Image courtesy of:
Ryder Architecture Limited
Slides are made based on Autodesk BIM Curriculum, Greenwold, S., and D. Driver. (2007). Building Information
Modeling with Revit Architecture: Lecture Notes, with some additional content created by Wei Yan, Texas A&M
University.

A BIM is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. As such it serves as a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its lifecycle from inception onward.
- National Institute of Building Sciences, National Building Information
Modeling Standard™(NBIMS), 2008
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a new approach to design, construction, and facility management in which a digital representation of the building process is used to facilitate the exchange and interoperability of information in digital format. BIM is beginning to change the way buildings look, the way they function, and the ways in which they are designed and built.
-Eastman, C. et al. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information
Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and
Contractors, Wiley, 2008

Building Information Modeling
BIM is an integrated workflow built on coordinated, reliable information about a project from design through construction and into operations.
BUILDERS
OWNERS
BUILDING
INFORMATION
MODELING ARCHITECTS
© 2007 Autodesk
MEP SYSTEMS
ENGINEERS
3
STRUCTURAL
ENGINEERS
CIVIL
ENGINEERS

Building Information Modeling
 Explore real world design scenarios with different disciplines interfacing with the data differently (from different data views ).
 Architects leverage building information modeling for the building design.
 Structural engineers work with the same data presented graphically in the form of framing, bracing diagrams and structural design and analysis.
 MEP Engineers can use the same data to layout, design and perform analysis on the HVAC systems.
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Building Information Modeling
 BIM solutions manage iterative changes in a building model throughout the design process all the way through to the design, construction, and operational phases.
 A change to any part of the database is replicated in all other associated parts.
 Advantages of using a database for a real design project:
 Improves drawing coordination



Reduces drawing errors
Saves time spent manually checking and coordinating documents
Reduced costs
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Building Information Modeling
Definition: Changes to any part of the design are immediately reflected in all associated parts. Bidirectional associativity is applied automatically to every component, view, and annotation
Example: A change in the dimensions of a wall is reflected in all elements such as windows, doors, ceilings, and electrical outlets.
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Building Information Modeling
 Relationships among the elements in a building model.
 Enable the software to coordinate and manage the changes made to the building model.
 Created automatically by software, or created by the user.
Components
Views
Annotations
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Building Information Modeling
Examples of bidirectional associativity:
 Flip a section line and all views update.
 Draw a wall in plan and it appears in all other views including material takeoffs.
Examples of parametric relationships:
 A floor is attached to the enclosing walls. When a wall moves, the floor updates to remain connected to the walls.
 A series of equidistant windows have been placed along a wall.
When the length of the wall changes, the windows redistribute to remain equidistant across the length of the wall.
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
Modeling not Drawing or Drafting
• Increasing accuracy and efficiency in the design, construction, and operation processes
 Object-based Modeling

Database of semantically-rich building objects and properties

Computability: cost estimation, energy consumption, etc.
 3D Modeling

Design visualization
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Generating 2D construction documents
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Parametric modeling engines
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Design intent
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Design change and options: quick, interactive, early and late design phases

Building Information Modeling
 Revit is purpose-built [with domain knowledge ] software for building information modeling.
 Traditional drafting and CAD software: illustrations are independent of one another, e.g. plans, elevations, and sections.
 In BIM software such as Revit, a design is a series of intelligent objects and elements with parametric attributes .
 You extract different (3D model) views from the single database , e.g. a 2D elevation or 3D rendering.
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Working with Revit Elements and Families
 Building elements are the building blocks of a project.
 When you place an element in a model, the individual element is called an instance of that element type .
 Instances can be classified as Model, Annotation, and View.
Model
Annotation
View
Elements such as walls, windows, doors, and roofs that help in the 3D representation of the building design.
Elements such as dimensions, tags, and elevation symbols that establish context or add supplementary information to document a building design.
Elements such as plans, elevations, sections,
3D views, and schedules that dynamically represent the parts of a building model.
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Working with Revit Elements and Families
There are five categories of building elements.
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Working with Revit Elements and Families
There are five categories of building elements.
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Categories, Families, Types, and Instances
© 2007 Autodesk
Categories: All objects in the building model are assigned a category.
All doors in a project belong to the category Doors . This broad category is further broken down into families.
Families: Families are groupings of like geometry . Continuing with the door example, a single flush door belongs to a different family than a double door with glass in it because the geometry of the two types of doors is different.
Types: All design objects have a type. (A type is the same as a class.)
The type defines what properties ( values ) an object has, how it interacts with other objects, and how it draws itself into each different kind of representation. ( with a family, different types have the same set of parameters but different values ).
Instances: An instance is simply a single object of a type in the building model.
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Wall:

Wall:

Working with Revit Elements and Families
 Families are groups of similar elements.
 A family integrates elements that have the same parameters, identical use, and similar graphical representation.
 Every family can contain multiple types.
1.
Double glass door
2.
Overhead-sectional glass door
3.
Single-flush vision door
4.
Single-flush door
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Working with Revit Elements and Families
 Families are groups of similar elements.
 A family integrates elements that have the same parameters, identical use, and similar graphical representation.
 Every family can contain multiple types.
1.
Double glass door
2.
Overhead-sectional glass door
3.
Single-flush vision door
4.
Single-flush door
A door can easily be swapped for a different kind of door because they are in the same category. You cannot make a wall and then change it into a window because they are in different categories.

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