Eddy3D is a Rhino and Grasshopper plugin that lets architects, urban planners, and building performance engineers run detailed airflow and microclimate simulations within their design environment. It supports realistic terrain modeling, an urban turntable for wind direction analysis, and provides annual outdoor thermal comfort metrics, with results exportable as custom surfaces for Air Flow Network integration in EnergyPlus.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Urban planners and architects often lack accessible tools to accurately simulate wind flow and microclimate conditions within complex cityscapes, making it difficult to assess outdoor thermal comfort and integrate results into energy modeling workflows.
Solution
Eddy3D provides a Rhino and Grasshopper plugin that enables users to set up and run detailed airflow and microclimate simulations directly within their design environment. The plugin incorporates realistic terrain data and an urban turntable interface to streamline the configuration of outdoor wind analyses. Results are generated using validated solvers and can be exported as custom surfaces for Air Flow Network integration with EnergyPlus, supporting climate‑responsive masterplanning and energy performance assessments. Additionally, the tool offers annual outdoor thermal comfort metrics, helping designers evaluate and optimize pedestrian comfort in early design stages.
Target Audience
Primary users are architects, urban planners, and building performance engineers who conduct climate‑responsive design and need to incorporate wind and microclimate analysis into their Rhino/Grasshopper workflows.
Features
- Clean, user‑friendly UI integrated into Rhino/Grasshopper for quick setup of urban wind studies
- Ability to import and model realistic terrain to reflect site‑specific topography
- Urban turntable feature for rapid exploration of wind directions and speeds
- Annual outdoor thermal comfort analysis based on simulated microclimate data
- Export of custom surface geometries compatible with Air Flow Network in EnergyPlus
- Utilizes well‑established, validated solvers to ensure accurate simulation results