FlucsDL User Guide - IES

BOSTON, MA │ GLASGOW, SCOTLAND │ DUBLIN, IRELAND │ LONDON, ENGLAND │ MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA │ SAN FRANCISCO, CA │ DUBAI, UAE

FlucsDL User Guide<VE> 6.0

INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS LIMITEDInternational Sustainability ConsultingDevelopers of the IES <Virtual Environment>

Contents

page 2


Introduction to FlucsDL ........................................................................................................................ 6

Calculations ...................................................................................................................................... 6

Menus .................................................................................................................................................. 7

File Menu.......................................................................................................................................... 7

Save.............................................................................................................................................. 7

Recently Used File List ................................................................................................................. 7

Edit menu ......................................................................................................................................... 8

Undo ............................................................................................................................................. 8

Redo ............................................................................................................................................. 8

Selection Set................................................................................................................................. 8

Assign surface types ..................................................................................................................... 8

Query Model ................................................................................................................................. 8

Add Working Plane ....................................................................................................................... 9

Delete Working Plane ................................................................................................................... 9

Add Task Area .............................................................................................................................. 9

Delete Task Area .......................................................................................................................... 9

Analysis......................................................................................................................................... 9

Clear Analysis Results .................................................................................................................. 9

View Menu...................................................................................................................................... 10

Flucs Bar..................................................................................................................................... 10

Toolbars ...................................................................................................................................... 10

Viewports .................................................................................................................................... 10

Rotation....................................................................................................................................... 11

Zoom........................................................................................................................................... 11

Colour ......................................................................................................................................... 11

Refresh ....................................................................................................................................... 12

Illuminance.................................................................................................................................. 12

Luminance .................................................................................................................................. 12

No Lighting.................................................................................................................................. 12

Day Lighting ................................................................................................................................ 12

Daylight Factor ............................................................................................................................ 12

Contour Levels ............................................................................................................................ 12

Filled Contour Levels .................................................................................................................. 12

Grey Shading .............................................................................................................................. 12

Filled Threshold Contour............................................................................................................. 12

Contents

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Threshold Table .......................................................................................................................... 12

Include 0 ..................................................................................................................................... 13

Select Colour Set ........................................................................................................................ 13

Results ........................................................................................................................................ 13

Save Results............................................................................................................................... 13

Tools Menu..................................................................................................................................... 13

FlucsDL Menu ................................................................................................................................ 13

Settings Menu................................................................................................................................. 14

Grid ............................................................................................................................................. 14

Locks........................................................................................................................................... 14

Preferences................................................................................................................................. 14

Location ...................................................................................................................................... 14

Site Orientation ........................................................................................................................... 14

Help Menu ...................................................................................................................................... 15

Help Topics ................................................................................................................................. 15

About FlucsDL............................................................................................................................. 15

Toolbars ............................................................................................................................................. 16

Model Toolbar................................................................................................................................. 16

View Toolbar................................................................................................................................... 17

Dialogue Boxes .................................................................................................................................. 18

Preferences Dialogue Box .............................................................................................................. 18

Analysis Dialogue Box.................................................................................................................... 19

Dialogue Box Style...................................................................................................................... 19

Property Sheet Style ................................................................................................................... 19

Wizard Style ................................................................................................................................ 19

Advanced quality settings Dialogue Box ..................................................................................... 27

Progress Dialogue Box................................................................................................................... 30

Progress Caption ........................................................................................................................ 30

Progress Status........................................................................................................................... 30

Progress Bar ............................................................................................................................... 30

Progress Percent ........................................................................................................................ 30

Cancel Button.............................................................................................................................. 30

Daylight Threshold Dialogue Box ................................................................................................... 31

Value........................................................................................................................................... 31

Invert Button................................................................................................................................ 31

Apply Button................................................................................................................................ 32

Polyline Button ............................................................................................................................ 32

Contents

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Close Button ............................................................................................................................... 32

Analysis Results Viewer ................................................................................................................. 33

Calculation Cleanup Dialogue Box ................................................................................................. 36

Surface Browser ............................................................................................................................. 37

Flucs Dialogue Bar ......................................................................................................................... 38

General Page.............................................................................................................................. 38

Lighting Page .............................................................................................................................. 38

Create working Plane Dialogue Box ............................................................................................... 40

Name .......................................................................................................................................... 40

Height.......................................................................................................................................... 40

Elevation ..................................................................................................................................... 40

Rotation....................................................................................................................................... 40

Create Task Area Dialogue Box ..................................................................................................... 40

Name .......................................................................................................................................... 40

Close Button ............................................................................................................................... 41

Cancel Button.............................................................................................................................. 41

Custom Attributes Dialogue Box..................................................................................................... 41

Assign Template Dialogue Box....................................................................................................... 41

Select Template List Box ............................................................................................................ 41

Surface Properties Dialogue Box.................................................................................................... 42

Orientation .................................................................................................................................. 42

Tilt ............................................................................................................................................... 42

Area ............................................................................................................................................ 42

Opening Properties Dialogue Box................................................................................................... 42

Assign surface properties dialogue box.......................................................................................... 43

Picture......................................................................................................................................... 43

Copy button................................................................................................................................. 43

Save button................................................................................................................................. 43

Colours button............................................................................................................................. 43

Select category list box ............................................................................................................... 43

Model surfaces of the following type list box ............................................................................... 44

Reflectance ................................................................................................................................. 44

Transmittance ............................................................................................................................. 44

Replace button............................................................................................................................ 44

Clean button................................................................................................................................ 44

Close button................................................................................................................................ 44

Surface display colours dialogue box ............................................................................................. 44

Contents

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Toolbars Dialogue Box ................................................................................................................... 45

Toolbar List ................................................................................................................................. 45

OK Button ................................................................................................................................... 45

Threshold Table Dialogue Box ....................................................................................................... 46

Select Colour Set Dialogue Box ..................................................................................................... 46

IES HTML Viewer ........................................................................................................................... 47

Model Viewer.................................................................................................................................. 47

Model dialogue bar ......................................................................................................................... 48

Key-in.......................................................................................................................................... 48

Prompt area ................................................................................................................................ 48

Worked Example................................................................................................................................ 49

Analysing Daylight Using the Analysis Command .......................................................................... 49

Introduction to FlucsDL

page 6


Introduction to FlucsDLFlucsDL is a module available in <VE> for performing daylighting analysis calculations. The menusand toolbars for this view provide tools for performing FlucsDL calculations.

CalculationsThe program can perform daylighting analysis using the point-by-point method.

Analysis can be performed in single-room mode or in multi-room mode (useful if you have manysimilar rooms).

Menus

page 7


Menus

File Menu

The File menu handles file operations. Note that there are no options for opening FlucsDL projectfiles - this is because the FlucsDL project file always has the same name as the ModelIT file but witha *.flp extension. All you need to do is open the correct ModelIT file, and the FlucsDL project file isopened automatically.

SaveThis option is the same as in ModelIT, but note that whenever ModelIT saves a model file, it alsosaves the FlucsDL project file and any other application’s project file.

Attach DXF FileDetach DXF FileActive DXF LayersPrintPrint Setup

All these options are the same as in ModelIT.

Recently Used File ListOpen the most recently opened ModelIT files.

Menus

page 8


Edit menu

The edit menu handles some of the space properties and the FlucsDL calculations.

UndoThis icon will undo the last change made.

RedoThis icon will redo the last change made.

Selection SetThis is only available when one or more rooms are selected. Displays a sub-menu allowingoperations on the selected rooms in the model:

Selection Set Sub-menu

Custom AttributesDisplays the Custom attributes dialog box, allowing you to edit the attributes for all the selectedrooms.

Assign TemplateDisplays the Assign template dialog box, allowing you to assign the attributes for all the selectedrooms to the values held in a template.

Assign surface typesAllows you to assign surface reflectances and transmittances for the selected surfaces.

Query ModelThis is only available when a surface or opening is selected. Shows the property sheet for theselected item in the model. This may be a Surface properties dialog box, or an Opening propertiesdialogue box, depending on what item was selected.

Menus

page 9


Add Working PlaneThis is only available at body level and Illumination mode in plan view. You will be prompted to entera point in the plane to be created. When you have done this, the Create working plane dialogue boxwill be displayed, allowing you to create a named working plane, with an elevation and azimuth, andbounded by the room’s inner surface. This working plane will then be used in subsequent analysiscalculations.

Delete Working PlaneThis is only available when one or more working planes are selected. Deletes the currently selectedworking plane.

Add Task AreaThis is only available at surface level. You will be prompted to enter all the points defining the taskarea, and to right-click to finish entering points. When you have done this, the Create task areadialogue box will be displayed, allowing you to create a named task area within the currently selectedroom surface or working plane. This task area will then be used in subsequent analysis calculations.

Delete Task AreaThis is only available when one or more task areas are selected. Deletes the currently selected taskarea.

AnalysisThis is only available when one or more rooms are selected. Displays the Analysis dialogue box toperform the point-by-point analysis calculation. The calculation has two modes:

Single-room mode – only one room is selected. Multi-room mode – more than one room is selected.

Clear Analysis ResultsThis will clear all the analysis results for the selected rooms.

Menus

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View Menu

The View menu handles display control operations.

Flucs BarToggles the display of the Flucs dialogue bar at the base of the screen. This contains most of thesettings required for the Design calculations.

ToolbarsAllows you to select which toolbars are displayed. The Toolbars dialogue box appears, showing theavailable tool bars. Click the items in the list to add or remove the tick symbol, and press OK.

ViewportsThe Viewports sub-menu handles the division of the view area into one, two or four viewports.

Menus

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Viewports Sub-menu


RotationThe Rotation sub-menu allows you to switch the selected view port between the standard views.

Rotation Sub-menu


ZoomThe Zoom sub-menu allows you to set the zoom level of the selected view port.

Zoom Sub-menu


ColourThe Colour sub-menu handles colour settings.

Colour Sub-menu

Both these options are the same as in ModelIT.

Menus

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RefreshAs in ModelIT. (Tip: Use the Esc key to abort a slow refresh, e.g. when filled contours are beingdisplayed).

IlluminanceThis is available unless in surface mode at body level. Displays the calculated illuminance (lux or fc)on the surfaces.

LuminanceThis is available unless in surface mode at body level. Displays luminance (cd/m2 or cd/ft2) derivedfrom the calculated illuminance and the surface reflectances (this option is disabled if daylight factorsare being displayed).

No LightingThis is available unless in surface mode at body level. Turns off all the displays of calculated surfacelighting levels.

Day LightingThis is available unless in surface mode at body level. Displays calculated surface day lighting levels.

Daylight FactorThis is available unless in surface mode at body level. Displays calculated surface daylight factors.

Contour LevelsThis is available unless in surface mode at body level. Displays surface lighting levels using a falsecolour contour plot.

Filled Contour LevelsThis is available unless in surface mode at body level. Displays surface lighting levels using a filledfalse colour contour plot.

Grey ShadingThis is available unless in surface mode at body level. Toggles on or off the display of luminaires.

Filled Threshold ContourThis is available when illuminance (rather than luminance) is being displayed. It displays the DaylightThreshold dialogue box, which allows you to set a threshold contour for daylight factor above (orbelow) which the area will be filled and calculated.

Threshold TableThis displays a table of threshold values and the area of the room where the threshold is achieved,for each room. A setting in the Preferences dialogue box allows you to set this to display a tablesuitable for LEED NC 2.2 credit 8.1.

Menus

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Include 0This is available unless in surface mode at body level. Toggles on or off whether the scale starts atzero or at the minimum value for all the selected surfaces.

Select Colour SetDisplays the Select colour set dialogue box, allowing you to choose from a number of different falsecolour schemes for the contour levels.

ResultsOpens the IES HTML Viewer to display the most recently calculated results (both Design andAnalysis) for the selected room (when below model level) or for all rooms (when at model level).

Save ResultsOpens a standard Save As… dialogue box to save the results. The results are stored in HTML formatand may be viewed in any web browser. However, only the results for all rooms are storedpermanently. Results for individual rooms are only stored temporarily so that they may be displayedduring a session. So you may need to use this option if you wish to save the results for all rooms butwith a different name or path, or to save the results for an individual room.

Tools Menu

FlucsDL Menu

Menus

page 14


Settings Menu

The Settings menu handles grid and lock settings, and user preferences.

GridOptions the same as in ModelIT.

LocksOptions the same as in ModelIT.

PreferencesThis displays the Preferences dialogue box that allows you to change your preference for the style ofthe Analysis dialogue box and the amount of detail in the results.

LocationThis tool displays the ApLocate dialogue box where you can set the building location. The only itemsof importance for the lighting calculations are the latitude, longitude (required if you will be using theCIE Clear Sky daylight model) and ground reflectance (required if you set a ground plane).

Site OrientationThis displays the Site Orientation dialogue box that allows you to specify the direction of North – bydefault this is along the positive x-axis. This is required if you will be using the CIE Clear Sky daylightmodel.

Menus

page 15


Help Menu

The Help menu gives access to the help information.

Help TopicsDisplays this help file.

About FlucsDLDisplays the About FlucsDL dialogue box. This is where you can find the exact version number.

Toolbars

page 16


Toolbars

Model Toolbar

This toolbar appears at the top of the view. All of the buttons have equivalent menu options.

Save – see File->Save

Undo – see Edit->Undo

Redo – see Edit->Redo

Locks – see Settings->Locks

Select - Allows you to use the mouse to select a space (at model level), a surface (at bodylevel in surface mode) or an opening (at surface level).

Custom attributes – see Edit->Selection Set->Custom Attributes

Assign Template – see Edit->Selection Set->Assign Template

Assign Surface Types – see Edit->Selection Set->Assign SurfaceTypes

Query model – see Edit->Query model

Add working plane – see Edit->Add working plane

Delete working plane – see Edit->Delete working plane

Add task area – see Edit->Add task area

Delete task area – see Edit->Delete task area

Analysis – see Edit->Analysis

Clear analysis results – see Edit->Clear analysis results

Illuminance – see View->Illuminance

Luminance – see View->Luminance

No lighting – see View->No lighting

Day lighting – see View->Day lighting

Daylight factor – see View->Daylight factor

Contour levels – see View->Contour levels

Filled contour levels – see View->Filled contour levels

Grey shading – see View->Grey shading

Filled threshold contour – see View->Filled threshold contour

Threshold table – see View-> Threshold table

Include 0 – see View->Include 0

Toolbars

page 17


Select colour set – see View->Select colour set

Copy Bitmap – see File->Copy Bitmap

Save Bitmap – see File->Save Bitmap

Results – see View->Results

Save results – see View->Save results

Refresh – see View->Refresh

Model Viewer – shows the Model Viewer.

Help – see Help->Help Topics

View Toolbar

This toolbar appears at the bottom of the view. All the buttons and controls are the same as inModelIT. Note that there are two modes at body level, Surface and Illumination.

Dialogue Boxes

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Dialogue Boxes

Preferences Dialogue BoxThis dialogue box is displayed when you select Preferences on the Settings menu.

Analysis dialogue box - select a style for the Analysis dialogue box – this may be displayed inone of 3 styles – a dialogue box with all the items on one page, a property sheet with 6 pages,or a “wizard” with 6 pages (equivalent to those on the property sheet). The wizard may besimpler to use for beginners but requires more mouse clicks. The dialogue box is quicker forexperienced users.

Results display - select the sections you want in the analysis results.

Daylight threshold table – select whether you wish to display a general purpose table ofthreshold areas or one suitable for LEED NC 2.2 Credit 8.1.

Dialogue Boxes

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Analysis Dialogue BoxThe Analysis dialogue box allows you to run an analysis calculation. It may take one of two styles,depending on the preference you have set using the Settings > Analysis option.

Dialogue Box StyleThe first style (default) is a single-page dialogue box as shown here:

Property Sheet StyleThe second style is a property sheet that has 5 pages:

The Illuminance page The Margin page The Calculation quality page The Day lighting page The False ceiling page

Wizard StyleThe third style is a wizard with exactly the same pages as the property sheet.

The items on the single page dialogue box and the property sheet are exactly the same, apart fromthe buttons at the bottom.

You may specify various calculation settings, including the sizes of the calculation grids, whether tocheck for obstructions, whether to include component surfaces as reflecting or obstructingcomponents, and inter-reflection calculation method.

Dialogue Boxes

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Note be careful how much detail you request - the calculations can be very slow if you select a finegrid, especially if you are checking for obstructions or performing a full inter-reflection calculation.When you enter data an estimate is made of memory and time required. A warning is given if either ofthese gets large. As a rule of thumb, perform your initial calculations with fairly coarse grids, e.g.0.25m for working surfaces and 0.5m for all others, being the maximum coarseness allowed forCIBSE uniformity and diversity calculation purposes.

The program allows you to create working surfaces or task areas. However, a default horizontalworking surface is always automatically created at the specified working surface height, and boundedby a boundary polygon inset 0.5m from the cross section of the room when cut by the plane. A taskarea is created at the geometric centre of this default working plane. (A later version may allow you,after the calculations, to examine any sub-area of a working plane as if it were a task area.)

Back Button Press this to go back to the previous page in the Wizard.

Next Button Press this to go forward to the next page in the Wizard.

Finish Button Press this to start the calculations. The Progress dialogue box will now display,where the calculation may be monitored (in multi-room mode, the Progress dialogue box is displayedfor each room in turn).

Cancel Button Press this to abandon the calculations.

Dialogue Boxes

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Illuminance Page

Illuminance Type

Specify the type of illuminance to calculate for working planes and task areas. Note all other surfacesalways use planar illuminance:

Planar (“horizontal”). This is the simple illuminance on the receiving plane. Usually this is ahorizontal plane, hence the term “horizontal”.

Perpendicular (“vertical”). This is the illuminance on a plane passing through the point andperpendicular to the receiving plane. Typically the latter is a horizontal plane, hence the term“vertical”. It is used mainly for environments where there are many vertical surfaces to beilluminated, mostly facing in the same direction, e.g. a control room with many display terminals.

Cylindrical. This is the average illuminance over the surface of a cylinder whose axis passesthrough the point and is perpendicular to the receiving plane. Effectively this means that only thecomponent of the incidence angle parallel to the cylinder axis is taken into account.

Semi-cylindrical. Similar to cylindrical illuminance, but the cylinder is cut in half by a planeparallel to its axis. This means it is treated in the same way as cylindrical illuminance, exceptthat there is a cut-off when the component of the incidence angle perpendicular to the cylinderaxis exceeds +/- 90 degrees.

Scalar. This is the average illuminance over the surface of a sphere.

Dialogue Boxes

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Margin Page

Working Surface Margin

Enter the margin to be left uncalculated at the edges of working surfaces. Because the grid size isconstant, the calculations will be inaccurate when the working surface is close to a room surface. TheCIBSE-recommended margin is 0.5m.

Dialogue Boxes

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Calculation Quality Page

Quality slider

Use this to select from a number of predetermined quality settings. The text below will change as youmove the slider to give you more detail about the quality setting. Please use this to confirm whetherthe quality you have chosen will be adequate for the purpose. If in doubt, use the Advanced button toset the quality at a higher level of detail.

Advanced button

This will show the Advanced Quality Settings dialogue box, where you can set the calculation qualityat a higher level of detail.

Include room components toggle button

Select this if you have placed components in the room, and you need these to be taken into accountin the lighting calculations.

Include a ground plane toggle button

Select this if you wish a ground plane to be included in the calculation. This is a notional ground planecreated at z=0 around the building. Include it if you wish to determine whether any extra light may beavailable due to reflections off the ground.Note: the reflectance is assumed to be 10%. Also this is only meaningful if you are using full inter-reflection calculations.

Dialogue Boxes

page 24


Day Lighting Page

This page is only available when the room contains windows or a multi-room calculation is beingperformed.

Calculate Day Lighting Toggle Button

Select this to calculate day lighting from all the external openings within the room. Externalreflections, including ground reflectance, or external obstructions, may be included if you select thecorrect quality settings.

Calculate for LEED NC 2.2 Credit 8.1 Toggle Button

This is only available when you have selected to create threshold tables for LEED NC 2.2 Credit 8.1in the Preferences. Select this to force all the settings to the correct ones for a calculation suitable forchecking LEED NC 2.2 Credit 8.1. This forces the sky model to CIE Clear Sky, the date and time to21 March at 12:00, the calculation grid size to 2 ft (or its metric equivalent), and the threshold to 25 ft-candles (or its metric equivalent).

Sky model

Select the sky model to use - the CIE Standard Overcast Sky, the Uniform overcast sky, or the CIEClear sky. The first two are defined as functions of the value of Zenith Luminance, Lz, entered below.The last one does not need these values – instead it is a function of latitude, longitude, date and time.The latitude and longitude may be set in the Settings->Location… menu option. The date and timemust be selected below.

Dialogue Boxes

page 25


Zenith Luminance

Enter the zenith luminance Lz of the sky model. The luminance Lγ,a at elevation γ and azimuth a is given by:

For the CIE Standard Overcast Sky: Lγ,a = Lz (1 + 2 sin(γ))/3

For the Uniform Overcast Sky: Lγ,a = Lz

The next field will be calculated automatically if you enter a value here.

Equivalent Illuminance on the Horizontal Plane

Enter the equivalent unobstructed illuminance that is required on the horizontal plane. The above fieldwill be calculated automatically if you enter a value here. You may use this option, for example, if youwish to do a direct comparison with a Radiance calculation using the 10k CIE Standard Overcast Sky.

Date and time

This is needed if you select the CIE Clear Sky model. Select the date either by selecting the day ormonth text and entering the text or using the spin buttons. You can also click on the down arrow touse the calendar control:

This allows you to select a day of the month or scroll to other months using the arrows.Select the time by selecting the hour or minute text and entering the text or using the spin buttons

Dialogue Boxes

page 26


False Ceiling Page

Create a False Ceiling Toggle Button

The person who created the building model may have already added the false (i.e. suspended)ceiling if it exists in this room. There are two main ways in which this could have been done:

By assigning, to the ceiling surface, a construction that includes the concrete slab (or whatever),the ceiling void and the suspended ceiling tiles.

By modelling the ceiling void as a separate space.

(This choice was probably made on thermal grounds.) If this is the case, DO NOT tick this button. Asurface, representing the real underside surface of the ceiling tiles, will be automatically created foruse in the Analysis calculation anyway.

However, if the false ceiling was not added (e.g. the material may be thermally insubstantial), tick thisbutton. Then an extra surface, representing the underside of the ceiling tiles, will be created for use inthe Analysis calculation.

Use the Mounting Plane Height Toggle Button

Turn this on if you wish to create the false ceiling at a height determined by the mounting plane heightthat is currently in effect for the room. This is recommended if you are doing a multi-room analysis,because otherwise you would have to enter a single value below which would be applied to all therooms, which would (usually) not be realistic.

Height of False Ceiling Above the Floor

Enter a number here only if you did not tick the box above. The number entered here will determinethe height within the room of this extra surface.

Reflectance

The number entered or selected here will determine the reflectance of this extra surface.

Dialogue Boxes

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Advanced quality settings Dialogue BoxThis has two pages, the Surfaces page and the Reflections page.

Surfaces page

Receive and reflect light Toggle Buttons

Select the surfaces that you wish to be included in the calculation as surfaces that receive light andcan therefore also be included in the inter-reflection calculations.

Obstruct light Toggle Buttons

Select the surfaces that you wish to be included in the calculation as surfaces that obstruct light andcan therefore contribute to shading.

Internal room surfaces

These are the internal surfaces of the room being calculated. They always receive light (so the“Receive light” button is always on and disabled). For a room where the internal surfaces are“concave”, e.g. inner partitions or parts of an L-shaped room, it may also be important to turn on the“Obstruct light” button.

In the room for which the calculation is being carried out (the subject room), daylight only enters viawindows and holes, whether or not this check box is set. This is mainly for efficiency reasons, buteffectively it means that the wall containing the window or hole is always treated as an obstructingsurface for day light entering via that window or hole. So, unless other rooms are to be included in thecalculation, the only reason for setting this check box would be to take account of extra obstructingsurfaces, e.g. in an L-shaped room.

Dialogue Boxes

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However, in other rooms, if they are included in the calculation, internal room surfaces are treated asobstructing surfaces only if this check box is set. So, if other rooms are included in the calculation,and there is a chance that light from internal surfaces of those rooms may contribute by inter-reflection to the subject room, this check box should be set.

Component surfaces

These are the surfaces of components that have been placed within the room. Note that it is possibleto place components within a room and then move them outside. Turn the relevant buttons on if roomcomponent surfaces are to be included as sources of reflected light or as obstructions to light. Boththese buttons will increase the calculation times. If the “Reflect light” button is turned on, the surfaceswill also be included in the illumination calculations, and the illumination levels can therefore beviewed after the calculation. NB only components with less than 10 constituent bodies will be used.

External room surfaces

These are the external surfaces of the room being calculated. One reason for turning on the “Obstructlight” button may be to take into account the extra obstruction due to deep window recesses.

Surfaces from other rooms

These are the internal and external surfaces of other rooms, apart from the room being calculated.One reason for turning on the buttons may be to take into account reflections or shading due tonearby rooms.

Surfaces from obstructions file

These are the internal and external surfaces of rooms in any attached obstructions file. One reasonfor turning on the buttons may be to take into account shading due to nearby buildings, e.g. in a“right-to-light” analysis.

Ground plane

This is a notional ground plane created at z=0 around the building. Include it if you wish to determinewhether any extra light may be available due to reflections off the ground. There is no “Obstruct light”button. NB the reflectance is assumed to be 10%. Also this is only meaningful if you are using fullinter-reflection calculations.

Grid Size 1 for Working Planes, Task Areas and Luminaires

Enter the grid size in metres for the working surfaces and task areas. This will also be applied toluminaires if they are to be divided up into smaller light sources. NB a smaller grid size will be used ifnecessary for small surface areas.

Grid Size 2 for Internal Room Surfaces and Component Surfaces

Enter the grid size in metres for all other surfaces within the room apart from working surfaces andtask areas. This would normally be larger than the first grid size. NB a smaller grid size will be used ifnecessary for small surface areas.

Grid Size 3 for External Surfaces

Enter the grid size in metres for all surfaces outside the room. This would normally be larger than theother two grid sizes. NB a smaller grid size will be used if necessary for small surface areas.

Dialogue Boxes

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Reflections Page

Calculation Method Combo

Select the type of inter-reflectance calculation required:

No inter-reflections – no inter-reflection calculation will be performed. Average inter-reflections – the average illuminance on all the surfaces in the room is reflected

infinitely using the average area-weighted surface reflectance and this reflected light is assumedto be reflected evenly to all the surfaces in the room. If the average surface reflectance is R andthe average initial illuminance on the surfaces is I, the infinite series of reflections of I is given byI (R + R2 + R3 + ...) which simplifies to I R/(1-R).

Full inter-reflections (progressive radiosity). This option progressively takes the surface patch,whose as-yet unreflected flux is largest, reflects this flux to all the other room surfaces, notes itas now having been reflected, and repeats this process until there are no patches withunreflected flux above a minimum value or until the maximum number of reflections has beenperformed. The value of the largest remaining unreflected flux, and the number of shoots, aredisplayed in the progress dialogue box so that you can monitor the convergence of thecalculation. The display of illuminance levels in the view is updated after every 50 reflections.You may interrupt or cancel the calculation at any stage, e.g. when you feel the calculation hasbegun to converge. If this option is selected, you must enter values in the next two boxes also.

Minimum Patch Flux for Reflection

Enter the minimum value of unreflected flux for a surface patch to be used as a source of reflectionsin the progressive radiosity calculation. The calculation will be limited by this minimum flux, by themaximum number of reflections entered below, and by any interruption you make using the Cancelbutton on the Progress dialogue box.

Dialogue Boxes

page 30


Maximum Number of Reflections

Enter the maximum number of reflections to be used in the progressive radiosity calculation. Thecalculation will be limited by this maximum number of reflections, by the minimum flux entered above,and by any interruption you make using the Cancel button on the Progress dialogue box.

Progress Dialogue Box

This dialogue box shows you the progress of the analysis calculations. The text displays informationabout the current calculation phase, while the progress bar and the text below display the percentageprogress. You may press the Cancel button at any time - if so you will be asked if you really wish tocancel. The screen will be updated periodically to show the latest results. This can be useful whenyou are performing the full progressive radiosity inter-reflection calculation.

Progress CaptionThis text tells you what phase of the calculations is currently being performed.

Progress StatusThis gives extra information about the part of the calculations currently being performed.

Progress BarThis gives a visual indication of progress during the calculations.

Progress PercentThis gives the percentage progress during the calculations.

Cancel ButtonPress this to abandon the calculations.

When the calculation finishes, the results are shown in the Analysis results viewer.

Dialogue Boxes

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Daylight Threshold Dialogue Box

This is only available when you are displaying illuminance. It allows you to set a threshold (fordaylight factor or illuminance, depending on the display setting), which will then be displayed as acontour. The region where the daylight factor is above or below the contour will be shaded,depending on whether you wish to invert the shading. The threshold value and the area of the shadedregion are also reported in the analysis results and in the viewport when at surface level only.

ValueEnter the value of the daylight factor threshold in percent, or illuminance.

Invert ButtonTurn this on to shade the area where the daylight factor is below the threshold, or off to shade thearea where it is above the threshold. The following diagram shows the effect of turning this button on:

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Apply ButtonPress this to update the display with the current dialogue box settings.

Polyline ButtonPress this to create a DXF export of the threshold contour line. Not available at present.

Close ButtonPress this to close the dialogue box.

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Analysis Results Viewer

This uses the IES HTML Viewer to show you a summary of the FlucsDL analysis calculations. Onceagain the results are displayed differently depending on the calculation mode and the resultspreferences:

In single-room mode, the summary results look like this:

Depending on the results preferences, a brief illumination data summary is given for each workingplane and floor in the room. Then the input data is given, with the analysis requirements. Thedaylighting and inter-reflection calculations are summarised. Then an illumination data summary isgiven for all the illuminated room surfaces, component surfaces and working planes, and finally thedetailed point-by-point results for each working plane and task area.

In multi-room mode, the results show all selected rooms and give an extra room summary table at thetop so that you can see which rooms succeeded:

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After the calculations, the levels for the selected surfaces (room surfaces, component surfaces,working planes and task areas) are shown in the view. At body level the Surface browser allows youto select different surfaces using the tick boxes. Surfaces may also be selected by clicking within theirborders – and if you use the Ctrl key when clicking the existing selected surfaces are retained andsurfaces whose borders enclose the point are selected cyclically. Use the various options forchanging the display. The following pictures show the effect of selecting different surfaces andchanging contour styles:

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Calculation Cleanup Dialogue Box

This is displayed when you cancel an analysis calculation. It gives you the option of retaining theresults calculated so far, reverting to the previous results (default), or clearing the results completely.

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Surface Browser

At body level and in Illumination mode, the normal model browser is replaced by this Surfacebrowser. It is also displayed but disabled at Surface level.

It shows all the illuminated surfaces after a successful Analysis calculation. This includes the defaultworking plane and task area, any other working planes and task areas that you have added, all theinternal room surfaces, and other surfaces if the relevant options for reflections were used(component surfaces, external room surfaces, other rooms, shading rooms, ground plane).

You may select any one or more of the illuminated surfaces using the tick boxes. This is sometimeseasier than trying to select the surfaces using the mouse, because where surfaces are overlapped inthe view it is sometimes necessary to use the Ctrl button and a sequence of mouse clicks to cyclethrough the surfaces until the ones you wanted are selected. Tick boxes may be turned on and off byclicking individual boxes or by clicking the boxes for the “parent” categories such as “Internalsurfaces”. The selected item may also be ticked on or off by pressing the space-bar on the keyboard.

When only one surface is selected you may go down to surface level and view the individual surface.

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Flucs Dialogue BarThis may be displayed at the bottom of the screen if it has been turned on using the View menu. Itcontains general settings for the selected room, used mainly for the design calculations. It has twopages:

General page Lighting page

General Page

This displays read-only information derived from the selected room, a key-in box, and a prompt area.

Room NameDisplays the name that was assigned to this room.

Room IDDisplays the unique ID that was automatically generated for this room.

Floor AreaDisplays the floor area of this room, calculated by the program.

VolumeDisplays the volume of this room, calculated by the program.

Room Lighting TemplateDisplays the name of the lighting template that is currently assigned to this room. Templates areedited in the Template Manager and may be assigned when placing a room and reassigned using theEdit > Selection set > Assign Template tool.

Lighting Page

This allows you to examine or over-ride the default values taken from the template for this room.These values are mainly used in the Design calculation.

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Default Check Boxes

These check boxes apply to the associated item (to the right of the check box). Toggle these on to setthe associated item to the default value from the template assigned to this room. Turn off to overridethe default value – the associated item will now be enabled allowing you to change the value.

Working Surface HeightEnter the height of the working surface in metres. This is an imaginary horizontal plane with arequired average illuminance that is to be achieved by the selection of suitable lighting layouts in thedesign calculation. It is also used in the analysis calculation when creating the default working plane.

Room Surface Maintenance FactorThe room-surface maintenance factor is the proportion of the illuminance provided by the lightinginstallation in a room after a set time compared with that which occurred when the room was clean.Typical room surface maintenance factors are shown in the CIBSE Code for Interior Lighting, 1994,Table 4.7. It is also used in the analysis calculations (during the average or full inter-reflectioncalculations).

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Create working Plane Dialogue Box

This is displayed when you use the tool to create a working plane, and you have specified the pointthat the plane passes through.

NameEnter a name for this working plane.

HeightEnter the height of the point you have just specified.

ElevationEnter the angle between this plane and the horizontal, in degrees.

RotationEnter the angle between this plane and the XZ plane, in degrees.

Create Task Area Dialogue Box

This is displayed when you use the tool to create a task area in a room surface or in a working planeat surface level. Enter a name for the task area and start specifying points by clicking in the viewportor using key-ins. When you have specified at least three points defining the task area, you may pressthe Close button or type “C” to close the shape and finish. You may cancel at any time by pressingthe Esc key or right-clicking with the mouse.

NameEnter a name for this task area.

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Close ButtonThis will be enabled when at least three points have been specified. Press it to close the shape andfinish.

Cancel ButtonPress it to cancel creating a task area.

Custom Attributes Dialogue Box

This is displayed when you use the tool to modify the attributes for the selected rooms. It uses thesame Lighting page as is used on the FlucsDL dialogue bar. Use it in the same way to override thedefault attributes of all the selected rooms.

Assign Template Dialogue Box

This is displayed when you use the tool to assign a template to the selected rooms.

Select Template List BoxSelect the template you wish to assign to the selected rooms.

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Surface Properties Dialogue Box

This is displayed when you use the use the tool to query a selected surface (at body level and surfacemode, or at surface level with no openings selected).

OrientationShows the orientation of the surface.

TiltShows the tilt of the surface.

AreaShows the area of the surface.

Opening Properties Dialogue BoxThis is displayed when you use the use the tool to query a selected opening (at surface level with anopening selected). The appearance of the dialogue box depends on whether the opening was a door,window or just a hole:

The items are the same as for the Surface properties dialogue box.

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Assign surface properties dialogue box

This allows you to assign surface properties of reflectance and transmittance (when set to 0 in CDB)to surfaces within the selected room or surface.

PictureShows the selected room or surface. The surfaces that match the category from the Select categorylist box and also match the surface type from the Model surfaces of the following type list box arehighlighted in the chosen highlight colour. These are the surfaces on which the Replace button willoperate.

Copy button

Copies the picture to the Windows clipboard.

Save button

Saves the picture to a file.

Colours button

Allows you to set the colours for displaying the selected/not selected surfaces in the picture.

Select category list boxShows the different categories into which the selected surfaces are organized. Select a category fromthis list box, and then select a surface type from the Model surfaces of the following type list boxbelow. The matching surfaces will be shown in the picture.

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Model surfaces of the following type list boxShows the different categories into which the selected surfaces are organized. Select a category fromthe Select category list box, and then select a surface type from this list box. The matching surfaceswill be shown in the picture.

ReflectanceEnter the required reflectance or select it from the typical surface types list box and press theReplace button.

TransmittanceOnly enabled for glazed surfaces.

Note: Glazing elements will use the Visible Light Normal Transmittance value set on the Glazingconstruction in the Apache Constructions Database. When this CDB value is set to 0 theTransmittance can be set on the FlucsDL Assign Surface Properties dialog.

Enter the required transmittance or select it from the typical surface types list box and press theReplace button.

Replace buttonOnly enabled for glazed elements. Enter the required transmittance or select it from the typicalsurface types list box and press the Replace button.

Clean buttonRemoves any surface type definitions from the model that were previously assigned to at least onesurface but are not now (because these surfaces have now been assigned other surface types usingthis dialogue box). Use this after any large scale editing to retrieve any wasted space in the model.

Close buttonCloses this dialogue.

Surface display colours dialogue box

This allows you to change the colours displayed in the Assign surface properties dialogue box.Clicking either colour displays a standard Windows colour picker dialogue box where you can select adifferent colour. Pressing the Default button restores the default colours.

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Toolbars Dialogue Box

This dialogue box allows you to turn on or off the display of the available toolbars.

Toolbar ListLists the available toolbars. The ones with a tick are currently displayed. Click the items to turn on oroff the display.

OK ButtonPress this to close the box.

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Threshold Table Dialogue BoxThis is displayed when you select the Threshold table menu option or button. The actual format of thetable depends on which option you selected in the Preferences dialogue box. For the general purposetable, the values displayed depend on whether you are currently displaying illuminances or daylightfactors, and also on the threshold value in the Daylight Threshold dialogue box. For the LEED NC 2.2Credit 8.1 table, illuminance is always used and the threshold value is 25 fc or its metric equivalent(depending on the units in force).

Select Colour Set Dialogue Box

This allows you to select a different false colour scheme for the contour plots.

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IES HTML Viewer

This is IES’ general-purpose version of the Internet Explorer browser, used to show the calculationresults. It is displayed when calculations have finished or when you use the Show Results option.Using the File menu or the Print button, you may print the current data. Using the Edit menu, all orselected parts of the HTML may be copied to the clipboard ready to be pasted into a document.Choose to save the current report or Archive (with all associated files in a cab).

Model Viewer

This is displayed when you use the use the Model Viewer option. The tools are the same as whencalled from elsewhere in <VE>.Note that the illumination level results are not visible in modelviewer.

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Model dialogue bar

Key-inUsed for entering key-in commands, which are mainly concerned with the accurate positioning ofcoordinates instead of using the mouse, e.g. “DX=1.1,3.7”. See the <VE> documentation for details ofthe available commands.

Prompt areaUsed for various prompts to the user while performing commands, but also to give you feedbackwhen moving the mouse over the room surfaces after the analysis calculations.

When expected to enter a point to start creating a working plane, it prompts you to enter the point:

When no lighting calculations have been performed on the current room, it tells you this:

When lighting calculations have been performed on the current room, and the mouse is moved over aselected surface at body level and illumination mode, or at surface level, it shows the surface nameand the illumination at the nearest point on the surface:

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Worked ExampleThis example shows analysing daylight using the Analysis command.

Analysing Daylight Using the Analysis CommandMake sure the room is selected and that contour levels are toggled on (for faster display update).Invoke the Analysis command. This brings up the Analysis dialogue box:

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Worked Example

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Worked Example

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Step through the Wizard, entering values as shown on the diagrams; make sure you enter 0.01m forboth the grid sizes. Press Finish.

For a reasonably large room this will cause a warning.

Please note that this is an indication of minimum processing time only, and may not be a particularlyaccurate prediction. The processing time may usually prove to be longer than predicted. However, ifthe time is excessive, press No to step back through the Wizard to change grid sizes, surface optionsetc. Then step through and press Finish again. This time the dialogue box may close with a differentwarning or none at all. If you still get a warning, press Yes to continue anyway. The calculations thenproceed. At each phase the Progress dialogue box will show the progress.

While creating the surfaces and grid points for the calculation:

While calculating day lighting on the internal surfaces from the external openings (for efficiency thisonly looks at patches of sky that can be seen through openings from the internal surfaces):

While calculating daylight on external surfaces (this is treated differently in daylight calculations –each patch of sky is treated as a source of light):

NB Daylight calculations may take quite a while if you have large windows.

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While performing the full inter-reflection calculations using progressive radiosity (this also may take along while):

NB The full inter-reflection calculation may not converge very quickly if there are a large number ofsmall patches in a room.

You may press the Cancel button at any time - if so you will be asked if you really wish to cancel. Thescreen will be updated periodically to show the latest results. This can be useful when you areperforming the full progressive radiosity inter-reflection calculation.

When the calculations are finished the Analysis Results dialogue box is displayed. A selection ofpages is shown below (but not the whole results as there are quite a lot).

When this is closed you can use the commands to change the way the data is displayed.

Select some surfaces using the mouse or the Surface browser. Then use the various buttons to seethe effect they have on the display.

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FlucsDL User Guide - IES

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