Solar components 3D parametric CAAD objects
Subtask B: Methods and Tools for Solar Design
September 2012
The developed solar objects are compatible with both Graphisoft ArchiCAD and Autodesk AutoCAD. The main goals of the new tool are to speed up the rendering procedure when integrating PV systems in building design, to facilitate and stimulate the use of BiPV (Building integrated Photovoltaic) systems by architects and designers and to improve the architectural quality of BiPV systems. It was developed by the Institute for Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment (ISAAC) in collaboration with IDC AG, the Swiss national Graphisoft distributor (responsible for CAD object programming), as a part of a national Swiss project: BiPV Tools, Interactive tools and instruments supporting the design of building integrated PV installations. The modules are available for free downloads from the following website: www.bipv.ch/index.php/en/material/software

T.41.B.3 Solar design of buildings for architects: Review of solar design tools
Subtask B - Methods and Tools for Solar Design
July 2012 - PDF 11.46MB
Editor: Miljana Horvat (Ryerson University, Canada) Maria Wall (Lund University, Sweden)
The third report of subtask B presents the capabilities of 19 CAAD and BPS digital tools for solar design, in order to increase overall awareness, and provide inspiration and incentive for the future choice of tool(s). The review was carried out by using the same building model as input for all tools, as far as possible. In addition, the second part of the report presents three exemplary case stories that intend to convey valuable experience as they describe different design approaches, which tools were used and how the use of solar design tools affected the design process and final architectural design.

T.41.B.4: Needs of architects regarding digital tools for solar building design
Subtask B - Methods and Tools for Solar Design
June 2012 - PDF 0.52MB
One important outcome of Task 41 is a reach-out to the industry and digital tool developers in the form of a letter, clearly stating the perceived needs of professional architects, as they had been identified through the international survey and by Task 41 experts through experience and research reviews.

T.41.B.2: International Survey About Digital Tools Used by Architects for Solar Design
Subtask B: Methods and Tools for Solar Design
July 2011 - PDF 4.9MB
Editor: Miljana Horvat (Ryerson University, Canada), Marie-Claude Dubois (Université Laval, Canada), Mark Snow (University of New South Wales, Australia), Maria Wall (Lund University, Sweden)
The second stage of the project aimed at learning from users, i.e. architects, about their satisfaction with currently available tools and methods for solar design, as well as to identify obstacles that they are facing especially during the early design phase. An international survey was carried out in 14 participating countries during 2010. This deliverable is the full survey report, with a description of the survey and a detailed discussion of the results.

T.41.B.1: State-of-the-Art of Digital Tools Used by Architects for Solar Design
Subtask B - Methods and Tools for Solar Design
September 2010 - PDF 1.56MB
Editor: Marie-Claude Dubois (Université Laval) and Miljana Horvat (Ryerson University)
The first stage of work in Subtask B was to review and analyze the current software landscape available for architects, with a focus on early design phase (EDP) decisions of building projects, and to identify missing software tools and/or missing functionalities required for encouraging and enhancing solar design of buildings and the integration of solar systems and technologies. This report includes 56 software packages which were classified in three categories: CAAD (computer-aided architectural design) tools, visualization tools and simulation tools.