Quickly and easily switch your model geometry between net and gross areas and volumes…

Have you ever been frustrated at having to rebuild a model because you need to switch between net and gross building areas or volumes? Or to include or exclude internal wall thickness partitions without spending days editing your model geometry?

Whether you are using net internal areas and volumes in calculations for energy certification, or gross areas and volumes for schemes including LEED, ASHRAE 90.1 and Passivhaus, DesignBuilder allows you to do this quickly and easily.

DesignBuilder’s geometry convention templates allow you to switch from net to gross or from including internal floor and partition thicknesses to excluding them “at the flick of a switch”! DesignBuilder is the only tool that enables you to easily change the model you’ve built to enable it to be used for different compliance and certification schemes in this way.


DesignBuilder’s geometry convention tools enable you to create one model and then easily switch between net and gross area/volume calculations, and also include/exclude construction thicknesses for internal partitions and floors etc. That means you may not need to rebuild models for different codes!

You can do this by first using external perimeter measurements to draw your geometry and then choosing whether to use external or internal zone geometry to calculate areas and volumes.

Surface thicknesses can be set numerically (overriding construction data), which decouples areas and volumes from the thermal performance of the building fabric. You get the correct thermal performance, whilst choosing how areas and volumes are calculated regardless.




You can find out more about this flexibility DesignBuilder’s geometry convention templates provide here: Geometry Areas And Volumes