• EcoDesigner
• FAQ

EcoDesigner Frequently Asked Questions

Does altering 3d model have any effect upon solar shading?

• - No, the 3d model does not have an effect on solar shading, all the settings of solar shading has to be set up manually.

If I change a building elements structure type using the highlight selected element in the model review setting, then re-analyze my model, it reverts back to the original settings and ignores my building structure changes?

• - Do NOT click the button to analyze your model after you have made any changes in Model Review (which is almost always necessary)... it takes you back to the beginning, as you saw. Only do that if you have made substantial model changes and it would be faster to reanalyze and change rather than use Model Review to add in or change the modified elements.

How does ED treat unconditioned spaces such as sun porches and attics? I have a sun porch and I would like to know, if I eliminate it from the building volume do i have to delete it from Archicad? if not does ED recognize there is a porch there that is unconditioned and full of windows?

• - No, you never have to delete anything from ArchiCAD from the ED building volume. If auto analysis included some structures that should not delineate the building volume, then just select them and clear the highlight. They will then be ignored. Yes, if a wall serves multiple functions, you need to split it in ArchiCAD so that in Model Review you can assign different attributes to it. But, that's how your model should be built anyway.

Does ecodesigner take into account both ceiling slabs and roof panels?

Ie my current trial model has just the ceiling slabs in place with an insulation value applied. The actual house however also has insulation applied under the roof sheeting and of course provides shading to the ceiling - can I assign both roof and ceiling as roof components in the model review?

• - Answer: It is presently not possible to define multiple zones in EcoDesigner, as it is an evaluation tool for the early design stage, therefore it is kept simple. I suggest you to define a continuous building envelop, even though for this you have to make certain simplifications.

• If the attic space is conditioned, then mark up the roof as roof (orientation: upward) and the ceiling as internal structure. • If the attic space is not conditioned, then mark up the ceiling as roof (orientation: upward) and set its surface to reflective using the Surface button. This way the shading provided by the roof above the ceiling is represented. As in your design both the ceiling and the roof are insulated, combine the thermal insulation thicknesses to create a virtual building shell element that represents the physical characteristics of the roof and the ceiling, combined.

Do I include the attached garage wall, ceiling, floor structures in the model review? If I do this it seems to include these area's in the building volume but they are not actually conditioned - they just provide shading and insulation.

• - Answer: Do not include the garage as part of your building volume, as it is not conditioned. Mark up the wall separating the garage and the house as external wall and set the shading and complexity options of Façade shading in that orientation so that they represent the shading effect of the adjacent garage.

Does the calculation works with the skylight?

• - In EcoDesigner skylights aren't recognized yet. Skylights don't appear at the openings tab. In a next version we plan to change this behaviour.

Does EcoDesigner support structures with complex profiles?

• - Currently EcoDesigner does not support these.

What is the actual algorithm used by the thermal engine?

• - The engine works according to the specifications of the ANSI ASHRAE 90.1 standard.

How does one model a double-height space in ArchiCAD, so that EcoDesigner correctly calculates the volume of the space?

• - Our present solution for automatic volume analysis has its limitations as explained in the EcoDesigner User Guide.

It is a rather complicated task to automatically generate the correct 3D shape of thermal blocks from a model, but we are working on it. ﾠNow we suggest users to override the volume generated automatically by a value they calculate manually, in such cases. It is easy to monitor the volume the computer came up with by using the Show building volume function of the Model review palette.

What is the best way to define the Glass% for each window? Can this be done through ArchiCAD?

• - Presently it is only possible to assign one property set to all windows facing a certain orientation, on the Openings tab page of EcoDesigner.

What is the assumed number of occupants?

• - Different mean value assigned to each activity. This is accounted for in the Heat gain profile of the internal usage schedule.

== The Export function under the Thermal Property Assignment window does export a file but when imported into another project that has the similar fill, the values are not updated.ﾠ==

• - For example in Project A it is with fill #5 ?brick?, the thermal properties do not get imported into Project B with fill #8 ?Brick?, even though they have the same name. ?brick? and ?Brick? are different, as our fill name recognition is case sensitive at the moment. We have changed that for EcoDesigner 14 in order to avoid this issue.