Constructions

Construction tab in model data

From the Construction tab, you can open the group header boxes to edit detailed makeup of the construction of walls, roofs, floors, ceilings, partitions etc. used in the building.

The default/inheritance system used in DesignBuilder allows you to define building constructions quickly and easily by loading data from templates and by making global settings at building, block and zone levels.

There are 2 alternative methods for representing floors/slabs/ceilings in DesignBuilder depending on the setting of the Floor/slab/ceiling representation model option :

• Combined - option generally recommended for flexibility and ease of use.
• Separate - only option in v 1.2 and earlier allows you to set up floor/slab/ceiling configuration by making selections in model data.

Other construction data:

• Sub-Surface Construction - construction details of sub-surfaces (opaque surfaces within surfaces)
• Internal Thermal Mass - how to define additional thermal mass
• Component Block - construction and surface properties of component blocks
• Adjacency - defining special adjacency conditions
• Surface Convection - defining special surface convection options

Note: data on the Openings tab can be used to define the layout of the facade.

View/Edit construction details

To inspect the details of a selected construction, click on the icon to the left of the appropriate data entry box (Learning mode only). Alternatively double-click the icon to view/edit the data in a dialog.

Note: Please be aware that all settings made on the Constructions Model data tab are defaults, (unless you are working at the surface level). Model data at the surface level (inherited from the zone above or directly set) defines the thermal and visual characteristics of the surface in the model.