Welcome to umi Online Documentation

Umi is a Rhino-based design environment for architects and urban planners interested in modeling the environmental performance of neighborhoods and cities with respect to operational and embodied energy use, walkability and daylighting potential. Since 2012, Umi has been developed by the Sustainable Design Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with support from a National Science Foundation EFRI_SEED project, the MIT Energy Initiative, the Kuwait-MIT Center, the Center for Complex Engineering Systems (CCES) at KACST and MIT, Transsolar Climate Engineering and United Technologies Corporation. Further tool developed is now also being conducted at the Environmental Systems Lab at Cornell University.

A first public version of Umi was released during a public symposium on Sustainable Urban Design on May 6th 2013 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Version 2.0, which also includes an embodied energy module, was released on November 7th 2014.

Getting Started

• Getting Started
  • Requirements
  • Download & Install
  • Opening/Creating a project
• Tutorials
  • Video Tutorials
• Configuring Site Parameters
• Saving a Project

Model Setup

• Buildings
  • Step 1: Building the brep geometry
  • Step 2: Adding the building to the “Buildings” layer
  • Step 3: Assigning a name and a template in the “Settings” panel
  • Step 4: Assigning other simulation properties
• Template Editor
  • The XML Template Library File
  • Opening a TLF file and navigating contents
  • Adding and modifying components in a TLF file
  • Basic content modification
• Context
  • 1. Streets
  • 2. Ground
  • 3. Parks
  • 4. Shading/Trees
  • 5. Boundary Objects

Site Statistics

• Floor-Area Ratio

Operational Energy Module

• Overview
• Advanced Settings

Embodied Energy Module

• Life Cycle Introduction
  • Purpose and metrics
  • Life Cycle calculation in umi
• Template Input
  • Life Cycle data in Opaque/Glazing Materials
  • Life Cycle data in Structure Constructions
  • Life Cycle data in the Building Template
• Life Cycle - Simulation and Visualization
  • 1. Running a calculation
  • 2. Visualizing results
  • 3. Exporting results into CSV

Design Accessibility (Walk/Bike)

• Design Accessibility
  • Motivation
  • How it Works
• Setting Up a Rhino Model
  • Step 1: Starting a new umi project
  • Step 2: Modeling Streets, Buildings and Amenities
    • Streets
    • Buildings
    • Amenities
  • Step 3: Running a Simulation
  • Step 4: Results Visualization
• Example

Template Editor

• Templates documentation
• Materials Tab
  • Opaque
  • Glazing
• Constructions Tab
• Schedules Tab
• Zone Information Tab
• Building Templates Tab

Plugins

• District Energy Plugin
  • The Big Picture
  • Input Profiles
  • Energy Supply Modules
    • Absorption chillers
    • Electric chillers
    • Solar thermal collectors
    • Hot Water Storage Tanks
    • Electric Heat Pumps
    • Natural gas boilers
    • Photovoltaic Array
    • Wind Turbines
    • Battery Bank
    • Combined Heat & Power
  • References
• Harvest
  • Background
    • Controlled-Environment Agriculture
    • Modelling crop growth
  • Simulation inputs
    • CEA Farm templates
    • Urban Food Profiles (Urban foodprints)
  • CEA Farm Simulator
    • Marketable yield
    • Water Use
    • Energy Use
    • Carbon Balance
    • Jobs
    • Site premium
  • Simulation outputs
    • Site metrics
    • Key performance metrics
  • References
• GIS Importer
  • Function
  • Inputs
    • Shapefiles
    • CityGML
  • Outputs

Indices and tables

• Index
• Module Index
• Search Page