Hevacomp Zones

Question

Hi, 
 I am looking at a building with a basement. 
 In the basements are offices and also on the ground floor. There is a void/ lightwell on the ground floor for light to pass down into the basement. That is, there is part of a floor cut out, to allow light to pass thorough to the basement. Obviously, the air can pass through also. 
 What is the best way to model this? Can I model the office in the basement and the office on the ground floor separately? Should I create a floor type to have a very low thermal barrier. Can hevacomp model openings though floors? 
 thanks

Duncan Brown · Accepted Answer

Hi there - You're going to run into a couple of problems with the Steady State model, as this doesn't allow for atrium space definition, nor does it allow for actual rooms within rooms. However, we do need to emulate these techniques as closely as possible. First of all you should consider this document . This allows you to emulate a room within a room, and this internal room should be considered the be the light well. It is important to ensure that all connecting surfaces from the inner room to the outer room, and also the outer room split surfaces to allow for the highest possible thermal transfer. This is also the case with the ceiling/floor in the 'light well' between the ground and basement floor. The basement floor should be modelled in the same way, though the actual bottom of the 'light well' room should be the same floor surface as the rest of the basement. While this model isn't perfect, it does allow a reasonable compromise to the model, though solar components will not pass beyond the ground floor light well. Regards, Duncan