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Building Geometry Interface
Building Geometry Interface

Introduction to the features and interface of Geometry page

David Speedlin avatar
Written by David Speedlin
Updated over 7 months ago

Once your analysis.tool project is set up, the geometry workflow offers a fast and intuitive method to review your uploaded geometry, create and assign assemblies, and input room information for further analysis. If you don't have a BIM model for your project, you can opt for Manual Mode within the geometry workflow. This mode enables you to quickly enter estimates of your building's geometry for analysis in cove.tool. For more information on manual and 3D mode, please refer to the relevant documentation.


Interface Breakdown:

The interface for the Building Geometry page is divided into 5 primary tabs/sections:

  • Interactive Geometry Preview

  • Project Settings

  • Assignment and Selection

  • Room Assignment

  • Assembly Builder
    ​


Interactive Geometry Preview

The interactive preview provides a user interface for users to visualize and interact with the geometry that they have uploaded. This preview works in tandem with various sections of the geometry page to identify objects, assemblies, or rooms within the geometry.

Detect Plugin Upload Button:

This button identifies when the geometry has been uploaded via a plugin. When you click this button, it checks for new or updated geometry uploaded through a plugin.

Model Source Dropdown:

This button enables users to toggle between 3D and Manual geometry modes. The 3D mode requires uploading geometry through a plugin, while the Manual mode only needs measurement estimates of the building for analysis.

Project Settings

The Project Settings tab contains all the details you selected during the initial setup of your project. Here, you can edit the Project Name and Number, Measurement System, Location, Building Use Type, or Energy Code as needed.

At the bottom of this tab, you'll find information about the model source (for each use type in case of mixed-use projects), including details of your latest upload and the associated triangle count.

Remember to click the save button after making any changes to ensure they are stored.

Assignment and Selection

The assignment and selection menu offers tools for choosing building elements either by object type or assembly type and assigning assemblies from cove.tool's product database or the ones created with the assembly builder. This menu is organized into four main sections:

  1. Level Visibility:
    This feature allows users to control the visibility of different levels within the building geometry. A blue button next to the level names serves as the visibility toggle.

  2. Object Visibility:
    Users can toggle the visibility of building elements by type. Visibility toggles are marked by blue buttons next to each building element type.

  3. Project Assemblies:
    This dropdown panel lists all the assemblies assigned to the project, organized by project name and category. Users can filter the list by category and use a search function to find assemblies by name.

    Clicking on an assembly reveals its specific properties.

  4. Selected Object Properties:
    This panel displays the assembly and its properties for the objects selected within the geometry.

  5. Finder:

    Reserved for Revit Users, the geometry interface provides an interesting feature within the project assemblies section named "Finder".

    This will open a pop-up that lists all the assembly names from Revit within each Building element category. Users can select the assemblies listed in the pop-up to highlight where they exist within the building geometry and change the assemblies quickly throughout the model.

Room Assignment

The room assignment section of the geometry workflow is essential for designating spaces as occupied or unoccupied in your building for generating LEED reports using the 3D Analysis tab. This functionality is available only when the BIM model, including room definitions, is exported from Revit.

The room assignment process is divided into three parts:

  1. Level Visibility:
    Users can toggle the visibility of different building levels. A blue button next to each level name acts as the visibility toggle.

  2. Rooms:
    This area lists all the rooms in the project by name and number. Users can filter the list for occupied or unoccupied rooms using the filter button above the list. A search bar allows for finding rooms by name or number. Selecting a room in the geometry preview will also highlight it in the Rooms list on the left.

  3. To designate a room as occupied or unoccupied:

    1. Locate the room by searching in the Rooms list or by selecting it directly in the geometry preview.

    2. Check the box next to the room's name in the "Rooms" dropdown.

    3. Click "Set as Occupied" or "Set as Unoccupied" to assign the room's status.
      ​

Assembly Builder

Assembly Builder allows users to:

  • Choose - Select an assembly from the Assembly Library. These include a huge range of default energy code minimum and generic assemblies provided by us.

  • Customize - Change the layer properties or switch with another layer in a default assembly to make it your own.

  • Design - Create an assembly from scratch by selecting products from an extensive list of product layers provided by the platform or by entering your products received from contractors or manufacturers.

  • Share - Save and Share assemblies with the entire firm to use in other projects, saving time and effort.


    You can find detailed information about the workflows associated with the assembly builder in the relevant documentation.

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