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Two or more continuous walls can be merged back into a single Wall using the Merge Drawing Mode as detailed in the Split & Merge Drawing Mode section.

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WALL PROPERTIES

Property

Description

Edited Within

Width

Wall Width is calculated automatically and can be seen in the Data-Grid Width Column. Width can only be changed by moving the Wall Points within the Visual View

Visual View (not editable within Data-Grid)

Height (Total, Base & Top)

Walls have a Total Height, and a Base Height which represents the Height above the Level height that the wall starts, and a Top Height which represents the Height above the Level height that the wall ends. For a typical wall, the Base Height will be 0mm, and the Top Height will match the Total Height of the Wall. The Total, Base & Top Height of a wall are all visible under the Height columns of the Wall data-grid.  Changing the Base Height will shift the Top-Height & vice-versa rather than effecting the Total Height.

Info

Angled Walls

Walls are modelled in Hero at a consistent Height due to this being how they are modelled within the Chenath engine. For Angled walls (i.e. those Walls whose Height changes across its length, the average Height across the Wall-length must be entered.

E.g: An angled Wall with Height at one end 2700mm and 2100mm at another should be modelled as 2400mm (2700 + 2100 / 2) within Hero

Wall Data-Grid Height Column

Orientation

The Orientation of the Wall is shown in the Orientation Column of the Data-Grid and show the orientation of the Wall in terms of what direction the external side of the wall is facing (i.e it’s Normal Direction).

Visual View (not editable within Data-Grid)

Thickness

The Thickness of the Wall is determined by the Assembly & Insulation of the wall. This is the Thickness that is shown in the Visual View, as well as in the optional Thickness column of the Wall Data-Grid (which by default is hidden from view).

Info

Due to the limitations of the NatHERS Insulation Materials, Walls can sometimes be different Thickness to their actual construction Thickness for the given R-value & Insulation Type.

Hero are working on a solution to this but in the meantime this difference can either be:

  • ignored as its impact on the model will generally be quite slight – only effecting the shade object projections slightly as these projections are based on distance to outside face of wall by typically less than 25mm; or

  • the Insulation Type can be changed for the Insulation Material to a Type that more closes matches available Products on the market, such as changing from Fibreglass to Rockwool or EPS.

Not editable directly (based on Assembly + Insulation)

Construction

A Wall has a Construction or Assembly which is the construction build-up of that wall, including its external cladding, internal surface & any other materials within the assembly.

Walls also have an optional Insulation Option which is the insulation materials specifically for that wall section that get added in addition to its Assembly materials.

In Hero the function of Assembly & Insulation is separated so that the User has flexibility to change & test various Insulation types quickly for each Assembly & quickly optimise the passive design aspects of the house; as well as for its use as an important reporting metric.

The Wall Construction Library tutorial provides further detail on Wall Assemblies & Insulation Options, and how Assemblies & Insulation Options can be edited or custom created.

A Wall’s Construction in the Project is shown & can be changed within the Wall Data-Grid’s Construction column. The Currently Selected Wall Assemblies from the Construction Library will be shown within the Drop-down of this column’s entries and a new type can be selected.

Info

Default Internal Wall Assembly

When a Wall connects to another Adjacent Wall such as for Internal Walls, the Assembly usually gets automatically changed to the previous Internal Wall Assembly, which by default is an Plasterboard stud wall. Likewise when a Wall disconnects from another adjacent Wall it will reset to the previous external wall assembly.

Insulation Change on Assembly Change

When changing an Assembly, if the new Assembly contains an Insulation Option similar to the current insulation of the Wall, this will be selected. However if there is no similar Insulation Option on the new Assembly then the default for that Assembly will get applied.

E.g: If the User was changing from a Brick Veneer wall with R2.0 insulation to a Single Brick Wall that has no Insulation Options in its list.

When we change the assembly to Single Brick, the Insulation gets set to the default “No Insulation” option for that Single Brick Assembly.

Wall Data-Grid Construction Column & Wall Construction Library

Insulation

The Insulation Options available for that Wall Assembly will be shown in the Insulation column. You can select an existing Insulation Option by using the combo-box drop-down menu or you can type in the desired R-value in the table’s cell and hit enter; or for more complicated options you can create a New Insulation Option within the Wall Builder for that assembly. When typing in a R-value into the insulation column, if there is an existing Insulation Option for that Assembly that matches the entered R-Value it will use that Insulation Option, otherwise a new Fibreglass Insulation Option of the desired R-Value is created, assigned to the wall and added to that Wall Construction’s Insulation Option List.

E.g: in a Project with a Brick Veneer with Non-Reflective Sarking Type Construction. The standard Insulation Options for this Assembly are shown in the Insulation column of the Wall Data-Grid. However if the Insulation Option was desired to be a R2.7 Insulation Batt (not contained within the standard Insulation Options), we could model this by typing “2.7” within the Insulation cell and hitting ⌨ Enter. If we go the Wall Construction Library for this Assembly, we see this R2.7 Insulation Option has now been created and added to the Insulation Option list for that Assembly.

Alternatively if the insulation was a complicated combination of Insulation materials such as a Reflective EPS board insulation (requiring an air-gap + bulk insulation), we would need to:

  • go into the Construction Library and create a new Insulation Option,

  • change the existing Insulation material to the desired R-value & type, and

  • add a new Air-gap to the Assembly to represent the Reflective Air-space.

  • Now when we select the desired Wall in the Wall Data-Grid we can see that this Insulation Option is available for selection.

Wall Data-Grid

Insulation Column & Wall Construction Library

External Colour

Walls can have their External Colours changed to model the different Solar Absorptances of different finishes.

This is changed within the External Colour column of the Wall Data-grid which shows a Colour’s name and its solar absorptance. The first three options are the standard Light, Medium & Dark, and then there are variety of custom colours that relate to various other colours such as typical Colorbond colours etc.

Wall Data-Grid

External Colour Column

Adjacency

Energy-modelling is heavily concerned with heat-transfer, and the External & Internal conditions on either side of the Wall, along with the materials of the Wall determine its heat-transfer. Similar to many energy-modelling programs, Hero allows the user to specify different Adjacency or externality conditions for a wall. This is primarily viewed & assigned through the Wall Adjacency column of the data-grid.

There are a variety of options that can be assigned to a wall depending on it’s state, however some wall adjacency types are locked and cannot be changed. See the Adjacency Type table below for further details.

Wall Data-Grid

Adjacency Column

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ADJACENCY TYPES

Adjacent Type

Description

Edited Within

Editable within Data Grid

External

The Wall is directly adjacent to External Environment.

Standard / Default Adjacency Type for Walls

Wall Data-Grid Adjacency Column

Yes

Internal

Wall adjacent to another Wall from the same Dwelling

Not editable (set on actual connection)

No

Neighbouring (Actual Connection)

Wall adjacent to another Wall from a different Dwelling.

Info

Neighbouring Adjacency Types are simulated as Adiabatic boundaries in the Simulation meaning that no effective heat transfer is modelled between them.

Not editable (set on actual connection)

No

Neighbouring (Manual Selection)

Wall adjacent to a Conditioned Space that is not part of the Hero Project model (i.e. Adjacent Buildings, Commercial Spaces etc).

Info

Neighbouring Adjacency Types are simulated as Adiabatic boundaries in the Simulation meaning that no effective heat transfer is modelled between them.

Wall Data-Grid Adjacency Column

Yes

Roofspace (This Level)

The Wall is adjacent to a Roofspace Zone from Ceilings of the same Level.

Note

A Roofspace Zone must have at least One Ceiling connected to it via a Roofspace Adjacency for any Wall to be able to have a Roofspace Adjacency otherwise an Alert will be shown

Wall Data-Grid Adjacency Column

Yes

Roofspace (Level Below)

The Wall is adjacent to a Roofspace Zone from Ceiling of the Level Below.

E.g: A Wall on Level 2 of a House is connected to the Roofspace that is formed by Ceilings on Level 1. This Wall should use the Roofspace (Level Below) Adjacency Type

Wall Data-Grid Adjacency Column

Yes

Subfloor (This Level)

The Wall is adjacent to a Subfloor Zone from Floors of the same Level.

Note

A Subfloor must have at least One Floor connected to it via a Subfloor Adjacency for any Wall to be able to have a Subfloor Adjacency otherwise an Alert will be shown

Wall Data-Grid Adjacency Column

Yes

Subfloor (Level Above)

The Wall is adjacent to a Subfloor Zone from Floors of the Level Above.

E.g: A Wall on the Ground Floor of a House is connected to the Subfloor that is formed by Floors on Level 1 (above the Ground Level). This Wall should use the Subfloor (Level Above) Adjacency Type

Wall Data-Grid Adjacency Column

Yes

Carpark

Walls adjacent to an actual Carpark Zone

Not editable (set on actual connection)

No

Corridor

Walls adjacent to an actual Corridor Zone

Not editable (set on actual connection)

No

Retaining / Ground

Wall is adjacent to the Ground or a Retaining Wall

Note

A Retaining / Ground Adjacency Construction has a 5000mm Soil layer added automatically by Hero to it during Simulation as per NatHERS Protocol. The User does not need to create a custom Wall Assembly with this Soil layer.

Wall Data-Grid Adjacency Column

Yes

Mass Wall

A Internal Thermal Mass Wall completely within a Zone. Can only be applied to Floating Walls.

Wall Data-Grid Adjacency Column

Yes (Floating Walls only)

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SHADING

Walls can have Shading Objects that can affect the way they are Simulated, these include:

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  • Walls or Wall-like objects completely within the Zone that provide sufficient Thermal Mass that you would like to model their effects. We call these Internal Thermal Mass walls within Hero, and they can be modelled using a Floating Wall & the Thermal Mass wall Adjacency option in the Data-grid.

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Info

E.g: In the image above, the Living room has a small spine wall of solid brick completed within the Zone that due to its high thermal mass, could effect the Simulation results. To model this Wall we create a Floating Wall, change its Assembly to the correct Single Brick assembly type and assign the Adjacency as Mass Wall.

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