Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical
Engineering
Seth A. Mathis – Schmidt Associates
MP4665-V
Electrical engineering can be difficult. There are hundreds of calculations and factors that go into
designing each job, with multiple ways to display that information. This class addresses that process by
covering tips and tricks for electrical engineers. We will cover advanced family creation with embedded
families, using key schedules, cost estimating, one-line/riser diagrams, tagging, equipment design,
shared parameters for use in schedules and floor plans, the power of filters, dual circuiting and light
switching, panelboard schedule creation, and more. We will also examine how Autodesk® Revit® can
use that system generated information.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this class, you will be able to:

Create advanced electrical families and equipment

Use shared parameters in schedules, floor plans, families, and tags

Use filters to create advanced views for coordination and quick checks

Develop annotation families for drafting schematics and how to schedule them
About the Speaker
Seth is a BIM Designer for an award winning architectural and engineering firm in Indianapolis, IN. He
has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Graphics Technology with a focus in Construction from Purdue
University. He is currently working towards his BS in electrical engineering at Indiana University-Purdue
University. Seth has worked as a BIM Technician for the architecture, mechanical, electrical, plumbing,
and technology disciplines and is currently working as a BIM Designer for electrical engineering. In his
experience with Revit he has developed BIM standards for much of his office, including custom families,
legends & schedules, view templates, coordination schedules & plans, 3D views, export views, and
panelboard schedules.
Email: smathis@schmidt-arch.com
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Introduction:
During my work experience I have heard many of my co-workers say, “We used to be able to do this in
AutoCAD” or “In AutoCAD we did it this way” or “I wish Revit would do…” Over the past years I have had
the opportunity to find solutions to these problems and I have yet to find a situation where I was unable to
either re-create the old process, improve on it, or create a new solution. Once you learn the basics of how
Revit works, you can start to delve deeper into how the software actually creates, stores and uses
information. You will also start to see just how customizable Revit can be and how your only limit on what
you want to do is your imagination. While this class will be tailored towards electrical engineering, most of
the tips and tricks I will be covering can be applied to any other discipline, whether you’re an architect or a
mechanical engineer. This class will give you an insight into how Revit uses information, and after you
understand how to use that information, you will be able to do almost anything you could dream.
Tips/Tricks Requirements:
These trips and tricks are meant for intermediate to advanced users. In order to maximize your learning
you will need a basic understanding of the following:




Shared vs. Project vs. Family
Parameters
Add and Modify Filters
Create New Annotation Families
Modify Model Families



Create and Modify Schedules
Add Shared Parameters to Tags and
Families
Electrical Design
The purpose of this class is to show you some new and creative ways you can use these basic features
to create a more advanced working experience. For this reason I will assume that you know how to do the
above.
Dual Circuiting:
Anyone who uses Revit for their electrical design will tell you that one of most important features in Revit
is the Electrical Connector. Through this connection
point an electrical engineer drives all of their loads,
connects their panelboards, and analyzes all of their
data. Most of the time you will only have to deal with
one electrical connector per family, but there are many
instances in which you will have to add a second. For
instance, you may need to circuit a light fixture to a
primary power source, as well as an emergency source.
This section will show you how to add a second and
additional connectors, up to as many as needed for the
project.
2
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Uses:


Normal vs. Emergency Power
ATS Equipment

Multiple Circuited Devices
Step 1: Adding the Second Connector
The first thing you will need to do is add a second connector to the
family. Once you open the family you wish to edit, look at the ribbon
and make sure you are in the “Create” tab. You will find a button called
Electrical Connector. Simply click on the button and pick a face on
the family model to place your second connection point. IMPORTANT:
Do not place connection points on top of each other! We will go over why this is
important when we learn about tagging the circuit.
Once the second connector is placed, you will need
to either fill out the electrical load parameters or tie
them to family parameters. It is important to give the
second connector a Connector Description. Best
practice would be giving both the Primary and
Secondary Connector some sort of a description.
Step 2: Circuiting the Light Fixture
Once your light is ready and loaded in
your project, it is time to circuit the light.
You’ll notice a difference between a
multi-circuit able family and a single
circuit family when you select it in plan.
Revit will actually point to and show all
the connectors along with their
electrical information! This is one of the reasons to place the
connection points in different locations and not on top of one another.
You can now click on the Power button in the ribbon as normal to
circuit the light. This time however you will get to pick which circuit you
want to circuit. You can pick either one and then select the panelboard
you want to circuit to. Naming each connector makes it easier to distinguish which circuit you will be
connecting. IMPORTANT: You will only be prompted to select which
circuit connector as long as there is more than one! For instance, in
this fixture we have a “Normal” and an “Emergency” circuit. Once the
normal circuit is connected to the panel, when you go back to circuit the
second connector, the “Select Connector” dialog box will not appear.
Revit will go to the remaining circuit by default. This is also true if you
circuit the second connector first. I mention this because it is fairly easy
to lose track of which circuit you are connecting when circuiting,
especially if you circuit the normal first and then come back another day
for the emergency.
3
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Step 3: Tagging the Circuit
You are always able to tag the Primary Circuit simply by
tagging the family itself. But tagging any secondary
circuit is a little trickier. In order to tag another electrical
connector in a family you will need to draw a wire to that
electrical connector. This is another reason why it was
important not to place the connectors on top of one
another, because it can be hard to judge which electrical
connector you are actually drawing to. Revit can also be
random as to which one it chooses. You will notice the wire shows you a magenta circle with an “x”
through it when you connect your wire to a connector point. Now you can simply use a wire tag and tag
the wire to show the second circuit.
Step 4 (Extra): Hiding the Wire
Depending on your preference, you may have a problem with how
this ended up looking, as you now have a wire shown on your
plans. Hopefully in future releases of Revit you will be able to tag
multiple connectors by simply tagging the device multiple times and
picking which connector you wish to tag, but for now you have to
deal with the wire. You cannot simply hide or turn off the
wires because that will also hide the circuit tag. The easiest
way I’ve found to hide the wire is to turn its Visibility/Graphic
Overrides to the same color as the paper you’re printing
on…in most cases, white. It is important to also turn the
Home Run Arrows and Wire Ticks Marks to white as well, or
else you’ll get some goofy looking plans. There are some
downsides to this, as the white wire will override the line
work it is drawn over, but most of the time this will be very
tiny and minor.
Conclusion: Pros & Cons
Pros:
 Dual Circuiting is necessary
 Allows you to control multiple circuits in one
place from one source
 Allows you to circuit loads to multiple sources
Cons:



Can get confusing, easy to lose track of which
circuit you are connecting
Time consuming
Have to draw and work with wires
4
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Dual Switching:
While dual circuiting can be an inconvenience, there does
not exist a way to dual switch a light fixture, or in other
words, you cannot “switch” a light fixture to two different
light switches. You CAN switch a light to two different light
switches, as long as the light fixture contains two electrical
connectors. The problem is that there is no way to tag the
light to show the dual switching. For instance, if you look
the example of the light fixture that you dual-circuited above
and switch each electrical connector to a different light
switch, the only tag that appears on the light fixture is the
one that is associated with the primary connector. So what
can you do about this?
The obvious solution is
to change the Switch ID properties of the light switch to say “a,b” to
represent the fact you want to switch some of the lamps to “a” and some of the lamps to “b”.
Unfortunately, now your light switch is tagged “a,b” instead of just
“a”. Sigh. The trick to getting around this is shared parameters. You
will need to create a “text based” shared parameter. To do this you
will use Switch ID Override. Once you have created a shared
parameter you will need to add it to both the light switch family as an
instance parameter, and your “Lighting Devices Tag” as an
annotation family.
You can switch your light fixture to the light switches’
“Switch ID” parameter to get dual switching, but now you
can also tag the shared parameter you’ve added to the
light switch to get the desired switch-leg.
5
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
One-Line/Riser Diagrams:
Most engineering disciplines at one point or another are going to have to draw diagrams to represent
what they want to happen. One of the most common diagrams used in electrical engineering is the OneLine/Riser diagram. While it’s possible to just use lines and text to make the diagram in a Drafting View,
with a little setup, it can be even easier! For the purpose of this module we will be making a “Panelboard”
family to be used in our diagrams. The same process can be applied to make Fuses, Transformers,
Switchboards, and Generators. These techniques will also apply to any other discipline such as,
mechanical, plumbing, or telecommunications.
Uses:

Drawing Diagrams
Step 1: Making the Annotation Family
The first thing you will do is create the family. The path for creating a new family is R > New > Family. You
can select the default “Generic Annotations” Family Template file that comes standard with Revit, which is
found in the Annotations folder. Your screen should look exactly
like what is shown to the left. You will be keeping the family as a
“Generic Annotation” so you can delete the red text
note. Next we will draw our symbol, in this case a
panelboard. Go to the top of the ribbon and select the
“Line” tool from the “Create” tab. Now you can draw
your diagram symbol. IMPORTANT: Keep
your scale in mind! This is going to be an
Annotation Family. This means that the
generic annotation WILL change size
depending on what scale you use to draw
your diagram. In the example I am using a drafting view set to 1/8” = 1’-0” for the
diagrams. The advice I can give for this step is to draw the generic annotation the
size that you think it should be, then load it into a drafting view in a project and
then place that that sheet. Adjust the size of the line-work as needed until you are
satisfied with its size. At the end of this step your drawing you should look similar
to the example on the right (assuming you’re making a panelboard).
Step 2: Adding the Labels
You now have an annotation you can copy around your one-line without having
to deal with a bunch of separate lines! It is not finished yet because you still need
to add text. If you go up to the ribbon under the “Create” tab you will see the “Label” tool. When you click
to place a label you will get a new
pop-up window.
6
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
In the bottom left corner you can click to add a new parameter and
you will get a new window as shown on the right. You will also want
to add a new Instance based label for all of the text fields you wish
to add to the panelboard annotation. Here is an example of one.
Name: Panel
Discipline: Common
Type of Parameter: Text
Group parameter under: Identity Data
Keep adding Label Parameters until you end up with something
that looks like this:
Now when you go back and
click on the Label button,
you can select which
parameter you want to add.
Move one of the Category
Parameters over to the
Label Parameters and click
okay. Repeat this until you
have added all the
parameters that you wish to
have on your annotation
family. You should have
something like the image on the right. You can now insert the family that you
created into your project. Do this and go into your drafting view to place your
new annotation family. You can copy it around and edit the text fields (labels)
inside each one separately. You should now have the tools to create any type
of diagrammatical symbol you wish. There is one last thing that makes setting
up these annotation families even more worthwhile…
7
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Step 3: Scheduling your Diagram
While it is great that you no longer have to deal with copying around line-work and
text, it can get even easier. Go up to the “View” tab and create a new Note Block
Schedule. You will see the family that you just created listed as an option. Go ahead
and select it and create a schedule for it. You will now find that you are able to
schedule all of the Labels you added when you created the family! Not only that, but
you can use the schedule to change the values in your diagram!
Conclusion: Pros & Cons
Pros:


Reduces drawing lines and text
Repeatable
Cons:


Takes time to set up
Not as customizable as pure line-work


Schedulable
Establishes standards
8
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Specialized Filters:
The more experience I gain using Revit, the more I’ve started to appreciate filters. Since this is an
intermediate to advance topic, I will assume you have some basic knowledge on how to add and make
filters. This module is designed to give you some new ideas for how to use filters. I will be covering two
uses of filters, creating coordinating drawings and as a design check. This module will cover filters
specifically for electrical engineering, but again, the process will be the similar for other disciplines.
Hopefully you will get some ideas on how to use specialized filters in your own work.
Uses:


Controlling visibility (show/hide)
Coordinating disciplines (color coding)

Design checking (circuited yes/no?)
Filters: Coordination
The easiest way to set up coordination filters is to be as general as possible. For instance, you don’t
actually need to set a Filter Rule. You can
assign Categories to the filter and then
whatever rules you set for that filter will
apply to all elements of that category. So
in the example to the right, I have made a
“Mechanical Coordination” filter, and
applied it to the categories that I wanted it
to affect, but I did not apply any Filter
Rules. This allows me to still change those
categories, for example a color change .I
have made similar filters for Electrical,
Plumbing, Structural, and Conduit. Once
you have these filters set up, you can
apply a different color for each and the
results will be an easier to read coordination view!
9
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Filters: Design
While the primary purpose of filters is to control visibility, on/off or colors, you can also use filters when
you design your projects. For instance, you may be laying out a building and need to know if there is
something that requires power in the room. Or you may want to know if you have everything in your
project circuited. Through some manipulation with filters, these things are easily possible.
Design 1: Circuited?
In order to use a filter to tell if a device is circuited or not, you need to know some very basic things about
filters and about circuiting. First off, you need to know that filters can control devices by most of their
parameter values. Second, that you are able to filter devices when there is something assigned to the
parameter you are looking at. Third, once a device is circuited it gains a Circuit Number and a Panel. If it
is not circuited, it has neither of these things. Now that you know these facts, you can go into your filters
and design one to look at Electrical Devices, see if its Panel
Parameter is blank (meaning it is not circuited) and then
change its color.
Here’s an image of two filters, one looking to see if the Panel Parameter in receptacles is blank and one
seeing if it is not blank. So you now can easily see which receptacle has a panel (green) and which ones
don’t (orange)! You also can do similar
things to the panelboards in the room. I
know each panelboard has a “Voltage”
parameter in it and I know I use that in a
filter…I can now see which panelboards
are 208V and which one is 480V!
10
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Design 2: Power?
Chances are you are going to be working with linked-in files that contain objects you will need to provide
power. Chances are also good that you may not find out about these objects right away. This process will
allow others to coordinate their power requirements through only the floor plan. However, there is a little
more setup for this.
Step 1: Project Parameter
In order to accomplish this you will need to add a project parameter to all necessary files. Necessary
meaning, the project you are working in and the linked-in projects you are concerned with. So start by
going to your ribbon, the “Manage” tab, and then click on Project Parameters. You will now need to add
a Yes/No, Shared Parameter. I will be using a Yes/No Shared Parameter called “Requires Power”.
When you add the project parameter you are able to pick
which families you want to add that parameter to. I
recommend adding it only to the families you think are
relevant, i.e. Furniture, Specialty Equipment, etc. as you
do not want an extra parameter junking up the rest of
your families.
Here you can see I have added the Requires Power as
a Shared Parameter and I’ve added it to all the
Specialty Equipment families in my file. IMPORTANT:
Remember, you will need to do this in ALL the files
you are working with.
11
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Since I’ve added the parameter as a Project Parameter,
when I go into my Filters, it will be available for me to
use under Specialty Equipment. Now it’s only a matter
of needing to check the box to YES in whatever families
I want to display differently. For example, I have a
kitchen linked into my electrical file and there is an
oven. If the architects check YES in the Requires
Power parameter of that family, then I can change it to
display red in my file!
To demonstrate the difference, I have
checked YES only on the oven on the
right.
Conclusion: Pros & Cons
Pros:


Helps visually to convey information
Makes coordination easier
Cons:


Takes time to set up
Requires the efforts of multiple people to maintain
12
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Advanced Family Creation - Embedding:
Default Revit Content and Autodesk Seek provide a great deal of families to use, but you’ll often find
yourself in a situation where you’ll need a family that someone has not yet created. Family creation and
editing can be one of the most difficult things you will attempt to do in Revit. Over the years I have found a
few tricks on making families and most recently have started to shift my focus towards using embedded
families. Basically, embedded families are a combination of an annotation family combined with a generic
model family. To show the advantage of embedding families, I’ll show two families I made, one using
embedded families and one where I built the entire model inside the family. I will also look at light fixtures.
Uses:


Family Design
Maintaining Families

Updated Family Models
Example 1: Non-Embedded
A while ago I made a Light Switch family in which I could adjust the number of
switches and the model would change accordingly. This way I could show an
accurate model of a two gang light switch instead of showing two single gang
light switches next to each other. My first non-embedding method involved
modeling a cover plate and adjusting its size depending on how many
switches I needed chose to
show. So if I selected “3_Gang
Switch” it would expand the
cover plate to be longer. I also
drew a series of squares using
model lines to represent the
light switches. I used the visibility parameter on the lines to control when they
would show. It got the job done, but as you can see, it gets a little muddled together.
Example 2: Embedded
In comparison, here is the same family using embedded models instead of just the one. As you can see,
it is a lot cleaning looking.
The family consists of six
separate models of light switches, 1-switch through 6-swithces. Since they are all separate models, I was
able to get away from the model lines and focus more on the switch model. If I even need to update the
13
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
models, it will be much easier to focus on the separate models by themselves, rather than worrying about
the annotation.
Example 3: Light Fixtures
Light Switches can be complicated, but once they’re made, they’re pretty much set. Lighting fixtures can
be a great deal more complicated because their model changes per fixture. When you layout light
fixtures, typically you have two goals in mind, to show them in plan and to schedule them. By using
embedded families you can establish a generic template, one that
has all of your scheduled parameters and will show in plan the way
you want. Then you can load in the light fixture model you want to
use! For instance, here I have my “Generic Light Fixture –
Rectangular”. It has all the shared parameters I use to schedule
my lights, and an annotation
symbol to show in plan, but it has
no model component to it. So I
could actually start laying out my
project with this family and even
schedule my light fixture. At any
point in my design I can either
model the light or try to track down
the actual model from the
manufacturer. I can then go back
and embed my model into the family and re-load it into my project! Here
are a few tricks to making the model.
Tip/Trick 1: Use Generic Models
Depending on how clean you want your families to be, I suggest using a “Generic Model Family” when
making your light. I would even convert any light fixture family you get to a generic model. The reason for
this is that you already have a light fixture family, it’s the one you’re
embedding into! You don’t want the parameters that come along with being a
light in two places! Here’s a comparison of a family started as a generic model
and one started as a generic model and switched to a light fixture. It also
helps to use a generic model because you
can start off with a “Faced-Based” family,
which is extremely important that it is!
14
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Tip/Trick 2: Don’t be Afraid of Embedded Parameters
This refers to the fact that just because you’ve embedded your model, it doesn’t mean you have lost
control of it! For instance, I have a simple rectangular light
fixture model with length and width parameters. I have loaded
it into the Generic Rectangular Light Fixture template file that
I made and placed it at the origin. If I want to have control of
the Length and Width parameters, all I have to do is select
my model, and click the Type Parameters button in the top
left on the ribbon.
I now have access to all the Type Parameters of that light fixture model, including my Length and Width
Parameters. I can either change those values or I can use the little grey boxes to tie them to parameters
inside my light fixture family. That way I can change the model’s size inside the light fixture family, without
having to open the model family and re-load it into the light fixture.
Tip/Trick 3: Know your Limitations
It is important to realize there are a few limitations to embedding families. For instance, you cannot
embed connectors, i.e. electrical, duct, pipe, etc. I’ve also had issues when dealing with an embedded
light fixture inside another light fixture. The problem was mainly dealing with the light source, because
technically the light fixture now had two, one from the family itself and another that came in with the
embedded model.
Conclusion: Pros & Cons
Pros:



Cleaner families
Easy to upgrade models
Parameters can be tied to main host


Cons:



Lose direct control of parameters
Could increase file size when using
multiple embedded families
Cannot include connectors

Parameters you don’t want people to
modify can be left inside the model
family
More flexibility with visibility control
More Revit families to maintain and
organize
15
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Harvesting & Manipulating Electrical Data – Embedded Schedules:
Revit does a good job when it comes to managing and providing Electrical Data for the most part. There
are a few areas where the program falls short. Luckily, Revit provides you with enough access to the
information that is does calculate, and with a little work you can usually create the missing data. In fact, I
could probably do a class just on electrical scheduling in Revit and creating calculated fields. However for
the purpose of this series I have other things to go over. I will introduce you to all the skills you’ll need to
create different types of schedules and give you some ideas as to what you can accomplish yourself. The
schedule I will go over is an embedded schedule to help you calculate the watts per square foot of a
space.
Uses:




Electrical Circuit Lengths
Panelboard Voltage Drops
Conduit Calculations
Lighting Watts/SqFt



LEED Schedules
Electrical Power requirements
Cost Estimating
Room Layout:
We’ll start our discussion by taking a look at the room we’ll be examining. We’ll
be using a 2nd Grade Classroom that contains 12, 28 watt, 3 lamp, prismatic
light fixtures. There really is only one thing we need to do before we actually
start looking at the schedule and that’s our Space. In order for our schedule to
work, our Space needs to be as high as the lights. If our Space falls short of the
lights, they will not be reported in our schedule.
As you can see in this section,
the Space is up to the ceiling
and is touching the light.
2013 Update: In Revit 2013 you can actually change the
point where the Space looks to see if there is a light. For
example, I could move the point to 3 feet below my light
fixture, that way I wouldn’t have to worry about the height
of the Space as much as before.
Space Schedule:
You will now need to create your schedule. Start with your Space Schedule. Space Schedules provide a
lot of useful information. You can pretty much schedule any Space and then embed all the devices that
are included inside that Space, which is what I will show you in a later step. Your Space Schedule should
include the following to start with: Number, Name, Area, Specified Lighting Load.
16
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
The Specified Lighting Load is calculated by taking the Area of the room and multiplying it by the
Specified Lighting Load per area, which is found in the Space Type of the actual Space. So in this
example it would be 961 SF x 1.2 W/ft^2 = 1153 W. It basically lets you say, in this particular Space that
you cannot go over 1.20 W/ft^2 or 1153 W total. But what is the actual W/ft^2?
Embedded Schedule:
To know the W/ft^2 of the Space, it might be helpful if you
knew the total wattage of the Space. Or how many lights
are in the Space. So you will have to embed another
schedule into the one you just made, a Lighting Fixture
Schedule. If you modify your schedule, there is a tab at the
end called “Embedded Schedule”. You want to embed
“Lighting Fixtures”. When you click on the button below,
“Embedded Schedule Properties”, you will be taken to
another Schedules Properties Window. Here you will add:
Type Mark (or however you distinguish your light fixture types) and Wattage. You also want to
Sort/Group by Type Mark and you DO NOT want to itemize every instance. Lastly, you want to set your
Wattage Parameter to Calculate Totals.
Your schedule should look something like this:
Here’s where you reach a little bit of a problem. You cannot use that Wattage total you just embedded in
the Space portion of your schedule!
17
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Calculated Fields:
You now have to add a few fields to run your calculations.
Return to the Space Schedule portion and go to the Fields tab.
You will “Add a Parameter” and create a new Project
Parameter. You can call it “Space Wattage” and it will represent
the true wattage in the space, i.e. the Wattage you totaled in
the embedded schedule. The new Parameter should be
Discipline: Electrical & Type of Parameter: Power. You can
now match the calculated Wattage from the embedded
schedule with your new parameter as shown, i.e. you have to
type it in. IMPORTANT: You will always have to update this
field if the wattage in the room changes!
Next you will make a Calculated Parameter, “Watts per Sqft”. It needs to be Discipline: Electrical &
Type: Power Density. Your Formula will take the Space Wattage and divide by the Area. Hey! That will
equal your true Watts/SqFt!
18
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Calculated Check (Extra):
You can create an additional calculated field to
do a little data check. Create a calculated field
that will take the Specified Lighting Load per
area and subtract the Watts per SqFt. If the
difference between the two is positive, we
meet our goal. If the number is negative, our
Space is using too much wattage! You can
even go into the Formatting tab of the Space schedule and change the Conditional Format of the field to
turn green if positive, or red if negative! You can only pick one sadly. Your end result should look like this:
Conclusion: Pros & Cons
Pros:


Calculate more complicated data
Pulls lot of information out of the model
Cons:



Embedded Schedules can get confusing
Some information has to be entered manually
Possible crashing issues with bigger projects
Using the data pulled from the Space and embedded light fixtures it is possible to expand this schedule
even more. Using calculated fields you can convert the Specified Lighting Loads to LEED Loads and do
comparisons against that. You can use this type of schedule to find the Power Loads in a Space. It’s
possible to do Volt Drops through embedding schedules with Electrical Circuits. See what you can come
up with!
19
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Harvesting & Manipulating Electrical Data – Cost Estimate Schedules:
Simple cost estimating in Revit is fairly easy. You need to know some basic knowledge of schedules and
be familiar with your project. The trick is to group your families into how they are priced. For example,
there is no difference between a 20 amp duplex receptacle and a 20 amp duplex receptacle that’s at
countertop height. For this reason I like to use the Description Parameter. I use Description Parameter
because it’s a type parameter and it appears in all families by default.
Creating the Schedule:
You have two choices in what type of schedule you want to make. You can either make a schedule for
each of the family categories you need, such as Electrical Fixtures, Electrical Equipment, Lighting
Fixtures, etc. Or you can create a Multi-Category Schedule that will include everything together. I would
recommend using the Multi-Category as long as you are not sharing your file. Multi-Category is a good fit
if your file only contains what you want to estimate.
Create the schedule using: Family and Type, Description, Count, Cost. Sort by Family and Type and
DO NOT itemize all instances. This should give you a list of all the families in the file and what they are.
Use this schedule to enter in descriptions for all of your families. Enter the same description in the families
you are going to want to estimate together.
Once you have all your Descriptions filled out, remove or hide Family and Type and sort now by
Description. Now enter in all of your cost data. Once that is finished, open the Formatting tab of the
Schedule Properties and change both Count and Cost to Calculate Totals. You can also check Grand
Totals under the Sorting/Grouping tab. You should now have a basic cost estimate for your work!
20
Autodesk® Revit® MEP: Get Current with Electrical Engineering
Conclusion
That is it for my tips and tricks for now. I hope that you have gained something from reading through this
handout and watching the Module videos. My intention is for you to take these ideas and try to think of
your own additional uses for them. While I am not able to cover all the uses of these tips, I use every one
of them in more ways than I have covered. Have fun and good luck!
21