The Global Archicad Community

[LaszloNagy]

See the official press release about it:

http://www.graphisoft.com/info/news/pre ... lease.html

Here is the Graphisoft EcoDesigner Star page with lots of information about its capabilities:

http://www.graphisoft.com/archicad/ecodesigner_star/

[andyro]

Laszlo, I last used EcoDesigner back in 2006/7 when I was calibrating it against some other modelling platforms. I did not use it beyond that, but now that we are doing more and more Passive House work, the value of the integrated BIM/BEM workflow in AC24 it is incredibly important, and potentially profitable for GS. I have reached out to LV and AP to ask why STAR is no longer supported in the NZ and NA markets. I have obtained some excellent results from it recently, and plan to offer a webinar and training blog on some optimized workflow tips and tricks. Is there anyone at GS that I should speak with to try to encourage them to reconsider a limited STAR release with some specialized support? Best, Andy

[Balint Kezer]

Hi Andy,

I am the Product Manager responsible for EcoDesigner STAR. I would be happy to hear your opinion and discuss your findings about the add-on. Please send me your email address via PM and we will organize a meeting.

Thanks.

[andyro]

PS - the interesting thing about Passive House, is that not only is it the only energy standard that uses the same evaluation methodology and objective energy targets everywhere in the world as certified by PHI, but that the extensive localization work usually required to meet regional codes can be bypassed if PH standards are met. For example, at the higher levels of the BC Energy Step Code or the Toronto Green Standard here in Canada, PHPP results and PHI compliance/certification is accepted by our building codes on an equivalency basis - provided one does the reference modelling. That said, EcoDesigner STAR is capable of generating 90% of the data needed for PHPP data completion, AND it can automate comparison with a reference model as per ASHRAE 140 protocols. So LEED/PHI/Code compliance is possible with a single tool - ArchiCad! It just needs some guidance to complete the process and add a few wee tweaks for data export.

[andyro]

we will organize a meeting.

Thanks Balint! I really look forward to developing some templates to assist the international user base ~ especially the ones that are working with PHPP.