3D Visualization

HVAKR’s 3D visualization provides an interactive view of your building model, helping you understand spatial relationships and verify your design.

Accessing 3D View

From the Project

Navigate to the 3D view:

Open your project
Click 3D Viewer in the sidebar
The 3D model loads automatically

System Requirements

The 3D view renders with WebGL. For best results:

Modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
Hardware graphics acceleration enabled
Sufficient memory for large models

If your browser can’t create a WebGL context, the pane shows 3D view unavailable. It lists three common causes:

Hardware acceleration is turned off
Outdated graphics drivers
Running in a virtual machine or remote desktop session

Mouse Controls

Action	Control
Rotate	Left-click + drag
Pan	Right-click + drag
Zoom	Scroll wheel, or middle-click + drag

Touch Controls

Action	Gesture
Rotate	One-finger drag
Pan	Two-finger drag
Zoom	Pinch

To return to the default camera angle, click the Home button in the toolbar.

The toolbar in the corner of the view holds the controls:

Home — reset the camera to the default angle
Fullscreen — expand the view to fill the screen (desktop only)
Auto-Rotate — slowly spin the model
Download Image — save a PNG screenshot of the current view
Performance Mode — drop shadows, reflections, antialiasing, and the grid floor for smoother navigation on large models
Spaces / Zones / Systems — choose whether a click selects a space, zone, or system
Load Color Overlay (droplet icon) — color space volumes by cooling or heating load density, on the same scales as the 2D canvas. Without calculated results the button is disabled. Its tooltip then reads Load Color Overlay (calculations required).
Layers (eye icon) — toggle which elements are visible
Export gbXML Model (export icon) — export the building geometry and constructions as a gbXML file for energy-modeling tools. Requires a Team or Enterprise license.

Layers

Open the Layers menu to show or hide parts of the model:

Sheets — floor plan images placed in the scene
Walls/Windows — the envelope, with glazing and doors
Slabs — floor slabs
Roofs/Skylights — roof planes and skylights
Dry Side — ductwork, equipment, and other dry-side nodes
Grid Floor — the reference grid and the north compass rose beneath the model
Sunlight Vector — an arrow showing the sun’s direction

When the model spans multiple levels, the menu also offers Filter by Level — enable it and use the slider to isolate a single floor.

Load Color Overlay

Use the droplet button to color each space volume by Cooling Load Density or Heating Load Density. Colors use the same white→blue / white→orange-red scales as the 2D canvas (default 0–80 BTU/(h·ft²)).

The overlay follows the toolbar’s Spaces / Zones / Systems selection:

Spaces — each volume uses that space’s load density
Zones / Systems — member volumes share the zone or system aggregate density
A space with no zone or system falls back to its own density in either scope

A legend appears in the lower-left while an overlay is active. Click the active option again to turn the overlay off.

Selection

Each space has an invisible volume (the room prism from floor to top of walls). Hovering it tints the volume; clicking selects according to the toolbar’s Spaces / Zones / Systems control. The camera stays put on click.

The control sets the group, not only the click target. In Zones or Systems scope, hovering one room tints every room in that zone or system. Clicking selects the whole group. A room with no zone or system stays its own group.

The inspect panel names the selection and lists its data:

Space — the space type, zone, and system names. Then Level, Ceiling, Slab height, Occupancy, Area, Volume, the envelope areas (Wall area, Window area, Door area, Roof area, Skylight area), Slab perimeter, Cooling load, and Heating load.
Zone — the parent system name and the Spaces count. Then the same area, volume, envelope, and load rows for the zone.
System — the Zones and Spaces counts. Then those same rows for the system.

A space falls back to its own geometry. Area, Volume, and the envelope areas therefore read before you calculate. Slab perimeter and the two load rows wait for the calculation.

A zone or system shows its names and counts immediately. Its area, volume, envelope, perimeter, and load rows all need calculated results.

Use Locate on the panel to frame the selection, Close to dismiss it, or click empty space to clear it.

The Home button resets the camera without reloading the scene.

Sun Study

The controls along the bottom of the view drive the solar position:

The month selector sets the design day
The hour slider moves the time of day

The scene light follows both. No layer is needed. Shadows swing with the sun. The light warms from white through yellow and orange to magenta as the sun drops toward the horizon. It switches off once the sun is more than 15° below the horizon, and only ambient light remains.

Enable the Sunlight Vector layer to also see the sun’s direction as an arrow. The arrow is hidden once the sun is more than 3° below the horizon.

Performance Mode turns shadows off, so leave it off while you study shading.

Exporting

Screenshot

Use Download Image in the toolbar to save the current view as a PNG. The screenshot captures the visible layers at the current camera angle.

gbXML Model

Use Export gbXML Model in the toolbar to export the building geometry and constructions as a gbXML file. The button opens the Exports pane with the gbXML export ready to generate — useful for handing the model to an energy-modeling tool. Requires a Team or Enterprise license.

Performance Tips

For complex buildings:

Turn on Performance Mode
Hide layers you don’t need from the Layers menu
Use Filter by Level to focus on one floor at a time
Close other browser tabs to free up memory