IES <Virtual Environment> Live e-training

Trainee notes

ModelIT (Version 6.0) – Session B

Introduction

In the previous ModelIT session (Session A) you were shown how to create a <Virtual
Environment> project and how to create basic room shapes using ModelIT, IES’s
building modelling tool.

In this session you will be shown how to create a simple five-room building and modify
this simple building. You will see how to add glazing, modify the existing rooms and set
the site orientation.

The trainer will show you how to perform various functions as shown in the following
pages, and images are included to assist you in following the trainer as the session
proceeds, and to act as a memory jogger after the session.

For more detailed help you can use the Help menu within the specific IES application,
and also you can refer to the product manuals installed with the IES software.

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Create a simple building
This model will be built on two levels

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Extruding rooms in elevation views
Up until now everything we have created has been done so in a plan view. The
following steps show how to extrude rooms in an elevation view.

First use the query co-ordinates function to determine the plane where the room will
start, in this example, the Y co-ordinate = 0. Then use the measure tool to determine
the depth of the room you want to create, in this example, 20 meters.

Move to the Front View, select the extrude

shape tool and entre the values into the shape
settings box.

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Editing room names
Select the room in the model browser, right click and select the properties option

OR
Double click in the room information bar at the bottom of the screen.

Model browser/room groups

Room Groups are a good way of organizing your model allowing you to switch sections
off during the modeling process giving you clarity, especially when creating geometry for
larger buildings.

The following images show how to create the Room Groups and how to assign rooms to
them.

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First create the room groups by clicking
on the Edit Room Groups tool.

The Edit Room Groups dialogue box will

appear. Click on the Add button to add a
group to the Floors parent Scheme.

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Click OK and then select Floors from the
schemes drop down menu.

Now select a room(s) that you want to move

to a particular group (holding the control
key/click and drag for multiple selections)
and click the assign tool.

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Select the required group/scheme from the drop down menu and click OK.

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Edit Glazing tool
Here we will add glazing to the model in one operation, rather than having to add
glazing in each individual surface as done previously. This is done at the top level.

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Model levels
The model is comprises of three ‘levels of decomposition’. Currently you are at the top
level (Model level).

To go through the levels of a selected room, first select the room and then use the level
arrows.

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Adding/editing openings at surface level

Doors Windows Holes

In session A it was demonstrated how to add glazing to a model, at the model level, in a
plan view using the place opening tools. When at the surface level of a room the same
tools allow you to add glazing via three methods.

o Rectangular

o Polygonal

o 100%

The drop down arrow to the right of the tool allows you to select the option you require.

You can also use the edit tools at surface level to modify your glazing. To activate them
first select the glazing that you wish to edit.

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Partition tool
You will be shown how to draw a partition to divide a space (either to create two sub
spaces within the zone, or to create two zones)

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Divide Space tool
You will be shown how to divide a space using the cutting plane. (Either to create two
sub spaces within the zone or to create two zones)

First select the zone you would like to divide and go sown to the space level using the
level arrows as shown previously.

Next select edit from the drop down menu

The edit space dialogue box (image below) will appear along with the cutting plane in
the modeling window
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 You can select the orientation of
the plane

Click to action the position change

You can either manually type in the co-ordinates of the

cutting plane or you can click on the tool at the top of
the box (get locator co-ordinates from space vertex
tool) then click and drag (holding the left mouse button)
the three corner points of the cutting plane in the model
space to position it as shown in the diagram on the
next page

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Click the generate cutting plane button and a
yellow indicator will appear giving you a
preview of the cut.

Finally you select whether or not you would

like to retain the partitions and click the divide
space button.

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Separating composite spaces
You will also be shown how to “un-connect” two spaces that have been connected
together or that you have cut using the divide space tool. This is done at the middle level
(Space level) for the selected room, using Edit mode.

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Editing vertices
Here, you will see how to move the corner points (or vertices) of a room to change its
shape. This is done at the middle level (Space level) for the selected room, using Edit
mode.

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Click and hold the left mouse button

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Drag a selected face

This function allows the user to drag a surface simply by highlighting the surface and
dragging it to the new position. This can be done both at the Model level or at the Space
level.

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Creating an obstruction for shading
simulation
If you will be subsequently using SunCast, IES’s solar simulation tool, you will be shown
how to create obstructions in that project.

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Set site rotation
Next, we will see how to set the site North position.

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Set location data using APlocate
If you will be subsequently using SunCast, the Apache thermal software, the Part L
compliance software, or RadianceIES, you will be shown how to use the APlocate utility
to set the location and site data which is required by the above applications. Setting of
the weather data in APlocate will be covered in the training sessions for the applications
which use weather data.

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