ANIMATED BUILDING PERFORMANCE SIMULATION (ABPS) – LINKING RHINOCEROS/GRASSHOPPER WITH RADIANCE/DAYSIM

This paper describes the linking of the popular threedimensional CAD modeler Rhinoceros with advanced daylight simulations using Radiance and Daysim. A new, highly effective design workflow within Rhinoceros is presented that directly exports scene geometries, material properties and sensor grids into Radiance/Daysim format and calculates a series of performance indicators including monthly or seasonal solar radiation maps as well as daylight factor and daylight autonomy distributions. The simulation results are automatically loaded back into the Rhinoceros scene using falsecolor mappings. Using the Grasshopper plug-in for Rhinoceros, key design parameters such as window size and material descriptions can be changed incrementally and the simulation results can be combined into an animated building performance simulation, i.e. a dynamic visualization of the effect of these design parameters on the daylight availability within the scene. The design workflow has been specifically developed with the architectural design process in mind, aiming to provide designers with immediate, high quality feedback all the way from schematic design to design development.