3.3 Spatial Characteristics

This section defines the general geometric dimensions and features of the space as well as the solar orientation and space height. The figure to the right shows a screen shot of Spatial Characteristics input. The Compass window and the Isometric window are updated in real-time to give the user visual feedback of the geometry they are defining.

General Dimensions

Width – This field sets the overall width, or North-South dimension, of the space. The dimension measures from interior wall to interior wall.

Length – This field sets the overall length, or East-West dimension, of the space. The dimension measures from interior wall to interior wall.

Height – This field sets the overall height of the space from finished floor to finished ceiling. If a sloped roof is selected, this field will be ignored in lieu of the height defined for each corner.

Workplane Height – This field sets the location of the illuminance calculation grid above the finished floor. This can be any height within the limits of the space, but is typically used to represent a workplane, 30 – 36” above the finished floor.

Wall Thickness – This field sets the thickness of the exterior walls, and essentially defines the thickness of any window sills in the model. The window and window mullion (frame), as defined in the Shading Devices section of Advanced Options, will still exist inside of this window opening.

Roof Thickness – This field sets the depth of any skylight openings placed in the model, essentially the distance between the finished ceiling and the skylight opening to the sky. The shafts are assumed to be orthogonal. Splayed skylight shafts are not currently supported with the SPOT geometry modeler.

Sloped Ceiling? – This field determines whether the ceiling will be sloped or not. If (Y)es, the additional fields below will be visible and used to determine the ceiling height in the space in lieu of the height input above.

NW Height – This field sets the height of the northwest corner of the space.

NE Height – This field sets the height of the northeast corner of the space.

SE Height – This field sets the height of the southeast corner of the space.

SW Height – This field sets the height of the southwest corner of the space.

Splice Direction – If the 4 heights listed above are not co-planar, the the ceiling will be created with two triangles. This defines whether the splice between those two triangles takes the high path, or the low path.

Monitor Dimensions

Monitor? – This field determine whether a monitor, or raised roof section, exists in the model. Currently, only one monitor can be used in a given model. If (Y)es, the additional fields below will be visible and used to determine the monitor dimensions and ceiling height within the monitor.

Width – This field sets the overall width, or North-South dimension, of the monitor. The dimension measures from the interior of the monitor walls.

Length – This field sets the overall length, or East-West dimension, of the monitor. The dimension measures from the interior of the monitor walls.

Height – This field sets the overall height of the monitor from finished floor to finished ceiling. If a sloped monitor roof is selected, this field will be ignored in lieu of the height defined for each corner of the monitor.

Dist from South – This fields sets the distance between the south wall and the south monitor wall, measured from the interior of both walls. The field must be greater than 0 and less than the space width minus the monitor width.

Dist from West – This fields sets the distance between the west wall and the west monitor wall, measured from the interior of both walls. The field must be greater than 0 and less than the space length minus the monitor length.

Wall Thickness – This field sets the thickness of the monitor walls, and essentially defines the thickness of the window sills. The window and window mullion (frame), as defined in the Shading Devices section of Advanced Options, will still exist inside of this window opening.

Monitor Sloped? – This field determines whether the monitor ceiling will be sloped or not. If (Y)es, the additional fields below will be visible and used to determine the ceiling height in the space in lieu of the height input above. This option can be used to create sawtooth monitor forms.

NW Height – This field sets the height of the northwest corner of the monitor.

NE Height – This field sets the height of the northeast corner of the monitor.

SE Height – This field sets the height of the southeast corner of the monitor.

SW Height – This field sets the height of the southwest corner of the monitor.

Splice Direction – If the 4 heights listed above are not co-planar, the the ceiling will be created with two triangles. This defines whether the splice between those two triangles takes the high path, or the low path.

Site and View

View Height – This field sets the camera angle for the isometric diagram. It is limited in range from 0° to 45°. Adjusting this angle can be helpful in viewing certain objects in your model that perhaps overlap at the given angle.

Orientation – This field sets the space’s orientation relative to true south. This input must be between –45° and 45°, since any rotation greater than 45° simply changes which façade is referred to as “South”. The compass window shows the user the orientation of the footprint of the space relative to the true cardinal directions. Throughout the program, the south façade is denoted as the orange façade, while all other facades are shown as blue.

Bldg Height – This field sets the space’s height relative to the ground plane outside. 0’ represents a bottom floor, where 15’ might represent a 2nd floor and 100’+ can be used to represent a sky scraper space. A solid wall will be modeled below the space model down to the ground plane to create the necessary shadows.

Wall to west? – This field defines exterior walls to the west of the building model. Two walls are placed in the same plane as the north and south walls of the model, with the same wall thickness and at the given distance to the west of the west wall. The walls will extend down to the ground plane that’s distance is defined by the Building Height value.

Wall to east? – This field defines exterior walls to the east of the building model. Two walls are placed in the same plane as the north and south walls of the model, with the same wall thickness and at the given distance to the east of the east wall. The walls will extend down to the ground plane that’s distance is defined by the Building Height value.