I’m co-developing a compliance rule engine for UK overheating regulations: a fully parametric TM59 and Part O workflow on EDSL TAS and SAM, in partial production use on live consultancy work.
THE PROBLEM
Overheating compliance for UK residential schemes is usually set up by hand in desktop simulation tools, one design option at a time, so results arrive after the design has moved on. The team needed a workflow with comparable accuracy that is fully parametric and trusted by lead engineers. TAS is a validated (paid) building performance engine; SAM is an open-source Rhino/Grasshopper interface to it, built at Hoare Lea with the code public on GitHub. Together they make that possible, but only if the workflow is fast and the outputs hold up under review.
I work directly with the SAM and EDSL TAS developers to build that workflow end to end.
APPROACH
Parametric pipeline from Revit/CAD/PDF geometry through to compliance outputs. Architectural geometry is cleaned and attributed in Rhino and Grasshopper. Mechanical and natural ventilation, trim cooling, full construction profiles, U-values, G-values, and frame factors attach as Grasshopper-managed metadata. Simulation runs through TAS.
This unlocks hundreds of design variants per scheme at early and intermediate stages, enabling design optimisation that is not practical when every option is set up by hand.
STATUS
Shipped (in partial production use):
- Parametric geometry handling from Revit/CAD/PDF inputs.
- Metadata attribution for ventilation, cooling, construction.
- End-to-end TAS run for typical multi-level apartment schemes.
- In use on live consultancy work, with lead engineers reviewing outputs.
Validated:
- Outputs match IES VE within compliance tolerance on a set of calibration apartment schemes.
- Lead engineers review every output on live work as a backstop.
CHALLENGES
- Geometry: Revit, CAD, and PDF inputs vary wildly. Robust cleaning and attribution in Grasshopper.
- Feature parity with IES VE: mechanical ventilation, trim cooling, natural ventilation, full construction profiles, all required before engineers trust the results.
- Validation: every live-project output is reviewed by a lead engineer.
WORKFLOW
- Geometry import and cleaning from Revit, CAD, PDF in Rhino/Grasshopper.
- Attribute attachment: building parameters managed in the Grasshopper graph.
- Parametric TAS simulation with full Part O / TM59 feature set.
- Advanced features: mechanical/natural ventilation, trim cooling, full construction.
- Parametric exploration: hundreds of variants per scheme.
- Post-processing: automated compliance reports and visualisations.