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.

Views

Switch between two views with the view icons next to Spaces in the left sidebar:

• Canvas (default) - Draw and edit space polygons visually
• Table - Edit spaces in a sortable table docked beside the canvas; expand it to fill the pane, or collapse it back

HVAKR remembers the last view you used for this page.

Creating Spaces

Drawing Spaces Manually

1. Navigate to Building Model > Spaces
2. Select the level you’re working on with the toolbar level controls
3. Click Create Spaces (or press N for polygon mode, R for rectangle mode)
4. Pick Polygon or Rectangle from the segmented control that appears
5. For a polygon, click to place each vertex, then press Enter (or click the starting point) to complete it; for a rectangle, click one corner and then the opposite corner. Press Ctrl/Cmd + Z to undo the last point, Esc to cancel, and hold Ctrl to disable snapping.
6. Keep drawing as many spaces as you need, click Done when finished, then assign a space type in the Space Data 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 the Auto Takeoff Spaces button (the sparkles icon) in the toolbar
2. In the Auto Takeoff Spaces dialog, choose Apply to all levels or Apply to level N only, optionally set Wall Type / Window Type / Roof Type / Slab Type, then click Run
3. Review the generated spaces — click each one to toggle Included / Excluded
4. Click Approve (or press Enter) to keep the level’s included spaces, or Cancel (or press Esc) to discard the level’s generated spaces. HVAKR then moves to the next level that has generated spaces

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

Space Data

Select a space in the Spaces panel to edit it in the Space Data panel:

• Number - Space number (e.g., “101”). The Spaces list and the canvas hover readout show number | name when the space has both
• Name - Descriptive name (e.g., “Office 101”, “Conference Room A”)
• Area - Calculated from the polygon boundary (read-only); edit the polygon to change it
• Zone - The zone this space belongs to (see Zones); click to open it, or (None) if unassigned
• Space Type - Links to space type for loads and ventilation. Click the book icon to assign one from the library instead — the drawer imports the template into the project and assigns it
• Slab-to-Slab Height - Height from the space’s floor to the underside of the slab above. It does not include the floor slab thickness. Lowering it below the ceiling height lowers the ceiling height to match
• Ceiling Height - Floor-to-ceiling height. It cannot exceed the slab-to-slab height
• Occupancy - Number of people. HVAKR calculates it from the space type’s people density; type a value to override it, or reset the field to go back to Calculated
• Ventilation - Outdoor airflow the space requires. The method defaults to VRP, calculated from the space type; pick IAQP or CO2 Floor to use that procedure instead, or switch the method to Custom to enter your own airflow. The field flags a custom value that is below the code-required value
• Infiltration - Infiltration airflow. The method defaults to Calculate from Space Type Data; pick Calculate from ACH Input, Calculate from Area Input, Calculate from Perimeter Input, or Manual Input to override it. Check Use separate winter infiltration requirements to split the field into Summer Infiltration and Winter Infiltration
• Exhaust Units - Number of exhaust units in the space. It appears only when the assigned space type has a unit exhaust rate, and defaults to 1
• Misc. Cooling Sensible Load, Misc. Cooling Latent Load, and Misc. Heating Load - Extra loads that the space type does not cover. Each field has its own unit selector. To build the two cooling loads from a list of equipment, see Itemizing Misc. Cooling Equipment
• Preview Loads - Show the space’s load summary. Select a single space to enable it, then step through spaces with Previous and Next
• Delete - Remove the space

A space’s level isn’t a property field — it’s set by which level you draw the space on, using the toolbar level controls.

Itemizing Misc. Cooling Equipment

Click the calculator button (Itemize equipment) beside Misc. Cooling Sensible Load or Misc. Cooling Latent Load to open the Misc. Cooling Equipment dialog. The button appears only when a single space is selected.

1. Add a row for each piece of equipment. Pick it from the Equipment list, then set Qty
2. Each row shows Sensible (each) and Latent (each) loads, plus Sensible Total and Latent Total for the quantity. The Total row adds up the list
3. Click Save to apply the list, or Cancel to discard your edits. Save stays disabled while a row has no equipment name

The Equipment list holds:

• Equipment heat gains from the 2021 ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals, Chapter 18, Tables 5A to 10 (kitchen appliances, warewashing, medical and laboratory equipment, and office equipment). Picking one copies its loads into the row
• Equipment already listed in other spaces of the project. Picking one copies its loads too
• Custom, or a new name you type, to enter your own loads

If the space already has misc. cooling loads, the list starts with one Existing misc. load row that holds them, so the space’s load does not change when you open the dialog. When the space type has an equipment load, the dialog warns you not to list equipment the space type already covers.

After you save a list, the two cooling fields show the list’s totals. They are read-only, and each label notes how many equipment items it is calculated from. Edit the list to change them. Save an empty list to type the loads in directly again. Misc. Heating Load is never itemized.

Panel Actions

The Space Data header carries three buttons:

• Locate (or press L) - Switch to the space’s level and fit the canvas around the selection. A selection that spans levels keeps the current level when a selected space is on it, and drops to the lowest level in the selection when none is. Double-clicking a row in the Spaces list locates that one space
• Copy Space Properties and Paste Space Properties - Copy the space’s data, then paste it onto another selection

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

Double-click a space (or right-click it and choose Edit) to enter its polygon editor. The area updates automatically as you edit.

Space Context Menu

Right-click a space on the canvas for its full action list:

• Add Comment - Open the chat sidebar with a comment addressed to the space
• Copy - Copy the space, or the whole selection when the space is in one. Right-click empty canvas to Paste or Paste In Place
• Edit - Open the polygon editor
• Split - Divide the space in two (see Splitting Spaces)
• Rotate, Scale, and Flip - Turn, resize, or mirror the space. Right-click a selected space to transform the whole selection. For Scale, drag a corner to scale or a side to stretch, then press Enter to accept or Esc to cancel
• Move Label - Drag the space’s canvas label to a new position
• Merge - Combine adjacent spaces (see Merging Spaces)
• Delete - Remove the space, or the whole selection when the space is in one

Moving Vertices

Drag any vertex to a new position, or drag an edge to move the whole edge. Hold Ctrl to disable snapping.

Adding Vertices

Hover an edge and Shift-click it to insert a new vertex, then drag the vertex into position.

Deleting Vertices

Hover a vertex and Shift-click it to remove it. A space must keep at least three vertices.

Undoing Edits

Each completed drag, inserted vertex, and removed vertex is one step. Press Ctrl/Cmd + Z (or U) to undo the last step, and Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Z or Ctrl/Cmd + Y to redo it. The Undo and Redo buttons in the toolbar do the same. While the polygon editor is open, these shortcuts change only the polygon you are editing, not other project changes.

When you’re finished, click the check (✓) button or press Enter to save the edited polygon, or click the cancel (✕) button or press Esc to discard your changes.

Splitting Spaces

To divide one space into two:

1. Right-click the space and choose Split
2. Click a boundary edge to start the split line
3. Click another boundary edge to complete it — HVAKR splits the space along that line

Press U to undo the last point or Esc to cancel, and hold Ctrl to disable snapping. Click the check (✓) button to finish.

Merging Spaces

To combine spaces:

1. Select two or more adjacent spaces (they must share an edge)
2. Right-click the space you want to keep and choose Merge

The other selected spaces are merged into the one you clicked and removed; the kept space retains its space type. Merge only appears when the selected spaces are adjacent.

Bulk Operations

Select Multiple Spaces

• Click and drag an empty area to box-select the spaces inside it
• Ctrl/Cmd + click or Shift + click a space on the canvas to add it to (or remove it from) the selection
• In the Spaces list, Shift + click a row to select every space between it and the last one you clicked

Bulk Edit

With multiple spaces selected, the Space Data panel edits them together:

• An edit in Space Data applies to all selected spaces. Number, Name, Space Type, Slab-to-Slab Height, Ceiling Height, Occupancy, Exhaust Units, and the three Misc. loads show a value when every selected space holds the same one, and stay empty when they differ
• When any selected space has itemized equipment, Misc. Cooling Sensible Load and Misc. Cooling Latent Load are read-only. Select one space to edit its equipment list
• Ventilation and Infiltration show their default method and no value, even when the selected spaces match
• Area stays empty and Zone shows (None). Select a single space to see them
• Paste Space Properties applies the copied data to all selected spaces
• Locate fits the canvas around the selected spaces on one level, as described in Panel Actions
• Drag any selected space to move all of them together
• Delete removes 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.