[Equest-users] Interior courtyards

[Ng, Jason]

Hello all,

I have a particular building geometry that I am unsure of how to simulate. I know that you cannot simulate an exterior space that is completely surrounded by interior zones. In the past when I have come across an interior courtyard type of geometry I was able to conveniently split my shell in two parts with minimal effort with the split occurring along the edges of the interior courtyard.

This time, however, my interior courtyard (which is actually more like a large light well than an interior courtyard) is relatively small compared to my building, but not small enough to ignore, and spans across three floors, including the interior parking garage in the basement. Before taking the time to split my shells like I did in the past, I was wondering if anyone has a more clever way of approaching this particular geometry?

One option I thought of was to separate the spaces surrounding the courtyard on each floor into their own zones and simply adding appropriately sized external walls and fenestration to these zones in detailed mode, while simulating the courtyard itself as non-conditioned. Could it really be so simple?

The attached image is of the second floor of the building. The courtyard is in the red circle.


[cid:image001.jpg at 01D0C307.D13BF7E0]

Jason Ng_ing. jr. M.Sc.A., LEED green associate
jng at bpa.ca<mailto:jng at bpa.ca>   |  www.bpa.ca<http://www.bpa.ca>  |  t: 5143833747x2813

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