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Energy Assessment: PHPP question - easy to change building orientation?

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorRobinB
    • CommentTimeFeb 7th 2018
     
    So it’s been a long time since I dropped in. Hello to all! Quick question, if I enter all data for a new house build in PHPP I can change the building’s orientation quickly and see how it affects energy demand can’t I?
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeFeb 8th 2018
     
    Not to my knowledge.

    You'd have to change the orientation of each window individually, for example.
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeFeb 8th 2018
     
    Sounds like a good idea for an add-on.
  4.  
    Welcome back, RobinB! I was thinking a few days ago about the long absence of some of the 'old' names.
    • CommentAuthorRobinB
    • CommentTimeFeb 8th 2018 edited
     
    Posted By: Nick ParsonsWelcome back, RobinB! I was thinking a few days ago about the long absence of some of the 'old' names.

    Thanks Nick, I finished building our house and we've been in it 5 years already. On the whole very happy though I should have taken the Passivhaus design course before, not after! I've always been very grateful for the help and sensible advice on this forum, and to Keith for keeping it going.
    • CommentAuthorRobinB
    • CommentTimeFeb 8th 2018
     
    Posted By: gravelldSounds like a good idea for an add-on.

    I'm sure it would be if it's not there already!
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeFeb 8th 2018
     
    I'm curious why it would be useful? You find a site, it has an orientation, you design a house to suit. Why would you then want to rotate it? Equally a house from a different site with a different orientation is unlikely to be a good fit simply by rotation, since the views and levels, planning constraints etc are all likely to be different.
  8.  
    So I just checked my PHPP model (v. 8.5) and it is certainly possible to make a bunch of the cells in the 'Areas' sheet point to a single cell instead of individual typed values. In other words you could set up 4 (or more) cardinal point reference cells and then direct each wall to the relevant cardinal point. Changing the one cell affects all the ones that refer to it and the model updates accordingly. All the windows in the relevant host wall also update automatically.

    NOTE: You have to unprotect the sheet if you want to do this outside of the official yellow boxes, so depends where you choose to place these values.

    As to why - I can certainly see how there might be slightly different configurations of the building plan that respond to orientation. We had no choice on our plot as there were so many other restrictions like underground services, TPOs etc.
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeFeb 8th 2018
     
    Indeed - all the more reason why a well-considered design begins and ends tightly locked to its site/features/orientation, basically not rotatable!
    • CommentAuthorRobinB
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2018
     
    Thank you for your comments. It would be interesting to be able to show quickly just why that north facing glazed100% wall is not such a great idea.
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeFeb 9th 2018
     
    Posted By: RobinBIt would be interesting to be able to show quickly just why that north facing glazed100% wall is not such a great idea.

    A 100% glazed wall is not a good idea in any direction, so I'm not clear how rotating a PHPP model would help.

    Equally I'm not sure how effective a PHPP model would be to convince somebody who didn't understand instinctively how something facing towards the sun is different from something hidden from the sun.
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeFeb 10th 2018
     
    Or even turned 'a bit' away from the sun.
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeFeb 10th 2018
     
    If PHPP is used as a design tool though, it seems sensible, because it might allow a balance to be explored of different glazing, overheating mitigation, solar gain and all that jazz?

    That said, there are so many other variables, e.g. on a sloping site I guess arbitrarily rotating the house is going to have a big impact to the foundations, so you're going to need a complicated spreadsheet!
    • CommentAuthorRobinB
    • CommentTimeFeb 12th 2018
     
    I think it is a design tool. Quite right this is only going to be easy on a dead flat plot.

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