How to use the Fenestration Study
Fix the facade and floor-area measurement basis, orientation zones, opening schedule, product performance sources and the regulatory route being explored.
The workspace starts blank. Load example temporarily fills the controls with demonstration data; reload or use the tool’s New or reset action, where provided, before entering live information.
- Choose Regulatory context and Units, then enter Register reference, floor and rooflight area, Compliance route / note and Model / drawing source.
- Add each orientation or facade zone with Gross wall, window, glazed-door and opaque-door areas.
- Enter frame factor, window and door U-values and Product / type reference where available.
- Review orientation totals, window-to-wall ratios, opening-to-floor ratios and optional heat-loss contribution without treating them as a compliance verdict.
Worked examples
These examples explain the set-up, expected output and review needed without changing the tool workspace.
Orientation ratio comparison
- Set-up
- Create north, east, south and west facade rows from the same elevation issue and enter gross wall and opening areas.
- Result
- The register shows where glazing is concentrated and how each orientation contributes to the overall ratio.
- Review
- Coordinate daylight, overheating, views, energy, structure and facade expression rather than optimizing one overall percentage.
Product-data gap review
- Set-up
- Enter opening geometry but leave unverified frame factors or U-values clearly incomplete and add the proposed type reference.
- Result
- The register preserves the geometry while exposing missing performance information.
- Review
- Replace placeholders with project-specific declared or calculated values before energy or compliance work.
Suggested workflow
Place the tool in a controlled project or practice process rather than treating its output as an isolated verdict.
- Measure facade and floor areas consistently from a controlled source.
- Add openings by orientation and link geometry to product or type information.
- Use the register as an input to the appropriate energy, daylight and overheating assessments.
Check before saving or issuing
- Openings do not exceed their associated gross wall area and are not counted in multiple orientations.
- Floor, rooflight and wall areas use the same measurement and unit basis.
- Performance values and frame factors identify the product, calculation or source they represent.
Common problems
- Ratio exceeds 100 percent: correct duplicated openings or a gross-wall area entered on a different basis.
- Heat-loss contribution is misleading: confirm U-value units and whether frame effects are already included.
- Regulatory context is mistaken for a limit: record the actual project route and use the tool only to organize geometry.
Output
A facade opening register with orientation totals, ratios and optional opening heat-loss contribution.
Professional boundary
The geometry does not determine Part L, ASHRAE, IECC, daylight, overheating or local-code compliance.