This article explains cove.tool's 3 product lines: the analysis.tool, drawing.tool, and loadmodeling.tool. To learn more about the web app in general, check out this quick introduction to the cove.tool platform. Before we begin, here is a quick summary of the similarity and differences between the product lines.

Note: The "drawing.tool" and "baseline energy feature" are included with both the analysis.tool and loadmodeling.tool subscriptions.

The analysis.tool requires four components for setup: Building Type, Location, Energy Code, and Geometry. For the Geometry aspect, analysis.tool can work with Geometry Plugins, models made in the drawing.tool, or via manual mode. The method of loading geometry determines which analysis will be available, in general, high detail of geometry equates to more potential analysis. Here is the general workflow:
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When using manual mode, the 3D Analysis is not available, there's no shape to run analysis on after all! Teams can still study the impact of the facade design when using manual mode via the Facade Guidance Feature. When using a Geometry Plugin or drawing.tool 3D Analysis is available providing in-depth results for sDA, ASE and more!

analysis.tool is best used in a linear fashion as each analysis builds on the previous. Starting with 3D Analysis, then Baseline Energy and finally Optimization teams can take a project from initial concepts through to an optimization solution, with automated reports!

The loadmodeling.tool requires the same four components for setup as analysis.tool, however, drawing.tool must be used for the geometry method. Individual rooms are required to define and run the load model, hence geometry must be either imported or drawn in drawing.tool.

Once the geometry is defined teams can proceed to the Load Modeling Dashboard to perform all required tasks to define templates, schedules, thermal zones, air systems, and mechanical plants and then simulate and view load results for the mechanical design of the project. Once load results are computed teams can access the Baseline Energy page to see a calibrated early-stage model. The energy results here are helpful for projects that do not include compliance level energy modeling in their scope. However, if you do want to run an energy model for compliance, you can download a gbXML, IDF, and OSM files of your cove.tool project with all your project information transferred and use these files with third party compliance level energy simulation tools.

The workflow within loadmodeling.tool can follow a linear or circular fashion depending on the project stage. Refer to this article for more information on load modeling workflows.

Utilizing the early-stage analysis and optimization of analysis.tool with the detailed calculations and results of loadmodeling.tool creates a powerful workflow for sustainable building design! Teams following this route can work through building analysis studies in parallel or in a linear fashion depending on project needs.

When geometry is updated between design phases teams can check their daylight performance on the same platform as they update the HVAC sizing results!

Note that projects using this workflow can start with manual geometry, and then update to drawing.tool geometry as the project progress. Between design phases it can be helpful to make copies of the project, this allows teams to use the Compare Project Feature to visually track their progress.

The analysis.tool is redefining energy modeling and parametric optimization by building smarter, accurate models in a tenth of the time. Although automation is core to every product line, the analysis tool can help you meet the targets in just a few minutes.

Benefits of the analysis.tool

Features list:

The drawing.tool is a web-based 3D modeling application that provides a user-friendly platform for architects and engineers to draw their early-stage models. As the tool is native to the platform, users can easily transition between products, knowing their model will always be compatible with every workflow. It also allows users to bring in their geometries directly from a suite of traditional 3D modeling platforms and make changes to them inside the modeling interface. The intended workflow is based on the rapid performance data and export out an optimized model.

Benefits of the drawing.tool:

Features lists:

The loadmodeling.tool is a load modeling and system design tool integrated with the cove.tool platform. The tool uses the EnergyPlus engine for detailed, room-by-room load calculations and HVAC system sizing. Models are accessed via a web interface for quick performance and ease of sharing results. The entire model is exportable to OpenStudio and EnergyPlus native files for use or record-keeping offline.
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Benefits of the loadmodeling.tool:

There are several collaborative and support features that are available throughout the platform. These features help design teams deliver successful projects of any scope and scale!

Happy Modeling!!