Design Performance Viewer
Development /
2008–2012
Funding /
Swiss Federal Office of Energy (2008 – 2010)
Swiss Commission on Technology and Innovation (2008 – 2012)
A/S Team /
D. Thomas, C. Hersberger, F. Thesseling, A. Schlueter
Selected Publications /
1 / C. Miller, D. Thomas, S. Domingo Irigoyen, C. Hersberger, Z. Nagy, D. Rossi, A. Schlueter. "Bim-Extracted Energyplus Model Calibration for Retrofit Analysis of a Historically Listed Building in Switzerland." Paper presented at the Building Simulation Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, September 10-12, 2014. Research Collection
2 / A. Schlueter. "Integrated Design Process for Prefabricated Façade Modules with Embedded Distributed Service Systems," Paper presented at the CAAD Futures Conference 2011, Liège, Belgium, July 4-8, 2011. Research Collection
3 / F. Thesseling, A. Schlueter. "Facilitating Environmental Performance Assessment in Architectural Design Competitions utilizing a Model-based Workflow." Paper presented at the ECPPM; The European Conference of Product and Process Modelling, Rejkjavic, Iceland, July 25-27, 2012. Research Collection
The Design Performance Viewer is a modular software framework that fuses design oriented building modeling with multi-objective simulation, including advanced visualization and methods of statistical data analysis. It utilizes a rich Building Information Model (BIM) and additional external databases for fast and intuitive input of parameters in an integrated design process.
Different calculation engines such as Energy+ (DOE), SIA 380.1 or Exergy (IEA Annex 49) have been integrated. The derived design support tool, the Design Performance Viewer (DPV) allows the fast and holistic analysis of building energy and mass flows, related building service systems and associated emissions, thereby allowing these issues to be considered already at an early stage in design. Unlike conventional simulation programs, the DPV assesses multi‐disciplinary data to perform calculations directly from the BIM environment. The software allows the modeling of a building as an integrated system, which in turn allows for a continuous work flow from early design sketches, through design development, and finally to detailing of construction and technical systems. Since 2007, the DPV has been applied internationally in both the professional and academic settings as well as in several case studies, such as the retrofitting of the HPZ building on the Hoenggerberg campus at ETH Zurich, the B35 case study, and as part of two joint industry–university projects.
The Design Performance Viewer is an add-in for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014. It performs a dynamic simulation of design stage Building Information Models (BIM) with EnergyPlus and displays energy consumption and CO2 equivalents at the push of a button.