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Sketchup/Open Studio - modeling shading from adjacent buildings

asked 2015-09-28 10:23:11 -0600

ptruong's avatar

updated 2015-09-28 10:28:28 -0600

Hello, is modeling shading from adjacent buildings as easy as just creating the blocks in Sketchup and Open Studio will register these as building shading? I did a simple test where I created an adjacent building as a block in Sketchup, opened it in Open Studio, and in the "Facility" tab, under "Building Shading", see a "Shading Surface Group 1" object, which wasn't there previously. However, when clicking the actual object, it says "Coming Soon". Will this be captured correctly in EnergyPlus?

Thanks Phan

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answered 2015-09-28 10:54:11 -0600

updated 2015-09-30 16:05:06 -0600

I would not recommend creating SU geometry in your model once there is OS geometry. These are different, require saving to the corresponding file type, and can sometimes cause errors in the OSM.

Instead of creating an entire 3D SU block, I would recommend drawing a vertical 2D New Shading Surface Group from the OS toolbar for each adjacent building.

In OS 1.9.0 the Facility > Shading subtab is working so I would recommend naming the shading surfaces - e.g. Adjacent Building North - and then confirming that they appear in the OS App.

The OS:ShadingSurface objects, which are unique to OS, are translated to EnergyPlus as follows:

Shading Surface Group connected to a Space, e.g. a window shade:

Shading Surface Group not connected to a Space, e.g. an adjacent building:

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Thanks Matt, that worked. In the OS edit object for "OS:ShadingSurfaceGroup", there's a drop down menu for "Shaded Object Name". Must something be selected for the shading calculation to work? I am guessing that for shading from adjacent buildings, rather than just exterior shades like fins, this could just be left blank since there is not a single surface the building(s) will shade?

ptruong's avatar ptruong  ( 2015-09-29 13:17:55 -0600 )edit

I don't believe so. OS should take care of the translation to IDF for the EP simulation.

MatthewSteen's avatar MatthewSteen  ( 2015-09-29 22:06:54 -0600 )edit

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Asked: 2015-09-28 10:23:11 -0600

Seen: 1,557 times

Last updated: Sep 30 '15