Did you know that Enscape Impact is the world's only real-time rendering environment that combines real-time emotive rendering with real-world energy analysis? And the energy analysis in Impact is powered by world leading IES Ltd. software! That's right - Enscape's not only fast and easy to use for beautiful real-time rendering and visual design coordination. The Enscape team has added best-in-class, real-world energy analysis!
However, before you get started, take a moment and learn from my mistakes. Don't just open your favorite design file and push Start. Enscape Impact doesn't need all the detail in your beautifully curated design file. Actually, too much of the wrong information will create inaccurate results!
The good news is that it's easy to show Impact only what it needs to accurately calculate energy use for your project. That's right - you don't need to wait till the end of long and time consuming design process to accurately calculate energy use!
Here's the design file I used to get up to speed with Impact. The present view is the same view used to create real-world and emotive renderings of the project in Enscape. The project is located in the quiet coastal town of Holden Beach, North Carolina.
Here's the view of the project in Enscape. Selecting the Impact button opens the Enscape Impact panel. All you need to analyze the project in Impact is the project Location, Building Type, Build Year, and Last Renovation year. That's it! There's no long and complicated form to complete to generate accurate energy use analysis (during which time the design has changed...gah!). The Enscape development team has hidden the unnecessary complexity. And when the design changes, Impact updates in real-time.
Here's the results shown in Impact with all the detail and Revit Model Categories visible in Revit. Impact predicts 62.34MWh/year. $0.11 per kWh equates to $6,860 in energy costs (an average of about $572/month). Actual energy use is about $190/month for electricity and gas (used for cooking, hot water and compliment heating). I'm confident the Revit file is well built. However, based on my experience, the Energy End Use result is high by a factor of 3X.
After providing the design file and a few back and forth emails, the Support Team quickly identified the culprit. Impact is making assumptions for calculations based on all space bounding elements in the design file. In this case, the Railings are the culprit, as they're space bounding in Revit. Impact is calculating Energy End Use for the open decks, back yard, and dock.
Easy fix. First, open Visibility/Graphics and hide all unnecessary Model Categories. Here's the essential Revit Model Categories that should be visible in your analytic view:
- Ceilings
- Curtain Panels
- Curtain Systems
- Curtain Wall Mullions
- Doors
- Floors
- Roofs
- Walls
- Windows
Here's the view in Revit after all non-essential Model Categories are unchecked.
However, there's still some space defining elements in the model that need to be hidden. The roof over the dock (serving as a shading device) as well as the two small ground level enclosures aren't necessary for energy calculations as neither space is conditioned.
Selecting and hiding these model elements one at a time is too time consuming. Let's use a Section Box and isolate only what needs to be visible to Impact. Here's the result in Revit; it doesn't look like much aesthetically speaking. But it's perfect for energy analysis in Impact!
Here's the result in Impact: 20.67MWh annual Energy End Use. $0.11 per kWh equates to $2,274 in energy costs (an average of about $190/month). Spot on!
Eager to learn more, I was fortunate to sit down for a brief discussion with Chaos' Roderick Bates and Monica Nelson. They're both instrumental in the creation of Enscape Impact and their experienced enthusiasm is evident. During this 15 minute webinar, Roderick and Monica discussed and clarified the sometimes counter-intuitive best practices when using Enscape Impact for energy analysis. Bottom line: Less is More. :)
According to Rod and Monica, it's best to save dedicated view(s) in your design file for ongoing energy calculations. Only once the necessary elements are shown, simply duplicate the view and rename to keep your project organized. This keeps your views for beautiful real-time rendering distinct from your views required for energy calculations. And all views update as you work in Revit!
Another tip? For multi-building campus type projects, create separate views for each building with only the necessary Model Categories and elements shown. Keep in mind that each view and corresponding building may need to have it's own Building Type definition. Fast, easy, beautiful, and accurate energy modeling with Enscape Impact.
But Wait - There's More!™ In this 30 minute followup discussion, Enscape Impact's Product Manager Dilyana Neykova walks us through Impact's Project Settings and analysis Dashboard. During this discussion we discover:
- Why the Impact Target User is NOT the Specialist Engineer
- How Impact Removes Complexity While Maintaining Accuracy for Energy Analysis
- How Impact Calculates Spatial Volumes in the Building Type
- The Importance of Energy Analysis from the Earliest Moment in Design
- The Value of Visualizing and Analyzing in Real-time and More!
What's next? Present Building Types in Impact are limited to Single Family, Multi-Family, Office, School or University, Hospital, and Dining. However, additional Building Types are coming in future updates and immediately available for Enscape Impact users! These additional Building Types include the following categories:
- Hotel/Motel
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Sports Arena
- Transportation
- Warehouse
That's it! I hope this 'tips and tricks' article helps your team get the most out of Enscape Impact. Questions, suggestions or comments? Please add your feedback to the original LinkedIn article.
ReadThomas would love to help you succeed with Enscape and your entire Chaos portfolio! Email us for a brief demo or best practices webinar for your team. If you purchase online, please let the Enscape team know that you heard about Enscape from Read Thomas. We'll provide your team with complimentary training, implementation and support for Enscape! www.readthomas.com.
