Quick Start

This guide walks you through creating your first HVAKR project. By the end, you’ll have a working building model with load calculations.

Step 1: Create a Project

The Create Project dialog is a guided flow of two or three steps:

1. From the home screen, click Create Project
2. On Project Info, enter a project name and address. Next stays disabled until both have a value. The address pulls ASHRAE design weather data for the location. Choose the project type (Commercial or Residential) and the construction type (New or Retrofit), then click Next
3. On Upload Sheets (shown for New construction only), optionally drop your floor plan PDF or DXF files, then click Next. You can skip this and upload them in Step 2 below
4. On Data Sources, choose which space type, envelope, and duct type templates to include. For a Residential Retrofit project, Include Map-Based Takeoff is on by default: it adds a satellite map and traces the building footprint. Then click Create Project

On a residential retrofit project with Include Map-Based Takeoff left on, HVAKR opens Building Model → Spaces and traces the footprint from the map. Skip Step 2 until you have a floor plan to overlay, and start Step 3 by reviewing the generated space.

Step 2: Upload Floor Plans

1. Navigate to Basis of Design > Sheet Library
2. Click Upload Files and select your floor plan files (PDF or DXF)
3. When processing finishes, check the Sheet Type and Scale that HVAKR filled in for each sheet. Correct a wrong scale from the Scale column or with the Calibrate Scale tool. See Sheet Library

Step 3: Define Spaces

1. Go to Building Model > Spaces
2. Select the level you want to work on from the level control in the toolbar
3. If map takeoff already created a space, review it. Otherwise click Create Spaces (or press N), trace each space on the floor plan, and click Done
4. Assign a space type to each space in the Space Data panel (e.g., Office, Conference Room, Corridor)

Tip

Use Auto Takeoff Spaces (the sparkles icon in the toolbar) to automatically detect and create spaces from your floor plan.

Step 4: Configure the Envelope

1. Navigate to Building Model > Envelope
2. Assign wall types to exterior walls: skip this if map takeoff already applied climate-zone wall, roof, and slab types
3. Add windows and doors to the envelope
4. Define the roof and slab for each space that still needs them

Step 5: Group Spaces into Zones

1. Go to Building Model > Zones
2. In the Zones panel, click Create Zone (or press N): a zone is a group of spaces served by a single thermostat or terminal unit
3. Click spaces on the canvas to assign them to the new zone, then click Done. A space can belong to only one zone

Tip

Use Auto Create Zones to generate zones from your spaces automatically.

Step 6: Create Systems

1. Go to Building Model > Systems
2. In the Systems panel, click Create System (or press N). The new system comes with a default central unit: there is no system type to pick here
3. Click zones on the canvas to assign them to the new system, then click Done
4. To change the system’s equipment arrangement, use Apply System Preset in System Design > Configuration

Tip

Use Auto Group Zones to group unassigned zones into systems automatically.

Step 7: View Results

1. Navigate to Reports > Loads
2. In the Loads Explorer sidebar, click Project, a system, a zone, or a space to view its cooling and heating loads
3. Outdoor air (OA) appears in the cooling checksums card as OA Airflow Density and OA Airflow Per Person, and as Sum of Spaces Ventilation in the system components tables, next to the Ventilation Total load. See Loads Summary Report

Next Steps

• Creating Projects - Learn more about project setup options
• Navigation - Understand the HVAKR interface
• Basis of Design - Configure project-wide settings