by Brianna Crandall — February 24, 2016—Design-build-operate software provider Trimble recently announced the acquisition of London / New York City-based Sefaira Ltd., a developer of cloud-based software for the design of sustainable and high-performance buildings.
The acquisition of Sefaira expands Trimble’s Design-Build-Operate (DBO) portfolio to include tools for designing high-performing buildings early in the conceptual phase of a project.
Today, buildings consume about 40 percent of global energy, according to the U.N. Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiatives. Optimizing the built environment can therefore have a substantial impact on the drive toward sustainability and increased global energy efficiency.
However, the most impactful energy savings can only be achieved if buildings are designed for efficiency at the beginning of the design process, asserts Trimble.
By providing sophisticated performance analysis via an intuitive user interface, Sefaira’s solutions enable users to estimate, compare, and optimize the energy, water, carbon, and financial benefits of relevant design strategies.
This allows users to effectively balance the investment between various building strategies, to maximize capital efficiency, minimize energy and water use, and create high-performing sustainable building designs at low cost.
Sefaira analysis can be run with models created in SketchUp, Trimble’s flagship building design tool for architects and engineers, as well as with models created in Autodesk Revit.
In addition, Sefaira provides robust tools that allow engineers and contractors to derive and analyze heating / ventilation / air-conditioning (HVAC) design scenarios from an architectural model.
Chris Keating, general manager of Trimble’s Architecture and Design Division, commented:
Architects rely on SketchUp to understand conceptual design choices and develop constructible models. But today, design is no longer just about aesthetics. Architects need to consider building performance in a more intuitive way, and be able to collaborate better with the engineers who design the systems that make buildings work.
Mads Jensen, CEO of Sefaira, added:
Sefaira’s tools are already being used by designers at more than 500 firms globally. Joining forces with Trimble will allow us to expand the reach of our tools much further, bringing performance analysis to many more architects around the world. This is an exciting milestone in our journey toward a future where building design is synonymous with high performance, resulting in a built environment that is truly sustainable.
