[Bldg-sim] PRESS RELEASE: DesignBuilder Team Wins ASHRAE Energy Modelling Conference's 'Best Innovative Workflow' Award

[Christian Stalberg]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 

Contact:

Christian Stalberg

DesignBuilder USA

(415) 743-0537

sales at designbuilderusa.com

http://designbuilderusa.com

 

DesignBuilder Team Wins ASHRAE Energy Modelling Conference's 'Best
Innovative Workflow' Award


DesignBuilder's advanced cost-benefit analysis tools enabled the team to
produce a cost-optimal net-zero energy building in a fraction of the normal
time.


 

Santa Rosa, CA - October 23, 2015 - Team DesignBuilder was thrilled to be
announced winners of the Lowdown Showdown competition's "Best Innovative
Workflow" category at the recent ASHRAE Energy Modeling Conference.

 

The competition was designed to showcase the work of teams pushing the
boundaries of mainstream modelling software tools to create a net zero
energy (or below) building. ASHRAE's requirement was to design a 53,600 sq.
ft. 3-storey office building with a number of constraints, but left other
criteria such as the building location, form, fabric and HVAC systems open
to stimulate creativity and innovation.

 

Cost is an important part of most projects so the team was keen to test
DesignBuilder's optimization capability and decided on a 3-step advanced
cost-benefit analysis approach. DesignBuilder Optimization uses a genetic
algorithm which mimics the "survival of the fittest" principle of natural
evolution to efficiently identify the best combination of design variables
(such as orientation, insulation, glazing, lighting, HVAC). This makes it
possible to find optimum solutions much more quickly than traditional
methods, providing the design team and client with an added level of
confidence that all viable solutions have been identified. Using
DesignBuilder Optimization, which is unique among mainstream software tools,
enabled the team to identify the optimum net-zero solution and also to
quantify the cost-benefit of higher and lower performing solutions.

"Given the team's desire to use this innovative cost-benefit approach to
modelling, we were all delighted to win this particular award for
innovation," said Dave Cocking, one of the DesignBuilder coaches. "This was
a great opportunity for us to work with some very talented and enthusiastic
team members and gave us all the opportunity to present something
cutting-edge and a little different at the conference. It is fantastic that
the team's effort resulted in this accolade from the voting ASHRAE
audience."

Thanks again to the DesignBuilder team members: 

*	Architect: Dr. Khee Poh Lam (Carnegie Mellon University)

.        Designers: David Polson and Holly Stevenson (Arup)

.        Engineers: Gonzalo Lema, Dante Garcia, Billy Condor (SUMAC)

.        Energy Modelers: Mike Tillou (Atelier Ten); Mitchell Gleason
(Building Performance Team); Weili Xu, Adrian Chong, Dr. Omer Karaguzel
(Carnegie Mellon University); Ignacio Martinez (Revitaliza Consultores).

In addition to the ASHRAE competition web page, the team's work (which
provides a useful overview of the optimization process) is summarized here:
http://designbuilderusa.com/lowdown-showdown-competition-ashrae-energy-model
ling-conference-2015
<http://www.prweb.net/Redirect.aspx?id=aHR0cDovL2Rlc2lnbmJ1aWxkZXJ1c2EuY29tL
2xvd2Rvd24tc2hvd2Rvd24tY29tcGV0aXRpb24tYXNocmFlLWVuZXJneS1tb2RlbGxpbmctY29uZ
mVyZW5jZS0yMDE1> 

 

ASHRAE competition website
<https://www.ashrae.org/membership--conferences/conferences/ashrae-conferenc
es/2015-ashrae-energy-modeling-conference> 

DesignBuilder Team Entry Poster
<http://designbuilderusa.com/sites/default/files/DesignBuilderTeamLDSD2015.p
df> 

 

 

Company Profile

 

DesignBuilder Software Ltd. (Stroud, UK) specializes in developing
high-quality, easy-to-use and affordable simulation software tools for
assessing the environmental performance of building designs. The flagship
product DesignBuilder provides data to building designers on energy
consumption, carbon emissions, occupant comfort, daylight availability as
well as the status of the building with regard to several national building
regulations and certification standards. Leading services engineers and
energy modelers across the world use DesignBuilder to gain an insight into
the impact of their design strategies on building environmental performance.
The software is the result of considerable investment in user interface
technology and an uncompromising approach to software design.

 

The DesignBuilder software is distributed throughout the world by a network
of reseller Partners.

 

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