Solar + Energy Analysis
Start a BIM workflow by evaluating the performance of elements from the beginning of the design process.
Energy Analysis in FormIt
Analyze your building model for energy efficiency early in the design process.
Energy Analysis with Insight
With a FormIt Pro subscription through the AEC Collection, you have access to Energy Analysis with Insight:
Analyze early-stage design models with Green Building Studio's analysis engine
Connect to a dashboard view of the analysis results to compare options for your design
Adjust the Energy Analysis factor widgets, such as Window to Wall Ratio, Building Orientation, and others
Summarize your building's energy impact with a single number calculated as a bottom-line cost per area
Save your Energy Analysis results for future review with clients and other stakeholders
What's New With FormIt + Insight
Improvements to Insight Reliability
FormIt 2021 now checks your model for common model issues before launching Insight runs, and fixes common Insight failures for a more reliable experience.
FormIt 2021 also generally improves reliability of the FormIt + Insight connection, addressing many known failures and improving run success rates.
Getting Started
How It Works
Insight Energy Analysis uploads your FormIt model data, and runs several hundred analyses in the cloud to determine various energy scores
Energy Analysis uses Revit to analyze your model, so just like when sending FormIt data to Revit, you'll need to ensure your FormIt model is watertight and manifold
Preparing Your FormIt Model
Insight will use any visible geometry in your FormIt sketch
Ensure the building shell you want to analyze is the only visible geometry
Put supporting geometry like entourage, furniture, and site elements on a separate Layer, and turn the Layer off
Insight works best with a simple, solid building model
Ensure your building mass is solid and watertight
If your building design already has openings for windows and doors, it's best to create a new mass with no openings specifically for Energy Analysis, and hide the more detailed version using Layers
The simple building mass needs to have Levels applied
The FormIt model needs to have a Location set
Starting Energy Analysis
Look for the Energy Analysis button in the toolbar
Click "Generate Insight" to start the process
This will upload the visible model data, and will run several hundred simulations in the cloud
When complete, a message will appear at the top of the screen, and the menu will update to indicate a new Insight is ready to view
Click "View Insight" to view the analysis in your web browser
You can also find all your Insights at Autodesk Insight.
Troubleshooting
Common Errors
"Insight project could not be created. Please try again later."
Log in to the Green Building Studio dashboard, then restart FormIt
If you're not able to log in, or if you see an "access denied" page, you may need to purchase a subscription to Green Building Studio
Check that your model is solid and watertight
Check for any issues with FormIt services on the Autodesk Health Dashboard
To see if Green Building Studio successfully executed Energy Analysis runs for this project, take a look at the Green Building Studio dashboard
Your latest project should appear at the top of the list, and should display 248 runs
If it displays 0 runs, let us know on the FormIt forums, and we can help troubleshoot further
Detailed Logs
FormIt Web provides additional details when Energy Analysis fails:
Go to FormIt Web
Open the model that's having issues with Energy Analysis
Run Energy Analysis
Open Developer Tools (hit F12 in either Google Chrome or Firefox)
Look at the Console tab
Copy or screenshot any errors, and report them on the FormIt forums
Solar Analysis
With a FormIt Pro subscription through the AEC Collection, you can visualize the sun's impact on your building:
Specify relevant faces to be analyzed for solar impact
Visualize results in seconds within the app canvas
Hover your mouse over an input point to see specific calculated values of solar impact
Choose to view results as a monthly glazing study, or as a yearly solar panel feasibility study
Learn more about Solar Analysis in FormIt Pro.
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