MIT Sustainable Design Lab
DIVA Tutorials

Jeff Geisinger and Christoph Reinhart

This website lists links to a series of detailed video tutorials for the DIVA-for-Rhino daylighting and energy modeling plug-in for Rhino and Grasshopper. The tutorials are based on the MIT Reference Office, a standard shoebox model that is documented here. A complementary set of daylighting exercises can be found here.

NOTE: Each tutorial builds on the previous one, so it is highly recommended that viewers start from Tutorial 01 and move through the series sequentially.

DIVA Tutorial 01 - Visualizations (15 min) This tutorial demonstrates how to set up a simple visualization with DIVA/Radiance and how to generate a falsecolor luminance map of that image using the wxfalsecolor viewer. To follow the tutorial you can download a Rhino file from here.
DIVA Tutorial 02 - Daylight Autonomy (21 min) This tutorial shows how to set up a Daylight Autonomy analysis and to interpret the simulation results. To follow the tutorial you can continue working on the DIVA project from Tutorial 01 or you can download a Rhino file from here.
DIVA Tutorial 03 - Annual Glare (11 min) This tutorial shows how to run an annual glare analysis of a sidelit office and explains how to interpret the results. To follow the tutorial you can continue working on the DIVA project from Tutorials 01 and 02. Alternatively, you can download a Rhino file from here and set up your model from scratch.
DIVA Tutorial 04 - Dynamic Shading (34 min) This tutorial shows how to set up a dynamic shading control group and re-run a daylight autonomy calculation with shading to demonstrate how the glare problem is solved (despite a trade-off in daylight performance). To follow the tutorial you can continue working on the DIVA project from Tutorials 01, 02 and 03. Alternatively, you can download a Rhino file from here and set up your model form scratch.
DIVA Tutorial 05 - Electric Lighting (38 min) This tutorial shows how to import electric lighting fixtures into Rhino and how to set up two types of visualizations, an interior view for luminance and a plan view "cutaway" for illuminance. To follow the tutorial you can continue working on the DIVA project from Tutorials 01 to 04. Alternatively, you can download a Rhino file from here and set up your model form scratch.
DIVA Tutorial 06 - Lighting Controls (39 min) This tutorial shows how to run an electric lighting control analysis using a couple of zoning strategies namely a single, manually-controlled zone and a two-zones with photosensor dimming near the window. To follow the tutorial you can continue working on the DIVA project from Tutorials 01 to 05. Alternatively, you can download a Rhino file from here and set up your model form scratch. For this tutorial this will require you to rerun several simulations, especial the ones from Tutorial 04.
DIVA Tutorial 07 - Integrated thermal-lighting simulation (41 min) This tutorial shows how to set up and run an integrated thermal/lighting analysis by linking the results from the previous tutorials to an EnergyPlus model. To follow the tutorial you can continue working on the DIVA project from Tutorials 01 to 05. Alternatively, you can download a Rhino file from here and set up your model form scratch. For this tutorial this will require you to rerun several simulations, especial the ones from Tutorial 05.