Revit MEP (English)

Revit is a design and documentation platform that supports the design, drawings, and schedules required for building information modeling (BIM), and allows for coordination among all team members.

By the end of this chapter, you'll be able to:   

• Know about Revit and BIM technology.

• Starting the software and recognize user interface.

• Control the saving reminder, assign default view discipline, apply color theme, customize the keyboard shortcuts, control the working of double-click mouse, and place the location of ready-made templates and library files.

• The safe and easy way to open the standalone file.

• Assign a starting view.

• Recognize project user interface.

Let’s start Revit software.

Starting with user interface, on the left, Project section within the recent projects list.

Use Open when you can’t find the desired project in the recent projects list.

New to create project using template from installed libraries or you can pick up one of these ready-made templates, which can be changed as you desire, I select the Imperial ready-made templates for different disciplines.

On Families section within the recent families.

Use Open when you can’t find the desired family in the list.

Use New to create a family from scratch, or use a block made in another software, and Autodesk Seek to download product for use in your Revit projects. 

To access commands easily, use Quick Access Toolbar, at the upper left of the screen.

At the right, there’s an Info Center, for logging on Autodesk server, exchanging Apps, and searching for specific subject in the community.

Revit within release year and the file name can be found at the upper middle.

Press Help drop-down list, to read more about subjects, use Help button.

To know about the latest updates in Revit, click What’s New?

Also, Autodesk provides some tutorials, articles, and Apps to get more knowledge and functions for the software.

Be aware that “Resources list is needed the internet connection”.

In Revit, you can control the saving reminder alert, assign default view discipline to display, select discipline tool to display in the ribbon, apply color theme, customize the keyboard shortcuts, control the working of double-click mouse, improve performance of Graphics, place the location of ready-made templates and library files, choose where the rendering will be done, and specify its files location, and control appearance of tools such as: SteeringWheels and ViewCube.

It’s too risky to click the Revit file to open, probably the project will be crashed.

The safe and easy way to open the standalone file is using Open command. There’re many ways to do that:

You can select the file from the list.

Using the Application menu, click Open list, select Project.

Open dialog box appears, navigate to the location where you’ve saved your file, select the file, and click Open.

Or you can use Open in Project section

When you open a recent file, the last saved view will be displayed.

You can specify which view will be opened.

To access commands easily, use Quick Access Toolbar.

Quick Access Toolbar is located on the left side of the title bar.

In the Quick Access Toolbar, you will find tools such as open, save, undo, redo, tag, text, and switching to a 3D view.

Creating design geometry is often done parametrically in Revit, which means that the related elements in the design are defined by linked parameters defining the interaction between the two.

By the end of this chapter, you'll know about:

• The three different types of elements in Revit project.                                                 

• Making relations between elements using Constraints. 

• The difference between type properties and instance properties.

• Ways to select the various kinds of elements in a project.

• The function of TAB key.

• Create, save and modify a selection.

• How to control size of the element graphically.

Revit uses 3 types of elements in project: model elements, datum elements, and view-specific elements.

There are 2 types of model elements: Hosts and Model components.

In Revit, any element in the model has a parametric linked defines its relationship with other element.

As this view, a relationship is created between the Grid and Curtain, which means if the grid moves, curtain moves instantly, if the grid aligns to another element, the curtain follows the grid.

When a selection includes elements of different categories, you can use a filter to remove unwanted categories from the selection.

For example, if the selection includes walls, windows, and furniture, you can use a filter to omit the furniture from the selection.

You can select all of the elements that are similar to the selected element in the current view, or throughout the project.

One of the most important keys on the Keyboard is the Tab key, which can be used to speed up our work on a project.

When you need to control more than an element at once, you may need to create a selection, then save this selection in case you want to do changes again.

Filters provide a way to override the graphic display and control the visibility of elements that share common properties in a view.

You can add or remove elements to a saved selection. All what you need to do is, selecting the saved selection, and click Edit button in Selection Panel.

If you need to navigate a model in the active view (2D or 3D), use navigation tools, which can be accessed by using the Navigation Bar.

The navigation bar will be found at the upper right in the drawing area, which is activated by default.

In Revit, you can create different views of the building model, such as plans, sections, elevations, and 3D views.

Revit provides many tools to control View (2D and 3D), for 3D view you can use Section Box.

Scope boxes are automatically visible in 3D views and in plan views whose associated Level intersects the scope box.

You can control the visibility of a scope box by resizing it, hiding it in a view, or setting its Views Visible property.

In Revit, you can use these techniques to modify and manipulate elements in the drawing area to achieve the desired design for the building model. Many of these tools are available on the Modify tab of the ribbon.

Copy tool is not to make a copy in the same view only, but paste the required items in any other view or several views according to the vision of the designer. Revit provides several methods to copy one or more selected elements.

The Delete tool removes selected elements from the drawing.

Through working on a project, you may get gaps or disconnected systems in a building model, which means poor design and calculations.

The Mirror tool reverses the position of a selected model element, using a line as the mirror axis.

In Plain AutoCAD, when you made any changes in section, you must update all other views manually, which costs you time and effort. In Revit, all what you need is, doing the changes, and it will be updated automatically.

By the end of this chapter, you'll know about:

• Creating a Revit project upon coordination type, the unit, and Discipline.

• Adding project information.

• Linking a Revit model to a host model.

• The new addition in Revit 2017, Project base point option.

• Copy and Monitor levels to track any changes in model.

• Creating floor and ceiling plan views

• Creating new views using 3 types of duplicating options.

• Arranging files in project browser.

Revit software provides you a ready-made templates to start your projects according to your preferred unit, discipline, and coordination type.

Create a project using no template

After creating the project, start adding project, client, and organization details.

There are multiple options of collaborating in Revit, one of them is linking one model to another, to create a complete building model for the project.

Link a model to another

There are multiple options of collaborating in Revit, one of them is linking model or many to a host one, to create a complete building model or site for the project. New changes in release 2017 is, improving workflow and productivity.

By the end of this lecture, you'll be able to:

• Position a Revit Model to another using Auto - Project Base Point to Project Base Point option.

• Display a project base point of the model using Visibility/Graphic Overrides dialog.

• Open the linked model in a different screen.

• Reload the linked model.

To track any changes in model, you do need to Copy Monitor grids and levels. To do that, in the project browser, expand tree view until you find Elevations (Building Elevation), double-click to open the South – Mech elevation view.

After copied and monitored the linked model levels, start creating the Initial Plan Views.

In Revit, you can work on different disciplines in a project, to coordinate all systems in the same model. If you have main views, it’s easy to duplicate them using three types depending on the design phase you’re going through.

By the end of this lecture, you'll be able to create new views using:

• Duplicate.

• Duplicate with Detailing.

• Duplicate as a Dependent.

Energy Optimization for Revit is a fast, reliable, and scalable tool for better building energy performance.

In this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

• Create a mass for a conceptual design, then create a mass floor at each level defined in the project.                                                 

• Create an energy model, based on the Revit architectural model.

• Place rooms in the building model.   

• Specify conceptual types for energy analysis.   

• Specify the project location.

• Export the model with analytical volumes to a gbXML file.   

• Place spaces in the areas of the building. 

• Use the zone tool to define spaces that can be controlled by environmental control systems, such as heating, cooling, and humidity control systems.   

• Select a service type from more than 20 options.

• Use the Building/Space Type Settings dialog to specify default building type settings, including operational hours.   

• Specify material thermal properties of building elements for energy analysis. 

• Generate the energy analysis.

• Send the energy model to the cloud for simulation and analysis.   

• Perform a Heating and Cooling Loads Analysis and recognize the heating and cooling loads report.

If you seek to use Revit software for calculating loads and performing energy analysis, you need to prepare your building model by doing the next steps:

• Activate the Room Bounding type property on the linked model itself to be able to place spaces in all areas to account for the entire volume of your building model.

• Collect similar spaces to zone.

• Assign Building and Space Type Parameters using tables which provide details about the assumptions used during energy analysis for each building type. These assumptions are based on ASHRAE standards.

• Specify the project location, to be able to locate the nearest weather station.

• Specify the building service which affects the results of an energy analysis performed using conceptual masses or building elements.

Masses and Mass Families

In Revit, You can create masses within or outside a project.

The masses within a project are called an In-place masses, which are used for mass forms that are unique to a project.

After creating a mass family in the Family Editor, you can load the family, and place it in the project.

Create a mass that is specific to the context of the current project. This mass cannot be reused in other projects. In this tutorial, I am going to create an in-place mass for this building, which collected from several drawings made up using Plain AutoCAD.

A construction is defined as a type of exterior wall, roof, partition, ceiling, or non-glazed door.

Energy settings control the behavior of the energy model creation. In the Energy Settings dialog, you can define location, mode for creating the energy model, ground plane, project phase, and other options.

An accurate heating and cooling loads analysis can only be accomplished if spaces are placed.

If some spaces in a view do not have tags, you can add tags to identify spaces in a project.

After spaces have been added to your model, you may need to rename them, or you can use rooms name and number.

The Autodesk Revit Space Naming assigns the names and numbers from architectural rooms to Revit spaces used for building performance analysis.

It is recommended that you create HVAC zones by using the zone tool to define spaces that can be controlled by environmental control systems, such as heating, cooling, and humidity control systems. This lets you perform load balancing and analysis procedures on a building model.

Once zones are created, you can modify and specify its properties.

In Revit, a zone is considered an HVAC system, which is served by an equipment as VAV box, rooftop, etc.

Each zone contains its own properties, like (Service type, Cooling and Heating coil properties, Ventilation, and Coil bypass).

When preparing for an energy analysis, it’s recommended to specify the building type, which includes assumptions about the typical schedule of the building based on usage, as (Hospital, Factory, Store, or School).

Internal and external thermal loads translate to heating and cooling loads. This is how much heat energy you need to heat and cool the building, and control moisture within the building. Loads are usually calculated as the amount of energy that needs to be moved into or out of the building to keep the temperature at a specified point (setpoint).

Any designer is working on a MEP project, can use a major steps to model the systems, start inserting components or families into a project and place them to specific positions in a building model, then create a systems include a components that are serving the same area or zone, after that, it will be easy routing for ductwork and piping.                                                 

In this chapter, you will know about:

- Using the Mechanical Settings dialog to configure component sizes, and the behavior of the mechanical systems.   

- Install the BIMobject® App for Revit toolbar, to download all families you need in a project.   

- Place mechanical equipment and air terminals for a duct system in a project.   

- The different kinds of air systems and how can we create them. 

- Specify configuration of the duct.   

- The different between duct placeholder and duct tools, and how to use both.   

- Create view templates and how can we apply them.   

- Create callout views.   

- Recognize the duct placement tools.   

- How can we draw ductwork manual and using the generate layout.   

- Specify rise or/ drop symbols used for a duct system.   

- Place duct accessories.   

- The different kinds of hydronic systems and how can we create them.

- Routing the piping using the Pipe commands in Plumbing & Piping panel, or by using connector on mechanical equipment.

After making heating and cooling calculations, start connecting air terminals and air handling equipment to provide the heating and cooling required for the project.

Revit provides tools to achieve the different processes along the design phases, from the configuration a component sizes, and the behavior of the mechanical systems, to the inspection of a mechanical systems to examine specific sections of a system.

You can use the Mechanical Settings dialog to configure component sizes, and the behavior of the mechanical systems.

Mechanical equipment, such as a VAV box, and boilers, etc. are classified in Revit as Families. If you skipped the Families chapter, you may need to return to know more about Families in Revit.

One of the fundamental tasks in mechanical design is distributing air.  Supply air is used to deliver tempered air to heat or cool a space.  Return air facilitates circulation of air through a space and back to the air distribution equipment.  Exhaust air removes fouled air from a space. 

Duct systems are logical entities that facilitate calculations for flow and sizing of ductwork.

Before connecting air terminals and equipment with ductwork, you may want to specify configuration of the duct.

After specifying the routing preferences, start draw the duct layout.

Revit provides tools to draw the duct, if you're in an early design process, and need to show a duct run and layout that has not been fully sized, use (Duct PlaceHolder) tool.

The callout view shows an enlarged version of part of the parent view, and provides more information or details about that part of the building model.

When the Duct tool is activated, the Modify | Place Duct tab provides many options.

Automatically Connect: lets you automatically connect to the snaps on a component when starting or ending a duct segment. This option is useful for connecting segments at different elevations.

Inherit Elevation: inherits the elevation of the element being snapped to.

Inherit Size: inherits the size of the element being snapped to.

After creating the air duct systems, we’re ready to connect the FCU and air terminals with duct.

Whenever a system is selected in a plan or 3D view, you can use the Generate Layout tools to specify slope and routing parameters for ductwork and piping, to view different layout solutions, and to manually modify layout solutions for the system.

In Revit, you can specify rise or/ drop symbols used for a duct system, which are defined in the Type Properties.

To add duct accessories, such as dampers, in duct systems.

As air systems, you can create piping systems by placing mechanical components in a model and assigning them to a supply or return system. Then, using layout tools for routing the piping that connects the system components.

After creating the piping systems, we’re ready for routing the piping.

You can draw horizontal, vertical, and sloped pipes using the Pipe commands in Plumbing & Piping panel, or by using the Pipe options from the context menu when right-clicking the connector on pipe ends, pipe fittings, mechanical equipment, and pipe accessories.

Any surface which is lower than its surroundings will gain heat. That’s why we need to add a pipe insulation in some places for decreasing the energy transfer occurs between a cold pipe and its surrounding.

Let’s know how this tool works in Revit.

Open the displayed file, or you can continue from the previous exercise.

Click the arrow to switch window to the 3D view.

Zoom to fit to display the drawing, zoom in the head pipe, select that section, as mentioned in properties palette, the diameter 1”, you can see the material, and the system type, if you scroll down, you can see that, no insulation has added yet.

Now, navigate to NW.

Hover over the pipe segment and use Tab key to select only these three segments including fittings.

Once you’ve selected a pipe segments, a Pipe Insulation panel is activated, click (Add Insulation).

Let’s recognize this dialog, you can select the desired type using the list, or you can edit that type, notice that the pipe insulation is a system family.

A (Type) and (Insulation Type) lists are the same.

But you can assign a material for your insulation by clicking the (Material) button, and select your material from the list, as shown, Revit supplies a different material for insulation external and Lining, for ductwork and pipework.

After selecting your desired material, click OK to close the dialog.

Specify the insulation thickness, then click OK.

A pipe insulation is added, if I select a segment and scroll down, I see an insulation data is added too, thickness = 1”, so the overall size = 1+1+1=3”

Notice how I couldn’t select the insulation as I do for any items in a project, so let’s try another method, while you select a pipe segment, click (Edit Insulation). Now you can see all info about that insulation in the properties palette. Which can be replaced by selecting another one from the type selector. Also, you can change its system type.

In the insulation thickness textbox, type ½”, then click Apply.

The thickness changes.

Undo the last step and keep the insulation thickness = 1”

So I added a pipe insulation, but it looks like the pipe itself, I want to give it a different appearance, Revit gives us that ability, by creating a filter, depending on a multiple parameters I choose, let’s see how.

Type VG to display the Visibility/Graphics Override window, go to the Filters tab, and click Add.

Click Edit/New button.

Here we go, at the left pane side, there’s a filter list for a different system.

You have a choice to create a filter from a scratch or use an old one and give it some modification.

I use the second method, select “Hydronic”, click (Duplicate) button to make a copy, select the new one to rename it by right-clicking then select rename, or you can click the button below, type a suitable name then click OK.

Be sure to choose “Piping” from the list to auto-select all categories related to pipework.

Click to display only categories related to pipework.

This filter is specified to a pipe insulation, so, I need only to keep this one.

About Filter Rules, you need to assign some rules to display the filter correctly.

In the (Filter By) list, select [Insulation Thickness].

I keep the condition [Equals].

And I type 1” as a thickness value.

Click Apply then OK.

Select the filter, then click OK to add.

Let’s do something for its appearance.

Click [Overrides] under Line.

Weight list for the line drawing thickness, select the desired weight.

Let the Pattern be Solid.

and the color be White.

Click OK twice.

Click Apply to see how it looks.

Click Overrides under Pattern.

In a pattern list, select (Solid fill).

And let the color be White.

Click OK.

Apply the changes.

Then OK to close the dialog.

The filter is applied.

Go to the properties palette, from Discipline list, select Coordination.

Now, you can see the difference between a pipe segment with and without insulation.

If you need to remove a pipe insulation of a certain segment, all you need to do is selecting that segment, and click [Remove Insulation], then Yes to accept removing.

You can use the Mechanical Settings dialog to define default parameters that are applied separately to the systems and piping in a project as (Conversion, Segments and Sizes, Fluids, Slopes, and Calculation).

As a designer, there are too disciplines to work on, Revit provides an option to view or create a specific view for each discipline called View Templates, which can be used, or you can create your own based on these.

When you start working on a new discipline, you may need to prepare the views to represent only that discipline. In the previous lecture, we knew how can we create, assign, and apply a specific template. Now we’re gonna prepare the view to display only piping and plumbing fixtures and hide everything’s related to the air systems.

As shown in the 3D view, the architect creates the building model, and placing plumbing fixtures in the desired locations. So I do need to add details to the model, including connectors, piping, etc., to obtain accurate information from the architectural model and keep it up to date.

Revit allows you to create size catalogs according to an applications you working on.

In a previous video, I talked about, how we can copy and monitor plumbing fixtures that are placed by an architect.

In this video, I am gonna prepare the plan views to place plumbing fixtures by adding Room tags which can be displayed values for related parameters, such as room number, room name, computed area, and volume.

In this video, I am gonna apply color schemes to floor plan views on an areas will contain the plumbing fixtures.

Plumbing fixtures are usually delivered and installed on site. In Revit, you can select the desired component from many pre-defined families, or create additional one.

Plumbing fixtures are often hosted components, placed on a vertical face, face, or work plane.

An element that is not level-based as plumbing fixture, can be associated with a work plane. A work plane is a virtual 2-dimensional surface, which is used for placing hosted elements.

After adding the plumbing fixtures, you can enter the flow pressure and minimum sizes of fixture water supply pipes, to estimate the flow rate.

After adding all plumbing fixture, you may want to check their elevations as the Code mentioned.

Revit gives us tools to model plumbing works as desired, if you want to change an appearance or parameter for a certain pipeline, you can do it easily. You can create, duplicate, or modify a piping system as well.

After specifying the routing preferences, start to draw piping in a project to connect mechanical equipment and fixtures, using the Pipe tools.

If you're in an early design process, and need to show a pipe run and layout that has not been fully sized, you can use (Pipe PlaceHolder) tool.

Revit gives us a group of valves and accessories to select from, by using the (Pipe Accessory) tool.

During the design process, you may need to change the layout, the material, or even the elements type.

While working on a design, you may need some speed up to model your design, Revit provides tools to do so.

In this example, I want to duplicate these pipe segments to be paralleled, to do so, I am gonna use the (Parallel Pipes) tool.

Select the tool from the (Plumbing & Piping) panel, in the (Parallel Pipes) panel, we have 4 text boxes.

If you want to draw pipe sections horizontally, enter the number of pipes in the (Horizontal Number), then the distance between every 2 pipes in the (Horizontal Offset).

Do the same if you want pipe sections to be vertically.

In the drawing area, you need to specify the segments you want to duplicate, and the direction of placing those segments.

As seen, you can choose to draw pipes left, right, upward or downward, by changing the cursor location, you can follow the temporary lines to check the required location.

For the whole line, press TAB to select all.

To model segments at the right, hover the cursor over the right side of pipe, if you want to draw segments at the opposite direction, hover the cursor over the left side of the pipe, after specifying the location, click to place the pipe segments, then exit the command using Modify button.

To see the 3D modeling, go to the 3D view, click (Thin Line) to be activated, and select the (Shaded) in the Visual Styles menu.

To rotate the view, press the Shift key and hold on the middle button of mouse.

After adding a plumbing fixtures and assigning them to a sanitary systems, you can start routing a pipe work.

Open the file “Sanitary Pipe work – start”, which can be downloaded from the resources.

The linked building will take a while to be upgraded, you can follow the progress for regenerating the project in the status bar.

Once the files opens, go to the (South Elevation), as seen, I need to route a sanitary pipe work for the first and second floor.

Activate the Project Browser to open “1-Plumbing” view.

In the drawing area, type (ZR), to focus on the fixtures zones.

Come back to the Properties Palette.

Activate the pipe command, from the Systems tab, in the Plumbing & Piping, click Pipe.

I draw a pipe with diameter 3” and height below that level by 1’ 3”, activate (Slope Down), and set the value to be [1/8” / 12”]

In the Type Selector, specify the pipe type to be (PVC – DWV)

Go to the drawing area and pick up the first point of the pipe segment, keep moving to the right, horizontally, notice how the offset changes instantly, pick up the second point at that location.

While the command still active, change the diameter to be 4” and draw a new pipe segment, click Modify to end the command.

I want to draw a vertical pipe similar to the last one, so, first I select the segment, then right-click and click (Create Similar).

Start drawing a new pipe segment at the displayed place.

Connect the two segments using an extend command in the Modify panel, select the vertical segment, then the horizontal one, click ESC.

Zoom in to see how they’re connected, this Tee uses for the sanitary system, which can be edited or changed as desired by loading the new part to the catalog.

Select that segment and press left arrow in the keyboard to move the parts to the left or you can use the Move command in the Modify panel.

The next move is to connect the fixtures to the branch, starting with the left toilet, click to select, from the Layout panel, click Connect Into, you can see all available connectors in the dialog, select Connector #2, and press OK, then select the branch, repeat last steps to connect other toilets and the Floor Drain.

In the south zone, I need to do the same, first I want to check the required pipe diameter, select one of these sinks, the connector diameter is 1 ½” so let the branch diameter to be 2”

Activate the pipe command and start to draw a horizontal pipe, and connect to the vertical one with an angle equal to 30deg.

Connect the sinks to the pipe using the same steps, notice here, there’s a three connectors, hot/cold domestic and one for sanitary.

Use connector #3, then click the branch to be connected.

Navigate to the 3D view, activate the fine and Realistic, and rotate the view using that segment, then connect the remains sinks with same steps.

Block all open ending pipes, like that one, select it, hover the cursor over that point and drag a little bit to the right, then release the button, from the Edit panel, click the Cap Open Ends to block the pipe.

As I said before, I can change the Tee type, so, select the Tee, click Edit Type, then Load, go to the location you’ve saved the family in, select it and click Open.

The new tee will be loaded, click OK to close the window.

The tee changes.

You can change all the old tees at once using Select All Instances command, then select the new tee from the type selector list.

In Revit, each element has been inserted in a project has data and information, which can be displayed using (Annotate) tools. In this video, we’re going to focus on a Keynote tool.

You consider keynoting to assist a stakeholders in understanding the scope of work or to coordinate with specification.

You can continue from the previous exercise, in this example, I will keynote the balancing valve, the tool will be found at (Annotate) tab, in (Tag) panel, click the list, you have a 3 options, Element, Material and User.

Keynote required to be linked to an object or element, so, if you need to keynote something else, you may consider to create a specific family for that.

Click Element Keynote, you need to load a keynote tag if you do that procedure for the first time, click Yes to accept.

Go to the location you’ve saved in the library according to the unit you’re using, in a folder with name (Annotations), you can find a keynote tag, select to open and load into the project.

In the Options Bar, set the placement location (Horizontal/Vertical), if you want adding a leader or not, specify if the keynote has a free / or attached end.

In the drawing area, hover over the element, click to confirm selecting the balancing valve, click again to specify the leader location, then click for the last time to place the keynote.

For the keynote, we have a 3 types for keynote number, and one for keynote text.

To change a keynote, you need to select the element that keynote is linked to, click the Edit type to open type Properties, in a keynote textbox, type the required value, then click apply to display the new keynote.

Click OK to close the dialog.