Modeling Large-Scale Refrigeration Projects and the Necessary Steps to Stay Organized and Accurate

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1 Nik Weller LEO A DALY MP3735 Using Autodesk Revit software to model a large-scale refrigeration project with thousands of valves to schedule all needing their own identification while also dealing with equipment selections that seem to change the day before submittal can be a daunting task for anyone to complete. In this class, you will learn techniques to make this process easier. You will learn how to build your model to adapt to the inevitable changes that occur during the design process. The class will cover how to use groups and what factors you need to consider before grouping to avoid dramatic modeling setbacks. We will also demonstrate why you should build your own mechanical equipment to create a more accurate model. Learning Objectives At the end of this class, you will be able to: Simplify the task of scheduling thousands of valves while keeping them organized without massive amounts of data entry. Improve the accuracy of your model by knowing how-to and the reasons why you should build your own refrigeration equipment. Apply 3rd party programs to help you manage all of your parameters throughout the alwayschanging life cycle of the project. Manage groups with large amounts of pipe accessories and the tips 'n tricks to keep them functioning effectively. About the Speaker Nik is a Mechanical Technician at LEO A DALY, working on Government, Commercial, and Industrial projects. He is an Autodesk Revit Certified Professional. He has been using Revit for two years. He has an AAS degree in Architectural Building Technology from Northwest Technical Institute and an AAS Degree in Carpentry and Cabinetry from St. Cloud Technical College.

2 Intro The information provided will help to simplify and organize your model's work flow. Beginning with the right techniques to control the pipe types within every refrigeration project. Some of these techniques may seem tedious and not as cutting edge as other methods but you'll learn why this pre-project set-up is important along with other key learning objectives that will help you build a smart, functional model. Content Pipe Fittings First, start with your modeling content - find five generic fittings that function well and are graphically acceptable. The five generic fitting types needed are; a pipe cap, pipe coupling, pipe elbow, pipe reducer, and a pipe tee. *Once you are happy with your fitting selections, be sure to rename them with some form of a designation that will set the fittings apart from mechanical and plumbing fittings. This should be done to avoid complications that can accrue when scheduling and using filters if multiple disciplines use the same fitting. Note: Develop a central file to stow any content that may be reused on another project. Such as; view templates, schedules, filters, pipe types, pipe fittings, and refrigeration tags. At LEO A DALY, we refer to this as the Cache File, which will be the terminology used throughout this handout. Pipe Types Develop a list of all the refrigeration pipe types that you typically use in a project. Create a fitting type for each pipe type on your list, using the pipe type abbreviation for the name. Also enter the same abbreviation in the Type Mark parameter field as shown in the image to the right; this will be used later for filters and schedules. *Do not enter the abbreviation in the mark instance parameter field. Note: If you are using Revit 2012, create them in alphabetical order because the order in which fittings are created is also how they appear in the Routing Preferences selection box for each fitting. If you are using Revit 2013, don t worry about the order because 2013 automatically places the types in alphabetical order as you create them. 2

3 Next, create pipe types for each type on your list and set the Routing Preferences to match the image shown below. *As you are creating new pipe types, you must change the Routing Preferences content to its corresponding fitting types. Example; Pipe Type R_EQ will have the elbow set to the EQ fitting type. Note: In Revit 2012 you have the option to select pipe material for different sizes if you so choose to. (See image below) 3

4 Filters With the large number of pipe types within a refrigeration system, filters are a must in any model. Filters will allow visibility control of all pipe types and apply a standardized color-coding system to use throughout the model. While in a plan view, create a filter for each pipe type on your list. Set up the first filter following the settings shown in the image below. This is where the Type Mark parameter comes into play that resides in all of your pipe types and fittings. Once you have the first filter set up to match the images below, duplicate that filter and only edit the filter name and the filter rules from here on out. (As shown in Green) Note: I once again suggest that each filter has some form of a designation that will set the filters apart from all other disciplines. Add all filters to the V/G Overrides and assign colors of your firm s choosing to each filter. Patterns should be applied at this time if desired. (See image right) Note: Keep in mind that patterns tend to make the drawing seem unclear. 4

5 Filter Template Once finished assigning colors, apply and close V/G window. Create a Filters View Template from the plan view. *The only checked box or included settings in this view template will be the V/G Overrides Filters. (See image right) Note: The Filter View Template is used for filters only so that it can be applied to other view templates and only the filters will be added, not extra content. Throughout your firm s first project, apply this template to every new view template and then resave them to your Cache File for future use. Pipe Accessories Having good quality pipe accessories will make or break your model and a user s spirit. These families are very complex and difficult to create. For this reason, I would strongly recommend outsourcing instead of creating an entire catalog in-house. This is something only a very advanced user should attempt, and only attempt, if said user has a significant quantity of time to devote strictly to generating pipe accessory families. Design requirements your outsourcing company should follow: Family creation; specs from your firm s preferred valve manufacture should be followed accurately. Adjustable; each valve size should have its own family type to select from. Valves must be: o Rotatable and Reversible on the pipe axis. o Rotatable and Elevation changeable within model space. o Have the ability to be changed without having to disconnect from the pipe. If these few guidelines are followed, you will without a doubt be satisfied with the product that is received. The image to the right will show what to expect graphically from an outsourcing company. As well as what signs to look for in order to verify that the family has been built correctly. 5

6 In-house Mechanical Equipment The reason equipment should be produced in-house is to provide the necessary control to deliver a fully compatible Revit family, which in-turn will greatly contribute to an accurate model. *To be effective when it comes to creating in-house equipment, a template for each type of equipment should be available. (I.E. vessels, evaporators, condensers and so on ) The following will outline a basic vessel template. The Vessel Package Template is the most complicated of the equipment types and also the most critical to the refrigeration model. The Vessel Package Template Your Vessel Package Template should be a basic family set up to create vessels very quickly. This template will develop over time to reflect how your firm shows equipment. *Use a non-hosted generic family template as a starting point. Note: The reason I suggest a non-hosted template is because if a hosted template is used and the host element is moved in the model, your vessel with move with it. In turn all of your piping content connected will move as well. This could cause many problems, such as fittings being deleted and piping joining where it should not. It is in best practice to not leave this up to chance. Template View Range When starting a Vessel Package Template, be sure to verify that the view range in plan view is set to a high elevation. (25 ft. or so) To do this, open the plan view of your template > Home Tab > open the viewer window by selecting the viewer tool > switch to the Floor Plan: Ref. Level in the properties palette and edit the view range as normal. (See image right) 6

7 Base Framing and Vessel The base framing should be modeled using a Sweep, with the Sweep Profile drawn to the inside of the Sweep Path to make for easy dimensioning. Set up family parameters so that the Sweep is easily adjustable. Within the base framing, place a generic framing support in each direction; these are here to simply be moved, copied or deleted. (See image below) Be sure that the Vessel Package Template has a four-leg and a three-leg option to select from. Do not be shy about adding Reference Planes for each leg; these will be used for a guide when adjusting to the size of the vessel. (See Image right) For the Vessel (tank portion), use a basic Revolve that can be rotated for horizontal a vessel. *Keep in mind that the vessel should always remain centered in the vessel family. All other components should be built around the vessel. Do not spend too much time setting up parameters for the vessel. For accuracy; it is best to size the vessel in the Revolve. 7

8 Pipe Connections The greatest time-saving feature of the template will be all of the pre-made connections that are readily available for quick modeling. These connections should be on all sides of your vessel and should also be lined up perfectlycenter on the Reference Planes. This will make for easy pipe-aligning once the vessel package family has been loaded into a project. Some good connection sizes to have are 3/4, 1, 1¼, 1½, 2, 2½, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Be sure to change the connection system type to Other. *By setting the connection to Other, it is less likely that users will inadvertently apply plumbing or mechanical pipe systems to the refrigeration lines. Reference Planes should be placed on the center of all connections from Plan View and from an Elevation View; this will allow users to align piping quickly to the connection. Refer to the overall template image below for an example of where you could place said connections. Vessel Package Modeling Tips: Once you have finished constructing the vessel, be sure to go around and shorten all of the Reference Planes to the edge of the vessel or connections to avoid complications that will occur when connecting pipes in tight situations. Also, Join Geometry of all the different parts of the vessel to one another. If the geometry is not joined, your vessel with look incorrect once loaded into the model. (See image right) 8

9 Template Features Your template will also have other features that will be added to it over time. For example; some that are shown in this template are a level column, name plate and angle iron. (See first image on previous page for reference) The level column should have connection points lined up facing each other that are also far enough apart to fit a service valve in between the level column and the vessel once loaded into the model. (See image right) The name plate is something that is not really necessary, but is a nice touch to be showcased in isometric views. The angle iron is used for bracing, hanging brackets, etc. Manufacturers Vessels Packages In most cases vessel manufacturers have the ability to provide a 3D model of a vessel package in a format that is capable of being imported into the vessel package template. If this is the case, ask to receive two forms of the file; the first will be the typical, vessel package, which includes everything that will be delivered on-site. The second form of the file should not have any piping or valves and only include the vessel and framing. By having these two types of files you can import the second form of the vessel into your Vessel Package Template and use the typical, vessel package as a guide. To clarify, all piping and valves will be drawn from within the model, with your own content that is schedule-ready based on your firm s shared parameter file. 3rd Party Family Parameter Managing Sometimes using manufacturers Revit families is a better option than creating your own. The most likely reason for this is that a manufacturers family has different types set-up to easily change the size of the equipment. However, the downloaded family will not have the shared parameters to populate your firms standard schedules. To apply a large quantity of shared parameters to a family through Revit s family editor is very tedious and time consuming. This is when having a Family Manager Add-In will greatly improve your productivity. There are a few different Add-Ins on the market to choose from. At LEO A DALY we use the Revit Family Processor (RFP) by Cad Technology Center therefor, it will be the processor referenced during this presentation. What makes RFP a great tool is the ease of distributing or substituting out parameters to populate schedules. For every schedule a firm uses on a project, there should be an RFP parameters settings file saved for that schedule. RFP can also apply changes to an entire folder at a time. This is a great time-saver when; for example; the equipment manufacturer changes in the middle of a project. 9

10 Groups: a little LOVE, a lot of HATE! When modeling a large-scale refrigeration project, you are going to have many identical valve assemblies throughout your project, for this reason groups are a necessity. Before you group anything there are some things to be learned regarding families. You can only edit a family if you are in group editor. However, that family cannot be edited if the family exists in more than one group type, unless one of the two group types are ungrouped. Type parameters can be edited if the selected family is only in one group and you are in the group editor. Instance parameters are always editable without ungrouping. Just remember this; while in the group editor, the instance value will be pushed to all other groups of that same type. However, if an instance value is edited within the schedule, this value will only stay with that specific family instance. When purging a project, you must be very careful that the pipe accessories are not part of the purge process because purging will delete any unused types within families. If a family is purged and loses a few types or sizes, it cannot be reloaded to replace lost content if the family exists in multiple groups. You will run into groups that cannot rotate (this is usually has to do with a pipe accessory), in this case use the mirror tool until you get the correct orientation. After reading the rules and limitations of grouping I m sure you wonder, Why in my right mind would I even want to group? In this case, as in most, preparation is key. Before starting any project I would recommend that every single instance of every single family in your library is placed into a test project and scheduled to verify that all type parameter values are filled in correctly. If any valves are altered, they should be fixed and re-saved. During each project a schedule should be made for each group type to ensure that all fields are filled out properly for that project. By following these steps you will greatly limit your chances of running into the group rules and limitations shown above. Conclusion Simply put; you can accomplish a clean, headache-free, functioning refrigeration model with a little prep work. Properly-named, organized pipe families that schedule and can be visibly controlled with filters & templates will work together with your well-built in-house/provided equipment families to more than adequately represent your building's systems. Thanks for attending! If you have any questions or have something you would like to share, I can be reached at nrweller@leoadaly.com 10