“Ladybug Tools and gbXML” Webinar Q&A – May 8th, 2018

Question 1: Honeybee tools seem much more robust with Grasshopper/Rhino. Will Revit/Dynamo workflows catch up in the near future?

Answer to Question 1: Mostapha: For the new revision of Honeybee aka Honeybee[+] (https://github.com/ladybug-tools/honeybee), the same core code is being used by both the Rhino/Grasshopper and Revit/Dynamo versions. So the short answer is “yes,” these two will eventually have the same features as HB+ is developed more. However, there are still a number of things that seem like they will prevent the Revit/Dynamo version to performing as well as the Rhino/Grasshopper version even though the two have the same features. There are limitation to what Dynamo can do at this point and what Revit API provides. Notably, Autodesk has still not opened up the ability to get room window openings after 3 years of many people voting for it (https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/api-access-to-room-openings-geometry-and-materials-in-revit/idi-p/6642406). Until we get over roadblocks like that, the Rhino version will continue to hold better performance. Once Dynamo is more developed you should be able to see similar workflows in both of the platforms.

Question 2: I have a walk-in basement. Some of wall contact soil, some are exposed. Revit have difficulties with exporting such model. Can I fix it with the Spider?

Answer to Question 2: Theo/Michal: Aragog allows you to edit the surfaceType of any surface by selecting an alternative surface from a list of all he available surfaces in the mode just select UndergroundWall. An example is:

Questions 3: Is there a Linux version?

Answer to Question 3: Mostapha/Chris: The Honeybee[+] core libraries (https://github.com/ladybug-tools/honeybee) presently can be run on Linux using a Python editor and command line. There’s no Revit or Rhino for Linux, though, so there aren’t any CAD interfaces that we support over there yet. If someone makes a “plus” library from Blender or FreeCAD (essentially a few hundred lines of code in the API of these CAD interfaces that talks with the Honeybee core) we could have full support for this over there. Here is a short writing on how one can develop a “plus” library/plugin using the core library (https://github.com/ladybug-tools/honeybee/wiki/Daylight-simulation-with-Honeybee%5B-%5D-vs-Honeybee-Legacy).

Theo: Aragog runs in your browser so it runs on most any OS – including Linux, iOS and Android.

Question 4: Where can i find more tutorial and information about these tools?

Answer to Question 4: Mostapha: Go to http://www.ladybug.tools and see the Education tab.

Theo: Aragog source code: https://github.com/ladybug-tools/spider/tree/master/gbxml-viewer

Question 5: Are you looking to build in the ASHRAE 90.1 energy modelling process to Honeybee?

Answer to Question 5: Chris/Mostapha:  It’s already there. Honeybee uses OpenStudio libraries, which include baseline constructions for all versions of ASHRAE 90.1. It also includes templates for all 10 of the baseline HVAC systems. So everything that you need to build ASHRAE 90.1 baseline models already exists in Honeybee. Right now, you have to assign some of these baseline values by selecting them from the library and, in the future, we plan to add more support for having things default to using code baseline templates when the user does not assign something. There is also an OpenStudio measure which can help you for automating most of the process inside Honeybee.

Question 6: Do the surfaces represent the inner or outer part of the walls/floors?

Answer to Question 6: Theo: Aragog follows the gbXML standard: all surface represent the centerline of the element being represented

Question 7: Will this work with curved surfaces? Complex surfaces?

Answer to Question 7: Mostapha/Chris: Yes. Honeybee works with curved and complex surfaces both for energy and daylight models. It does this by meshing the geometry into a format that the energy and daylight engines accept. Here is an example: https://youtu.be/t0mgsZF7Dno?t=1m51s

Theo: Aragog shows any and all surfaces in the gbXML file. Fo example

Michal: When you draw curved wall in Revit during export it will transform curved into multiple division. Some simulation engine have limit with number of surfaces per zone. In this case please review number of surfaces in gbXML and sometimes is better to do split them in Revit yourself to can control total number in space.

Question 8: Can I do sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analysis in this tool?

Answer to Question 8: Mostapha/Chris: Yes! You can see a number of examples in our presentation in London. Here are the slides (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ghP8YjUAQZ5Jiq_bVA7F_sTInFCdaJ3ze3UxLp4NaWs/edit?usp=sharing) and here is the recording of the presentation (https://vimeo.com/262235205).

Question 9: All lists in the app are targeted to elements IDs, starting with “aim”. I would prefer to refer to a real space number and name, for example. Can I do that?

Answer to Question 9: Theo: Aragon R12: many of the lists ask you to select surfaces by ID. The IDs are as created by the CAD application used to create the gbXML files. In R13 you are able to select the type of attribute to be listed – id, name or CAD object ID.

Question 10:  In the past I had tried to export gbXML with Grizzlybear and had mixed results… I would like to try this new workflow with open studio for sure… are there any similar webinars/tutorials/ videos that run through this workflow?

Answer to Question 10: Chris/Mostapha: We don’t yet have any video tutorials on this new workflow but we do have an example file that shows most of the workflow that was demoed during the presentation: http://hydrashare.github.io/hydra/viewer?owner=chriswmackey&fork=hydra_2&id=Energy_and_Daylight_Model_from_gbXML

Theo: We have also been able to use ‘import gbXML’ in Open Studio to import edited gbXML geometry successfully many times. We hope to be able to add some extra sample files to enable you to create a full Open Studio report in the new future.

Question 11: This tool will be compatible with FreeCAD or other open source modeling software?

Answer to Question 11: Chris/Mostapha: See the answer to question 3 above. The two of us are currently only supporting/maintaining interfaces for Grasshopper and Dynamo but we are making it very easy for someone else to support a FreeCAD interface if they have the motivation.

Theo: if a program exports gbXML, then we will do our best to support viewing the file with Aragog. This will include helping you locate and fix any issues created by the CAD programs. If you find any issues, please send a sample file to the Ladybug Tools Forum.

Question 12: 1- We need to integrate Revit modeling with Dynamo by ladybug & honeybee but i found it so unorganized, some requested inputs were not there). 2- Is there any way to minimize crash while simulating in Dynamo?

Answer to Question 12: See question 1.