hat since we create a list of materials and we assign them to surfaces - volumes the next step could be to have an Life Cycle Analysis and Financial assessment produced.
The most common form to produce an LCA into a form that is commonly used and easily communicated is in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) that follow ISO 14025:2006. As every form of LCA, EPDs raise a bunch of question regarding their boundaries and the accuracy of the results especially if we include the factor of location. In comparison with other LCA practices though, EPDs have to be followed by Product Category Rules (defining the boundaries of the study) that can be reviewed by external parties if the EPD is to go public. Part from that EPD results reflect each stage of the life cycle of a product including potential benefits from Reuse or Recycling. Finally if you have a system - for example a building - you can add the EPDs of the different subcomponents forming the building and get a final EPD for the building itself - the point where I think HB's functionality is fully aligned.
The financial assessment can easily be concluded if one has the price of the material he/she uses. Finally the environmental indicators of the EPDs (LCI, LCIA) can be translated into Shadow Costs (Shadow costs for Environmental Indicators here) and added to the final financial assessment as an option.
I have developed a similar plug-in (in C#) for Grasshopper for my master's thesis last year. The project focused on the comparison between constructing normally and constructing implementing Design for Deconstruction practices in steel buildings. The idea was to compare the two cases based on their environmental and financial performance. In the process I included also options for transportation of the material and for shadow cost, embodied energy and carbon assessment and more. The final outcome can be visualised in Rhino's viewports and exported to excel sheets. The plug-in is connected to local db with EPD data for steel profiles. The same scheme though can be followed for any type of material if we have the right database to connect it to!
Please have a look if interested at the report here! And let me know if you have any questions!
Please note that the report includes 3+ chapters dedicated to design for deconstruction practices e.t.c that are irrelevant with the topic but maybe interesting to read:)
Also if someone is interested in the report I can always send it to you.
(I will upload a video -runthrough of the plug-in later this week)
I would be very interested to have these capabilities in LB and HB and happy to help realising it!
Thanks
Tasos
…
mplex the models are. If we are running multi-room E+ studies, that will take far longer to calculate.
Rhino/Grasshopper = <1%
Generating Radiance .ill files = 88%
Processing .ill files into DA, etc. = ~2%
E+ = 10%
Parallelizing Grasshopper:
My first instinct is to avoid this problem by running GH on one computer only. Creating the batch files is very fast. The trick will be sending the radiance and E+ batch files to multiple computers. Perhaps a “round-robin” approach could send each iteration to another node on the network until all iterations are assigned. I have no idea how to do that but hope that it is something that can be executed within grasshopper, perhaps a custom code module. I think GH can set a directory for Radiance and E+ to save all final files to. We can set this to a local server location so all runs output to the same location. It will likely run slower than it would on the C:drive, but those losses are acceptable if we can get parallelization to work.
I’m concerned about post-processing of the Radiance/E+ runs. For starters, Honeybee calculates DA after it runs the .ill files. This doesn’t take very long, but it is a separate process that is not included in the original Radiance batch file. Any other data manipulation we intend to automatically run in GH will be left out of the batch file as well. Consolidating the results into a format that Design Explorer or Pollination can read also takes a bit of post-processing. So, it seems to me that we may want to split up the GH automation as follows:
Initiate
Parametrically generate geometry
Assign input values, material, etc.
Generate radiance/ E+ batch files for all iterations
Calculate
Calc separate runs of Radiance/E+ in parallel via network clusters. Each run will be a unique iteration.
Save all temp files to single server location on server
Post Processing
Run a GH script from a single computer. Translate .ill files or .idf files into custom metrics or graphics (DA, ASE, %shade down, net solar gain, etc.)
Collect final data in single location (excel document) to be read by Design Explorer or Pollination.
The above workflow avoids having to parallelize GH. The consequence is that we can’t parallelize any post-processing routines. This may be easier to implement in the short term, but long term we should try to parallelize everything.
Parallelizing EnergyPlus/Radiance:
I agree that the best way to enable large numbers of iterations is to set up multiple unique runs of radiance and E+ on separate computers. I don’t see the incentive to split individual runs between multiple processors because the modular nature of the iterative parametric models does this for us. Multiple unique runs will simplify the post-processing as well.
It seems that the advantages of optimizing matrix based calculations (3-5 phase methods) are most beneficial when iterations are run in series. Is it possible for multiple iterations running on different CPUs to reference the same matrices stored in a common location? Will that enable parallel computation to also benefit from reusing pre-calculated information?
Clustering computers and GPU based calculations:
Clustering unused computers seems like a natural next step for us. Our IT guru told me that we need come kind of software to make this happen, but that he didn’t know what that would be. Do you know what Penn State uses? You mentioned it is a text-only Linux based system. Can you please elaborate so I can explain to our IT department?
Accelerad is a very exciting development, especially for rpict and annual glare analysis. I’m concerned that the high quality GPU’s required might limit our ability to implement it on a large scale within our office. Does it still work well on standard GPU’s? The computer cluster method can tap into resources we already have, which is a big advantage. Our current workflow uses image-based calcs sparingly, because grid-based simulations gather the critical information much faster. The major exception is glare. Accelerad would enable luminance-based glare metrics, especially annual glare metrics, to be more feasible within fast-paced projects. All of that is a good thing.
So, both clusters and GPU-based calcs are great steps forward. Combining both methods would be amazing, especially if it is further optimized by the computational methods you are working on.
Moving forward, I think I need to explore if/how GH can send iterations across a cluster network of some kind and see what it will take to implement Accelerad. I assume some custom scripting will be necessary.…
d the workshop PDF from this link: http://goo.gl/bcvRNH Download event poster from this link: http://goo.gl/Q0KWCM Brief: Cairo is filled with barriers controlling people movements, suppressing them as well as detaining green and public spaces to the extent that most people have been taking these spaces for granted. Public spaces have been for a while the periphery of our daily life. We will explore in this workshop how we can manipulate and alter people’s perception and direct their attention to how these spaces are integral for city life. This exploration will be backed up by intensive technical tutorials introducing computational design and fabrication techniques and tools mainly Rhino, Grasshopper, Geco and Ecotect. Not only will this be the typical technical workshop, but rather you will also have the chance to be guided step by step on how these tools are used through out different design stages in a real world scenario. Design prototypes will be produced through 3D printing, the main workshop output will be a fabricated one to one functional model for one of the designs using our new in-house CNC machine. Tutors (check the PDF for bio): Olga Kovrikova, MArch DIA Alexandr Kalachev, MArch DIA Karim Soliman, MArch DIA Islam Ibrahim, MArch DIA Sherif Tarabishy, B.Sc. AAST Application: Application deadline 1 September 2013 ** For students (undergrad / Master), teachers and PhD proof of status is required (university ID with a date or a certificate of enrollment) to apply for the students package. Packages (choose one of the following in the application form): 1. Standard registration Course fee is 4250 EGP For Students 3500 EGP 2. Early bird registration discounted fee For Professionals 3750 EGP For Students 3000 EGP ** Early bird offer ends on 14 August 2013 3. Group registrations discounted fee (5 or more) For Students 20% off - You will have to fill out an application form here: http://goo.gl/0QxAga - You will need to submit your CV and Short Portfolio (max. 10 MB) to info@morph-d.com, email subject: “Morphing Norms Application” (we will decide if you are eligible for an early bird discount or not based on the date of your email submission) - We will confirm receiving emails from all applicants. Successful applicants will be contacted 5 days after each deadline (early bird/final) and will have to confirm participation within 3 days, if they fail to do so, places will be given to others on the waiting list. - A maximum of 30 applicants will be selected.
…
ou will see all of the available components on a ribbon at once so there is no need to keep clicking drop down menus.
It's all about discoverability with GH. What if you're a beginner and don't know about the Create Facility (dbl click canvas) how can you find Extr?
Even if you hover over every component or use the drop down lists you will not see the name Extr appear anywhere.
Sure it makes sense that Extr is short for Extrude but it's also the Nick Name of Extrude to Point component
So you can easily miss the fact that one has a Distance Input verses a Point Input.
I think I made the move to Icons around about the move from version 0.5 to 0.6, possibly before. I initially thought that I would go back to text because I loved the mono chromatic look of the text but I soon realised that Icons were the way forward. The greatest benefit is speed. You don't need to digest and decipher every component (which is written 90 degrees to the norm).
I'm not saying you should move to Icons forthwith but at least consider that once you have a better knowledge and understanding of GH, Icons will set you free.
My top ten tips that I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to better themselves with GH.
1) Turn on Draw Icons
2) Turn on Draw Fancy Wires
3) Turn on Obscure Components
4) Use the Create Facility like a Command Line eg "Slider=-1<0.75<2" or "Shiftlist=-1"
5) Use Component Aliases to customise your use of the Create Facility eg giving the Point XYZ component an alias of XYZ will bring it up as the first option on the Create Facility as opposed to the other possibilities.
6) Try to answer other people's questions even if it's not relevant to your own area. By looking into solving a problem outside of your comfort zone and then posting your results it is very rewarding but it also lets you see the other approaches that get posted in a new light.
7) Take the time to understand Data/Path structures.
8) Buy a second monitor - There is nothing that can compare to real estate when working in Grasshopper.
9) Read Rajaa Issa's Essential Mathematics
10) Pick a panel in a tab on the ribbon and get to know every component inside and out and then move on. Start with the Sets Tab > List Panel…
ne diverse digital design methodologies and the use of different tools such as Autodesk Maya, Rhinoceros and Grasshopper.
Building up technical skills will provide the attendees with a solid platform from which to start rethinking and exploring innovative architectural ideas in collaboration with the team and the tutors.
URBAN FIELDS
Phase I
In the first part of the workshop attendees will be looking at field conditions and how to generate and design such fields that can help structure a possible urban condition in Florence.
We will be exploring dynamic systems, geometric systems and network theories to generate and design an abstract field condi- tion that extends the urban experience of the city onto the vertical dimensions of towers. Simple operations that would span variations from an initial state will give rise to high level of com- plexity.
The goal of this exercise is to create a rich and diversified intel- ligible urban space that can be later on subjected to local inter- ventions and zooming in to locally enhance each design.
AGENT - BODIES POLYMORPHISM
Phase II
The second part of the workshop will build upon first phase; par- ticipants will select one archetype (high rise tower) as a study model for further development.
Besides engaging with multi agent algorithms design strategies, attendees will address strategic utilisation of structurally and environmentally generated morphologies to design coherent and highly differentiated tower exo-skeletons.
Tutors will introduce agent-bodies polymorphism in order to explore the generation of structural aware and capable geom- etries through agent based formation of non-linear hierarchies and emergent patterns. These agent-bodies will operate in a complex spatial manner to form structure, partitions or enclo- sure and will operate across scales, creating a poly-scalar level of detail.
Attendees will speculate how autonomous systems can cre- ate new structures and intelligent distribution of structural elements, about new collaborative strategies of construction and the performativity they will evoke (performance, effects, responsiveness, interaction).
Fees
Early registration (before 1st June)
Students 390€ - Professionals 440€
Late registration (after 1st June)
Students 490€ - Professionals 540€
More info and Applications
https://www.ax-om.com/edu/polymorphism/
…
rtical Sky Component (VSC), and now Sky Exposure Factor (SEF). For everyone else following this post, this discussion has been ongoing in these other threads:
http://www.grasshopper3d.com/forum/topics/sky-view-factor-vs-vertical-sky-component?groupUrl=ladybug&xg_source=msg_com_gr_forum&groupId=2985220%3AGroup%3A658987&id=2985220%3ATopic%3A1377260&page=1#comments
https://github.com/mostaphaRoudsari/ladybug/issues/230
Grasshope, you have gone right to Oke, the grandfather of urban climatology, whose papers I have several times and yet I somehow I always missed the finer details of the sky view calculation. From his definition, I had always thought of Sky View Factor as a purely solid angle or "view factor" calculation in the sense of Mean Radiant Temperature. However, the numbers and formulas that you give here clearly show that Oke meant that this metric for quantifying and understanding urban heat island must refer back to the urban surfaces and their orientation in relation to the sky. It cannot simply be the view from points in space.
To clarify the distinction in simple geometric terms: The key difference is that Sky Exposure refers to the sky seen by a point in space while Sky View refers to that seen by a surface. Both of them involve the calculation of either projected rays or solid angle calculations to the sky (since they both are “view” calculations). However, while Sky Exposure treats each patch of the sky with relatively equal weight, Sky View weights these patches by their area after being projected into the plane of the surface being evaluated. In other words, the sky view calculation for a horizontal surface would give more importance to the sky patches that are directly overhead than those near the horizon because these overhead patch are “in front” of the surface (as opposed to on the side).
To express this difference in the trigonometric terms you cite here:
Wall View = 0.5(sin2 θ + cos θ – 1) / (cos θ)
Wall Exposure = θ/π
I both cases:
θ = tan-1(H / 0.5W) - ** This is the solid angle or ray-tracing calculation
SkyViewOrExposure = (1 - 2 (WallViewOrExposure))
To put this in more simpler terms for the View Analysis component, all that I actually have to do to convert sky exposure to sky view is multiply each of the traced view rays by 2cos(ϕ), where ϕ is the angle between the surface normal and the given view ray being traced.
I have done this by adding this line of code () and I have verified that I get the values from Oke’s paper that you cite above, Grasshope. Accordingly, the View Analysis component now has the option to compute either Sky Exposure or Sky View. You can see this happening in this new example file:
http://hydrashare.github.io/hydra/viewer?owner=chriswmackey&fork=hydra_2&id=Sky_Exposure,_Sky_View,_and_Sky_Component&slide=0&scale=1&offset=0,0
To (once and for all!) clearly define the difference between the three metrics at the top of my reply and to explain how to calculate each with Ladybug Honeybee:
Sky Exposure Factor - The percentage of the overlying hemispherical sky that is directly visible from a given POINT or set of POINTS. This is equivalent to a geometric solid angle calculation or ray-tracing calculation from points. It is useful for evaluating one's general visual connection to the sky at a given point and should be applied to cases where direct views to the sky are the parameter in question.
Sky exposure is calculated with the Ladybug_View Analysis component like so:
Sky View Factor – The percentage of the overlying hemispherical sky that is directly visible from a given SURFACE or set of SURFACES. While Sky Exposure treats each patch of the sky with relatively equal weight, Sky View weights these patches by their area projected into the plane of the surface being evaluated. In other words, Sky View for a horizontal surface would give more importance to the sky patches that are overhead and less to those near the horizon. Sky View is an important factor in for modelling urban heat island since the inability of warm urban surfaces to radiate heat to a cool night sky is one of the largest contributors of the heat island effect.
Sky View is calculates with either the Ladybug_View Analysis component like so:
Or with the Honeybee_Vertical Sky Component Recipe like so:
Sky Component - The portion of the daylight factor (at a surface indoors) contributed by luminance from the sky, excluding direct sunlight. This is essentially the same as Sky View Factor but it often incorporates a sky condition that is not uniform, such as a cloudy sky or sky that is more indicative of diffuse sky light. Another way of conceiving of this metric is a Daylight Factor calculation without any light bounces. It is useful for understanding the direct daylight contribution of diffuse skylight and, although many consider it an older (and perhaps outdated) daylight metric, it is still required by some codes and standards.
Sky Component can be calculated with the Honeybee_Vertical Sky Component Recipe like so:
In addition to the added capability in the view analysis component, I have revised the component description to include the definitions above. I have also corrected the Hydra example file in which I cite sky view as an urban heat island metric to use the new formula:
http://hydrashare.github.io/hydra/viewer?owner=chriswmackey&fork=hydra_2&id=Sky_View_in_an_Urban_Canyon&slide=1&scale=1&offset=0,0
Finally, all of this discussion has made me realize that the Vertical Sky Component recipe for Honeybee might not always be evaluating VERTICAL sky. The sky component might be vertical, horizontal, or in any direction that the input test surface is placed and pts vectors are oriented. Accordingly, Mostapha, I think that we should change the name of the component to simply be “Sky Component” instead of “Vertical Sky Component”. Please let me know if you agree.
Thanks again, Grasshope, for all of the great work! All of this never would have made sense without your research.
-Chris…
edit 29/04/14 - Here is a new collection of more than 80 example files, organized by category:
KangarooExamples.zip
This zip is the most up to date collection of examples at the moment, and collects t
onents (radiation, sunlight-hours and view analysis) which let you study the effect of the orientation of your building and the analysis result. When you come to a question similar to "what is the orientation that the building receives the most/least amount of radiation?" is probably the right time to use this component.
HOW?
I'll try to explain the steps using a simple example. Here is my design geometries. The building in the center is the building to be designed and the rest of the buildings are context. I want to see the effect of orientation on the amount of the radiation on the test building surfaces from the start of Oct. to the end of Feb. for Chicago.
First I need to set up the normal radiation analysis and run it for the building as it is right now. [I'm not going to explain how you can set up this since you can find it in the sample file (Download the sample file from here)]
Now I need to set up the parameters for orientation study using orientationStudyPar component. You can find it under the Extra tab:
At minimum I need to input the divisionAngle, and the totalAngle and set runTheStudy to True. In this case I put 45 for divisionAngle and 180 for the totalAngle which means I want the study to be run for angles 0, 45, 90, 135 and 180.
[Note1: The divisionAngle should be divisible by totalAngle.]
[Note 2: If you don't provide any point for the basePoint, the component will use the center of the geometry as the center of the rotation.]
[Note 3: You can also rotate the context with the geometry! Normally you don't have the chance to change the context to make your design work but if you got lucky the rotateContext input is for you! Set it to True. The default is set to False.]
You're all set for the orientation study, just connect the orientationStudyPar output to OrientationStudyP input in the component and wait for the result!
The component will run the study for all the orientations and preview the latest geometry. To see the result just grab a quick graph and connect it to totalRadiation. As you can see in the graph 135 is the orientation that I receive the maximum radiation. Dang!
If you want to see all the result geometries set bakeIt to True, and the result will be baked under LadyBug> RadaitionStudy>[projectname]> . The layer name starts with a number which is the totalRadiation.
Mostapha…
her people) a tremendous amount of time creating them by hand. Dog Treat was far from perfect, however it was good enough to use almost daily.
Three years is a long time. Since 2016 my Gh knowledge has expanded and I’ve seen how dodgy some of the scripting is. With this in mind I started work on a new build. Many things have been tweaked and some things have been rebuilt from the ground up.
Everything has been designed to be leaner and be a general solution to the problem of creating dog bone corners on geometry for quick, efficient and safe CNC fabrication.
Some of these things are:
Adding prompts about user geometry to make them aware about open curves, varying curve heights and if their geometry had been altered (mostly removing unnecessary points on curves).
Smooth Transfers. If you’re in a rush and need to speed through cutting, smooth transfers mean that a lead in geometry is now created alongside the actual dog bone arc. This means the router bit doesn’t have to come to a minute stop at every corner. This is turned on by default.
Acute Angle Condition If the angle between the two curves adjacent to a dog bone point is acute, previously the dog bone corner was useless. This was because the distance between the end points of the dog bone arc were less than the diameter of the router bit. There are many ways this condition could be addressed. I chose to circumscribe a larger arc based on the original angle between the adjacent curves. While it removes more material from the corner, it minimises tool wear and any potential for material to burn.
Single Curve A single curve can now be input into Dog Treat. It will be output with both internal and external treatments.
I’ll continue to update Dog Treat as the need arises, it’s become somewhat of a hobby now. Maybe one day it will become part of a Plug-in… once I learn to code it though!
Happy Treating!
Hi Everyone,
Here's a tool I've been working on for the past 4 months or so in my free time. It's a dog bone corner generator, however it's a little different to some of the existing ones. It's designed to be used for large amounts of geometry and as such, it avoids using any curve boolean operations that are computationally taxing. You don't have to split your curves up into internal and external lots either, it works it all out so you can be lazy. I've also incorporated Lunch Box's Object Bake Component for a one click operation that bakes geometry back out to Internal and External profile layers.
Let me know how it goes, will update where necessary.
Best,
Darcy
Change Log
06/11/19 - Version 2.0 SECOND DINNER - Rebuild
29/09/17 - Version 1.3 - Now with smooth corners option, True for smooth default/False for original
18/05/17 - Version 1.2 - Now includes variable angle domain input (defaults at 90°) for angled corners
13/11/16 - slight change to enable acceptance of very large interior curves
…
Added by Darcy Zelenko at 8:44pm on November 9, 2016