There are a lot of new construction materials being used in buildings today. Many of these are not in the tables in Manual J and in Elite Software’s RHVAC. Don’t worry. You can add these materials to the RHVAC tables easily.
Since we hear that there are a lot of new windows being installed, we’ll show you how to build a custom window.
First, in either the Default Data screen or the Room Data screen, click on the down arrow next to the construction
material type – in our example that is the window. At the bottom of the 
screen is a Create Custom button.
This opens a dialog box where you create the custom material.
All you need to do is fill in information on the top line.
For windows you need to get the U-Value and SHGC on the top line. We have that information from the data sheet. We are using Pella 250 windows for this example. Look at the highlighted area. Here is the description about the glass and the U-Factor and SHGC.
First, enter the name of the material. Remember this information shows on your reports so make sure it is a logical name. Next type in the U-Factor and SHGC you find on the data sheet.
For glass you will have to choose the Glazing Arrangement. Since the glass is Clear the Value is 1.
Finally provide a description. This will appear on your reports so be a clear and thorough as possible, but don’t over do it.
Here’s our completed custom glass.
This custom glass is now part of your permanent database of construction material. The next project that uses this glass – just click on the custom tab to find it.
