Design tools for climate-conscious choices
Plant Concept is designed to support architects' creative processes. The tool makes it easy to explore different solutions and compare climate impacts directly at work.
- Plant allows you to test different components, materials and systems in an efficient and user-friendly way. Plant is perfectly laid out - it's how I would have built it myself. We've tried lots of different tools but they are definitely fastest in the early stages. All our architects can now use Plant as part of their toolbox," says Love Berger-Vieweg, Sustainability Specialist at Wingårdhs.
Climate data as a tool in the architect's everyday life
Already in 2019, Wingårdhs adopted a wood strategy where wood frame is always proposed as the first choice. Last year, this was developed into an overall climate strategy with the goal of minimizing the climate impact of each project by calculating the climate from the start.
- You can't find the optimization that the climate requires with gut feeling and rules of thumb. You have to calculate the climate and integrate the calculations already in the design process," says Love.
Pelle Tunell, CEO and co-founder of Plant, says that it is precisely this integration of climate data into the architect's everyday life that is the future:
- With Plant, any architect can take control of climate impact even before the first sketch and become a climate advisor on a new level. You don't need to be an environmental expert to make a difference, but you do need access to accurate climate data and user-friendly software.
Accurate climate projections at early stages
In the early stages, when much is still undefined, Wingårdhs appreciates that Plant supplements with templates based on statistics. This provides climate calculations that hold up, even without complete drawings.
- Plant's tools capture things we haven't had time to draw yet. The templates for interior walls, doors and other parts are surprisingly accurate and give us confidence in our early decisions," says Love.
From numbers to action
For Wingårdhs, it is also crucial that the results are presented in a way that leads to decisions, not just collected in a report.
- It doesn't matter how good the climate data is, if it is not understandable. Plant presents the results in an understandable, useful and transparent way. It allows us to actually act on the information," Love concludes.
