ABOUT VIRTUALWIND 2.1

The core of the new Virtualwind 2.1 product release contains the same robust Virtualwind Solver that has enabled architectural and environmental wind engineering studies over the past several years on the most advanced structures in the world. The enhancements in Virtualwind 2.1 provide the user with significant features, benefits and value. Important new enhancments in Virtualwind 2.1 include the following:

•   Weatherman - Provides the user with meteorological wind-data measurements, presented in industry standard Wind Rose diagrams, from which the user can click on a prevailing Wind Direction and corresponding Wind Speed to be automatically entered into Virtualwind.

•   Pressure Data - Pressure is now available as a Quantity of monitoring. As such, it can be displayed in colored still images or videos, in the same way that wind speeds can be visualized. Also, as noted below, time-step Pressure data can be logged for data analysis in Excel or other database programs. However, users should note that results of pressure monitoring should only be considered for "free-stream" regions – i.e. not near the surfaces of Buildings, Canopies, or Terrain.

•   Point Wind Monitors (PWMs) - PWMs log time-based wind speed, wind velocity or pressures at user-selected locations within the simulation Domain. The resulting data can be imported into Excel or other database programs for statistical analysis, and the PWM measurements can be displayed within visualizations in the form of arrows which show the magnitude and direction.

•   Move Geometry Models - All model entities (Buildings, Canopies, and Terrain) can be moved and rotated. This movement can be achieved through the mouse (using Pick-and-Move, Pick-and-Slide, and Rotate about Axes), or by numerically inputting the new positions in the "Entities and Monitors" tree interface.

•   Wind Speed Height - When users enter the Wind Speed, they can specify the height to which that speed corresponds. The user also selects an input wind profile that takes into account the fact that wind near the ground is slower than wind at Gradient Height, above the effects of the ground, vegetation and surrounding buildings.

•   Geographical "Awareness" - The user can (optionally) specify latitude and longitude, as well as the "angle of North".  This is specifically important when using Weatherman to import meteorological wind data.

•   Standardized Wind Directions - Wind directions are now specified in the universally standard "degrees Azimuth" from North, and according to the direction from which the wind is blowing.

For more details about the advantages of Virtualwind:

	Features and Benefits - The Virtualwind front-end is available as a plug-in to Google SketchUp. It appears as an added set of Virtualwind-specific icons and menus. Within Google SketchUp you can import and edit models from the Google 3D Warehouse. If you prefer to use models from 3D modeling tools other than SketchUp, you can import STL models directly into Virtualwind. When you are ready to start running your Virtualwind simulation, simply click on the "Launch Virtualwind" icon in the SketchUp Plug-In toolbar or on your desktop.Read more...
	Enhanced Flow Visualizations -  Enhanced flow visualization options have been added, which provide you with a broad selection of wind flow representations. These new flow visualizations enable you to more quickly identify potential problem areas in architectural designs. Flow visualizations can be output as animations (AVI files), or individual frames at any point in the simulation can be output as still images (PNG files).   Read more...
	Value to Users - The new Virtualwind product offers significant value to users. Cost of model development has been significantly reduced. Ease-of-use reduces the time required to execute wind simulations, thereby making faster project turn-times possible. Since wind models can be created quickly and inexpensively, it is now possible to engage architects and engineers earlier, and more often, in the design process.   Read more...
	Pricing - Virtualwind offers a broad range of flexible licensing options, depending upon your project requirements. These options range from single-users through multi-seat configurations for larger enterprises. We also offer both a Standard and Pro version, depending on the size of projects and the computational performance required.   Read more...
	System Requirements - The current release of Virtualwind supports Windows XP, both 32-bit and 64-bit editions. On 64-bit Windows, Virtualwind will run as a 32-bit application. Virtualwind also runs on Macs with Windows emulation. Virtualwind is a graphics-intensive simulation package. The minimum and recommended system parameters for use with Virtualwind are . . .   Read more...

* Virtualwind is a Registered Trademark of Virtualwind, Inc.

* Google and Google SketchUp are trademarks of Google, Inc.