This article refers to the Detailed Tool
The main window display under the Design tab is effectively the Facade Manager where you may make selections of Facades/Surfaces, assign different glass types and generate glazing on your model using Add WIndows and Add Curtain Walls.
Navigation
To orbit the model in the Viewer, hold the right mouse button and drag in the Viewer window. To zoom in and out, simply use the mouse wheel. To pan, hold the mouse wheel down and drag in the Viewer window.
There are several ways to make selections:
- from the Surfaces List
- from the model in the Viewer (by hovering over areas on the model)
- using the Charts
- by selecting areas on the Revit model itself (related Surfaces will be selected in the application).
Selected Surfaces will highlight on the model in the Viewer, the highlighting colors relate to the active Chart displayed.
Facades List
In the Facades List, you may expand the list to view parent and child items in the tree list (Facades and Surfaces). You may select a single or multiple Surfaces. Selecting the box beside a Facade will also select all Surfaces within that Facade. These areas will also highlight on the model. The highlighting color depends on the current active Chart.
The Facades List also displays areas, glazing percentage and glazing element size. Note: The Surface area is comprised of the Energy Surface information in Revit and may be calculated from additional areas where there are spandrel panels spanning over two levels (half gets added to each level) or smaller adjacent areas deemed to be part of that Surface. This area is intended to be a representation and may not therefore be exactly the same in the Revit model.
You may use room separation lines internally (perpendicular to the external walls) to separate the envelope into additional analytical surfaces if you wish. These will also create additional energy spaces (where one space previously existed). This may be useful for assigning different glass types to separate areas. Alternatively, you may use separate family types in Revit to achieve this.
The Groups and Filters feature, where you may sort the list by various criteria, is covered in later articles.
Spaces List
There is also a Spaces List tab to review Spaces and associated elements. Selections made here will highlight Energy Spaces in the Model Viewer. You may also search for a specific Surface Number or Element (both in the Spaces List tab and under the Facades List tab) by using the search field in the Energy Model Elements panel.
Note: The Space Areas listed here are for the entire Room/Space as shown highlighted in the Viewer (not the area within the perimeter zone which where Heat Gain and Daylighting is calculated).
Dashboard
This area will display:
- Percentage Glazing for the current selections (or entire model if no selections made)
- U-value or R-value for the current selections (or entire model if no selections made)
- Heat Gain for the current selections (or entire model if no selections made)
- Daylighting for the currently selections (or entire model if no selections made)
- Shading (if turned on in the Building Manager) for the current selections (or entire model if no selections made)
- Areas for the solid, glazed and total Surface(s) selected
- Project Details with button for Full Refresh if required
Note: after making updates to the project (changing glass types, adding windows or curtain walls, modifying the model in Revit etc), you should use the Refresh button to update the model condition and results. Some modifications to the model may require a full refresh with a new energy model to fully update the application. These conditions will be listed in a separate article (link to be added here soon).
Changing the Energy Settings in Revit while the application is open and then attempting to Refresh will typically not be successful. In this case, restart the application with the new settings.
