not BIM models should even be
linked to energy models at all. I have done extensive research on the
topic you have brought up and ultimately come to the conclusion that at
this point in time BIM models and their relative analytical loads model
should be independent of any energy modeling that needs to be done
either for code compliance, LEED documentation, LCC etc. (Just one
thing. The integration of heating and cooling loads inside BIM models is
absolutely amazing and the parametric workflow in Revit works flawlessly
such as auto resizing of outlets, terminals and equipment so I don't
want to confuse the two here)

The issue is this. The typical workflow of energy modeling is that
architects define the geometry, programmatic layout and material
selection at which point the building is handed over to the engineers
who design the system and usually also perform the energy modeling do
the complexity of modeling MEP building energy and water systems. The
problem with this workflow is that the geometry, program and materials
are constantly changing and the links from BIM to GBXML or IFC and then
to the energy modeling software is not parametric. Changes that are made
architecturally are not easily integrated into a pre-existing energy
model. Things get deleted and move around and your systems will need to
be re-defined and that's even if the software supports GBXML
"re-importing".

The other issue is defining the zones themselves. This is almost
entirely controlled by the architect. In Revit room bounding objects are
controlled by the architect. The ability to merge rooms in into one
thermal zone is an extra step. In fact the whole creation of spaces and
zones is a step that has to be taken, which really means if you are
going to have to fiddle with room bounding objects like walls and
ceiling and the splitting of perimeter zones with space partitions why
not do it from scratch. The geometry portion of an energy model is the
quickest step anyway, (usually).

Then there is the issue of whether or not the software you have used for
years can accept GBXML or IFC and if so how clean does It get imported?
So you may be forced to learn new software (IES or TAS) which may not
even model some important systems like the water-side components or CHP
and power generation as accurately as your tried and true DOE based
software, E+, etc.

I am leaving out a lot here, but you get the point. This isn't cut and
dry and you may find its best to stick with HAP or whatever you are
comfortable using until these issues can get resolved to ultimately
provide a more flexible and parametric workflow.

On the positive side, GBS is a great tool though if you want rough
estimates (SD) on energy use without the detail that other software
provides. It is quick to set up and test ECM scenarios. IES also has
similar "SD" level tools in their IES-Toolkits which offer good early
level analysis components.

Alan Jackson, LEED AP

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