A large
number of architecture and engineering firms currently undergo a major change
in their tool infrastructure. BIM software is continuously gaining ground on
traditional CAD tools as means for documentation. BIM software developers are
not satisfied with limiting their tools to the documentation aspect of design and
they aim at introducing options for conceptual modeling within their suite of software.
A prime example these developments is
the approach Autodesk has taken for offering tools that assist their clients in
early environmental checks. With several (partly complementary) products on the
market, the frontrunner in that niche seemed to have been Ecotect (acquired by ADSK in mid 2008). When considering the lack of development
after its purchase, ADSK rather seemed interested in extracting some of its
features than retaining it as a standalone product. A strong indicator for this
to be true is the current development of Vasari that is slowly making its way
out of the Autodesk Labs.
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| Jon Morgan (Arup) exploring the principles behind Vasari during the Designing the Dynamic workshop |
Vasari is a
hybrid between a conceptual modelling tool, a parametric design tool, and an
energy analysis tool. Its versatility positions it close to the centre of what
environmentally conscious designers may want for conceptual exploration when
multiple options get analysed and their qualities get evaluated. The CFD
analysis component within Vasari is based on Ecotect and some additional
Ecotect features are making their way to Vasari as well. Vasari is not yet
available as a commercial product, but it is likely to get there within the next
year. It is strongly aligned with Revit (having the same user interface and
direct export capacity to Revit), and it also allows users to link in and out
geometric data with other applications.
Late last
year, I joined a small team of designers who tested Vasari’s urban modelling
and simulation capabilities in a workshop setting (Designing the Dynamic).
Supported by a Computer Scientist from RMIT University (Flora Salim) and Arup
Melbourne’s main Physics engineer in Australia (Jon Morgan) workshop attendees
developed several test cases for Wind Tunnel Analysis and facade optimisation.
Overall,
Vasari showed some excellent capabilities and workshop attendees were impressed
by its potential. In particular the combination of conceptual mass modelling
with preliminary energy and wind tests is appealing to our designers. At the
same time, there are also a number of improvements that need to be made to
increase Vasari’s usefulness. At this point it is simply not reliable enough
unless users have an in-depth understanding of building physics and are able to
compensate for any bugs! The approximations used during CFD can easily yield
incorrect results and any outcome from the analysis should at best be seen as a
trend indicator.
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