Release Notes for Green Building Studio Web Service Release 3.4.0

Previous Releases: 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.0

Release Notes for Autodesk® Green Building Studio® web-based service Release 4.1
Dated: August 7, 2009

Summary of Changes
Phased Global Enhancement: Asia-Pacific
Performance Improvements

Detailed List of Features and Resolved Issues

Summary of Changes
Release 4.1 is a new-features release. This document is intended to highlight the changes in this release.

Phased Global Enhancement: Asia-Pacific
This release now provides users with the ability to model projects in Asia-Pacific with accurate Asia-Pacific weather files. Default country-wide utility costs have been included for countries in which data from the EIA exists.

Performance Improvements

Many key changes to the database and code optimizations have been implemented in release 4.1 that increases the response time.

Detailed List of Features and Resolved Issues

- Analysis of projects located in the Asia-Pacific region has been enabled (Report 2493)

- Speed of GBS from gbXML submission to results faster than previous version (Report 2617)

- Remove the case sensitive login validation for username (Report 2640)

- Improvements to user registration page (Report 2613)

- Allow users to opt-in to usability testing (Report 2457)

- Add Progress Indicator on Status Page (Report 2475)

- Update utility rates for U.S. (Report 2437)

- Bug fixes

Release Notes for Autodesk® Green Building Studio® web-based service Release 4.0
Dated: May 4, 2009

Summary of Changes
Release 4.0 is a new-features release. This document is intended to highlight the changes in this release.

Phased Global Enhancement: European Projects
This release now provides users with the ability to model projects in Europe with accurate European weather files. Default country-wide utility costs have been included for countries in which data from the EIA exists.

Many key changes to the database and code optimizations have been implemented in release 4.0 that provide reduced response and simulation time.

New Autodesk® Revit 2010 Products Add-ins
With release 4.0, the Green Building Studio web service introduces new add-in tools for Autodesk Revit MEP 2010 and Revit Architecture 2010, plus the Green Building Studio desktop tool, for uploading any valid gbXML file to the web service. These new tools now offer built-in tips; installation instructions; VRML 3-D view button; and feature improved user-interface with keyboard navigability.

Expanded Purchase Options
In addition to purchase directly through the website, Green Building Studio is now available as an entitlement with Autodesk Ecotect Analysis subscriptions. (Available only through your Autodesk Reseller.)

- New Revit add-ins and Green Building Studio Desktop tools released (Report 2306, 2307)

- No longer require postal codes to be defined in Revit files; takes location information from the Green Building Studio project (Report 2552)

Release Notes for Autodesk® Green Building Studio® web-based service Release 3.5
Dated: March 9, 2009

Summary of Changes
Release 3.5 is a maintenance release to address specific features and issues that had surfaced since the release of version 3.4.1 in October 2008. This document is intended to highlight the changes in this release.

This release features the much-anticipated ability to model projects in Canada with accurate Canadian weather files. Default Canadian utility costs have been included and are based upon the average rates for the largest city in each Canadian Territory.

With release 3.5, the Green Building Studio web service introduces compatibility with Autodesk Revit MEP 2010 and Revit Architecture 2010.

Release 3.5 greatly stabilizes the web service by resolving the issue of session logouts and allows multiple runs of large files without disruption.

A number of upgrades have been introduced in this release to improve the users' experience: Trial users who get added to a Corporate Account will now automatically have all of their projects and templates transferred to the Corporate Account. False failure message have been eliminated. A link to "Getting Started" in the support page as been updated; LEED® Daylighting Calculations have been refined; Project Template functionality has been expanded; and improved analysis of complex geometries has been instituted. Green Building Studio web service now allows apostrophes on user names when registering.

Detailed List of Features and Resolved Issues

- Compatibility with Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 and Autodesk Revit MEP 2010 has been introduced

- Multiple runs of design alternatives on large xml files has been enabled (Report 2083)

- Transfer of all trial users 'projects and templates to corporate accounts, once the user gets added to the corporate account, now occurs automatically (Report 2230)

- Links to the new "Getting Started" page on the website have been introduced on the support page (Report 2417)

- LEED® Daylighting calculations have been refined to accurately classify different window types and categorize space types as either regularly occupied or non-regularly occupied (Report 2182, Report 2216)

- Project template space conditioning type functionality has been expanded (Report 2199, Report 2202, Report 2207, Report 2209, Report 2210, Report 2211, Report 2212)

- Importing of complex and problematic geometries has been upgraded (Report 1454 & Report 1455, Report 2215, Report 2231, Report 2284, Report 2234, Report 2236, Report 2310, Report 2312)

- Green Building Studio web service now allows apostrophes on user names (Report 2269)

Release Notes for Green Building Studio Web Service Release 3.4
Dated: October 8, 2008

Summary of Changes
Release 3.4 is a maintenance release to address specific features and issues that had surfaced since the release of version 3.3.0 in July 2008. This document is intended to highlight the changes in this release.

Building Science Improvements
Our building science team oversees the accuracy of energy simulation results on the GBS web service. After testing the web service against energy and cost benchmarks for different building types, a number of improvements were made to the building science of version 3.4. These improvements include updated electricity and natural gas costs, as well as more accurate air flow, lighting and equipment loads, occupancies and domestic hot water use for a variety of building types.

A number of changes have been made to help users maximize their experience both on and off the web service. These include a new GBS-Revit User Guide available at www.autodesk.com/greenbuildingstudio under white papers, clearer charts and footnotes on the Energy & Carbon Results and LEED Daylight pages, and more surface and construction details in the DOE-2 input file for eQUEST.

Detailed List of Features and Resolved Issues

- Natural Gas and electric utility rates updated with 2007/2008 national averages (Report 2106).

- Domestic Hot Water (DHW) Heater was always 30,000 Btu, regardless of building size. DHW average demand now allowed to auto-size for more accurate fuel consumption (Report 2077).

- Domestic Hot Water usage values in some space types were updated (Report 2194).

- Assumptions for lighting and equipment power density, and occupancy density were updated (Report 2114).

- Internal gains for residential buildings were updated for greater accuracy (Report 2171).

- Single Family Residence infiltration changed from 0 to 0.5 ACH for all hours of the year (Report 2188).

- Default HVAC zone logic resulted in odd space type associations which have been corrected for better outside air assumptions (Report 2041).

- A building orientation design alternative geometry problem was fixed (Report 2127).

- The GBS to EPA Target Finder building type link was strengthened (Report 2155).

- Definition of regularly occupied spaces in the LEED Daylight results footnotes was updated (Report 2120).

- Definition of glazing factor in the LEED Daylight results footnotes was updated (Report 2160).

- Electricity cost per kWh used in PV tab limited to 2 significant figures (Report 2076).

- To improve identification of which template was used in simulation, Project Template name was added to Energy and Carbon Results page (Report 2105).

- DOE2 Material names were updated to include construction types for ease of comprehension in eQUEST (Report 1886).

Release Notes for Green Building Studio Web Service Release 3.3.0
Dated: July 21, 2008

Summary of Changes
Release 3.3.0 is a maintenance release to address specific features and issues that had surfaced since the release of version 3.2.0 in May 2008. This document is intended to highlight the changes in this release.

Enhanced Stability
Prior to this release, users may have experienced frequent logouts from the web service that were unrelated to inactivity. These session timeouts may also have affected the ability of new users to register on the web service. The Autodesk Green Building Studio team regrets any inconvenience these issues may have caused and has worked hard on resolving them for version 3.3. If you believe you are still experiencing unwarranted logouts, please communicate this to us on our support page.

Enhanced Usability
A number of changes have been made to improve the user experience on the web service. These include improvements to the US EPA ENERGY STAR page, better email communication with users, and more helpful purchase and pricing information alongside feature descriptions on the Purchase License page (to access, click the link at the top of Your Project List).

Improved Default Glass
New default window assemblies have been added to the database that offer a more accurate reflection of present-day glazing options. The higher visible light transmittance of the new glass types will allow baseline simulations to achieve higher LEED glazing factors for daylighting analysis.

Solar Panel Costs Updated
The photovoltaic (PV) table has been revised to more accurately report the cost differences for different PV technologies. In the previous release, the price per square foot for the three PV panel types available in GBS was the same. In reality, the price per square foot differs, since less efficient panels tend to be less expensive than panels that perform well. The PV Analysis page now uses this price difference in the analysis.

US EPA ENERGY STAR Page Redesigned
To help you better understand your building performance compared to energy targets from the US EPA's Target Finder tool, this page was redesigned to include reader-friendly graphs and tables that showcase energy, carbon and cost information for your building next to the top performing 10% of US commercial buildings.

Carbon Neutral Potential Calculation Improved
Reduced electrical consumption due to a design alternative was previously being double-counted. This has been corrected in version 3.3. The application now weighs electrical grid reduction through Design Alternatives, Renewables, and Natural Ventilation based on the percentage of grid electricity from fossil fuel for a building location. With this change, each unit of energy generated from a carbon reducing measure can displace the carbon from multiple units of grid energy, making it easier to achieve carbon neutrality in locations where less fossil fuel is used to generate grid electricity.

Detailed List of Features and Resolved Issues

- Improved website stability to remedy session timeout issues (Report 1040, 1029, 1030, 1032).

- Clarification of contact preferences in GBS project member invitation emails (Report 893).

- Added email sending service for single user purchases to notify user that account is active (Report 1027).

- Annual licenses descriptions for Autodesk Green Building Studio were updated on the Purchase License page for clarity. Links were provided from the Purchase License page to assist user in the purchasing process (Report 1057, 1064).

- The web service is now capable of running very large gbXML files. Previously, gbXML files > 8 MB may have stalled when running (Report 654, 785).

- Web service checks and provides correction information for unconditioned and conditioned spaces mixed in the same zone (Report 734).

- LEED Daylighting analysis is now successfully performed on AutoCAD Architecture 2009 models with Building Storey elements (Report 921).

- Web service now handles "ParkingAreaPedestrianParkingGarage" space from Revit MEP 2009 (Report 975).

- Web service provides a message if a model has reached the DOE2 limit of 2969 openings and surfaces in a single building space (Report 1039).

- In Revit MEP 2009, HVAC zone names with a space, '+', '=', '&' in the name will trigger error messages when the gbXML file is submitted for a run. For example, an HVAC zone name of "Zone A" will trigger an error message and not allow the run to complete. The workaround if you encounter this issue is to name all HVAC zones with alpha numeric characters and without spaces. For example, instead of naming HVAC zone as "Zone A" or "Zone+A" rename it to "ZoneA" (Report 1060).

- Added new default glass types with higher visible transmittance (Report 995, 1072).

- EPA Energy Star Page has been revamped. The page now includes graphs with percent Energy Reduction, Total Annual Site Energy Use, and Annual CO2 Emissions (Report 1012).

- Carbon Neutral Potential calculation has been improved Reduced electrical consumption on a design alternative was previously counted twice. This has been corrected. The application now weighs electrical grid reduction through Design Alternatives, Renewables, and Natural Ventilation based on the percentage of Fossil fuel from the grid for a building location (Report 1045, 1071).

- LEED Daylighting analysis is now successfully performed on Revit Architecture 2009 files with non-typical ShellGeometry (Report 1047).

- Cost per square foot for solar panels now changes based on the panel technology that is chosen (Report 1056).

Release Notes for Green Building Studio Web Service Release 3.2.0
Dated: May 12, 2008

Summary of Changes
Release 3.2.0 is a transitional release to transfer stewardship of the GBS web service to Autodesk, Inc. This document is intended to highlight the changes in this release.

Enhanced Security
Security improvements in version 3.2 increase protection of your data and information on the GBS web service. These updates do not require any action on your part, and are designed to provide undetectably seamless protection for your whole building energy analysis.

Autodesk Branding
As of the closing of the acquisition by Autodesk, Inc. of the assets of Green Building Studio, Inc., the GBS web service resides on Autodesk hardware and becomes part of the Autodesk product family. Branding on the site reflects this new ownership. This change requires that you access our downloads page to get a new client or add-on that points to the Autodesk-hosted site before submitting new models for whole building energy analysis.

30 Day Trial Accounts
Former Pay-per-run users on the GBS web service are automatically converted to 30 day free trial Corporate Accounts. These trial accounts begin on the date this version of the web service was released and will last a minimum of 30 days. New users will have 30 day free trials from their date of registration. Once the trial period expires, you will have 60 days to log in, view and delete any project data that resides on your account, or purchase an annual license to activate an annual subscription. Trial accounts exhibit full Corporate Account features, except that the number of trial projects are limited to 2, and sharing project data between multiple users within an account is disabled. Existing corporate accounts are unaffected by this update.

Electronic Payment
Version 3.2 features a convenient electronic shopping cart method of payment for annual licenses on the GBS web service. This service is provided by Digital River. PayPal is no longer an accepted method of payment.

User Type Changes
The Pay-per-run user mode on the web service is no longer available. All existing and new users receive versions of the GBS web service Corporate Account. New versions of the Corporate Account include 30 Day Trials, Single User Annual Subscriptions, and 10 User Annual subscriptions indicating the number of users that can share project designs and templates on the same account. The new account types are priced to better fit the carbon neutral design budgets for companies of varying sizes.

Detailed List of Features and Resolved Issues

- Lighting Power Density assumptions were updated to be more accurate for a variety of building types and locations as per ASHRAE90.1 and T-24 requirements. (Report 870)

- Improved efficiency of results page display for faster page loading. (Report 954)

- Improved XML to DOE2 translation efficiency to better handle large models. (Report 952)

- Technical support link disabled. Users can no longer upload files to our technical support site, and instead can communicate and share files by email.

- 30 day free trial version of the GBS web service enabled. Pay-per-run users automatically converted trial corporate accounts. These accounts and all project and user data will be deleted 60 days from the end of the trial period.

- Corporate Account (CA) administrators given improved capabilities to view project data and invite new members to the projects of other members in their CA. When the CA administrator deletes a fellow CA member from the account, that member is disabled and cannot log into the web service. 60 days after being disabled the user's data will be permanently deleted, but their project data will still be accessible to the CA administrator as long as the account remains active. When the entire CA expires there will also be a 60 day window for the account members to log in, view and delete any project data that resides on the account, or purchase an annual license to re-activate the account, after which all user and project data will be deleted from the web service.

- Digital River electronic payment system enabled on the web service to purchase corporate accounts. Paypal payment options formerly allowed for Pay-per-run users disabled.

Release Notes for Green Building Studio Web Service Release 3.1.0
Dated: March 21, 2008

Summary of Changes
Release 3.1.0 is a maintenance release to address specific features and issues that had surfaced since the release of version 3.0.0 in November 2007. This document is intended to highlight changes that a user may experience with the release.

New Design Alternatives
In response to feature requests from users GBS has added several new constructions and HVAC systems to the Design Alternatives options. The new constructions include: Straw Bale Walls; Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) systems for roofs and walls; Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) wall constructions; and Cool Roof options. Insulated translucent panels are now available under window and skylight alternatives. Several premium efficiency HVAC systems have been added to the Design Alternatives, including premium efficiency residential split systems; and central plant systems with VAV air handlers and high efficiency water-cooled chillers. GBS is dedicated to continually enhancing the web service in response to user requests for the most state-of-the-art design alternatives.

Enhanced Security
Security improvements in version 3.1 will increase protection of your data and information on the GBS web service. These updates require that you download a new client or add-on from our downloads page before submitting new models for whole building energy analysis.

Location Information
Version 3.1 now overwrites location coordinates provided by your BIM tool with the appropriate location information from your GBS projects. This will result in more accurate site data information in DOE-2 for incident solar calculations and more accurate HVAC sizing.

Photovoltaic Analysis
The photovoltaic algorithms have been simplified to filter results based on a minimum surface size and a maximum payback period which can be modified by the user. The results are more accurate and intuitive by consistently including high-power yield surfaces in the PV analysis. Previously, the photovoltaic analysis occasionally resulted in high-power yield surfaces being left out of the cost-benefit calculation.

Improved Handling of Shade Surfaces
Some irregular shade surfaces were causing unrecoverable internal errors during runs on the web service. Version 3.1 has improved shade handling capability that will result in far more successful runs of models with irregular shading surfaces.

Although the GBS web service has improved the handling of shade surfaces, there are still limitations that the user should be aware of. If users are creating gbXML from Revit, the exported models still need to be checked to ensure that roofs are being exported properly. If roofs are not being exported properly, which is likely caused by room objects not being extended above the top of roof surfaces, these surfaces will instead be exported as a shades. In addition, the DOE2.2 simulation engine has a limit of 1024 shade surfaces per model.

Heating/Cooling Capacity Display
For certain types of HVAC systems, the Heating/Cooling Capacity display on the Energy & Carbon Results page was inconsistent. This had no effect on energy results, but would have been confusing to some users. This has been resolved in version 3.1, not only to correct the capacity display, but provide more detail on certain system and zone capacities that had previously been omitted.

Detailed List of Features and Resolved Issues

- The photovoltaic potential has been enhanced to allow user to input the maximum payback period. Photovoltaic potential results are displayed consistently across the web application and are filtered using the maximum payback period. (Report 792, 796, 816)

- All design conditions for input into DOE2 are based on the ASHRAE standard data. Previously in version 3.0, for a GBS selected weather station only, the design conditions were being based on this weather instead of the ASHRAE standard data (Report 798).

- An issue with the display of cooling capacities for PVAV HVAC systems was resolved (Report 876).

- Lighting and equipment power densities for certain types of spaces were updated with the more recent ASHRAE and T24 data (Report 919).

- An issue involving missing default values for the religious building type was resolved (Report 906).

- A correction for files submitted in SI units for their CO2 Hummer Equivalent was implemented (Report 859).

- In addition to the zip code, latitude and longitude is now also being overwritten in the gbXML file submitted to the web service using the GBS Project location data. This improves the accuracy of the DOE-2 site parameters for incident solar calculations (Report 858).

- Elevator operation schedules have been modified to reflect industry expected values (Report 826).

- Cosmetic changes were made to the New Project screens so that the table displays properly in Firefox browsers (Report 789).

- Cosmetic adjustments were made to the Weather Summary page to align the Annual Design and Degree Day tables (Report 772).

- Product by CSI Division from the Design Alternative page displays correctly (Report 764).

- FAQ has been enhanced and updated to answer the most up-to-date and relevant questions (Report 753).

- In order to avoid confusion about which quarter to choose for estimated construction date when creating a new actual project, the project wizard will ask you for either 'Estimated Construction or Renovation Start Date' (Report 735).

- If a user clicks on a subtab in Weather in the web application and then navigates to other pages of the run, the application will remember which subtab of Weather was last clicked (Report 711).

- Pushpin icons in the Select Weather Page are now the same size for all browsers (Report 687).

- Labels for Surname and Family Name were changed to avoid confusion. These labels now read as First Name and Last Name, respectively (Report 649).

Release Notes for Green Building Studio Web Service Release 3.0
Dated: November 5, 2007

The Green Building Studio Team is excited to announce the release of GBS Version 3.0. This new version is designed for architects to use on all their design schemes on each project to ensure every building they are designing is carbon neutral ready. Exciting new features include:

Release Notes for Green Building Studio Web Service Release 2.0
Dated: June 7, 2004

The Green Building Studio today announced the general availability and release of Version 2.0 of the Green Building Studio web service. This release includes significant new functionality designed to support sustainability design decisions and make detailed comparisons between different building design and equipment measures. Version 2.0 improvements have been based on feedback on requirements from hundreds of architects involved in sustainable design. The development of these new features has been funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the California Energy Commission, and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, in order to provide the tools necessary to evaluate even greater sustainable design options for today's architects.

The Green Building Studio web service continues to be the first and only web service specifically designed for architects to use at the earliest phase of design to fully understand the cost-effective opportunities to maximize their building's sustainability. The new features called Design Alternatives, enable architects and engineering teams to quickly analyze various changes to their building design including orientation, glazing options, envelope constructions, lighting technologies, and HVAC technologies. Further, manufacturer products can now be applied with a simple click to understand how specific building products perform when included in an actual building design. EnergyPlus capabilities and single family homes are now enabled in the service as well. These features are the enabling technologies necessary to meet the aggressive energy and resource goals being asked for by today's building owners and the AIA.

Philip Bernstein, Vice President of Autodesk, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: ADSK) Building Solutions Division indicates that "Autodesk is excited to see growth in building information modeling (BIM) tools and Green Building Studio is certainly assisting the expansion of this market. These new features are a complement to our Revit-based suite of products for BIM that supports the gbXML schema, and they will further support the increase in sustainable building design." "We have designed these new features to greatly reduce the time for our users to determine the best building options that will meet their client's sustainable building goals," said John Kennedy, President & CTO of Green Building Studio, Inc. "Further these new features allow the architect and engineering team to make informed sustainability and energy decisions at the earliest design stages, as well as considering more options in a fraction of the time it would have taken in the past."