Learn about the features of Revit, a tool that allows users to analyze buildings and estimate their energy consumption. This step-by-step guide explains how to create analytical floor plans and area-based load boundaries to determine the power needs of various building sections.
Key Insights
- This guide provides instructions on using Revit to analyze a building's energy needs, starting with the creation of analytical floor plans from the View tab.
- By using the Electrical Analysis feature in Revit, two views are created in the Project Browser, allowing the user to view different levels of the building and make modifications as needed.
- The guide further delves into creating area-based load boundaries using the Analyze tab, demonstrating how to draw and trim lines to create accurate boundaries for different areas such as the kitchen, cafeteria, gymnasium, and library.
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Now that we have our Revit model opened up, we can determine how much energy this building consumes. Revit has tools to analyze this building to estimate how much power it needs. Let's get started by creating some analytical floor plans.
To do that, we'll go to our View tab. We'll find the Plan Views dropdown and select Floor Plan. The default might be set to Architectural Plan.
We want Electrical Analysis. We notice that we have both Level 1 and Level 2. We will hold Shift on our keyboard and select both and click OK. This will create two new views in our Project Browser.
If we go to our Project Browser, Electrical, Floor Plans, Electrical Analysis, and expand that, we see L1 and L2. I have L1 opened up right now, and I'll notice that there are already boundary lines drawn for me for Level 2. Let's go to Level 1. No boundary lines here. It's ready for us to create our own, but we need to make a couple of modifications before we begin.
Number one, we have this orphaned area. We will select it and click Delete on our keyboard. We also have a match line we don't need.
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We'll hover over it, click the tab on our keyboard, select that match line, then right-click and Hide in View Category. We'll repeat that for our Level 2 as well. It also has this match line.
We'll hover over it, tab, click, right-click, and Hide in View Category. With that, we're ready to get started creating our own area-based load boundaries. To do that, we will go up to our Analyze tab.
We will look across to the Electrical Analysis area, and there is a dropdown for Area-Based Load Boundary. This has all of the typical sketching tools, and let's start up here in the Kitchen area. I'm going to select Rectangle and click the top right of this Kitchen area and come all the way down to the bottom left, and I'll click.
Now we have this Kitchen area, and we can get a little bit more detailed. I'm gonna go to the Regular Line tool and add a line on this outside wall. It's okay to extend past because we'll use the Trim tool to clean this up.
I want another line right here. Notice what Revit does. It gives us these orange dots to let us know if something is not connected.
To get everything connected, we will use the Trim tool, which is TR on our keyboard. Trim these lines until we have a continuous boundary. That looks pretty good.
We've got the Kitchen. So let's go ahead and create the cafeteria now, and we only need to draw one line to create the cafeteria. Let's go back to our Analyze tab, look at Area-Based Load Boundary, select the Regular Line, and I'll draw this outside wall line straight down, and I went a little bit past.
Now I can use the Trim command to trim together these lines. And like that, I also have the cafeteria. That was a lot of fun, so let's keep going.
We'll do the gymnasium now. I'll go back to my Analyze tab, Area-Based Load Boundaries, and I'll draw the outside gym wall here, up to the top, and the outside gym wall right here. And again, I can use this Trim Extend tool to clean everything up.
All right, that looks pretty good. Now let's create the library boundary. So again, I'll go back to Analyze, go to my Area-Based Load Boundary, and for this library, let's start by creating another rectangle.
I'll go to the bottom right, click, top left, click, and just like that, I'm all set. All right, so the rest is up to you. Follow along with the guide and create the classroom, hallway, and restroom boundaries.
Be sure to close up the end of each hallway so that we have a continuous boundary for every area of this building.
