JOINING & OVERLAPPED MASSES

JOINING MASSES

You can include multiple mass instances in a project. To eliminate overlap, use the Join Geometry tool to join a mass instance to other mass instances.

As a result, their gross volume and gross floor area values are adjusted accordingly.

1. Click Modify tab > Geometry panel > Join drop-down (Join Geometry).

2. Select the first mass instance, and then the second.

The overlapping form of the first mass cuts into the second mass.

The mass floors of the second mass are adjusted to report accurately gross floor area in a mass schedule.

If you move the joined mass instances, their properties are updated. If you move the mass instances so that they no longer intersect, a warning message displays. You can unjoin them using the Unjoin Geometry tool.

OVERLAPPING MASS FACES

In the project environment, any joined and overlapping mass faces split into 2 faces: interior and exterior. This behavior allows you to create interior or exterior hosts by face.

In the following illustration, 2 masses are joined, and the overlapping faces have 2 different hosts. The exterior face has a curtain system by face. The interior face has a wall by face with a door.

When you join masses, the area of the inner wall shared by the masses is deducted from the gross surface area for each mass.

If you create mass floors, this inner wall area is also deducted from the exterior surface area for each mass floor.

The perimeter of a mass floor, however, includes the entire perimeter, even when it overlaps the perimeter of a mass floor in an adjacent joined mass.