

- #GOOGLE SKETCHUP HOUSE DESIGN DOWNLOAD VERIFICATION#
- #GOOGLE SKETCHUP HOUSE DESIGN DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE#

Once you create rectangles on the surface of the envelope, transforming them into openings is just one right-click away. In the second phase, you need to assign physical properties to the elements you created: walls, roof, openings can either be customised, or imported straight from the database of certified components of the Passivhaus Institut.

Once you get started with the software, the first steps involve modelling the thermal envelope of the building, and optimising it as far as orientation, compactness, distribution of openings and so on. The volume of the thermal envelope of one of the two passive houses of Cavriago, Italy, during the 3D modeling. In this Excel-dominated context, DesignPH seems a bit like a dream coming true: via an easy and intuitive tool such as SketchUp, this plug-in allows you to carry out the early design, developing at the same time the architectural concept as well as the energy one.Īnyone involved with high-efficiency buildings knows how much the early architectural design phase influences the energy efficiency of the future building, because it shapes its thermal envelope.
#GOOGLE SKETCHUP HOUSE DESIGN DOWNLOAD VERIFICATION#
The verification tab of PHPP v.7, the most recent one translated into Italian. And yet, up until now, passive house design has been dominated by tables and numbers. For sure, I feel much more comfortable sketching ideas rather than filling out endless Excel tables. I remember quite clearly the first time I opened the PHPP: it was version 6, and my immediate reaction was: “What in the world am I doing?” As an architect, I’ve always felt the need for visual support to my work. It is the case of Italy, as well as the impression we got from our recent trip to the USA.įor this article, we tried to model one of the two passive houses that we are currently building in Cavriago, Italy, to analyse the pros and cons of this software.
#GOOGLE SKETCHUP HOUSE DESIGN DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE#
Once the model is created, you can export the data to PHPP (the energy balance software for passive house design), to further the energy design in depth.Įven though this plug-in has been available on the market for a couple of years, since version 8.5 of PHPP, our recent meetings with passive house professionals tell us that this tool is not yet very widespread. We finally had the chance to test DesignPH, the SketchUp plug-in that allows you to carry out the preliminary design of passive buildings in 3D.
