Designing Interior Elevations and Rooftop Plans for a Residential Building

Optimizing Window Design and Glazing Selection for Energy Efficiency and Solar Gain

Explore the process of using shell windows in building design, including how window manufacturers and engineers use provided dimensions to create appropriate glazing for energy efficiency. This article also discusses the role of interior elevations in guiding contractors and helping owners understand what they'll need for the project.

Key Insights

  • The article talks about the use of shell windows in commercial projects. These windows are custom-made based on dimensions provided to the manufacturer, and the type of glazing to be used is also specified.
  • Interior elevations play a crucial role in construction projects. They are used to instruct contractors on the work to be done and help the owner understand what they will need for the project. However, they are not always complete at the start of a project and can be refined during the construction process.
  • The rooftop plans are an essential part of the building design. They provide detailed information about what is happening on the rooftop, although this article does not delve into specifics about these plans.

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51—Elevaciones Interiores—Parte 2 This next page is designed mainly for bidding purposes. For this house, we have decided to use many of what we call shell windows. These are the ones you often find in more commercial projects, frankly.

But what happens is that we give the general dimensions to a window manufacturer, and they use that information to analyze their windows. We have provided them with various dimensional sizes that we want them to use for the different windows. Then, we will also inform our Title 24 engineer about the type of glazing we are going to use in the building.

So that they can use the building's orientation in relation to solar gain and the building’s energy performance to calculate the energy requirements under Title 24. So, again, these two pages are generally not required for a building permit.

The interior elevations are primarily used to inform the contractor of what needs to be done and to help the owner better understand what will be needed. It is possible that the owner looks at these drawings and says, 'Hey, these are not complete.'

And the answer is yes, they are incomplete. When we designed the house, we were working with the client, the contractor, and managing the budget. Everyone was clear that the owner would actively participate during construction to specify the interior elevation finishes.

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Instead of spending their money on architectural details and documentation, they decided, 'We’ll get a building permit and worry about the interior elevations later.' We have the interior elevations and the facade drawings.

What I would like to discuss in a few minutes are the plans for the rooftop. This is where we begin to provide information about what is happening on the rooftop. We will continue in the following videos.

photo of Al Whitley

Al Whitley

AutoCAD and Blueprint Reading Instructor

Al was the Founder and CEO of VDCI | cadteacher for over 20 years. Al passed away in August of 2020. Al’s vision was for the advancement and employment of aspiring young professionals in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industries.

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