Selecting Building Elements

The 3D viewer supports hierarchical selection through a structured drill-down approach.

Selection hierarchy

The viewer organizes building elements in a four-level hierarchy:

No selection - Default state with no element selected
Story - Select an entire building level/floor
Room - Select a room or space within a story
Building element - Select a wall, floor, ceiling, or other surface

Drilling down the hierarchy

Click elements in the 3D view or left panel to drill down:

Click story → Selects entire floor level
Click room → Selects room within story
Click element → Selects wall/floor/ceiling within room

Drilling up the hierarchy

Navigate back up the hierarchy:

Use breadcrumb trail at top of viewer
Click parent level in left panel
Select parent element in 3D view

Selection methods

Click selection in 3D View

The primary selection method:

Left Click on any mesh to select it
Selection highlights with visual feedback
Hierarchy panel updates to show selection path
Properties panel (right) displays element details

Selection from left panel

Select elements from the left panel:

Click story name to select entire story
Click room to select room
Expand element tree to see building elements
Click element to select specific wall, floor, or ceiling

Selection feedback

When an element is selected:

3D Highlight: Selected mesh changes color or displays outline
Panel Highlight: Active item highlighted in left panel
Properties Display: Right panel shows element properties
Breadcrumb Trail: Shows selection path (Story → Room → Element)

Hover states

Before clicking, hovering provides visual feedback:

Mesh Hover Highlight: Element changes color when mouse hovers over it
Cursor Change: Indicates clickable/selectable elements
Preview Info: Tooltip may show element type and ID
Interactive Feedback: Confirms element is selectable

Selection tools

The viewer provides 10 tools for different selection and editing workflows:

1. picker (default tool)

Standard selection tool
Click to select elements in hierarchy
Default active tool when viewer opens

2. ruler tool

Measure distances between points
Click two points to create measurement
Distance label appears in 3D view

3. create surface tool

Define new building surfaces
Click points to outline surface boundary
Creates new building element

4. edit points tool

Modify element vertex positions
Click and drag individual points
Reshape element geometry

5. move element tool

Select and reposition elements
Drag element to new location
Updates building geometry in real-time

6. split horizontal tool

Split elements horizontally
Click element to place horizontal split line
Creates two separate elements

7. split vertical tool

Split elements vertically
Click element to place vertical split line
Divides element into left/right parts

8. split free tool

Draw custom split line at any angle
Click and drag to define split path

9. place window tool

Add window openings to walls
Click wall to position window
Creates window element in hierarchy

10. place door tool

Add door openings to walls
Click wall to position door
Creates door element in hierarchy

11. place hatch tool

Add hatches (openings) in floors/roofs
Click horizontal surface to place hatch
Creates opening element

Visual features

B-factor color coding

Elements display colors based on thermal exposure (B-factor):

Red (B=1.0): Full exterior exposure - outside Walls, roofs
Orange (B=0.6-0.9): Unheated spaces - Attic, garages
Yellow (B=0.4-0.5): Ground contact - Basement, slab-on-grade
Green/Blue (B=0): Internal - interior Wall between heated spaces

Distance labels

When elements are selected:

Edge Labels: Display length in meters on element boundaries
Always Visible: Labels shown for selected element edges
Automatic Scaling: Labels remain readable at any zoom level

Layer control

Control visibility of building element types:

Show/hide element types

Toggle visibility of different building elements:

Walls: Show/hide all Wall elements
Floors: Show/hide Floor/slab elements
Roofs: Show/hide roof elements
Windows: Show/hide Window openings
Doors: Show/hide Door openings

Layer panel location

Access layer controls from:

Layers Panel: Right sidebar or toolbar
Quick Toggle: Checkboxes for each element type
Visibility States: Eye icon indicates visible/hidden
Select Hidden: Can still select from hierarchy when hidden in 3D

Selection information display

Properties panel (right)

When element is selected, the right panel displays:

Element type: Wall, floor, roof, window, door, etc.
Area: Surface area in square meters
Orientation: Cardinal direction (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW)
Inclination: Angle from horizontal (0-90 degrees)
Height: Vertical dimension or elevation
B-factor: Thermal reduction factor
Material assignment: Applied material with U-value
Boundary conditions: Adjacent spaces and exposure type

Left panel

Shows selection context in building structure:

Story Level: Which floor the element is on
Room Assignment: Which room contains the element
Element Position: Location in building structure
Element Details: Individual element properties

Multi-selection support

The viewer supports selecting multiple elements using the Shift key:

Hold Shift: Enables multi-select mode
Click elements while holding Shift: Toggles elements in/out of selection
Release Shift: Returns to single-select mode
Click empty space to clear selection

See Multi-Select for detailed information about batch operations and hierarchy-based selection.

Selection limitations

No Box Selection: No drag-to-select rectangle
No Selection Sets: Cannot save named selection groups

Keyboard shortcuts

General shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Cmd/Ctrl + K	Open command menu (search/navigation)
Cmd/Ctrl + S	Save project
Cmd/Ctrl + B	Toggle ruler tool
ESC	Cancel active tool

Selection shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Left Click	Select element
Hold Shift + Click	Enable multi-select and toggle elements
Click empty space	Clear selection

Tool shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
A (hold)	Open tools radial menu
S (hold)	Open layers/model radial menu
D (hold)	Open stories/levels menu
R (while placing doors/windows/hatches)	Rotate frame 90 degrees
Shift (while positioning)	Disable snapping to grid
Shift + Click (in place frame tool)	Place multiple frames in sequence
Enter	Confirm placement (in place frame tool)

Related Topics:

Navigation - Moving around the 3D viewer
Multi-Select - Selecting multiple elements
Story View - Navigating building hierarchy
B-Factors - Understanding thermal visualization
Editing Elements - Modifying element properties