Model the building, understand the performance, optimise the design. Daylight provision, thermal comfort and plant loads are all outputs of the same model, and treating them together is what stops one being improved at the expense of another.
We run climate-based daylight modelling in Radiance and IES, assess comfort on PMV and PPD against ISO 7730 and ASHRAE 55, and calculate heating and cooling loads room by room to CIBSE Guide A — so the plant is sized against the building as designed.
Who this is for
Architects evidencing daylight provision
Average daylight factor, spatial daylight autonomy and BS EN 17037 climate-based modelling, produced at a stage where layout and glazing can still respond to the result.
Services engineers sizing plant
Room-by-room heating and cooling loads to CIBSE Guide A, calculated from a dynamic model rather than from area-based rules of thumb that tend to oversize.
Projects with comfort obligations
PMV and PPD analysis against ISO 7730 and ASHRAE 55 using IES Apache simulations, for buildings where occupant comfort is a stated requirement rather than an assumption.
How the process works
- 01Model the building in Radiance or IES
- 02Run the daylight assessment — ADF, sDA and BS EN 17037
- 03Assess thermal comfort against ISO 7730 and ASHRAE 55
- 04Calculate heating and cooling loads room by room to CIBSE Guide A
- 05Optimise the design and size the plant to the result
Frequently asked questions
What is average daylight factor?
ADF expresses the internal daylight level as a percentage of the available external light under an overcast sky. It is a long-standing measure and still widely requested, though climate-based methods under BS EN 17037 give a fuller picture across the year.
What does climate-based daylight modelling add?
It runs the model against real annual weather data for the site rather than a single sky condition, which is what produces metrics like spatial daylight autonomy — the share of the floor area meeting a target level for a given share of the year.
What are PMV and PPD?
Predicted Mean Vote and Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied — the ISO 7730 and ASHRAE 55 measures of thermal comfort. They account for air temperature, radiant temperature, air speed, humidity, clothing and activity rather than air temperature alone.
Why calculate loads room by room?
Because plant sized from a whole-building figure is routinely oversized, which costs money at installation and efficiency in operation. Room-by-room CIBSE Guide A calculations size the plant and the emitters to what each space actually needs.
Other services
Energy performance and BER
Domestic and non-domestic BER, Part L and NZEB compliance modelling, and IES thermal modelling — from baseline assessment through to SEAI registration.
02Overheating analysis
Dynamic 3D thermal modelling to CIBSE TM59, TM52 and TGD-020 — identifying overheating risk early enough to design it out rather than mitigate it later.
04Planning and sustainability consultancy
Climate Action Energy Statements, Sustainability Reports, Building Lifecycle Reports and the supporting technical analysis a planning application needs.
05LEED, BREEAM and WELL certification
Accredited across all three systems — certification strategy backed by energy modelling, credit tracking and technical consultancy, from one point of contact.
06Renewable energy
Solar PV, battery optimisation, solar thermal and district heating — specified against the building as modelled, not against available roof area.
Talk to the team
Tell us about the project and the stage it is at. We'll set out what the analysis would cover and what it would tell you.
Request a quote