In a world where climate change is one of the most significant challenges, the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry stands at the frontier of change for sustainable development. With buildings responsible for a significant percentage of global carbon emissions, integrating performance analysis seamlessly into the architectural design process is valuable.
Contextualizing our sustainability challenge
Buildings are more than the sum of their parts; their creation, operation, and eventual dismantling are pivotal moments where choices are made that can either further intensify our carbon footprint or lead us toward a more sustainable future.
The statistics are substantial: buildings account for a staggering 39% of the global energy-related carbon emissions. Digging deeper, 28% of these emissions arise from day-to-day operational activities, predominantly the energy used for heating, cooling, and powering the built environment, while the remaining 11% originates from materials and construction processes. Decarbonizing the building sector became a necessity.
Decarbonizing the built environment
Our mission is to democratize access to building performance and analytics technology. We've just launched the Enscape Impact add-on, a tool designed to transform how architects evaluate their creations' sustainability early in the design process.
Developed in partnership with global tech company IES, the tool integrates IES energy modeling capabilities with the Enscape functionality you already know and love. It's enhanced with energy efficiency information, simulated energy use, and carbon emissions indicators to guide your early design decisions.
Enscape Impact is more than just the latest addition to our suite of architectural visualization tools. It’s an innovative approach to visualizing building performance that eliminates the disconnect between energy modeling and design creativity, putting the power of sustainable design in the hands of architects.
Adding a layer of analysis to your design workflow
Immediate, intuitive, and integrated
Enscape Impact offers a fast and intuitive modality for assessing a design's environmental impact. Architects can now make empirical evaluations of their buildings' efficiency with minimal interruptions to their design flow. What used to be a separate phase, often detached from real-time design iterations, is seamlessly woven into the architectural process.
Accessible data-driven design decisions
Education is at the heart of democratizing access to technology. With Enscape Impact, even those unfamiliar with energy modeling and performance analysis can engage meaningfully with sustainable design. Educational tooltips will guide users through the analytical process, making the learning curve as gentle as it is informative.
Effortless and reliable
Effortless does not mean inaccurate; on the contrary, the insights provided by Enscape Impact are powered by the APACHE engine, developed by global climate tech company IES. Over the last 30 years, they have built a solid reputation as the leading global innovator in integrated performance-based building analysis and are now home to the largest building physics analytics team in the world.
Widely regarded as the best whole-building energy simulation engine in the world, the powerful APACHE engine performs dynamic thermal simulations to provide detailed insights into a building’s performance.
The Enscape Impact interface is designed to provide architects and designers with clear, visual representations of the energy use within their designs, from peak loads and total carbon emission to more complex data sets. This intuitive representation is an invaluable asset that architects can use to communicate the sustainability status of their designs to clients and stakeholders.
Bridging a new gap
Workflow companion for sustainability
Tightly integrated with all supported Enscape host applications (Revit, SketchUp, Vectorworks, Archicad, and Rhino), Enscape Impact is designed as a workflow companion to the Enscape core product, ready to contribute to the creative synergy between energy performance and aesthetic design.
Rapid analysis supports quick exploration and evaluation and nurtures the iterative process at the heart of great architectural work. The beta version is currently available on Windows only, but we are working on a version for macOS with our technology partner.
More efficient and effective collaboration
Enscape Impact is not only for architects and designers but also serves the AEC community at large. BIM managers and engineers benefit from more efficient and effective collaboration. They can engage with architects earlier in the design process, shaping solutions that are not only aesthetically pleasing but fully aligned with the project's sustainability goals.
An accessible and affordable solution
For those considering integrating Enscape Impact into their workflow, Enscape offers a cost-effective solution with robust modeling accuracy and affordable licensing models. The tool’s minimal hardware requirements make it accessible, avoiding the need for high-spec equipment.
The importance of prioritizing performance
In an increasingly eco-conscious market, green architecture isn’t just ethical—it’s also a competitive advantage. The building performance component allows architects to set a new standard in the industry, creating spaces that don’t just stand out for their aesthetics but are also appreciated for their minimal environmental impact and reaching sustainability standards.
The decisions made in the early stages of a project have long-lasting consequences. Use Enscape Impact to your advantage: prioritize building performance, design smarter, and build better.
💡Additional resource: How to Use Enscape Impact (beta) for Building Performance Analysis
Help us develop Enscape Impact
With Enscape Impact, we are breaking down barriers and combining real-time visualization with fast analysis. Together with IES and those of you who test the Enscape Impact beta version, we plan to develop the Enscape extension into a fully featured, easy-to-use building-performance application.
Between August and October, we are offering Enscape Impact as part of the Enscape license and trial. This is an opportunity to test the beta version and evaluate our add-on. While Enscape Impact beta comes with no added cost, there will be a cost associated with its commercial launch.
To share your experience with us, please complete our short survey and simply add your log files via the Feedback option available in Enscape. Also, at the bottom of the Enscape Impact page, you can sign up to receive sustainability educational materials.
Join us in our quest to transform the AEC landscape. The road ahead is one of collaboration and progress within the industry. Take advantage of the unique opportunity to test Enscape Impact beta and learn how to incorporate energy analysis into your design workflow and build a more sustainable future.
