Space Data

In the VE Compliance View each room has a set of attributes that describe conditions in the room. This data, known as Space Data, provides input to the ratings analyses.

The Space Data used by the ratings analyses differs depending upon the regulatory framework and the method. Certain Space Data attributes are set automatically according to the ‘activity’ allocated to the room. This user guide deals with the aspects of Space Data that are common to the different regulatory frameworks. These aspects are to a large extent also shared with the Apache View. The rules specific to each regulatory framework in the VE Compliance View are dealt with in separate user guides.

In the VE Compliance View Space Data is displayed on seven tabs:

·       General – Room name and ID, Templates, floor area and volume data, comfort parameters

·       Building Regs – Building regulations specific data items relevant to the chosen room

·       Room conditions – heating and cooling set points and room thermal modelling settings

·       System – parameters describing the system serving the room

·       Internal Gains – Specification of internal thermal gain to the room

·       Air Exchange – Specification of infiltration, natural ventilation and auxiliary ventilation

·       Transpired solar collector – Specification of TSC parameters (SBEM only)

To view or edit Space Data for a single room, first select the room using the model workspace or model browser. Click on the Query tool button on the Edit toolbar or select Query from the Edit menu. The Space Data dialog then opens.

The Space Data dialog contains the same fields as the Room Thermal Template tab in the Template Manager (see the Template Manager User Guide for further information on this facility).

Space Data is set by default from the Room Thermal Template currently assigned to the room. Where enabled check boxes next to the data items (marked ‘Template’) enable you to override these settings.

If an attribute in a template is changed in the Template Manager the attributes for rooms using that template will also change, unless they have been explicitly overridden.

If a template is reassigned to a room, it nullifies any exceptions made to the settings from the previous template.

The Space Data dialog is split into tabbed sections, as follows.

 

 

The name given to the room in ModelIT (may also be edited here)

The Room General Templates assigned to the room

The Room Thermal Templates assigned to the room

The Room NCM Templates assigned to the room

The ID assigne d to the room in ModelIT (information only)

The calculated volume of the room (information only)

The calculated floor area of the room, used for the calculation of internal gains (information only). Floor area is calculated as the sum of the areas of all opaque floor elements. It excludes the areas of any holes or glazing elements in the floor.

This option should be checked and is uneditable in VE Compliance (greyed out). An unchecked state indicates that no NCM Activity has been set.

The percentage of the floor area that is lettable

The percentage of the floor area that is classed as circulation

 

 

This tab controls how the current room will be interpreted by the ratings analyses for the chosen regulatory framework. Its content varies with the regulatory framework.

The screenshot above and the following documentation describe those fields which are shared between frameworks and methods. Other fields specific to particular frameworks and methods are described in the separate ratings user guides.

 

If this is ticked (checked) the room will be included in the building regulations analysis. This can be used to switch on or off groups of rooms where a project has multiple building types.

The type of room dictates how the room is treated by the building regulations analysis. Different types of room apply to different regulatory frameworks.

For certain unheated room types such as unheated roof, glazing cavity and unheated buffer space, the external ventilation rate must be specified in order for the effective U-values to be calculated.

The building type linked to the NCM activity. This setting applies to non-domestic ratings only.

An efficient way to set NCM activities for rooms is to set the activity in the Room Template. These room activities are filtered by the NCM building type. The activity will then be automatically set, along with other Room Template attributes, for all rooms to which the template is assigned.

For unheated rooms (those with Type of room set to anything other than Heated room), the NCM activity is undefined and is not displayed.

This setting applies to non-domestic ratings only.

Each heated room (defined as a room for which Type of room is set to Heated room) must be assigned an NCM activity. This defines the operation pattern of the room which is defined by attributes on the various Space Data tabs. The assignment of these Space Data attributes is affected by the NCM template corresponding to the activity.

See the separate ratings user guides for more information.

Within Building and system data >> Building details tab, you may flag the building as being a ‘Shell and core building’.  When this is so, the tick box indicated above will be used when calculating the core area of the building.

A marker indicating whether the activity requires high efficiency filtration, thereby justifying (for certain ratings analyses) an increased SFP allowance for that space to account for the increased pressure drop.

 

This button pops up a dialog displaying NCM lighting data. Search for NCM Lighting data to find more information from this Help Site.

 

 

 

This tab displays the room heating, cooling plant settings, the domestic hot water (DHW) demand and certain thermal modelling settings for the room.

The data on this tab is set automatically from the NCM template, which is a function of the activity. For SBEM analyses this data is not used explicitly, but corresponds to the data used inside SBEM.

 

A modulating profile scheduling the operation of the heating plant. Heating will be available when the modulating profile value exceeds 0.5. Profiles are created and edited in APpro, the Profiles Database Manager.

For simulation-based ratings analyses this parameter is overridden if the room is modelled in ApacheHVAC.

The temperature set point for heating control. The Heating Set Point can be constant or it can follow an absolute profile.

For simulation-based ratings analyses this parameter is overridden if the room is modelled in ApacheHVAC.

 

These parameters specify the demand for domestic hot water.

This specifies the procedure for determining the how the room’s DHW demand varies with time.  The demand can be linked to room occupancy (as set in the Internal Gains tab) or governed by an independent profile. In VE Compliance the setting is forced to ‘Linked to space occupancy profile’.

The maximum rate of hot water consumption. The unit is litres per hour per person or litres per hour (or equivalent IP units) depending on the specified Consumption pattern.

 

A modulating profile scheduling the operation of the cooling plant. Cooling will operate when the modulating profile value exceeds 0.5.

For simulation-based ratings analyses this parameter is overridden if the room is modelled in ApacheHVAC.

The temperature set point for cooling control. The Cooling Set Point can be constant or it can follow an absolute profile.

For simulation-based ratings analyses this parameter is overridden if the room is modelled in ApacheHVAC.

 

Plant profile (auxiliary energy) is a modulating profile specifying the times when auxiliary energy will be incurred. The settings are taken from NCM activity room template and auxiliary energy figures set elsewhere, which cannot be edited in VE Compliance.

 

This parameter applies to CIBSE Loads only. For simulation-based ratings analyses, the retransmission of solar radiation is calculated from first principles.

For simulation-based ratings analyses an allowance can be made for the thermal inertia of furniture. Lightweight furniture can be modelled by assuming that its temperature closely follows the room air temperature. Under these conditions its effect is the same as that of an increase in the thermal capacity of the air in the room. The Simulation Furniture Mass Factor is the factor by which the thermal capacity of the furniture exceeds the thermal capacity of the air. If furniture is to be ignored, a value of 0 should be entered.

 

In accordance with guidance in the Modelling Guide, this parameter is forced to 0% for ratings analyses, disabling humidity control.

In accordance with guidance in the Modelling Guide, this parameter is forced to 100% for ratings analyses, disabling humidity control.