Bentley (Microstation) have just bought Hevacomp

[Tom Foster]

Bentley (Microstation) have just bought Hevacomp http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Corporate/News/Quarter+1/Hevacomp.htm?skid=CEE_NA_COR_BN_76_080130&MIG=

Tony Baxter, former managing director of Hevacomp and now Bentley Building’s director of product management for building services and energy analysis ……….

“Hevacomp is at the forefront of simulation for building energy analyses, incorporating in its offerings the EnergyPlus engine, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, and software certified to perform CO2 emissions calculations required under Part L of the U.K. building regulations …..”

What's the nature of the EnergyPlus engine – dynamic? any good? I'd had a hunch that Bentley were about to buy Tas but sadly not, it seems.

[Tom Foster]

No one got any comment?

Since then there's an article in AECMag (CAD) about Ecotect, which is now seamless within Archicad – seems the bees knees, as written up by Martn Day, who's pretty clued-up on most things.

[Mark Siddall]

As far as I know EnergyPlus is meant to be the most detailed dynamic analysis going, it can run calcs by the minute and thus takes agaes to process. (I think you can adjust the calc. cycle to hours if you want.) To be useful EnergyPlus requires a good front end i.e. interface whether HevaComp achieves this I don't know (all that I have heard that is that it is more suited to engineers than architects).

Eco-Tect is achitect friendly but lacks any real bite (it uses the CIBSE Admittance Method.) I have alwyas thought that Eco-tect would be great if it integrated PHPP/achieve PH certification for its calc proceedures. This would really assist easy but suitably accurate calcs (except over heating calcs which steady state models are not so good at.)

I heard that AutoCAD have been sniffing around Building Integrated Modelling as well.

Finally, as always it is only as accurate as the person entering the data.

Mark

[Anonymous]

Hi Tom,

My experience of Hevacomp is minimal, but when I used it last [18 months ago] it was very user friendly. I mainly used the SAP software, though the suite of software is very comprehensive, covering most aspects of Architecture and Engineering.

[Nick Grant]

Mike, Tom

I have no first hand experience of 3d or dynamic energy models and would be curious to see how the data input and output happens. Will either of you be at the Annual Conference and if so would you have something on a laptop to demonstrate?

I have only seen Ecotect and that is probably informing my prejudice. I am concerned with anything where too much of the 'intelligence' lies in the software interface rather than the designer.

Nick

[Anonymous]

Have sent you an e-mail Nick

[Tom Foster]

I trust you chaps are following http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1427&page=1 on this subject. For example Bentley (Microstation) have also bought EDSL Tas, IES have chummed up with Autodesk (Autocad) – and who will take the only remaining bride, esp-r? Dassault perhaps?

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