Energy Express for Architects
Frequently Asked Questions
Floor Plan Form
Q. How do I edit floor, ceiling or roof (horizontal)
elements?
A. On Floor Plan form, Right Click on the line below the
zone name to select from the popup menu.
Q. How do I add a floor, ceiling or roof to a zone?
A. On Floor Plan form, Right Click on the line below the
zone name to select Floor | Create from the popup menu.
Q. How do I rename a zone?
A. On Floor Plan form, Right Click on the line below the
zone name and select "Rename" from the popup menu.
Q. How do I enter height data for my building, given that
the Floor Plan form is only two-dimensional?
A. Right click on the Rise combo box and select Edit to
display the Rise Edit dialog. This menu also enables you to split a
multi-storey rise into two rises and reorder rises vertically.
Q. How do I rename a zone from "R1Z1"?
A. Right Click on the line below the zone name, select
Rename.
Q. How do I draw a wall of a particular length?
A. As you draw, a counter in the Status Bar shows the
current length. You can also use the grid to indicate length and position.
(Default grid is 1m x 1m).
Q. How do I Edit/Add horizontal elements? e.g.
floor/ceiling/roof
A. Right Click on the line below the zone name, select
the element to edit.
Q. How do I fix drawing errors?
A. If an element is the wrong length, position or
placement, you can stretch or move it. Click the element once to select it. To
stretch, click and drag one of the "handles". To move, click and drag
on the element itself. (not on the handles) If the drawing is really messed up
you can reload the last saved version using Files | Reload Option.
Q. How do I delete elements I have drawn?
A. Deleting
• To delete a window(s) or panel(s), select it then press DEL key
• To delete a wall, select it, then drag one end onto the
other.
• To delete a zone press the Combine Zones tool.
Q. Why can't I just select a wall and press DEL to delete it?
A. Energy Express maintains a list of walls that form the
perimeter of each zone. If you just delete one, EE would have to close the
perimeter, but would not know which vertex to move.
Construction Page
Q. The construction I want is not in the library. Can I
enter it?
A. Yes. Press the New button and specify the layers in
the new construction. You can also save this new construction back to the
library for use in other projects.
Q. Where do I find more details about the materials in a
construction? e.g. AAC block?
A. The materials data is held in LIB\MATERIAL.CSV You can
open this file with Excel etc. and see the details and some notes about the
source of the data etc.
Data Backup
Q. What files do I need to copy to backup my project data
and results?
A. The project file has a default extension *.PRO, each
design option is saved in a file *.OPT. Backup all these files. When the
simulation engine runs, the results are placed in a file *.INT - save these
files too. I suggest making a folder under Projects to hold each project set
together. The file arrangement is shown in the Help file under Files &
Directories.