Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Green Building Studio bills its new beta program as the first building information model (BIM) tool to determine a building design’s
Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Green Building Studio bills its new beta program as the first building information model (BIM) tool to determine a building design’s carbon neutrality. The Green Building Studio V3.0 Web offers architects, owners, and design teams the opportunity to experience firsthand a Web service that assesses carbon neutrality potential, total photovoltaic and wind energy, emissions, overall building energy, and water consumption for commercial and residential building design alternatives. Moreover, the program interacts seamlessly with leading Autodesk and Graphisoft BIM design tools.
System developers note that the beta release has multiple new features specifically targeted to designers of carbon neutral buildings, including:
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Carbon Neutral Building Check Û Estimates the feasibility for each building to achieve carbon neutral status using local grid emission data
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Energy Star score Û Computes each building’s U.S. EPA Energy Star score or Architecture 2030’s targets
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Photovoltaic & Wind Energy Û Analyzes the PV and wind energy potential for the building, plus summarizes PV potential for every building surface
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Water Use Analysis Û Estimates the building’s water needs, savings associated with efficiency measures, rain capture potential, and LEED credits
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Daylighting with Energy Savings Û Determines Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Glaze factor for each room with lighting control energy savings
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Natural Ventilation Potential Û Determines if the building location and loads are well suited for natural ventilation
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Corporate Accounts Û Provides firmwide management of users, building designs, building templates, and review of CO2 emission, energy and water use analyses
A building designed to be carbon neutral in five minutes can be viewed at the Green Building Studio site (www.greenbuildingstudio.com/video/CarbonNeutralDesign.html). Access to the beta program is free for existing and potential customers. Beta participants will be asked to provide product feedback to the GBS team.