Spaces

Spaces are the fundamental building blocks of your HVAKR model. Each space represents a distinct area of your building that you want to analyze for heating, cooling, and ventilation.

Creating Spaces

Drawing Spaces Manually

1. Navigate to Building Model > Spaces
2. Select the appropriate sheet
3. Click the Draw tool
4. Click to place polygon vertices around the space boundary
5. Close the polygon by clicking the starting point or pressing Enter
6. Assign a space type in the properties panel

Tips for Drawing

• Follow the interior face of exterior walls
• Include the full floor area within the space
• Trace carefully around columns and other obstructions
• Use snap to align with existing geometry

AI Space Takeoff

Use AI to automatically detect spaces from your floor plan:

1. Click AI Takeoff in the toolbar
2. Select the area to analyze
3. Review the detected spaces
4. Accept, modify, or reject each space

AI Space Takeoff works best with clear, well-defined floor plans. See AI Space Takeoff for details.

Space Properties

General Properties

• Name - Descriptive name (e.g., “Office 101”, “Conference Room A”)
• Space Type - Links to space type for loads and ventilation
• Floor - The floor level containing this space

Geometry

• Area - Calculated from the polygon boundary
• Volume - Area multiplied by floor height
• Perimeter - Length of the space boundary

Override Values

Override calculated values when needed:

• Custom area - Use when the drawing doesn’t match reality
• Custom volume - For spaces with non-standard ceiling heights
• Custom occupancy - Override the space type default

Space Types

Each space must be assigned a space type. The space type determines:

• Occupancy density and activity level
• Equipment and lighting loads
• Ventilation requirements
• Usage schedules

See Space Types for configuration details.

Editing Spaces

Moving Vertices

1. Select the space
2. Drag vertices to new positions
3. The area updates automatically

Adding Vertices

1. Select the space
2. Click on an edge to add a vertex
3. Drag the new vertex to position

Deleting Vertices

1. Select the space
2. Click a vertex to select it
3. Press Delete to remove

Splitting Spaces

To divide a space:

1. Draw a new space over part of the existing space
2. The original space is automatically adjusted

Merging Spaces

To combine spaces:

1. Select multiple spaces
2. Click Merge in the toolbar
3. Choose the resulting space type

Space Validation

HVAKR validates spaces and shows warnings for:

• No space type - Space must have an assigned type
• Zero area - Polygon is invalid or too small
• Self-intersecting - Polygon crosses itself
• Overlapping - Space overlaps with another space

Resolve validation errors before running calculations.

Bulk Operations

Select Multiple Spaces

• Click and drag to select spaces in an area
• Ctrl/Cmd + click to add to selection
• Ctrl/Cmd + A to select all spaces on the sheet

Bulk Edit

With multiple spaces selected:

• Change space type for all selected
• Move all selected spaces together
• Delete all selected spaces

Best Practices

1. Name spaces clearly - Use consistent naming conventions
2. Assign types immediately - Set the space type when creating
3. Check areas - Verify calculated areas match expectations
4. Avoid overlaps - Each area should belong to only one space
5. Include all conditioned areas - Don’t miss corridors, lobbies, etc.