[Equest-users] Modifying Geometry

Bishop, Bill wbishop at pathfinder-ea.com
Wed Jul 21 11:48:24 PDT 2010


Tim,
Thanks. Yes, eQuest. You do as much as you can in the Wizard. I find I
often have to modify roof surfaces in DD edit mode. I will usually
create a new roof polygon by copying the polygon of a trouble roof
surface, change the coordinates in the .inp file (unless it is a simple
rectangle - I find the program is glitchy when you try to modify
coordinates in a spreadsheet in DD edit mode) and save it, then reopen
the eQuest model and assign the new roof polygon to the roof surface.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Save often.
 
Vikram,
"Couldn't help notice - you seem to have the roof modeled as a wall
(vertex input) rather than a roof (top of space). Is it simpler to do it
that way?"
Modeling a sloped roof is a judgment call. You have to decide if the
added complexity will give you a significantly better model, or if the
visual "wow" factor is worth it for impressing your clients. The wizard
does a decent job at sloped roofs for simple building geometries. As far
as walls vs. roofs, it seems to me that eQuest models them the same,
except for the angle. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.) After
all, you add both walls and roofs in DD edit mode by creating a new
"Exterior Wall". If the building geometry is such that you can simply
select "top" for the surface location (such as the one roof surface on
the first floor of my example), then of course that is easier.
 
Bill
 
________________________________

From: tim [mailto:tim.jgrier at fuse.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 2:18 PM
To: Bishop, Bill
Cc: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: RE: [Equest-users] Modifying Geometry
 
Wow Bill - that is cool - thanks for that.  Not sure I will be that
adept after my 7000 square foot project, but it's good to know the
capabilities.  This building was generated in equest?  I did find where
you can change the pitch of the roof by degrees!  
 
I have never use revit with equest btw - I was just reacting bitterly to
my first go at trying to use that interface.  I tried to customize zones
and came up with some crazy thing that looked like a tree house for
monkeys.
 
Thanks for helping me believe.
 
Tim
 
 
 
 
From: Bishop, Bill [mailto:wbishop at pathfinder-ea.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 2:00 PM
To: tim
Cc: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: RE: [Equest-users] Modifying Geometry
 
Tim,
 
Yes, you can do complex roofs if you work at it and nobody reminds you
that you're working on a deadline. (See attached.) Ditto Carol's Revit
comment and Lan's simpler-is-better-to-a-point advice.
 
Regards,
Bill
 
William Bishop, PE, BEMP, LEED(r) AP | Pathfinder Engineers & Architects
LLP
Mechanical Engineer
 
134 South Fitzhugh Street
Rochester, NY 14608
T: (585) 325-6004 Ext. 114
F: (585) 325-6005
wbishop at pathfinder-ea.com
www.pathfinder-ea.com
P Sustainability - less is more.
________________________________

From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
[mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Li, Lan
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 1:42 PM
To: tim; Carol Gardner
Cc: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Modifying Geometry
 
Tim, 
 
I think eQuest is an energy modeling program and we are more concerned
in BTU/ton terms - or $$ at the end. If the roof was built somewhat
differently by modeler as it was shown on architectural drawings, my
question is only how much it will affect the energy usage. If it is a
minor, I won't drive myself crazy to make them same.  If you read Ashare
90-1, simplify building geometry for energy simulation purpose is
allowed. Also when we model a building, we can have tons of inputs and
lots of assumptions are made either by us or by the program itself, I
think majority of them can have a bigger impact on our goal than build a
prefect roof/building shell. I might be one of the lazy modelers. Hope
you can enjoy eQuest a little bit more. 
 
Thanks!
 
Lan
 
Lan Li, PE
Mechanical Engineer
Scheeser Buckley Mayfield LLC                                     
1540 Corporate Woods Parkway
Uniontown, OH 44685
Phone: (330) 896-4664 ext. 123
Cell: (330) 904-6292
Fax: (330) 896-9180
lli at sbmce.com <mailto:lli at sbmce.com> 
www.sbmce.com <http://www.sbmce.com/> 
 
Columbus Branch Office (614) 448-1498
 Please consider the environment before printing this email.
This e-mail (including any attachments) is confidential and may be
legally privileged. If you are not an intended recipient or an
authorized representative of an intended recipient, you are prohibited
from using, copying or distributing the information in this e-mail or
its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please
notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and delete all copies of
this message and any attachments. 
Thank you
________________________________

From: tim [mailto:tim.jgrier at fuse.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 1:29 PM
To: 'Carol Gardner'
Cc: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Modifying Geometry
 
If you're complimenting me on my observation, my awareness must be at an
all-time high today.
 
How about a complex roof shape like the one attached?  Notice ridge
lines don't match and there is a gable at the porch end as well as the
building end.
 
Can equest do that too?  As long as one would put in the training time
of course...
 
Tim
 
 
From: Carol Gardner [mailto:cmg750 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 1:01 PM
To: tim
Cc: Omar Katanani; equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Modifying Geometry
 
Well, at least your powers of observation aren't suffering.

Yes, you can model individual ceiling heights per room. You can do
almost anything once you take the time to learn how. What are the
specifics of what you want to do: model a room with two different
ceiling heights or model a bunch of rooms with one height and a bunch
with another height? A picture would be great if ya have one.
On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 9:56 AM, tim <tim.jgrier at fuse.net> wrote:
Wow - I think I struck a nerve.
 
On a related note...
Does equest have a way to model individual ceiling heights per room?
 
Thanks,
Tim
 
 
From: Carol Gardner [mailto:cmg750 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 12:43 PM
To: tim
Cc: Omar Katanani; equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org

Subject: Re: [Equest-users] Modifying Geometry
 
I have got to protest this one, sorry Tim. 

Buying a Revit license to be able to accurately model geometry in eQUEST
is, to be blunt, crazy. It's really pretty easy to revise your geometry
and if you can't do that using one of the 3 methods I provided earlier,
you need to figure out how to train yourself better or leave the field.
It's not just a matter of being able to use eQUEST at this point, it's a
matter of being able to generate an accurate model using any tool. Being
able to import CAD or Revit data into energy models is a recent
development. Frankly, I question it's utility, especially if people now
think they have to use it or they can't model a building. Friendly front
ends like eQUEST, DesignBuilder, etc., are great but you need to know
how a building operates and how the systems work or it's just GIGO. 

Carol
On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 9:29 AM, tim <tim.jgrier at fuse.net> wrote:
Omar
I haven't had much luck with customizing spaces either.  
I think there is a way to import a revit model file into equest.  If I
needed complicated zones & spatial geometry, I would probably consider a
revit license, but with that come's more money ($4-$6k for 1 standalone
license) and possibly more training, but might save a whole lot of
headache.
 
Seems like equest is more of an energy modeler than an accurate building
modeler.
 
tim  
 
 
 
From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
[mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Omar
Katanani
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 10:46 AM
To: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: [Equest-users] Modifying Geometry
 
 
Dear all,

Once again, another problem!

I have several spaces which were geometrically modified in the design.
For example, a room that was split into two different ones; with each
room being a different hvac zone. How can I possibly split a room into
two zones "1" and "2"? Shall I modify the geometry of the old zone to be
that of zone "1", and then add another zone "2" from scratch? If this is
what should be done, how can I do this accurately?

Attached is the polygon view of one of my floors. When you look at them
in 2-D or 3-D views, the building seems perfect in shape. Notice the
rectangle to the left of the picture! This is actually a zone that lies
inside the building. But it appears like this in polygon view. I think
it is some problem of coordinate references or so!
So when I need to modify the geometry according to coordinates of
vertices, I'm suffering!

Many thanks!
Omar

___________________________

Omar Katanani
Sustainable Design Engineer
Email: omar at ecoconsulting.net


EcoConsulting (Lebanon)
Nahas Building, 4th floor
4 St-Maron Street / Georges Haddad Avenue
Postal Code: 2028 5806 SAIFI
Beirut, Lebanon
Tel:       +961 (0) 1 971 255
Mobile:    +961 (0) 3 045 045


EcoConsulting (UK) Ltd
28 Marshalsea Road
London, SE1 1HF
Tel: +44 (0)207 939 0989
Fax: +44 (0)207 939 0981
Website: www.ecoconsulting.net

_______________________________________________
Equest-users mailing list
http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/equest-users-onebuilding.org
To unsubscribe from this mailing list send  a blank message to
EQUEST-USERS-UNSUBSCRIBE at ONEBUILDING.ORG



-- 
Carol Gardner PE



-- 
Carol Gardner PE
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/equest-users-onebuilding.org/attachments/20100721/84c66631/attachment-0001.htm>


More information about the Equest-users mailing list