HUB-E HUB ENGINEERING

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1 HUB-E HUB ENGINEERING A cloud-powered innovation hub for architects & civil engineers Funding - VENUS-C (RI ) is co-funded by the European Commission under Framework Programme 7 ( ) Research infrastructures projects 1

2 An innovation hub powered by the cloud HUB-E is a web-based service that leverages the economies of the cloud to help architects and civil engineers create the innovations we need to drive the economy. HUB-E has been designed as an open web-service to enable access to different cloud computing infrastructures and tools, from enterprise proprietary to free, open-source solutions infrastructures. HUB-E is part of Green Prefab, a start-up company with offices in Rovereto (Trento, Italy) and San Francisco, providing a galaxy of tools for the life-cycle of green prefabricated buildings. Green Prefab is a spin-out of VENUS-C, a pioneering project for the European Commission s 7 th Framework Programme. Current services hosted on Green Prefab include a partner of VENUS-C Universidad Politécnica de Valencia and the Royal Danish Academy, a VENUS-C pilot that has received seed funds for its ecoefficiency analysis. Opportunities become a user or contribute software: Current services 3D Visualisation Rendering; Eco-efficiency analysis, structural analysis 2

3 3D Visualisation Rendering Immersive rendering functionality is extremely important when it comes to promoting a design project. Architects and investors promote their project through the construction of complex rendered images and videos which require high computational power. Many architectural firms outsource this task because they do not have an internal system that enables them to quickly create a realistic view of the project. Collaboratorio has developed a solution for immersive rendering that provides a complete view of architectural concepts, enriches the CAD project published online, and helps the jury to define the best project in a call for bids system. As there are a number of applications for 3D modelling and architectural rendering available, Collaboratorio selected the candidate software based on the outcomes of a survey completed by its Green Prefab community. Architects and engineers will gain the following advantages from the cloud-based solution for 3D visualisation rendering: Speeding up the time needed to run the entire simulation No additional IT provisioning and maintenance costs Pay for use in a transparent environment Scalability of the service (large number of computational resources available on demand) Ability to solve problems with more accuracy. Green Prefab is a start-up spin-out of VENUS-C that is providing the new cloud-based service. 3

4 LuxRender is an open-source rendering engine based on Ray Tracing algorithm for image synthesis. Structural analysis Dynamic structural analysis in architecture and civil engineering is a complex computational challenge that generates a large amount of data. A realistic 3D analysis is required for each preliminary design of a building or civil engineering structure. The designed structure also has to be simulated under the effect of different dynamic loads in compliance with national laws. For example, the Spanish Earthquake-Resistant Construction Standards (NCSE-02) demands that a building be analysed with at least five different representative earthquakes. The dynamic structural design of a large scale structure can become a timeconsuming phase where lots of different structural solutions must be evaluated and where a huge volume of result data will be generated. The Universidad Politécnica de Valencia has developed a cloud based solution for structural analysis targeted at professionals in this field. The remote executions in the Cloud are managed from Architrave, an advanced software environment for the design, analysis and visualisation of building and civil engineering structures. The main advantages for users are: Ease of use Speeding up the time to execute the simulation Security and data privacy of the service (large number of computational resources available on demand) Reliability and elasticity 4

5 Eco-efficiency analysis Europe needs to ensure sustainable urban development of its towns and cities with urban quality for housing, public and private buildings for current and future generations. Improving the energy performance of new and existing buildings is a very important part of the puzzle. However, implementing sustainable design in practice is still very difficult and is highly complex for both architects and civil engineers. Building performance simulation (BPS) is key to facilitating sustainable design but requires large amounts of computational power for smooth implementation of the design process. The Royal Danish Academy has developed EnergyPlus, a programme for the complete energy simulation of buildings that engineers, architects, and researchers use to model energy and water use in buildings. Modelling the performance of a building with EnergyPlus enables building professionals to optimise the building design to use less energy and water. Advantages for users include: Speeding up the time needed to run the entire simulation Dramatically increasing the amount of design variables in the Building performance simulation No additional IT provisioning and maintenance costs Cost-efficiency and pay for use in a transparent environment Scalability of the service (large number of computational resources available on demand) 5