This rule checks height and gross areas of building floor. Gross areas should be modeled as spaces before they can be checked, or you can create gross area compartments in Compartmentation View. The rule checks also external wall area and gross area ratio, and window area / gross area ratio. The rule can be used in checking various efficiency ratios of the building.
The rule parameters are:
Gross Area Source Preference:
This shows a set of options that let you choose the Gross Area Compartments or the Gross Area Space Groups.
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Prefer Gross Area Compartments: This option is used if you wish to use the Compartments or the space groups are not available in the model. These 'Gross Area Compartments' are defined in the Compartmentation View.
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Prefer Gross Area Space Groups: This option is used if you wish to use the Space Groups or Compartments are not available in the model. These 'Gross Area Space Groups' are defined in the Space Grouping View.
Floor Area:
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Check Building Floor Gross Area: If this is checked, a gross area component or gross area compartment is required for each building floor and net area and empty area ratio are checked.
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Net Area Ratio: The lowest acceptable net area ratio. Net area ratio is the ratio between space areas and gross area in one floor. This parameter is enabled only, if Check Building Floor Gross Area is checked.
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Empty Area Ratio: The highest acceptable empty area ratio. Empty area ratio is the ratio between empty spaces inside gross area and space covered by spaces, walls or columns. This parameter is enabled only, if Check Building Floor Gross Area is checked.
External Wall Area:
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Check External Wall Area: If this is checked, a gross area compartment is required for each building floor and external wall area / gross area ratio is checked.
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External Wall Area / Gross Area: The lowest acceptable ratio between External Wall Area / Gross Area. This parameter is enabled only, if Check External Wall Area is checked.
Window Area:
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Check Window Area: If this is checked, a gross area compartment is required for each building floor and window area / external wall area is checked for each floor and for whole building.
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Window Area in Building Floor: The highest acceptable value for window area / external wall area ratio in each building floor. The used window area is the same as window opening area (shown in the Info view). This parameter is enabled only, if Check Window Area is checked.
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Window Area in Building: The highest acceptable value for window area / external wall area ratio in whole building. This parameter is enabled only, if Check Window Area is checked.
Floor Height:
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Check Building Floor Height: If this is checked, similarity of building floor heights is checked.
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Ignore Lowest Building Floor: When this parameter is selected, the lowest building floor (typically Foundation or Ground Floor) is ignored in Building Floor Height checking. This parameter is enabled only, if Check Building Floor Height is selected.
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Ignore Topmost Building Storey: When this parameter is selected, the topmost building floor (typically Roof) is ignored in Building Floor Height checking. This parameter is enabled only, if 'Check Building Floor Height' is selected.
Analysing the results:
If the model contains building floors without any components, an issue is created for them.
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Check Building Floor Gross Area:
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If Check Building Floor Gross Area is checked, net area and empty area are calculated for each building floor.
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If net area ratio is below the set limit value, an issue is created.
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If empty area ratio is greater than set limit value, an issue is created.
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If a building floor does not have a gross area space component or gross area compartment, an issue is created, and net and empty area ratios are not calculated.
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If a building floor has both, a gross area space component and gross area compartment, these areas are compared, and if there is a difference, an issue is created.
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If there are spaces outside the gross area space component, issues are created for them.
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Check External Wall Area:
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If 'Check External Wall Area' is checked, area of external walls (walls attached to gross area compartment) is calculated, and ratio between it and gross area compartment area is checked against the given limit value.
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If a building floor does not have a gross area compartment, an issue is created, and external wall area is not checked.
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Check Window Area
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If 'Check Window Area' is checked, total area of windows in external walls and total area of external walls is calculated for each building floor and checked against the given limit value. Ratio is calculated also for the whole building and checked against the given limit value.
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If a building floor does not have a gross area compartment, an issue is created, and window area is not checked.
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Check Building Floor Height
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If 'Check Building Floor Height' is checked, and there are more than one building floor heights in the model, an issue is created for each height value. The lowest and the topmost floors can be ignored by separate parameters.
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If 'Check Building Floor Gross Area' is also checked, heights of building floors and gross area components are compared. If gross area component's height differs from the floor height, an issue is created.
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Rule report:
The report has a row for each building floor (+ a row for the whole building) and a column for:
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Building Floor Name
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Building Floor Height
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Building Floor Gross Area
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Building Floor Net Area
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Net Area Ratio in a Building Floor
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Building Floor Wall Area (area of space covered by walls and columns)
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Empty Area Ratio in a Building Floor
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Building Floor Volume
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Building Floor External Wall Area
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External Wall Area / Gross Area in a Building Floor
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Building Floor Window Area
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Window Area Ratio in a Building Floor
Rule tools:
The rule does not have any tools.