VE-Toolkits

Significantly enhanced with new capabilities and expanded into two tabs (Overview and Sustainability), this VE-Toolkit interrogates; climate, natural resources, building metrics, construction materials, energy, carbon, daylight, solar-shading, water, low & zero-carbon technologies, and ASHRAE/CIBSE heating & cooling loads.

Climate Metrics
Analysis of climate data for the location. Summarises relevant metrics related to climate that play a key role in understanding buildings and design responses. Output on ASHRAE/Koeppen-Geiger climate classification, temperature, moisture/humidity, wind, precipitation, solar energy, diurnal swing and Mahoney comfort stress analysis.

IES Climate Energy Index
A building independent rating created by IES. It provides designers with perspective on the potential the climate has to affect the amount of energy a building needs to achieve occupant comfort. Heating, cooling, humidification and dehumidification energy is explored. Output includes global comparison and breakdown of potential energy types.

Natural Resources
Solar energy, wind and rain is automatically interrogated in relation to your building design. An initial indication of the potential scale that solar energy, wind energy and rainwater resources could impact on your design is provided.

Building Metrics
Understand many key characteristics of your building. Output includes; skin or internally loaded, surface area to volume ration, glazing percentages/orientaton, casual/solar loads, core perimeter ratios, thermal mass, internal distance to windows and natural ventilation form.

Materials Review
Headline summary of the materials used in the building, what types are predominant, and potential impact of waste in the construction process.

Energy/Carbon Simulation
Interrogate a range of energy and carbon metrics without shading, with simple external shading, or with advanced solar penetration – using a dynamic thermal simulation at sub-hourly time-steps. Including whole-building annual energy/carbon results, energy breakdown by end use, monthly carbon emissions, benchmark against Architecture 2030 Challenge, max/min results for temperature, humidity and comfort at a room level, and a per room peak loads breakdown based on dynamic simulation.

Water Review
Interrogates the potential for water reduction. Occupancy and fixture type selections can be set to establish a baseline and proposed design; reduction measures can be defined and reviewed for potential impact on water use reduction. Output on overall consumption and water scarcity are offered. LEED, BREEAM and Green Star calculation approaches are offered.

Heating & Cooling Loads
Production of indicative building loads figures, including peak loads, loads spilt and air flow rates. Choice of ASHRAE and CIBSE calculation methods.

Solar Shading
Solar shading animation capability across a choice of date ranges.  Set your Azimuth and Altitude.

Daylight Assessment
Provides an indication of daylight performance against a fixed threshold. Define the spaces used in the analysis and evaluate amount, size and shape of glazing with visual and tabular results.

Low/Zero-Carbon Technologies
Feasibility assessment of user selected renewables and low carbon technologies in relation to delivered energy and carbon emission mitigation.

Automated indicative LEED rating system credit assessment that covers daylighting, comfort, water and renewables across LEED NC V2.2/V3, LEED SchoolsV1/V3 and LEED Core and Shell V2/V3.

Daylighting
Covers LEED Credit EQ8.1. Simple 25fc (300 lux) threshold (75%spaces) or Advanced 25fc inc. light penetration (75% spaces) options available. Ability to define what spaces are included in the analysis. Output includes indicative pass/fail result, previous run comparison, visual floor-by-floor movie and tabular results to enable easy identification of marginal fail rooms. 

Comfort
Covers LEED Credit EQ7.1. ASHRAE 55 – 2004 compliant assessment method – occupied area must meet predicted mean vote (PMV) +0.5 to -0.5. Output includes indicative pass/fail result, previous run comparison, fly round movie and room by room table to enable easy identification of rooms that fail. 

Water
Covers LEED Credits WE2, 3.1, 3.2 (V2.2) and WE Pre 1, 2, 3 (2009). EPA – 1992 data; water use reduction calculation and innovative waste water technology (option 1).  Editable appliance data. Output includes indicative pass/fail result, water stress significance, and reduction achieved with breakdown. 

Renewables
Covers LEED Credits EA2 & 6. Carbon reduction based on simulation data and user selected low/zero-carbon technology. Output includes indicative pass/fail results, CO2 breakdown by end-use and proposed contribution of technology to emissions reduction. Although not part of EA2 credit, low carbon technologies are included, as in some scenarios they may be more effective at reducing CO2 emissions.

The following price options are for Annual Stand Alone licences. Rolling and Site Licence options are also available, please speak to our sales team for details.