3.2.1 Creating, Opening and Saving Project Groups and Templates

New: creates a new project group (TPG) with no projects defined.

Open > Project Group: opens an existing TPG file. The Select TREAT Project Group screen will appear. The Select TREAT Project Group screen allows the user to see the description of the project group and the list of project names included in each TPG file. If another TPG file is active at that time, the user will be presented with a dialog with three options. Option one: opens the newly selected TPG and saves the currently open TPG with all changes. Option two: opens the newly selected TPG without saving any changes made to the currently open TPG since the last Project Groups > Save operation. Option three: cancels the process of opening a new TPG, keeping the active TPG in the same state as before initiating the Open operation.

Open > Edit Template: opens a PGT (Project Group Template) file. This works the same way as opening a TPG (TREAT Project Group) file, as described above, except that only Project Group Template (PGT) will be visible in the Select a Template screen.

Open Most Recent: opens the last TPG file that the user has worked with on this computer.

Recent Groups: this sub-menu contains up to eight TPG file names, representing the eight most recent TPG files opened on this computer. The first file in the list is the most recently opened one.

Save: allows storing all changes to the current TPG group (not only the selected project within the TPG) to the TPG file. When working with TPG the actual work is done over a temporary copy of the TPG. This approach protects the original file from any corruption and data loss. Frequent use of Save while working on a project will significantly decrease the risk of lost data from system crashes. To decrease probability of data loss, TREAT prepares a temporary backup copy of the file before updating the original TPG file with the latest changes. The backup copy of the file is only temporary and exists only for the time period between starting and completing the Save operation. Save works the same way for PGT (Project Group Template) files as it does for TPG (TREAT Project Group) files.

---

Example

The original TPG file name is Group1.TPG. After user chooses to save the TPG, TREAT creates a backup copy of the file called ~Group1.TPG. This backup copy is deleted only after saving the TPG file is successfully completed.

---

If the active TPG was created using the Project Group > New menu item then Save and Save As have the same behavior, asking the user to enter a file name and description for the TPG.

Save As > Project Group: saves changes to the currently active project group under a new name as a TPG file. After the TPG is saved under the new name, it becomes the currently active TPG (opened in TREAT). No changes have been saved to the original TPG file since the last Project Group > Save operation.

If the active TPG was created as new, then Save and Save As have the same behavior, asking the user to enter a file name and description for the TPG.

If you want to create a back-up copy of the TPG file, you can either copy it using Windows Explorer or save it under a new name using Save As feature.

By default the TPG files are saved to the Taitem Engineering\TREAT\Project Groups folder. If TREAT is installed in the default folder, then the full path is C:\Program Files\Taitem Engineering\TREAT\Project Groups.

A warning is shown if the entered file name duplicates an existing file name because saving will overwrite an existing file with the same name.

Save As > Template: saves changes to the currently active project group under a new name as a PGT (Project Group Template) file. This works the same way as saving as a TPG (TREAT Project Group) file, as described above. Files saved as Project Group Template files (PGT) will be visible in the Select a Template screen, but not in the Open Project Group screen.

Edit Description: presents the user with a screen to enter a description and/or any notes for the project group that is being saved. The description is shown on Select TREAT Project Group screen and is useful for the record keeping and easy file identification.

3.2.2 Store Editable Libraries

Store Editable Libraries: presents the user with questions to determine which editable libraries from the currently active TPG should be stored to internal library depository for use with the other TPG files.

The following editable libraries may be selected: Contractor, Customer, Daily Weather Data, User and Utility Rates.

The depository can store only one copy of each library for future copying to other projects.

The Store Editable Libraries option is enabled when a TPG is opened. No changes are made to the libraries in the open project when the Store Editable Libraries option is used. If an editable library, for example Customer Library, is stored then that Customer Library from this TPG will be included in each TPG that is loaded from this point on if user selects to update editable libraries on the window opened from Project Group > Options (see below).

3.2.3 Preferences

The Preferences tool serves the following purposes.

1. It allows the user to customize many of TREAT’s defaults. For example, the user can set custom heating and cooling season dates to be used for every newly created project instead of standard TREAT dates.
2. It allows the user to automatically fill in the inputs that are likely the same for every project. For example, the user can define fuels to be automatically generated for every new project at the time the project is created, eliminating the need to fill in the TREAT Fuels/Rates screen. The user can also specify a long-term and daily weather site to be used for each new project. A wide range of other inputs can be set through Preferences.
3. It allows the user to specify lighting and appliances to be generated at the time a new space is created. This feature is useful for users who do not collect lighting and appliance information on site. Automatic generation of lighting and appliances saves time and allows the user to account for interaction between base load and heating/cooling.
4. Preferences data is used to supply inputs for several other tools such as New Building Wizard, Visual Inspection Wizard and Measurements Wizard. See description of these tools for more details.
5. It helps to speed up inputs on Surfaces and Windows screen by specifying the list of typical constructions to be shown in the Description combo boxes. This often eliminates the need to look for the surface in TREAT libraries.

All project inputs generated by Preferences can be modified later using regular TREAT screens, just as any other inputs.

TREAT comes with a default set of preferences. You may customize these defaults by modifying and saving input on Preferences screens.

Select Preferences from the Project Group menu to open the Preferences screen.

Fuel/Rates tab: Up to four fuels can be selected. They will be automatically included in each project and will be available for selection as heating or hot water fuel in the New Building Wizard.

Weather/Defaults tab: Weather sites, heat and cooling seasons, and other inputs that appear on the Weather/Defaults input screen can be selected to be automatically included in each new project.

Surface Constructions tab: Up to 20 frequently used surfaces from the Surfaces Library can be selected. They will appear in the drop-down lists on the Surfaces screen, Surface Insulation Improvement Wizard, and New Building Wizard. One surface can be selected to appear at the top of the list; the rest of the list will be sorted according to the sort order selected.

Windows tab: Up to five frequently used glazings and frames can be selected. They will appear in the drop-down lists on the Windows screen, Window Replacement Improvement Wizard, and New Building Wizard. One of each can be selected to appear at the top of the lists.

Lighting/Appliances tab: There are seven sub-tabs for different types of spaces. The types of spaces correspond to the selections on the TREAT Spaces screen. For each type of space, there is an option to automatically add lighting or appliances when the space is created. For each type of space, lighting inputs of Typical Watts per Fixture, Hours On/Day and Average Wh/SqFt-Day can be specified. For each type of space, up to 10 appliances can be selected from the Appliance Library.

Inspections tab: Up to 10 inspections can be selected to be included in the Inspections Wizard. The Inspections Wizard is accessible from the Inspections screen and quickly creates inspection records of the types specified.

Measurements tab: Up to 10 measurements can be selected to be included in the Measurements Wizard. The Measurements Wizard is accessible from the Measurements screen and quickly creates measurement records of the types specified.

Reset to Default button: This will clear all preferences that the user has selected and restore the default preferences that are included with TREAT.

Next button: This scrolls through the tabs on the Preferences screen.

Save and Close button: This saves changes and closes the screen.

Cancel and Close button: This closes the screen but does not save any changes made since the last time the screen was opened.

3.2.4 Options

Options: This opens a screen that has two tabs.

General tab allows a user to select whether the Model Inspector will be shown each time calculations are completed. The Model Inspector may also be started by clicking Tools > Model Inspector on the main menu.

Library Updates tab allows a user to change the pre-defined settings for updating TREAT libraries. The default settings are shown below:

The default settings are recommended.

Non-Editable Libraries should be updated to take advantage of the new appliances, surfaces, etc. that are added to the libraries periodically.

Inputs in the Editable Libraries area allow selecting editable libraries, which should be replaced with the library from the central depository when a TPG file is opened. This functionality should be used with caution, because it allows overwriting the libraries stored in the existing TPG file with new ones, which may cause data consistency problems.

Tip: After you import daily weather data in a TPG, you may want to update the libraries for other TPG files with the latest weather data. This may be done as follows:

1. Select Project Group > Store Editable Libraries menu option and click OK to Daily Weather Library upgrade. The Daily Weather Library will be stored to the central library depository.
2. Open Project Groups > Options window. In the Editable Libraries area select Prompt to Upgrade Libraries and select Daily Weather Data checkbox.
3. Click Save to save the new inputs and close the window.
4. After that, each time you open a TPG you will be asked if you want to upgrade the editable libraries. If you answer Yes, then all the editable libraries that were checked in the window described in Step 2 will be replaced with the versions of these libraries stored in the internal library depository.

---

Warning

Use caution when upgrading editable libraries, especially the Contractor, Customer and User libraries, to prevent data loss or inconsistency in project data. For example, you may have a project in ProjectGroup1.tpg that has customer John Smith, who is customer #3 in the Customer library. While working on ProjectGroup2.tpg, you choose to store its Customer library to the internal library depository. In that version of the library, customer #3 is Tom Brown. If you replace the Customer library in ProjectGroup1 with the Customer library from ProjectGroup2 using the TREAT library upgrade feature, then all projects in ProjectGroup1 that referenced John Smith will now have Tom Brown as a customer. Information for John Smith will be lost.

---

Close TREAT: will save any modifications to the open project, then save the TPG and close TREAT. By default Close will try to save the active TPG (including any possible changes), which will overwrite the original TPG file. A dialog screen with three options will be presented to the user allowing canceling the closing operation, saving the active TPG file or closing TREAT without saving the active TPG. If TREAT is closed without saving the TPG, then the file corresponding to the active TPG file will contain only changes done before the last Project Group > Save operation.