Bentley’s booth at AIA is always a visual treat, with huge displays and giant walls exhibiting the creative work architects are doing using their software tools, with Generative Components (GC) being a primary example of innovation.
Bentley’s motto, if you will, at the show was “software for high performance buildings” and the company was showing, in particular, its Bentley Energy Performance Series tools.
Bentley’s Energy Performance Series software uses the US Department of Energy (DOE) EnergyPlus simulation engine and the software is compliant with LEED Energy and Atmosphere Credit 1 (Option 1) whole building simulation analysis.
01 - Bentley's booth is always a visual treat.
The ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004 compliant software can determine energy savings percentages over a baseline building performance, helping architects, engineers and energy assessors in the United States and Canada determine how many LEED credit points they can obtain in the single largest points category under the LEED certified building system.
02 - Bentley's energy simulation and analysis tools are ASHRAE 90.1 complaint for LEED Energy and Atmosphere Credit 1 (option 1 - whole building simulation). In the United States this one LEED credit path can provide 1 - 10 points alone.
There are two product suites in this energy series and both tools come originally from the United Kingdom via acquisitions. I met with Noah Eckhouse, Vice President of the Global Building Performance Group, who told me that the UK market is the world’s most demanding green design market. These new software tools are mature, advanced, and well-used worldwide. The two key energy analysis tools are Bentley Tas Simulator V8i and the Hevacomp Simulator V8i. Both tools are compliant with ASHRAE 90.1 for LEED in the United States. And both tools can calculate both running costs and CO2 emissions. We will cover these two new tools in more detail in a further report.
Oh, and one more thing. Noah Eckhouse, VP for Bentley, expressed interest in the Mac market in regards to these tools. The company has the chance to deliver the first native Mac software tool that is ASHRAE 90.1 compliant. We will talk more about how Mac-based architects can get their building designs into these Windows-based tools in our upcoming article.
03 - The organic designs being executed with Bentley's design software. It is always interesting to see the projects on display at Bentley's booth. Typically they are large and complex projects that are tackling advanced form making issues in design.
Bentley’s Generative Components was the big news at last year’s AIA show. The booth this year was also showcasing this advanced generative modeling technology, in addition to Bentley’s Architecture V8i platform. To learn more visit Bentley’s website here.