WinWatt gbXML module

The gbXML module is purchasable as an add-on to the following versions of the WinWatt heating package

With the help of the gbXML module, we can transfer models created in architectural programs to WinWatt, accelerating the description of localities by retrieving geometry data for boundaries.

As far as we know, creating a gbXML file is supported by ArchiCAD and REVIT, among others. See if your version can do this,
because only in this case does the use of the module make sense.

Because architectural programs give the architect a lot of freedom when creating a plan, they may not require you to include objects that are needed for energy computing in the plan, so check the computation that is automatically generated by the relationship between the programs, must be changed if necessary! Premises that extend over several levels, have sliding slabs, or change the properties of slabs within the room are subject to increased control. The curved walls and the doors and windows on them are also a source of problems. If several rooms are bordered on the outside by the same wall structure (a single object in the architect's program) but have different thermal characteristics, for example, some rooms have extra thermal insulation, we need to adjust the different sections in the calculation to the actual values. With a slight difference, for example, one room has painted lime plaster, the other has tile flooring and another place limescale wallpaper, these do not significantly influence the heat transfer coefficient of the given wall structure in terms of energy calculation; However, when conducting vapor diffusion control of structures, it is advisable to check each case separately, since a very thin layer can have a significant resistance to humidity and a significant difference in the indoor air condition of the room.

The file created in the architect program can be loaded and processed with Tools | Load ARCHLine.XP project or the ARCAD project load… or gbXML project load… feature with a step-by-step wizard.

When processing a new plan, it is advisable to create a new project, and if it is a recalculated calculation of the same plan, we calculate it in the previous project, so that some previously entered data (essentially the room design temperatures) is retained.
As a first step, in the Open File dialog box, you must open the file exported by the architect program.

Grouping of rooms

The program processes the file and displays each room by their name on the first screen of the wizard. From this screen you can define how to group the rooms and how to make room names. Because WinWatt requires different names for each item within a group, therefore, if you do not specify separate room numbers in the architect program, you may also need to use the unique internal ID (ID) in the architect program.

Because WinWatt also needs a building definition, we need to have that in mind. If the architect's program has been able to retrieve the relevant information, we can use it
, but it is possible to create a completely new building automatically, or if the project already contains a building object, you can also select it. Pressing the Next button takes you to the next screen.

Change the room temperature

From this screen you can change the internal design temperature of each room and whether or not to transfer that room to the WinWatt project at all. Not only winter but also summer temperatures can be entered, although some versions of WinWatt do not use summer temperatures,but we may work on the project later with a version of WinWatt where summer heat load calculation can be done.

Since the values used for the modification are applicable to more than one room, first select the rooms that you wish to modify. To make selection easier, you can use the list sorting section to reorder the list according to the sort order you specify. Fill in the data within the modifier values section, and then press the Edit selected button to edit the values. It is important to set the temperatures correctly, because at this point the program knows that a wall structure, if the internal structure separates the two rooms, so that the temperature on the other side will also be correct for that structure. The room temperature itself could be changed later with the appropriate function of WinWatt, but this is no longer affected by the temperature of the individual structures.

If a project has already been processed and the project scan is done in the same project, the program will search for the previously specified room temperatures without having to enter them again. This is true even if we did not complete the previous scan, because moving on this screen will already create the room objects in the WinWatt project and the temperatures will already be stored.

Problem structures (in case of ARCHLine only)

This screen does not always appear, but only if there are structures to which the ARCHLine design has not been associated with the thermal data specific to the structure or its type has not been found to be correct. There are several ways to solve this problem,we need to stop processing at this point and modify our plan in ARCHLine.

If the type of structure that was supposed to be assigned to the problematic structure is available in a particular project, you can do so by grabbing that type of structure on the right and dragging it to the problematic structure on the right. If you want to assign the same structure type to more problematic structures, first select the items you want to modify in the list, and then dragging one of the selected items to the required structure type allows you to arrange all the selected structures at once. We cannot move on while there are still problematic structures. We may still decide to interrupt the process, and in ARCHLine we will modify the plan if we can assign the necessary type to the structures at this level too, because there the problem can be solved once and for all, while the solution here has to be re-applied.

Mapping structure types (in case of ARCAD and gbXML)

In the architect's program, thermal data for structures is not provided or is difficult to adapt in WinWatt, so it is necessary to assign structures developed in WinWatt to each structure.

The top list of the window lists the structures in the project, and the associated WinWatt structure names. At first scan, there are no mappings, but later, if a previously used structure is listed, the name of the last WinWatt structure assigned to it is displayed. Clicking on a specific line in the list will display the structure in the left-hand pane, information available from the project. On the one hand, the layer order data and, on the other hand, which rooms have the given structure type.

At the bottom right there is a list of structures, where you can drag each type of structure to one of the items in the top list, matching each other to the type of structure used in the architect program and WinWatt. Our structure list at first reading is also blank, but you can create new structure types using the right-click menu, or you can also scan a file containing previously exported structure types to a file.

You can only move on with the Next button if you have assigned a WinWatt structure type to all structure types.

Enter additional details for structures

On the next screen, you can set default values for additional structure information. This window also contains summer heat load calculation data, which is used only by some versions of WinWatt.

The most important data here is the outside temperature of the internal structures and the outside space unheated switch. This is used when it is perceived as an internal structure based on the type of structure, but you are not aware of the room on the other side, because it didn't even have a room seal assigned to that space in the architect's program. Typically, this is the attic ceiling, so it is advisable to fill in the data according to the attic space. When inspecting, be aware of the temperature on the outside of the interior enclosures as they may not have been the attic ceiling,further modifications may be required.

Structures in contact with the ground

The table on the last screen lists the structures that the program detected as ground-contact structures, if any. This property can only be recognized by assigning a WinWatt structure created as this type to the object.

When calculating such structures, not only the size of the surface of the structure is important, but also the line length, outer edge length, by which the line heat transfer coefficient is multiplied, when calculating the loss through the structure. Determining this may also have some variation when the project is being processed automatically,
to allow you to check and modify the data in this window.

Pressing the continue button will end the function.

Again, it is advisable to inspect the premises thus received, and correct any errors or inaccuracies if necessary.

The module is constantly being developed and improved, along with updates.

Last modify: 11 September 2019