Building Optimization Tools – The Grasshopper definition and breakdown.

About a year ago I was asked to speak at the University of Oregon’s annual H.O.P.E.S. conference and lead a workshop demonstrating the computational approach to design we promote on this blog and at the Yazdani Studio. The workshop focused on the optimization tools we have been piecing together using Grasshopper for Rhino and its many add ons. Today we’re going to share an updated version of the Gh definition used in the workshop. A video that breaks down the definition and various steps involved is also included below. The goal here is to share a general framework for creating optimization tools with Grasshopper. My hope is that the script below, along with breakdown video, might be a useful guide for anyone interested in developing their own optimizations or tailoring them to specific situations. In the example provided, the definition is used to optimize a building form to receive the minimum possible total solar radiation given only the geographical location, building area, and number of floors.

Optimization with Galapagos

It’s been several years now since the Galapagos component was included in Grasshopper for Rhino. Back in 2011 Charles Aweida wrote a blog post that included a proof of concept in which he used this tool to optimize a simple multi-sided form to receive the lowest amount of heat energy from the sun. Since then, we’ve been trying to create optimization tools at the building scale that can inform our decision making process during design. The videos below are optimizations for heat gain and views on a site in Boston, MA. We are actively looking for ways to expand this list to include a wider range of project / site specific design drivers such as daylighting, structure, and wind.

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3dsMax to Rhino/Grasshopper to Ecotect and Back

Many of us have struggled with incorporating analysis data from energy consultants or software like Ecotect and Energy Plus into the the early stages of design. This is largely due to the cumbersome process of moving models between design and analysis software, or worse,  the necessity to completely rebuild a model to suit a particular type of analysis or tool.  To complicate things further, the result of such efforts isn’t easily incorporated back into the design process, because the data harvested is usually output in a static format such as a chart or two-dimensional graphic.  A large part of our research is focused on discovering methods of improving the design/ analysis workflow so that that analytic tools can inform decisions made in the early stages of design. In this post we demonstrate a workflow for moving  3d geometry from our design tool, 3DStudio Max  through Rhino/ Grasshopper, into our analysis tool, Ecotect. After gathering data, we import a 3-dimensional representation of that information back into Max to help shape the design.  This process is also compatible for use with Maya or any other 3d modeling tool that can work with vertex colors (known as false color in Rhino) such as Blender or Unity.