GBC Version 1 Features
- Whole Building and Room-by-room schedule of accommodation:
- add: dimensions: areas and volumes calculate automatically,
- add: hours of operation, design temperatures inside and out
- Room-by-room heat loss calculator:
- determine radiator or underfloor heating requirements;
- to size the boiler or insulate to meet the boiler size.
- Analysis of Form Factor:
- optimal U values to respond to them,
- thickness of different insulation materials
- Elements and secondary-elements:
- select from ready-made lists to match the project;
- dimensions are added by the user and their areas are automatically calculated
- Schedules of windows, rooflights and doors:
- Since they may come in a multitude of sizes
- Building Performance Targets:
- Users can compare and choose between:
- Building Regulations Part L,
- other national standards
- Design Standards:
- LETI, AECB CarbonLite, Passivhaus, EnerPHit,
- Environmental Assessment Methods: BREEAM etc.
- other national design standards,
- including: U values, Airtightness, Form factors, Elevation glazing percentage and orientation
- Automatically and instantly see what thickness of different k-value insulation materials is needed to meet targeted U values
- Elemental Assemblies:
- Allows user to choose a combination of functional components and then choose the materials or products for each component
- Costs of insulation, windows and energy savings:
- Helps users to persuade clients to spend money on insulation and higher performance windows and glazing (Version 1 only)
- Bill of materials, quantities, labour and costs:
- enables cost planning and proper value engineering (Version 2)
- based on building fabric only (Version 2) services in later versions
- Element Summary: compare calculated U values with selected or target U values. highlighting ‘pass’ of ‘fail’
- Summary of calculated energy losses or demands:
- For each element, secondary-element and whole building
- Totals elements and secondary elements as a percentage of the whole
- Allows comparisons to be made, by the user, to prompt reconsideration of earlier decisions
GBC Versions 2 Features: launched April 2022
Green Building Calculator V2 is being developed now, including:
- Bill of Materials, Quantities, Accessories, Products, Labour, Costs,
- For Cost Planning, Quote collection, Tendering
- Retrofit:
- Historic fabric element upgrades, inside or out
- Add domestic furniture fixtures & equipment
- Add solar shading, decking, pergolas,
- Add hard and soft landscape
- Embodied Energy, Embodied Carbon, Sequestered Carbon Calculator (EE EC SC)
- ICE Database v1.6 > v3 (for EE EC)
- Domestic Landscape Elements
- Basic Civils & Infrastructure Elements
- More Generic Material datasets
GBC Versions 3 to 50 Summary
The development order is subject to GBC user feedback:
Many versions are now planned to add to their functionality in the following years including:
- Green Building Price Book
- Green Building Product Data Collection
- Green Building Robust Specification Generator
- Green Building FM Specification Generator
- Green Building Timber Carbon Calculator
- LCA Calculator
- Instructions sheet, instructions in worksheets,
- Comments: indicating where cell content comes from
- Instructions by video: worksheet purpose, worksheet instructions
- Increase 200 to 2200 materials dataset
- Develop more switches to interrogate more detail
- Winter v Summer
- Secondary elements v components
- Air tightness & Energy Loss (Make much sooner)
- Scenarios (developed in B2 & B6 Retrofit version)
- House Types dataset (developed in B2 & B6 Retrofit versions)
- Form factor: floor plan shape diagrams, roof shape diagrams (developed during B2 retrofit version)
- Regulations & design standards updates
- Lifestyle (clothing) and internal temperatures (developed in B2 retrofit version)
- Hours, of operation, weeks, years, building life (developed in B2 retrofit version)
- 892 elemental assemblies (from GreenSpecStudio)
- MEP Services (not visible in V2 yet)
- Decrement Delay (V3?)
- Building Section Coding, Competent Application,
- Manufacturer Accredited Bespoke Assemblies, Accessories,
- Condensation Check,
- Thermal Bridges
- Green Building Secondary Element Calculator (Windows and Doors) (started in V2 and B3)
- Thermal mass calculator
- Landscape (much hidden in V2)
- Civils and Infrastructure: (Much hidden in V2, Increase scope)
- Waste Calculator (using WasteCost®Lite)
- Plastic free v Recycled Plastic
- Interiors: Scope increased, Ska fit-out. refit
- Circular economy: Reclaim Reuse,
- Materials Passport for reclaim and reuse
- Self-build Interface
- CAD BIM App (Make sooner with Firstplanit)
- Whole Project Budget Calculations, full Fee bid calculation
- EU and International versions (currency, products, (not metric unlikely))
- Services Design Module: Occupancy level, Energy Sources and uses,
- Lighting Design Module: Health & Wellbeing, Light Nutrition
- Biodiversity Inclusion, Biodiversity Net Gain
- Local Climate Appropriate construction and materials
- Vernacular, local: materials, trades, economy
- O&MM Operation & Maintenance Manuals
- Local Procurement, Transport to site, distance search facility
- On Site Construction Emissions
- Design Life, Durability and Competent Products
- Value Engineering Opportunities: in not out
- Healthy Building
- Screening Priorities
- Indoor Air Quality
- Natural Lighting Levels
- Circular geometry buildings
- Screeds calculator
GBC B Bespoke Versions
Discussions have started or bespoke versions are being developed
- B1 Retrofit Window & Insulation Calculator
- B2 Responsible Retrofit Carbon Calculator (led to B6)
- B3 Window Calculator
- B4 Screeds Calculator
- B5 QS interface
- B6 Interreg Energy Pathfinder (GRC)
- Scottish Islands Case Study 6 building analysis
- B7 Timber carbon calculator
- B8 CobBauge additions (GBC)
- B9 Schedule of Works Line item prices with carbon (GRC)
Future Development
- GBC will maintain a stakeholder group to ensure we make what you want and need
- Having a large number of users will help with:
- error detection, feedback loops, encouraged by free upgrade versions
- developing GBC Green Building Calculator with more features and stronger datasets
- We will encourage customisation requests to be shared; ideas will be considered for development into the core file for the greater good
- Users will be invited to review the 35 version’s order of development, in case users want something sooner, by popular demand
GBC Version Development C#534 End.
© GBE GBC GBL NGS ASWS Brian Murphy aka BrianSpecMan **
4th September 2021 – 13th July 2023