Modifying existing building

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All,

My firm and I have two projects for the same owner that are very similar. They consist of a sales area, a warehouse and repair bays. For the most part the buildings have the same design, except the warehouse and repair bays have doubled in size. I've figured out how to move the walls to increase those areas, but I can't figure out how to expand the roof and floor to cover the new area.

This is the first time I've ever done an energy model with eQUEST so please go slow :)

Thanks so much!

-Stephanie

Andersen, Stephanie's picture
Joined: 2013-04-30
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Stephanie-

I'll take a shot at explaining how I deal with changing spaces, although I'm sure someone else on here will have a more thorough explanation.

(This is assuming that you're working in the detailed edit mode). Whenever I need to resize a space, I change the coordinates of the space polygon that the space is using. This will ensure that the walls/roofs/floors stay assigned to the right spot and remain the correct size. In addition to altering the size of the space by changing the polygon size, you may need to adjust the floor polygon to reflect the new size of the whole floor.

As a quick example- if I need to double the size of a space, I adjust the space polygon accordingly. As long as the roof and floor of the space are set to the top and bottom of the space respectively, they should automatically change their shape/size to fit the adjusted polygon.

It may take some trial and error with regards to the polygon's orientation in order to get everything correct.

I hope this makes sense and I didn't confuse you further!

Adam E. Towell

atowell at cxegroup.com's picture
Joined: 2011-09-30
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To add a few thoughts:

Coming out of the wizards, all space surface dimensions by default (before any overriding) source their inputs from the shell height inputs (flr-to-flr / flr-to-clg) and the associated space polygon. If you allow them to continue making the same default references, editing the polygon (and height inputs if necessary) will do most of the work for you and "stretch" the walls/floor/ceiling/roof surfaces as you intend.

The only extra caution I'll add is to consider editing the associated floor construction. eQuest wizards work out an "effective U value," based on exposed perimeter length and slab/insulation properties. That's why you will often observe many unique constructions for a given shell, defined & assigned per space. Stretching the same floor to double the size with no other edits would not account for the additional perimeter envelope loads through the slab on grade.

To quickly gain a handle on how to appropriately edit the associated constructions (there should be one per non-core space), you could make a separate copy of your current model, navigate back to wizards, edit the zonal foot print for the affected spaces, then click "finish" to have those slab constructions recalculated with the new perimeter lengths. Referencing that scratch model, edit the working model's slab constructions to match.

Your other constructions shouldn't require any extra attention.

Best of luck!

~Nick

[cid:489575314 at 22072009-0ABB]

NICK CATON, P.E.

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