150205 revitmep extended

ARCHIOLOGICS BASIC REVIT MEP - CRASH COURSE

PROFESSOR ADOLFO NADAL SERRANO REVIT MEP DESIGN

ARCHIOLOGICS BASIC REVIT MEP - CRASH COURSE

ADOLFO NADAL SERRANO MAS. ARCHITECT - ARCHI [O] LOGICS

Los problemas de diseño no pueden ser resueltos sin la ayuda de un computador, siendo la maquina un complemento y no un substituto del talento creativo, la computadora mientras no pueda inventar, puede explorar relaciones muy rápida y sistemáticamente de acuerdo a reglas preestablecidas. El computador funciona como una extensión natural de la habilidad analítica del hombre.

Chermayeff, Community and Privacy (1963:166)

1. COURSE AIM

The aim of the course is to provide the student with enough MEP design tools needed for the different building engineering disciplines involved in the executive project of a buiulding design: mechanical (air...), electrical, and plumbing (sanitary piping, heating/cooling, fire protection...).

It is assumed a certain knowledge of Revit Architecture.

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ARCHIOLOGICS BASIC REVIT MEP - CRASH COURSE

ADOLFO NADAL SERRANO MAS. ARCHITECT - ARCHI [O] LOGICS

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PREPARING THE MEP PROJECT

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I. WORKFLOW: COPY/MONITOR FOR LINKED MODELS

1. Using Copy/Monitor with linked models

This workflow describes a typical process to coordinate efforts between an architectural team and an engineering team working on the same building using linked models.

The typical situation is to use an architectural model as a base for the MEP design, therefore needing to import the architectural model to place mep components referenced “on top”.

a - Creates levels and grids, at a minimum. The architect can also add columns, walls, floors, and other elements.

· Saves the architectural project file.

· The engineer uses Revit MEP or Revit Structure to create an empty project, as follows:

· Uses a project template that defines the desired views and settings.

[See Project Templates.]

b - Saves the empty project file.

· The engineer copies relevant architectural elements to the empty project, as follows:

· Links the architectural model into the empty project.

[See Link One Model to Another.]

c - Pins the linked model in place, so that it cannot be moved inadvertently, as follows:

· Selects the linked model in the drawing area.

· Tip: Move the cursor over the linked model in the drawing area. When its boundary is highlighted, click to select it.

· Clicks Modify | RVT Links tabModify panel (Pin).

· Copies levels from the architectural model to the project.

[See Copy Levels for Monitoring.]

-d Copies grids and other elements from the architectural model to the project.

· To copy levels from a Revit model to your project follow these steps:

· Prepare a view:

Open an elevation view.

In the view properties, for Discipline, select Coordination.

This setting ensures that the view displays elements for all disciplines (architectural, structural, mechanical, and electrical).

· Delete existing levels from the current project.

When you delete existing levels, Revit also deletes corresponding plan views for the deleted levels.

You will create new plan views based on the copied levels.

Note: For Revit Architecture and Revit Structure, you can delete all but one level. Change the name of this level to Original Level, and change its extents (far to the left or right of the drawing area) so that you can distinguish it from a copied level and delete it later.

Link the model into the current project.

[See Link One Model to Another.]

· Pin the linked model in place, so that it cannot be moved inadvertently.

Tip: Move the cursor over the linked model in the drawing area. When its boundary is highlighted, click to select it.

Click Modify | RVT Links tabModify panel (Pin).

(Optional) Display the linked model in halftone, so that you can distinguish its elements from elements in the current project.

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[See Display a Linked Model in Halftone.]

· Start the Copy/Monitor tool:

Click Collaborate tabCoordinate panelCopy/Monitor drop-down (Select Link).

Select the linked model in the drawing area.

Specify options for the levels to copy.

For example, you can specify an offset for levels, or add a prefix or suffix to level names. See Specify Options for Copy/Monitor.

· Copy the levels for monitoring:

Click Copy/Monitor tabTools panel (Copy).

In the linked model, select the levels to copy.

To select multiple levels, on the Options Bar, select Multiple. Then select the levels in the drawing area, and click Finish on the Options Bar.

Using a Filter.

You can use a selection box and a filter to select all levels in the linked model. See Select Elements

· Click Copy/Monitor tabCopy/Monitor panel (Finish).

The copied levels now display in the current project.

When you select a copied level, the monitor icon displays next to it to indicate that it has a relationship with the original level in the linked model.

If the levels are moved, changed, or deleted in the linked model, you are notified of the changes when you open the current project or reload the linked model. These warnings also display in a coordination review. (See About Coordination Review.)

· In the Revit Architecture project and the Revit Structure project, delete the remaining original level from the current project. When you delete the level, Revit also deletes the related plan view.

Note: When you delete the final level in a Revit Architecture project, the site view is also deleted. For instructions on creating a new site view, see Site Plan Was Deleted.

Create plan views for the new levels:

Click View tabCreate panelPlan Views drop-down, and select the desired type of plan view.

In the New Plan dialog, select one or more levels from the list, and click OK.

(Optional) Repeat this process to create other types of plan views.

For Revit Structure, create analytical plans that correspond to the structural plans. See About Structural Project Templates and Viewing the Analytical Model.

click Rename.

The plan view names display in the Project Browser. To rename a view, right-click the view name, and

e - (Optional) Hides levels (and grids and other copied elements) in the linked architectural model, or hides the linked architectural model.

[See Visibility of Linked Models or Hide a Linked Model in a View.]

f - Adds structural elements or mechanical elements to the model, as desired.

g - If any copied elements are moved or changed in the architectural model, the engineers are notified of the changes when they open their project or reload the architectural model. These warnings also display in a coordination review.

h - In the architectural model, the architect monitors relevant structural elements or mechanical elements, as follows:

· Links the other model into the architectural project.

[See Link One Model to Another.]

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· Pins the linked model in place.

· Monitors (without copying) levels, grids, and other elements in the other model.

[See Monitor Elements in the Current Project.]

· (Optional) Hide the linked model.

· Adds architectural elements to the architectural model, as desired.

If any monitored elements are moved or changed in the other model, architects are notified of the changes whenever they open the architectural project or reload the model. These warnings also display in a coordination review.

- At regular intervals, architects or engineers can do the following:

· Perform a coordination review to see changes to monitored elements, communicate with team members, and take appropriate action.

· Perform an interference check to identify invalid intersections of elements between the current project and a linked model.

I. TEMPLATES

Each discipline should have different display properties. Let us see the differences between them by analyzing how to display their corresponding elements.

1. PlumbingTemplates.

It is crucial to differentiate between global and view-specific settings. In that sense, you need to adjust several settings so your pipes are properly displayed. The following list is certainly not comprehensive, but it should point you in the right direction and show what to pay attention to when setting up your plumbing sheets:

- All plotted views should be set to Hidden Line.

- Detail Level should be set to Coarse.

- View range should be adjusted to display necessary pipe systems.

- Visibility Graphics categories should be set to display the appropriate object categories.

Note: It is more efficient to turn off other disciplines’ objects by using worksets instead of managing every single object. However, good work-sharing practices must be in place, and all objects must be associated with the appropriate workset.

- Pipes going under plumbing fixtures will be completely hidden. To resolve this, plumbing fixtures should be set to transparent for your model and any linked Revit models containing plumbing fixtures. Note: Plumbing fixtures with a high detail level may start displaying unnecessary lines.

[Fig 1. Turn off wall patterns -uncheck]

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- Wall cut patterns should be turned off. For example, architects often assign cut patterns for their walls to display the fire rating. While this is not important for the mechanical or electrical plans, it is crucial for the plumbing plans, where most objects are in the wall (see Figure 1).

- Pipe Rise/Drop Annotation Size under Mechanical Settings should be changed. Note: 7/128g (1. 5mm) is a good starting point.

- For buildings that are not orthogonally oriented, scope boxes should be set up and associated with the views. Another, simpler method is to rotate the crop region so you can lay out your pipes orthogonally to your screen.

- Configure the Single Line gap under Mechanical Settings to match your company standard. Note: 3/128g (0.6 mm) is a good starting point.

2. Defining Systems Visibility and use of filters

- Revit MEP 2014 automatically creates the piping systems for you when you lay out pipes, even when pipes are not connected to plumbing fixtures.

- Nevertheless, when drawing pipes, you need to specify the system type they belong to. The system type defines the line weight, linetype, color, and system abbreviation. The system abbreviation can be used to define what system will appear on what sheet via filters. This helps you hide the mechanical pipes in the plumbing views.

- Establishing a good naming convention for the filters is important, because that defines the order in which you see them in your Properties palette when drawing pipes. The default examples of filters and their settings are not going to get you too far with your projects. I recommend that you take your time and come up with a complete list of systems that your company uses and create them as system types and filters in Revit MEP. Organizing all of them in Excel can be beneficial.

Notice that the Filter By setting is set to Equals the System Abbreviation, as shown in Figure 2.

Note: The parameter System Abbreviation was not available prior to Revit MEP 2012, and the settings would be different for those projects and templates

[Fig 2. Sample filters and settings]

Once the filters have been created, go into each view where you want the different disciplines to show up and type VG to bring up the Visibility/Graphic Overrides dialog box. Click the Filters tab, and add the newly created filters. Using the Visibility check boxes, you can define the systems that would be visible in that view. In the past, filters were used to also define color, line patterns, and in some cases line weights. Since Revit MEP 2012, the recommended place to control those is in the system type. This way, those settings will be global rather than per view. However, the filters will still be managed and control what system is visible in what view (see Figure 3).

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Now that your plans are coordinated and displaying the way you require, you are well on your way to completing your

ARCHIOLOGICS BASIC REVIT MEP - CRASH COURSE

ADOLFO NADAL SERRANO MAS. ARCHITECT - ARCHI [O] LOGICS

documentation. Consider using the same filters to display 3D views that can enhance the design, making it easier to understand and further reducing errors. Every rule has its exception, and here is a great example for it. Controlling the colors and line patterns of your systems in the 3D views would color the contour of the pipes, making the pipes hard to see. Instead of going that route, I suggest you override those in the filters with a solid pattern; this way, your 3D views will be a lot easier to see and understand (see Figure 4).

[Fig 3. Use filters to adjust visibility]

One common drafting standard is to show all piping serving a given floor in the same view. For instance, on the sheet showing the restroom located on the second floor of a three-story building, you would expect to see all the sanitary piping below the second floor and the vent piping in the second-floor attic serving that restroom. You would not want to see the sanitary pipe serving the third-floor restroom, even though it also occupies the second-floor attic, and you would not want to see the vent piping serving the first floor. One way to accomplish this selective visibility in projects with overlapping view ranges is with workset visibility. You can assign all the piping serving the first, second, and third floors to specific first-, second-, and third-floor worksets. This will allow you to turn off the first- and thirdfloor worksets, cleaning up your second-floor view.

[Fig 4. Apply filter overrides for 3D views]

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PLUMBING

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I. CREATING A NEW FILE

1. Create a new architecture file

You need to have a previous architecture file in order to create your MEP equipment. Create a new Revit file using the architecture template.

Creeate some spaces like the ones shown in the picture below. These should serve as placeholders for the final appliances or equipment in your building systems.

路 You can use generic wall types 路 Create the necessary levels. You will need to copy/monitor them in your MEP file. For the purposes of this exercise, you will need only 2 levels (ground/level 1 and level 2) separated by 4000mm.

路 Save your file

[Fig 1. Base Architecture File]

2. Create a new MEP file

Open Revit and create a new MEP file using either your own template (following the instructions from the first chapter) or simply using the default Plumbing Template.

These templates serve to organize your views and set up the properties of your project. We will see as we go. Should you not be able to find your template, please download them from the official Autodesk site.

[Fig 2. Creating a new Plumbing file]

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II. SETTING UP YOUR MEP FILE

1. Link the revit architectural file

When linking the file, make sure your coordinate systems match. Normally, you would want to select the Auto - Origin to Origin option, or the “shared Coordinates” (if you have managed your project in that way). Especiallly when dealing with large projects (20000+ sqm), this is crucial. Also, if you divided your project in different files, you need to maintain a certain degree of consistency so that your equipments are located appropriately.

[Fig 3. Linking an architectural file]

If you have used a plumbing template, your visualization should show your architectural model in grey scale. Some further features should display as well, but you will realize when dealing with actual MEP objects.

2. Set up a workset strategy

Normally, you would want to set up worsets so that several specialist can work on the project simultaneously. At least, when dealing with MEP files, you should set up an architectural workset (to be able to enable and disable the architectural file or to modify its visualization properties) and another one related to the discipline(s) that you are working on. In this case, create one for the “Plumbing” equipment, and try to create everything related to that in that specific workset category.

3. Copy/monitor levels

Another important check point should be the copy/monitor levels. You do want to have the levels from both architectural and MEP files match, so that if anything changes in the original model, you will be notified. After all, MEP depends on the architecture, which should drive the whole design. As a consequence, it is necessary to copy and monitor the levels from the base file.

Follow these simple steps (once per level):

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- Go to an elevation view where you can visualize the levels.

- In the Modify | RVT Links tab, select “Copy/Monitor”>Select Link

- Select the linked file

- Select the desired level

- The “Copy/Monitor” tab will become active. Select Copy. Then click on “Finish”.

- The monitor symbol will show on your newly created level. If you had a previous level with the same name than the one you just selected in the architectural file, it will be overwritten. When you now select the level you will see a new Icon on the “Modify|Levels” tab, which stands for Stop Monitoring. Please do not select this option.

[Fig 4. Copy|Monitor Tab]

[Fig 5. Levels with monitor activation]

This option allows for better control and enables the following features:

- Coordination review: list status, category, and rule of selected elements in the host file. You need to sep up the project coordination settings upfront. The dialog shows the different categories available (actual settings would require a different chapter, so we will leave it for now)

[Fig 6. Coordination settings]

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- Interference check: this can be used to check clashes or collisions between systems or elements in the different files.

It is specially handy when dealing with tubes, pipes, and other mechanical systems that are tipically packed into the ceilings or floors of buildings.

III. CREATING MEP CONTENT

1. System categories

A typical scenario in buildings would quite likely involve several systems using the same type of MEP equipment. For instance, pipes can belong to sanitary systems, domestic cold water, domestic hot water, heating, or many more. This means, you can further sub-clasify your systems as much as you want, as long as you keep a certain consistency throughout your projects.

A nice feature of the predifined families is that they already include a system classification in their connections, so that if you connect a pipe to the output of a boiler, for example, the pipe will “know” that it belong to a hot water system. Keeping internal consistency and sticking to predifined categories will help you a lot.

Within the existing systems associated to Plumbing categories, you will find the following:

- Domestic:

· Cold water

· Hot water

- Fire:

· Fire protection dry

· Fire protection other

· Fire protection pre-action

· Fire protection wet

- Hydronic:

· Supply

· Return

- Other

- Sanitary

- Vent

You can select any of the previous systems for your piping/plumbing in your drawing

2. Import the necessary families

We will create domestic cold water, domestic hot water, and sanitary piping in the example. These belong to three categories from the above list and will require some extra requirements as fasr as equipment is concerned: a water boiler for the hot water supply. Also, we will ignore the actual cold water supply, and assume that it comes from some point in our project.

Begin by importing the following families (Architecture tab>Component>Place Component) from your list of preloaded families:

- M_Boiler - Standard

- M_Sink_Island_Simple - any size

- M_Urinal_Wall_Hung - any size

Place them as any other family on your project, but try to follow our layout. Also, please consider that different cultures have different legal frameworks, and that it might not suit your needs. This layout is merely orientive and is intended to offer an idea, but feel free to modify it.

Also, note the following:

- Each family is provided by different family users, which means that they are not consistent in the way they are defined and drawn. I am afraid thre is no standard yet as to how to create and document families, so you will need to figure out how to orient them properly on their host wall/face or object. I must assume you know how to do that, and that you have sufficient knowledge to create your own family and shared parameters in your projects.

- Each MEP family is loaded with a set of connectors, where the plumbing will have to snap to. This will allow the pipes to automatically inherit the system’s properties from the family. This is why it is important to stick to the predifined categories I have listed above.

- It is possible to create connectors that bypass system types. This is, you can create a simple connector that gets flow (from a certain system) as input and returns the same flow (to another system) as output.

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[Fig 7. Sanitary fixture showing input (right) and output (left) connectors]

- Connectors have the following properties:

· Flow configuration: normally fixture units

· Flow direction: either in or out

· Loss method: to perform flow calculations

· System Classification: from the available list

· Connector description: normally same as direction

It is possible to create connectors that bypass system types. This is, you can create a simple connector that gets flow (from a certain system) as input and returns the same flow (to another system) as output. For instance, you might want to create a specific piece of geometry that connects sanitary to fresh air vent piping. For further information on how to create “Universal Connectors” or pipe types, please refer to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkFn6xA1W-M

3. Place the fittings

Place the fittings following our layout, it will help us obtain the same results. Make sure that they are placed at a reasonable height, where they are realistic. Place a boiler in any of the rooms located on the right.

When placing sink instances, take into account that they are face-based, and that they normally require a horizontal surface to be placed onto. We have not created any horizontal surface yet, so we will need to do so. It is also possible to place the component on the working level, if you prefer -if you decide this option, I recommend you to create a level for fixtures, as shown below.

[Fig 8. Fixtures placed on level “Level 1 Fixtures”]

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[Fig 9. Fixtures placed on architectural model - 3D view]

4. Hot water

If you placed the boiler pointing upwards, you will have to route your piping accordingly. Use the piping to feed the sinks.

- Select the boiler and you will see the connector icons. The upper one stands for hot water, so right clik on it and select “Draw Pipe” from the contextual menu. The output of this boiler is set to hydronic supply, but you can edit the family and modify the output system type to hot water. Otherwise, you are also welcome to create a radiator-based heating system. If you modified the system type of the connector, a different icon will show in your family, once you placed it. Again, you could also design your own “Universal Connector” from Hydronic supply to Domestic Hot Water and use it right on top of the boiler’s connection. Either way, you are good to go.

[Fig 10. Boiler showing connections -hydronic supply (before) and hot water (after)]

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-Draw the pipe. Create a similar layout to ours in different steps: · As we said, go to the connector dot symbol, roght click, and select “Draw Pipe”. The pipe will automatically inherit the connector’s system. · Draw a segment upwards until you reach the level of the ceiling. · Then continue drawing segments until you make sure that you get to all the sinks. · The corner connections will be created automatically depending on the pipe type and settings you have established in your template · You just created the main pipe. It should look like the pipe below. Please note the VG settings and the template affection on the display.

[Fig 11. Starting your piping.]

- Make sure to have “automatically link” set on in your pipes options. This will let Revit know that you intend to join your current pipes to another connector and will snap to create the appropriate auto-routing solution.

· Go to the sink and repeat the process above.

· Select the hot water connector of the sink

· Click on draw pipe

· Make sure the option “Inherit Elevation” is on in your Ribbon (it is important in this case)

· Make sure “Automatically connect” is on in the Ribbon as well

· Click on a point on the existing pipe. Revit will try to snap

- If everything is correct, you should see a small pipe that connects your main pipe with the output flush of your fixture.

Revit will also create the appropriate connections and reduction parts. It is highly recommended to play around with the pipe diameters, as to get used to how revit works and the automatic changes it applies to pipe fittings.

[Fig 12. Piping connectors and main layout]

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5. Cold water

Cold water works quite similarly. If you have succesfully created the hot water system, cold water will be a simple game.

The steps you need to take into account are very much the same ones as when creating a hot water system.

In order to practice different techniques, let us start from the fixtures that need domestic cold water: both sinks and urinals.

- Select a urinal, and right click on the connector to select draw pipe. Make sure it is the cold water connection. Also, since this will not be drinkable water, you could use a separative system that identifies or differentiates drinkable from nondrinkable water.

Create a whole routing until you get to the lower left corner of your architectural model. We will assume the water supply comes in from that point. Take this into account when dimensioning your pipe system. For the case of a housing unit, 20 mm diameter should be fine (it is slightly above the minimum recommended size of 3/4 of an inch).

- Repeat the operation making sure that you connect each urinal to the Domestic Cold Water piping network. Use the “Automaytically connect” and “Inherit Elevation” options to do so.

[Fig 13. Tee pipe fixture - different configurations (adding intakes).]

- You might need to adjust your pipe fixtures as you go. Although Revit will offer you a solution, it might not meet your needs or you might need to modify it. It is sometimes a good idea to erase Revit’s offer and re-join the pipes to obatin a better solution. Also, clicking on the “+” and “-” icons will automatically adjust the number of passes of your fixture. You might want to use several T joints for the cold water connections, depending on your specific layout. It is also not necessary to set up a sloped solution yet, as the water will be impulsed through the system. We do not have time to simulate the impusion.

- Please check for possible interferences between systems. You can use the collision detection for this specific purpose.

Refer to chapter 6 for the instructions on how to run and evaluate an interference check. Your current piping routing layout should look like this:

[Fig 14. Layout at this point]

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- Correct any mistakes and continue to finish the whole layout, including the sinks. Simply repeat the process.

6. Running an interference check

Now that we have two systems, we might have made mistakes in our layouts without realizing them. Interference checks help us prevent and correct common mistakes and collision between elements belonging to the same or different system categories.

In this case, we want to know if there are any interferences between the cold water and the hot water piping networks.

Go to the Collaborate Tab>Interference Check>Run Interference Check. From the options below, check the different elements to be checked. Make sure both your pipes and pipe fittings are selected and click run. A report will be created showing all possible interferences. As you click on them, the elements causing trouble will be highlighted in a livid orange color., so that they are easily visible.

For the sake of demonstration, we have commited two mistakes, both related to the position of the left-most cold water pipe, which we placed exactly below the hot water one, causing collisions between both systems in the sink branches.

[Fig 15. Running an interference check and visualizing the report and the visualization]

Proceed to correct the layout by dragging the pipe deeper into the wall. Run another interference check until you get the “No Interference detected” message. Then you know you are in the safe side.

7. Sanitary piping

As in previous cases, sanitary piping follows the same logic. The main difference is that you want it to have a certain slope, so it will occupy more space and will be quite an inconfortable guest going through your architectural elements (slabs...)

For sanitary piping it is recommended to start from the fixtures, as it is hardly possible to know in advance the height if the main evacuation pipe. 2%-3% of slope would be optimal, but space constraints are always present in construction projects. You could probably play with some value between 1% and 2% depending on your local regulations.

There is another important difference with respect to Domestic Cold and Hot water piping: the ends must be either connected or caped. You can use the tool “Cap Open Ends” from the contextual menu on your ribbon when selecting the pipe.

The final layout of your pipes should optimize routing. I am sure that you already know how to do this, but try to avoid parallel routing as much as possible, as this multiplies the amount of material used in your building. Again, connect each urinal to a single pipe that will then join the main one in a single point, avoiding multiple joints, therefore:

· Reducing material use

· Minimizing the probability of mistakes during execution

· Incrementing the life cycle of the building

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[Fig 16. Final layout]

8. Heating systems

You could try now to include a heating system in your project. You would need to include another heater (boiler), and make sure that you have water intake for both boilers. Simply import another boiler and create the appropriate piping with the appropriate equipment.

Use the Radiator-Hosted family to represent your heater unit, if you want, or simply find some you normally use. Also, you should be careful to plan your layout in advance, and reuse the output flow as input for your hidronic supply. Namig the systems correctly will be of the outmost importance in order to avoid possible problems during calculation or when placing your equipment in the appropriate workshet or category.

Use hydronic supply and hycronic return to define the system. Modify the template to shoy your hydronic supply in orange color. To do that go to your system browser and follow these steps:

- Select a system type (hydronic supply, under Families>Piping Systems>Piping System>Hydronic Supply).

- Right click on it and select Type Properties

- In the dialog, select “Graphic Overrides” in the “Graphic” category. Click on edit.

- Modify the color

- Select OK

These modifications are applied on a project basis, so you need not create special filters or custom templates. Should you need another visualization, create your template. Nevertheless, the changes you just did will be used for all default views.

As with other families, this dialog will let you create a new system type, depending on your own needs.

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[Fig 17. Modify system type]

[Fig 18. Final layout: Domestic Water, Waste, Hydronic Supply and Return]

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IV. SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND INSPECTION

1. System Inspector

The system inspector lets you analyze the flow direction and quantities within a system. Depending on the system and duct properties and settings, the system will display a certain behaviour.

To activate the inspector, simply click on one olement of the system, and go to the contectual ribbon tools “Modify|Pipes”, where you will find the System Inspector Tool under the Analysis category.

Click on the tool, and you will see the Inspect symbol and a slight visibility change in your screen -the non-selected systems become less visible in order to highlight your selection. Inspecting shows the flow direction automatically, and a series of information of each of the elements, as you hover the mouse over the different pipes and fittings that constitute your piping network. The information consists of:

- Section: the branch or section of the pipe within the system.

- Flow: the actual flow in the highlighted section in the units you have stablished for your project (Liters per second normally)

- Fixture units: the number of fixtures contained in the section (pipe segments and fixtures included)

2. Piping systems

Clicking on an element that belongs to a piping system activates the “Piping systems” contextual tool in the ribbon. If this tab is active, you will see the bounding boxes of the elements that define the system, including piping, piping fixtures and other fixtures.

You will be able to edit the system or select equipment to add to the system, such as boilers or others. This tool is very handy when dealing with systems.

[Fig 19. System inspector showing system’s properties]

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ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

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I. CREATING A NEW FILE OR USING AN EXISTING ONE

1. Create a new architecture file

If you need to create a new file simply follow the instructions of the previous chapter. Also, you can directly continue to add information to your existing revit MEP file without much effort.

Just consider the different disciplines when creating your views, filters, and templates. At the end of the process, your browser tree should look like the following:

[Fig 1. Project Browser]

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If you have discrepancies, check the “Sub-discipline” category in your view parameters. The default template organizes views according to the different disciplines. Having said that, let us begin creating the electrical equipment for the project.

2. Main electrical concepts

First of all, it is crucial to distinguish between concepts:

- Circuit: the actual electrical system, which needs to have power and switching sub-systems in order to work properly.

The circuits are the internal Revit representation of how the electricity flows. The different equipment units must match in their voltage, intensity, number of phases, and so on.

- Wiring is the graphical representation of the circuit, and may or may not exist. You might want this to exist, as you will work with actual plans which are required for communication and information

- Conduits are the 3d, “pipe-like” representation of cables. These connect to electrical fixtures through connectors. We will have a word on connectors and fixtures as well.

3. Electrical settings

These will determine your ability to connect devices and equipment and also define how wiring and electrical information is displayed. It is possible to determine the types of voltages available and the distribution system characteristics. This allows to connect devices properly and prevents from accidental object wiring to wrong panels. Furthermore, you can set the visibility behaviour of tick marks to show wire counts and how wire tags will display the electrical information.

All these are project specific, so it is crucial to keep them in your templates.

Access these settings by typing ES or through the Manage Tab>MEP Settings>Electrical Settings.

[Fig 2. Electrical settings]

The main options include the following:

- Hidden Line: establises the gap size that is shown when you have overlapping elements in a view, such as conduits and cable trays. This size is relative to the scale of the views and will only display when the view is set to Hidden Line.

- General settings do not affect the behaviour of electrical devices, only how the information is displayed.

- It is also possible to determine the name capitalization.

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- Wiring settings: · Aside some basic controls (temperature, dash size), you need to consider that the wiring families need to be loaded in the project. You can do so by going to the Insert tab>Load Family Icon and browse for your wiring tick mark families. Should you not have this contents, try downloading directly from the Autodesk Seek webpage.

The tickmarks control the wiring display at a project scale. The three settings are as follows:

· Always: tick marks will display on any wire when drawn

· Never: tick marks will not display on any wire when drawn

· Home Runs: tick marks will display only on wiring home runs and not on wires between devices on

ARCHIOLOGICS BASIC REVIT MEP - CRASH COURSE

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the same circuit 路 Wire sizes:

These define the sizes of the wires you want to use for different circuit ampacities depending on the material (copper, aluminium). The material can be changed as well andyou can vary the wire sizes for the three standard wire temperature ratings and insulation types.

The Used By Sizing options allows Revit to automatically use a certain option when calculating the size of the wires that belong to a circuit. Revit will choose the minimum possible from within the list provided (see below). 路 You can further investigate the Correction Factor and Wiring Types, although suffice it to say that the types will create the different wires that that are available for selection.

[Fig 3. Wiring settings - Tick marks, Sizes, Types]

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- Voltage definitions: · These establish the maximum and minimum values for the voltages used in the project so that different ratings on devices or equipement are possible. You can add voltages to your project by clicking the Add buttonin the dialog box and providing the necessary information.

As a general rule, the default values should be enough when starting your project.

- Distribution systems: · What you need to know is that the connectors of your electrical fixtures and other related equipment need to match the systems you define, so that you can assign devices and equipment objects to a certain system. You can create single or three-phase systems in delta or wye configurations, and establish the number of wires for the system.

- Load calculations: · You can let Revit calculate the loads of a system, or disable this function for improved performance. The load classifications of the connectors in your electrical families determine which demand factor they will need to take on in your project. · Keep your load classification names simple and descriptive because you will have to assign them to the connectors in your electrical families. · In the Demand Factors dialog box, you can define the demand factors that are assigned to the classifications.

The default templates come with an extensive list of demand factors, and you can even create your own by using the buttons in the lower-left corner of the dialog box.

II. CREATING CIRCUITS AND WIRING FOR DEVICES AND FIXTURES

1. Insert your (lighting) fixtures

Normally, the architect would decide which fixtures will be used in the project. In this case, and for the sake of learning, we will take on the role of the architect.

Begin by inserting lighting fixtures in your project. You might need to create a reflected ceiling plan to be able to view them, depending on which ones you choose. In the example, we used the M_Recessed Volumetric Light 0300x1200mm(1 Lamp) - 120 V family. Place some on your layout following the logic provided by the example -2 columns and 3 rows, for example. Make sure the fixtures are associated to the right level.

[Fig 4. Lighting fixture - Properties showing the connector properties. Note the System Type]

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Additionally, create a new level that will serve as base for the hosts of the lighting fixtures. You can call this level Level 1 fixtures and associate the different lighting fixtures to it. This will also let you create a reflected ceiling plan based on this level -crucial to visualize your conduits, trays, and other information. Remember to set the Discipline of your view to ELECTRICAL in the properties panel.

2. Create the power system of your circuit

Once the fixtures are located in place, you need to create the different circuits associated to them. As we said in the introduction, you need to define power and switching circuits for your fixtures. As you surely know, you need a power source to connect your fixtures to, as well as a switcher or similar device in order to be able to create those circuits. Begin adding these elements first, making sure that the power source (panel) is compatible with the fixtures used. Otherwise, you will not be able to use them.

Click on the fixture and you will see the Modify | Lighting Switches tab in the ribbon. There you can create the Powe and Switch systems of your circuit.

[Fig 5. Create systems option]

First let us insert the panel that will provide energy to our circuit. We used the M_Lighting and Appliance Panelboard -208V MCB - Surface - 3Poles - 100A and modified it to have a single pole. This was required to fit the specifications of the lighting fixtures. You can import the “3 Pole” family and modify the number of poles to 1 in the properties panel. Do so and then save the family with another name. Remember to Load the family in the project.

Place the panel in the third room (the one where the heaters are located). Once you have done that, you can already assign a power source (system) to your lighting fixture. Remember to follow this process for the rest of the lighting fixtures.

Click on the fixture, and then select the “Power” Icon from the Ribbon. Click now on System Tools>“Select Panel”, and select the panel you have just added to the document. A contextual Bounding Box should appear containing both your fixture and the panel, as well as a curve linking both. This graphical information will disapear when unclicking/deselecting the element.

Make sure that all the required information is suitable, otherwise you will have to edit your families (it will happen in the amperance does not match, the number of poles is not correct, or similar).

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3. Create the switch system of your circuit

Now you need to set the Switch system of your circuit. Create a new lighting equipment for this specific purpose by inserting one of the pre-defined elementes that Revit has to offer. Go to the Systems Tab>Electrical>Device>Lighting and choose one of the elements in the type selector above the properties panel.

[Fig 6. Lighting devices to insert a switch]

Select the M_Lighting Switches Three Way or similar and place it on the vertical face where you prefer. Just make sure that the dimensions and actual elevation make sense for their use in real life. You can use the linked architectural Revit model as host for any element, as you have realized when looking at how to place the lighting fixture.

Click on the fixture again and repeat the process: click on Create Switch system, then select switch and finally click on the switch that you just imported. Revit will show you a link between your fixture and the switch. Now you will be able to modify these circuits when selecting the fixture. Also, note that you can turn on the System Browser, which displays the issues related to the different systems in place. This tool is very handy when inspecting your model and systems. In order to see it, go to View Tab>User Interface>System Browser. Open the Electrical System category. You should see everything under a Power Symbol. This means that the fixtures have been associated to a power source. You will see also the lighting fixtures under their corresponding panel, and the switch or switches that you have used to define how to turn your circuit on and off.

Finally, the panel shows also unassiged devices for easy tracking. Clicking on an element on the panel will show its location in the model.

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[Fig 6. Current layout and system browser]

4. Display the wiring

Wires are not model elements, they are annotation objects (so they depend on the views). In order to create wires, you will need to load wire families. You know how to do it, so we will not waste our time explaining how to load families into your Revit project.

Go to the Systems Tab and select Wire under the Electrical Category. There are 3 types of wiring, so choose the one you like the most or fits your company’s standards best. It is usually nice to display the different wires in different forms, so you can create a filter that, once applied to your view, allows you to distiguish between the different circuit types or whatever information you might need.

In order to create a filter, just go to the View Tab and Select the Filter Command under the Graphics category. Create a new filter from the Electrical Discipline, and give it a name that makes sense (such as “Lighting power” or similar). Select the Wire object type (category) and set the desired properties.

[Fig 7. Creating the filter]

Create the wires between the different fixtures and to the panel and apply the filter to the plan view. You should now visualize the connections. Tag the wires using the Tag option in the annotation tab -keep in mind that you need to load a suitable family. Should you want to display more information, modify the settings (remeber to type ES) or the family tag itself.

The tag family displays a circuit description by default, but you can modify the label to display any kind of information.

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[Fig 8. Filter overrides]

III. ADDING CONDUIT GEOMETRY TO THE MODEL

As you know, circuits or wiring as just simulations of actual circuits. It can be useful sometimes to also model the actual geometry of those circuits, especially in complex cases where you need to double check for intersections or other possible mistakes.

1. Create cable trays

Cable trays are used to group conduits in certainly complex cable layouts. We will create some to hold the lighting cables, although they would not be necessary in real life.

As usual, let us first make sure that we have loaded the necessary families. In order to create trays, we will need to have cable trays and tray fittings. Load them from the load menu under the Insert tab. Trays will be placed above the ceiling level, so consider creating another level for cable trays and conduits -remember that there is no need to create the associated views.

First, plan how your trays are going to look, and try to minimize the amount of material you use. We have created a nonoptimal layout that uses too much material. You can try to create your own solution going in the middle of the room between the lighting fixtures.

Click on the cable try icon in the Electrical category under the Systems tab. Use the default type and adjust its properties (width and height mostly). Also, make sure that the trays are placed in the right level, and set an offset if you think so. If you have not downloaded the fittings, Revit will throw an error communicating that it is not possible to create non-straight conduit layouts. Otherwise, just select the fittings that suit you best.

As in the case of pipes, you can also select a connector from a cable tray, right click, and select “Draw Tray�, wich will automatically create a default tray type segment starting from that point, as shown in figure 9. Please note that the automatically connect option is also activated when drawing pipes. Again, this is handy when creating layouts quickly.

2. Create conduits

Conduits behave very simillarly to pipes. Again, you need to have loaded the conduit families and conduit fittings in your project.

Place the conduits appropriately in your project and try to fit them in the cable tray layout. You can adjust the curvature radius for the conduits depending on your preferences or standards, always keeping in mind actual material constranints. For

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instance, you will not be able to create fittings with a radius smaller than 110 mm. You can see those settings in the Electrical Setting (type ES) section, under conduits. Please refer to the characteristics listed in the “Size” dialog for the options you can set.

Let us see how to use the conduit tool. Click on Conduit and make sure that you have the “Automatically Select” option active. Click on the middle segment of the cable tray, and start drawing on that precise level. If you need to increment the heigh of the conduit (this is, if you need to create a vertical segment), just use the offset option: enter the height you need and click apply. This way you will be able to create your conduits with any possible distribution. Please make sure that your conduits and your trays do not intersect.

[Fig 9. Cable tray options and layouts]

[Fig 10. Cable sizing options]

One serious advantage of modeling these equipment is creating informational tables, schedules, and others. Have a look at the different categories that you can obtain information from when dealing with conduits and trays. Quantity schedules normally ignore this, whereas they account for a large amount of the total building costs -especially HVAC equipment is very relevant to the total building costs and maintenance of buildings.

Check that you have a similar layout to the one that we show on figure 10. Now you might need to know how to edit joint boxes, or connect several conduits at once. This is possible in Revit by using Conduit Junction Boxes. These are families that consist of normally simple-shaped boxes that host one or more connections. As you will see later, each face can only host one connector, so you will need to subdivide faces if you want or need to have several connectors at once.

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[Fig 10. Cable|Conduits sizing options and radius according to actual size table]

Let us first place one box on the existing layout. We assume that you have “connected” the conduits to the power box (the panel you added a few steps above). Go to Systems Tab>Place Component and choose the M_Conduit Junction Box - Tee - PVC Standard. Place it on the conduit and see what happens. It automatically snaps to the conduit and displays a series of connector elements, as well as two icons or handlers: a “+” symbol to add another connector, and the invert arrows, to invert the direction of the box.

You need to use one of this junction boxes to supply the switches, so make sure that you connect the box to the switching conduits as shown in the picture. Let us imagine that you have several conduits to connect to. This family does not have enough connectors for all the cables, so you will need to increase the number of connections. Let us see how.

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Right-click on the object and select “Edit Family”. This will open the family editor. First observe the properties of the family and the instance properties of the junction box:

- Family properties: · Connectors: the number and location that depend on the host geometry. In this particular case, only three connectors, two of which are linked (this means, that are linked or connected physically in real life). · Part type: Tee, Elbow, Cap Cross, Multiport... just select the one that suits you best.

- Connector properties:

· Radius: defined in the family types parameters

· Connector type

- Instance Properties:

· Constraints: level and offset

· Dimensions: nominal radiae for all connectors, or others included in the family type parameters below

[Fig 11. Junction Box Family Edition and In-Place]

[Fig 12. Connectors - Family Types]

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3. Modifying Junction Boxes to add more connectors

As we have explained, junction boxes are basically points where several conduits cross and meet . Sometimes it is important to establish a certain logic as to how that happens, so you might need to use junction boxes when several conduits are implied in the operation.

The default box comes with only 3/4 connections, one per face (excluding the faces parallel to walls). In our case, we would need to have more connections, so we need to add more connectors. In order to do that, you need to increase the amount of faces of your junction box model geometry. Let us edit the geometry:

- Make sure you are editing the family

- Select the box face you need to subdivide -you can do so circulating with the “TAB” key until you obtain the desired selection.

- In the Modify Tab>Geometry click on “Split face”

- Select a point to indicate where to split and create a vertical line. Repeat the operation until you get 3 divisions (this is, you need to draw 2 segments)

- Create an annotation object (aligned dimension) to make sure you can see the distance between them. Also, you migh need to activate the visibility of annotation objects in this view (go to VG)

- Make sure you click on the EQ symbol to create equal distances.

- Finish editing by clicking on the green tick symbol.

Once you are done you can begin adding connectors to the faces you have just created. The connectors will be automatically placed at the center of the faces, so you need to keep this in mind when connecting the conduits to them: the distance between the conduits need to match that on the junction box.

To create a connector, go to the Create Tab and click on Conduit Connector under the Connectors category. Choose to place the connector on a face, and select the faces you have created. Select the connector and modify its properties to match your requirements.

- Change the radius to 8

- Make sure the orientation is correct

[Fig 13. Process of creating connectors on a junction box]

Repeat the process as many times as necessary. You need to provide links to these connectors you have just created.

Repeat the whole operation again with the oposite face, create two more connectors, and link them. This is to make sure that your conduits will know where they “get into” the box and where they “go out”. Finally, select one connector, go to the Modify | Connector Element and use the Link Connectors tool to connect to another one. When you click on one, you will see arrows indicating the link.

Finally try connecting the conduits to the family. Do not forget to save the family with a different name and load it into the file.

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HVAC AND COORDINATION

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I. CREATING A NEW FILE OR USING AN EXISTING ONE

1. Create a new architecture file

If you need to create a new file simply follow the instructions of the previous chapter. Also, you can directly continue to add information to your existing revit MEP file without much effort. So far we have created the piping and electrical equipment. Let us finish by testing the mechanical HVAC discipline.

We will place 3 exhausts and simulate an impusion with a specifically created component. Begin by creating the required levels and views II. A SIMPLE HVAC DISTRIBUTION

1. Initial steps

- Levels: create the required levels and views making sure that they belong to the Mechanical discipline, HVAC subdiscipline. This way you will keep your browser organized.

The HVAC level should match the level where you want your exhaust to be, but it can be any other. As you will see later, this level will be used to base the Diffuser elements

- Start by loading all required families, which are quite a bit:

路 Ducts: rectangular, oval, circular, and others

路 Duct fittings: all possible

路 Air terminals: all possible The more families you have, the more flexible your layouts will become, as you will be able to use more elements when modelling your HVAC system.

In our case, we have used rectangular, non-calculated ducts, but you can decide to use any other type or shape, depending on your standars.

- HVAC System Properties: have a look to the Mechanical Settings (tyoe MS or go to Systems>HVAC>Arrow or Manage>MEP Settings>Mechanical). Here you will decide how to control your layouts by setting angles, fittings, reductions, and others. The most important settings are the following:

路 Duct Settings: Conversion, Rectangular (size list), Oval (size list), Round (size list), and calculation (if you are an engineer who needs to calculate the loads and sizes of this particular building system). The settings are quite self-explanatory, so we will not waste your time explaining them much.

- Finally, decide whether you want to start from the main impulsion or, on the contrary, from the air terminals. In our case, we willl begin from the main impusion, and follow the direction of the air flow towards the exhaust.

[Fig 1. Mechanical Settings - Duct sizes]

2. Creating the layout

- Go to the HVAC level and start drawing. Create a Duct from the second-left room by clicking on the Systems>HVAC>Duct.

Like in the piping section, just draw your ducts to match the layout proposed in our example. Start by providing a quite big duct -you can resize them later.

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· Make sure that the Reference level is HVAC, and that you set the offset you need (say 200 mm, for example). · Set the Horizontal justification to center (this will center the ducts around the line you draw), and tje vertical justification to Middle (to do the same thing on the elevation view) · Make sure also that the System Type is Exhaust Air, and that the size Lock option is turned off, if you want to resize the pipe afterwards. · Use the Default Rectangular Duct to create your Layout -you should have loaded the fittings corresponding to this family as well, so we will avoid trouble in this particular respect. You can modify the size of this duct in the instance’s dimensions properties. Adjust them to 300 mm x 300 mm.

[Fig 2. Final layout]

[Fig 3. Current Layout]

· Keep on drawing until you need to set a bifurcation. Bifurcations can be done using different fittings, we recommend you to use the M_Rectangular Wye Standard from the Revit family library. Go ahead and create a new duct fitting from the family, and connect it to the existing ducts. If necessary, do so by dragging the con-

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nector symbols. 路 It is better to stop drawing the ducts, wait until you have your bifurcation, and then continue from both bifurcation ends. Clicking on the Wye allows you to set the duct size both in width and height. 路 Keep drawing until you finish the overal setup pof your HVAC system. You should have a layout similar to the one below by now.

[Fig 4. Layout so far including Wye bifurcations]

3. Air terminals

- It is a good thing to impulse air through ducts, but it becomes even better if you exhaust that air into rooms. You do that through air terminals. We need to create terminals at the end points of your routing. In order to do that, please make sure you have loaded the appropriate families. We will use the default M_Exhaust Diffuser - Hosted Workplane-based Exhaust Diffuser from the MEP library.

Create a new diffuser and place it on your drawing hosted on an element -these require a workplane to be placed onto.

You can either select the face of the ceiling from the architectural model, or use the Work Plane. Place them at the end of each duct as indicated in figure 5.

[Fig 5. Placing an air terminal using the current work plane]

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Next, go to the 3d view and make sure they are facing the right direction. If necessary, click on the arrows icon that shows up when clicking on a terminal. Go to the HVAC level and start drawing. Create a Duct from the second-left room by clicking on the Systems>HVAC>Duct. Like in the piping section, just draw your ducts to match the layout proposed in our example. Start by providing a quite big duct -you can resize them later.

Use the Default Rectangular Duct to create your Layout -you should have loaded the fittings corresponding to this family as well, so we will avoid trouble in this particular respect. You can modify the size of this duct in the instance’s dimensions properties. Adjust them to 300 mm x 300 mm.

[Fig 6. Disconnected/Connected Terminal]

- Connect to end command. Figure 6 shows a disconnected and connected air terminal. Using the “Connect Into “ command from the Modify|Air Terminals Tab will help you obtain the right layout. Just make sure that the terminal is located on top of the end duct. Also, you will need to provide the necessary space for the fittings to be placed, otherwise, you will get a Revit Warning or error that cannot be ignored. You will be forced to redo your geometry if Revit cannot find a matching Junction for the duct types used.

Note that when the exhaust becomes part of the system the geometry object turns green (or the color of the HVAC system).

[Fig 7. Connect Into button]

II. COORDINATION

1. Why coordination?

It is quite important to be able to visualize and check that none of your building systems presents problems. of placement, fittings, or if it collides against any other building system. This is, you would probably need to make sure that the fire piping and the HVAC ducts can coexist within the same “ecosystem”. In actuality, you need to check for correct heights, crossings, and others.

Coordination is the solution to this problem. Not only is necessary to use the system inspector and the clash/collision detection, but it becomes crucial to be able to visualize the result of creating several systems.

2. Coordinate

Coordination views are quite simple to achieve. You have notices that they are classified according to their discipline and subdiscipline, so you only need to create a “Coordination” category. In fact, you will need to create both a Coordination Discipline and a Coordination Subdiscipline. Furthermore, feel free to set up a filter or a template for your view that you can

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apply to thee different view types.

[Fig 8. Coordination]

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