The Constructions table displays construction types for walls, floors, etc. built up from layers composed of materials from the materials folder of the constructions database. Left clicking on the "Constructions" folder brings up the "Constructions" Table which has the following columns:
Name
The name of the Construction. This can be edited by the user.
Description
Details of the Construction. This can be edited by the user.
Problems
If there are any 'illegal' values which have been entered, or the order of the material layers which make up the construction is not permitted by the software, then such problems will be highlighted here, as well as under the Materials table for each individual construction.
For example, if two gas layers have been arranged side-by-side, adjacent to the outside or adjacent to the zone, then the problem with the construction will be made clear,
Gas layer 2 in Construction <name of construction> has an illegal adjacent gas layer
Construction <name of construction> has an illegal gas layer on the outside
Construction <name of construction> has an illegal gas layer on the inside
Equally, there may be a property which has been entered incorrectly, in which case you will be made aware of the illegal value here. For example you may have input the emissivity incorrectly, which would give the following warning,
Material <name of material> has an illegal external emissivity
You can sort the table by any of these parameters by left clicking on the associated column header. left clicking on the header again reverses the order.
Constructions will be created in the 'Constructions Database'. They cannot be created in the Building Simulator. You can delete a construction in the Building Simulator by left clicking on the appropriate row in the 'Constructions' Table and pressing the <Delete> button. Alternatively, you can delete it by clicking on the '+' by the 'Constructions' folder, left clicking on the appropriate profile icon and pressing the <Delete> button.
Double clicking on an 'Constructions' row in the table will open the 'Constructions' details window. For more details about this please see the section on Constructions.
You will assign constructions to Building Elements. To apply a construction to a single Building Element, left click on the '+' by the 'Constructions' folder to show all the 'Constructions'. Left click on the '+' by the 'Building Elements' folder to show all the Building Elements. Move the pointer so it is over the 'Constructions' profile icon in the Tree View, hold down the left mouse button, move the pointer to the Building Element's icon in the Tree View and release the mouse button.
Alternatively, left click on the '+' by the 'Constructions' folder to reveal all the 'Constructions'. Left click on the '+' by the 'Building Elements' folder to reveal all the Building Elements. Left click on the appropriate Building Element icon. This will bring up the 'Building Elements' details window. Left click on the 'Constructions' tab. Move the pointer so it is over the 'Constructions' profile icon in the Tree View, hold down the left mouse button, move the pointer to the table in the Building Element's 'Constructions' tab and release the mouse button.
The third method of applying a construction to a Building Element is to left click on the 'Building Element folder' to show the 'Building Elements' table. Left click on the '+' by the 'Constructions' folder to show all the 'Constructions' profiles. Move the pointer so it is over the 'Constructions' profile icon in the Tree View, hold down the left mouse button, move the pointer to the Building Element's row in the 'Building Elements' table and release the mouse button.
To apply a 'Construction' to multiple Building Elements, you must select the Building Elements in the 'Building Elements' table first by holding down the <Ctrl> button while left clicking on them. You can select a range of Building Elements by left clicking on the first one in the range, holding down the <Shift> button and then click on the last element in the list. All the Building Elements between them will also be selected. Once this is done, left click on the '+' next to the 'Constructions' folder, move the pointer of the appropriate 'Constructions' icon, hold down the left mouse button, move the pointer to the 'Building Elements' table and release the mouse button.