Chapter 10
Conceptual Design and Sustainability
In this chapter, we will take a further look at the Autodesk® Revit® Architecture Conceptual Design tool and how you can leverage it for sustainable design analysis. We'll also explore a few other tools, some of which use BIM geometry to support sustainable design analysis.
A number of Revit tools support sustainable design processes and analysis, ranging from accurate material takeoffs to energy analysis and daylighting studies. As you move from a more traditional design workflow to a Revit workflow, you will see more opportunities to engage environmental simulations within the Revit model. This ability to see the model from different points of view makes a BIM project perfect for exploring sustainable design strategies. We will explore how Revit software can help support those strategies.
In this chapter, you'll learn to:
- Embrace sustainable design concepts
- Leverage schedules
- Use sunshading and solar paths
- Prepare and export your model for energy analysis
- Analyze your project for daylighting
Sustainable Design Concepts
Environmentally thoughtful design strategies have been around for millennia, but the practice of sustainable design has seen substantial growth over the past few years. Sustainable design practices can help address many issues, among them energy use, access to natural daylight, human health and productivity, and resource conservation. One of the principal goals of sustainable design is to reduce a building's overall ...