I've been using the Podium rendering engine inside SketchUp lately for a few projects in Evanston:
This new kitchen in a Prairie Style house, and...
...this view showing a mudroom tile/railing/built-in transition. While both of these could get polished in Photoshop, these "out of the box" renderings let me communicate to homeowner and contractor quickly.
This blog has been focused mainly on passive house as an energy standard, but alongside PHPP, space, light, and material must be studied to bring all aspects of the design into focus simultaneously. These good 3D tools go a long way toward collaborative visualization.
