Creating Openings in TRNSYS3D

This article describes how to create openings (windows, sliding glass doors etc.) in TRNSYS3D.

Window modelling in TRNSYS3D

In this example, the windows are created in a model with two rooms on top of the building foundation as shown in the Figure. A guide (draft line) has already been drawn. On this model, create a window 0.9m high and 1.8m wide at 1.1m from the floor.

Select the Zone in which you want to create the window. Select the Rectangle tool and click on the bottom left position of the drafting line, then the top right position.。

A rectangle will then be drawn and automatically recognised as a window.

In TRNSYS3D, when you draw a rectangle inside a wall, it is automatically recognised as a window.

Creating a sliding glass door

Create a sliding glass door 1.8m wide and 2.0m high at floor level.

As with the window, select the Rectangle tool and click on the bottom left position, then the top right position.

A sliding glass door will be created in the same way as the previous window.
It appears that the sliding glass door has been created so that nothing is out of place.

However, the model imported into TRNBuild does not have the sliding glass door. The model displayed in the trnViewBUI shows no glass sliding door.

The Zone window also does not have the sliding glass door, either.

Rules for creating openings

TRNSYS3D requires windows and glass sliding doors to be created in a shape that is 100% contained inside the wall.

The window shape must be fully contained within the wall as shown on the left-hand side of the figure.

As shown on the right side of the figure, a sliding glass door is not correctly identified as an opening because the bottom edge of the wall is overlapping.

This is a difficult error to notice as the opening appears to have been made correctly in TRNSYS3D.

How to create the right sliding glass doors

It is tempting to create a sliding glass door at floor level, but this would need to be modelled with the wall left at the lower end.

In the figure below, a sliding glass door has been created with the window 0.05m above floor level.

Import the IDF to TRNBuild again. This time the opening has been created correctly.

Conclusion

The key points of how to create openings are as follows.

Openings must be created that fit within (encompass) the wall.
When glass sliding doors are created at floor level, they are not correctly identified as openings.
A glass sliding door is to be created leaving the wall above the floor.