A further step in environment and bioclimatic analysis: The software tool SOLENE

It is obvious that a building permanently exchanges with its nearby environment (mainly light, heat, sound, visual accessibility); these interactions are numerous and complex enough to require serious means of investigation, more especially as the requests of the new regulations and those of the users become increasingly demanding. This is why one of the aim of our laboratory is to develop software tools that can give help to the architect and the urban planer in their decision making process. After a concise summary of the main principles behind the tool we present here, we will describe case studies that highlight the possibilities of the sofware in various situations and scales, including urban questions, indoor analysis, the level of performance of a control device, etc. The examples are choosen among recent studies that we achieved for architects, engineering departments or else the office of the urban development of our city. Finally we will conclude with educational considerations by how the open structure of this tool can be very interesting from a teaching point of view by “forcing” the user to understand of each one of the stages. Further prospects will be mentioned, including specific developments about urban microclimate and its control.