ORUG - MEP

TurboSquid

2009-01-15T14:32:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year and best wishes for everyone!

For the first post of the year I'm going to introduce a website I found:

http://www.turbosquid.com/Revit-Market

It's a database where you can search for Revit families and 3d Studio Max models, for free and for sale. There's also other types of files available to search such as AutoCAD DWGs and sketchup files.

Currently there's not much content MEP-wise (Aside from a couple of plumbing fixtures) but the database has the potential to grow: People who spend many hours creating and perfecting Revit families that others would like to use can put them up here for sale.

Revit MEP 2009 - Web Update #3 Now Available

2008-12-02T09:30:00.001-05:00

Just like Web Update #2, Web Update #3 uses the "Service Pack" technology like the other Autodesk products and is not a full install. Before installing the WU3 please ensure you have installed the First Customer Ship build or Web Update #1 build of Revit MEP 2009.

Before You Download
Please read before downloading and installing:
Service Pack Readme (pdf).

Download:

Revit MEP 2009 Web Update #3 Service Pack (32-bit)(exe – 431 MB)

Revit MEP 2009 Web Update #3 Service Pack (64-bit)(exe - 54 MB)

For a list of improvements, please download the Revit MEP 2009 Web Update Enhancement List:

Web Update Enhancement List (pdf)

Note: Build Number can be found in the Web Update Enhancement List

ORUG Expo 2008 / Revit MEP Users List

2008-11-05T16:35:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who came out to the ORUG Expo last Wednesday night. It's great to see more M/E engineers coming out as the architects always ask where are the engineers who are using Revit MEP.

We encourage more Mechanical, Electrical, and Structural engineers to come out to our ORUG meetings. It's the ideal place to network with other professionals in the GTA building industry, and of course learn about Revit.

Speaking of which, Caesar Ruest of Autodesk Canada has formed a group of architects in Canada who has adopted Revit in their office. They are now compiling a list of Mechanical, Electrical, and Structural Engineers who are using Revit in Canada. If you would like to be added to the list, please e-mail Jay Polding at jpolding at cadmicro.com.

2 Year Anniversary Meeting Oct. 29, 2008

2008-10-21T11:00:00.001-04:00

The next ORUG meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008 again at Alice Fazooli's. More details on the ORUG website.

Making Space Tags Display Room Tag information

2008-10-21T10:53:00.001-04:00

Autodesk introduced the Spaces feature in Revit MEP 2009, so engineers can define their own spaces instead of using the architect's rooms for doing their heating/cooling load analysis.

While there is a net benefit to this workflow, one of the drawbacks is that you have to re-enter the architect's room name and number into your spaces, thus adding time to the design process.

However there is a workaround to this, as mentioned in Matt Dillon's Breaking Down the Walls blog:

Modify a space tag to pull the Room Name and Number from the Architect’s Revit Architecture file background, so that the correct room number and tag are displayed on the floor plans and you don’t have to re-enter all the information.

I've made a short streaming video describing how to do it here:

http://screencast.com/t/rrDYyIub4BT

While this is handy, keep in mind that if you do this your spaces will continue to have generic names and numbers (ie. Space 1, Space 2, Space 3) instead of the real room information (ie. Cafeteria 101, Classroom 102, etc.) and certain outputs such as your loads reports will still display the generic information. This may be acceptable at first but eventually you may want to manually transcribe the room names and numbers into the space room and numbers anyway for consistency.

Revit MEP 2009 Web Update #2 Released

2008-09-30T14:59:00.001-04:00

Get your Revit MEP 2009 Web Update 2 here:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=11273489

The Revit product team has finally brought "Service Pack" technology(used in the AutoCAD updates) to its Web Updates. This means that when you install this update, it just does a patch of your files. You no longer have to do an uninstall/reinstall! This will save you a lot of time and effort.

Because of the new installation method, be sure to read the Service Pack Readme before installing.

Revit MEP 2009 64-bit Released!

2008-09-30T14:41:00.001-04:00

The 64-bit version of Revit MEP is now available for download for those of you on Autodesk subscription. Get it here.

From the website:

This version of Revit® MEP 2009 is a native 64-bit application to be used with 64-bit Operating Systems, such as Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional 64-bit or Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64-bit (Business, Home Premium, Ultimate editions). The 64-bit version of Revit MEP 2009 removes the 4 gig memory limitation found in 32-bit applications which enhances the software’s capability to handle large projects. It contains the functionality found in the 32-bit release of Revit MEP 2009, with the noted limitations found in the Known Issues document.

Latest versions of IES 5.9 and VE-Ware Released!

2008-08-22T10:00:00.001-04:00

VE-Ware is the FREE and easy to use energy/carbon analysis tool, for preliminary analysis of your building. Currently it works only with models exported from Revit Architecture and Revit MEP 2008/2009. Get it here.

If you want more complex energy modelling, check out the new and improved IES <VE> 5.9. Get a free trial here.

A full list of new updates to the IES software can be found here.

Electrical Panel Schedules, Part 2: Creating/Configuring an Instantaneous Water Heater

2008-07-24T12:13:00.001-04:00

Continuing from Part 1, we will now install and configure a 2-pole, 240V instantaneous (ie. tankless) water heater and hook it up electrically with our 120V/240V single phase electrical panel.

1. First, right click on the panel, click Element Properties, and under Electrical - Loads > Panel Name, Enter a name for the panel. Let's call it RP-1. Click OK to save and exit.

2. Then, load a tankless water heater from the existing library. Go to the Design bar on the left, under Mechanical tab, click Mechanical Equipment. Click the "Load..." button, then navigate to Plumbing Components>Equipment>Water Heaters. Select "Water Heater - Tankless" then click Open.

3. Plop the water heater anywhere you like. I'm going to place it near the electrical panel for convenience. Note that currently the water heater is 120 V, single pole. We need to change this to 240 V, 2 poles in the Family Editor.

4. Right-click on the water heater and click Edit Family. Click Yes to open it for editing.

5. Go to File>Save As to save the water heater as a new file(so you don't mess up the original one.) I called mine _j Water Heater - Tankless.rfa.

6. Still in the Family Editor, Go to Settings> Family Types.

7. Scroll all the way down to the Electrical heading. Change the Voltage to 240 V and Number of Poles to 2. Click OK.

8. Go to File> Save. On the design bar on the left, click "Load into Project"

9. Click on the water heater, then click on where it says "Water Heater - Tankless : 0.6 Gallon" on the top left of the screen (this is called the "Type Selector") and select "_j Water Heater - Tankless : 0.6 Gallon" or whatever you called your custom water heater.

10. Click on the water heater. It should now display 240 V and #2 (2 poles) which is what we want.

11. Now click on the "Create Power Circuits" button at the top. (I've boxed it in red in the image above. This is the 2009 version so the 2008 version will look slightly different. You can always hover over the button to see what that button does.)

12. Now click "Add Panel to Circuit" button( with the small plus sign) and choose your RP-1 Panel for the water heater by either choosing from the pull-down list, or just clicking on the panel on the floor plan.

13. Select your panel and click on the "Edit Circuits" button. It should be just to the left of the "Distribution Sys" selector.

14. Your water heater now shows up on your panel as two slots, under circuits 1 and 3. You can change the Amperage under "Trip", if needed.

ORUG Meeting Wednesday July 9

2008-06-24T17:03:00.001-04:00

(x-posted from orug.ca)

Please find details about our next Ontario Revit Users Group (ORUG) meeting below:

Date: Wednesday July 9, 2008

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON, M5V 1P6. Click here for map. For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

CONTENT:

Revit News Across Canada
An Industry Insider will give us the latest news on the who, what and where of Revit projects.

Hot Rod Meet

Bring your laptop or box to test out what settings and hardware work best. We will have files, monitors, keyboards and mice.

RSVP

If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com.
There is no charge to attend.

Ceiling Hosted Objects - Correction

2008-06-23T10:55:00.001-04:00

After more experiences and research into the topic, I have a slight correction to make to a previous post.

Ceiling-hosted objects (ie. ceiling diffusers, lights, etc.) will work properly in a Revit project ONLY in either of these conditions:

1. In a Revit project where you have your MEP systems co-existing with your architectural systems - no linked files and everything is in one file. This was the case in the example I showed in that post.

2. If the objects are set on a work plane.

Note that the first situation is only applicable for small buildings where the file won't get too big even with all the services loaded. The second situation is more common for larger buildings where the engineer would typically link the architect's file to his/her project.

For the second scenario, the easiest way to set a work plane is to create a level for the ceiling (preferably from the architect). Since a level automatically becomes a work plane, you can then plop your hosted objects onto the level work plane, and it will move with the ceiling whenever its elevation changes.

Revit MEP Web Update #1 Released

2008-06-11T15:26:00.001-04:00

I haven't been posting lately since things got really busy in the office.

Meanwhile I have to get on here to post since the long-awaited Revit MEP Web Update #1 is finally released! Get it here:

www.autodesk.com/revitmep-download

Electrical Panel Schedules, Part I

2008-05-15T10:46:00.001-04:00

Building an Electrical Panel Schedule in Revit MEP, at least in 2008, can be a bit tricky. However, if done properly you will still save a tremendous amount of time doing it in Revit as the tool will do all the loads rebalancing for you, so you don't have to go into a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel and spend a long time doing it yourself.

Lucky you, I'm here to walk you through the process.

In Part 1 of this series, we will install and configure a 120V/240V single phase panel, which is a typical choice for residential installations here in the Toronto area, if not North America.

In Part 2, we will install and configure an instantaneous (ie. tankless) water heater to hook up electrically with the panel. The water heater, like other large appliances such as the stove, refrigerator, and washing machine, pull large electrical loads and therefore need 2 pole circuit breakers taking up 2 slots on the panel board. This can be modelled in Revit MEP as long as you are careful about the information you input, but again, don't worry since I will guide you through what you'll need to input and where to get it working.

Larger commercial buildings often require a 3-phase panel is often used, and the Autodesk Official Teaching Courseware (AOTC) covers how to configure that one.

So when you're ready, let's start building the Panel Board:

1. Load the Panel Board family.

Open the Electrical tab on the Discipline Toolbars on the left, Click Electrical Equipment (If you can't see the Electrical tab, right click anywhere on the Discipline Toolbars and make sure the Electrical toolbar is on.)
Click Load..
Navigate to the following location(assuming unchanged default directories during install.)

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RME 2008\Imperial Library\Electrical Components\Electrical Equipment\Panelboard

Find Lighting and Appliance Panelboard - 208V MCB - Surface, and click Open.
Plop the Panel Board where you want, against a wall.

3. Set Voltage Definitions.

In the Discipline Toolbar on the left, click Electrical, then Electrical Settings Tool.
Click Voltage Definitions. Add a "240" entry like what I have here (change the Maximum and Minimum to what you require.)

4. Create Distribution Systems.

Click Distribution Systems and add an entry like I've done below. Choose Single Phase, 3 wires, 240 L-L voltage and 120 L-G voltage.

Click OK when you're done.

5. Edit electrical connector on Panel Board.

Right click on the panel board, and click Edit Family.
Click OK to open for editing.
Click on File menu, then Save As, and type a name for this Panel Board. I'm calling it "240V MCB - Surface".
Right click on the electrical connector and click Element Properties(look at picture below if you don't know what it looks like.) Change the information to that of the picture below. Make sure the Power Factor is set to 1 (could be something else like 0.8, but make sure the Power Factor in all of the components you put in the circuit are consistent), Voltage is set to 240 V, System Type is Power-Balanced, Pole is set to 3.)

Click OK, save, and Click Load into Project on the left. Make sure there's a tick on the box beside the project where you created your panel board and heater and click OK.

a) Click on your panel board.

b) Click on the drop down box on the top left and choose one of the "240V MCB - Surface" boards.

c) Choose the Distribution System on the Design Toolbar on the top to 120/240. (If the 120/240 entry doesn't show up, double check all the entries in the steps we just did and try again.)

And voilà! Your electrical panel is ready to go!

Stay tuned to Part 2 where we'll install a water heater and see how it connects with the Electrical Panel.

Air Diffusers and Lighting Fixtures

2008-05-01T16:02:00.000-04:00

Be careful when laying out diffusers, lighting fixtures, and other objects that attach to a ceiling in Revit MEP. In most cases, you'll want to make sure that your objects are of the "hosted" type BEFORE you start working on your layouts. Having your objects "hosted" to the ceiling ensures that your diffusers, lights, etc. are ALWAYS attached to the ceiling even when the elevations change, or the ceiling grid gets offset.

For the Rookie Reviteers, here are the differences between "unhosted" and "hosted" objects:

"Unhosted" objects are always fixed by their elevations and locations, no matter what's going on around them. "Unhosted" diffusers will remain at the same elevation even if the ceiling is raised:

Figure 1.1: An "unhosted" supply diffuser in the "Load Family" dialog. Note that just the diffuser shows up in the Preview.

Figure 1.2: Ceiling raised to 9'0 from 8'0 with "unhosted" supply diffusers. Note the diffusers stay at 8'0 and showing the flex duct.

"Hosted" objects always attach to their "host" at their position, no matter where the host goes:

Figure 2.1: A "hosted" supply diffuser in the "Load Family" dialog. Note the box that the diffuser sits on in the Preview.

Figure 2.2: Ceiling raised to 9'0 with "hosted" supply diffusers. Note the diffusers remain attached to the ceiling.

Shipping Delays for Revit 2009

2008-04-24T14:20:00.000-04:00

(Cross-posted from ORUG.ca)

Although Revit 2009 started shipping on April 15 it seems that here in Ontario there have been delays. Most should start receiving DVDs next week. In the meantime here are some links if you wish to download it:

Revit Architecture 2009:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=11017599

Revit Structure 2009:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=9281007

Revit MEP:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=9262907

Keyboard Shortcuts/Accelerators

2008-04-24T14:06:00.000-04:00

Here are some keyboard shortcuts/accelerators that I've found to be useful when plugging away at Revit MEP. Note they are not case sensitive:

DE - Deletes an element. Handy if you're working on a laptop and it's hard to find the "Delete" key. (Note for AutoCAD/AutoCAD MEP users: This is more or less the same as the ERASE command in AutoCAD.)

Ctrl+Tab - Switches between windows in Revit. Similar to the Alt+Tab function in Windows XP.

VG - Visibility/Graphic Overrides. Use in plan view and 3D view.

ZF - Zoom to Fit

Assuming a regular installation, a full list of the shortcuts and what they do can be found here:

C:\Program Files\Revit MEP 2008\Program\keyboardshortcuts.txt

If you're keen enough you can also edit the shortcuts list in the text file to use the key combinations that you want. The instructions are in the file. You'd have to save the file and restart Revit MEP after the changes.

Revit 2009 Shipping Date

2008-04-08T12:08:00.001-04:00

An update on shipping dates for the entire Revit 2009 line of products:

April 15, 2008

How to Subscribe to a Blog Feed

2008-03-31T10:30:00.010-04:00

This is how to subscribe to a blog feed in Windows Internet Explorer 7. I tried to do this in a video but it looks awful when posted on Blogger, so I just took screenshots:

Step 1: Click on the RSS Feed button on the toolbar shown below, and click "ORUG-MEP-RSS".

Step 2: Click "Subscribe to this feed".

Step 3. Click "Subscribe"

Step 4: The ORUG-MEP feed is added to your feeds list. Click "View my feeds" to see the list.

Step 5: Whenever the name of the feed is in bold, it means the feed has been updated. You can add any other blog feeds to your feeds list using the same method.

To access your feeds list you can click the star button (Favorites) then click on the Feeds tab.

Welcome!

2008-03-25T15:20:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the Official ORUG-MEP blog! Here we will discuss all issues Revit MEP related, keep everyone up to date on upcoming ORUG events and meetings, and facilitate networking with Revit MEP users across Ontario, as well as around the world.

To keep yourself in the Revit-MEP-loop, Add this blog to your RSS Feed, and/or check back often!