SAM (Sustainable Analytical Model) is the core of the SAM Toolkit —
an open-source analytical-model and computational-engineering platform that
connects BIM, building physics, HVAC engineering and simulation through
deterministic, tested and traceable workflows.
SAM provides a structured analytical representation of buildings, supporting workflows for energy modelling, systems analysis, environmental simulation, and performance-driven design.
It is designed as a modular and extensible platform: core analytical concepts are implemented in this repository, with additional functionality provided through specialised SAM modules and integrations. SAM is not a Grasshopper plugin — Grasshopper, Rhino and Revit are hosts and adapters on top of the analytical model, not its foundation.
Website: https://sambim.xyz · Installer: SAM_Deploy releases · Documentation: SAM Wiki
At its core, SAM enables:
- creation and management of analytical building models
- assignment of constructions, loads, and system definitions
- preparation of models for simulation and analysis
- orchestration of analytical workflows and scenarios
- integration with external tools and simulation engines
SAM supports both programmatic and visual workflows, including integration with environments such as Grasshopper, Rhino, and Revit.
The SAM platform is intentionally modular. Additional repositories provide functionality such as:
- simulation engine integrations (e.g. Tas, OpenStudio)
- data exchange formats (IFC, gbXML, GEM)
- environmental and physical calculations (psychrometrics, solar, acoustics)
- UI layers and scripting interfaces (Windows UI, Rhino, Python)
- experimental and research workflows
The full ecosystem, module descriptions, and relationships are documented in the SAM Wiki.
To install SAM, download and run the
latest Windows installer.
Alternatively, the toolkit can be built from source using Visual Studio. See the documentation in the SAM Wiki for setup guidance and build details.
📘 SAM Wiki:
https://github.com/SAM-BIM/SAM/wiki
The Wiki contains:
- module overviews and relationships
- build and dependency information
- workflow examples
- developer and contributor guidance
This repository is free software licensed under the
GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 or later (LGPL-3.0-or-later).
Each contributor retains copyright to their respective contributions.
The project history (Git) records authorship and provenance of all changes.
See:
LICENSENOTICECOPYRIGHT_HEADER.txt