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: under development
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 1 to 35 Summary
The development order is subject to GBC user feedback:
35 Versions are now planned to add to their functionality in the following years including:
- V1 Building dimensions, form factor, regulations, design standards, temperatures, hours, elemental assemblies, in-use energy, fuel choice, carbon in-use
- V2 Retrofit, Terraces, Community level, MEP Services
- V3 Decrement Delay, Form Factor refinements: dormers, bays, porches
- V4 Building Section Coding, Competent Application,
- 892 ready made elements, Bespoke Assemblies, Accessories, Specification Generator
- V5 Non-Domestic, Retrofit and Newbuild more refinement
- V6 Embodied Energy, Carbon and Sequestered carbon; Non-external envelope elements
- V7 Condensation Check, Thermal Bridge, Secondary Element Calculator, Thermal mass calculator
- V8 LCA Calculator
- V9 Landscape
- V10 Civils and Infrastructure: scope Increased
- V11 Waste Calculator using WasteCost®Lite
- V12 Plastic free v Recycled Plastic
- V13 Interiors: Scope increased, Ska fit-out. refit
- V14 Circular economy: Reclaim Reuse
- V15 Self-build Interface
- V16 CAD BIM App
- V17 Whole Project Budget Calculations, full Fee bid calculation based on cost plan
- V18 EU and International versions
- V19 Services Design Module: Occupancy level, Energy Sources and uses,
- V20 Lighting Design Module: Health & Wellbeing, Light Nutrition
- V21 Biodiversity Inclusion, Biodiversity Net Gain
- V22 Local Climate Appropriate construction and materials
- V23 Vernacular, local: materials, trades, economy
- V24 GBPB Green Building Price Book
- V25 O&MM Operation & Maintenance Manuals
- V26 FM Specification
- V27 Local Procurement, Transport to site, distance search facility
- V28 On Site Construction Emissions
- V29 Design Life, Durability and Competent Products
- V30 Air tightness & Energy Loss
- V31 Value Engineering Opportunities: in not out
- V32 Healthy Building
- V33 Screening Priorities
- V34 Indoor Air Quality
- V35 Natural Lighting Levels
B Bespoke
Discussions have started or bespoke versions are being developed
- B1 Retrofit Window & Insulation Calculator
- B2 Responsible Retrofit Carbon Calculator
- B3 Window Calculator
- B4 Screeds Calculator
- B5 QS interface
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 – 19th October 2021