What is Ladybug Tools?
Ladybug Tools is a collection of free computer applications that support environmental design and education.
Of all the available environmental design software packages, Ladybug Tools is among the most comprehensive, connecting 3D Computer-Aided Design (CAD) interfaces
to a host of validated simulation engines.
Validated
Ladybug Tools is built on top of several validated simulation engines: Radiance, EnergyPlus/ OpenStudio, Therm/ Window and OpenFOAM.
Free + Open Source
Ladybug Tools is the only open source interface that unites all of its underlying open source engines. Like these engines, it evolves through the consensus of an open community of experts.
Community-Supported
Ladybug Tools is supported by a passionate and diverse community from around the world. Visit our online forum to see the discussions that shape our future development.
500k+ Downloads
Ladybug Tools has been downloaded more than 500,000 times and is the 3rd most downloaded plugin for Grasshopper.
Integrated
Ladybug Tools runs within 3D modeling software and allows data transfer between its simulation engines. So all geometry creation, simulation, and visualization happen within one interface.
Flexible
Ladybug Tools is composed of modular components, making it flexible across different stages of design and capable of answering a variety of research questions.
Parametric
Ladybug Tools runs within parametric visual scripting interfaces, enabling the exploration of design spaces and the automation of tasks.
Visual
By harnessing capabilities of CAD interfaces, Ladybug Tools produces a variety of interactive 3D graphics, animations, and data visualizations.
Cross-Platform
Ladybug Tools is written in Python, which can be run on virtually any operating system and plugged into any geometry engine (provided the geometry library is translated).
Tools
We are the developers of Ladybug, Honeybee, Butterfly, Dragonfly, and
EPWMap
We also contribute to open-source projects
including Design Explorer and the
Glazing + Winter Comfort Tool.
Ladybug
Honeybee
Dragonfly
Butterfly
Browse the features of each application using the web of interoperability below.
Double click an image to read more. Press Ctrl + Click to pan. Press Ctrl + Scroll to zoom.
Who is using Ladybug Tools?
Ladybug Tools is used by architects, engineers, consultants, simulation
experts, and academics alike.
Here is a short list of
the offices and schools using our applications.
Ladybug and Honeybee is a really powerful toolkit to handle 3D-geometry and simulation parameters on a larger scale. It’s a big step forward in complex dynamic daylight simulation!
Dietmar Geiselmann
Transsolar
The Grasshopper insects – Ladybug, Honeybee, Dragonfly and Butterfly – are propagating
widely in academic and in professional design and planning communities, not as an infestation
but with as much delight and value as their biological namesakes. We make great use of them
at MIT!
By seamlessly linking existing and highly capable performance assessment software (for
daylight, energy, airflow and thermal comfort) to design workflows, the insects are creating a
design ecosystem in which architects and planners can shape their efforts to promote the
highest levels of performance while satisfying all design objectives. Members of the design
community, trained to be creative and now empowered to develop evidence-based strategies,
will generate new concepts that will enrich the discourse about how best to serve both
mankind and the natural environment.
The open-source insects, described as a “passion
project” by one member of the core development group, will mutate into even more capable
forms with the aid of computationally capable users.
Leslie Norford
Professor. Director of Building Technology Group, MITLadybug and Honeybee provide up to date analytical functions in an open didactic manner. We have just started using them on our Masters programme, but I think our students are already becoming dedicated users.
Ladybug and Honeybee have not only assisted me in creating high quality visuals and quick energy models, their rapid visual feedback has taught me how buildings behave in response to many parameters, making me a better energy modeler and consultant.
Stefan Gracik
Building Performance Engineer, Integral GroupFrankly without Ladybug and Honeybee I’d struggle to do my job. The suite of tools that the Ladybug team has developed has given the industry so much more power in understanding how buildings and people interact with the climate which is critical. The wealth and range of tools available enable the user to interrogate a huge number of scenarios and present an equally large number of metrics. But the best part is that the team behind Ladybug are constantly developing and listening. They believe in collaboration and always are on hand to help with any problems or develop further tools to suit your needs.
Ladybug and Honeybee have opened a new and readily accessible dimension to the world of integrated building performance simulation to a new generation of professionals. They have become common language amongst architecture students, consultants and academics around the world, uniting communities that until recently operated in silos. To think that until very recently I had to rely on four or five different software packages to answer a building performance question!
Alejandra Menchaca
Senior Associate, Thornton TomasettiI’ve used the Ladybug suite for years. It is the most versatile environmental toolkit that, as it continues to develop and grow, enhances my design workflow. More importantly, its rapid feedback loop enables project teams to design better buildings, landscapes, and interiors—responsibly.
Stephen P. Maher
Designer / Studio Design Computation Leader, NBBJLadybug and Honeybee have not only dramatically improved early-stage interactions with clients, they have allowed Arup to leverage parametric efficiencies in all stages of our modeling. From quickly sketching through options at a project’s inception, to rapidly running through detailed iterations later in a project’s lifecycle, these tools enrich the building design experience the whole way through.
Nick Rekstad
Engineer | Mechanical, ArupThe most valuable aspect of Ladybug and Honeybee is flexibility across the lifespan of a project. From preliminary "optioneering" and discovery through validation, the scalability of the platform allows continuity of analysis to evolve with the increased project resolution.
Ladybug has given us the tools we need as designers to gain an understanding of the environmental
consequences of our design decisions from the comfort of our preferred design platform, Rhino.
By virtue of its integration into Grasshopper, we can move beyond running analysis for its own sake
to parametrically drive downstream design decisions based on the values coming out of Ladybug’s suite
of simulation tools for climate analysis, solar radiation studies, daylighting, and more.
With its user-friendly interfaces, extensive documentation and examples, and friendly community support,
Ladybug appeals to modeling novices and advanced design computation specialists alike, helping us to reach
our goal of fully integrating environmental analysis and performance-driven design methods into our studio
design culture. We and many other practices are grateful to have benefited from the collective development
of this amazing open-source project!
Brian Ringley and Andrew Heumann
Previously Design Technology Specialists, Woods BagotLadybug and Honeybee sustainability analysis tools have become an integral part in library of tools for the sustainability team at HOK . These tools provide an excellent capabilities to perform quick early design as well as detailed simulation and communicate the results to the design teams to effectively incorporate sustainability into the projects.
Apoorv Goyal
Sustainable Design Specialist, HOKThe modular nature of the Ladybug and Honeybee tool-sets provides a unique and powerful opportunity to create both productivity and innovative workflows at a wide gambit of skill levels and complexity. In short: it is one of the most powerful analysis tools in the industry because of its flexibility.
Jeremy Luebker
Design Applications Tech., Perkins+WillThe Ladybug family of tools provides not only top of the line, free plug-ins for environmental simulation, but also an amazing community with support from users and developers. Being involved in this community since the first insect was “born” in January 2013, I love the fact that we can all influence the tools and help to make it better every day. With the Ladybug family, the future looks very bright!
Michal Dengusiak
Senior MEP Engineer, BuroHappold EngineeringA flexible and powerful set of tools to interface architectural design and engineering software. The direct integration in the design team modeling environment of choice allows for easier and faster interoperability; the open ended nature of the parametric components allows the development of both general purpose and highly project specific workflows.
Ladybug, Honeybee and Butterfly enable us to customize environmental toolsets during the entire design process – From the very early sketches all the way to late construction stage. The toolsets work well with the rest of our digital workflow which allow us to use simulation as part of our concept development. The open source software development offers high transparency and flexibility. This enables worldwide discussions and facilitates further research and development in the area of computational design and simulation.
Ladybug and Honeybee are critical design tools that allow designers to have answers to very important environmental questions in the earliest phases of a project - when there is the greatest design flexibility and potential impact. Using these tools allows our design teams to illustrate complex environmental factors and visualize how our designs respond to those factors. This iterative parametric process is essential to meet each project's unique performance goals where form follows performance.
Anthony Viola
Senior Designer, Adrian Smith + Gordon GillLadybug and Honeybee has brought a whole new level of sophistication to our work. We are now able to produce highly accurate and professional environmental analyses in a matter of seconds, which greatly benefits our iterative design approach.
Paul Wintour
Senior Associate, BVNHoneybee facilitates the merging of environmental analysis and conceptual design platforms, and has profoundly impacted our studio's design process. We now have greater flexibility to communicate information between architectural and engineering teams, and can facilitate a workflow that leverages the unique skills of both professions. For our team, this translates to an approach that balances intuition with computation, and helps us strike a balance between aesthetics and performance.
Paul Ferrer
Associate, HKS | LINE
What we used Ladybug for:
- climate analysis (both macro and micro)
- thermal comfort studies (indoor and outdoor)
How it has upped our game:
- quick, comprehensive climate analysis using hourly data
- ability to ask questions and crop climate data to target specific conditions
- legible, customizable graphics (color palette, heat maps vs line graphs,
scales, etc)
- ability to perform annual comfort simulations, both indoor and outdoor
What we love:
- descriptions of inputs are clear and often cite the sources
- easy to learn and share with staff
- ability to scrub climate data
Overall, Ladybug is a tremendous gift to the design community. Compared to prior/alternate
tools for climate analysis (WeatherTool, Climate Consultant), Ladybug's capability to
allow designers to work closely with climate data and design scripts to customize and crop
data helps build a deeper understanding with how climate will influence building performance.
Roderick Bates
Associate, Kieran TimberlakeAt EDS, we have been using Ladybug Tools at every stage of our projects starting from climate and microclimate analysis, building form finding, façade optimization, indoor and outdoor comfort studies, daylight and preliminary energy performance evaluation, and taking it further for detailed energy modeling. The tools' versatility and capability to accommodate a range of analysis types and visualization techniques give us an opportunity to go beyond conventional analysis and communicate our findings and results effectively to the design team and clients.
