Overview
Within most Energy-Modelling programs including Hero, simulated spaces are defined & organised into Zones. These Zones typically represents “Rooms” of a Building however they are more accurately described as any Space or Volume of Air that should be independently modelled. In addition to normal “Rooms” such as Bedrooms & Kitchen within Hero there a variety of Special Zones such as Roofspace Zones & Subfloor Zones (detailed below).
Modelled Zone Coverage
All Rooms within a Dwelling should be modelled as Zones including Class 10a Garages attached to the rest of the modelled Dwelling. (Note if unconditioned rooms such as stores or garages are not attached directly then they still may need to be modelled as shading objects)
Zones are the Parent object of the Floors , Ceilings & Walls that are contained within them, and also the Zone’s Ceilings Fans & Penetrations
Within the Chenath Simulation Engine, the Zone holds all the information regarding not only the Floors, Ceilings, Walls, Openings & other model objects within the space, but also the Internal Heat Gains (such as Appliances, Occupant & Lighting), it’s Heating & Cooling Thermostat Setpoints & Profile, and the operation of Shade & Natural Ventilation features within the Zone. The Heating & Cooling Results of a Simulation are compiled at a Zone level, and it from this Zone Heating & Cooling Result that the Star-Rating is eventually derived from.
ZONES IN THE VISUAL VIEW
Creation
Zones are created within the Visual View using the Zone Drawing Mode. Roofspace Zones & Subfloor Zones are automatically created by Hero when a Ceiling or Floor choose a Roofspace or Subfloor Adjacency respectively.
Selecting
Zones can be Selected using the Select Parent Context-Menu Action ( 🖱 Right-Click → Select Parent) or it’s shortcut (🖱 Double Left-Click on a child such as Wall, Floor or Ceiling).
Deleting
Zones can be Deleted (after selecting them as described above) using the ⌨ Delete keyboard shortcut, or 🖱 Right-Click Context-menu action Delete or via the Zone Data-Grid’s Delete button.
Don’t Try to Drag-Select all the objects of a Zone and Delete them to Delete a Zone. You shoul select the Zone as described above & then delete it.
ZONES IN THE DATA-GRID
Property | Description | Edited Within |
|---|---|---|
Name | The Name of the Zone | Name Column |
Type | The Zone Type such as Bedroom or Living Room or Unconditioned. Zone Type determines the Heating & Cooling Thermostat Setpoints & Profile as well as Internal Heat Gain impacts (see Resources. See table below for all NatHERS Zone Types. | Type Column |
Dwelling | The Parent Dwelling of the Zone. Can be changed if Zone was initially created within the wrong Dwelling. | Dwelling Column (if >1 Dwelling) |
Volume | The Total Air Volume of the Zone (in m3). Can be Manually overridden by Users if desired to enter custom Air-Volumes. Volumes are typically automatically calculated by Hero for Zones. However there are situations where the User may wish to set their own Zone Volume figure due to unusual Zone geometry or other reasons. The Automatic Volume calculations can become less accurate for Non-Rectangular Zones (e.g. Zones with lots of split walls, floating walls and/or raked ceilings). The Automatic/Manual Volume Column of the Zone Data-Grid allows Users to toggle between these figures. Setting the value back to Automatic will recalculate the Volume back to Hero’s calculation | Volume & Volume Automatic Columns |
Air Leakage | Total Air Leakage of all Penetrations within the Zone (in m3/hr) Note: Currently does not include Simulated Air-leakage from Room & Openings, just Penetrations. | Air Leakage Column (hidden by Default) |
Zone Types
Hero contains the following Zone Types, many of which are exactly the same as the Technical Notes descriptions of Zone Type with several exceptions.
Zone Type | Description |
|---|---|
Kitchen/Living | As per NatHERS Technical Notes. Examples: Kitchen, Kitchen/Living, Kitchen/Dining |
Living | As per NatHERS Technical Notes Examples: Living, Lounge, Dining, Family, Rumpus, Media, Theatre |
Bedroom | As per NatHERS Technical Notes Examples: Bedroom or Study with Wardrobe |
Day Time | As per NatHERS Technical Notes Examples: Laundry or WC or Bathroom with No External Window/Door, Study, Hall, Corridor, Store, Pantry |
Night Time | As per NatHERS Technical Notes Examples: Ensuite, WIR accessed from Bedroom |
Unconditioned | As per NatHERS Technical Notes Examples: Laundry or Bathroom or WC or Powder, with External Window/Door |
Unconditioned Garage | As per NatHERS Technical Notes Examples: Unconditioned Garage |
Conditioned Garage | As per NatHERS Technical Notes Examples: Garage with Heating and/or Cooling |
Corridor (Class 2) | Hero models all Class 2 Corridors (whether they are Unglazed or Glazed as per NatHERS Definitions) as a single “Corridor” Zone Type to minimise user confusion & simplify Model creation. Hero decides automatically (based on whether the Corridor Zone has Glazing) as to whether to Simulate the Zone within Chenath as a Special Chenath “Glazed Corridor” Zone, or as Neighbouring Adjacency |
Carpark (Class 2) | As per NatHERS Technical Notes Examples: |
Void | The Void Zone is used to model a special situation where a Zone resides over Multiple Levels. The Void Zone should be the Upper Zone. Modelling a Zone as a Void means that all of it’s child objects such as Walls, Ceilings & Openings are modelled as a Single Zone within Chenath. Note a Void Zone does not need a Hole across the entirety of it’s Floor, this is assumed automatically by Hero (though you can if you’d like, though it will have identical effects). |
Special Zones | Description |
|---|---|
Roofspace Zone | |
Subfloor Zone |
SPECIAL ZONES:
ROOFSPACE ZONES
(inc roofspace types, volume calculations etc)
SUBFLOOR ZONES
(inc Subfloor height alerts, walls of subfloiors etc)