Building and zone geometry import

Building and zone geometry can be imported into IDA ICE if the imported geometry only contains a volume enclosed by polygon surfaces (polyhedron) without holes between the surfaces. The geometry should describe the inner surface of the external walls for a building, and the inner surface of the zone walls for a zone. Many popular file formats (.skp, .3ds, .obj, .dxf, .dwg and other) are supported.

Imported building bodies and zones have protected geometry, i.e. their geometry is non-editable, only resizable. However, an imported building body is fully editable if the imported geometry only has one floor and that floor is horizontal and does not contain any holes, and the geometry does not have any outward leaning walls (surfaces with their exterior normal pointing downwards). This is the same kind of geometry that can be created in the IDA ICE roof editor. Importing geometry as zone will also create a building body of the same shape as the zone.

If a geometry file contains multiple polyhedron geometries, each with a separate color, they are imported as separate building bodies or zones in IDA ICE. If surfaces are placed one wall thickness apart, these are regarded as thermally connected internal walls.

Another option to import building and zone geometry is IFC. See here more about the IFC import.