Lighting Design - Coefficient of Utilization Calculation in Revit

When Revit 2019 came out, it included an enhancement that corrected the Coefficient of Utilization Calculation for Absolute Photometry. However, there are still some things to be aware of, which I will cover using Revit 2024 in today's post.

keep reading to learn more...

IES Monterrey Mexico - Lighting Innovation Symposium 2023 - Recap

I had the great pleasure of attending and presenting at the first annual Lighting Innovation Symposium hosted by the IES Monterrey Section last week. In today's post I would like to share the highlights and encourage lighting design professionals to put this event on their radar... to support a great chapter and visit an amazing city.

keep reading to learn more...

IES Mexico - Lighting Innovation Symposium 2023

Later this month, I have the opportunity to attend and present in person at an Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) event on lighting design in Monterrey, Mexico. The local IES chapter is hosting a symposium, and I will be presenting alongside a great lineup of professionals in the lighting design industry.

keep reading to learn more...

University of Minnesota - Spring 2023 Lighting Design Presentation

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to present (remotely) on lighting design at the University of Minnesota.

Today's post will highlight my presentation, where I discussed:

• Design Performance at Lake|Flato
• Electric lighting: Lighting design using Revit + Elumtools
• Daylighting: Access and glare using Rhino + Climate Studio

keep reading to learn more...

New ElumTools Training - Professional Lighting Design within Revit

I am excited to announce a new live online training series I will be doing with Lighting Analysts, Inc. (Revalize) on ElumTools... the professional lighting design add-in for Autodesk Revit.

Here are the two sessions:

• Introduction to Revit and ElumTools for Lighting Designers (4 hours)
• Basic ElumTools for Interior and Exterior Lighting (4 hours)

keep reading to learn more...

The IES BIM Committee requests your help!

BIM Chapters intro: The following article is an excerpt from the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Standards Bulletin, a monthly email. Please read it and then consider upvoting the Revit Ideas i've linked at the end. FYI: I am the chair of the IES BIM Standards committee.

FEATURED ARTICLE: BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM) STANDARDS

 

By Rebecca Mintz, secretary, IES BIM Committee

 

The IES BIM Committee requests your help!

 

Have you been unhappy with the process of documenting lighting in BIM software, specifically Revit*? Do you wish there were features that the software had to make the lighting workflow more compatible with those of other trades?

 

From the survey conducted by our committee last year, we heard your frustration and are working hard to get Autodesk to listen to the lighting community. However, we need your help!

 

Autodesk uses public opinion to decide how to implement new features via its Revit Ideas forum. Users post requests; other users vote on the requests. Autodesk takes notice of posts that have a high number of votes, generally those with more than 100 votes.

 

That’s where we need your help! The IES BIM Committee has taken all the feedback we received from the survey responses and created a series of requests on the forum. Two posts have been on the forum for a while but haven’t received enough votes to reach Autodesk’s attention:

1. Multiple Light Sources in a single Family, without nesting. This request was authored by IES BIM Committee member Matt Kincaid and addresses the fact that nesting is required for lighting families to have more than one light source. Nesting is problematic for aiming and photometric calculations. For more information, read Matt’s post and vote!
2. Visibility Below Cut Plane In RCP. For many of us, it is helpful to see architectural elements, like furniture or step lights, that wouldn’t typically be shown on a Reflected Ceiling Plan as we lay out our designs. Currently, Revit doesn’t have a good way of showing that. There are workarounds, like making the cut plane close to the floor, but they all have their downsides. Allowing for visibility of elements below the cut plane would make it easier for us to see what we need without messy workarounds.

Please click on the links above and vote for these ideas, as well as any other ideas you see there that you would like to have implemented! If we band together and vote, we are hopeful that Autodesk will recognize that the lighting industry is worth pleasing!

 

We will also be highlighting feature requests each month in social media. If you see a post and want to share it, please do! Let’s advocate for our workflow needs and our industry recognition!

 

Also, please share these ideas with anyone and everyone! We thank you for your help advocating for the lighting industry’s needs in Revit.

 

* The IES BIM Committee does not endorse any particular BIM software. However, we recognize that Autodesk Revit is the most used software. For that reason, we are focusing our current efforts on improving its usability for the IES and lighting communities.

----------------------------------------- 

Revit Ideas

Each Revit Idea is linked below. You need to log in using a free Autodesk account. Use these steps to speed up the process:

1. Click the first link below
2. Log in to your Autodesk account (or create one for free)
3. Click the vote button
4. Leave this tab open (keeps you logged in)
5. Click and vote for the remaining links (close each after voting)

Families - lights on sloped ceilings (6 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/families-lights-on-sloped-ceilings/idi-p/10951427

Schedules - Print Schedules (219 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/print-schedules-without-placing-on-sheets/idi-p/8528302

Schedules - Spell check (345 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/spell-check-in-schedules/idi-p/6255700

Schedules - Edit in sheet (421 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/edit-schedule-directly-on-sheet/idi-p/6598772

Schedules - Multi-line text (274 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/allow-schedules-to-display-multi-line-input-properly/idi-p/6859386

Schedules - Copy/Paste data (3 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/schedules-copy-paste-data/idi-p/10951492

Schedules - Sheet formatting visibility control (5 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/schedules-sheet-formatting-visibility-control/idi-p/10951497

Multiple light sources, without having to nest families (29 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/multiple-light-sources-in-a-single-family-without-nesting/idi-p/10574036

Support for new lighting definition - gldf (2 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/support-for-new-lighting-definition-gldf/idi-p/10951501

Families - toggle hosting methods (132 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/easily-change-hosted-family-to-non-hosted-family/idi-p/8582106

Update built-in parameters (7 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/update-built-in-parameters/idi-p/10951511

Support for MEP Logical Systems across Linked Models (3 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/support-for-mep-logical-systems-across-linked-models/idi-p/10951517

Support for ANSI/IES TM-32-19 Lighting Parameters (2 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/support-for-ansi-ies-tm-32-19-lighting-parameters/idi-p/10951521

Locate fixtures in an array - along a curve or a path (58 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/array-along-a-path/idi-p/8231208

RCP - Improved Visibility Control (14 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/visibility-below-cut-plane-in-rcp/idi-p/8307183

Improve copy-monitor workflows (2 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/improve-copy-monitor-workflows/idi-p/10951532

Lighting Fixture - multiple zone control support (3 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/lighting-fixture-multiple-zone-control-support/idi-p/10951535 

Improve Support for Type B Photometric Files (*.IES files) (9 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/improve-support-for-type-b-photometric-files-ies-files/idi-p/9831091

Lighting Fixture - MEP connector enhancements (2 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/lighting-fixture-mep-connector-enhancements/idi-p/10951542

Design Options - MEP related enhancements (2 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/design-options-mep-related-enhancements/idi-p/10951547

Type catalogs enhanced to support photometry (2 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/type-catalogs-enhanced-to-support-photometry/idi-p/10951558

Update CSI OmniClass Table 23 (2 votes)
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/update-csi-omniclass-table-23/idi-p/10951561

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For BIM Chapters updates, follow @DanStine_MN on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn

Check out my video-based  courses on ArchSmarter.

I also write blog posts for Enscape - a new paradigm in rendering, animation and VR for AEC.

University of Minnesota - Lighting Design Presentation

Yesterday I had the opportunity to present on lighting design at the University of Minnesota. Today's post will highlight my presentation where I discussed:

• Design Performance at Lake|Flato
• Workflow (electric lighting): Lighting design using Revit + Elumtools
• Workflow (daylighting): Access and glare using Rhino + Climate Studio

keep reading to learn more...

My Online Courses - Lighting, Energy, MEP, Visualization

Keen on learning something new to close out a crazy year? Or, perhaps you are looking for a professional development item to add to your annual goals for next year?

I have four reasonably priced online courses you can start working on right away!

• Lighting analysis ($120 ea)
• Energy Optimization ($99)
• MEP for Remodels and Alternates ($99)
• Visualization using Revit and Enscape ($99)

keep reading to learn more...

UofM College of Design Presentation - Lighting Design

Yesterday I had the opportunity to present on lighting design at the University of Minnesota. Today's post will highlight my presentation...

Thanks to LHB for supporting me in these opportunities!

Keep reading to learn more...

BILT Europe 2019 - Professional Lighting Analysis for Architects

I will be presenting on professional lighting design with a focus  on a BIM-centric workflow at BILT Europe 2019 on a couple weeks in Edinburgh, Scotland!. Today's post is a sneak peak at what I will be presenting on... including some material from my 64-page handout.

keep reading to learn more...

Revit's Initial Intensity Settings for Lighting Fixtures

I am super excited to be speaking at Lightfair tomorrow in Chicago, on Revit Families Done Right. I will be presenting with Matt Kincaid, lighting expert and software developer at Lighting Analysts, Inc., makers of ElumTools add-in for Revit and AGI32.

As mentioned yesterday, here is some helpful information about Revit's Initial Intensity settings for Lighting Fixture families. Enjoy!

Based on Revit's Initial Intensity dialog shown above...

Lighting in Revit 2019 + Lightfair 2018!

Next month I have the privilege of speaking at Lightfair International 2018 in Chicago. #LFI2018

Lightfair is "The world's largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference."

More on my specific session in a later post!

Speaking of lighting, Revit 2019 just came out and includes an enhancement related to lighting. Specifically, they corrected the Coefficient of Utilization Calculation for Absolute Photometry.

At a high level, it does seem that they have fixed the major problems with absolute photometry. But there are still some significant items to be aware of. Read on to learn more...

Revit Lighting Fixtures; Switching

Following up on my previous post, Revit Lighting Fixtures; Control Options, I want to cover Revit's ability - and limitations- related to switching.

When you have light fixtures and switches (devices) placed, you can specify which switch controls which lights. It was originally only part of Revit MEP, and does not tie into the Lighting Groups covered in the previous post.

This feature is mainly used in documentation. Tags are added to indicate which switch controls which lights. This is typically only done when there are multiple switches in an area.. otherwise it is obvious and tagging is just unnecessary clutter on the drawings.

When you select a light fixture in Revit, the Switch option is presented on the Ribbon.

Once a Switch system is created for a light fixture...