Floors
- Hero Software
The Floors of a Zone are distinct from the Ceilings of the Zone even if they share similar geometry & many features.
A Floor is created automatically when a Zone is drawn and might be automatically split and connected to any ceilings on levels below on creation.
FLOORS WITHIN THE VISUAL VIEW
Selecting
Floors are selected in the Visual View if the Floor / Ceiling Visual Layer is currently set to Floor on the Visual View’s Top Toolbar. For further information on the Floor / Ceiling Visual Layer see: Visual View Top Toolbar
Floors can also be selected within the Data-Grid within the Floor tab.
Floors share the Select Parent Context-menu item similar to most objects (or it’s Double Left-Click mouse shortcut). In this case, the action selects the parent Zone of the Floor.
Deleting
Floors cannot be Deleted, instead they must be Merged back together with any Split Floors of the Zone. Floors are merged by using the Merge Drawing Mode which is explained in further detail in Split & Merge Drawing Mode
Splitting Floors
Floors can be Split into separate Floors within a Zone through various means.
Firstly they can be Split manually by the user using the Split Drawing Mode feature (Split & Merge Drawing Mode). This is typically performed when the Floors across a zone have differing properties such as Assembly or Construction, or Insulation or Floor Covering or Adjacency.
Automatic Splits
Floors are also Split Automatically by Hero when any adjacent Ceilings are detected on the Level below. This can occur after a new Zone has been created or when Floors or Ceilings are moved.
Hero’s Automatic Splitting Feature is a very handy tool that removes the requirement to manually split and connect adjacent spaces.
However there are occasions where manual User adjustment or overriding of the adjacency & other construction properties (assembly & insulation) of automatically split Floors & Ceilings is required after a split.
For example in the image below, a Zone’s Floors have been split into 3 Floors with 2 adjacent Internal connections to Ceilings below, but also a third Floor “FLR 05” which has an initial default adjacency of “Ground” and Construction “CSOG-100” which is inappropriate.
In this example, the User would be best to set FLR 05 to Neighbouring Adjacency which will then trigger a Construction change & update too, as this section has an Adiabatic Adjacency condition that should be ignored in a Chenath simulation (e.g. no temperature difference, only internal mass of materials).
Offset Points
Floors can have Points added to their polygon shape after they’ve been created.
To do so, Right-Click near an edge of a Floor (not clicking a Wall) and select the Add Point action.
This will add a Floor Point at the location as well as to any adjoining Floors, and to any Ceilingsat that location if appropriate.
These Points are not shared with any Wall point, if you desire to add the point to a Wall point as well as a Floor/Ceiling point then you should use the Split Wall feature.
These Floor Points can be deleted by Right-Click them and choosing the Delete Point action. If the Point can be validly deleted while keeping the Floor polygon regular, then the Point will be deleted.
These Floor Points are also created when Floors are automatically or manually split by Hero.
Moving:
Floor Points can be moved around within the Visual View by Left-Clicking & Dragging the Floor Points. If there is a Ceiling Point sharing this Point, it will also be moved. Similar to many Move actions, holding ⌨ Shift-key while moving will lock the move in a straight or direction.
Auto-Merge
Note that at the end of a Move, Hero performs a check for whether the Floors within a Zone should Auto-Merge. This feature is required to reduce the number of Floors that get created through splits & moving points.
A Floor will automatically merge back into other similar Floors if they share similar properties such as Assembly, Insulation, Colour & Adjacency type.
If you have just split a Floor and then are trying to adjust the points of the Split, to avoid this Auto-Merging of similar Floor you should change the properties of the newly split Floor to the different properties that it represents before doing the move point, otherwise you’ll merge the newly split Floorand have to repeat yourself.
Floor Constructions
Similar to Walls & Ceilings, Floors have a Construction or Assembly as well as Insulation Options that defines the material makeup of the Floor for simulation. The Floor Covering of the floor also adds to this material build-up of the assembly.
Similar to Walls & Ceilings, Floors have a Construction or Assembly as well as Insulation Options that defines the material makeup of the Floorfor Simulation. The Floor Covering of the Floor also adds to this material build-up of the assembly. Theses are discussed in further detail in the Data-Grid section below.
FLOORS WITHIN THE DATA-GRID
Property | Description | Edited Within |
|---|---|---|
Assembly | Hero has a variety of Default Floor Assemblies that can be used, and these are visible within the Construction column of the Floor Data-Grid. The current Assemblies include assemblies of types:
Suspended Timber Floors & Timber Floor Coverings It should be note that the Suspended Timber Floor Assemblies reference to “Timber” is only as the structural material and that it is the Floor Covering which determines whether the Floor has Timber Floorboards or not, not the Assembly. | Construction Column |
Type | In addition to the Construction or Assembly of the Floor, the Floor Data-Grid also contains a Type column that is used for reference & information but that if changed may change both the Assembly and Adjacency Type to the relevant defaults for that Type as required. See above Assembly row for details. | Type Column |
Insulation Option | The Insulation (if any) can added to a Floor via the Insulation column of the Floor Data-grid. There are variety of Floor Insulation Options available depending on the Floor Construction, including: Slab on Ground Assemblies: Several common R-value underslab insulation products. Waffle Pod Assemblies: Various thickness of EPS-foam waffle-pod void formers that lie below the slab. The R-values are the thermally bridged R-values that account for the concrete ribs or beams across the floor. There is also a uninsulated option in the list for non-foam based waffle-pods such as plastic void formers etc. Suspended Floors: A variety of Insulation options that represent common insulation systems including:
| Insulation Column |
Slab Edge Insulation | Concrete Slab on Ground & Waffle-pod Floors can have Slab Edge Insulation added to them via the Slab Edge Insulation column in the Floor data-grid. There are a fixed variety of typical R-value products that can be selected for the Floor. | Slab Edge Insulation Column |
Floor Covering | Floor Coverings are used to model the effects of various materials on top of the Floor Assembly within a Simulation. The Floor Coverings have slightly different Materials depending on whether they are applied to a Suspended Timber Floor or not. See the Floor Covering Table below for further details. | Covering Column |
Area | The Gross Area of the Floor in Square Metres (i.e. does not include Holes/Stairwell area) | Not Editable within Data-Grid |
Sub-Floor Ventilation Type | Floors with a Sub-Floor Adjacency can toggle the Ventilation rate of that Sub-Floor Zone through the Ventilation column in the Floor Data-grid. This is described in further detail in the Sub-floor Zone section. | Subfloor Ventilation Column |
Floor Adjacency Types
Similar to Walls & Ceilings, Floors have a variety of different adjacency conditions that are determined by whether the Floor is adjacent to actual model objects or that can be selected manually be the user.
Adjacency Type | Description | Editable Within Data Grid |
|---|---|---|
Ground | The Floor is directly adjacent to Ground such as for a Concrete Slab or Waffle-pod Assembly. If the Adjacency type is changed then the Assembly will be automatically changed away from a Ground type Assembly. | Yes |
Subfloor | Floor is adjacent to a Sub-Floor Zone. When a Floor has a Subfloor Adjacency, Hero will automatically create a Subfloor Zone underneath the Floor, or if a Subfloor Zone already exists on that Level, will expand the Subfloor Zone to encompass the area below the newly changed Floor. Subfloor Zones are detailed further in the Zone section of this tutorial and have many special properties. | Yes |
External | If the Floor is sufficiently elevated such that the area below it does not form a enclosed or semi-enclosed Sub-Floor Zone, then the External Adjacency Type should be used. This represents a Floor that is simply adjacent to the External environment temperature (i.e. outside air). | Yes |
Internal | Floor adjacent to a Ceiling from the same Dwelling | No |
Neighbouring (Actual Connection) | Floors adjacent to a Ceiling from a different Dwelling. | No |
Neighbouring (Manual Selection) | Floors adjacent to a Conditioned Space that is not part of the Hero model (i.e. Adjacent Buildings, Commercial Spaces etc). | Yes |
Carpark | Floors adjacent to an actual Carpark Zone that is part of the Common Area Dwelling | No |
Corridor | Floors adjacent to an actual Corridor Zone that is part of the Common Area Dwelling | No |
Floor Coverings
Floor Covering Name | Modelled Material | Additional Layers for Suspended Timber Floor |
|---|---|---|
Timber | 12mm Timber Hardwood | 19mm Particleboard layer |
Carpet | 10mm Carpet with 8mm Rubber Underlay | 19mm Particleboard layer |
Tile | 8mm Ceramic Tile | 19mm Particleboard layer + 6mm Compressed Fibre-Cement Underlay |
Vinyl | 3mm Vinyl Floor Tile | 19mm Particleboard layer |
Cork | 6mm Cork Floor Tile | 19mm Particleboard layer |
Brick | 75mm Brick Floor | None |
Stone | 10mm Slate Floor | 19mm Particleboard layer |
Earth | 50mm Soil Floor | None |
Exposed | No Floor Covering (i.e. just Assembly + Insulation Option) | N/A (only available for Slab Assemblies) |
Roof-Space Soffit Floors
When a Ceiling has a Roof-Space Adjacency such as formed by an Attic Assembly type, then a special Soffit Floor will be automatically created for the Roofspace and will become visible in the Floor Data-Grid tab. These are discussed further in the Roof-space Zone section.