Dec
01
01
Sefaira Concept v1.3.0 Release - 12:15 PM
Sefaira Concept v1.3.0 Just Released
After several months’ of intense development it is my pleasure to announce the release of Sefaira concept version 1.3.0 - available exclusively to our customers on our Early Adopter Program. This release contains some major improvements, and also several minor changes that will improve the user experience.
Major new enhancements include:
Major new enhancements include:
- Strategies and Strategy Bundles
- Fast Switch between Dimensions
- Define Floor planes in SketchUp Files
Lets look at each of these in detail:
Strategies and Strategy Bundles
Sefaira Concept now has a new layer of usability - to allow you to create strategies for a base design, form bundles of strategies and evaluate their effect on the sustainability of your design, jointly and collectively.
A strategy is effectively a rapid way to evaluate the effect of small design variations - like changing glazing ratios or improving building insulation. It can also be used to measure the benefit from water saving or renewable energy technologies.
Moreover, users can bundle strategies to simulate their combined effect. So, if you have your base design, and want to see the combined effect of implementing better boilers, chillers and windows, you can quickly combine those strategies to see the effect.
Sefaira Concept now has a new layer of usability - to allow you to create strategies for a base design, form bundles of strategies and evaluate their effect on the sustainability of your design, jointly and collectively.
A strategy is effectively a rapid way to evaluate the effect of small design variations - like changing glazing ratios or improving building insulation. It can also be used to measure the benefit from water saving or renewable energy technologies.
Moreover, users can bundle strategies to simulate their combined effect. So, if you have your base design, and want to see the combined effect of implementing better boilers, chillers and windows, you can quickly combine those strategies to see the effect.
An added benefit of the strategies framework is that it allows you to create waterfall charts to visualise the benefit of multiple design strategies - for instance a bundle of envelope improvements.
Fast Switch between Dimensions
This feature is just what it sounds like - you can now go between dimensions - such as Fixtures to Envelope, HVAC to Renewables etc., without having to run a new analysis. This saves a lot of time as you explore the different sustainability aspects of your model.
Define Floor planes in SketchUp Files
Most massings have different floor plans in different sections of the building, and slicing the building into uniform floor areas leads to incorrect floor areas going into the energy model. With our new capability to define floor planes in SketchUp files, you now have the option of defining floors within your SketchUp model, which will then be imported correctly in the SketchUp parsing process. This allows you to have, for example, an atrium or other multistory features embedded directly in the model. See below for examples:
This feature is just what it sounds like - you can now go between dimensions - such as Fixtures to Envelope, HVAC to Renewables etc., without having to run a new analysis. This saves a lot of time as you explore the different sustainability aspects of your model.
Define Floor planes in SketchUp Files
Most massings have different floor plans in different sections of the building, and slicing the building into uniform floor areas leads to incorrect floor areas going into the energy model. With our new capability to define floor planes in SketchUp files, you now have the option of defining floors within your SketchUp model, which will then be imported correctly in the SketchUp parsing process. This allows you to have, for example, an atrium or other multistory features embedded directly in the model. See below for examples:
A few of the other improvements in this release:
- We've added a Brise Soleil Strategy
- Improvements to the speed, look and feel of Concept Comparison and the Concept Dimensions
Sefaira’s engineers are here to help with all your sustainable design projects. Should you have any questions, comments or ideas, please do let us know.
Regards,
Peter Krebs
CTO