buildVAC is a series of workflows and tools that enable architects to compare a variety of commercial HVAC systems and implement them into their projects during early stage design.
The Area Requirements Spreadsheet estimates the spatial requirements for building systems for a given building geometry. There is a version for commercial and one for residential buildings.
The Ventilation Requirements Spreadsheet helps to calculate supply air shaft sizes for all-air and minimum outside air systems.
This Grasshopper script allows users to select, simulate, and visualize different HVAC systems for early stage massing models for commercial office and multifamily apartment buildings. Performance metrics such as operational and embodied carbon, financial indicators, and spatial requirements are generated and used to inform system selection. Users are able to manipulate and modify the automatically generated system geometry based on their specific layout.
A sample file, for a typical 3 story medium office, can be downloaded here to be used with the script.
Coming soon. For all questions and comments about buildVAC, please contact the author.
If you use this repository, please cite it as below:
Irani, A., & Reinhart, C. (2023). buildvac (Version 1.0.0) [Computer software]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10711824
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