MIT Sustainable Design Lab
Simulation Game Revisited

Christoph Reinhart, Timur Dogan, Jeff Geisinger and Manos Saratsis

Simulation Game Instructions | Simulation Game Grasshopper file | Full Paper

Tutorial 01 - Student Dashboard | Tutorial 02 - Instructor Dashboard I | Tutorial 03 - Instructor Dashboard II

It is our belief that in today's world - in which resource efficient buildings design is ever-more important - all graduating architects should be able to conduct a basic thermal simulation, understand the results and adapt their designs accordingly. In order to teach these skills, this site presents a new simulation game based on Rhinoceros3d/Grasshopper/ArchSim/EnergyPlus. The game constitutes a significant improvement over the previous simulation game that the authors presented in 2011. During fall 2014, we successfully tested the game in an introductory environmental technologies class at MIT with an enrolment of 18 undergraduate and graduate students.

To play the game you need to install the http://archsim.com/Grasshopper plug-in ArchSim, load the Simulation Game file into Grasshopper and follow the Simulation Game Instructions. Three in-depth video tutorials are available. The Tutorial 1 targets students interested in playing the game. Tutorial 2 and 3 were made for instructors interested in adopting the game to their specific climate and construction practices.

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MIT class 4.401 Environmental Technologies in Buildings playing the game (Fall 2014)

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Simulation game work flow using Rhino, Grasshopper and ArchSim

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Sample simulation outcomes