On the Building menu, click Windows, and then enter a window name. To use the keyboard shortcut, hold down the Ctrl key and then press the "W" key. You can also double-click on the Windows sidebar.
Window types can be used to model standard windows and other fenestration products, e.g. they can be used to model a window with a glass pane and a frame, curtain walls, roof lights, pedestrian doors, vehicle access doors, photovoltaic or solar hot water panels, louvres, or vents. So a curtain wall can be set up by using the "Full Wall Height" placement type and the "Fit to Wall" option on the right-click menu in the 2D view. To model a louvre you would have to clear the "Transparent" checkbox, and then apply an Aperture Type to the element in TBD so that air will be able to flow through the louvre. If a window is used to model something like a vent or louvre, then the openable proportion, or effective free area, would be defined in the TBD as a function of the geometric area in the 3D Modeller.
If the same window has been added to the model in many places, perhaps even on different floor levels, and you have to change one of the dimensions, say you've been given a new width by the architect, then you will be able to change the global width of the window type with one input, and every single window in the 3D geometry will be updated at the same time. You will be able to edit individual windows as well.
Windows
| Colour | This is the frame colour in 2D and 3D.
For opaque windows it is the colour of the whole element. To choose a different colour, click on the colour, and then select a new colour on the colour grid. |
| Name | The name of the window type.
The TBD will create "<window name>-pane" and "<window name>-frame" so you can apply a construction to the glass and the frame. |
| Placement | Click in the cell to display a down-arrow, and then click it to show a drop-down menu to choose a placement type. Select between: Wall, Roof, Door, Floor, or Full Wall Height. The type determines which of the pane dimensions you can edit. For a Wall type, you can edit the width, height, and level. If the type is Roof, Floor, or Door, then you will be able to edit the width and height but not the level. For the Full Wall Height placement, you can edit only the width. The window occupies the height of the wall. If you select "Door" the construction type does not have to be an actual door. It just sets the level to the finished floor width +1mm, as does the placement "Full Wall Height". If the floor surface width should change, the door will remain at 1mm above the finished floor. The level is not allowed to overlap with the floor or ceiling width, so you should never set the level to 0mm, or anything less than the floor element width. Window types other than "Roof" or "Floor" can be attached to walls. The "Roof" or "Floor" windows can be applied only to ceiling or floor surfaces, regardless of surface inclination. |
| Width | The width parameter defines how wide the window or other fenestration
product is and determines whether it will fit within the wall.
Consider the "Wall" placement type.
A wall has an internal and external area, which has to be considered before you input the width of the window. Imagine a cube drawn using an element width of 0.2m; wall lengths are 1 metre and drawn with snap to centre line of wall turned on. The external surfaces are 1.2mx1.2mx1.2m and the internal surfaces are 0.8mx0.8mx0.8m. If the width of the window is greater than 0.8m then the window edges will overlap the walls perpendicular to the polygon receiving the window. So the window width must be less than or equal to the length of the internal surface of the receiving polygon. |
| Height | The perpendicular distance between the bottom and top edges of the window. |
| Level | The perpendicular distance between the unfinished floor and the bottom edge of the window. The level cannot be less than the floor surface width. By default, the "Door" and "Full Wall Height" windows are 1mm above the finished floor. |
| Transparent | This function is for visualisation only and has no affect on
the solar or light transmittance properties of the window.
However, it does determine whether or not the internal shadows are accounted for when the geometry is exported to TBD with shadow calculations. If the window type is not set to transparent then the 3D view displays an opaque window, the colour it uses matches the colour of the frame. You can still apply a construction in the TBD file to the window type to calculate the solar and light transmittance even if this checkbox is deselected but the internal shadows will be unaccounted. |
| Internal Shadows | You will be able to select this option when the Transparent
checkbox is ticked.
Solar tracking is turned on when this checkbox is ticked and determines how the direct solar radiation is apportioned at each hour to the surfaces. The distribution among the internal surfaces may impact the extent to which heat is transferred to neighbouring zones by conduction, convection, or radiation. The extent will depend on a mix of factors, including the geometry of the building, the constructions, internal gains, external conditions, type of heating or cooling, and the ventilation strategy. |
| Used | Tells the user if a window type has been used in the geometry.
A grey square instead of a tick is shown for windows which are indirectly used in the model - not used directly but are included in a window group which is used. |
| New Window (button) | Click here to create a new window type. |
| Edit (button) | Click here to open the Edit Window dialog where you can edit the type, dimensions, frame width and depth, and the pane offset and depth. These parameters are identical to those mentioned above but can be edited from one place on this dialog. |
| Copy (button) | Click here to make a copy of the selected window type. |
| Delete (button) | Click here to delete the selected window type. |
Window Groups
A window group is a combination of window types. A group can contain multiple instances of the same 'child' window but can contain only certain combinations of placement types; a group can consist of "Door", "Wall", and "Full Wall Height" but other combinations are not permitted. For example, you cannot create a group with "Door" and "Roof" or "Floor". The resulting group is known as the 'parent' window. Grouping windows together allows you to control separate areas of the window independently and speeds up the process of geometry input. For example, consider a window group made up of two different child windows; two aperture controls can be defined in the Building Simulator such that one of the windows in the group opens by some percentage according to one set of criteria, whilst the other window in the group either remains closed or opens according to a completely different set of criteria.
| Colour | This is the colour used on 2D drawings of the building plan. The 3D geometry uses the colours of the individual child windows. |
| Name | The name of the parent window. |
| X Offset | Consider a wall window of width 2.0m, height 1.5m, and level 1.0m; adding two copies of the window to create a group requires you to add an x-offset to one of the windows at least equal to the width; in this example the width is 2.0m which positions the two windows exactly side-by-side and avoids any possible overlap. Positioning the windows one above the other is achieved by setting the level of one of the windows to at least the sum of the height and level of the other. Consider carefully the resulting altitude of the top edge of the window group when applying it to the model to avoid it overlapping with the ceiling surface; the ceiling polygon has a width with which the parent window is not allowed to overlap. |
| Y Offset | Applies only to Roof and Floor placement types. Whilst the x-offset shifts the windows' position along the width axis, the y-offset shifts the windows' position in the direction of the "height" axis. Therefore, to position two roof windows side-by-side, add an x-offset equal to the width of the window; otherwise use the y-offset based on the height dimension to add a shift parallel to the height axis. |
| Used | If the checkbox is enabled then the window group has been added to the geometry, otherwise the checkbox is empty. |
| New Group | Click this button to create an empty group into which you can add child windows by dragging them onto the group. Alternatively, drag a window onto the Window Groups table to auto-create a new group. Again, you can drag a widow into an existing window group. Empty window groups are deleted when you click OK to exit the Windows dialog box. |
| Copy | Click this button to create an copy of the highlighted window group. |
| Delete | Click this button to remove the highlighted window group from the file. If you delete a window group or individual window, it cannot be undone unless the window existed in the file before you opened the Windows dialog. |
Under the "Window Groups" Table
With the following checkboxes deselected, the column headers displayed in the dialog are Colour; Name; Placement; Transparent; Internal Shadows. Enable the relevant checkboxes to edit more parameters.
| Window Dimensions (checkbox) | Adds the Width, Height, and Level columns to the dialog. |
| Pane Dimensions (checkbox) | Adds the Pane Offset and Pane Depth columns to the dialog. |
| Frame Dimensions (checkbox) | Adds the Frame Width, % Frame, Frame Percentage, and Frame Depth columns to the dialog. |
| Description (checkbox) | Adds the Description column to the dialog. |
You can add a frame to a window and then define its depth and width. The frame depth follows the same axis as the element width of the wall receiving the window. It can be smaller or larger than the element width, in which case the frame protrudes outwards from the receiving wall from both sides. The frame depth does not provide shade. The frame width is increased and decreased along the orientation of the accompanying window pane and does provide shade from direct solar radiation.
With the Frame Dimensions checkbox enabled:
| Frame Width | This parameter determines the frame thickness, which is measured in a direction perpendicular to each of the four outer edges in an orientation parallel to the window pane. The frame grows inwards towards the centre point of the window with increasing thickness; on this basis the frame does not affect the overall area of the window as defined by the "width" and "height" inputs. Consider a window with a width and height of 1.0m and without a frame, so the area of the pane equals the overall area of the window. A frame width of 0.1m reduces the overall pane area to 0.8mx0.8m = 0.64m^2 whilst the area of the fenestration product as a whole remains constant at 1.0m^2. The frame width provides shade from direct solar radiation. |
| % Frame | Enabling this checkbox allows you to express the frame thickness as a percentage of the overall area of the window. This dialog component works in conjunction with the "Frame Percentage" text box. If this checkbox is ticked then the "Frame Width" text box cannot be edited; if this checkbox is empty then the "Frame Percentage" text box cannot be edited. |
| Frame Percentage | First enable the "% Frame" checkbox and then enter a number between 0 and 99.9; 0 removes the frame altogether (equivalent to setting the frame width to zero) whilst 99.9 adds a frame to the window and sets the frame area to 99.9% of the overall window area. |
| Frame Depth | The frame depth is measured in a direction perpendicular to the orientation of the wall and grows outwards from the centre line in the direction of the inside and outside surfaces. Consider a window within an element width of 0.2m. If the frame depth is set to 0.05m the frame occupies 0.025m either side of the centre line and the distance from the inside and outside surfaces of the wall to the nearest edge of the frame is 0.075m. The depth can affect the volume of the adjacent zone, depending on the width of the receiving wall and the pane offset. Frame depth does not provide shade from solar radiation. |
With the Pane Dimensions checkbox enabled:
| Pane Offset | Repositions the window frame and pane by the offset distance in the direction perpendicular to the wall, i.e. along the depth axis; enter a positive offset to reposition the window frame and pane towards the outside surface of the wall, or a negative offset to move the window frame in the direction of the inside surface. |
| Pane Depth | The thickness of the pane. The depth can affect the volume of the room, depending on the width of the receiving wall and the frame depth. |
With the Description checkbox enabled:
| Description | You can enter a description of the window type but you do not have to do so. |