Showing posts with label Revit MEP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revit MEP. Show all posts

Monday, January 16, 2017

Schedule Pipe Fitting Angles

I am working on a project that is very complex in nature and has a result, has presented some very interesting opportunities. On the project, we are providing some general BIM/VDC Support Services. We are not modeling. One of the more interesting aspects of the project is the number of custom HVAC and Pipe Fittings in the project. This is probably a good Segway into discussing setting up your Revit MEP template, but today I just wanted to discuss how to report Fitting Angles. It's a two step process.

The first step is to create a shared parameter to capture the fitting angle. The second step is to modify all of your fitting families. In this case, I will work with Pipe Fittings.

Step 1
  • With either a Project or a Family open (it doesn't matter which), go to Manage tab » Shared Parameters.
  • If you haven't created a Shared Parameter file yet, click 'Create...' and this will start a new file to act as a database for your Shared Parameters.
  • Once created (or if already created), click 'New...' under Groups. You can name the Group "Pipe Fittings" or whatever you wish.
  • Then click 'New...' under Parameters to create a new Shared Parameter. Name it "Angle (Scheduled)" or whatever you wish.
  • Be sure to choose "Angle" from the 'Type of Parameter' drop-down menu. Click 'OK', and 'OK' again.
Your Shared Parameter had now been created.

Step 2
  • Open one of your Pipe Fitting Families for editing.
  • Go to Family Types (the icon with the four blue squares on the left side of the ribbon) and click 'Add...' under Parameters.
  • In the following dialog, set Parameter Type to "Shared parameter" and then click 'Select...' to choose which Shared Parameter to add.
  • Select your parameter from the list and click 'OK'.
  • Set this Parameter to "Instance" and then click 'OK'.
  • Now, if the Formula field for this Shared Parameter, enter "Angle". Be alert, because the exact name of this parameter may vary.
  • Click 'OK' and reload the Family back into your Project, overwriting the previous version.
You can now schedule this Family's Angle using your Shared Parameter.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Revit OpEd: Space Naming still a Utility

Revit OpEd: Space Naming still a Utility: Yes, sadly the Space Naming Utility for Revit MEP 2015 is STILL a utility, as in a separate download AND installation from the Subscription ...

Thursday, December 26, 2013

MEP-BIM-Guru: Equipment Maintenance Clearance

MEP-BIM-Guru: Equipment Maintenance Clearance:   Here is a quick how-to and a few lessons learned when adding a maintenance clearance to equipment families. Sometimes these are missing f...

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Revit MEP - HVAC - Process


​In my last post, I discussed the "process" I use to for creating Electrical models in Revit MEP. That in turn resulted in a lot of emails about HVAC, Piping and more Electrical questions. So I will start with defining the HVAC process I utilize. Keep in mind, every project is different and project deliverables and staffing requirements need to be accounted for when establishing a workplan for specific projects. This is a general process overview.

These are my process steps for getting started using Revit MEP for Electrical:
  1. Develop a communication plan with the other design disciplines, especially the Architects. There needs to be solid and consistent communication about what is going on with the design and the model. You don't want to be spending time designing if the Architect plans on changing things. This is the most important item on the list!
  2. Add Mechanical equipment and air terminals to the model.
  3. Create the air systems (supply / return / exhaust).
  4. Create ductwork.
  5. Modify air systems as needed.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Revit MEP - Electrical - Process

An interesting question came to me this morning from a using that is transitioning from AutoCAD to Revit MEP. He wanted to know where to begin and how to create an Electrical system.

When I training, I like to focus on the Process, how Revit works rather than just teaching what the buttons do (Misspelled WordButtonology). You can know what all the buttons do, but if you don't understand the Revit MEP BIM process and you continue to work like you would using AutoCAD, it is going to be difficult at best to be successful.

These are my process steps for getting started using Revit MEP for Electrical:

  1. Develop a communication plan with the other design disciplines, especially the Architects. There needs to be solid and consistent communication about what is going on with the design and the model. You don't want to be spending time designing if the Architect plans on changing things. This is the most important item on the list!
  2. Place your electrical equipment in the model.
  3. Define the Distribution Systems in the properties of the electrical equipment.
  4. Place your electrical devices or lighting fixtures, keeping in mind that each device such as a switch or receptacle places an electrical load on the system.
  5. Select the lighting fixtures or devices and create a power circuit for it and the other dives for that room or area of the building.
  6. Assign circuits to the electrical equipment.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Rooms, Spaces and Zones

Before we talk about Revit MEP spaces, a brief overview of Revit Architecture Rooms and Revit MEP Spaces is generally helpful. Revit Rooms and Spaces are independent components used for different purposes. Rooms are an Architectural component used to hold data about the occupied space (Figure 1).
F1.png
Figure 1 - Room properties
Spaces are used exclusively by the MEP disciplines and are used to hold data about the areas in which they have been place that can be used to perform heating and cooling load analysis (Figure 2).

Rooms and Spaces have some common characteristics. Both are created within room-bounding elements such as walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, and room separation lines that are present in the Architectural model. So objects that are used to define a Room in the Architectural model define the Space in the MEP model.
F2.png
Figure 2 - Space properties
Using Spaces, the Mechanical Designer can model the HVAC loads within the program or export the space load data via a gbXML file for importing into various external simulation software packages. Within Revit MEP, Spaces can be used to:

·      Perform heating and cooling analysis
·      Perform conceptual energy analysis
·      Analyze duct and pipe system pressure

Creating spaces is a very quick process that begins after you have linked in the Architecture model. Select the Architecture model and in the Properties palette, select Edit Type to edit the Type properties for the linked file (Figure 4).
 F3-MS1.png
Figure 3 - Selected Linked Architecture Model and Properties Palette
This opens the Type Properties dialog (Figure 4) and allows you to enable Room Bounding by checking the Room Bounding Switch. This option allows the boundaries of the Architectural model to be used to define the boundaries of the MEP spaces. Check the checkbox to enable Room Bounding then click OK to close the Type Properties dialog.

TIP: If you do not enable the linked file to be Room Bounding and you try to place a Space, you will get a warning that the placed Space is not in an enclosed region. If you try to run any analysis without having defined spaces, Revit will not be able to calculate loads.
 F4-MS1.png
Figure 4 - Enabling Room Bounding of the Architecture model
To place Spaces in the model, click on the Analyze tab (Figure 5). The Spaces & Zones panel provides us with the options needed to create both Spaces and Zones. To create a space we can either place the space manually or allow Revit to locate and place spaces automatically.
 F5-MS1.png
Figure 5 - Adding Spaces
To automatically generate Spaces, click on the Space button in the Spaces & Zones panel. This will bring up the Modify | Place Space tab and click on the Place Spaces Automatically button (Figure 6).
 F6-MS1.png
Figure 6 - Modify | Place Space tab
Revit will then automatically place all the Spaces in the model and will report how many spaces were created (Figure 7).
 F7-MS1.png
Figure 7 - Automatic Space creation number of spaces reported dialog
TIP: If you are going to create Spaces automatically using the automatic mode, make sure that all the spaces created are what you actually intended. Remember that Revit MEP spaces will be generated from room bounding components in the Architecture model. Areas such as utility chases, air spaces in wall construction were not included.

TIP: If a Space was created automatically that should not exist, resist the temptation to select the space in a view and delete it. This will delete the space from the model, but the space is still present in the model.

Space Schedule


After you have created your spaces in the model, it is a good idea to create a schedule of the building space properties. The schedule can be to validate that the space usage, components, internal loading and areas are correct. Creating a schedule within Revit provides a quick means for accessing this data. It is assumed that this schedule is being utilized for internally for design purposes and not to be placed on a sheet to be provided to the client.

As an example, in Figure 8 I have created a basic Space Properties schedule that contains the following information. This information can and should be modified to fir your desired workflow and means and methods.

Name:                         Name of the Space
Number:                     Number of the Space
Space Type:               Description of how the Space will be utilized
Number of People:    Occupancy of the Space
Area:                           Area of the space
Construction Type:   Physical Construction of the Space
Condition Type:         Type of Space Conditioning
Occupiable:                Will the space be occupied
Zone:                           Zone Space is associated with
 F8-MS1.png
Figure 8 - Space Properties schedule

Space Name and Numbers


When we create spaces, Revit MEP will automatically name the Space “Space” and automatically start numbering the rooms. This naming and numbering process probably does not match the room naming and numbering used by the Architectural model. For coordination purposes, naming and numbering spaces to match the corresponding architectural rooms makes sense and Autodesk provides a Space Naming Utility Add-In (Figure 9) for renaming Spaces to match Architectural Rooms.
 F9-MS1.png
Figure 9 - Space Naming Utility
The Space Naming Utility (SNU) can be found in the Add-Ins tab on the Space naming Utility panel. Clicking on the Launch SNU button opens the Autodesk Revit MEP Space Naming Utility dialog (Figure 10). The SNU provides you with the option to coordinate the Room Name and/or Numbers with Spaces. You also have the option to select with Levels you want to coordinate the Room/Space names and/or numbers. Clicking the OK button runs the command and the results are shown in Figure 11.
 F10-MS1.png
Figure 10 – Space Naming Dialog
TIP: If there is not a corresponding Room for each of the Spaces that have been generated in Revit MEP, then the Space name will not be updated.
 F11-MS1.png
Figure 11 – Space Properties Schedule

Zones


Once we have our Spaces defined, we want to start grouping similar Spaces into Zones. Placing Zones is simply a matter of assigning Spaces to a Zone. When a Space is created, it is automatically assigned to the “Default” zone.

Prior to assigning Spaces to Zones, I like to switch to a working Plan View that is a Plan View that will not be dropped on a sheet for printing. I then apply a Space Tag to each Space that also contains the Zone information (Figure 12). This step is not required, but can be helpful to make sure that you place the spaces in the correct Zones.
F12-MS1.png
Figure 12 - Space Tag with Zone
To create a Zone, on the Analyze tab, in the Spaces & Zones panel, click on the Zone button (Figure 13). This opens up the Edit Zone tab. By default, the tool that is active is the Add Space button. You can immediately go to the plan view and click on Spaces and they will be added to the zone. Clicking on the Remove Space button allows you to remove a space from a Zone. When finished, clicking on the Finish Editing Zone button ends the current Zone editing session. You can only create one Zone per Edit Zone session.
 F13-MS1.png
Figure 13 - Zone button and the Edit Zone ribbon.
To edit an existing Zone, select the Zone and then on the Modify | HVAC Zones tab, click the Edit Zone button.

When you click on a Zone, Zone data will appear in the Properties Pallette. The physical data about the zone (area, volume perimeter) and the calculated heating and cooling loads and zone airflow (after heating and cooling analysis has been run) are available (Figure 14). Zone names can be adjusted in a schedule or by selecting the Zone and updating the Zone name in the Properties Palette.
 F14-MS1.png
Figure 14 - Zone data from Properties Palette

Deleting Spaces


When working with Spaces, it is a good idea to think of a Revit Space object as two parts. One part is an object that we place in the model and we can click on it and gets its properties. The other is an analytical like part that doesn’t have a physical component that we can manipulate. If you need to delete a Space, it is very important that the Space is deleted properly, so that it doesn’t impact future building analysis.

For example, Figure 15 shows a portion of a plan view with the Stair Space selected and the System Browser with the same Stair highlighted. If we click on the DELETE key to delete the space in the model, Revit will throw up a Warning message (Figure 16), the Space geometry will be deleted, but the space will still be present in the model (Figure 17).
 F15-MS1.png
Figure 15 - Highlighted Space and System Browser`
F16-MS1.png
Figure 16 - Space Warning message

F17-MS1.png
Figure 17
To completely delete a space from the model, in a Space Properties schedule, select the row that contains the space that you want to delete. To delete multiple spaces, drag the cursor across the rows that contain the spaces that you want to delete.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Beta tester needed - Worksets App

RevitIt.com is looking for some beta testers for a new app related to worksets. If you are interested and work with worksets on a daily basis please contact us at info@revitit.com

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Re-post Revitit.com - Parking

Parking in Revit?

You are probably wondering why we will be talking about Parking? This Parking is a Windows 7 features that (we believe) only happens on Intel i5 & i7 CPU Quad Core. It basically is a way for Windows to control power. It will put some CPU in “parking” mode if they are not needed. Thus reducing the power consumption but also… the power itself. What’s the point of having a Quad Core if Windows doesn’t use it to the fullest?
Since the 2012 platform now supports multi-threading on some tasks it would be nice to harness all the power of our machines for those tasks.
Here are the results of a non-scientific test conducted today (Open with audit a 2011 file and resave it. The file is fairly large and has several linked file in it)
With Parking enabled With Parking disabled
image image
20:52 mins 17:47 mins
Basically on those features alone we seem to get close to a 15% gain in performance.
Now… how do I disable the Parking feature.(Use at your own risk and make sure you backup the registry before)
  • Open the Registry Editor
    • SNAGHTML29033b
  • Run a search for that key : 0cc5b647-c1df-4637-891a-dec35c318583
    • image
  • Once you found one you want to make both ValueMax & ValueMin to 0
    • image
  • To do so, double-click the value and set it to 0 then click ok
    • SNAGHTML2df279
  • Then go to Edit – Find Next and set the value to 0 again
    • image
    • Repeat until you get the following message
      • SNAGHTML2f5fdb
      • Click OK, Close the registry editor and restart Windows
To make sure it’s deactivated open the Windows Task Manager and click on Resource Monitor. Go to the CPU tab to see if any are “parked
We would love to hear any feedback from you guys.

Re-post - evit OpEd: Autodesk Labs - eTransmit for Revit

Revit OpEd: Autodesk Labs - eTransmit for Revit: "Anyone who has to share their Revit project files with another entity knows that it can be a little tricky if you want them to have all the ..."

Re-post - Revit OpEd: Model Medic 2012

Revit OpEd: Model Medic 2012: "I wrote about this diagnostic tool when it first appeared. The 2012 compatible version is now available. You can download the new features ..."

Re-post - Revit OpEd: Revit 2012 Update Available

Revit OpEd: Revit 2012 Update Available: "I was able to download web updates to Revit 2012 products via Communication Center this morning (well when I turned on Revit anyway). I also..."

Thursday, May 26, 2011

3 Revit Server 2012 Installation Tips - Repost

From the Revit Clinic

Here are 3 quick tips when installing Revit Server 2012; you can view the entire upgrade process from our previous post here if needed:
1.  Don’t Install from the RevitServer.msi
The standard Revit 2012 installer contains the Revit Server 2012 installer under Install Tools & Utilities.  This is the required method to properly install Revit Server 2012.
This main installer also uses a second .msi , which is stored on the media under x64\Tools\RevitServer\RevitServer.msi.
Under no circumstances should Revit Server 2012 be installed simply by launching the RevitServer.msi.  If you do so the installation will not complete successfully and will be missing necessary configuration components.
2.  To Configure Folders Click the Down Arrow
To configure the folder paths, click the triangle under Revit Server to expand the list:
ExpandArrow
This is also where you would toggle between a Local server and Central server.
3.  To Continue After Configuration Collapse the List
You may notice Install grayed-out after configuring the folders; in order to continue simply collapse the list [click on the triangle again]:
Collapse_001

Friday, April 29, 2011

BIMForum Summer 2011 New Dates: Call For Presentations

When Does Design End and Construction Begin?
New Dates: July 19-21, 2011   |   Chicago, IL

A consensus is emerging about the benefits of tapping the expertise of consultants, contractors, and facility managers during the early phases of a BIM-enabled project. The intent is to achieve design decisions that are both early and well informed to avoid costly later revisions. But does this necessarily imply that all design effort should be concentrated exclusively at the start of a project? Are late design decisions necessarily detrimental to budget, schedule, and quality? Are changing client requirements and construction volatility such that early decisions are not only impractical but also to be avoided?

If you have direct experience related to the impact of early or late design decisions, we are very much interested in hearing from you. To provide additional clarity, submitted presentations should consider addressing some of the following design related topics:
  • Is the idea of good early decisions pragmatically an oxymoron and not possible?
  • Is a good decision once made always a good decision?
  • Is it reasonable to expect a fixed functional program from a client?
  • Can all factors that affect design and cost be known early in a project?
  • Do late design decisions always adversely affect a project budget and schedule?
  • How does BIM technology affect the cost and schedule implications of late decisions?
  • Can design realistically progress in an efficient and linear way without iteratively searching for an optimum solution?
  • Are legacy project phases applicable in integrated design and construction?
  • What are valid contractual relationships related to consultant, contractor, subcontractor, and facility manager design input?
  • How can consultants, contractors, subcontractors, and fabricators be engaged in evaluating multiple designs when they have monetary incentives to consider the fewest schemes possible?
  • Are clients willing to pay for additional early design effort by “non-designers”?
  • Are consultants and contractors assuming more the role of the designer in early phases while simultaneously ceding much of their legacy documentation and management roles to subcontractors and fabricators?
  • Where does traditional design leave off and spatial coordination begin?
  • When does spatial coordination morph into design?
  • How can contractors and designers find common ground for design and coordination?
Submissions are due by Friday, May 6, 2011. To submit a proposal, click here.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

BIM Apps - Repost

Ran across this post on the blog BIM Apps that as the name suggests details BIM Apps and related topics.

Ashrae Viewer - Plugin of the Month on Labs

Hi folks, I was just notified of a new Revit MEP add-in that works with both Revit 2011 and the upcoming Revit 2012. You can find details on Scott's blog and you can download it from the bottom of this page. Take a stab at it and tell us what you think.
Also what are your thoughts on other Plugin of the Month that we should look into for Revit, Navisworks or any other BIM products?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

MEP-BIM-Guru: Pipe Volume Schedule

MEP-BIM-Guru: Pipe Volume Schedule: "I will go over how I set up a pipe volume schedule in Revit MEP. Pipe Types: For this example I have the pipe types set up with one pipe ..."

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Workset Visibility in Revit 2011 - Inside the System

Workset Visibility in Revit 2011

From Inside the System

Has this ever happened to you?

"Frankly, I’m annoyed by having to turn on my workset every time I create a new view. "

When a workset is created, there is an option to make it not visible by default. If you've run into the scenario above, this box was unchecked when the workset was created.

One work-around is to create a new workset that is 'Visible in all views', and then delete the original workset. When you delete a workset that contains elements, you have to option to move those elements to another workset, so you can move them to the newly created workset. However, be aware that when you do this, those elements may be visible in views where they weren't previously visible (assuming their category is visible in those views). So, you may need to 'clean up' after yourself, to turn off the worksets where they're not needed.

New in 2011 is the ability to change your mind about the workset visibility default. In the worksets dialow, there is a new column titled 'Visible in all views' where you can toggle this setting.

Worksets
This setting is then tied to the 'Use Global Setting' option in a view's visibility graphic overrides settings. The Global Setting will indicate Visible or Not Visible as appropriate. You also have the options of Show and Hide as in previous releases.

Worksetvis

I have advised against unchecking the 'Visible in all views' option prior to 2011, because if a file had worksets marked as such, there was no way to turn on the worksets when linked into a host model. However, now with 2011, you have the ability to control the visiblity of worksets in linked files.

Visibility
However, I would still advise to exercise judgement when making something not visible by default. Consider a scenario where roof drains are on a workset marked not visible in all views in the architectural model. The plumbing designer, not knowing any better, doesn't go looking for roof drains in toggled off worksets.. he just expects to see them if they exist in the project. IMO, it is better to have things visible, then turned off by the 'view owner' if/when not needed.

Better control of workset visibility, especially for linked files, is a great enhancement in Revit 2011.

Is anyone using Deep Space for analytics? https://www.deepspacesync.com/