Settings, Menu & Toolbar

The VE Compliance menu bar has now been consolidated, such that one menu bar is shown for all applications, with one module-specific menu displayed when the user selects any particular application.

When  VE Compliance is chosen from the application selector, the ‘building compliance’ menu will become active.

 

Save any changes made within the VE Compliance module.

This facility allows you to export the Space Data and geometry data to a text (.TXT) file, for subsequent use in other applications (eg a spreadsheet)

This option saves the model to a form compatible with VE 6.1.1, to allow it to be analysed under certain regulatory frameworks no longer covered by the current VE release.

This option opens a window on the directory containing the results files for the current analysis.

Settings applicable to VE Compliance can be viewed/edited here

 

The Building Regulations toolbar provides a quick route to some of the options on the VE Compliance View pull-down menus.

Switch to ‘select object’ mode after operations in which a mouse click is interpreted in another way. ‘Select object’ is currently the only mode used in the VE Compliance View.

Edit or view the construction type for the selected building elements. See ‘Changing the construction type for selected elements’.

Edit or view the Space Data for selected rooms. See ‘Editing Space Data’ for a set of rooms for details.

Assign a Room Thermal Template to the selected rooms. See ‘Assigning a Room Thermal Template’ to a set of rooms.

Open the Heating/Cooling Zones dialog box, which allows you to add, remove and assign names for heating and cooling zones, to which rooms can be subsequently allocated. Select the zone you wish to edit, and click on the Edit button. A dialog box will appear, allowing you to edit the name of the zone.

Edit or view Apache Systems. The Apache Systems allow you to describe the characteristics of systems supplying the heating, ventilating and air conditioning requirements of rooms. For details see the description of Apache Systems.

Carbon dioxide emission factors for fuels. In VE Compliance these are set automatically as a function of the regulatory framework.

 

Run APpro, the Apache profile database manager. APpro is used to create and edit profiles, which define the time-variation of many parameters input to the Building Regulations, Apache and MacroFlo programs. Profiles are also accessed by the Template Manager.

Please refer to the APpro User Guide for information on using the APpro utility.

Run CDB, the Apache construction database manager. CDB is used to create and edit construction types, which are assigned to building elements in the VE Compliance View.

Please refer to the CDB user guide for further information.

Run APlocate, the Apache weather and location database manager. APlocate is used to specify weather and location data to be used by the Apache thermal analysis programs.

Please refer to the APlocate User Guide for further information.

Edit or view the attributes of a single selected object. The object may be a room or a building element, depending on the current level of decomposition. In the case of an element, with the decomposition mode set to adjacency, the Query function allows you to edit the element’s thermal boundary condition. See

Display a perspective view of the model. Please refer to the ModelIT User Guide for further information.

Edit or view renewables systems. The Renewables allow you to describe the characteristics of systems supplying energy to the building such as photovoltaics, wind turbines and CHP.

Edit adjacent temperature condition for a group of surfaces of the same type (wall, ground floor or roof).

 

These toolbar settings select the regulatory framework for the analysis, and (where relevant) the version of the building displayed.

 

Specifies the legal framework, as determined by geographical region, version (year) and building class (dwelling or non-dwelling).

Specifies the method to be applied, from the following options:

ApacheSim - compliance:   dynamic thermal simulation for compliance

ApacheSim – EPC:   dynamic thermal simulation for Energy Performance Certificate

SBEM - compliance:   BRE Simplified Building Energy Model analysis for compliance

SBEM – EPC:   Simplified Building Energy Model analysis for Energy Performance Certificate

Allows you to select a version of the building (where relevant) from the following options:

Actual:                     the building as designed, but with standardised internal conditions

Notional:                 the comparison building for compliance assessment

Reference:               the comparison building for the calculation of EPC Asset Rating

 

Only the Actual building is editable. The other ‘benchmark’ buildings are for inspection only.