Wing Walls
- Hero Software
Overview
Wing-Walls are shade objects used to model Vertical Shading that is projecting out Perpendicularly from both Left & Right ends of a Wall so that their Shading Impacts (i.e. reduced Solar Gains) can be Simulated.
Wing-Walls can be Automatically Created by Hero (recommended) or Manually Created or Overidden by Users depending on the situation (see further details below)
Wing Walls are modelled as Line like objects within Hero projecting out from the Left & Right ends of a Wall within the Visual View (see below which shows a Left & Right Manually/User Created Wing Wall projecting out from a selected Wall in blue). Their Heights (and further attributes) are set within the Wing Wall Data-Grid.
Automatic vs Manual Wing Walls
Wing Walls are a Shading Object (similar to Eaves & Screens) within the Hero Model.
Visual View
Within the Visual View Automatic Wing Walls are shown differently to Manual (i.e. User Created) Wing Walls with Automatic Wing Walls having a dotted line (see Left Wing Wall in image to the right), whereas Manual Wing Walls have a solid line (see Right Wing Wall in image below).
Automatic Wing Walls
There are situations where Hero can automatically detect that a certain object within the Model should be considered a Wing Wall to another wall. Hero automatically detects Other Walls and Screens as potentially Wing Walls. The Wall or Screen must be Perpendicular to the subject Wall to be considered a candidate to be an Automatic Wing Wall.
E.g: In the Example image to the right a Selected Wall (in Blue) has automatically had two Wing Walls assigned to it by Hero on it’s Left & Right (dotted pink lines) rather than require the User to Manually Create these.
We recommend you always double-check Automatic Wing Walls as there can occasionally arise situations where Hero’s automatic assessment may not be providing the largest shading impact on a wall and users should exercise user judgement.
Manual Wing Walls
Manual or User Created Wing Walls are sometimes required to model Shading Objects that are not part of the Hero Model such as Fences, Adjacent Buildings and Other such objects on the plan.
E.g: In the Image to the Left a Selected Wall (in Blue) has Automatically had a Right Wing Wall created for it but required a Manual Left Wing Wall to be created by the user to Model the Fence.
Alternative Modelling Method
You could also model the above scenario without the use of Manual Wing Walls using Screens which are also picked up “Automatically” by Hero’s scans similar to other Walls.
E.g. in the example below a Screen was drawn in to model the fence that we modelled as a Manual Left Wing Wall in the previous example. The second image on the right (shown with the Wall Selected) shows that this Fence has been Automatically detected by Hero and an Automatic Left Wing Wall has been created. (This method has the benefits of the Screen being easily edited in position and multipurpose)
Wing Walls & Openings
Note all Openings (Windows & Doors) on a Wall share the Wing Walls of their Parent Walls during Simulation
Screens as Automatic Wing Walls
Using Hero’s automatic detection of Screens as Wing Walls feature, is a highly recommended way to improve your productivity and reduce data-entry errors.
This unique feature can be slightly confusing to new users who are used to more Manual Wing Wall style creation experience from other software packages.
It is also slightly different to how Screens are used as parallel Vertical Shade Objects (i.e. their “traditional” functionality as Screens inside Chenath) inside Hero where you are required to manually attach them. You don’t need to do that for Screens as Automatic Wing Walls.
When you use a Screen to represent a Wing Wall(s) and let Hero automatically detect that Screen (as a Vertical Shade object) and automatically create a Wing Wall Shade object (used in Chenath), you give yourself much greater flexibility and accuracy.
Benefits of Screens as Automatic Wing Walls
Model the Screen dimensions and height once - then let Hero handle the vertical offsets and other calculations for each Wall connected to the Screen as a Wing-Wall.
Screens are commonly already required to be modelled as Parallel (i.e. traditional) Shading Screens for the same situation that require it to be modelled as a Wing Wall, so combine the two into the one Hero model object.
Design change flexibility - if that shade object height or position changes in the design, you again only have to change one screen height or width, with manual Wing Walls you update every Wall that has such a Wing-Wall.
Reduce data-entry error - it is easy to miss or forget to edit a Manual Wing Wall Vertical Offset dimension or Projection dimension when you are manually entering wing-walls for each and every Wall.
How To Use Screens as Wing Walls
Enter the Height of the Screen as you would for when using it as a Parallel Shading Screen.
If the Screen line is within a certain distance to the edge of the Wall (note it can be slightly “in front” of a Wall in which case Hero just caps the Horizontal Offset of the Wing Wall to 0mm) then Hero will automatically calculate and create an Automatic Wing Wall to visual show our best guess at the appropriate Wing Wall.
The Wing Wall projection, horizontal and vertical offset values are then updated automatically on model changes such as level heights and wall or shade object position changes.
Remember there’s no need to manually Attach Screens to Walls for them to be utilised as Automatic Wing Walls by Hero, we calculate and detect these automatically at the end of certain Hero actions! Attaching Screens to Walls is only required for Parallel traditional Shade Screen model creation where some user judgement is currently required.
When are Manual Wing Walls appropriate?
There's always a place for overriding wing-walls. The limitations of Chenath (only one wing-wall shade object allowed per wall end) require Hero to select just one of the many possible Wing-Wall shade objects configurations that are possible in a typical design. There will inevitably be times where user-judgement is required to provide a more human educated guess at what would be the appropriate shade object. In these situations, Manual Wing Walls provide a quick and flexible way to lock a Wing-Wall shade object to a Wall .
WING WALLS IN THE VISUAL VIEW
Creating
Auto-Created Wing-Walls
Hero by default Automatically detects & Creates Wing Walls throughout the Model (see above section) when it detects Walls or Screens nearby that would act as a Left or Right Wing Wall.
Creating Manual Wing-Walls
Wing Walls can be Manually Created within the Visual View by Left-Clicking one of the Create Wing Buttons that sit next to the Left & Right ends of a Selected Wall in the Visual View.
A Wing Wall is created and can now be further Dragged into it’s final desired position (see Moving Section below).
Selecting
You can Select a Wing Wall within the Visual View by first Selecting the Parent Wall to make the Wing Wall Visible & then Left-Click to Select the Wing-Wall.
If you Select a Wing Wall Row in the Data-Grid, both Wing-Walls will be selected in the Visual View.
Deleting
A Wing Wall can be Deleted by:
selecting the Wing Wall within the Visual-View or Data-Grid and pressing
⌨ Delete(noting that if selected in the Data-Grid this will delete both Wing Walls if there are two); orby using the
Right-ClickContext-menuDeleteaction within the Visual View;
Deleting Automatic Wing Walls
If you Delete an Automatic Wing Wall, rather than remove the Wing Wall entirely Hero will set the Wing Wall to Manual & Zero the Projection & Offset of the Wing Wall.
This is to prevent another Automatic Wing Wall from being created on subsequent Wall Moves etc.
Moving
The Projection & Horizontal Offset of a Wing Wall can be adjusted in the Visual View.
To adjust the Projection, select the Parent Wall to make the Wing Wall Visible and then Drag the End Point (i.e. the Projection Point) of the Wing Wall to it’s desired location.
To move the Horizontal Offset, again ensure the Wing Wall is visible and then Drag the Projection Line of the Wing Wall and move it to it’s desired location.
WING WALLS IN THE DATA-GRID
Wing-Walls are shown in the Data-Grid as single row entry for both Left & Right Wing-Walls.
The Properties below (except for Parent Wall) are duplicated for both the Left & Right Wing Wall Column groups.
Property | Description |
|
|---|---|---|
Parent Wall | The Name of the Parent Wall of the Wing Wall(s) | Parent Wall Column |
Automatic / Manual Setting | Toggle the Wing Wall from being an Automatically Calculated to Manual Wing Wall (see above section). If a Wing Wall is toggled from Manual to Automatic and there are no appropriate Wing Walls found in that Automatic search, the Wing Wall may be removed from the Wing Wall Data-Grid | Left & Right Automated Column |
Projection | The Projection (Perpendicular Distance) of the Wing Wall from the Wall (inside face) (in mm) Note the Projection value used in a Chenath Simulation is the stated Projection minus the Wall’s thickness. | Left & Right Projection Columns |
Left or Right Horizontal Offset | The Distance between the Left or Right Edge of the Wall & the Starting Edge of the Wing Wall (in mm) | Left & Right Offset Columns |
Height | The Height of the Wing Wall relative to Level Height (in mm) | Left & Right Height Columns (hidden by default) |
Vertical Offset Height | The Distance between the Top Height of the Wing Wall & Top Height of the Wall (in mm) Negative if Top of Wing Wall is below Top of Wall | Vertical Offset Column |