This option displays a window with various tabs to set up different simulation parameters:
Ground Reflectance
In this tab, ground reflectance can be enable/disabled to account for the fraction of incident radiation that gets reflected by the virtual ground plane.
The same dialogue box is also available from the RadianceIES toolbar.
Window Frames
In this tab, the option to automatically create window frames can be enabled/disabled, in addition to setting a frame width other than the default value of 100mm.
The window (as drawn in ModelIT) is shrunk on all sides by the specified frame width.
The same dialogue box is also available from the RadianceIES toolbar.
Sky Model
In this tab, the sky model and resolution for climate based daylighting calculations can be selected. The information buttons provide an explanation of the available options. When Perez Sky is ticked; the climate file will be used to obtain the direct normal and diffuse horizontal irradiance to generate the sky distribution. If it is un-ticked, RadianceIES’s CIE overcast and sunny sky distribution will be used to generate data, which will then be processed against the cloud cover (Oktas) from the climate file.
Sky resolution enhancements can reduce your simulation time substantially.
To speed up calculation of daylight coefficients, reduce the number of patches used for the calculations. The Perez sky option will always be ticked/selected if the rtrace_dc route is selected in the CBDM tab.
Working Plane
Use this tab to edit the working plane height and grid size. It can also be accessed directly from the RadianceIES toolbar icon. These settings can also be altered in the Simulate tab.
The Working Plane is a horizontal plane in which a visual task lies. The working plane is typically 0.85m above the floor in houses and factories and 0.7m above the floor in offices, but this may vary depending on the standard or rating tool used.
Maintenance Factor
In this tab, maintenance factors can be enabled/disabled to include the effect of dirt on different kinds of surfaces.
The same dialogue box is also available from the RadianceIES toolbar.
AOI Settings
In this tab, the option to automatically create Area of Interest (AOI) files can be enabled/disabled, together with the shrinkage amount for inner volume (IV) and non-inner volume (non-IV) zones and windows.
The same dialogue box is also available from the RadianceIES toolbar.
CBDM
Climate Based Daylight Modelling (CBDM) simulations are all advanced type simulations, and this tab is only applicable to these simulations, for UDI, ASE and sDA. When it is ticked, the simulation Quality will be limited to Custom, CBDM (fast) and CBDM (ref). Find out more about rtrace_dc under Simulation Method
