Calculating the gains and losses from the envelope of a building is a large part of determining accurate heating and cooling loads. Doing so requires that each surface is cleanly defined and its thermal performance is captured. These two important steps occur in drawing.tool where models can either be imported or drawn natively and then assigned unique performance values per surface.

Currently wall (interior and exterior), window (interior and exterior), doors, roof, and floor (ground and interior) thermal performance can be assigned directly in drawing.tool. To assign performance utilize Assemblies which can be added or edited via the Assembly Builder. When an Assembly is assigned the corresponding performance values can be seen in the elements panel.

When geometry is first drawn or imported into the drawing.tool default assemblies for all surfaces will be assigned. These defaults are based on the energy code minimum as selected on the Project Page.

All performance information is used in loadmodeling.tool for the envelope heat loss and gains calculations. Assigning the design intent envelope performance will provide accurate room loads based on the impact of each surface calculated by EnergyPlus whole building simulation engine. Using the Room Results page the % of total load coming from each surface type (window, wall, roof, etc.) can be reviewed helping to identify where higher performance will have the greatest impact on the design.

Q. How can I assign an exterior wall to Adiabatic?

A. Exterior walls can be defined as Adiabatic by changing the selection drop down to Interior Wall. Interior Walls with external adjacency will be treated as adiabatic, no sun exposure, and no wind exposure

Q. How can I separate rooms without a wall and assembly?

A. Using Air Walls rooms can be split with an adiabatic surface which does not block daylight.

Q. How can I assign large doors, such as overhead doors?

A. Doors are connected directly into the load calculations. To adjust the size of a door simply place, and then adjust the components dimensions in the properties panel. Note that the visual in drawing.tool will not change from a swing door, however the area will reflect that of the garage door in the simulation.