Revit’s solar study has evolved!

Turns out Autodesk’s purchase of Ecotect does not limit their offerings to one additional piece of software. It even sprouts some very useful off-shoots. A first glimpse at new energy-integrated planning tools offers the recently released Solar Radiation Technology Preview for Revit Architecture and Revit MEP. This software, which has been published on the Autodesk […] Read more..

Interactive 3D Visualization of Building Envelope Systems Using Infrared Thermography and SketchUp

This project explored the application of the visualization capabilities of Infrared Thermography in conjunction with three-dimensional models of buildings. Three-dimensional modeling is a powerful tool for visualizing and representing building conditions that is used by architects, builders, and contractors. Also, a three-dimensional model is better understandable than a more abstract two-dimensional representation (like a floor plan or an image).

Curtain walls in wood

Coming from a wood background, it is a bit disappointing that most (low- to mid-rise) curtain-walls or storefront glazed walls contain only aluminum mullions as their support around here (US). It appears that many architects simply don’t specify these in wood. This fact came to my attention again last weekend when I visited the recently […] Read more..

Typical Types and Others

A recent post by Smashing Magazine on free fonts made me look again at the list of fonts installed on my (Windows) machine. In particular, I was looking for fonts that would work well for CAD annotation. After all, AutoCAD’s TXT-font, Revit’s Arial and SketchUp’s Verdana can appear a bit “default” for good-looking plans. And […] Read more..

Say goodbye to the old mountain hut

If your mental image of a Swiss mountain hut consists of a small, weathered log hut with gable roof encircled by flowing meadows and grazing cows, think again. Or rather look up! All the way to an altitude of 2883 meters (9,500 ft) near Zermatt in Switzerland. That’s where in September 2009 you’ll find the […] Read more..

A house made of pallets

A team from the TU Vienna in Austria was one of the three winners of a European architectural design competition under the title “A Minimum House for Leisure in the XXI century.” Their winning entry was a house made entirely of shipping pallets. Similar to the recycling of metal shipping containers, this is a great […] Read more..

Gone Shoppin’…

Now Autodesk has two green thumbs! In a press release published earlier today, Autodesk has announced that it has acquired ECOTECT. Let’s see how they weave Revit, Green Building Studio and Ecotect together. FYI, here is a description of ECOTECT from the Square 1 website: Ecotect is a comprehensive environmental design tool that covers a […] Read more..