Places to Find Revit Content

Chris Mounts has created a list of places to get content. 

There has been a ongoing discussion thread on LinkedIn group Club Revit in which members have been sharing links to Revit content. Chris has summarized, sorted and combined the contents into a more usable list.

Revit Content Links

Pressure Drop Calculation

I got an call from a client last week asking about some of the calculations that Revit MEP does.

I am trying to get results for Duct Pressure drop in Revit MEP.



Can you please share your ideas, as how can I achieve this?

This post has some additional information but is based on the Revit MEP calculation white paper from Autodesk.  Revit MEP Duct Sizing calculations

Revit MEP computes pressure losses in ductwork based on the geometry and roughness of the ductwork, air

density, and air viscosity. Values for Air Density and Air Viscosity are specified in the Mechanical Settings.

Roughness is specified in the type properties for duct/duct fitting component families.
 
 

The following example shows how Revit MEP calculates the pressure drop for a 100 foot segment of 36"x24" duct carrying air flow of 12,000 CFM.  Pressure drop is defined as:

This values checks with the Hydraulic Diameter parameter shown in the Properties of the Duct in Revit:

The velocity is based on the cross sectional area:

After determining the friction factor, the pressure drop can be calculated:

The value for the calculated pressure drop matches the value found in the duct’s properties in Revit MEP.

Troubleshooting Revit MEP

A 20 minute video from Autodesk's Harlan Brumm and Jerry Lee Smith covering:

Overview of the Revit MEP Workflow

• Create new project using MEP template
• Save Arch model as central file on server
• Link in models using origin-to-origin
• setting links to be room bounding
• copy/monitor levels
• Setting up views and apply view templates to views
• create levels to account for plenum spaces

Troubleshooting Spaces and Zones

• space not visible in view
• rooms are "unoccupied"

Troubleshooting Revit MEP Performance

• Not following workflow
• not creating logical systems
• large connected duct networks
• complicated families
• poorly connected elements
• Limit color schemes
• place endcaps on open ducts
• ensure flow direction on connectors is correct

Revit MEP Comparison Matrix

Compare features from Revit MEP 2009, 2010 and 2011 and see what you're missing!

Revit MEP Comparison Matrix

Family Jewels Blog - Creating Quality BIM Content for Revit MEP

A new Autodesk Website dedicated to BIM Content.  Familiy Jewels - Creating Quality BIM Content

I've talked to a lot of users who have dabbled in Revit MEP, and have quit saying they will try again when Revit gets more family content.  I don't remember AutoCAD coming with blocks back in the day.  We ended up creating all of our AutoCAD blocks to match our company standard.  It was a 25 year process.  Every company seems to have their own standard which varies from the National CAD Standard, or even the National BIM Standard.  If people end up waiting for someone to create all the content needed for for Revit MEP, you'll be waiting forever and never use the program.  The idea of waiting for someone else to make my content didn’t seem to be a proactive approach.  It's going to be another 25 year process of creating BIM content.  A job that will never be complete.  So getting started as soon as possible seems to be the best approach before falling behind.

People who have been using Revit Architecture or Revit MEP for a long period of time have either modeled from scratch or heavily customized nearly every family that is used in their projects. This means every piece of mechanical equipment, valve, air terminal, electrical device, lighting fixture, plumbing fixture, annotative tag, schedule, parameter and view reference.  These users have done this not because they want to work with Revit, but because they want Revit to work for them.  So how do you get Revit MEP work for you? One way is to seach for content directly from the manufacturer like Greenheck Fan, or by using Autodesk's Seek website.  But the other way is by creating your own families. The families you create can be as simple as a box, yet still provide information about a mechanical system and help with coordination of your BIM model.

This blog will feature some tips and tricks of creating quality content, some free content, some links to manufacturer Revit content, and all sorts of information related directly to BIM content.