Alternative to changing the composition of a opaque surface

Hi @chris,

I would like to know if we have any alternative to solve the issue of two or more different compositions (like different absorptances) for constructions in the same HBZone. In other words, can I create opaque subsurfaces without having to subdivide the model with createHBSrfs and createHBZones?

@rkleitzke

You have to assign different constructions to different surfaces, but they can all be in the same thermal zone, no further splitting is required there.

The only other option I can think of is to calculate the area-weighted averages of your varying material properties and apply it to a single construction, similar to how thermal bridging is accounted for. It works best if your structure’s thermal energy transfer is driven mainly by the ambient air temperature difference, and your interior can be represented as a volume of well-mixed, uniform air (i.e a single thermal zone), since any energy differences due to material differences at different locations would be averaged out anyway, in such cases.

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@SaeranVasanthakumar

Thanks for the quick response, I suspected that the solution could involve the need to consider the constructive elements adopted for the surface with two or more compositions, as per your suggestion. Would you know tell me what the implications of changing the addHBGlz [1] component code would be? I think that a similar strategy for selecting the opaque subsurface could facilitate the configuration of multifamily dwellings or scenarios with multiple thermal zones.

The Set EP Zone Construction [2] component, for example, allows the change of only one component per type of surface (Exterior Wall, roof, floor…), I wonder if would there be a simplified way to create a new opaque subsurfaces like OpenStudio/Euclid’s “New Construction Stub”?

I would like to reinforce the thanks for your collaboration and await your comments on possible negative implications for my idea of ​​modification.

You should be able to do this with the existing components: there is a component called createHBSrfs that will allow you to combine multiple surfaces together to make HBZones with the createHBZones component. You can add custom constructions to each surface. Similarly, you can add separate window constructions to each HBSrf with the addHBGlz component.

You can search examples of Hydra[1] to see some examples of complex energy modeling constructions using Honeybee.

[1] Hydra - Sharing made easy!

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