Design and build with energy efficiency in mind: Spacemaker analyzes operating energy in real time

The new analysis allows designers to easily assess the impact of their decisions on the operating energy potential needed for their buildings in the early stages of the project. This new feature is part of Spacemaker's real-time analysis tools, such as analysis of microclimate, solar panel potential, sunshine, natural light, wind and acoustics, which provide design teams with useful information to design more sustainable projects.

Inhabited buildings need energy for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting and electrical appliances - this is called operational energy. Buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy consumption and produce a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

For Håvard Haukeland, co-founder of Spacemaker and senior director at Autodesk: “Sustainability is a major issue for everyone. Being able to prioritize energy efficiency early in the design is key, because that's when the positive impact is strongest. Our new operational energy analysis tool makes it easy for architects to simulate better proposals from the start of a project, in order to find the right approaches to reduce energy consumption. »

The analysis has already been tested by major architectural firms. Pablo La Roche, Director and Head of Quality Driven Design at CallisonRTKL commented, “At CRTKL, we believe that sustainable design is a necessity, not an option. Spacemaker's new operational energy analysis tool makes this easier by allowing our architects to better understand the impact of their decisions early on in projects. Tools like this help make sustainable design more accessible and promote CRTKL's vision: People, Planet, Positive Design. »

How does it work?

Through the analysis, users can set a series of key factors for energy consumption including geometry, window-to-facade ratio, and roof and facade materials. While iterating over their volumetrics, they can immediately see how these intertwined factors impact the energy potentially consumed (kWh/m2/year). This instant feedback during design allows users to speed up iterations while visualizing the energy impacts of their decisions. After designing a first draft in Spacemaker, users can refine their project in Autodesk Revit and Insight.

Classically, energy analysis tools are used during more advanced phases where fundamental decisions such as volumetry, orientation and envelope have already been determined. In these phases, it can be difficult and costly to make major changes to these initial decisions that could have improved energy efficiency. So often, secondary measurements are taken only on insulation thickness, window shading and HVAC system efficiency. Although many factors affect energy consumption, these early design decisions, often made before design offices get involved in a project, can be significant sources of energy savings. Spacemaker's new analysis enables users to optimize operational energy performance and building efficiency in the least costly and time-consuming step.

Furthermore, existing energy analysis tools are rather complex and technical, requiring both a high level of detail and precise operating assumptions, as well as an expert understanding of the results. Spacemaker takes advantage of the same complexity of analysis directly linked to volumetry through an intuitive interface. The analysis uses machine learning, in which a large database of building operations was first analyzed using a complex simulation engine to estimate energy consumption according to various building factors. These results were used to train the artificial intelligence program which predicts energy consumption and offers this instant analysis delivering fast and accurate results earlier in the process.

For Harvard Haukeland: “Data-driven tools, such as real-time operational energy analysis, provide architects with the predictions they need to avoid potential design and construction issues in later phases, helping to save time and costs on the whole development. This analysis is a major step in helping architects create buildings that are more efficient over time, and above all, more sustainable. »