Session 4 Ah Whats the Program Doc Revit for Planning Jay Zallan Handout

Ah, What's The Program Doc? Revit for Planning and Programming Projects Jay B Zallan BIM Director Perkowitz+Ruth Architects & Studio111

Class Description Learn how to create outstanding Planning Projects in Revit Architecture. From single client T.I. to large scale Planning and Urban Designs you will learn proven concepts & techniques for creating high quality Revit projects. We will cover several ways to efficiently integrate Planning requirements with down-stream project designers & production teams. Learn how to setup projects and templates so you can prepare documents & presentations that are at once detailed, clearly informative and convincing for your clients (not to mention downright beautiful). You may have new Additional Services after you leave this class. By applying the concepts of this course you will be able to smoothly transition your existing techniques into a more powerful workflow and will be better suited to manage both large views, as well as large numbers of views. This course will instruct attendees on techniques for the Revit BIM platform that are at the heart of every successful planning & design project; focusing on planning, pre design and schematic design protocols, content creation, standardization and setup that will provide fantastic presentation materials and graphics for the all-important client meetings & municipality approvals processes.

Create Master Plan presentations in Revit Create & strategize options to manage multiple concepts Create advanced schedules, parameters and calculated values for

program verification Input, manage & analyze program data through schedules & objects Establish scalable standards for future planning projects

Ah, What's The Program Doc? Revit® for Planning and Programming Projects Jay B Zallan, BIM Director, Perkowitz+Ruth Architects & Studio111

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About the Speaker:

Jay is the VDC Director of BIM at Perkowitz+Ruth Architects & Studio-111. He brings unique & qualified insights into the business & creative processes of Architecture with proven strategies for production & growth. Art - Architecture - Technology - Ideas – These are Jay B. Zallan’s professional passions. He is a Designer, an Artist and a BIM futurist. Jay has more than 20 years of Architectural experience and enjoys a varied & diverse portfolio ranging from High-end Custom Residential Design to large Mixed Use Development projects as well as many practice areas between. He is the Co-President of the Los Angeles Revit Users Group and one of the few people with Autodesk ICE (Implementation Certified Expert) qualification. He frequently speaks and consults on BIM and Virtual Design & Construction. Jay is a recurring presenter at Autodesk University and presents at Universities and other industry events, as well as for the AIA. He is a certified Instructor for Revit, AutoCAD Architecture and AutoCAD and has taught thousands of Architects and Engineers how to use and integrate technology to further their business goals. As an Artist Jay works in a variety of styles & media, constantly experimenting with subject, concept and material. Most works are iconic, large, multi-panel mixed media works. Jay also teaches Art, Architecture & Creativity classes both privately and as a frequently invited guest instructor at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Enabling, empowering and inspiring others to realize their own dreams and creative potentials beyond limitations whether real or perceived. Email [email protected] Blogs http://cad-vs-bim.blogspot.com/

http://losangelesrevitusersgroup.blogspot.com/


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Planning is one of the aspects of AEC where Revit® can be used quite

powerfully, benefiting projects immediately as well downstream into all project phases. To get fast and early reviews of programming needs we create schemas that suit our many needs. Beginning with a master template that has pre-defined components, protocols and standards built in; then move to create other templates based off of that, for each and every other need, such as: Practice Area templates, Project and Client specific templates, etc. More templates can and probably will be created anew, based on these focused templates, perhaps including harvested and most importantly QA/QC’d components from current or previous projects. Done right focused templates can be of substantial benefit to project delivery schedules, quality and client trust. Creating, inputting and presenting the planning data from a single point, such as Revit® is one key to the continuity of information and can ensure that the original design intents and programming requirements are held to.

Templates Topologies Before anything we must formulate a roadmap to ensure predictable results, inclusive of most of our needs. The common roadmap for any project is: Assess / Devise / Generate / Validate.

Assess The type of project will dictate what approach is used and there are

many possible approaches. Herein we will look at several project types: TI and Office, Urban Planning and Client specific projects; in your approach define the scope of the project, based on client program, practice needs, etc. Generate a topology to capture thoughts and ideas, as these will most likely fluctuate so having good process documentation is paramount to train & communicate to colleagues and others.

Devise (Plan) your needs, keeping the end result in mind; “Will this become

an office standard, will it need 3D review or simply 2D and Informational” and on and on. Sketch out what the components and results want to look like –a sort of cartoon set of components and sheet design, etc. At the end of this document


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is included a simple but useful 2 page “Family Planning” document that I use to sketch out & help formulate and plan families, designs and so forth; this way when I get to the actual creation phase I have a good understanding of the items necessary and have a kind of blueprint for blueprints, as it were.

Generate or Create: Need I say more? Well, I will… This is the time to begin

to create the families, key schedules, schedules, parameters (shared & or project), design options and any other components that were deemed necessary in the assessment and planning phases. The suggested workflow is to create prototypes for each individual object, outside of any ‘official’ template first, so validation can be accomplished without creating havoc in final template files. Best Practice: PROTOTYPE FIRST; whenever creating any family, etc.

Validate. The QA & QC phase. Flex all families in both the family editor as

well as in a proxy project, again before bringing them into any prospective project or template. Test all other components & schedules, etc. we only want completely functional and tested objects into Revit®.

Family Testing in the Family Editor Flex each parameter one-by-one. Check all visibilities, etc. Family Testing in a Proxy Project Place family in a Non-Production test project; Create instance for each Type & verify each parameter and all visibilities, etc. work as desired. Save a final copy (assuming all is ok) and load into actual projects.


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Urban Master Planning These projects may start with several “context” building families, Room or zones, families, key schedules, schedules… and/or or include fully modeled buildings in Revit®: When planning your projects and templates remember to list out any calculations desired as well.

While In-Place families ‘can’ be used I prefer to stick with component (externally built) families for fully modeled contextual “buildings”.

Urban Design Projects utilizing site, contextual models and Revit® model studies


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Generating Topography objects (and potentially context models) from existing digital data such as CAD, points files, *etc.* is one way to get the plan going quickly. 3D topography information does not always exist early on in some projects though, so to create early phase project topographies one can use the built in Revit site tools or the growing number of add-ins such as EaglePoint’s SiteWorks & Landcadd for Revit. Context can be started off as either topographies, floors or simply as Area Plans. Below is an example of a compelling, yet simple model using a topography created natively in Revit by temporarily overlaying a 2D Survey and creating in place extrusions for surrounding buildings, using assumed heights gathered from site visits. To keep the models simple, each set of contextual buildings (that were to be the same height) were modeled as one same family. Masses and area plans were utilized to prove out if the program was being met and several illustrative presentation graphics were created giving a very thorough exploration of the concepts that the client and design team required.


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Entertainment Studio Project created in Revit® as a simple site model and several

context model families. Rendered in Artlantis.

Calculations Many calculations can be performed quite early on in planning projects; below is a calculation for LEED credits, with Number of persons below that: if(and(ROOMS_ID > 0, LEED_Room_Day Light Factor > 2), "Yes", "No")

“Qualifies for (LEED) credit” calculation


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“Number of persons” calculation

(Area / DOORS_Occupancy_SquareFootagePerPerson) / 1' ^ 2 + 0.5 Note: Since the parameter names above don’t use “normal” English I do not suggest that syntax (I.E. no spaces and some use underscores) I strongly suggest using only “Modified Sentence Case” as a rule. Notice how confusing the examples above look… this is a result of multiple people using different processes (read as: not caring about clarity, or others)… That makes management more difficult at best… It is recommended to plan and write out all necessary calculations and mappings to/for parameters: Hint When writing Calculated Values into a Revit® project use an application like Notepad to write them out, since in the Revit® Schedule environment copying and pasting partial formulas doesn’t work.

Master Building Template There are many master planning possibilities, overall neighbourhood or development, another more property specific and detailed with interior building zones defined, etc. We can create templates that can handle all of them by embedding the appropriate families, views, levels, etc. In this example, part of the early data we like to report early on is for parking. These calculations will vary per municipal jurisdictions, etc. In this file we use a calculated value “Parking Requirements” with the formula: (Gross Floor Area / 1000 SF) * 3, since we are required 3 spaces per 1,000 SF.


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Detailed planning file with examples of multiple floor layouts

Detailed (more granular) Planning As discussed we want to create several objects, including a base set of mass families for each kind of possible building and portion of buildings. We also create schedules, views and sheets; if a standard set (or sets) of sheets are traditionally used it is recommended to also build these into the template to reduce redundant creation into the future. Hint: The building ‘parts’ families should have colors that relate to the colors used in Color Fill Schemes, if those will be used as well. For any parameter that “may” want to be scheduled and/or tagged remember to use shared parameters.

Note: When placing mass families (or many other families for that matter)and you do not immediately see the family at the end of your cursor then check the ribbon and

select “place on work plane”, instead of ‘place on face”.


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With the masses in place Floor Areas are generated by selecting all of the masses and choosing Mass Floors. This will generate the Areas of the masses and allow the calculated values to calculate. In this file you can set the mass heights to account for the entire building, as if it will have the same layout throughout (below); or create distinct layouts for each level (above).

Building Planning Template with base set of objects; note the schedule on the right is for

sheets, and rounds the parking totals and shows fewer parameter fields.


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Building Planning Project example

New Office Planning Template 2D Building Block Groups Program First. Gathering a comprehensive program of necessary data is of utmost import. The use of Schedules; both of elements and Schedule Keys are used in concert with one another, so having known values can be a make or break for streamlined processes in many cases. Input Once, Use Repeatedly. The assessment and planning for this type of project deems it necessary for a great deal of repetitive data to be included in the project, such as departments, schematic room names, etc. Therefore we will use Schedule Keys to allow us one point of input while providing unlimited instances of use.


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Plan view of ‘building block’ room groups for bubble diagramming

Room Schedule Keys (AKA: Styles) As mentioned, to lessen the repetition of typing we use one of the powerful functionalities in Revit®: Schedule Keys (also referred to as key schedules or key styles), in this case associated with Rooms.

The Schedule Key creation dialog

Room schedule keys are exceptional to help in the process of programming setup & input; as described previously, this functionality is key (pun intended) to reducing repetitive input, as Key schedules allow many fields to be pulled into


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Schedules, simply by selecting the correct Key from a drop down in the schedule, as illustrated below.

Room “Key Schedule” above a Room Schedule

Create Schedules to manage data and help communicate. Room schedules are the second main component in the planning template and since they are used in concert with schedule keys will give a single point of input


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for standardized, repetitive data (schedule keys) and another point of input for the other requirements of a program, such as the rooms themselves (room schedule). These components should be created based on the program(s) obviously, rather than generically in most cases; this is one of the factors requiring a tiered template schema.

Use both management and presentation schedules for maximum flexibility! Note the name of the schedule above; I like to use *Mgmt as a prefix to group all of the management schedules at the top of the project browser subgroup, as well as to provide schedules that can be changed for any scenario, without affecting the schedules on sheets. The schedules that are intended for sheets & publication have names in ALL CAPS, while the management schedules use Modified Sentence Case. The use of management schedules (and views) allows one to see any or all possible data, independent of the published set.

Create Room (grouped or not grouped) The Room Type Groups below include a default set of items that will be used to create the Bubble diagrams. For this example the template has embedded “starter” families/groups in the modeling environment, this was based on team preference. In the examples throughout this, you might have noticed that we match (as close as possible due to transparency, etc.) Rooms, Areas & Masses for their metadata & color values, so they mimic one another and can be combined for a range of possible dynamic diagrams; although one could use either OR both methods…


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Template file with project Room Types pre-built as groups

Groups such as these are comprised of Room Separation lines, Rooms and Room Tags.

Copy both the group and detail group when laying out the design. Keep the groups arranged with gaps between each, thus allowing layouts

to stay flexible and variable on demand, while not creating warnings (always the best (or only) approach: Zero warnings all the time).

It is important to note that using groups in this way is only one method possible and freestanding room separation lines, rooms & tags can and should be used in many situations; perhaps your firm or office has needs that groups are not used too often generally or specifically… do consider the benefit of both methods when choosing.


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Image showing the ribbon where new rooms are added within a schedule

Add new rooms from the management room schedule before enabling design options and before placing any rooms into the project modeling environment. This will save hundreds or thousands of wasted clicks to input, rename, etc. –See image above.

Client Specific Template: University Addition This Client template was developed to give dynamic, live rough costs, sizes and 2D & 3D schematic layouts with a fixed number of buildings possible. The client was able to be involved with moving the building-blocks around at programming and SD meetings and as expected from Revit® when the families and layouts were modified, the schedules functionality to immediately report the impact of those changes cultivated an enhanced relationship between client and Architect: due in part to this ability to see and respond much more dynamically to conceptual ideas and their impact, without waiting. Families & schedules, in the example below, were created to give this client 2D representations that they were traditionally used to, while allowing them to begin to evaluate the concept in 3D as well, forwarding the BIM process as well. The client had a hesitation at using 3D; as it was expressed they believed that using BIM & 3D was cost prohibitive for such a ‘small’ project. This became their first real introduction to using BIM & Revit® and from their interactions with this project they are moving forward into BIM and away from purely 2D CAD.


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Plan view of a (University) Client specific Template using Mass families for preliminary

planning. Watching the schedules update nearly instantaneously, as we switched to different types of these objects was quite impressive and allowed greater freedom for the entire team and on-demand preliminary cost analysis.


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Early mass family and its parameters

Once in the project analysis is performed using a mass schedule; the parameters and calculated values generate a preliminary cost. Note that similar mass families are able to be used in detailed multi-floor urban design files discussed elsewhere in this document.

Mass schedule calculating preliminary costs, size.


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More Calculation(s) Cost Per SF * Gross Floor Area / (1' * 1') is the calculated value that gets us the desired predesign estimate. -See image below

The calculated value properties in the mass schedule

One simply inputs a numerical amount into the “Cost Per SF” parameter field, either from the components themselves or from the schedule (my favorite way, as well as a best practice) and the calculated value will keep a running tally for you. Next arrange the building blocks (AKA mass families) into desired schematic layout(s) and you’re off and running. If multiple options are necessary one can always use several files but since schedules can report values from individual Design Options we can simply create Design Options to allow evaluation of multiple layouts & plans from the single project and compare/contrast side by side. Design Options will be discussed later in this document. An Important Note on Calculated Values: If you were wondering what the (1’ * 1’) is, in the calculated value then you will surely like the following…


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"Let's assume that you are using Cost parameter available in Wall type as your unit cost. When

you assign numeric value to Cost Revit® has no idea what is the meaning of this parameter. It

could be cost per square foot, cost per square inch, cost per linear foot, cost per wall instance,

etc. You are the only one who knows the meaning and you use your knowledge while writing a

formula for calculated value in schedule. Revit® just enforces that units of measurement are the

same on the left and right sides of your formula. Let say you want to compute TotalCost

(number parameter) then taking into account the fact that unit Cost is also a number (no units

of measurement) and Area parameter has units of length square you would write:

If Cost is per square foot then TotalCost = Cost * Area / (1' * 1')

If Cost is per square inch then TotalCost = Cost * Area / (1" * 1")

If Cost is per square meter then TotalCost = Cost * Area / (1m * 1m)

If Cost is per linear foot then TotalCost = Cost * Length / (1')

If Cost is per wall instance then TotalCost = Cost

Makes sense?"

-From a posting by LRaiz, in an AUGI discussion found at this link (if it works any longer): http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=17847) Sure does make sense, thanks Leonid: for Revit® also!!! Design options Enable us the ability to manage multiple concepts in a single project. For detailed information on how to use design options (and phasing) refer to the AU session AB118-1 (http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5378) Not Your Dad's CAD: Phasing and Design Options in Autodesk® Revit® Beau Turner & Lonnie Cumpton. In conclusion To get fast and early reviews of programming needs create schemas that suit your various needs. Perhaps beginning with a master template that has pre-defined components, protocols and standards built in; then move to create other templates based off of that one, for each and every other need, such as: Practice Area templates, Project and Client specific templates, etc. More templates can and probably will be created anew, based on these focused templates, perhaps including harvested and most importantly QA/QC’d components from current or previous projects.


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Done right focused templates can be of substantial benefit to project delivery schedules, quality and client trust. Creating, inputting and presenting the planning data from a single point, such as Revit® is one key to the continuity of information and can ensure that the original design intents and programming requirements are held to. Additionally starting off using Revit® at the earliest possible time is beneficial to overall project delivery and consistency.

Documents

Session 4 Ah Whats the Program Doc Revit for Planning Jay Zallan Handout