Display tab on Model Options dialog.
By default the full rendered image is displayed during dynamic view operations such as orbiting, zooming and panning . However on systems with slower graphics display you may prefer to switch to using the wire frame option for a more "snappy" response. Options are:
Select this option to display the name of each zone in the Edit screen while at block level. Zone labels are shown by default. See also Zone label size and Zone label multiplier below.
Select the size of the zone labels, if they are being displayed (see above). Options are:
Note: This option is different from the others on the Display tab in that any setting you make while at block level or below is stored independently for that block. This allows you to make different settings on different blocks depending on the size of the zones in that block. Any setting made while at building level will be applied as a default for all blocks in the building that have not had their own label size setting made. This allows you to set a label size while at building based on the size of most zones in the model, but override that setting for blocks that may have larger or smaller zones than most in the building.
When the Zone label size (above) is set to 4-Custom you can enter a custom multiplier to define the size of the text. A value of 1 results in the same text size as when the 2-Medium Zone label size option is selected.
When checked this option ensures that the zone inner surfaces are displayed in addition to the block perimeter surfaces when at block level.
Display zone inner surfaces OFF
Display zone inner surfaces ON
By default the option is switched off and the zone inner surfaces are only represented by a dotted line on the floor plane when at block level. To get a clearer picture of where all of the zone inner surfaces are, you can switch this option on.
You can choose to switch on/off display of external walls for each block. Check the option to show external walls filled in dark grey when at block level. This option is on by default.
Display filled external walls OFF
Display filled external walls ON
Generally for standard extruded blocks it is best to show external walls to help reference locations within the block with respect to existing openings etc.
For Pitched roof blocks and General block forms the external walls can obscure the internal space and so the default for these block types is to hide the external walls when at block level in the modeller. You can override this default behaviour using this option.
Note: It can be useful to switch off external wall display when drawing partitions in roof blocks.
By default zone surfaces are displayed in wire frame which allows the opening type and surface adjacency symbols to be displayed. For example in the screenshot below the ground adjacency of the floor and the door opening (cyan colour) can clearly be seen.
Display zone filled external walls OFF
When the Display zone filled walls option is switch on the display of zones looks similar to blocks but the information referred to above is lost. See screenshot below.
Display zone filled external walls ON
Use this option to define whether the inner volume is marked on the floor using a dotted line. This option is off by default.
Display zone inner volume floors OFF
Display zone inner volume floors ON
Check this option to obtain a dotted line representation of the zone inner floor perimeter. This option only has an effect when both Display zone inner surfaces and Display zone inner volume floors are both off. This option is on by default.
Display zone inner floor perimeters ON
Display zone inner floor perimeters OFF
Select this option to get the imported drawing included in the calculation of the model extent at site and building levels when the Fit view command is run and when the screen is refreshed internally within DesignBuilder.
Select this option to show the imported 2-D floor plan / elevation drawing at zone and surface levels. The option is switched off by default for the sake of clarity but you may wish to switch it on when drawing openings at surface level to help position windows, doors etc.
Tip: This option must be switched on when using an imported elevation to show the position of windows, doors etc.
Select this option to display shading devices while in the Edit screen. Shading devices are shown by default.
You can speed up display in the edit screen by switching off window display. Windows are shown by default.
Check this option to show surrounding blocks in wire frame when at block level. This option is off by default.
Tip: A more convenient way to control the visibility of other blocks in the current building, when at block level, is to through the Surrounding block/zone display toolbar icon.
Check this option to show all of the surrounding zones in the current block in wire frame when at zone level. This option is off by default.
Tip: A more convenient way to control the visibility of other zones in the block, when at zone level, is to through the Surrounding block/zone display toolbar icon.
Surrounding building zone display
Check this option to show all of the surrounding zones in the current building in wire frame when at zone level. This option is off by default. This option is only available when the Surrounding block zone display option is checked.
You can easily display zones with different colours according to the selected Activity template or HVAC template when at block level. This provides a visual quality assurance check and a useful summary of how the model was set up.
Zone floors can be shaded by:
The image below illustrates the block view on the Layout tab when shading by Activity template is selected.
Step by Step Guide
This step-by-step guide explains how to display zone floor colours according to the selected HVAC template. This is done by assigning a different colour to each HVAC template used in the model.
1. Start by opening the Model options dialog, clicking on the Display tab and under the Edit screen header setting the Zone floor shading at block level option to 2-HVAC.
2. Navigate to Building level and click on the HVAC Model data tab.
3. Clone a template of the most-used HVAC system type. For example, if most of the building is supplied by a VAV system with a water-cooled chiller, select the library "VAV, Water-cooled Chiller, Hot Water" item in the browse list and click on the Create a copy of highlighted item icon. This creates an editable copy of the library template, allowing you to modify template settings, including the Floor shade colour.
4. Click on the Edit /View highlighted item icon to edit the copy. Enter a suitable template name and assign a colour. In our example we will make these settings:
a. Name: "System 1: VAV, Water-cooled Chiller"
b. Floor shade colour: Blue.
5. Select the newly created "System 1: VAV, Water-cooled Chiller" HVAC template at Building level as the default setting for all zones in the building.
6. Repeat the previous step to create further custom HVAC System Templates, one for each additional system type in your building model. In this example, create a new HVAC template based on the "VRF (Air-Cooled), Heat Recovery, DOAS" library HVAC template and edit the copy as follows:
a. Name: "System 2: VRF with DOAS".
b. Floor shade colour: Green.
Press OK to confirm the changes.
7. Open the Model Data Gird View (MDGV) dialog to assign the secondary ("System 2: VRF with DOAS") HVAC systems to their relevant zones. Select ‘Zone HVAC’ and choose ‘Edit’.
8. All zones should initially show "System 1: VAV, Water-cooled Chiller". If not, you can use the bulk edit feature in MDGV to change all zones to use this template.
Select "Yes" when asked whether to load template data:
9. Now use the filter option in MDGV to select the zones that are served by the secondary System 2. To do this move the mouse pointer to the right-hand side of the "Name" column to display a drop down arrow and click this to display the filter control. In this example, we will select all areas that are not offices spaces by checking the appropriate checkboxes:
10. Use the Bulk Edit tool to assign System 2 to all the selected zones.
11. Navigate to a Block and open the Layout tab. Zone floors are shaded in Blue for System 1 and Green for System 2. This makes it easy to check and report the HVAC model settings.
Tip: Although it is based on reviewing Simple HVAC templates, this technique works equally well for Simple and Detailed HVAC system types. This is because each zone in a Detailed HVAC system will also have a corresponding Simple HVAC template set which is based on the Detailed HVAC system it is connected to.
To assign colours using Activity templates, follow a similar process described above for HVAC templates but with the following changes:
1. Select 1-Activity as the Zone floor shading at block level setting.
2. Work within Activity templates to define custom project activity names and floor colours.
When using Detailed HVAC, the branches on the layout diagram will often need to cross each other without making any actual connections. When this option is on, DesignBuilder helps to clarify complex layouts by inserting "breaks" where pipes and ducts cross each other so that they don't appear connected. For very large complicated HVAC layouts, the calculations that determine where to make breaks can be very time consuming. This option allows you to switch off the automatic breaks display feature to help speed up program operation when editing complex HVAC layouts. The option only affects the HVAC layout display and does not impact at all on calculations.
