Autodesk Partners With Integrated Environmental Solutions to Enable Building Performance Analysis on Revit Platform

Autodesk, Inc. announced that it is partnering with Integrated Environmental Solutions Ltd. (IES) to further enhance the Revit software platform for building information modeling (BIM) to support sustainable design. At the 2007 AHR Expo, Autodesk will demonstrate a prototype of how the IES building performance analysis tools might be used in combination with Autodesk Revit Systems to generate accurate building performance analysis data. Such data can improve the decision-making process and empower architects and engineers to design better-performing sustainable buildings.

"The design of more sustainable and energy efficient buildings is key to mitigating the impact of climate change and to decreasing building operation costs. A critical part of Autodesk's further development of building information modeling is to expand the ability for our customers to conduct multiple types of analyses on their building information model," said Jay Bhatt, vice president, Autodesk Building Solutions. "Building performance analysis will help architects and engineers design more sustainable buildings and we're excited to partner with Integrated Environmental Solutions to bring these capabilities to the Revit platform."

A growing number of architects, designers and engineers are turning to the Autodesk Revit platform for BIM to meet these challenges. Through the combination of the Revit platform with building performance analysis tools that can examine the implications of alternative design strategies, take into account physical, climatic and environmental factors, and analyze energy use, lighting and materials in the Revit building information model, designers can help achieve higher operational efficiency and building performance.

Autodesk and IES are working together to provide robust building performance analysis capabilities to the Revit platform through a workflow between Autodesk Revit Systems, Autodesk's BIM design and documentation software for mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) engineering, and the IES software suite. Through a demonstration at the AHR Expo, Autodesk and IES will display how these two software applications could be used in combination to conduct multiple building performance analyses including thermal analysis, load calculations, daylight assessment with LEED reporting and solar studies. These comprehensive analysis capabilities could help design teams better and more thoroughly understand the complex thermal, light and airflow inter-relationships within their design, allowing them to make more informed design decisions, minimize risk and optimize building performance.

Dr. Don McLean, CEO of IES Ltd. commented, "Through the support of building performance analysis tools such as those in the IES suite, we hope our partnership with Autodesk will help the industry meet the demands for sustainable design and increase the value of building information modeling."

A Comprehensive Portfolio of Software Solutions for the Building Industry

With the right combination of leading-edge technologies, decades of proven industry experience and unparalleled, worldwide services, Autodesk offers the most comprehensive portfolio of products for the building industry. Ranging from the most advanced technology for building information modeling (BIM) to the most widely adopted design and documentation solutions, Autodesk supports information and management needs throughout the building lifecycle. Building solutions products include Autodesk Revit Building, Autodesk Revit Structure, Autodesk Revit Systems, Autodesk Architectural Desktop, Autodesk Building Systems, Autodesk FMDesktop and Autodesk AutoCAD Revit Series.

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Exporting Autodesk Building Systems Designs to Revit Systems

The first step in linking an Autodesk Building Systems MEP design to a Revit Systems project is to use the Export to AutoCAD functionality included within Building Systems. This feature saves all design data as AutoCAD entities (such as lines, circles, arcs, and blocks), which can then be read and understood by Revit Systems.

Creating a Design with both 2D and 3D Views

Autodesk Building Systems, through its use of intelligent objects, automatically creates 2D and 3D representations of the MEP designs which can be viewed by other AutoCAD-based applications, as well as Revit Structure. Use the following steps to create an Autodesk Building Systems drawing with both a 2D and 3D display for use in Revit Systems:

1. With the MEP design open in Building Systems, create a new layout and then two viewports.
2. In one of the viewports, set the view to Plan. Use the built-in display configurations of Building Systems to set the view to either 1-Line or 2-Line.
3. Set the second viewport to an Isometric view.
4. With the layout page still current, use the Export to AutoCAD feature.

Use the Export to AutoCAD feature in Autodesk Building Systems to export an MEP design for use in Revit Systems. Note the Export to AutoCAD feature exports all linework/objects in the Building Systems drawing, regardless where the linework/objects reside. Therefore, before using the Export to AutoCAD feature, detach the external reference of any structural floor plan. This will enable only the Building Systems data to be exported.

The exported file contains two block representations in model space; one in 2D and the other in 3D. These blocks represent the Display Configuration Views that were currently active in each viewport of the layout prior to export. Furthermore, each block representation is on its own layer (named for the layout viewport) as well. When linking this file into Revit, users can control the appearance of the floor plan and 3D views by working with the visibility of these layers. The exported file contains the 2D and 3D representation of the MEP design in model space.