VisualDOE FAQ

Contents

PROJECT (click to see questions)

BLOCKS (click to see questions)

FACADES (click to see questions)

SYSTEMS (click to see questions)

PLANT (click to see questions)

ORGANIZERS AND EDITORS

• What is the organizer?
• What is the project schedule?
• How do I create a new Item to the project schedule?
• How can I use constructions or schedules that I created in other projects?

• How do I move or zoom the 3D view?
• Why can't I see any roofs, floors or other horizontal surfaces in the 3D viewer?

• How can I view/print hourly reports?

• What are the limits for the number of rooms and surfaces in VisualDOE?
• What does the Plan View in VisualDOE display as I move from folder to folder?
• How do I get the latest updates for the programs?
• How do I compare the results to the utility bills for the building?
• How do I model exterior shade?
• I want to use outside air to pre-cool the thermal mass during off hours with outside air, in order to reduce cooling energy usage when building is occupied. Can we account for the mass of the space being at a lower temperature, and absorb some of the heat gain when space is occupied.

Organizers and Editors

• What is the organizer?

VisualDOE 3.0 uses organizers to manipulate the items in the project and the library. The Organizer allows you to store items in the VisualDOE library for later use. You can copy items from the library for your project when needed. VisualDOE uses organizers for openings, glazings, constructions, materials, occupancies, schedules and utility rates.

The Organizer has two list boxes located at the top of the form. The list box on the left contains items from your library, while the one on the right contains items in your project. To copy an item from the library to your project, first select it and then click the Copy button. Alternatively, you can simply double click on an item in the library to copy it to your project and double click on an item in your project to copy it to the library.

You can delete an item from either the library or your project by selecting it and then clicking the Delete button. You can rename an item by selecting it and then clicking the Rename button. To edit an item, first select it in either the library or project list and then click the Edit button.

To add a new item to your project, you must first select an existing item and then click the Add New button. The new item will be a clone of the item you had previously selected. You can then edit the newly created item by selecting it and clicking the Edit button.

The lower portion of the form has a table that displays information about the object that is selected. You can select an object on only one side at a time. When you select an object for the project file, nothing is selected from the other source and vice versa.

• What is the project schedule?

Project schedules contain all the items that are available to be used in the project. It is analogous to schedules on architectural drawings.

• How do I create a new Item to the project schedule?

To add a new item to your project, you must first select an existing item and then click the Add New button. The new item will be a clone of the item you had previously selected. You can then edit the newly created item by selecting it and clicking the Edit button.

• How can I use constructions or schedules that I created in other projects?

You can save any project item to the library. This makes the item available to any project that uses the same library. On the organizer form the list box on the left contains items from your library, while the one on the right contains items in your project. To copy an item from the project to the library, first select it and then click the Copy button.

• How do I move or zoom the 3D view?

Use the 'Ctrl' key along with the left or right mouse buttons to manipulate the view in the 3D viewer form. This will let you zoom, rotate and move the objects in the 3D view.

• Why can't I see any roofs, floors or other horizontal surfaces in the 3D viewer?

VisualDOE creates horizontal surfaces are only when a simulation is run. You’ll have to run a simulation and then refresh the 3D view to see all the horizontal surfaces in the model,

• How can I view/print hourly reports?

You can view graphs of the hourly data in the Simulation|View Results|Graphs by selecting hourly data.

You cannot print hourly reports directly from the VisualDOE interface, but the data is available in the *.h0 file in text format. You can import the data into a spreadsheet or other programs.

• What are the limits for the number of rooms and surfaces in VisualDOE?

Maximum Number of Rooms/Zones = 128

Maximum Number of External Surfaces = 300

Maximum Number of Interior Surfaces f= 512

Maximum Number of Openings = 200

Maximum Number of Systems = 50

• What does the Plan View in VisualDOE display as I move from folder to folder?

A plan view of the energy simulation model is displayed in the upper left corner of the Graphic Editor. The plan view looks different and performs different functions, depending on the current folder. There are a number of plan view features that are the same, however, no matter which folder is current. These include the following:

When you move the mouse over the plan view, the mouse coordinates are displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the form. If snap-to-grid is turned on, the displayed coordinates are the nearest snap coordinate.

Grid lines are displayed on the plan view. To change the grid spacing or to not display the grid spacing, choose Options | Grid Settings from the pull down menus.

The plan view uses the color settings that you have selected. To change these, choose Options | Color Settings.

The following features are enabled for each of the Graphic Editor folders:

Projects Folder	The entire model is displayed in plan view.
Blocks Folder	When the Blocks folder is current, you can add new blocks to the model by dragging block shapes onto the plan view. Once blocks have been added, those that are selected are displayed on the plan view. You can select a block by choosing it is the list box.
Rooms Folder	When the Rooms folder is current, the rooms that are selected are shown highlighted. The blocks that the selected rooms belong to are also shown. You can select a room either by choosing it is the list box or by clicking on it in the plan view. You can only select rooms from plan view, however, for which the blocks are displayed.
Facades Folder	The selected façade and the rooms it belongs to are highlighted.
Systems Folder	All the spaces served by the selected system are highlighted.
Zones Folder	The selected zone and its parent room and block are highlighted.

• How do I get the latest updates for the programs?

If you run GDT Live Update successfully, it will download latest components and install them automatically for you as long as you specify the GDT installation path (default to C:\Program Files\GDT) or select Don't Know and you don't have multiple copies of GDT components in your machine.

• How do I compare the results to the utility bills for the building?

You can enter utility bills (monthly kW, kWh, Therm) under menu Edit | Billing history, where you can compare them.

• How do I model exterior shade?

Use Edit|Exterior Shading to define exterior shades. Hit the 'Add New' tab and go ahead and define the profile angle by choosing 'Other' under 'Orientation'. This lets you define a non-standard angle.

This is 100% (opaque) shading by default. There's a somewhat indirect method of specifying a perforated shade- make an estimate of its transmittance and create a schedule that defines say 60% transmittance for each hour. Then use the 'Transmittance' pull-down menu to attach the schedule to this particular ext shade.

The Design temperature is used byDOE2 at two stages, once at the LOADS level to calculate the space heating and cooling loads and then again at the SYSTEMS level for sizing the equipment.

• I want to use outside air to pre-cool the thermal mass during off hours with outside air, in order to reduce cooling energy usage when building is occupied. Can we account for the mass of the space being at a lower temperature, and absorb some of the heat gain when space is occupied.

You can model this by specifying an infiltration schedule to bring in outside air at night. The thermal mass in the space is calculated based on the constructions assigned to the blocks.