Overview of Avenir LoopCAD

It is revolutionizing the way professionals in the radiant heating industry design their systems. With the release of LoopCAD 2023, this software has taken a giant leap forward in providing advanced design features for circuit layout drawings, heating and cooling load calculations, hydronic calculations, snowmelt design, 3D CAD views, and compatibility with OEM design methods and materials.

Floorplan Drawing

Creating floorplan drawings with this software is remarkably efficient. The software provides predefined rooms, doors, windows, and other objects, allowing you to assemble complex floor plans quickly. You can easily resize rooms by adjusting walls or corners and dock them together to create intricate layouts. Additionally, it offers freehand drawing tools for creating custom shapes or importing existing drawings as templates.

Automated Circuit Drawing

It simplifies circuit generation by automatically creating circuits for your project's rooms. Drop a Circuit Entry object where you want circuits to begin, and the software takes care of the rest. It intelligently designs around obstructions, such as stairs or cabinets, and offers customization options for pattern type, rotation, number of circuits, and tube spacing. For complex room geometries, freehand circuit tools allow precise manual drawing.

Heat Loss Calculations

The software provides options for automatically calculating room-by-room heat losses as you draw your floor plan. You can choose from different calculation methods, including ASHRAE, CSA, or Manual J, to suit your project's needs. The software can detect rooms above or below and handle cold partition calculations between rooms.

Cooling Load Calculations

The MJ8 Edition of the software offers heating and cooling load calculations for residential applications. It fully supports Manual J 8th Edition, including block loads, room-by-room loads, infiltration, ventilation loads, detailed exposure diversity analysis, and room CFM estimates.

ACCA®-Approved Manual J®

LoopCAD MJ8 is ACCA-Approved for Manual J (8th Edition) residential heating and cooling load calculations. This approval simplifies accepting your project submissions by local authorities that require ACCA-approved software calculations.

Hydronic Calculations

It automatically performs critical hydronic calculations for your radiant system design. The Radiant Design view offers an easy way to analyze and optimize your design by providing data on panel heat outputs, surface temperatures, panel temperatures, water temperatures, flow rates, head losses, and controllability issues.

Commercial Mode

Its Commercial Mode provides powerful tools for commercial radiant heating projects, including Custom Circuit Areas, a custom construction library, and significant performance improvements. Dividing large areas into smaller Circuit Areas makes circuit generation faster and more efficient.

Snowmelt Design

The software now supports snowmelt system design, allowing you to draw snowmelt areas, generate circuits, and calculate loads and temperatures using ASHRAE methods. This feature makes it easy to design snowmelt systems alongside radiant heating systems.

3D CAD Views

It generates 3D views of your building based on your 2D drawings. These 3D views are invaluable for accurate heat load calculations and precise design communication. They help validate the placement and sizing of windows, doors, and walls, improving the overall quality of your design work.

OEM Compatibility

The software offers custom OEM Editions from leading North American manufacturers integrating systems and components. In addition to designing circuit layouts and performing load calculations, you can generate a complete materials list based on your selected OEM. The software also incorporates the OEM's design recommendations and data, streamlining the design process further.

System Requirements

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7

Processor: A minimum of 2.0 GHz or higher is recommended.

RAM: A minimum of 4 GB is required, but 8 GB or more is recommended for optimal performance.

Disk Space: Allocate at least 400 MB, but Microsoft .NET Framework may require up to 4.5 GB.

Video: Your system should support SVGA or higher resolutions (1920 x 1080 or higher is recommended). Additionally, ensure support for DirectX 11 or OpenGL 2.0 with a minimum of 1 GB of Video Memory.

Mouse: An external mouse with a scroll wheel is recommended, as built-in mouse pads may not provide the best experience.

Conclusion

Avenir LoopCAD is a game-changer for professionals in the radiant heating industry. Its advanced features, user-friendly interface, and compatibility with industry standards simplify the design process and ensure accuracy from floorplan creation to load calculations. Whether working on residential or commercial projects, it covers you, making it the go-to software for radiant heating system design.