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The current release is ATHENA® Impact Estimator for Buildings 4.1.14
(Version 4.1 Build 14)
Known Issues:
This page contains last-minute product information and will be regularly updated to reflect the most up–to–date state of the known issues with the ATHENA® Impact Estimator for Buildings Version 4.
The following issues have been identified in the ATHENA® Impact Estimator for Buildings Version 4.1 Build 14 as of its release in September 2011.
To download this version of the Impact Estimator, please click
here
.
- Project - Modify Project : After opening some existing projects and launching the "Modify Project" form, then clicking on the "Operating Energy Consumption" button, an Unhandled Exception Error message is displayed when the "Building Operating Energy Consumption" form attempts to open. This error is the result of an un-initiated value and can be ignored.
Workaround:- Click the "Continue" button to open the "Building Operating Energy Consumption" form. The un-initialized value will now be properly initialized.
- Click the "OK" button in the "Building Operating Energy" form.
- Click the "OK" button in the "Modify Project" form.
- Save the project.
-
All Forms - Forms do not accept numeric entries if the decimal symbol is a comma. (e.g., French Language numeric values). . This will occur in the "Add Project" form, where the user may enter data into any of the input boxes, but will not be able to click the "OK" button to accept the new project. If the Regional and Language settings in the Windows Control Panel are set to a language such as French (Canada), where the decimal symbol is set as a comma, as opposed to a period, the forms in Impact Estimator will not validate properly, and an error will occur.
Workaround:
To work around this, open Regional and Language Options in the Control Panel, and either switch the format to English, or Customize the French format so that the decimal symbol is a period. After making the change, re-open Impact Estimator and proceed. Don't forget to switch the period back to a comma when you are finished working in the Impact Estimator. - Material - Polyester felt : The manufacturing data for "Polyester felt" needs to be updated.
- Assembly - Extra Basic Materials - Copy to Project : The "Copy to Project" feature does not work for Extra Basic Material assemblies. This feature was disabled in version 4.1 build 10.
- Project - Modify Project : Cascading Unit Update. When Units (SI, Imperial) are changed, the change is not cascaded down to all existing assemblies within that project. The user should be asked whether the change should cascade down to all existing assemblies within that project.
- Report : The Per Unit Area Graphs are only produced on a per m2 basis, not on a per ft2 basis.
- Save as Text is missing some of the assembly data. This feature was disabled in version 4.0 Build 66.
- Reports - Tables - Export to Excel - Formulas : When Table Reports are Exported to Excel, the Report Viewer names each of the Total fields that contain summation formulas. If you want to manipulate the data, we recommend copying the exported data and using Paste Special – Values to remove the formula and named cell dependencies.
The following issues have been corrected in the Version 4.1 Build 14 released in September 2011:
- Project Amnesia : When multiple projects are loaded each of which having one or more Assembly and/or report forms simultaneously open, the program intermittently "forgets" which project is active when a user clicks between the open forms (thereby activating them). The signature of this bug appears when the "Save As" form opens when the user attempts to "Save" a previously saved (or opened) project file.
- Assembly : Mixed Columns & Beams : The "Area" cannot be derived from the inputs on the form, thereby causing the "Construction Energy" to be calculated improperly. A new input field "Supported Area" was added to correct this bug.
- Assembly : Custom Walls : "Construction Energy" was not being calculated properly for wall assemblies. This bug was introduced in version 4.1.12.
- Assembly : Custom Walls : added new "Pre-engineered Metal Wall System" assembly (for demonstration purposes).
- Assembly : Mixed Columns & Beams : added new "Pre-engineered Metal Frame System" assembly (for demonstration purposes).
- Assembly : Roofs : added new "Pre-engineered Metal Roof System" assembly (for demonstration purposes).
- Assembly : Extra Basic Materials - Other : added "Polypropylene Scrim Kraft Vapour Retarder Cloth" (PSK)
- Assembly : Extra Basic Materials - Roofing : added "12 Ga. Steel Roof"
- Assembly : Extra Basic Materials - Roofing : added "24 Ga. Steel Roof (Commercial)"
- Assembly : Extra Basic Materials - Roofing : added "30 Ga. Steel Roof (Residential)"
Database Updates
The following database updates have been made in the Version 4.1 Build 14 release:
- Updated Assembly data : "Concrete Tilt Up Wall" assembly to correct the wrong "Construction Type" mapping which was causing "Construction Energy" to be underestimated.
- Added new Assembly : "Pre-engineered Metal Frame System"
- Added new Assembly : "Pre-engineered Metal Wall System"
- Added new Assembly : "Pre-engineered Metal Roof System"
- Updated Materials : corrected Manufacturing Transportation data for all raw materials. Updated a source code bug that was off by the inverse of the data correction. The net effect is zero change for Manufacturing Transportation.
- Updated Materials : "GluLam" manufacturing data has been updated for all Canadian regions.
- Updated Materials : corrected Demolition Energy value for "Concrete Block", "Concrete Blocks", and "Mortar".
- Updated Materials : corrected Manufacturing Energy Consumption values for "Roofing Asphalt".
- Added new Material : "12 Ga. Steel Roof"
- Added new Material : "24 Ga. Steel Roof (Commercial)"
- Added new Material : "30 Ga. Steel Roof (Residential)"
- Updated Envelope : changed name to "26 Ga. Galvanized Sheet (Commercial)" from "Steel-Commercial"
- Updated Envelope : changed name to "30 Ga. Galvanized Sheet (Residential)" from "Steel-Residential"
- Added new Envelope Category : "Steel Roof System"
- Added new Envelope : "12 Ga. Galvanized Sheet"
- Added new Envelope : "PSK" to Envelope Category "Vapour Barrier"
- Added new Envelope : "PSK" to Envelope Category "Vapour & Air Barrier"
The following issues have been corrected in the Version 4.1 Build 13 released in January 2011:
- Custom Walls - Construction Energy : The Construction Energy is not being calculated in Custom Wall assemblies. This bug only affects Custom Wall assemblies in the 4.1 Build 12 release.
- Concrete Tilt Up Wall Assembly - Construction Energy : The wrong Construction Type mapping was causing zero Construction Energy to be calculated for this assembly. This bug has been present since the initial 4.0 release.
Database Updates
The following database updates have been made in the Version 4.1 Build 13 release:
- Updated Assembly data : Concrete Tilt Up Wall Assembly.
The following issues have been corrected in the Version 4.1 Build 12 released in December 2010:
- Application - Registration : When registering the Impact Estimator for Buildings software, the registration process only detects the MAC address for the network interface card that is active during registration. For instance, if the software is registered when connected to a network via an Ethernet network interface card, the MAC address of the Ethernet NIC card is used. If the software is subsequently launched when the computer is connected to a wireless network, the registration validation code sends the MAC address of the wireless interface card to the registration server, thereby causing software registration validation to fail.
- Emissions due to Transportation Fuels : The emissions to air, land and water for fuels consumed during the transportation of materials and products, are being underestimated by an amount equal to the tonne-km per physical unit of fuel. Note that based on our initial cursory investigation of Diesel Road transportation effects, it appeared that the transportation effects were being underestimated by an amount similar to the higher heating value of the fuel being consumed, which is how this bug was previously reported.
- Glulam - Conversion Factor to Tonnes : The conversion factor to tonnes for GluLam is wrong. The value was entered as if GluLam was based on Mbfm when in fact GluLam is based on m3.
- Application - Project - Copy Assembly : When you copy an assembly from project A into project B, then close project B, project B closes but the user is not asked if they want to save the changes to the project B. It will close project B, and the added assembly will not be saved.
- Application - Save Project - Empty Path : An Unhandled exception is intermittently being thrown when an attempt is made to save a project having an empty path name, causing the "empty path name not legal " error message to be displayed. It is an intermittent bug that is not consistently reproducible.
- Envelopes - Roofs - Roof Envelopes : "Glass Based shingles 20yr" is not available in the envelope dropdown menu for roofs.
- Application - Project - Copy Assembly : When you copy an assembly from a project with a 60 year lifespan into a target project with a 1 year lifespan, the copied energy and effects values contributed by the copied assembly in the target project are the same as for the 60 year lifespan project.
- Assembly - Custom Wall - Concrete Tilt-Up : The Imperial labels for "Concrete Tilt-Up" are wrong and should be 6" and 8".
- Envelopes - Walls - Vapour Barrier : "Air Barrier" is not available in the "Vapour Barrier" envelope category. Need to rename the envelope category "Vapour Barrier" to "Vapour & Air Barrier".
- Application - Life Cycle Effects : Some of the life cycle effects (Material, Transportation) are not being allocated to the correct life cycle stage (LCS).
For instance:- Replacement (Maintenance LCS) effects are being accounted for in the Manufacturing and Construction LCS via the initial materials list.
- Construction Waste is being included in the Demolition LCS (end of life) instead of being transported to landfill during the Construction LCS.
- Application - Close Project - Closes all open reports : All open reports are being closed when one of the open projects is closed even reports that are not "owned" by the project being closed. The reports seem to be getting closed with the "Close All" directive instead of selectively closing open reports that correspond to the project being closed.
- Reports - Summary Measure : Replaced the Summary Measure "Primary Energy Consumption", now using "Fossil Fuel Consumption".
- Reports - Table : Header rows and columns in all table reports are not frozen which makes it difficult to use the reports without exporting to Excel.
- Reports - Comparison Reports : Comparison reports by Life Cycle Stage are not showing the Operating Energy information.
- Assembly - Foundation - Concrete Footing : The Fly Ash radio button group is not displaying the correct selected value when the "Modify Concrete Footing Foundation" form is closed then reopened and the radio button selected is different than the default value. The value is stored properly, but the form does not reflect the value when the selected value differs from the default value.
Database Updates
The following database updates have been made in the Version 4.1 Build 12 release:
- Updated Material data : GluLam : corrected conversion factor to tonnes.
- Updated Envelope Materials : Roofs : added "Glass Based Shingles" to the list of "Roofing Envelope" envelope materials.
- Updated Envelope Categories : Walls : changed "Vapour Barrier" to "Vapour & Air Barrier".
- Updated Manufacturing data : "Stucco over porous surface".
- Updated Manufacturing data : "Polyethylene Filter Fabric".
- Updated Energy data : added new electricity generation fuel source records - now same as proposed changes to USLCIDB.
- Updated Electricity Generation by Energy Source (e.g., Fuel) Profile data with the following statistical vintages: 2007 Canada, 2007 Mexico, 2008 USA.
- Updated Window Frame data : "PVC Windows".
The following issues have been corrected in the Version 4.1 Build 11 release:
- No software related issues have been corrected in this release.
Database Updates
The following database updates have been made in the Version 4.1 Build 11 release:
- Updated Manufacturing data : Cold Rolled Sheet
- Updated Manufacturing data : Galvanized Decking
- Updated Manufacturing data : Galvanized Sheet
- Updated Manufacturing data : Galvanized Studs
- Updated Manufacturing data : Hollow Structural Steel
- Updated Manufacturing data : Hot Rolled Sheet
- Updated Manufacturing data : Nails
- Updated Manufacturing data : Open Web Joists
- Updated Manufacturing data : Rebar, Rod, Light Sections
- Updated Manufacturing data : Screws Nuts & Bolts
- Updated Manufacturing data : Steel Tubing
- Updated Manufacturing data : Welded Wire Mesh / Ladder Wire
- Updated Manufacturing data : Wide Flange Sections
The following issues have been corrected in the Version 4.1 Build 10 release:
- Application - Registration - Vista and Windows 7 : The Registration process may not properly complete on Vista and Windows7 computers, especially the 64-Bit versions when UAC is enabled.
- Permanent Fix: For Vista and Windows 7, the Registration process is now being launched as an "elevated" process to ensure that it is elevated to the administrator level.
- Tools - Options - Predefined Envelope Systems : The ability to predefine envelope systems for reuse across multiple assemblies and project has been re-imagined and completely recoded. Assembly Envelopes can be saved to a library of "Predefined Envelope Systems". This feature was originally introduced in the initial release of version 4.0 as "Envelope Configurations" but was disabled due to some usability issues.
- Reports - Graphs - Summary Measures - Show Reports : The "Show Reports" button can be clicked even if without having chosen a "Summary Measure".
- Tree : If the Tools->Options form is used to select "Weighted Resource Use" as the summary measure to display in the Tree, the selection is not being saved properly and the value displayed in the Tree is erroneous.
- Workaround: Right-click the Root node (named Impact Estimator), then expand the Select Summary Measure submenu to select Weighted Resource Use.
- Reports - Absolute Values : Need to have an "All Reports" option so can to improve ease of generating all Absolute Value reports.
- Reports - Comparison Graphs :
- numbers for bars (columns) are cluttered (colliding with each other) and not readable
- vertical axis numbers need to have thousandths separators (commas). This applies to all graphs, not just comparison graphs.
- Application - Progress Bar : Need to have a progress bar during application launch and when loading project files. Users are wondering whether the application has stalled.
- Application - Live Load : The Imperial label for 2.4 kPa is 45 psf, it should be 50 psi.
- Application - Project - Edit Menu - Close All Assembly Forms : If a Project has no Assemblies, then the "Close All Assembly Forms" Edit Menu option should not be available when the Project is selected.
- Application - Project - Edit Menu - Delete All Assemblies : If a Project has no Assemblies, then the "Delete All Assemblies" Edit Menu option should not be available when the Project is selected.
- Application - Assembly Group - Edit Menu - Close Assembly Forms : If no Assembly dialogs are open for an Assembly Group, then the "Close Assembly Forms" Edit Menu option should not be available when the Assembly Group is selected.
- Application - Project - Edit Menu - Close All Assembly Forms : If no Assembly dialogs are open for a Project, then the "Close All Assembly Forms" Edit Menu option should not be available when the Project is selected.
- Application - Root - File Menu : When the Root node is selected, the "Save As" File Menu option should not be available.
- Project - New York City : When loading saved project files having New York City as the location, an unhandled exception error was being thrown if the project contained certain materials. This issue is specific to New York City.
- Assembly - Columns and Beams - Concrete Beams : The mass of rebar was not being multiplied by the number of beams. Unless the user chooses 1 beam, the mass of Rebar, Rod, Light Sections was being underestimated in the Bill of Materials.
- Assembly - Cast In Place Wall : The volume of concrete and mass of rebar were not being adjusted when openings were added to the assembly. If windows or doors were selected, then Concrete and Rebar, Rod, Light Sections were being overestimated in the Bill of Materials.
- Assembly - Curtain Wall : The masses of Screws, Nuts and Bolts, EPDM Membrane and Galvanized Sheet were not being adjusted when openings were added to the assembly. If windows or doors were selected, then these materials were being overestimated in the Bill of Materials.
- Assembly - Insulated Concrete Form Wall : The volume of Expanded Polystyrene Insulation was not being adjusted when openings were added to the assembly. If windows or doors were selected, then EPS was being overestimated in the Bill of Materials.
- Assembly - Wood Joist Floor and Roof, Wood I Joist Floor and Roof : The mass of Galvanized Sheet (joist hangers) was being underestimated in the Bill of Materials, by a factor of 1000 (kg vs. tonne)
- Application - Conversion Factors m3 to Mbfm : Conversions from m3 to Mbfm (nominal) for large and small dimensional lumber had their conversion factors mixed up. They have been corrected, small dimensional Mbfm to m3 is now times 0.646, and large dimensional Mbfm to m3 is now times 0.612.
- Report - Bill of Material - After Copy Assembly to Project : The BOM is not being updated properly when an assembly is copied to another project. The expected behaviour is that the BOM report will be automatically recalculated after any changes to the project.
- Report - Bill of Material - After Delete Assembly Group : The BOM is not being updated properly when an assembly group is deleted from a project. The expected behaviour is that the BOM report will be automatically recalculated after any changes to the project.
- Assembly - Light Frame Wood Truss Roof and Floor : Only for Live Load 2.4 kPa and when the entered span is less than the design minimum, the softwood lumber volume not being calculated properly.
- Assembly - 60 MPa 25% and 35% Flyash concretes : still selectable (even though no longer supported) for following assemblies:
- Concrete Slab on Grade Foundation,
- Concrete Footings Foundation,
- Cast In Place Wall,
- Concrete Tilt Up Wall,
- Concrete Suspended Slab Roof & Floor,
- Concrete Parking Garage Roof & Floor,
- Assembly - Steel Stud Wall : There needs to be a choice between "Load Bearing" and "Non Load Bearing" similar to the "Wood Stud Wall".
- Reports - Graphs : Data labels on all graphs are being displayed over or next to columns and are often overlapped and unreadable. They should be removed.
- Reports - Graphs - Summary Measures : for Summary Measure graphs by Life Cycle Stage and Assembly Group the X-Axis format is good for small numbers, and switches to scientific notation for very small numbers. But for any values above 1,000, the axis divisions need to be comma separated.
- Reports - Graphs - Summary Measures - Operating vs Embodied : The values in the legend should be comma separated for Operating vs Embodied graphs for both Energy Consumption and Global Warming Potential reports.
- Reports - Comparison Graphs - Absolute Value : When the values are very small, like with ozone or sometimes Eutrophication, the graphs show the columns but with no values on the Y axis.
- Reports - Graphs - Summary Measures : for Summary Measure graphs the Energy Consumption (Life Cycle Stage and Assembly Group) and acidification (Life Cycle Stage) have the values on the X axis oriented vertically, but all other Summary Measures reports are oriented horizontally. These should all be consistent.
- Reports - Graphs - Absolute Value : All Absolute Value graphs by Assembly Group have a logarithmic scale on the vertical axis, but the LCS graphs have a linear scale on the vertical axis. For all Absolute Value graphs should have a logarithmic vertical scale.
- Reports - Graphs - Absolute Value : The column values on the Absolute Value graphs for Air Emissions and Water Emissions are unreadable and should be disabled. Users are advised to use the Table version of these reports.
Database Updates
The following database updates have been made in the Version 4.1 Build 10 release:
- Added new Material : EPDM membrane (white, 60 mil)
- Added new Material : Fiber Cement Siding
- Added new Material : MDI Resin
- Added new Material : Natural Stone
- Added new Material : PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride). This is the same PVC data as in previous versions, where all PVC (siding and window frames) appeared in the Bill of Materials as "Vinyl Siding" in m2 or ft2. Vinyl Siding is still available as a cladding choice, and will appear in the Bill of Materials as such, but PVC window frames will now appear as PVC, in kg or lbs. Both Vinyl Siding and PVC are available as Extra Basic Materials and can be added or subtracted in m2/ft2 or kg/lbs, whichever is more convenient for the user. Both materials are based on the same database as in previous versions of Impact Estimator.
- Added new Assembly : Structurally Insulated Panels Wall (SIPS)
- Added new Location : Los Angeles
- Added new Location : Seattle
- Added Seismic data for Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver. Used the Seattle data for Vancouver.
- Updated Material : Aluminum (all regions). The Smelting process for virgin aluminum was missed in the previous process data for Aluminum. The Aluminum profile is comprised of an 80-20 virgin-recycled mix.
- Updated Material : EPDM membrane (black, 60 mil) (changed name from "EPDM membrane" and updated data for all regions)
- Updated Material : Large Dimension Softwood Lumber Green & Kiln-Dried (Canadian regions only)
- Updated Material : Small Dimension Softwood Lumber Green & Kiln-Dried (Canadian regions only)
- Updated Material : Softwood Plywood (Canadian regions only)
- Updated Material : Oriented Strand Board (Canadian regions only)
- Updated Material : Mortar - the demolition energy value was 1000 too small and was missed when previously updated other concrete/cement materials.
- Updated Material : All Siding Materials - the construction waste factor value was changed for all siding materials.
- Updated Material : Cedar Shiplap Siding (all regions)
- Updated Material : Cedar Wood Bevel Siding (all regions)
- Updated Material : Cedar Wood Tongue and Groove Siding (all regions)
- Updated ElectricityEnergyFuelBreakdown
- Updated ElectricityEnergyPercentageBreakdown
- Updated Roofing Envelope labels for Asphalt, EPDM, Modified Bitumen, PVC, and Steel roofing systems to be more informative.
- Updated EnvelopeMaterial table, fixing erroneous factor and replacement values.
- Updated the Imperial display name for 2.4 kPa from 45 psf to 50 psf
The following issues have been corrected in the Version 4.0 Build 66 release:
- Unhandled Exception Error: When loading saved project files having New York City as the location, an unhandled exception error was being thrown if the project contained certain materials.
Database Updates
The following database updates have been made in the Version 4.0 Build 66 release:
- Updated manufacturing related data for Aluminum for all regions.
- Split Feedstock raw materials into Feedstock and Non-Feedstock for Uranium, Natural Gas, Crude Oil, Metallurgical Coal, and Prompt Scrap Steel. Before this change, if a portion of the raw material was combusted during the manufacturing process instead of used as feedstock, it was tracked as part of the feedstock quantity.
- Updated energy raw material data to use the new non-feedstock fuels.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Softwood Plywood for Canadian Regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Oriented Strand Board for Canadian Regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Small Dimension Softwood Lumber Green for Canadian Regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Small Dimension Softwood Lumber Kiln Dried for Canadian Regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Large Dimension Softwood Lumber Green for Canadian Regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Large Dimension Softwood Lumber Kiln Dried for Canadian Regions.
- Updated construction transportation data for New York City.
- Corrected manufacturing emissions to water for Radium-226 and Radium-228.
- Corrected envelope material data for Modified Bitumen membrane.
- Corrected Material Demolition Energy Value for all Concrete materials.
- Corrected Material Demolition Energy Value for all Steel materials.
- Corrected Material Demolition Energy Value for all Wood materials.
The following issues have been corrected in the Version 4.0 Build 64 release:
- Report : The title field does not resize properly to fit the report title for reports where the report title is so long that it spans three or more lines.
- Tree : The TRACI summary measure values in the Tree view are not identical to the corresponding Table report values.
- "Project Baseline" reports are not available in the Impact Estimator for Buildings.
- Tree : When open an existing project file is selected, a new project node is added to the tree control, but the new project node is not set as the active node.
- Tree : When add a new project is selected, a new project node is added to the tree control, but the new project node is not set as the active node.
- Custom Wall Assembly form is inheriting the Units setting from the Project, but is not displaying the Unit for Length and Height as "ft" when the Unit is Imperial.
- Custom Wall – Wall Component Sub–Assembly forms do not inherit the Units from the Custom Wall Assembly but rather always default to units as specified for the Project.
- Table - Absolute Value - By Life Cycle Stages : Report data is not refreshing when project data is updated. There seems to be a data refresh (caching) issue when the Project Data (i.e., Building Life Expectancy) is changed in the Modify Project dialog when a report is being displayed and while the "Reports" dialog is being displayed.
- Table - Summary Measure - By Life Cycle Stages : Report data is not refreshing when project data is updated. There seems to be a data refresh (caching) issue when the Project Data (i.e., Building Life Expectancy) is changed in the Modify Project dialog when a report is being displayed and while the "Reports" dialog is being displayed.
- Table - Absolute Value - Assembly Group Embodied Effects : Report data is not refreshing and reports are not auto-updating when Project Data is updated.
- Table - Summary Measure- Assembly Group Embodied Effects : Report data is not refreshing and reports are not auto-updating when Project Data is updated.
- Report - Report Type Radio Button Group is disabled after Close the Modify Project Dialog is selected.
- Report - Report Totals do not agree: When the user produces Summary Measure reports by Life Cycle Stages (LCS), and by Assembly Groups(AG), the totals do not agree.
- Custom Wall Assembly - Door Type material requirements issues:
- Aluminum door type is overestimating the number of nails (fasteners) by a factor of 1000.
- The quantity of Paint for the Steel Exterior Door 0% Glazing is wrong.
- Steel Interior Door and Steel Interior Door 50% glazing have their BOMS switched.
- Should be using 50% less paint for Steel Interior Door 50% Glazing than Steel Interior Door.
- Should be using 50% less paint for Steel Exterior Door 50% Glazing than Steel Exterior Door.
- Project - Modify Project - Building Life Expectancy value is not refreshing properly when multiple projects are open.
- Report - Comparison Graphs : Comparison graphs are showing erroneous data. The values do not correspond to the project specific graphs and absolute value tables.
- Project - Building Operating Energy Consumption : The keyboard cannot be used to enter values. The user is limited to using the up/down buttons or the Compute Fuels form.
- Report - Summary Measures by Assembly Group Embodied Effects : Summary measures are being miscalculated when users sort the data by assembly groups. This group of reports is disabled.
- Report - Summary Measures for Weighted Resource Use and Eutrophication are not being calculated correctly.
- Report - Precombustion Effects are not being calculated properly.
- Opening values can only be entered by using the up/down buttons.
- Report - Bill of Materials : Units of measure for the Bill of Materials report defaults to the Project units of measure. However, the BOM units of measure can be manually changed from within the Report Viewer once the report has been generated.
- Project - Building Life Expectancy : Upper value needs to be increased to 1000 years.
- Project - Building Operating Energy Consumption : Default units of measure are not being inherited from the Add/Modify Project form.
- Extra Basic Materials - Cladding : Brick Type 2 needs to be removed.
- Extra Basic Materials - Gypsum Board : The factors being applied to Joint Compound and Paper Tape are incorrect.
- Extra Basic Materials - Roofing : TPO Membrane and Rubberized Asphalt Membrane need to be removed. The factors being applied to Polyester Felt and Polyethylene Filter Fabric are incorrect.
- Extra Basic Materials - Other : The factors being applied to Aluminum, Glazing Panel, and Polypropylene are incorrect.
- Extra Basic Materials - Steel : The factors being applied to - Nails, Welded Wire Mesh Ladder Wire, Screws, Nuts, Bolts, Wide Flange Sections, Open Web Joists, Rebar Rod Light Sections, Hollow Structural Steel, Steel Tubing, Hot Rolled Sheet, Cold Rolled Sheet, Galvanized Sheet, Galvanized Decking, and Galvanized Studs are incorrect.
- Duplicate Assembly With Unsaved Changes : With the "Modify Assembly" form open, if there are unsaved changes for the assembly and the "Duplicate" button is clicked, the "Modify Assembly" form is closed without saving the changes and the duplicated assembly is a clone of the assembly before any changes were made (i.e., the last saved state of the original assembly).
- Main Window Menu : If the user has one or more open dialogs then closes them all, the Window Menu remains available when it should be unavailable.
- Project Description : Some text formatting in the "Project Description" field is not properly preserved when the Add/Modify Project form is saved and closed. For instance, when editing the Project Description a new line character can be forced by hitting the CTRL-ENTER keys at the same time. When the Add/Modify Project form is saved and closed, this forced new line character is not preserved. An automatic line wrap around can be achieved by pressing and holding down the space bar until the cursor wraps to the next line.
- Report - Comparison Graphs : Comparison graph column value labels are not on the top layer and as a result are sometimes hidden behind adjacent columns. The Arrows that connect the numbers to the columns are also sometimes confusing when the column heights are similar.
- File - Open Project : The user cannot simultaneously open multiple project files.
- Report - Comparison Graphs : With two or more open projects and the Reports form open, the "Comparison Graphs" tab disappears if any of the projects is closed. The "Comparison Graphs" tab should only disappear when there is one open project.
- Report - Comparison Graphs : With two or more open projects and the Reports form open, the list of projects has all the open project names added to the list each time one of the open projects is modified via the "Modify Project" form.
- Smog Potential Summary Measure values are calculated as negative numbers for a Custom Wall Assembly with an excessively large wall area.
- Assembly - Columns & Beams : The span is not being validated in such a way as to prevent negative material quantities.
- Report - Summary Measure : some negative values are being calculated in Summary Measure reports for the following assemblies when the presently unconstrained Span values are exceedingly large:
- Concrete Hollow Core Floor
- Concrete Hollow Core Roof
- Wood Chord and Steel Web Truss Floor
- Wood Chord and Steel Web Truss Roof
- Assembly : Hollow Core Floor & Hollow Core Roof : Rebar mass and Concrete volume for concrete hollow core floor and roof assemblies are being miscalculated. When the entered span value was outside of the design span, concrete and rebar quantities were being underestimated by as much as 40% depending on how far outside of the design range the input span value was.
- Assembly : Design Span Range needs to be updated for the following Floor and Roof assemblies:
- Concrete Suspended Slab
- Concrete Parking Garage
- Precast Double T Concrete
- Light Frame Wood Truss
- Open Web Steel Joist with Metal Decking and Concrete Topping
- Steel Joist and Plywood or OSB
- Glulam Joist and Plank Decking
- Wood I-Joist and Plywood or OSB Decking
- Wood Joist and Plywood or OSB Decking
- Wood Chord and Steel Web Truss
For each of the above assemblies, the span must be greater than zero for all loads. If an entered span is less than the live load specific minimum value, the live load specific minimum design span is used for calculating material requirements. The material requirements are then factored by multiplying the material requirements quantities by the entered span divided by the minimum span. - Save as Text is missing some of the assembly data. This feature was disabled in Build 64.
- Assembly : Columns & Beams - Wide Flange Gerber Columns : The Wide Flange Gerber Column material is not being accounted for in the Bill of Materials.
- Help File : there are broken links for the following topics:
- Introduction-7-Basic application operation - Add a new project.
- Introduction-8-Keyboard Shortcuts.
- Results Graphs and Tables - Graphs summary measures - Summary Measure Graphs Comparing Total Operating with Embodied Effects - 2 - Global Warming Potential - Summary Measure Graph Comparing the Global Warming Potential due to Total Operating Energy with Global Warming Potential due to Embodied Energy.
Database Updates
The following database updates have been made in the Version 4.0 Build 64 release:
- Corrected Material requirements for Doors.
- Corrected Traci Pollutant mapping for Ammonia.
- Added new material Glass Fibre. It is used for Fibreglass Doors. Glass Fibre has also been added to the "Add/Modify Extra Envelope Materials - Other" form.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Screws Nuts & Bolts for all regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Isocyanurate for all regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Polyisocyanurate for all regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Glass Based Shingles 30 Year for all regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Ontario Brick for all regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for Metric Modular Brick for all regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for 3 mil Polyethylene vapour barrier for all regions.
- Updated manufacturing related data for 6 mil Polyethylene vapour barrier for all regions.
- Updated Life span values for Asphalt and Glass Based Shingles for all Building Types.
- Updated Conversion to Tonnes factor for GluLam Sections; Large Dimension Softwood Lumber, Green; Large Dimension Softwood Lumber, kiln-dried; Oriented Strand Board; Parallel Strand Lumber; Small Dimension Softwood Lumber, Green; Small Dimension Softwood Lumber, kiln-dried; and Softwood Plywood
The following issues arose after the release of Version 4. They were addressed in Version 4.0 Build 56 as follows.
- Custom Walls - Envelope Materials - Emissions for envelope materials on custom walls were being double-counted. This bug has been fixed, so it is recommended that users reload any previously used project files and reproduce the summary measures and absolute value tables.
Original Bug details: Custom Wall Assembly - summary measure impacts due to envelope materials seem to be double-counted when compared with the same materials added using Extra Basic Materials. For instance, if you input a wood stud wall with batt fibreglass insulation, and then input the same wood stud wall without insulation, the difference between the absolute values of the two projects represents the total impacts of the fibreglass insulation. If you input that same amount of insulation in extra basic materials you should get the same (or very close) values.
- Comparison Graphs - Comparison graphs are showing erroneous data. The values do not correspond to the project specific graphs and absolute value tables. Users will not be able to produce comparison graphs until it has been corrected. This bug was corrected in Build 64.
- Summary Measures by Assembly Group Embodied Effects - Summary measures are being miscalculated when users sort the data by assembly groups. Until this bug is fixed, this feature has been disabled. Absolute value reports when sorted by assembly groups are correct and are still available. Summary measures and absolute values, when sorted by Life Cycle Stages are both still available. This bug was corrected in Build 64.
- The TRACI summary measure values in the Tree view are not identical to the corresponding Table report values.Until this bug is fixed, this feature has been disabled. This bug was corrected in Build 64.
- The Envelope Configuration utility has been disabled. User feedback has indicated that this feature, while valuable, has a buggy user interface that makes it unpredictable.
- Custom Wall – Window Opening Area is not being validated properly when the Units are Imperial. Validation is fine when the Units are SI.
- Concrete Suspended Slab Roof form validation on Cancel Button does not catch unsaved changes to input fields on the Assembly tab.
- Assembly Forms with the wrong Validation Sequence:
- Wall : Custom Wall
- Wall Component : Curtain Wall
- Floor : Precast Hollow Core Floor
- Floor : Precast Double T Concrete System Floor
- Floor : Modify Steel Joist and Plywood/OSB Flooring System
- Roof : Precast Hollow Core Roof
- Roof : Precast Double T Concrete System Roof
- Roof : Modify Steel Joist and Plywood/OSB Roofing System
- Duplicated Project XBM (extra basic materials) Assembly remains linked to the original project XBM assembly.
- Summary Measure units are labelled incorrectly in the summary measure reports. Except for Weighted Resource Use and Primary Energy, the Summary Measure reports with a /kg basis, should not be "kg of equivalent something". For instance, Global Warming Potential presently has "kg eq CO2/kg" which should just be "kg eq CO2".
- The Tree Control is not being properly updated when two or more projects are open and one of the projects is deleted.
- Unhandled Exception Error: With multiple projects open, expand one of the assembly groups containing multiple assemblies (i.e., floors) then delete one of the assemblies. Immediately click the Duplicate button. An unhandled exception error is thrown.
- Unit Conversion Error: In the "Add or Modify Project" form, the "Gross Floor Area" is not being properly converted from SI to Imperial. The conversion factor should be 1.0 m2 = 10.7639 ft2. The sole purpose of this optional input field is for summarizing the results on a unit floor area basis.
- The Span constraints are not being properly applied for the following Assemblies:
- Concrete Suspended Slab Floor Span 3.6m – 9.75m;
- Concrete Suspended Slab Roof Span 3.6m – 9.75m;
- Wood Joist and Plywood or OSB Decking System Floor Span 0.3m – 4.56m for 2.4kPa loads, 0.3m – 4.9m for 3.6kPa loads, 0.3m – 3.7m for 4.8kPa. loads
- The Main Menu is not updating properly following the Delete All Assemblies request.
- Forms that are not linked to the correct help file include the following:
- Tools->Options->Envelope Configurations
- Tools->Options->Envelope Configurations->Insert->Select Envelope Material
- Add/Modify Concrete Parking Garage Floor
- Add/Modify Concrete Parking Garage Roof
- Add/Modify Concrete Tilt Up Wall
- Project Change is not being registered when Delete an Assembly Group is selected.
- No confirmation message is being displayed when Delete All Assemblies is requested.
- With one or more projects open, select one of the project nodes, close it then select Delete All Assemblies; an unhandled exception error is thrown.
- Unhandled exception error is being thrown when the user switches Tree Control Summary Measure to Acidification Potential or Energy Consumption for Custom Wall Assembly for an excessively large wall area.
- No confirmation message is being displayed: When the Project node is selected and the "Delete All Assemblies" Edit Menu option is selected, a confirmation message should be displayed to the user before proceeding to delete all assemblies.
- The Columns and Beams assembly help files have been updated and need to be replaced.
- Assembly Forms with integer input fields are not validating correctly: Concrete Hollow Core Roof, Parking Garage Roof, Precast Double T Concrete Roof.
- The Main Menu is not being updated properly after Closing All projects is requested.
- When an Assembly Group is deleted, the application enters an unstable state if you immediately attempt to add a new assembly.
