Design options tool allows user to rapidly define and apply high-level batch changes to the model. It also provide a powerful filtering facility which allows user to filtering out parts of the model when applying any changes.
Within the tool, changes are organized into two levels: actions group (i.e., design option) and action. Each design option may contain a single or multiple actions. User can either define design options from scratch, or import any design options from a pre-defined master template with design options, or a combination of these two. User can also export any design options as a master template for building up design options library for sharing or later use. Prior to any execution of actions within the tool, a restore point is created to allow user to review what changes have been applied at which timestamp, and enable them to revert back to the state of the model prior to applying those changes.
The following sections detail the concepts and the VE interfaces developed.
Design Options Concepts
Design options are defined by two data components:
- Design options database: this is a file located within the .mit folder and named with the model name plus .slf extension. Each design option may contain a single or multiple actions. It also allow a cost template and an environmental impact template to be attached. Each action is made up by the following elements:
- Model variable : specifies what is to be changed.
- Filtering formula : specifies under what criteria the change is to be made (filtering criteria). This is made up by parser variables, parser variable operators, and any additional operands required by the operators.
- Operation : specifies how changes are to be made.
- Operation value : specifies what to change to.
- Unit : only relevant to model variables that have units and require value updates. It specifies the unit on which the operation value is based.
Relationships of the above elements: model variable determines which parser variables, operations and units (if there is any) are relevant. Model variable together with operation determine what kind of operation values are valid. The parser variable determines which parser variable operators are available, and any additional value required by its parser variable operator.
- VE model - contains all the data required by any action in the design options database. Each model contains a single design options database created automatically on using the tool.
Data import
This becomes relevant when importing design options from a master template. Any missing model data required by the imported design options will be imported from the master template to the current model.
Here lists the possible data to be imported:
- Construction
- Room attributes template
- Thermal conditions template
- Profile (either absolute or modulate)
- Apache system
- Internal gain
- Air exchange
- Macroflo opening type
The following two objects are exempt from importing:
- Weather file – if a weather file is not installed in the machine where the target model is, log the error.
- System heating or cooling fuel – note all models has the same default list of fuels, so fuels does not to be imported.
Three scenarios exist:
- Scenario 1: the required model object already exists in the target model, either with the same ID or different ID. The importing process will check this is the case and no data will be imported. The object in the target model will be used during applying the query.
- Scenario 2: the required model object does not exist in the target model. However, there is an object with the same ID exist in the target model. The import process will make import the object from the source model to the target model and assign it with a new ID. The imported object will then be used during applying the query.
- Scenario 3: the required model object does not exist in the target model. However, there is NOT an object with the same ID exist in the target model. The import process will just import in the model object from the source model to the target model and keep its original ID.