Most innovative software*

*Two companies tied for the win in this category

CDC Curtainwall Design & Consulting's Solar Reflectivity Analysis software can model the reflectance of any building, anywhere in the world, on any day of the year, according to officials from CDC, www.cdc-usa.com.

Until now, modeling the reflectance of any building—and how the sun's rays react off the building's geometry—has been nothing short of "gray," they say. Using this software, CDC can model the building's reflectivity, showing not only how the sun's rays reflect off the building, but also the intensity of the sun's rays, and the impact of the surrounding buildings, streets and walkways.

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, or CFD, simulations, CDC can determine whether or not the reflected glare is going to be problematic. With this information, CDC then can help designers find alternatives and solutions to control any glare problem.

The Solar Reflectivity Analysis also enables CDC to obtain information such as path of the solar reflections, glare intensity, shadowing and solar data. CDC has performed solar reflectivity analyses of several projects in the United States, as well as Asia.