SPECIAL FEATURES BIM/DIGITAL ENGINEERING; AIR CONDITIONING This month: SDE Digital winner; HAVC oversizing; barocaloric cooling; later living cost model A DIGITAL PIONEER Jagannatha Reddys commitment to innovation in digital processes and collaboration earned him the title of best digital engineer 2019 at the Society of Digital Engineering Digital Awards. Liza Young finds out more software to ensure there is only one version of the truth. He has done loads of little things like this that have helped Arcadis be more competitive, says Collins. The integration challenge Reddy accepting his award via Skype J agannatha Reddy, electrical design engineer at Arcadis, won the title of best digital engineer at the Society of Jagannatha Reddy Digital Engineering Digital Awards 2019. He swayed the judges with the sheer breadth and depth of digital engineering that he has pioneered and championed for Arcadis. Reddy joined Arcadis as an assistant engineer in 2014, before being promoted to engineer in 2016 and design engineer in 2018. He is currently lead digital engineer (building services) and electrical design engineer. His biggest achievement has been streamlining the transfer of information between architects BIM models and the simulation models used by engineers. It is one of the simple, elegant things that Jagan has done, says judge Carl Collins. Most organisations havent even considered using his methods. Judges were also impressed with how Reddy transformed the way Arcadis teams collaborate and exchange information by adopting Microsoft Teams Reddy spent six months looking at the potential of integrating 3D modelling software tools such as Revit and AECOsim Building Designer with design-simulation software such as DIALux, Amtech and IES VE. The normal working practice is to recreate a version of the building for analysis and simulation, but Reddy wanted to see if information could be imported directly from the main modelling platform into the simulation software. He used Revits inbuilt export functions to save information in file formats such as gbXML [Green building eXtensible Mark-up Language] and IFC [Industry Foundation Classes]. He then tested how much information came through when importing those files into analytical software, such as DIALux and IES Virtual Environment. While the transfer of information from the modelling platform to the analytical platform was not complete, Reddy found that it transferred enough to be useful and saved a significant amount of time compared with creating that information from scratch in the analytical platform. It is time-consuming to transfer information manually and, when you have to adhere to a tight schedule, it is possible to miss some information, which can reduce the quality [of a project], says Reddy. The method, Collins adds, removes many errors that you would normally see when there are two, unrelated models: one for creating deliverables (drawings, schedules and so on) and a separate one for analysis heating and cooling loads, lighting and power requirements. Reddy created digital workflows, which are now embedded in Arcadis projects. Figure 1 is an example of how workflows have been simplified. I am passionate about making a difference through innovation and technology, he says. During this journey, I have learned a lot and gained a global network of like-minded people. Transferring information between AECOsim and DIALux Conventional approach 3D (AECOsim) to 2D export Import 2D to DIALux Perform DIALux calculations and export to 2D CAD Import 2D CAD to AECOsim and model the luminaire arrangement Engineer cross-checks luminaire arrangement with DIALux calculation Figure 1: The conventional approach requires creation of model again in DIALux, which can result in loss of information or errors while transferring data 50 March 2020 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Mar20 pp50-51 Digital Award winner.indd 50 21/02/2020 15:01