Revit® MEP - HVAC and Electrical Plans Made Easy

Speaker Name – David Butts

ME500-1

Learn best practices and techniques for creating HVAC plans in Revit MEP. We’ll discuss how to set up the
project and import architectural backgrounds and then analyze the architectural rooms. Learning to add
equipment and ductwork to the plan will be covered, as well as creating schedules and adding annotations to
the plan. We’ll also discuss how to create additional files that can be used to share data with consultants such
as air terminals, lights, and more. And finally, this session’s hands-on lab will include an all-new dataset.
Come see what Revit MEP can do for you!

Topics Include:

- Set up a project with predefined standards

- Import and work with architectural backgrounds
- Adding HVAC and electrical equipment
- Creating Systems and Adding Connecting Geometry
- Add schedules and tags to views
- Work with consultants through shared files

About the Speaker:

David is a Senior Technical Engineer for Advanced Solutions, Inc. and is from Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina.
David's expertise is based on over 20 years of architectural and MEP engineering design and CAD
management experience. He has an Associate of Applied Science degree in Architecture from Wake
Technical College. His Autodesk product specialties are in AutoCAD MEP, AutoCAD MEP, Revit Architecture
and Revit MEP. David is an AutoCAD MEP Certified Expert, an MEP Implementation Certified Expert, and
teaches at CAD Camp and Autodesk University. He has been a part of the Autodesk reseller channel as a
consultant and instructor since 1997.
Revit® MEP - HVAC and Electrical Plans Made Easy

Revit MEP is the engineering tool that gives the engineer the ability to work closely with their architectural
clients, creating intelligent 3D models that help them create a more comprehensive design solution.
Working in Revit, however, is a different beast than the traditional AutoCAD environment. Many engineers
have told me that they’re very comfortable with AutoCAD and don’t see a need to change. But the
architects have begun to throw in their trump card – many are doing so by sending the “if you want to
work with us, you need to be on the same platform” letter.

So what does this mean to the engineer? For many, this represents a dramatic move outside of their
comfort zone – and possible increases in production costs, changes in the deliverables they’re
accustomed to, and an investment in training and tools that they typically haven’t been spending too
much money on. But, the reality is that things change – the very tools you use today are dramatically
different than what you used even as recently as 20 years ago – not even a whole generation.

The real challenge lies in making sure the engineering firm understands what the underlying workflow
process is, and how it’s not very different than what they’re doing right now. It’s also helpful to understand
what Revit does that makes it similar to AutoCAD, and how to build from that understanding that has
been in place for many years. This class and document is designed with the intent to help make that
transition as smooth as possible, with as little workflow interruption and discomfort for the firm as
possible. So let’s get started…

The Rules for Revit MEP

With most CAD packages it’s a good idea to use some form of guidelines to help everyday users obtain
predictable and consistent results. The same falls true for Revit MEP users – over the years there have
been many ways to create plans in both AutoCAD and Revit. By following the guidelines below, you can
be off to a good start.

1. Always start from a template when working with Revit MEP. The template includes predefined
families, views, parameters and more that control how a project is going to be assembled, as well as
the look and feel of the drawings that are produced.
2. Slow Down! Watch for tooltips, study the interface and get familiar with locations of the design bar,
the project browser, the options bar, view control bar, status bar, toolbars, menus, system browser
and typed commands.

3. To edit elements, pick with the mouse (left button),

then right click. You can also simply right click on the
design bar to change what bars are visible, as well
as right click on views and edit their name, delete a
view, change or create view templates and more.

The example on the left shows a right click menu that

appears when an air terminal is selected – this allows us
to create similar air terminals, override graphics, change
visibility, find referring views and more.
4. Draw accurately! Use object snaps and type distances in. Use the reference lines that appear when
you pause your mouse to align and locate objects.
5. Define worksets at the start of a project. If a project is going to be large enough that the work needs
to be broken up into pieces, create the worksets at the beginning.
6. Store common items on a network drive – families and templates should be placed in a common
location so that others can share any changes automatically. Other items such as duct and pipe
sizes, construction types, wire sizes and more that are .XML files can also be pointed to a server, and
re-pathed to those locations using the Setting menu.

Translation of AutoCAD Terms into Revit Terms

There are very similar behaviors and methods used by both AutoCAD and Revit, and it’s important to
know what these items are. Here’s our handy-dandy decoder list for you, to help make the transition a
little easier:

AutoCAD Command Revit Command What it does What’s different?

LA (Layer) VG (Visibility Controls the visibility, Revit doesn’t use
Graphics) color, linetype and layers – all object
penweight of an styles control their
object own color, weight, etc.
and control it by view
MS (Model Space) View Where you draw the In Revit all
physical objects, add annotations are
annotations controlled by the scale
of the view, and adjust
automatically – Views
also restrict what’s
visible vertically in a
view
Tool Palettes Design Bar Interface tool to help Tool Palettes can be
create and draw all customized, the
components of a Design Bar can’t, but
project you can control what
bars are visible
XR (External Link/Import Links a file in as a Use the copy/monitor
Reference) background, allows function to track
the elements to be changes, as well as
added and removed make copies of items
by others such as levels and
rooms so they can be
edited by the
engineer. Room
name/number is still
controlled by the
architect,
energy/engineering
data is controlled by
the engineer in the
copy.
Right Click Menu – Right Click Menu – Creates a copy with Not Much – but check
Add Selected Create Similar the same settings the offset elevation on
element’s properties
Block/MvBlock/MvPart Family Both are groupings of Families have a
linework/3D primary definition, but
components that can also include
represent physical nested types where
objects the user can
parametrically control
the size and shape of
an element – don’t
have to have a
catalog to organize as
MvParts need.
Families are stored in
the template in most
cases, rather than in a
separate folder
Properties Palette Options Bar Both set the instance The options bar can
values of elements also allow a user to
create systems,
circuits and changes
as the command
structure changes.
The Element
Properties dialogue,
which can be
accessed from the
options bar, contains
the specific type and
instance parameters
of an element
Project Navigator Project Browser Organizes the parts Project Navigator
that make up a project includes separate
drawing files and their
related XML files that
link them together;
Project Browser uses
a single file to
organize different
views of a building
model, and includes
schedules and reports
about that model in
one location

There are more items that are similar between the two programs, but these are the primary items you can
deal with on a daily basis. By understanding what’s similar in both programs will make transitioning
between each much easier.

Setting Up a Project with Predefined Standards

Let’s go back to the template for a minute. In most cases, you start from a general office template (I use
the Systems-default.rte as my start point) and then create additional templates based on the type of
building, consultant or architect that I’m working with (so that my standards for annotation, title blocks,
etc. match) Key items to setup in the template include:
- View templates – controls the visibility, lineweights, colors, etc. of elements in a view – different
views can be defined for floor plans, ceiling plans, sections, elevations, details and more – below
is an image showing the default view templates that ship with the systems-default.rte file:

Predefined Views can also be created in the Project Browser – here’s an example of the ones that I
included with my template.

Each view represents what you would normally

consider as plans, elevations, details, sections and 3D
views. As a view is created, you can apply a view
template to the new view that specifies what discipline
it is and what the orientation of the view is set to.

While my template contains a few predefined views

(which could be all that’s needed if the building is just
a single story), once the project is started, additional
views will need to be created to reflect multiple
divisions and levels of a building.

Linked backgrounds will automatically show up in new

views, and applying a view template will set the
background display, penweights, visibility and colors.
Additional Items that should be included in the template include:

- Parameters – scheduling components for elements – three types include instances, type and
shared parameters (which are stored in a separate text file)
- Schedules – reports of data collected from the elements
- Legends – graphic tables that show equipment symbols and associated data
- Sheets – predefine any sheets that are used from project to project
- Detail Views – 2D details that are commonly used on a project
- Families – element definitions for nearly every component that is created in a project, including
physical and annotation objects – below are some examples of what could be included in the
template as it relates to HVAC:

HVAC Elements
Family Type
Air Terminals Exhaust Air Grill 24 x 24 Face 12 x 12 Connection
Exhaust Diffuser - Hosted Workplane-based Exhaust Diffuser
Return Air Diffuser 24 x 24 Face 12 x 12 Connection
Return Diffuser – Hosted Workplane-based Return Diffuser
Supply Diffuser 24 x 24 Face 12 x 12 Connection
Supply Diffuser – Hosted Workplane-based Supply Diffuser
Supply Diffuser – Sidewall Standard
Supply Diffuser - Rectangular
12x12 - 6 Neck
Face Round Neck
12x12 - 8 Neck
24x24 – 6 Neck
24x24 – 8 Neck
24x24 – 10 Neck
24x24 – 12 Neck
24x24 – 14 Neck
24x24 – 16 Neck

Equipment Air Handler Standard

Chiller – Air Cooled Standard
Exhaust Ventilator – Downblast Standard
Hydronic Fin-Tube Radiator 0-3/4” NPT
1” NPT
1-1/4” NPT
In-Line Circulator Standard
Parallel Fan Powered VAV Size 2 – 6 Inch Inlet
Size 2 – 8 Inch Inlet
Size 2 – 10 Inch Inlet
Size 2 – 12 Inch Inlet
Size 3 – 6 Inch Inlet
Size 3 – 8 Inch Inlet
Size 3 – 10 Inch Inlet
Size 3 – 12 Inch Inlet
Size 4 – 8 Inch Inlet
Size 4 – 10 Inch Inlet
Size 4 – 12 Inch Inlet
Size 4 – 14 Inch Inlet
Size 5 – 10 Inch Inlet
 Size 5 – 12 Inch Inlet
Size 5 – 14 Inch Inlet
Size 5 – 16 Inch Inlet
Size 6 – 12 Inch Inlet
Size 6 – 14 Inch Inlet
Size 6 – 16 Inch Inlet
100 GPM Capacities_130 Feet
Pump – Base Mounted
Heads
600 GPM Capacities_120 Feet
Heads
1000 GPM Capacities_115 Feet
Heads
Split System AHU 3 Ton
5 Ton
7 Ton
10 Ton

By taking the time to set the template up with relevant content and views, the user will spend much less
time in the design and documentation process.

Import and Work with Architectural Backgrounds

The Import/Link functionality is a base part of Revit, and works exactly the same, whether the user is in
Revit Architecture, Revit Structure or Revit MEP. Linking behavior is nearly identical to Xref behavior in
AutoCAD – both use attach and overlay as linking methods. Revit also includes a workset feature that
allows users to place items in “buckets”, allowing them to be worked on independently of the central
model file. In our exercise you’re going to create everything in one project for simplicity.

Note: To access the project files included in this exercise, please download the .RVT files
included in the ME210-1L class data set. Download both .RVT files to complete the exercise.

Linking the Background

To start this project, you’re going to create a new project from our template you created earlier.

1. Start from the file menu, select New, choose Project, and then choose the template you want to
start from. After the file opens, double click on the view you wish to be the default view – for now,
double click on 1-Mech as the default view. Once this is complete, go back to the file menu,
choose Save As, then save the project to the location on your server (or wherever you’re storing
your project files). NOTE: Don’t work off of USB or other forms of external drives when using
Revit.
2. From the file menu, choose Import/Link, and then choose Revit as the file format.
3. Once the dialogue is open, choose the file you wish to link to (in this case the ME210-
1L_Butts_Small-School.rvt file). You have a few options for placement – stick with the default
center-to-center positioning.
4. Once the file is open, examine the background – notice the architectural features that have been
lightened, and which features remain at a heavier pen setting. This is controlled by the current
view, and you can change the visibility of items by typing in VG for visibility graphics.

5. To control the visibility of the elements that belong to other disciplines, check the box at the
bottom of the model categories tab. The other elements will become visible, and you can turn
on/off items that you want to have shown in this particular view. Scroll down to the furniture item,
and uncheck that box, so the furniture is no longer visible in that view.
6. To make sure that the view is set up correctly, you can right click on the view and apply a view
template. The view template controls items such element visibility, lineweight, discipline, color
and detail level. Right click on the 1 – Mech view in the Project Browser, then select Apply View
Template.
7. Choose Mechanical Plan, and then choose OK to close the dialogue.
8. Notice our furniture popped back on – so you can override this view template (as well as create
new ones) by going back to the visibility graphics. Type in VG from the view, and turn off the
furniture, plants, entourage, and anything else that you don’t want to see in an HVAC plan.
9. Right click on the view in the Project Browser, and choose Create View Template from View.
Name the view template Mechanical HVAC Plan, and then choose OK.

10. The view template dialogue will appear – items such as the scale of the view, detail level and
view specific overrides can be edited. View rename can also be adjust to control what shows up
vertically in the plan – from the finish floor to the next floor, to a specified elevation above a level,
or unlimited (which I might use if this was a single story building). To specify the view range,
choose the Edit button.
The default is the level above the current level. You can also set the range above and below the
levels, as well as set the cut plane, by adjusting the corresponding offsets. Choose cancel to exit the
dialogue without saving the changes. Choose OK to exit the view template dialogue.

Up to this point, the workflow and processes you’ve followed is very similar to what an engineer using
AutoCAD would be experiencing. One of the main differences is that you’re replacing the AutoCAD
methodology of manipulating layers with control the visibility of elements – since layers aren’t used,
it’s much easier to set our template and project up to predetermine how items appear in different
types of view.

With every engineering design, the first step is usually to size and place equipment, Different
methods are used to determine loads for ventilation, lighting and power. In this segment you’re going
to assume that the sizing portions are complete, and you’re ready to place equipment in our drawings

Note: For a detailed document on preparing a building for energy analysis, download the
ME210-1L_Butts.pdf class document from the AU website.

This part of the project is called the 4-STEP program. The 4-STEP program is simple, and outlines
the workflow for an engineering product:

- Add Equipment and Devices to the Model

- Create Systems to Associate Different Equipment and Devices
- Create the Connecting Geometry
- Annotate!

Let’s start with the first segment of adding equipment.

Adding HVAC and Electrical Equipment

Revit includes symbology that represents real-world elements that are used in design. Most of this
content is actual 3D model representations of a piece of equipment, while other smaller devices such
as light switches, junction boxes, receptacles, etc. are represented by an industry-specific schematic
symbol. In the BIM design world the equipment is placed in the plan, and then added as systems of
equipment. The next exercise covers how to place HVAC and electrical equipment in to the correct
views, and control their visibility for the sheet.
There are three parts to this exercise:

- Adding VAV Boxes and Air Terminals

- Adding Panels
- Adding Light Fixtures

Adding VAV Boxes and Air Terminals

To create a system, you need to add both air terminals and air sources. The air source can be an air
handling units or VAV boxes, and the terminals could be grilles, ceiling terminals or slot terminals.
The air sources and terminals are joined to a system later to help us create duct layouts, so it’s
essential to get these components in first. The next few steps will demonstrate how to place these
pieces of equipment.

1. Change to the 1 – Mech view. From the Mechanical tab of the design bar, choose the Air
Terminals command to place an air terminal. The options bar will change to list the available
families. There will be several types of diffuser families, but there are two primary types – hosted
and non-hosted component. A hosted component will have an options bar that appears like the
example below:

A hosted component looks for three different types of elements that can “host” an element – the
options include:

- Place on Vertical face

- Place on Face
- Place on Workplane

2. Choose the Supply Diffuser – Rectangular Face Round Neck: 24x24 – 8”. This particular
component is not a hosted element, but is designed to be related to a level, so when it’s placed in
a room, it’s not set to an elevation, but instead is placed on the floor of the room.

3. Place an example in Room Seventh Grade 123. Once the first example is placed, you can edit
this copy’s element properties, and then created additional copies from this example. To edit the
example, select it, then right click on the mouse, and choose Element Properties from the pop-up
menu.
4. Choose the Element Properties option so you can change its offset elevation from the 1st floor,
and edit other properties such as type and instance parameters.

From this dialogue (which is unique based

on the element that’s selected), you can
change several items. Types control all
examples of an element, while instance
parameters control each unique element.
Change the offset value to 8’ for the
elevation, and change the flow to 250 CFM.

You can also turn on or off flow arrows, set

the total pressure at this terminal, and
change identity data and phasing for
new/existing/demolition items.

Select the Edit/New button to change type

specific parameters.
5. Type parameters include information such as minimum and maximum flow values, physical
dimensions and identity data, such as model, manufacturer and more. Click OK to close this
dialogue, and click Ok to close the element properties dialogue.
6. Select both the diffuser and the tag, and then use the Copy command from the toolbar. Make
sure you have the multiple option checked on the options bar, and insert 3 additional terminals in
the room, using the alignments provided or by typing in the distances between the terminals.
Notice that the copied element’s tags automatically increment themselves to maintain a sequence –
this value is the instance parameter Mark, and can be changed at the element properties as needed.

TIP: If you missed changing a parameter such as CFM (which I did here), right click on an
element, and then choose Select All Instances to create a selection set of all 4 terminals you
just placed.

7. To place a VAV box, go back to the Mechanical tab of the design bar and choose Mechanical
Equipment. Select the Parallel Fan Powered VAV Box Size 5 – 12 Inch Inlet on the options bar.
Place the VAV box in the corridor as shown below – to rotate it 90 degrees, tap the space bar
once, so the outlet is facing the classroom. Click the modify button on the design bar or hit
escape twice to exit the command.

8. To edit the VAV box, right click on the box and

choose Element Properties. Change the offset
elevation to 10’ 6”, which controls the center of the
connection elevation (as it was defined in the VAV
box family). Choose OK to exit the dialogue.
Adding Panels

Now you can add a power panel to the project. Double click on the 1 – Power plan view in the
project browser to set the view current (get it? an electrical joke…sorry).

1. Change the design bar to electrical (if you don’t see the electrical bar, right click on the design bar
and check it to make it visible). Choose Electrical Equipment, and then choose the Load button
on the design bar, so you can add a 120v lighting panelboard.
2. From the Open dialogue, choose the Electrical Components folder, then Electrical Equipment,
and then Panelboard. Choose the Lighting and Appliance Panelboard - 208V MCB - Surface.rfa
file and choose Open.
3. The options bar will change to the example below – make sure the 100 amp version of the 208V
MCB panel is current.

4. This panel is a hosted component, and you want to choose a vertical wall face to place it. Choose
a wall in the Elec 120 room located in the center of the first floor.

5. To edit the panel, right click on it and choose

element properties.
6. From this dialogue, you edit several key instance parameters, including:

- Elevation
- Mounting
- Number of Breakers
- Mains
- Enclosure Type
- Circuits
- Circuit Naming
- Circuit Prefix Separator
- Circuit Prefix
- Modifications
- Short Circuit Rating
- Panel Name

7. Make adjustments as needed – change the panel name to LP-1. To take a look at the circuits,
choose the Edit button next to the circuits line.

8. Exit the Edit Circuits dialogue by choosing OK.

9. In the electrical view, select the panel. On the options bar, select the distribution system that will
feed the panel – in our case, a 120/208 Wye configuration.

Since you don’t have any lights placed in the project, the table will appear blank until you assign
those devices to a circuit.

Adding Lighting Devices

We’ll begin by changing to the 1 – Lighting plan view by double-clicking on the view. In order to see
lighting devices, in most case you need to be in a ceiling plan view. Depending on the type of light
(whether it’s hosted or not), you may have to place a single example, and then change to another
view in order to see it to edit its properties for offset elevation. In our case, the view hasn’t been
setup, so let’s see how to fix this when things don’t work quite right.
1. From the electrical design bar, choose the Light Fixture tool. Place a Plain Recessed Light
Fixture: 2x4 – 120 element – and notice that it’s not visible. Don’t panic – a warning dialogue will
appear in the lower left corner to tell you what’s wrong:

2. To fix this, right click on the 1 – Lighting view in the project browser and choose Apply View
Template. Choose the Electrical Ceiling view, and then choose OK. The light will appear in the
view. Right click on the light, go to element properties and change its offset elevation to 8’.
3. To check the alignment of the light to the ceiling grid, change to the 1 – Ceiling Elec plan view.

4. Select the light, and then choose the Move command to move it to a grid intersection, using snap
options such as endpoint and intersection to move the light to the grid.
5. Select the light again, and use the Copy command to copy the light around the room as described
in the example below:
6. To run a quick coordination check between our lights and the air terminals, change back to the 1-
Lighting plan view. Type in VG, then check the Air Terminal box to make them visible.

Since you have a few conflicts, you can use the move command to rearrange where our terminals are
placed.
TIP: To move an object to a specific point, you can type in the shortcut for one of the default
object snaps that are set in Revit – for example, SE is the shortcut for the endpoint snap.
Here’s a list of the other snaps settings and shortcuts from the Snaps dialogue (located on the
Settings pulldown menu):

Move the air terminals so you have this final layout:

Once you get our equipment placed, you can begin to create systems to connect these elements
together.
Create Systems to Associate Different Equipment and Devices

In order to use the program effectively, you have to create systems to connect items together.
Systems for HVAC items could include supply, exhaust and return, while electrical systems are joined
by circuits and distribution systems (panels feeding other panels). In this exercise you can create a
system that connects our VAV box to our terminals, and a circuit on panel LP-1 than connects the
lights. You can look at how the loads from the systems are tracked and totaled. There are two
exercises in this section:

- Creating a Supply Air System

- Creating a Lighting Circuit

Creating a Supply Air System

To create the supply air system, double click on the 1 – Mech view in the project browser to set it
current.

1. Choose one of the terminals in the classroom. On the options bar, choose the blue icon to create
an air supply system.

2. The options bar will change to an system options bar – there are three options to review:

- Edit System Icon

- Add Equipment to System Icon

- Remove Equipment from System icon

Choose the Edit system icon and note the change to the design bar:

3. The edit system bar is very similar when working with different types of systems,
including air and piping systems, and power circuit connections. When working with
creating systems, make sure that you either Finish or Cancel a system – if you don’t
exit these commands when finished, other commands such editing tools and drafting
tools will not work correctly.

4. When the edit system design bar is active, the options bar will also change to
reveal additional tools that can be used to help create and edit a system:

5. From here you can change the name of a system, choose the equipment supplying the system, and
track the number of elements included within a system.
6. In the view, the background will lighten up, and the system components will be highlighted. As
components are added, and equipment selected, they will also be highlighted.

7. On the Edit System design bar, choose Add

to system, and then choose the other
terminals in the room.
8. On the Edit System design bar, choose
Select Equipment, and then choose the
VAV Box.
9. Our system is now connected – you can
choose System properties to see what the
total system information is.

The dialogue for system properties shows the total flow from the connected terminals, the number of
terminals, the type of equipment that is servicing the terminals, the system type and the static
pressure (which hasn’t been calculated yet). You can also rename the system in this dialogue as well.

10. Choose Finish System to close the Edit System design bar. Our system is now complete, so you
can move on to the power size and connect the lights to the panel.

Creating a Lighting Circuit

To create the lighting circuit, let’s change back to the 1 – Lighting view.

1. To turn off the air terminals, type in VG while the cursor is in the view, then uncheck the box for
Air Terminals.
2. The procedure for creating a circuit is very similar to creating an air supply
system – choose a light fixture, and then choose the Create Circuit icon:
 This will change the options bar to an electrical options bar with four options:

- Edit Circuit

- Select a Panel for Circuit

- Disconnect Panel from Circuit

- Circuit Properties
3. Choose the Edit circuit icon – the design bar will change to an Edit Circuit design bar.

4. Choose Add to Circuit, and then choose the remaining lights in the
classroom.
5. Choose Select Panel, and choose the LP-1 panel you placed earlier in
the electrical room.
6. Choose Circuit Properties to see the information about the circuit
7. The load name is determined by the location of the first light fixture
chosen to define the circuit.

8. We can also edit the amperage of the circuit, and review what the loads are on the circuit. Other
information includes phase loads, wiring type, voltage drop, power factor and state, whether or
not the load is balanced, and the number/type of wire(s).
9. Choose OK to close the dialogue, and then choose Finish Circuit. The circuit is now complete.

Now that you know how systems work, you can begin to examine how the connecting geometry such as
duct and wiring can easily be added to the project.
Create the Connecting Geometry

The beauty of working with system-based elements is that they know the relationship they have with each
other. You can leverage this relationship to create layouts that are determined by a network of parts, by
the bounding perimeter, or by the intersecting linework between the elements. In this chapter, let’s start
by covering these three items:

- Checking the Project Settings

- Adding Supply Air Ductwork
- Adding Wiring to Lights

Checking the Project Settings

Before you start, you need to review a few project settings that can be stored with the template. Revit
allows you to predefine behavior for duct, pipe, wiring, hidden objects and more by adjusting the
mechanical and electrical settings. These settings are located (appropriately) under the Settings menu.
Note: Nearly every item in the setting menu is project specific with the exception of project information
and options.

1. On the setting menu, choose Mechanical Settings:

2. To edit how the duct is going to behave, choose Duct Settings > Conversion > Main. Check the
duct type and change it to Round Duct / Tees. Change the Offset to 10’ 6” to match the
centerline of our VAV box.
3. Choose the branch settings, change the duct type to Round Duct / Taps, and change the height
to 10’ 6”. Verify that flex duct type is set to Flex Duct Round: Flex – Round, and the maximum
flex duct length is set to 6’ 0”.
4. Click OK to exit the dialogue.
5. From the setting menu, choose Electrical Settings.

6. This dialogue allows you to change the wiring sizing information and add types of wire. You can
also create and edit voltage definitions, distribution systems, and change demand factors. Click
OK to close the dialogue.

Adding Supply Air Ductwork

You can now start to add duct to connect the equipment and terminals together. Revit includes auto-
routing tools to help you create preliminary layouts. Change the view back to the 1 – Mech view, so
you can learn a couple of ways to see preliminary routing.

1. To quickly see a potential layout path, select one of the air terminals. Move your mouse slightly
over the terminal until you see a crossing arrow symbol – when the symbol appears, tap the TAB
key. A routing solution will appear, and if you select the diffuser again, the routing solution will
change to a red color.
2. Continue to work on the layout by choosing the Layout button on the options bar. The layout
button will also appear when you select a terminal that is part of a system.

The design bar will change to a Layout Paths design bar, and the options bar will
list solution types, options and settings. The settings you created under the
Mechanical settings can be adjusted by using the Settings button on the options
bar, so you can use either location to set the duct type and main/branch
elevations.
 3. The routing solution is color-coded to help us
know what’s controlling the duct type. Blue
lines indicate the main run settings, and
green lines indicated branch runs. On the
options bar, cycle through the settings until
you get to solution 6 of 6, and then choose
Finish Layout from the design bar.

The finished layout appears next. If you have a

clean layout, all the duct and fittings will be
applied, and you can edit the layout rather than
spend a lot of time drafting the layout.

To edit a duct or terminal, simply select the item,

and then select a grip to drag a component to
another location. If you want to move an entire
branch, use the following steps:

1. Move your mouse over a terminal. Without

selecting the terminal, tap your tab key.

2. The entire branch becomes highlighted – left click and you’ll

have all of the items in the branch selected.
3. Left Click and HOLD on the duct – you can now drag the entire branch to a new location while
maintaining the connection to the main.

The idea is to use the routing tools to come up with common and simple
routing solutions. It’s easier to use grips to drag items around to other
locations that it is to create them from scratch. While some cases will
still require you to manually add duct, this method will help create most
layouts in a fraction of the time.

Adding Wiring to Lights

To add wiring to our lights, start by changing back to the 1 – Lighting view.

1. Select a light fixture, and then tap the tab key to see a preliminary wiring layout.

2. Left click to accept the layout. The options bar will include two wiring options:

The first icon is for arc type wiring, and the second for chamfered wiring. Select the
arc type wiring option.
 The wiring layout will appear…uh…in two steps. Once the wiring is placed, you can select the wire
and use the grips to stretch midpoints, move the tick marks, etc. Since the objects are all part of the
same circuit, you can select any wire and edit its specific element properties:

3. Note the circuit load name, which was created

when the circuit was added. You can change
wire types or edit wire type by selecting the
Edit/New icon.

4. The wire type includes the material,

temperature rating, insulation, maximum size
and other wire information. When changing the
type, you are changing all examples of that
type.

Now that you have all of our physical elements created, you can begin to wrap up the project.
Add Schedules and Tags to Views

Once we have physical elements created, you can use some of the elements’ properties to populate tags,
schedules and other forms of reports. Since the data used for tags and schedules lives with the elements,
as the elements change, the data changes – with the net result being a much lower number of manual
tasks needed to complete a set of drawings. In this chapter, the following items will be covered:

- Adding Tags to Elements

- Creating an Air Terminal Schedule
- Creating a Room Lighting Analysis Table

Adding Tags to Elements

Tag families can be defined in your template, and are assigned by category. This method allows you to
use one command to tag multiple types of elements at once. To tag our duct, change to the 1 – Mech
view.

1. From the Mechanical design bar, choose the Tag command – on the flyout, choose By Category.

2. The options bar will show the orientation of the tag and whether or not to include a leader. To see
what items have families defined, choose the Tags button.
3. The tags dialogue will appear, showing what items have tag families associated with them.

4. Select the Load button if you want to add tag families to the project, or to change a tag
assignment. Once the family is in the project, locate the family under the Families portion of the
project browser to edit, or place a tag, and then right click, choosing Edit Famiy from the pop-up
menu.
5. Choose OK to close this dialogue.
6. Move your mouse over ducts and the VAV box, and note how the tag changes to match the
specific type of object. Select one of the ducts to add the tag.

The duct label masks the duct. You can change the orientation of the tag by
simply selecting it, and then change the orientation setting on the options
bar.

7. Note the view control settings in the lower left corner of the view.

These settings control the scale, detail level, shading, shadows and crop region of the view. You
can also temporarily isolate objects to work on them, and reveal hidden elements in the view
using the last two icons.

8. Select the scale on the left side of the icons. Adjust the scale to 1/4” = 1’-0”. The view will zoom
out to fit – zoom back in to your duct work and note how the size of the tags adjusts automatically
to match the scale.

Since each view is a unique representation of

the model, all you have to do is duplicate a
view to create an enlarged plan, and adjust
the scale and crop region to show just what
you want to see. Tags can be placed in
different locations in different views, but their
content is always driven by the properties of
the element.
Creating an Air Terminal Schedule

To create an air terminal schedule, use the Schedules/Quantities tool from the design bar to begin.

1. From the New Schedule dialogue, choose the Air Terminals as the category.

The name of the schedule changes to match the category. Choose OK to continue.

2. On the Fields tab of the Schedule Properties dialogue, double click on the available field on the
left panel to add them as schedule fields. You can move items up or down in the schedule as
needed.
3. Choose the Sorting and Grouping tab to edit how the data will be sorted. For the first sort,
choose Type Mark, and then make sure Itemize Every Instance is still checked. If you want to
include grand totals, check the box.

4. Choose the Formatting tab. Choose Flow as a field to edit, then check the calculate totals to
include what the total flow will be to these terminals.

5. Choose Conditional format – this will allow us to define rules that let us know when flow hasn’t
been assigned to a terminal. Change the test value to Less Than or Equal to, and then set the
value to 0 CFM. Change the background color to red, so any diffuser that has a CFM value
equal to or less that O will be highlighted in the schedule.
6. Choose OK to close the dialogue, and then choose OK to close the Schedule Properties
dialogue.
7. Review the schedule – from here you can add information such as type mark, manufacturer and
model, as these are instance parameters that are text-based, but stored with the family. All
examples will be updated to include the information. Below is an example that has already been
adjusted.

8. Let’s test your conditional formatting out. From the 1 – Mech view, choose an air terminal, right
click and choose Create Similar. Create a copy, and then right click on the copy – choose
Element Properties to change the offset to 8’ (note that create similar does NOT match the offset
values, but does match the CFM). Change to CFM value to 0. Change back to Air Terminal
Schedule view to see the results.

9. Notice that our new terminal’s CFM value shows up as red – letting you quickly know that we still
need to set a value for this terminal. In the cell, click on the 0 CFM and change it to 250 – yes,
you can change the value of the terminal without actually going to the view.
10. With the one of the cells of the last diffuser selected, choose the Show button on the options bar.
The 1 – Mech view will become current, and the terminal will be selected, allowing us to make
additional changes as needed. Close the dialogue to end the command.

Creating a Room Lighting Analysis Table

One of the most popular schedules used is the Room Lighting Analysis schedule. Light fixture
families can include IES data files and lumens values that help determine fc loads in a room. Let’s
take a look at how we can track electrical and lighting data with a schedule you may not necessarily
print on a sheet, but need to help with determining design criteria.

1. From the Electrical design bar, choose Schedule/Quantities.

2. At the New Schedule dialogue, choose Rooms. Rename the schedule to Room Lighting
Analysis, and then choose OK to continue.
3. On the fields tab, choose the following fields to include:

- Number
- Name
- Required Lighting Level
- Average Estimated Illumination
- Ceiling Reflectance
- Wall Reflectance
- Lighting Calculation Workplane
- Lighting Delta

Now here’s a problem – Required

Lighting Load and Lighting Delta
don’t exist, so they have to be
created. To add a new parameter,
choose Add Parameter.
4. Since this is a project specific parameter, it will only be visible in schedules. Change the name
and group as indicated above, and then choose OK to close the dialogue.
5. The Lighting Delta field is a calculated Value. To add this field, choose Calculated Value from
the fields tab of the schedule.

6. Change the discipline to Electrical, choose Illuminance for the type, and then type the formula in
as Average Estimated Illumination – Required Lighting Level – make sure you spell it correctly;
otherwise the formula will not work!
7. On the formatting tab, choose the lighting delta field, and then choose Conditional Format. Edit
the formula as shown below:

8. Choose OK to close the dialogue. For the reflectance values and Workplane, change these
fields to hidden so they don’t appear in the schedule.
9. Our final schedule should look similar to this example:

As you begin to set the required lighting levels, the delta will update to show that no lights have been
placed in these rooms – as lights get added, their properties from the family will update the average
estimated illumination. When the light levels fall inside of the 10 fc delta, the conditional formatting
will change the dialogue back to white for rooms that meet the requirements.

From this point, you simply create your sheets and then drag and drop the views onto the sheets. It’s
that simple – you’re ready to print.
Work with Consultants Through Shared Files

Finally – you’re at our last segment. This short section is a quick overview of how you can get some
of the elements back to the architect, so they can add them as linked files to their project. The
simplest way to do this is to create a coordination view, and then create a group that can be easily
exported.

To create the view, go to the View pulldown.

1. From the view pulldown, select New – Ceiling Plan.

2. In the next dialogue, choose the first floor, and then choose OK

3. The new view will appear under a new discipline folder for Architectural. This occurs when you
haven’t assigned a view template to the view. To make this change, right click on the new view,
and then choose Apply View Template. Skip this step and rename the view to Coordination Plan.
4. In the new view, zoom into the classroom area. You’ll see the terminals and lights we’ve already
placed. To place them in a group, select all of the lights and terminals.
5. Once the elements are selected, pick the Group tool in the upper right corner of the Revit window.
The group tool will appear – name the group First Floor MEP Coordination, and then choose OK.
Move your mouse over the items to show the group:

6. On the project browser, go to groups and located the First Floor MEP coordination group.

7. Right click on the group, and choose save group. A new dialogue will appear:
8. Click on the save button to save it to our current folder. This file can now be linked back into the
architectural project.
9. After saving the group, select it in the current view. On the options bar, choose Ungroup. Check
the elements in the other views – they’ll still be connected to their systems, duct, wiring, etc.

Conclusions

Revit MEP includes many powerful tools to create and edit HVAC and electrical designs. Developing
and implementing a good workflow makes this tool a valuable asset to the engineer, by reducing
redundant tasks, redirecting efforts to design instead of drafting, and offering ways to examine data in
the project in a more uniform and coordinated fashion. Learn how to use this tool, and start to enjoy
your job again!