Honeybee Analysis
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Tutorial Introduction
The goal of this exercise is to look through the process of running a daylight and energy analysis through Honeybee. This example refers to a shoebox geometry and highlights all the important parameters both for setting up the analysis geometry, but also for running the different simulations. The techniques discussed in this example can later be applied to simulations for different design models or larger building groups.
Abbreviations: HB(Honeybee), LB (Ladybug), DF (Daylight Factor), CIE (International Commission of Illumination), CBDM (Climate Based Daylight Modelling).
Software used
Ladybug Tools (Ladybug + Honeybee) v.1.3.0
Exercise Description
Let’s assume an apartment which is on the ground floor of a 2-storeys building. It has a rectangular plan of 10m*10m and it has a height of 3m.
The apartment has an entrance from the road with an opaque wooden door and has also one operable window facing the street. The window is shaded with wooden horizontal louvres. On the left and right side there are adjacent apartments, but on the back side it is not neighboring any other apartment or building.
The exterior walls are made of concrete in light grey color. The slabs are also made of concrete and they are painted in white color on the bottom side (ceiling). On the top part (floor), they are covered by timber in a darker color. The interior walls are made of plywood and covered also in white paint.
Given that the example model refers to a small single-family apartment, we are going to assume that, on weekdays, it is mostly occupied during the afternoon hours, whereas, on weekends and holidays, it is occupied all day long.
Regarding the HVAC systems, we are going to assume that the apartment has only natural ventilation and no mechanical ventilation or heating/cooling at all.
Example file
In this tutorial, the detailed steps for the creation and running of the Honeybee simulation will be explained. You can download the files developed for this tutorial. However, to really understand how the script works, it is recommended to build it yourself.
Rhino file with the geometry used for the tutorial:
Grasshopper scripts (they both work with the same Rhino file):
Honeybee Geometry + Daylight & Energy Analysis script
Remember to Credit the Author when using these scripts for your projects!
Tutorial Overview
A. The first part of the tutorial refers to converting the Rhino geometry into a proper Honeybee model in order to use it for the daylight and energy simulations. Follow the steps as described in:
In detail, it includes the following:
- Step 1A: Organise the Surfaces/Meshes + Honeybee Intermezzo 1: How to prepare your Rhino geometry
- Step 2A: Create the HB faces
- Step 3A: Compose the HB Room + Honeybee Intermezzo 2: Possible errors while using HB Add Subface + Honeybee Intermezzo 3: Alternative for Room creation (HB Room from Solid) + Honeybee Intermezzo 4: Parametric creation of Openings & Shades
- Step 4A: Create the HB Model
- Step 5A: Visualize & Check the HB model
B. The second part refers to assigning the necessary attributes to the Honeybee model and running the respective daylight and energy simulations. Follow the steps as described in:
In detail, it includes the following:
- Step 1B: Assign the material optical properties + Honeybee Intermezzo 5: Assign material optical properties to the HB model
- Step 2B: Create the sensor grid for the analysis
- Step 3B: Daylight Factor simulation + Honeybee Intermezzo 6: Customized set of radiance parameters + Honeybee Intermezzo 7: Visualize the simulation results - Spatial Heatmap
- Step 4B: Point-in-time simulation + Honeybee Intermezzo 8: Checking the quality of the EPW file
- Step 5B: Annual Daylight simulation + Honeybee Intermezzo 9: How to specify the time period in the WEA file + Honeybee Intermezzo 10: Annual Irradiance Simulation + Honeybee Intermezzo 11: Direct Sun Hours Simulation
In detail, it includes the following:
- Step 1C: Set Constructions & Program Type + Honeybee Intermezzo 12: Create the Construction Sets (Assign material thermal properties) + Honeybee Intermezzo 13: Compose the Program Type (Set Schedules & Energy Loads)
- Step 2C: Compose the HB model for the Energy simulation
- Step 3C: Create & Run the Open Studio simulation
- Step 4C: Post-processing the results + Honeybee Intermezzo 14: Adaptive Comfort Map (Thermal Comfort per sensor grid)
The tutorials above offer a detailed explanation on how to analyze a space that you have already designed. However, it is also interesting to try to optimize your design based on these indicators. You can get a hint on how to use the optimization plug-ins in:
