Thermal Analysis in Grasshopper

Thermal Analysis Dashboard in Grasshopper

Diva’s grasshopper component ‘Viper’ allows for the real time analysis of energy performance and thermal control. This tool can be utilized to create immediate feedback for designers.

Getting Started :

Start by opening Rhino. Once open type “grasshopper” into the command line and click enter.

Step 1 : Make a Box

First! Let’s model something to analyze

Type “box” in the Rhino command line and click enter. Rhino will ask you for the first corner - type “0,0” and click enter. Again, Rhino will ask for the following corners – type “100,100” and click enter. Finally it will ask for the height – type “20” and click enter.

We now have a box. A box is a simple geometry made of six sides that fully enclose a space. This is important because Diva’s thermal analysis requires a fully enclosed space. In Diva these spaces are called “Zones.”

Let’s explode the box. Type “explode” in the command line and clock enter. You can now select the individual surfaces that define the “Zones.”

Step 2 : Construction Assembly

Second! Let’s bring out geometry into grasshopper and assign the construction assembly.

Unlike Rhino, Grasshopper requires that you double click within the window to pull up the command line. Try this – double click within the window. Then type in “surface” and select the option that represents a collection of 3d surfaces.

Right click on the surface component to access a drop down menu. Select set one or set multiple surfaces. This allows you to select geometry from Rhino that will be referenced by the grasshopper component.

Again, open the grasshopper command line and type “construction assembly.” Connect the surface to the construction assembly by dragging the output of the surface component to the input of the construction assembly component. Right click on the construction assembly to set the construction type and appropriate R value.

Assign and label all the surfaces that make the zone you would like to analyze. If you have multiple surfaces that have the same construction, simply click select multiple surfaces.

Step 3 : Analysis

For reference watch this video by Jeff Niemasz

Thermal analysis in grasshopper is done using the viper component. Connect the construction assemblies that define the space into the zone input on the viper component.

To run the thermal analysis, connect a Boolean toggle component to the run input. This will allow you to turn the component on or off. It is useful to turn the component off until you are ready to test results, as every manipulation will require grasshopper to recalculate the thermal analysis!

This is powerful because you can control where these calculations are saved. To label these iterations you simply need to connect a panel, a number slider, and concatenate component. To find these components simply type them into the grasshopper command line.

Double click on the panel to set the file name. The number slider allows you to have multiple versions of the same file. To adjust the value and range simply double click on the slider component. Concatenate combines the file name with the iteration number. Connect the concatenate component to the project name input on the viper component.

Step 4 : Dashboard

I have included in the file a simple dashboard that allows you to view energy information in real time. The file creates a grid of points to provide a location to view text tags. The text tags display the quantitative information generated by the viper component. As manipulations are made to the model the data is recalculated and displayed.

Adjust the number slider to change the density of the points closer or farther apart. The grid location is the origin point for the grid. Adjust the x, y, and z values to move the grid where you can best see your results!

Step 4 : Parametric Analysis

Connect the dashboard to any parametric analysis for real time feedback! See how your design decisions preform.