London and New York-based Sefaira Limited, a leading software developer for the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) market and leader in cloud-based software for sustainable design and high-performance buildings, has been acquired by Trimble today. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Sefaira and Sustainable Buildings
Trimble’s Design-Build-Operate (DBO) portfolio of products (hardware and software) now includes software tools for designing high-performing buildings early in the conceptual phases of a project.
In its press release today Trimble noted the oft cited figure that buildings consume 40 percent of global energy, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme’s Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiatives. Optimizing energy performance in the built environment can therefore have a large impact on global energy and the environment. The trend in the industry, as been noted in previous forward-looking articles here on Architosh, is in taking building analytics to the beginning design phases of a project (front-ending analytics) so that designers and architects can have a larger impact on energy from the onset by understanding a building’s energy profile much earlier in the design process.
01 – Sefaira’s sophisticated energy analysis software also calculates daylight analysis functions, a critical factor in optimizing a building’s lighting design scheme and its impact on building energy footprint.
Sefaira’s solutions enable users to estimate, compare, and optimize the energy, water, carbon, and financial benefits of relevant design strategies. This allows users to effectively balance the investment between various building strategies, to maximize capital efficiency, minimize energy and water use and create higher performing buildings at a low cost.
Sefaira Tools Work With Industry Leaders
Sefaira’s award-winning software solutions work with many industry-leading CAD, BIM and 3D tools, including Trimble’s own SketchUp, as well as Autodesk Revit.
Additionally, Sefaira provides tools that allow engineers and contractors to derive and analyze HVAC design scenarios from an architectural model.
“Architects rely on SketchUp to understand conceptual design choices and develop constructible models,” said Chris Keating, general manager of Trimble’s Architecture & Design Division. “But today, design is no longer just about aesthetics. Architects need to consider building performance in a more intuitive way, and be able to collaborate better with the engineers who design the systems that make buildings work. We have been a development partner with Sefaira for years now, and we are excited to increase our commitment to this space by adding Sefaira’s tools into Trimble’s portfolio of products for building designers and engineers.”
“Sefaira’s tools are already being used by designers at more than 500 firms globally,” said Mads Jensen, CEO of Sefaira. “Joining forces with Trimble will allow us to expand the reach of our tools much further, bringing performance analysis to many more architects around the world. This is an exciting milestone in our journey towards a future where building design is synonymous with high-performance, resulting in a built environment that is truly sustainable.”
About Sefaira Ltd.
Founded in 2009, Sefaira is a leader in software for high-performance building design. Using Sefaira, architects and other building designers now have the real-time analysis capabilities that enable them to practice Performance-Based Design. This enables designers to create buildings that have the very best performance characteristics in terms of energy use, daylighting quality, carbon emissions, thermal comfort, construction and operating costs. Sefaira has won a variety of industry awards and has been named as a Global Cleantech 100 company in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
For more information visit: http://sefaira.com.
About Trimble Buildings
Trimble Buildings, a part of Trimble’s Engineering and Construction segment, is focused on solutions that optimize the complete Design-Build-Operate (DBO) lifecycle of buildings. Trimble is dedicated to transforming the industry—increasing productivity, reducing waste and optimizing schedules, budgets and real estate portfolios—with powerful solutions that streamline communication and collaboration. These targeted solutions enable architects, engineers, contractors, owners, and occupiers to realize greater agility, efficiency and insight. Used in over 150 countries around the world, Trimble Buildings’ solutions are transforming the way the world designs, builds and operates infrastructure and buildings.
For more information visit: buildings.trimble.com.
Architosh Analysis
It wasn’t too many years ago Sefaira was an unknown software company from the UK. They began to appear on the scene in the United States a few years ago and in 2014 Architosh awarded Sefaira for SketchUp the AIA National BEST of SHOW award in the BIM category.
The ability to have real-time performance feedback while you are designing in SketchUp is a tremendous benefit and heralds the future of software in architecture. This buy adds a significant small piece to Trimble’s growing war-chest of software tools for AEC professionals across the design, build, operate (DBO) domains.
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