Can anyone tell me what simulation tools there are available to help with option 1 compliance for LEED v4.0 IEQc7. The tool needs to report out the spatial daylight autonomy and annual sunlight exposure. I did a quick search and saw that IES reports this out, are there any other tools out there that report out these metrics?
Yes IES-VE does it. Also, there was a tool developed a while ago called SPOT (that you can find form the daylighting innovations website) and I'm pretty sure it can do it. I haven't used it in a while but you might want to check it out. It's an excel based tool running Radiance in the background.
SPOT provides an excellent LEED v4 daylighting report. In addition, SPOT includes photo sensor placement optimization. SPOT uses Radiance as the simulation engine. SPOT
Hi Annie,
The answer to your question is "not many at the moment (but a few are on the way)".
The folks at CBEI are working on a fork of Daysim that will calculate these metrics (sDA and ASE as per IESNA LM-83) on individual spaces. The plan is for those results to be seamlessly applied to entire building models via OpenStudio. OpenStudio proper will also support these and other daylight metrics much better than it has, in the next quarter or so.
Also check in with the folks at IDL-Boise, as those guys developed a Python script a while back that would also do these calculations. I have no experience with IES-VE but I have heard it is claiming to report sDA (no word on ASE; the two metrics compliment one another).
Any update on this? Is there documentation somewhere on how to produce the metrics using an OpenStudio model?
I have an update, but little documentation. OS 1.10.2 will support the calculation of DA, cDA, UDI, and sDA (but not ASE), as well as glare (DGPsimplified) from unlimited glare sensors placed in the model, when using the Radiance Measure. Spatial daylighting results are saved in the EnergyPLus sql format for easy viewing in Results Viewer, and also as CSV files for plotting however you wish. The metrics and illuminance are also saved in json format, and this all works with shading controls now. Docs to follow RealSoonNow.
Hi Annie,
LightStanza runs Daylight Spatial Autonomy Calculations for LEEDv4.
It calculates this result, taking into account blind operations.
Please see www.lightstanza.com for more details.
I put my (personal) money down on a SPOT-Pro license.
For LEED v4 Daylighting, this spits out every report of interest and can handle all calculations in full (including blinds / complex fenestration). The GUI is a pretty barebones excel workbook that interacts directly with the radiance engine to perform all calculations. What I liked most is that once you get through a set of calculations for a space, there is a LOT of constructive feedback concerning not just where problems exist spatially (i.e. too much glare), but how one might go about fixing the design.
You can find a free trial here: https://www.daylightinginnovations.co...
This (long-ish) youtube video also walks through what using SPOT Pro is like in practice. Note they're trying to showcase everything SPOT can do, which goes well beyond what you need to satisfy LEEDv4 (you won't need artificial lighting/sensor inputs or associated metrics/reports): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecBFe...
Hi Annie;
Sefaira has added this capability: http://sefaira.com/resources/new-in-s...
I am unsure on the reporting metrics/outputs and if they can be directly submitted to LEED or if this is useful only in early modeling situations to make sure SD/early DD decisions help keep the project on track. But, it will do the calculations and provides good visual feedback.
For those new to Sefaira, [at this time 01/2016] its aim is to be an early SD/DD tool to quickly complete analysis and help make smart & informed design decisions; and not a full blown compliance type modeling software like eQuest, OpenStudio, IES-VE, etc.
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