One of the most difficult aspects of performing energy analysis on existing building projects is calibrating the simulated results from the energy model to the building's actual energy use. Accurate calibration depends on utility billing data or trended performance data from the Building Energy Management System (BEMS) being properly integrated into the energy model. To the novice, this process can easily double the modeling effort, killing a project’s budget. In the first part of this session, you will learn how to build a simplified energy model in Autodesk® Vasari Beta 1.0 software and calibrate the model to monthly utility data in Autodesk® Green Building Studio® web-based software. The second half of the class will cover how to calibrate the simulated results of the DOE2 energy model to the actual building’s energy performance as captured by a properly configured BEMS system. Both of these strategies will be covered in a case study on the Autodesk headquarters building in San Rafael, CA.

In this class you will learn how to set up your Revit software model for energy analysis within Revit and export out for analysis within Green Building Studio web-based energy analysis service. Learn where to go and what to do in order to set up the Building Information Modeling (BIM) information you need to generate a complete energy analysis. If we have enough time, we will look at Energy Analysis for Revit software from within the cloud.

We'll discuss using Revit energy modeling and Green Building Studio cloud-based service to improve sustainability and produce better buildings. This will include a demonstration of a custom Dynamo mass-making tool that translates a design intent spreadsheet into Revit masses. We'll introduce beginners to conceptual energy modeling and provide a step-by-step process guide, including useful hints and potential pitfalls. We'll use real-world examples to demonstrate our energy modeling process, and we'll include comparisons with other common energy modeling software to demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of Revit energy modeling.

It’s early in the design process. Wouldn’t it be great if there was something that evaluated the benefit of adding insulation, the impact of installing heftier glazing, or the increased efficiency in rotating your building 10 degrees? Architects don’t want to get into energy “modeling.” That’s not their gig. Let's leave that to the MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) professionals. Early energy analysis is the way to go, and tools within Revit software are available to help guide the process. In this session, we will investigate the tools available, including Insight 360 software, and the benefits of running energy analysis early in project design. We’ll discuss the fine line between energy “modeling” and energy “analysis,” as well as workflow implementation and documentation. This session features Revit. AIA Approved

This hands-on lab covers Autodesk® software workflows to quickly create 3D building models and perform conceptual energy analysis using existing building geometry, operational characteristics, and local weather data. Resulting energy reports can indicate which buildings perform poorly compared to modeled energy use; managers can then prioritize retrofits and renovations by evaluating various energy conservation measures. We examine use cases and workflows for each solution and use Autodesk® Green Building Studio® to explore potential energy savings and sustainable design alternatives. We also cover best practices, benefits, limitations, and workarounds of various modeling methods. We use examples of real projects, including a U.S Department of Defense project. Attendees get hands-on experience building 3D models of existing structures, running energy reports, and exploring design alternatives to save energy and water and reduce carbon emissions and operating costs in this hands-on lab.

Insight is a component of Revit software offering powerful energy-modeling capabilities through all stages of design. This course will cover the use of Insight to analyze Revit models, from the very earliest conceptual stages all the way through issuing construction documents. By using these methods, attendees can achieve their Architecture 2030, B3, and even net-zero goals. Attendees will learn how to use this powerful software to predict and optimize energy use, evaluating factors affecting both architects and engineers. With Insight, it is possible to analyze a wide range of potential design choices and chart a clear course toward reducing overall energy use, designing sustainable buildings with an easy-to-use and intuitive process.

Industrial heating is a major global source of pollution, responsible for 25% of all energy use—90% of which is provided by fossil fuels. Found Energy is tackling this challenge with a groundbreaking solution: aluminum-fueled power systems that unlock the clean-energy potential of one of Earth’s most abundant and energy-dense materials. This novel technology delivers low-emissions heat, transforming aluminum into a powerful enabler of a clean, energy-secure future. Found Energy’s modular systems also offer a practical solution for businesses in the aluminum supply chain by converting contaminated aluminum scrap into clean energy. In this session, participants will explore aluminum’s role as a clean fuel, and learn how Found Energy’s engineers rapidly designed and refined their systems using AutoCAD Plant 3D software. By using features like the tool pallet and data manager, the team accelerated development without compromising quality, safety, or collaboration.

One of the unrealized promises of Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been integrated energy analysis. Autodesk Revit software brings us one step closer to modeling every building, every time. The Autodesk 360 Energy Analysis for Revit service, powered by Autodesk® Green Building Studio® software, is the perfect tool to optimize load and 8760 energy calculations in project workflow. Full energy analysis does not require recreating an architectural model’s project geometry. Your firm can deliver better performing buildings, faster.

This class will explore the utilization of Autodesk, Inc., products in the development of early phase energy models that help guide the Design Team in the development of sustainable and cost-effective Building Solutions. We will cover the use of Vasari software as an early tool for conceptual level analysis and how we can effectively hand off this geometry to more detailed modeling engines for additional analysis. We will also explore Revit software as a tool for developing complex building geometries for energy analysis that maintain the flexibility to be rapidly updated as building design advances. These strategies also compliment Autodesk cloud-computing services, including the Autodesk 360 cloud-computing platform for data storage, as well as options for rendering and daylighting in the cloud for additional analysis and development of presentation materials.

This class will cover the results of a pilot project between Autodesk, Inc., and the City of Vancouver. The project used InfraWorks software as a platform for rapid energy modeling. Rapid energy modeling is an efficient simulation process used for working with minimal and, in many cases, already-available city building data to quickly generate energy assessments. The ability to visualize and analyze at a range of scales, from the block to the neighborhood, assists in developing strategies to achieve sustainability objectives. We will present the most successful workflows and interoperability workflows between InfraWorks software and other Autodesk tools and services. Equally important, we will review the role of InfraWorks software as a public-engagement tool for energy and built-form issues, presenting complex data and issues in an accessible environment.

Federal, state, local, and city governments are setting ambitious targets for reducing energy consumption of existing buildings through building retrofits. A challenge has been the scaling of energy analysis across large building portfolios in order to identify and prioritize the buildings and retrofit measures. Prior methods were limited to single buildings, but this session will introduce new capabilities that enable evaluation of entire building portfolios with minimal data inputs required. Results are presented dynamically in the context of a digital model and a custom Forge-based building portfolio management dashboard that serves as an executive summary for users or consumers of the rapid energy modeling (REM) tools, and enables easier communication and understanding of the workflow and results with clients. The session is intended for owners and managers, including the Department of Defense (DoD); federal, state, and local government; airports; higher education; architectural firms; and planning entities.

New subscription-based features in Autodesk Revit software provide significant enhancements to integrated whole-building energy simulation powered by the Autodesk® Green Building Studio® cloud service. This demonstration will highlight the automatic creation of accurate energy model geometry from detailed Revit software elements, such as walls, floors, roofs, windows, etc. This eliminates the time and effort required to rebuild a separate energy model, leaving more time for design iteration and optimization. This class will also show how other energy analysis data, such as thermal properties of building materials and building/space function, can be defined in Revit for use in the energy simulation and how the Autodesk Green Building Studio cloud service supports a more collaborative energy analysis process between architects and engineers, leading to greater accuracy and better design optimization from the earliest stages in the process. Finally, the extensive validation work conducted on this new feature will also be presented. While knowledge of Revit will be beneficial for attendees, it is not a requirement.

As Sustainable Design becomes central to factory operations, accurate insights into energy consumption are essential. In this talk, we’ll showcase FlexCon Helios, a third-party module for FlexSim that simulates, tracks, and analyses the energy use, power requirements, and indirect carbon emissions of manufacturing systems. Using the AU Factory Live experience as a real-world testbed, we’ll show how Helios enabled detailed simulation of energy usage across the live production setup. We’ll walk through the model and demonstrate how the tool integrates with FlexSim using Energy Use Policies and Energy Source objects. And we’ll explore how this approach helps manufacturers test system configurations and energy scenarios, analyze peak power demands and infrastructure needs, and estimate carbon emissions and energy costs over time. Whether you're developing Digital Prototypings or prioritizing Sustainable Design, this talk will show how energy-aware simulation enables smarter, greener decisions.

Energy and daylighting analysis with Insight software provide designers with the ability to analyze the performance of their designs, leading to more-efficient buildings and sustainable practices. In this session, we’ll explain how these tools are used and illustrate how one nonprofit firm is using this technology to design energy-efficient health centers in Haiti, Peru, and West Africa. This session will demonstrate how attendees can perform their own building-performance analysis using Revit software and Insight. We’ll present case studies where energy and daylighting analysis were used to design more-sustainable buildings and reduce operating costs for health-care centers in developing countries, where resources are limited and maximizing the environment is a necessity. Prior knowledge in Revit is helpful, but nonsoftware users will benefit from the information shared in this presentation.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a critical simulation tool for sustainability. By integrating CFD into the broader energy-simulation workflow, we can make more informed decisions and illustrate these issues for our clients. The key is to understand how CFD results translate into real-world metrics in terms of thermal comfort and energy. And, ultimately how the value of each strategy compares to other high-performance investment opportunities. This case-study class focuses on one simple example: using CFD to compare finned-tube perimeter heat to radiant ceiling panels in a typical private office. Our class outlines not only the specific steps of the CFD modeling process, but also how this process fits into the overall energy-performance optimization trajectory for the project.

Learn how top-ranked architecture firm Lake|Flato adopted Insight building performance analysis software to more fully embrace early energy modeling across the firm. It helps that the firm’s culture favors sustainable design—it’s won more national AIA COTE awards than any other firm in the United States. But the firm still required an implementation strategy. This session will cover the messaging, training, support, and results—which include the firm’s use of Insight on all projects to report pEUI (predicted energy use intensity) for its most recent AIA 2030 Commitment report. Staff training covered why Insight produces accurate results. Additionally, we featured staff and project successes that occurred when we used Insight to model a project and, based on those results, develop strategies to reduce energy use. You will also learn about a paper we developed, with an MEP consultant, using Insight to show various wall insulation thicknesses in multiple climate zones. Finally, as a beta tester for the next-generation version of Insight, you’ll discover what's new.

Buildings use over 40% of all energy on the planet. Of existing buildings, 99% are small commercial and residential buildings that use 80% of all energy in buildings. Each building in this group is generally too small to be of interest to the traditional professional who uses Building Information Modeling (BIM) or conducts sophisticated energy analysis. So, how are we going to solve this problem? We mash up the latest in mobile hardware, cloud services, augmented reality, and reality capture technologies to produce a solution that enables anyone who is able to play Angry Birds on an Apple® iPad® to analyze a small building in a fun and accurate way.

Buildings are highly complex and dynamic systems. As such, determining the most effective ways to reduce energy use can be very challenging. This is especially true in design when there are many different factors to consider—unknowns will reveal themselves and things will change rapidly, all in a compressed time frame. In this class you'll achieve greater ease, continuity, confidence, and flexibility with a range of energy analysis, from concept to detailed modeling in the FormIt mobile app to Revit software. This is all made possible through recent and ongoing advances being made in automatic energy analytical model creation; use of cloud computing for parallel simulation processing of simulations; and more intuitive, interactive, and customizable reportage. This class will comprise largely of live demonstrations that will show the ease and possible depth of energy analysis, what to focus on when, and ultimately how you can trust the data in order to make better design decisions sooner.

The construction industry’s efficiency gains have nearly flatlined over the last 25 years. Why? The buildings industry remains one of the least digitized. These issues trickle into the operational stage of the lifecycle, where commercial buildings waste an average of 30% of their energy consumption. All told, operational costs and emissions are often 5 – 8x higher than capital costs. These inefficiencies and imbalances derive from misaligned incentives between builders and users. How do we align these incentives to unlock massive efficiency gains across the design-build-operate lifecycle? The shift toward digital BIM processes is part of the solution to more energy efficient homes and buildings by delivering greater agility and long-term sustainability. Together we will explore how to drive long-term transformation in Architecture, Engineering and Construction towards a new energy landscape.

Autodesk, Inc., continues to expand its product offerings beyond the traditional CAD and modeling applications, and develop tools that help us gain a better understanding of a building’s impact on its environment through building energy modeling. As understanding a building’s efficiency becomes more critical in the design process, your workflow must adjust to account for the change in tasks. In this session, we’ll examine how to prepare and capitalize on your Revit software model to get the best results. We’ll start by reviewing what an energy model needs from Revit software to maximize the results. Next, you’ll discover how to create an energy model in Revit and review the simulation results. After learning what the predicted energy costs are going to be, we’ll take a peek into Insight 360 software to perform a heating and cooling load analysis, and we’ll wrap up by reviewing the lighting and solar potential analysis tools. It’s all about taking the power of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to the next level, and using it to produce a sustainable design. This session features Revit and Green Building Studio. AIA Approved