SAN RAFAEL, CA - As part of its on-going commitment to support the practice of sustainable design and green building in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries, Autodesk, Inc. announced two acquisitions to improve building performance analysis in the building information modeling (BIM) process. Autodesk announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all the assets related to the Ecotect software tools for conceptual building performance analysis from both Square One Research Ltd. and Dr. Andrew Marsh. Autodesk also announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all the assets of Green Building Studio, Inc., a provider of web-based whole building energy, water and carbon-emission analysis software. Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.
Buildings are a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, so to combat climate change it is critical for the building industry to rapidly adopt sustainable design practices that will lead to buildings which are appreciably more efficient and eventually carbon neutral, said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, Autodesk AEC solutions. The addition of these tools to our technology portfolio will help make it easier for architects, engineers and designers to understand the impact of their design decisions on building performance earlier in the design process so they can optimize for reduced environmental impact.
The acquisitions of Ecotect and the Green Building Studio assets will support Autodesk's vision to deliver software that enables architects and engineers to design more sustainable projects. With improved building performance analysis capabilities, Autodesk will be uniquely positioned to offer a comprehensive suite of software solutions for sustainable design and analysis, enabling a BIM process that can facilitate cost-effective design and delivery of high-performing, resource-efficient buildings and infrastructure.
Square One Research, Ltd. and Dr. Andrew Marsh, creator of the Ecotect environmental design and analysis tools, are based in Isle of Man. The Ecotect tools can measure how fundamental criteria, such as solar, thermal, shading, lighting, and airflow, will affect building performance in the conceptual and detailed phases of design. Their capability to forecast building performance over time better equips architects and engineers to deliver more energy efficient and sustainable building designs.
Square One Research and Autodesk share a commitment to using technology to make the design and construction of sustainable, high-performance buildings easier and more efficient, said Dr. Andrew J. Marsh, Co-Founder and Head of Research & Development, Square One Research. We are pleased to join Autodesk and look forward to helping develop and deliver simple and effective building performance analysis to architects and engineers around the world.
The Autodesk Green Building Studio analysis tools provide improved design insight through whole building energy, water and carbon-emission analysis, helping architects and designers to maximize building economic and environmental performance. The tools are compatible with Autodesk design software as well as software from other industry providers through the Green Building XML schema and can now be directly accessed from within the Revit platform for BIM with a new plug-in now available for download. Green Building Studio Inc. launched the Green Building Studio web service in 2004.
Source: AutoDesk