Autodesk Forma Series - Episode 01 - Introduction and Solar Energy

I am excited to share this Autodesk Forma series, sponsored by Autodesk. In this first episode, I share the basic steps required to get started with Forma. This includes specifying a location and importing context (e.g. roads, buildings, and property lines) and then developing a design using massing tools that track floor and parking area metrics. Once the concept model is complete, the newly released Solar Energy analysis feature is presented. After quickly generating total solar and PV potential data, I then pushed the Forma model into Revit and compared the results using Revit’s Solar add-in tool. Be sure to check out a previous blog post I wrote comparing Revit’s Solar tool with NREL PVWatts: Future episodes will cover the other tools and workflows possible in Forma, some of which are powered by AI. This includes interoperability with Revit and Rhino, as well as other simulation tools such as wind and noise analysis. Stay tuned for more on Forma soon!