Blog: Optimize your project with the Zones tool

[Andrew]

Introducing a new, powerful tool to organize and manage zones and rooms in your projects.

The Design toolset of HighDesign Pro now features a brand new Zone tool, a powerful way of creating uniform space subdivisions distinguished by their function, technical properties or conformity with rules and adopted criteria.

With the Zones tool you can create rooms in a floorplan, define functional areas, present analysis diagrams, and more.

Whether we are talking of zoning Codes that outline the rules that a property must comply with, building zoning to define the energy and lighting performance analysis and HVAC simulations, or functional areas that correspond to the different functions within a building, the Zone tool provides the designer with all the functions needed to accomplish that important task.

Read more on the ILEXSOFT Blog

[skybound13]

This is an interesting function. I looked at the online documentation for the Zones tool, I didn’t see a setting regarding whether the area of the wall is included, right now it looks like it is the floor area to the face of the wall. Have you guys considered maybe adding an option where wall thickness can be added to the zone area? Right now it looks like the sum of the zones will be less than the area of a polygon traced around the exterior walls - not saying that is a problem, just sharing my observation.

Can you use this feature on a building elevation to calculate the area of a wall and then the area of openings? That would require the ability to detect an “island zone” surrounded by the wall area. As you guys begin to transition to more BIM functionality, such zone calculations that could be applied to the building elevations would be helpful so the designer would know if they have exceeded the allowable area for openings based on fire separation distance.

[Andrew]

That's a good point! Yes, including or excluding the footprint of walls is a planned feature of the Zones tool. As it is now, it calculates area, perimeter and volume of the shape you define. Future iterations will provide more options and interact more closely with the surrounding walls.

Regarding elevations and the surface of openings, if you add the height parameter of the elements you can already get the correct calculations and visualise them in a schedule. When you select a wall, Object Info shows its side surface and volume which exclude the surface and volume of its openings. That is, it only computes the actual wall without the contained openings.

In R8.2, you can create Window and Door schedules to monitor their total surfaces.

I hope I got what you meant