CA2167956C - Method of describing a building structure - Google Patents
Method of describing a building structure Download PDFInfo
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- CA2167956C CA2167956C CA002167956A CA2167956A CA2167956C CA 2167956 C CA2167956 C CA 2167956C CA 002167956 A CA002167956 A CA 002167956A CA 2167956 A CA2167956 A CA 2167956A CA 2167956 C CA2167956 C CA 2167956C
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- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 47
- 238000007792 addition Methods 0.000 claims description 71
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 claims description 21
- 238000012550 audit Methods 0.000 claims description 12
- 239000013598 vector Substances 0.000 claims description 9
- 239000002131 composite material Substances 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000004088 simulation Methods 0.000 claims description 2
- TZCXTZWJZNENPQ-UHFFFAOYSA-L barium sulfate Chemical compound [Ba+2].[O-]S([O-])(=O)=O TZCXTZWJZNENPQ-UHFFFAOYSA-L 0.000 abstract 1
- 238000004364 calculation method Methods 0.000 description 5
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000004422 calculation algorithm Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004590 computer program Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000007796 conventional method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001419 dependent effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000013461 design Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005265 energy consumption Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000009432 framing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000009413 insulation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000009418 renovation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000009897 systematic effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012360 testing method Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F30/00—Computer-aided design [CAD]
- G06F30/10—Geometric CAD
- G06F30/13—Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F30/00—Computer-aided design [CAD]
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
Abstract
A method of establishing the structure of a building which includes selecting a core template structure, determining dimensions and default dimensions for the core, and selecting an addition template structure based upon the structure being an addition to the core. Next diemsnions and default dimensiions and the position of attachment to the core are determined and finally the building volumen and component areas are calculated utilizing the previously established information.
Description
2 1 " 167956 METHOD OF DESCRIBING A BUILDING STRUCTURE
FIELD:
The present invention relates to a method of describing a building structure which produces useful information concerning the geometric form and dimensions that enables further processes concerning the building to be carried out.
BACKGROUND
Before being able to do such things as an energy audit on a building, costing out construction, renovation work or graphically representing a building using a computer-based application, (e.g., a CAD program), it is necessary to have information concerning the geometric form of the structure, dimensions, areas of individual building components(e.g., ceilings, walls, and floors), and volumes of spaces contained within the building structure. The conventional method of describing the form and dimensions of a building included hand-drawn building sketches, or entering structural information by hand into a computer-based graphics application. Hand-drawing building sketches is tedious, time consuming, and very often done in an unsystematic and approximate manner. Manually entering information into a computer based graphics application is tedious, time consuming and an expert skill. Conventional, methods of computing areas and volumes involve performing hand calculations which is also tedious, time consuming, and very often done in an unsystematic and approximate manner. Some computer assisted design (CAD) type applications perform this function, but only if structural data has been appropriately provided to the application.
Conducting a detailed energy audit on a typical residential building which involves hand-drawn building sketches, taking the dimensions of the building, and calculating areas and volumes can take up to 10 person hours. It would be desirable to have a system which could reduce this time and hence the cost considerably.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of describing a building structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a a method of establishing the structure of a building, comprising selecting a core template structure, determining dimensions and reviewing and adjusting non-standard default dimensions for the core, selecting an addition template structure based upon the structure being an addition to the core, determining dimensions, grade, and floor construction, and reviewing and adjusting non-standard default dimensions and the position of attachment to the core, and calculating building volume and component areas utilizing the information from the foregoing steps. The method provides an efficient procedure for describing the structure of building so as to provide a usable set of structural information and establishes a basis for an efficient procedure for collecting and processing building information. The procedure requires a reduced set of information and provides a systematic procedure for collecting such data. The set of information is sufficient to allow for the automated calculation of the area of each discrete surface of the described structure, the volume of each discrete space contained in the structure and the graphic representation of the structure.
Advantageously, the method includes setting grade, establishing reference window dimensions, the number of such windows on each level and the construction details of such windows, the number of doors of standard size, the number and location of such doors and their construction type and establishing the direction faced by the front wall of the building.
The core may have rectangular geometry.
Alternatively, any shape of core could be selected '~- 3 preferably consistent with the shape of the building. The efficient procedures for collecting and processing building information permits prelabelling of surfaces, vectors and vertices allowing users to quickly and easily assign attributes to individual and groupings of structural components. Prelabelling of core and addition structural template components allows users to assign attributes to individual and groupings of components as they proceed with the task of describing the structure of a building. The suitability of the method's resulting information for computer processing offers the potential benefits of computer processing to efforts to collect and process other building information that is linked to or otherwise dependent on a description of building structure.
In another aspect of the invention the method may use the calculated values in applying an energy audit.
Such method involves determining the structure of a building's heated envelope, selecting a core template structure, determining dimensions and reviewing and adjusting non-standard default dimensions for the core and describing construction details of the core. The method further involves selecting an addition template structure based upon the structure being an addition to the core, determining dimensions and reviewing and adjusting non-standard default dimensions and the position of attachment to the core, setting grade and calculating building volume and component areas utilizing the information from steps (a) to (f) inclusive and applying the template information to an energy simulation program to determine heat loss through various components of the building. The present invention integrates the task of describing a building structure, of collecting construction details and the task of describing the structure of the heated envelope.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as other features and advantages thereof, will be best understood by reference to the detailed description which follows, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a sample house to which the method is applied;
FIG. 2 shows the core that is established;
FIG. 3 shows the additions that are established from the core;
FIG. 4 shows the house of FIG 1 set in the ground;
FIG. 5 shows the pasting of windows and doors onto the structure of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a sketch showing a house to which a detailed application of the method will be applied;
FIG. 7 is a sketch of the appropriate level of detail required to describe the structure of the building's heated envelope;
FIG. 8 is the core structural template for the house of FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is the addition structural template for the house of FIG. 6;
FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of the general steps in establishing the structure of a building;
FIGS. 11a and 11b are flow diagrams of a general procedure for collecting information on the heated envelope of a residential building for the purposes of performing a comprehensive energy audit;
2 i 67956 FIG. 12 is a worksheet for describing the construction details of a core structure;
FIG. 13 is a worksheet for describing the construction details of an addition structure;
FIG. 14 is a worksheet for pasting windows and describing their construction details;
FIG. 15 is a worksheet for pasting doors and describing their construction details; and FIG. 16 is a table comparing the heat audit results using this method with those employing detailed field audit calculations.
FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of the programs used to determine the energy audit output results of Figure 15.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS
The first step in establishing the structure of a building is to establish a core structure which is of a geometry that is generally consistent with that of the building. For example, for a box-shaped building with a number of additions it would make sense to select a box-shaped core. Conversely, if the building were circular in shape, a circular core would ordinarily be preferable. For the first-mentioned example, the size of the core would ordinarily be chosen to be the largest box-shaped structure that the building can accommodate. The core is defined by structural templates that can include a predefined geometric form, a predefined orientation for the geometric form with respect to the earth's gravitational force, i.e., down, and unique labels assigned to each discrete surface, vector and vertices of the geometric form. Unique labels are assigned to various groupings of surfaces, vectors and vertices. Such templates should also give a clear indication of all the dimensions that need to be specified to fully describe the geometric form. Finally default values are provided for select dimensions. For example, in North America since the standard wall height is 8 feet for residential buildings, such a dimension would be appropriate for the building wall height default value.
The core is developed by adding additions to the core or to the additions themselves. Additions can be of any size and can be located on the inside, outside or on the inside and outside of the exterior surface of the structure to which they are to be added. Additions are defined, as is the core, by addition structural templates.
All of the items listed above for a core structural template are also applicable for addition structural templates. In addition, there are predefined constraints on the types of structures to which the addition can be added, on the location of the addition relative to the structure to which it is being added, and a prescribed procedure for specifying the location of the addition relative to the structure to which it is being added.
To see in general terms how the present method is applied to a house as seen in Figure 1, the first step is to establish a core as shown in Figure 2.
The second major step as shown in Figure 3 is to establish the additions from the core.
The third step as shown in Figure 4 is to set the grade for any level of a core or addition that has exterior surfaces in contact with the ground. The percentage of each level's floor perimeter that is at or above grade is estimated as is the percentage of the total wall area that is below grade. The landscaping surrounding the level is described and the average height of the concrete wall that is exposed above grade is estimated.
The fourth step as shown in Figure 5 is to paste windows by establishing a typical window size and recording the width and height of this window and providing the number of such windows on the front, back and two sides of the composite structure.
Finally, the doors are pasted by specifying the equivalent number of standard sized doors (e.g., 2'8" by 6'8") which gives the total door area, and the location of each. Any glass area formerly included with window area is deducted.
Referring to Figure 6, there is shown a house to which a more detailed application of the present method will be demonstrated. With energy simulation as the process to which the method of the invention is applied, considering that only the roof cavity is unheated, the appropriate structure of the building's heated envelope is shown in Figure 7 together with measured width depth and height.
Referring to Figure 8, the core structural template provides for the recordation of width and depth dimensions as well as default dimensions. In this case the height of the first level is 2.1 meters rather than the standard 2.4 meters and so 2.1 is entered in the custom dimensions block.
Referring to Figure 9, the structural template for the addition requires recordation of the width depth and number of stories for the addition. Provision is also made for indicating to what structure the addition is added and at what level. Any step-up or step-down from the addition to the structure to which it is added is also recorded.
Referring to Figures 10, the procedure is first to select a core template structure at step 20 and to assign values to non-defaulted dimensions at step 22. Next the default dimensions are checked at step 23 to determine whether or not they are all acceptable. If not, then the unacceptable default dimensions are adjusted. Next at step 26, a determination is made as to whether or not the core structure sufficiently describes the desired structure. If it does then the algorithm is complete. If not, then an additional structural template is selected at step 32 and non-defaulted dimensions are assigned values at step 34.
Again at step 36 a determination is made as to whether or not the defaulted dimensions are acceptable. If not, then the unacceptable default dimensions are changed at step 38.
At step 40 the addition is located relative to the structure to which it is being added and a determination at step 42 as to whether or not there are any other additions required. If no other additions are required then the process is complete. If not then the system returns to step 32 to repeat the method for another addition.
A flow diagram directed to the specific task of performing an energy audit is shown in Figures 11a and 11b. In this case the energy audit is applied to the house of Figure 6, the heated envelope of which is shown in Figure 7. After determining the heated envelope at step 44, the core structural template is selected at step 46 and non-defaulted dimensions assigned at step 48. Defaulted dimensions are changed if necessary at steps 50 and 52 and grade is set for the core structure at step 54. Next at step 56 construction details of the core are established as shown in the worksheet of Figure 12. Details such as wall covering, framing board size, insulation, roof construction, exterior finish, basement wall construction, main joist band walls and floor construction are all specified. At step 58, it is determined whether or not the core structure sufficiently describes the heated envelope.
If so then the process is complete. If not, then an additional structural template for the addition is selected at step 60, values assigned to non-defaulted dimensions at step 62, and a test made at step 64 as to whether or not the defaulted dimensions are acceptable. Any changes in the default dimensions is made at step 66 and at step 68, the addition is located relative to the composite structure.
At step 70 the grade level is set and the construction details of the addition are described at step 72 as shown in the worksheet of Figure 13. Similar measurements to the addition are made as were described with the core above. If at step 74 the composite structure sufficiently describes the heated envelope, then the windows are pasted on at step 76 and the doors at step 78.
The worksheets for the latter process are shown in Figures 14 and 15. Here the typical window size is recorded and the number of such windows in each zone, the frame material of the windows, their glazing and their style. The orientation of the front window is also recorded. In Figure 15 the number of standard doors and their type is recorded together with their construction.
With the foregoing information it is a simple matter to use a computer based application such as Home Energy Planning Tool Kit (HEP) available from Sheltair Scientific Ltd.of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to compute energy consumption of various parts of the building. Figure 16 shows a comparison of the results obtained using the method of the present invention over that obtained from detailed field audit calculations. A
computer program which employs HEP together with a standard energy simulation program is shown in Figure 17. In this case data is fed into the House Generator 80 which is a portion of the overall program which accepts input of collected structural template information. This process is repeated for all templates until the core, the additions, and the windows and doors have all been entered. The House Generator 80 then makes the calculations of the areas and volumes required as input by the energy simulation program 82. The House Generator 80 produces the output results set forth in Figure 16.
Obviously the House Generator program 80 can easily be modified to generate the type of input information required for other applications such as input for a CAD program or a cost estimating program.
Accordingly, while this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to this description. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments as fall within the true scope of the invention.
FIELD:
The present invention relates to a method of describing a building structure which produces useful information concerning the geometric form and dimensions that enables further processes concerning the building to be carried out.
BACKGROUND
Before being able to do such things as an energy audit on a building, costing out construction, renovation work or graphically representing a building using a computer-based application, (e.g., a CAD program), it is necessary to have information concerning the geometric form of the structure, dimensions, areas of individual building components(e.g., ceilings, walls, and floors), and volumes of spaces contained within the building structure. The conventional method of describing the form and dimensions of a building included hand-drawn building sketches, or entering structural information by hand into a computer-based graphics application. Hand-drawing building sketches is tedious, time consuming, and very often done in an unsystematic and approximate manner. Manually entering information into a computer based graphics application is tedious, time consuming and an expert skill. Conventional, methods of computing areas and volumes involve performing hand calculations which is also tedious, time consuming, and very often done in an unsystematic and approximate manner. Some computer assisted design (CAD) type applications perform this function, but only if structural data has been appropriately provided to the application.
Conducting a detailed energy audit on a typical residential building which involves hand-drawn building sketches, taking the dimensions of the building, and calculating areas and volumes can take up to 10 person hours. It would be desirable to have a system which could reduce this time and hence the cost considerably.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of describing a building structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a a method of establishing the structure of a building, comprising selecting a core template structure, determining dimensions and reviewing and adjusting non-standard default dimensions for the core, selecting an addition template structure based upon the structure being an addition to the core, determining dimensions, grade, and floor construction, and reviewing and adjusting non-standard default dimensions and the position of attachment to the core, and calculating building volume and component areas utilizing the information from the foregoing steps. The method provides an efficient procedure for describing the structure of building so as to provide a usable set of structural information and establishes a basis for an efficient procedure for collecting and processing building information. The procedure requires a reduced set of information and provides a systematic procedure for collecting such data. The set of information is sufficient to allow for the automated calculation of the area of each discrete surface of the described structure, the volume of each discrete space contained in the structure and the graphic representation of the structure.
Advantageously, the method includes setting grade, establishing reference window dimensions, the number of such windows on each level and the construction details of such windows, the number of doors of standard size, the number and location of such doors and their construction type and establishing the direction faced by the front wall of the building.
The core may have rectangular geometry.
Alternatively, any shape of core could be selected '~- 3 preferably consistent with the shape of the building. The efficient procedures for collecting and processing building information permits prelabelling of surfaces, vectors and vertices allowing users to quickly and easily assign attributes to individual and groupings of structural components. Prelabelling of core and addition structural template components allows users to assign attributes to individual and groupings of components as they proceed with the task of describing the structure of a building. The suitability of the method's resulting information for computer processing offers the potential benefits of computer processing to efforts to collect and process other building information that is linked to or otherwise dependent on a description of building structure.
In another aspect of the invention the method may use the calculated values in applying an energy audit.
Such method involves determining the structure of a building's heated envelope, selecting a core template structure, determining dimensions and reviewing and adjusting non-standard default dimensions for the core and describing construction details of the core. The method further involves selecting an addition template structure based upon the structure being an addition to the core, determining dimensions and reviewing and adjusting non-standard default dimensions and the position of attachment to the core, setting grade and calculating building volume and component areas utilizing the information from steps (a) to (f) inclusive and applying the template information to an energy simulation program to determine heat loss through various components of the building. The present invention integrates the task of describing a building structure, of collecting construction details and the task of describing the structure of the heated envelope.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as other features and advantages thereof, will be best understood by reference to the detailed description which follows, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a sample house to which the method is applied;
FIG. 2 shows the core that is established;
FIG. 3 shows the additions that are established from the core;
FIG. 4 shows the house of FIG 1 set in the ground;
FIG. 5 shows the pasting of windows and doors onto the structure of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a sketch showing a house to which a detailed application of the method will be applied;
FIG. 7 is a sketch of the appropriate level of detail required to describe the structure of the building's heated envelope;
FIG. 8 is the core structural template for the house of FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is the addition structural template for the house of FIG. 6;
FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of the general steps in establishing the structure of a building;
FIGS. 11a and 11b are flow diagrams of a general procedure for collecting information on the heated envelope of a residential building for the purposes of performing a comprehensive energy audit;
2 i 67956 FIG. 12 is a worksheet for describing the construction details of a core structure;
FIG. 13 is a worksheet for describing the construction details of an addition structure;
FIG. 14 is a worksheet for pasting windows and describing their construction details;
FIG. 15 is a worksheet for pasting doors and describing their construction details; and FIG. 16 is a table comparing the heat audit results using this method with those employing detailed field audit calculations.
FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of the programs used to determine the energy audit output results of Figure 15.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS
The first step in establishing the structure of a building is to establish a core structure which is of a geometry that is generally consistent with that of the building. For example, for a box-shaped building with a number of additions it would make sense to select a box-shaped core. Conversely, if the building were circular in shape, a circular core would ordinarily be preferable. For the first-mentioned example, the size of the core would ordinarily be chosen to be the largest box-shaped structure that the building can accommodate. The core is defined by structural templates that can include a predefined geometric form, a predefined orientation for the geometric form with respect to the earth's gravitational force, i.e., down, and unique labels assigned to each discrete surface, vector and vertices of the geometric form. Unique labels are assigned to various groupings of surfaces, vectors and vertices. Such templates should also give a clear indication of all the dimensions that need to be specified to fully describe the geometric form. Finally default values are provided for select dimensions. For example, in North America since the standard wall height is 8 feet for residential buildings, such a dimension would be appropriate for the building wall height default value.
The core is developed by adding additions to the core or to the additions themselves. Additions can be of any size and can be located on the inside, outside or on the inside and outside of the exterior surface of the structure to which they are to be added. Additions are defined, as is the core, by addition structural templates.
All of the items listed above for a core structural template are also applicable for addition structural templates. In addition, there are predefined constraints on the types of structures to which the addition can be added, on the location of the addition relative to the structure to which it is being added, and a prescribed procedure for specifying the location of the addition relative to the structure to which it is being added.
To see in general terms how the present method is applied to a house as seen in Figure 1, the first step is to establish a core as shown in Figure 2.
The second major step as shown in Figure 3 is to establish the additions from the core.
The third step as shown in Figure 4 is to set the grade for any level of a core or addition that has exterior surfaces in contact with the ground. The percentage of each level's floor perimeter that is at or above grade is estimated as is the percentage of the total wall area that is below grade. The landscaping surrounding the level is described and the average height of the concrete wall that is exposed above grade is estimated.
The fourth step as shown in Figure 5 is to paste windows by establishing a typical window size and recording the width and height of this window and providing the number of such windows on the front, back and two sides of the composite structure.
Finally, the doors are pasted by specifying the equivalent number of standard sized doors (e.g., 2'8" by 6'8") which gives the total door area, and the location of each. Any glass area formerly included with window area is deducted.
Referring to Figure 6, there is shown a house to which a more detailed application of the present method will be demonstrated. With energy simulation as the process to which the method of the invention is applied, considering that only the roof cavity is unheated, the appropriate structure of the building's heated envelope is shown in Figure 7 together with measured width depth and height.
Referring to Figure 8, the core structural template provides for the recordation of width and depth dimensions as well as default dimensions. In this case the height of the first level is 2.1 meters rather than the standard 2.4 meters and so 2.1 is entered in the custom dimensions block.
Referring to Figure 9, the structural template for the addition requires recordation of the width depth and number of stories for the addition. Provision is also made for indicating to what structure the addition is added and at what level. Any step-up or step-down from the addition to the structure to which it is added is also recorded.
Referring to Figures 10, the procedure is first to select a core template structure at step 20 and to assign values to non-defaulted dimensions at step 22. Next the default dimensions are checked at step 23 to determine whether or not they are all acceptable. If not, then the unacceptable default dimensions are adjusted. Next at step 26, a determination is made as to whether or not the core structure sufficiently describes the desired structure. If it does then the algorithm is complete. If not, then an additional structural template is selected at step 32 and non-defaulted dimensions are assigned values at step 34.
Again at step 36 a determination is made as to whether or not the defaulted dimensions are acceptable. If not, then the unacceptable default dimensions are changed at step 38.
At step 40 the addition is located relative to the structure to which it is being added and a determination at step 42 as to whether or not there are any other additions required. If no other additions are required then the process is complete. If not then the system returns to step 32 to repeat the method for another addition.
A flow diagram directed to the specific task of performing an energy audit is shown in Figures 11a and 11b. In this case the energy audit is applied to the house of Figure 6, the heated envelope of which is shown in Figure 7. After determining the heated envelope at step 44, the core structural template is selected at step 46 and non-defaulted dimensions assigned at step 48. Defaulted dimensions are changed if necessary at steps 50 and 52 and grade is set for the core structure at step 54. Next at step 56 construction details of the core are established as shown in the worksheet of Figure 12. Details such as wall covering, framing board size, insulation, roof construction, exterior finish, basement wall construction, main joist band walls and floor construction are all specified. At step 58, it is determined whether or not the core structure sufficiently describes the heated envelope.
If so then the process is complete. If not, then an additional structural template for the addition is selected at step 60, values assigned to non-defaulted dimensions at step 62, and a test made at step 64 as to whether or not the defaulted dimensions are acceptable. Any changes in the default dimensions is made at step 66 and at step 68, the addition is located relative to the composite structure.
At step 70 the grade level is set and the construction details of the addition are described at step 72 as shown in the worksheet of Figure 13. Similar measurements to the addition are made as were described with the core above. If at step 74 the composite structure sufficiently describes the heated envelope, then the windows are pasted on at step 76 and the doors at step 78.
The worksheets for the latter process are shown in Figures 14 and 15. Here the typical window size is recorded and the number of such windows in each zone, the frame material of the windows, their glazing and their style. The orientation of the front window is also recorded. In Figure 15 the number of standard doors and their type is recorded together with their construction.
With the foregoing information it is a simple matter to use a computer based application such as Home Energy Planning Tool Kit (HEP) available from Sheltair Scientific Ltd.of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to compute energy consumption of various parts of the building. Figure 16 shows a comparison of the results obtained using the method of the present invention over that obtained from detailed field audit calculations. A
computer program which employs HEP together with a standard energy simulation program is shown in Figure 17. In this case data is fed into the House Generator 80 which is a portion of the overall program which accepts input of collected structural template information. This process is repeated for all templates until the core, the additions, and the windows and doors have all been entered. The House Generator 80 then makes the calculations of the areas and volumes required as input by the energy simulation program 82. The House Generator 80 produces the output results set forth in Figure 16.
Obviously the House Generator program 80 can easily be modified to generate the type of input information required for other applications such as input for a CAD program or a cost estimating program.
Accordingly, while this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to this description. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments as fall within the true scope of the invention.
Claims (9)
1. A method of describing a building structure and producing data indicative of areas of surfaces and volumes of spaces of said building structure, comprising:
a) selecting a core structural information template from a plurality of possible core structural information templates wherein said core structural information template includes a member of the group selected from a predefined geometric form, a predefined orientation for said geometric form, labels assigned to one or more discrete surfaces, vectors and vertices of said geometric form, or a combination thereof, and wherein said core structural information template facilitates the input of data to generate a core structure representative of the geometric form, dimensions and orientation of all or part of said building structure;
b) specifying an orientation of said core structure;
c) specifying dimensions of said core structure;
d) selecting one or more addition structural information templates from a plurality of possible addition structural information templates representing addition structures wherein said addition structures are additions to said core structure or to other addition structures, wherein said addition structural information templates include a member of the group selected from a predefined geometric form, a predefined orientation for said geometric form, labels assigned to one or more discrete surfaces, vectors and vertices of said geometric form, predefined constraints on the type of structures to which said addition structures may be added, predefined constraints on the locations of said addition structures, a predefined method for specifying the location of said addition structures, or a combination thereof, and wherein said addition structural information templates facilitate the input of data to generate one of said addition structures representative of the geometric form, dimensions, orientation and relative location of some part of said building structure;
e) specifying an orientation of each of said addition structures;
f) specifying dimensions of each of said addition structures;
g) specifying a location of each of said addition structures relative to said core structure or relative to others of said addition structures; and h) calculating data indicative of areas of surfaces and volumes of spaces of said building structure using structural information generated by steps a) to g) inclusive.
a) selecting a core structural information template from a plurality of possible core structural information templates wherein said core structural information template includes a member of the group selected from a predefined geometric form, a predefined orientation for said geometric form, labels assigned to one or more discrete surfaces, vectors and vertices of said geometric form, or a combination thereof, and wherein said core structural information template facilitates the input of data to generate a core structure representative of the geometric form, dimensions and orientation of all or part of said building structure;
b) specifying an orientation of said core structure;
c) specifying dimensions of said core structure;
d) selecting one or more addition structural information templates from a plurality of possible addition structural information templates representing addition structures wherein said addition structures are additions to said core structure or to other addition structures, wherein said addition structural information templates include a member of the group selected from a predefined geometric form, a predefined orientation for said geometric form, labels assigned to one or more discrete surfaces, vectors and vertices of said geometric form, predefined constraints on the type of structures to which said addition structures may be added, predefined constraints on the locations of said addition structures, a predefined method for specifying the location of said addition structures, or a combination thereof, and wherein said addition structural information templates facilitate the input of data to generate one of said addition structures representative of the geometric form, dimensions, orientation and relative location of some part of said building structure;
e) specifying an orientation of each of said addition structures;
f) specifying dimensions of each of said addition structures;
g) specifying a location of each of said addition structures relative to said core structure or relative to others of said addition structures; and h) calculating data indicative of areas of surfaces and volumes of spaces of said building structure using structural information generated by steps a) to g) inclusive.
2. A method according to claim 1, including describing: a location of ground with respect to a building structure;
construction details of said building structure; reference window dimensions for each of the front, back, left and right sides of said building structure and the number of windows on each level of said building structure that provide an equivalent total window area for that level of said building structure; orientation of said windows;
construction details of said windows; the number of doors of standard size on each of said levels of said building structure, and the construction type of said doors.
construction details of said building structure; reference window dimensions for each of the front, back, left and right sides of said building structure and the number of windows on each level of said building structure that provide an equivalent total window area for that level of said building structure; orientation of said windows;
construction details of said windows; the number of doors of standard size on each of said levels of said building structure, and the construction type of said doors.
3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the core structure has rectangular geometry.
4. A method according to claim 2, including using said data indicative of areas of surfaces and volumes of spaces, said ground location, and window and door information in applying an energy audit on said building structure that includes an energy simulation to determine heat losses and gains of and through various components of said building structure.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein one of said core and addition structural information templates describes a plurality of discrete forms.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of said core and addition structural information templates includes preassignment of unique labels to discrete surfaces, vectors, and vertices of a structural element or to groupings of surfaces, vectors, and vertices of structural elements.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of said addition structural information templates facilitates the location of an associated addition element as being on the inside or inside and outside of an exterior surface of another element.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of said core and addition structural information templates distinguish between defaulted and nondefaulted dimension parameters, and said structural information templates facilitate a reviewing and adjusting of said default dimension parameters.
9. A process for conducting an energy audit on a building structure:
a) determining the heated envelope of said building structure;
b) selecting a core structural information template from a plurality of possible core structural information templates wherein said core structural information template includes a member of the group selected from a predefined geometric form, a predefined orientation for said geometric form, labels assigned to one or more discrete surfaces, vectors and vertices of said geometric form, or a combination thereof, and wherein said core structural information template facilitates the input of data to generate a core structure representative of the geometric form, dimensions and orientation of all or part of said building structure;
c) specifying an orientation of said core structure;
d) specifying dimensions of said core structure;
e) specifying the location of ground with respect to said core structure and specifying construction details of said core structure;
f) selecting one or more addition structural information templates from a plurality of possible addition structural information templates if said building structure has a composite structure, wherein said addition structures are addition to said core structure or to other addition structures, wherein said addition structural information templates include a member of the group selected from a predefined geometric form a predefined orientation for said geometric form, labels assigned to one or more discrete surfaces, vectors and vertices of said geometric Form, predefined constraints on the type of structures to which said addition structures may be added, predefined constraints on the locations of said addition structures, a predefined method for specifying the location of said addition structures, or a combination thereof, and wherein said addition structural information templates facilitate the input of data to generate one of said addition structures representative of the geometric form, dimensions, orientation and relative location of some part of said building structure;
g) specifying an orientation of each of said addition structures;
h) specifying dimensions of each of said addition structures;
i) specifying a location of each of said addition structures relative to said core structure or relative to others of said addition structures;
j) specifying the location of the ground with respect to said addition structures and specifying construction details of each of said addition structures;
k) calculating data indicative of areas of surfaces and volumes of spaces of said building structure using structural information generated by steps a) to j) inclusive; and l) applying structural information generated by steps a) to j) inclusive and said data indicative of areas of surfaces and volumes of spaces to an energy simulation program to determine heat losses and gains of and through various components of said building structure.
a) determining the heated envelope of said building structure;
b) selecting a core structural information template from a plurality of possible core structural information templates wherein said core structural information template includes a member of the group selected from a predefined geometric form, a predefined orientation for said geometric form, labels assigned to one or more discrete surfaces, vectors and vertices of said geometric form, or a combination thereof, and wherein said core structural information template facilitates the input of data to generate a core structure representative of the geometric form, dimensions and orientation of all or part of said building structure;
c) specifying an orientation of said core structure;
d) specifying dimensions of said core structure;
e) specifying the location of ground with respect to said core structure and specifying construction details of said core structure;
f) selecting one or more addition structural information templates from a plurality of possible addition structural information templates if said building structure has a composite structure, wherein said addition structures are addition to said core structure or to other addition structures, wherein said addition structural information templates include a member of the group selected from a predefined geometric form a predefined orientation for said geometric form, labels assigned to one or more discrete surfaces, vectors and vertices of said geometric Form, predefined constraints on the type of structures to which said addition structures may be added, predefined constraints on the locations of said addition structures, a predefined method for specifying the location of said addition structures, or a combination thereof, and wherein said addition structural information templates facilitate the input of data to generate one of said addition structures representative of the geometric form, dimensions, orientation and relative location of some part of said building structure;
g) specifying an orientation of each of said addition structures;
h) specifying dimensions of each of said addition structures;
i) specifying a location of each of said addition structures relative to said core structure or relative to others of said addition structures;
j) specifying the location of the ground with respect to said addition structures and specifying construction details of each of said addition structures;
k) calculating data indicative of areas of surfaces and volumes of spaces of said building structure using structural information generated by steps a) to j) inclusive; and l) applying structural information generated by steps a) to j) inclusive and said data indicative of areas of surfaces and volumes of spaces to an energy simulation program to determine heat losses and gains of and through various components of said building structure.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002167956A CA2167956C (en) | 1996-01-24 | 1996-01-24 | Method of describing a building structure |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002167956A CA2167956C (en) | 1996-01-24 | 1996-01-24 | Method of describing a building structure |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2167956A1 CA2167956A1 (en) | 1997-07-25 |
| CA2167956C true CA2167956C (en) | 2008-04-22 |
Family
ID=4157425
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002167956A Expired - Fee Related CA2167956C (en) | 1996-01-24 | 1996-01-24 | Method of describing a building structure |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2167956C (en) |
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1996
- 1996-01-24 CA CA002167956A patent/CA2167956C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| CA2167956A1 (en) | 1997-07-25 |
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