Fenestration Help

Modified on Fri, 8 Sep, 2023 at 4:20 AM

Fenestration Help

This section incorporates components from the Component Library (Opaque Doors, Windows and Skylights).

All of these components have the following fields:

Name	An identifier for the design element (i.e. North Facing Windows)
Type	Dropdown options referencing a Component Type from the Component Library. Component Types contain energy performance information (i.e. U-value, Equipment efficiency, etc.). Types can be edited and added by clicking the Edit or Add buttons below the Type Dropdown.

In addition, some design elements can be added and removed by clicking the Add or Remove buttons.

Opaque Door

Doors whose primary surface is opaque, as distinct from glass doors.

Surface Area	Square footage of the door.
Surface Color	Surface color, or the tone of the exterior of the door, is used to determine solar absorption (the ratio between incident sunlight and energy absorbed). Valid inputs are: “Reflective” = 0.2 (reflective coating) “Light” = 0.6 (white, tan) "Medium" = 0.75 (light brown, shake shingles) "Dark" = 0.9 (black, heavy brown)
Wall Assignment	The wall, or foundation wall, where the door is located. This is a necessary input for correctly modeling wall areas.

Window/Glass Door

Please note: You can select multiple windows by selecting one window, then holding "ctrl" or "shift" and selecting another. This will allow you to apply changes to multiple windows at once. Be sure to hit "Apply" to apply the selected changes.

Surface Area	Surface area of window/glass door. Measure the area of the rough openings by multiplying width and height to the nearest inch. Window openings are measured from the outside edge of the framing and include the frame width. (RESNET Standards Appendix A).
Orientation	The primary direction the glazing faces.
Wall Assignment	The wall, or foundation wall, where the door is located. This is a necessary input for correctly modeling wall areas.
Overhang Depth [ft]	Horizontal distance from exterior wall to outer edge of the overhang. One thing to note with overhangs is that Ekotrope will still calculate some solar gains even with a full overhang because there are diffuse and reflected solar gains even without direct sunlight (same reason it's not pitch black in your house in the daytime when you have full window overhangs).
To Top of Window [ft]	Vertical distance from the bottom of overhang to the top of the window.
To Bottom of Window [ft]	Vertical distance from the bottom of the overhang to the bottom of the window.
Interior Summer and Winter Sun Exposure	The average fraction of the solar gain entering a window in the winter that makes its way into the home without being blocked by curtains or shades. No shades or blinds should be indicated by a value of 1. RESNET Standards require defaults of .85 in winter and .7 in summer, so changing this field will have no impact on the HERS Index.
Adjacent Winter and Summer Sun Exposure	The percentage of glazing touched by sun during the winter or the summer. Starting from Ekotrope version 4.2.0, these inputs will no longer be used in any calculations. According to a RESNET interpretation, External Shading shall refer only to permanent, fixed shading devices attached to the building such as fins and overhangs. Since this is not what this input communicates we have chosen to stop using it in calculations from 4.2.0 on. We recommend setting this input to 100% and not adjusting it.

Skylights

Surface Area	Surface area of glazing. See Windows section.
Roof Assignment	The roof where the skylight is located. This is a necessary input for correctly modeling roof area(s).
Orientation	The primary direction the glazing faces.
Pitch	How far this skylight is from vertical, expressed as a slope between 1/12 and 18/12.
Interior Winter and Summer Sun Exposure	(See Windows)
Adjacent Winter and Summer Sun Exposure	(See Windows)

Orientation

Ekotrope allows users to change the orientation of all windows, glass doors, and skylights via the buttons at the bottom of the page. Click here for more information.