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DesignBuilder - Building Design, Simulation, Visualisation
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DesignBuilder Software USA is North American distributor of DesignBuilder Program. For non US/Canada customers, please visit www.designbuilder.co.uk.

DesignBuilder is a revolutionary new building energy simulation and visualisation tool.
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Developed for use at all stages of building design, DesignBuilder combines state-of-the-art thermal simulation software with an easy-to-use yet powerful 3D modeller.
DesignBuilders' innovative productivity features allow even complex buildings to be modelled rapidly by non-expert users, and because it uses the EnergyPlus simulation engine you can be confident in the results.

DesignBuilder is competitively priced and cost-effective to learn and use, so you will be able to offer your clients comprehensive simulation analysis on even the smallest project without going over budget... the software will often pay for itself on its first use.
It is suitable for use by architects, consulting engineers, researchers and students.

Some typical applications are:

     l Calculating building energy use.
     l Evaluating façade options for overheating and visual appearance.
     l Visualisation of site layouts and solar shading.
     l Thermal simulation of naturally ventilated buildings.
     l Lighting control systems model savings in electric lighting from daylight.
     l Calculating heating and cooling equipment sizes.
     l Communication aid at design meetings.
     l An educational tool.

Click here for a list of program features.

Click here for program support.


 DesignBuilder News
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DesignBuilder v.2.1 released with EnergyPlus v.4

DesignBuilder v.2.1 has some important new features as well as widespread consolidation of existing functionality. The most significant new features in Version 2.1 are:

  • Latest EnergyPlus v4
  • Substantial improvements and stabilisation in CFD and related documentation
  • New site licensing system using network license server
  • Latent gains can be specified for equipment
  • Improvements in gbXML import
  • German language interface option
  • LIDER export for Spanish certification

DesignBuilder v.2 released with CFD, gbXML import, EnergyPlus v.3.1

DesignBuilder v.2 has some important new features as well as widespread consolidation of existing functions. The most significant new features in Version 2 are:

l 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) allows you to analyse the airflow and comfort distribution inside and outside of buildings. A link to EnergyPlus simulations allows you to use simulated surface temperatures and natural ventilation flow rates as boundary conditons to the CFD simulations.
l 3-D CAD model import. Import from Revit, ArchiCAD, Microstation and other CAD software supporting the gbXML standard.
<l Mixed mode natural ventilation to ensure HVAC and natural ventilation do not ocur simultaneously.
l New HVAC modelling options include humidity control and baseboard heaters (convective and radiant). Further significant improvements in HVAC will be phased in over v.2 development cycle.
l EnergyPlus 3.1.
l Option to edit data at opening level allowing different window and door types on a single surface
l Assemblies for modeling CFD objects and solar shading systems.
l Option to include/exclude zones from the analysis useful for modelling certain parts of a building only.
l More configurable results display give better control over simulation output and an option to save result templates
l Display of simulation results for individual surfaces and openings.
l Green roofs including irrigation control.

 

Upgrading to DesignBuilder Version 2 DesignBuilder

Version 2 was released on 10th May 2009 with many new capabilities and usability improvements. DesignBuilder perpetual licenses are valid for a particular major version only and so v.1 perpetual license holders wishing to upgrade to v.2 will normally need to purchase new licenses. To help with this are offering a 40% discount on all v.2 modules for all v.1 licence holders.

Also to help customers who have only just bought v.1 licenses we are providing free v.2 upgrades for all v.1 licences purchased since 1 November 2008.

 

Pre-release and Beta test Versions

Click here to download DesignBuilder v.2.1.0.056 BETA

This version of DesignBuilder supports the site license server
 
DesignBuilder Revision History

 



 
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