Splitting zones with air walls gives a different result

grasshopper honeybee-legacy
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#1

Hi @chris and @mostapha ,

I am trying to compare the energy consumption results of a single zone vs a zone composed of 5 zones divided by air walls. However, the energy consumption results are very different. I used the predefined ‘air wall construction’ both to solve adjacency and I added it as the ‘interior wall EP construction’. Please see the image below for the results. Could you also have a look at my simplified GH script?

1 zone vs 5 zones with air walls
1 zone vs 5 zones with air walls1280×720 121 KB

5 zones with air walls_ energy 2_ 10.06.22.gh (702.6 KB)

I know the adjacent surfaces issue was discussed in this forum several times, but I would like to know why I get different results. I think air walls should not affect energy and daylight that much. I have also tried to create my own custom air wall with less density and thermal/solar absorptance, but the results were also very different.

Regards,
Berrak

#2

Legacy honeybee did not support true air walls. The Legacy air walls were more like sheets of plywood rather than virtual boundaries across which heat could radiate and air could flow. If you use the latest LBT honeybee, you should find that the energy results of air walls vs. no air walls are close. And the Radiance results should be practically identical if you are using good Radiance parameters.

#3

Thank you for your reply, Chris. I have now switched to the LBT 1.4.

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