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Welcome to DesignBuilder’s May Newsletter! In this edition we bring you:
- DesignBuilder Wins ASHRAE UK “Carbon Reduction Innovation” Award
- Insights from a Washington Post Feature: Assessing Real-World Energy Upgrades
- Top Tip: Smarter Building Design with Optimisation
DesignBuilder Wins ASHRAE UK “Carbon Reduction Innovation” Award
We are thrilled to announce that DesignBuilder Climate Analytics has received the ASHRAE UK “Carbon Reduction Innovation” Award, recognising its significant contribution to advancing decarbonisation in the built environment. Climate Analytics was developed to provide energy modellers with easy access to a global repository of high-quality, location-specific weather data – and create your own bespoke climate and weather data for specific locations – all of which are critical for accurate building performance simulations. It includes powerful features, such as future climate morphing, Urban Heat Island simulation, and monthly updated “Actual Year” weather data, enable users to design and test buildings that are resilient, energy-efficient, and ready for future climate scenarios.
This award acknowledges not just the technical innovation behind Climate Analytics but also its real-world impact. From supporting compliance with national building regulations to enabling calibrated digital twins and climate adaptation strategies, the tool is helping professionals across the globe make data-driven decisions that reduce carbon emissions and improve building performance. We are honoured by this recognition and remain committed to supporting our users in designing better buildings for a changing world.
Learn More About Climate AnalyticsInsights from a Washington Post Feature: Assessing Real-World Energy Upgrades
A recent Washington Post article, “Which home energy upgrades will save you money?”, showcases how DesignBuilder can bring clarity to the often-complex world of energy upgrades. The analysis by Harvard’s Graduate School of Design evaluated a typical 1,500-square-foot home in Maryland to quantify the impact of various retrofit options on energy costs and carbon emissions, including solar panels, heat pumps, and improved insulation. Using DesignBuilder’s dynamic simulation capabilities, the team was able to:
- Accurately model baseline energy use and utility costs
- Simulate solar panel performance, accounting for real-world factors like tree shading
- Evaluate HVAC upgrades and envelope improvements in terms of both cost and carbon savings
The results clearly show homeowners the estimated energy and emissions savings for various upgrades, along with payback periods, making it easy to see which options offer the best financial and environmental value.
This study is an excellent example of how DesignBuilder empowers engineering/sustainability consultants, architects, and policymakers to go beyond compliance to make data-informed decisions about energy efficiency for real-world impact.
Read the Full Washington Post ArticleTop Tip: Smarter Building Design with Optimisation
DesignBuilder’s Optimisation toolset helps you get more from your building models and make better design decisions – faster. Whether you’re balancing trade-offs between energy use, thermal comfort, capital and life-cycle cost or LCA, optimisation takes the guesswork out of performance analysis.
Why optimisation? Because manually testing multiple design options is time-consuming and often incomplete. Optimisation runs hundreds of simulations behind the scenes to find the best-performing solutions, all based on your design objectives, budget, viable options, and constraints.
Quick steps to get started:
- Open the Sample Model: Download the sample model from here and open it up in DesignBuilder.
- Set Your Objectives: Want to reduce energy use? Improve comfort/reduce unmet load hours? Or strike a balance? Select your targets in the Optimisation settings.
- Define Variables: Select the inputs you want to vary, such as window type and size, building orientation, lighting, or HVAC system. DesignBuilder will explore every combination within the limits you set.
- Run the Optimisation: Let the genetic algorithms in DesignBuilder automatically identify and simulate the most likely optimal design variable combinations and show you the top performers.
- Review Results: Save time, gain insight, and make better decisions by reviewing clear visuals of trade-offs that help you navigate the inevitable trade-offs and find the sweet spot for your design goals.
You can find more detailed instructions in our Optimisation Basic Tutorial to help you start your optimisation journey. This and subsequent optimisation tutorials are a great way to master one of DesignBuilder’s most powerful features.
Don’t have DesignBuilder? Download the free 30-day trial using the link near the bottom of this newsletter.
Read the Full Washington Post Article
