Download IES Revit Architecture Plug-In

Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) has released their new IES plug-in for Revit Architecture. Once installed, it will appear in the menu.

The IES December 12th press release states:

Within Revit Architecture, the Toolkits provide four analysis options: heating and cooling load calculations, annual dynamic thermal simulation for energy consumption, sun view animation for winter, summer and midseason, and a daylighting assessment. The Toolkits automatically run the chosen analysis through the IES suite of building performance software and generate an html report of relevant information quickly and easily.

Download the IES Revit Architecture Plug-in Features PDF file.


Use the IES Revit Architecture Tutorials gain insight on the proper use of these sustainability tools.

Free Revit MEP Tutorials-Streaming Media Format

Free audio-video Revit MEP tutorials have been posted on this site. They are presented in a general overview format. Consider using them for your next company "lunch and learn", prepare for an instructor-led class or to provide users/management with an idea of Revit functionality.

The site includes a Revit MEP Tutorials RSS/XML feed if you want to plug this link into your RSS reader. Your reader can monitor the site and alert you when new tutorials become available.

Currently the site has posted archived Revit MEP demonstration webcasts and these short overview tutorials:

Electrical

• Electrical Lighting and Power Circuitry
• Electrical Lighting Calculations
• Electrical Power Load Balancing, Wire Sizing and Panel Schedules
• Electrical Wire Tags and Lighting Switch Topology

Fire Protection

• Fire Protection Sprinkler Placement

Heating and Cooling

• Heating and Cooling Load Analysis

Mechanical

• Mechanical Design Criteria
• Mechanical Duct Sizing and Inspection
• Mechanical System and Duct Layout

Plumbing

• Plumbing System Layout

Free Revit Structure Tutorials-Streaming Media Format

Free audio-video Revit Structure tutorials have been posted on this site. They are presented in a general overview format. Consider using them for your next company "lunch and learns" or to provide users/management with an idea of Revit functionality.

The site includes a Revit Structure Tutorials RSS/XML feed if you want to plug this link into your RSS reader. Your reader can monitor the site and alert you when new tutorials become available.

Currently the site has posted archived Revit Structure demonstration webcasts and these short overview tutorials:

Top Features

• Single Model for Both Structural Analysis and Documentation
• Bidirectional Associativity Between Model and Views
• Construction Documents Structural Details
• Import/Export in DWG/DXF/DGN/IFC and CIS/2 formats
• Bidirectional Links with Analysis Packages
• Multiple Materials
• Structural Parametric Components
• Multi-users Worksharing Interoperability with Revit Architecture

Revit Structure 2008: Analysis Partners Resource Websites

More than eleven hundred Application Specialists from North America finished their fourth and final day of Tech Camp on Thursday. My last day was spent training on the new features and process improvements of Revit Structure 2008.

Here are the company websites whose analysis programs link to Revit Structure.

ADAPT

http://www.adaptsoft.com/revitstructure/

RISA

http://www.risatech.com/partner/revit_structure.asp

ROBOBAT: Download and use these free extensions for Revit Structure

Robobat features a bonus site of free extensions for Revit Structure you can download and use immediately

http://www.revit.robobat.com/n/revit

http://www.extensions4revit.com/

MIDAS

http://eng.midasuser.com/revit/overview.htm

I'll continue to add other analysis suppliers as their products come online for Revit Structure 2008.

Engineering.com Provides 1GB Free Web File Sharing

A simple free registration on Engineering.com currently provides you with 1GB of free web-based file storage. Rather than emailing those large Revit project files, CAD drawings, image, specifications or spreadsheet files; simply post them to your Engineering.com project site.

Next step, provide your clients, staff, consultants, contractor or reprographics vendor with free permission-based access to your project site. Let the collaboration begin.

Engineering.com features engineering calculators, a university directory, national-international job postings, free downloads, library articles, job listings and a free engineering.com toolbar.

Green Homes Put Green in Everyone's Pocket

Designing homes? Building homes? Have you been competing on price or on the value of your home designs? Has it become a buyer's market in your locale? Has the cost of construction materials delayed or cancelled any projects.

Here's a great article that provides you and your client with the opportunity to put some green into the home design; but also put green into both of your pockets. For those builders that are interested in earning several thousand dollars of tax credits, check out item #2 on Jerry's list.

Ten Reasons Why the Green Home Market is Ready to Surge
By: Jerry Yudelson, Senior Editor - Monday, July 17, 2006 Source: iGreenBuild.com

Green or Sustainable Design usually means longterm payback as you invest money upfront. The website described below (DSIRE) is updated weekly and monthly. It provides upfront rebates and cash-back incentives for buying products that match the specifications database; furnaces, air conditioning, lighting, appliances, insulation and more. Financing for these rebates is provided through local, state & federal government agencies, utilities and/or product manufacturers.

The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE). It's a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy. DSIRE now includes incentives for energy efficiency. Choose one or both databases for searching.

As part of the learning process, visit the U.S. Greenbuilding Council (USGBC) site for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes (LEED-H). You can download a checklist sustainable features that will determine the LEED rating of your designs. It features contact information for more than 40 state agencies. The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has reprinted a four-page article title "Green Building for Homes" from Home Energy magazine.

We are in the beginning stages of LEED-H. You have time to begin incorporating the easiest sustainability features into your designs. Automating the LEED material and performance documentation for your home designs is important to qualify for funding. Next time, we'll look at a couple Autodesk Revit features to assist with automating the documentation and performance simulation of your home designs for LEED-H.

Conceptual Design: Bumwad and Bubble Diagrams

Here's a concept that I've used to bring the "willing" conceptual designer and/or principal into the project team that's using Revit. Typically they've used pencils and markers to draw on bumwad, flimsy, onion paper or sketchpads. I'm not discounting hand sketches. However; our studies clearly show there is a time in the latter half of the coneptual phase where this technique is more productive than using paper. The project team can access the designer's work digitally for presentations, analysis, and printing. Thereby retaining the designer's decisions-design intent as the project flows into schematic stage.

This concept uses Revit's Room Separation tool. It creates spaces using linework and not walls. It's a simple, intuitive yet intelligent 2D sketching tool. The Room Separation toolset includes lines, circles, elipses, rectangles, splines, arcs and more; all from one small menu. Grip editing provides the designer with simple pick'n pull moving, copying and resizing of linework.

The enclosed areas can be tagged to display "total area" of the space both on the tag and in the space schedules. The designer gets immediate feedback from editing spaces in the design process. As the project progresses, the production team can trace over the linework with walls. Revit linework file can also be linked into another Revit project.

Here's a DWF project file that features the bubble diagram, concept and analysis drawings. I also incorporated a space planning schedule and KEY SPACE schedule on the conceptual page.

FacilityBlog - from Today's Facility Manager: National Building Information Model Standards Committee Formed to create the National BIM Standard

Just additional confirmation that client defined deliverables created by BIM software like Revit Building, Revit Structure & soon Revit Systems will be required in the near future.

FacilityBlog - from Today's Facility Manager: National Building Information Model Standards Committee Formed to create the National BIM Standard

The National Institute of Building Standards (NIBS) through its Facility Information Council (FIC) has formed a committee to create the National Building Information Model Standard (NBIMS). The Standard is considered to be a critical element in reforming business practices in the capital facilities industry and recapturing at least $15B annually lost due to inefficiencies.

more...

Building & Facility Owners Lifecycle Management Needs Define Digital Deliverables

So why are building owners redefining the deliverables for architects and engineers?

Let's look at some statistics that affect building owners:

We found one study that showed a building with $200 per sq ft construction costs, will cost the owner $40 per sq ft to manage and maintain.

Another study shows annual management and maintenance costs range from 4-10% of the original construction costs...depending on the quality designed into the building.

A typical $100m building project generates 150,000 separate documents: technical drawings, legal contracts, purchase orders, RFIs and schedules.
New wiring: Construction and the Internet: Builders go online 01/15/2000; The Economist Copyright© 2000 The Economist; Source: World Reporter™- FT McCarthy

Lastly building owners are trying to minimize the waste that they inevitably pay for with the construction process we have in the U.S.

"...inefficiencies, mistakes and delays account for $200 billion of the $650 billion spent on construction in America every year."
New wiring: Construction and the Internet: Builders go online 01/15/2000; The Economist Copyright© 2000 The Economist; Source: World Reporter™- FT McCarthy


They need to manage the lifecycle costs of their buildings after construction. They need a three-dimensional, digital model that accurately stores the original design of the building. As they revise the building's use, they need to analyze, simulate, save and track those changes in a digital format.

Paper drawings and CAD entities (lines, arcs, circles, dimensions) are not going provide the solution they need.

If you click on the title to this blog you will be able to download a whitepaper that I wrote on Building Information Modeling (BIM). CSI-Chicago and Association of Licensed Architects (ALA) published it in their respective magazines over the last year.

Click here to get BIM Whitepaper

Autodesk Revit Building is a software package that designs, analyzes and simulates a building using BIM methodology. Autodesk Revit Building