Building Element Types

Building Element Types

Building elements are organized in a hierarchy within the application.

Hierarchy structure

Home
└── Stories
    └── Rooms
        └── Building Elements (Wall, Floor, Ceiling)
            └── Children (Door, Window, Hatch, Opening)

Single-family home

• Top level container

Stories

• Levels within the building (Basement, Ground, First, Second, Attic, etc.)

Rooms

• Spaces within each story

Building elements

• Primary surfaces: Wall, Floor, Ceiling
• Can contain child elements

Building Elements

• Openings: Door, Window, Hatch, Opening

Primary element types

Wall

Vertical or angled surfaces.

Floor

Horizontal surfaces at bottom of rooms.

Ceiling

Horizontal or angled surfaces at top of rooms.

Child element types

Door

Opening with door assembly.

Window

Opening with window assembly.

Hatch

Small access opening.

Opening

General opening without assembly.

Element properties

Elements have these editable properties:

Name

• Text identifier

Type

• Wall, Floor, or Ceiling

Material

• Assigned construction material

Area

• Surface area value (calculated or manual)

Azimuth

• Cardinal direction (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW)

Inclination

• Angle value (0-90 degrees)

B-factor

• Numeric value (0.0 to 1.0)

Viewing element types

In Left Panel:

• Stories expand to show Rooms
• Rooms expand to show elements
• Elements expand to show children

In 3D Viewer:

• Different element types display with different colors/styling
• Click element to Select
• Selection shows in properties panel

In Properties Panel:

• Type field shows current type (Wall/Floor/Ceiling)
• Dropdown to change type if needed