Virtual Partitions

A virtual partition is a partition between 2 zones which exists purely to sub-divide the space up and has no corresponding wall in the actual building.

Virtual partitions are commonly used for separating perimeter zones from core zones when there is to be different HVAC provision or when carrying out daylighting or solar overheating studies in situations where a large open plan space is subject to a high level of solar gain around the perimeter. Virtual partitions can be placed to create separate perimeter and core zones so that the local effect of the solar gain in the perimeter zone may be calculated. In the absence of virtual partitions, the risk of overheating could be underestimated due to the distribution of solar gain throughout the open plan space.

When drawing partitions you can set the Partition type in the Drawing option panel to 1-Standard (the default for a standard partition) or to 2-Virtual to create a virtual partition.

For partitions that have already been created you can navigate to the partition (click on the appropriate item in the Navigator or double-click on the partition object from either zone or block level) and change the partition type between 1-Standard and 2-Virtual using the Partition type Drawing option control. This is only possible for partitions within a block and inter-block partitions cannot have their partition type set to 2-Virtual.

Note: Virtual partitions are modelled using a hole that fills the whole surface area so you cannot draw custom openings on a virtual partition. For details on how DesignBuilder EnergyPlus models virtual partitions see information on holes. The model options for controlling the effect of holes apply equally to virtual partitions.