Architect Calculators

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Estimating gross floor area, unit count and parking from a site area and FAR
• Working out the U-value of a wall or roof build-up layer by layer
• Checking exit width and travel distance for an occupant load
• Getting a quick construction cost or annual energy estimate during early design

Example prompts

• “Run the area calculator for a 5000 m2 site with a floor area ratio of 2.5 and a net-to-gross ratio of 0.82.”
• “Calculate the U-value of a wall with brick, insulation and plasterboard layers.”
• “Estimate the daylight factor for this room and give me the result as JSON.”

Requirements

• Python to run the scripts

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

1. 1Area Calculator (area_calculator.py)
2. 2U-Value Calculator (uvalue_calculator.py)
3. 3Daylight Calculator (daylight_calculator.py)
4. 4Egress Calculator (egress_calculator.py)
5. 5Structural Load Calculator (structural_load_calculator.py)
6. 6Energy Calculator (energy_calculator.py)
7. 7Cost Calculator (cost_calculator.py)

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 30a0845. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Ships 7 files in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • python

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md.

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Architect Calculators loads about 3.4k tokens when it runs, and up to ~6.2k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 134 tokens; SKILL.md has 635 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~134

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~3.4k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~6.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from Abhinavbwj/Skills-Architects at commit 30a0845, republished under its MIT licence (© Abhinavbwj). 635 words, ~3,413 tokens.

name

architect-calculator

description

Seven Python-based architectural calculators for common design computations: area and density calculations (GFA, NGA, unit count, population, parking), thermal U-value analysis for multi-layer constructions, daylight factor estimation using BRE methodology, egress compliance checking (occupant load, exit width, travel distance), structural gravity load and tributary area calculations, annual energy demand estimation via degree-day method, and construction cost estimation by building type, quality, and region.

python scripts/<calculator_name>.py [arguments]

python scripts/area_calculator.py --site-area 5000 --far 2.5 --ntg-ratio 0.82

=== Area & Density Calculator ===
Site Area:            5,000.00 m2
Floor Area Ratio:     2.50
---------------------------------------
Gross Floor Area:     12,500.00 m2
Net-to-Gross Ratio:   0.82
Net Gross Area:       10,250.00 m2
---------------------------------------
Average Unit Size:    85.00 m2
Estimated Units:      120
Persons per Unit:     2.50
Estimated Population: 300
---------------------------------------
Parking Ratio:        1.00 spaces/unit
Parking Spaces:       120

python scripts/uvalue_calculator.py --layers '[
  {"name": "Brick", "thickness_mm": 102, "conductivity": 0.77},
  {"name": "Cavity air gap", "thickness_mm": 50, "conductivity": 0.18},
  {"name": "Mineral wool", "thickness_mm": 100, "conductivity": 0.035},
  {"name": "Concrete block", "thickness_mm": 140, "conductivity": 1.13},
  {"name": "Plaster", "thickness_mm": 13, "conductivity": 0.16}
]'

=== U-Value Calculator ===
Layer                Thickness(mm)  Conductivity(W/mK)  R-value(m2K/W)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rsi (internal)       --             --                   0.1300
Brick                102            0.770                0.1325
Cavity air gap       50             0.180                0.2778
Mineral wool         100            0.035                2.8571
Concrete block       140            1.130                0.1239
Plaster              13             0.160                0.0813
Rse (external)       --             --                   0.0400
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total R-value:       3.6425 m2K/W
U-value:             0.2745 W/m2K

Passive House target (wall):   0.15 W/m2K  -- DOES NOT MEET
Typical code target (wall):    0.30 W/m2K  -- MEETS TARGET

python scripts/daylight_calculator.py \
  --room-width 4.0 --room-depth 6.0 --room-height 3.0 \
  --window-width 2.5 --window-height 1.8 --window-sill-height 0.9

=== Daylight Factor Calculator ===
Room:     4.00m W x 6.00m D x 3.00m H
Window:   2.50m W x 1.80m H (sill at 0.90m)
---------------------------------------
Window Area:             4.50 m2
Total Room Surface Area: 96.00 m2
Window-to-Floor Ratio:   18.75%
Glazing Transmittance:   0.65
Average Reflectance:     0.50
Visible Sky Angle:       60.1 deg
---------------------------------------
Average Daylight Factor: 2.34%

Assessment: ADEQUATE (target >= 2.0% for habitable rooms)

python scripts/egress_calculator.py --floor-area 800 --occupancy-type B --sprinklered --num-stories 4

=== Egress Calculator ===
Floor Area:        800.00 m2
Occupancy Type:    B (Business)
Sprinklered:       Yes
Number of Stories: 4
---------------------------------------
Occupant Load Factor:   9.3 m2/person
Occupant Load:          86 persons
---------------------------------------
Required Exits:         2
Min Exit Width (total): 1,376 mm
Width per Exit:         688 mm
Min Door Width:         813 mm (32 inches)
---------------------------------------
Max Travel Distance:    91.0 m (300 ft) [sprinklered]
Max Common Path:        23.0 m (75 ft)
Max Dead End:           15.0 m (50 ft)

COMPLIANCE: Review travel distances on plans.

python scripts/structural_load_calculator.py --tributary-area 36 --num-floors 8 --occupancy-type office

=== Structural Load Calculator ===
Tributary Area:    36.00 m2
Number of Floors:  8
---------------------------------------
Dead Load:         4.50 kN/m2 per floor
Live Load:         2.50 kN/m2 per floor (office)
Total per Floor:   7.00 kN/m2
---------------------------------------
Load per Floor:    252.00 kN
Total Column Load: 2,016.00 kN (8 floors)
Factored Load:     2,822.40 kN (1.2D + 1.6L)
---------------------------------------
Preliminary Column: ~400x400 mm RC (fc'=35 MPa)

python scripts/energy_calculator.py \
  --floor-area 500 --envelope-area 800 --average-u-value 0.35 \
  --heating-degree-days 3000 --cooling-degree-days 500

=== Energy Calculator ===
Floor Area:           500.00 m2
Envelope Area:        800.00 m2
Average U-value:      0.35 W/m2K
---------------------------------------
Heating Degree Days:  3,000 Kd
Cooling Degree Days:  500 Kd
Ventilation Rate:     0.50 ACH
Internal Gains:       5.00 W/m2
---------------------------------------
Transmission Loss:    6,720.00 kWh/yr
Ventilation Loss:     4,050.00 kWh/yr
Internal Gains:       -2,190.00 kWh/yr
Heating Demand:       8,580.00 kWh/yr
---------------------------------------
Cooling Demand:       2,356.00 kWh/yr
---------------------------------------
Total Demand:         10,936.00 kWh/yr
EUI:                  21.87 kWh/m2/yr

Passive House target: 15 kWh/m2/yr -- DOES NOT MEET

python scripts/cost_calculator.py --gfa 5000 --building-type office --quality premium --region europe

=== Construction Cost Calculator ===
Gross Floor Area:   5,000.00 m2
Building Type:      Office
Quality Level:      Premium
Region:             Europe
---------------------------------------
Base Cost Rate:     2,800.00 USD/m2
Construction Cost:  14,000,000 USD
---------------------------------------
Professional Fees (12%):  1,680,000 USD
Contingency (7.5%):       1,050,000 USD
External Works:           --
---------------------------------------
Total Development Cost:   16,730,000 USD
Cost per m2 (total):      3,346.00 USD/m2

© Abhinavbwj, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 8 other files (scripts, references) in skills/architect-calculator of Abhinavbwj/Skills-Architects.

• SKILL.md
• references/calculator-reference.md
• scripts/area_calculator.py
• scripts/cost_calculator.py
• scripts/daylight_calculator.py
• scripts/egress_calculator.py
• scripts/energy_calculator.py
• scripts/structural_load_calculator.py
• scripts/uvalue_calculator.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 30a0845