Autodesk Uninstall Tool

Uninstalling an Autodesk product can be tricky as there are a lot of components installed. In the image below, within Windows Control Panel, I filtered the view for 2017. This lists everything with "2017" in the name, which still may not be everything associated with the product.

Here I would have to select each item and uninstall one at a time. This means you have to be sitting at the computer otherwise things pause...

• FYI: when doing it this way, I like to work backwards. Uninstalling minor things like the material library first and Revit itself last. Sometimes add-ins will not uninstall if Revit is not present.

Autodesk provides a quick any easy way to uninstall one of their products. In the Windows Start menu they offer an Uninstall Tool as seen below.

Notice in the next image, the various products are grouped. Checking the highest level item automatically checks all the sub-items.

Once started, each sub-item is uninstalled automatically. The progress can be seen with the green check marks and a red blinking arrow next to the item currently being removed.

As you can see this still does not uninstall third-party add-ins. For example, the CTC BIM Project Suite and ElumTools add-ins shown in the first image would still need to be uninstalled manually in the Windows Control Panel.

Here is a short video showing what the progress looks like.

Revit Ceiling Placement Bug - Fixed in Revit 2018

There is a odd bug that worked it's way into Revit not too long ago... while in a reflected ceiling plan view, there is a rather common situation in which you cannot place a ceiling. When there is an exposed end of a wall which defines the perimeter of the room, as pointed out below, then you cannot place a ceiling using the Automatic Ceiling option.

Revit 2017 Cannot Place a Ceiling in this Room

Given the many other more complex conditions within a given room, this may not be an obvious problem to many designers.

Surprisingly, this is still a problem in Revit 2017, and 2016 I think. The only way to place a ceiling in this room is to switch to Sketch Ceiling mode. Thankfully, this issue is now fixed in Revit 2018.

Revit 2018 Fixes the Ceiling Placement Bug

Here is a short video showing the problem in 2017 and the fix in 2018.

Of course this condition exists in a room within my Commercial Design Using Autodesk Revit textbook used by high school, college and university students all around the USA, so that is fun for them, their instructors and myself as I received a few questions about this!

• By the way, instructors/professors using my books in their classes can email me anytime with questions. My email address is located in the Instructor's Guide on the SDC Publications website (see link pointed out in image below); accessible by instructors only, of course (notice they can also request a free exam copy!).

Autodesk Insight 360 - Walls; Part 6

In the first two posts on Insight and walls, we looked at how conceptual and schematic wall constructs are applied when mass elements and Revit's wall elements are used. Those  posts can be found here:

• Autodesk Insight 360 - Walls; Part 1
• Wall construction based on mass elements and energy settings
• Autodesk Insight 360 - Walls: Part 2
• Wall construction based on Revit elements and energy settings

In this post I want to highlight how Revit's materials can be used to define the thermal properties of a wall's construction.

In the Energy Settings > Other Options dialog, checking Detailed Elements tells Revit to use the thermal properties associated with each material used in the wall assemble.

Notice, the default Revit materials have a Thermal asset associated with them as seen in the image below. Also notice, the combined total of the wall assembly, based on thermal properties and the thickness of each layer, is listed in the Edit Assembly dialog. In this example, the selected wall type has an R value of about 32.

Before creating the EAM, as a test, I made sure and set the Schematic Types wall construction to an uninsulated wall, and no override in the Schematic Types section. This way we know the value within Insight is coming from the Material's thermal properties.

Below is a slightly more detailed model I used for this example.

This is what the EAM looks like. The jagged lines represent the thermal zoning... if you look closely you will see there is a below and above the ceiling. The EAM understands a space is not occupied when it's height is less than a specific value (5'-0" I think).

For the first example, I changed the thickness of the walls Rigid Insulation layer to 1" (it was 3"). When compared to the previous Edit Assembly image, notice the R value has changed from 32 to 23.

When pushed out to Insight we see the BIM Setting is properly positioned in the R-23 vicinity.

Back in Revit, I changed the Rigid Insulation thickness to a rather unusual 8", per the image below, which equates to R-53, to see what that looks like in Insight.

In this case, the BIM Setting is all the way to the right, which is to the right of the R-38 input.

I am told there are some limits to the rage for inputs when using materials to define a wall's thermal resistance, and in some cases the run will fail and send you an email explaining as much.

Earlier, I mentioned the EAM is tracking occupiable and unoccupiable spaces within the building. When an EAM is first created, Revit also creates an Analytical Spaces schedule as seen in the final image of this post. When your Revit model has Rooms/Spaces, their names and numbers are also listed with each sapce. In this case, the rows lacking this information are the plenum spaces (or mechanical shafs, plumbging spaces, etc.).

• FYI: due to these extra spaces, the total area listed would not match the building area.

Revit 2018.0.1 Hot Fix and 2017.2.1 Update

Hot off the press, the Autodesk Desktop App lists a Hot Fix for Revit 2018 and an Update for Revit 2017 as seen in the image below.

Here is a previous post about updates: http://bimchapters.blogspot.com/p/revit-build-numbers.html. Looks like the Autodesk link has not been updated yet.

Autodesk Insight 360 - Walls; Part 5

In the post we will explore the way Window to Wall Ratio (WWR) is derived when both Revit walls and mass elements define the Energy Analysis Model (EAM). In the previous two ports we looked at each separately.

The image below shows the model used in today's post. The same model with walls from the previous post along with the a mass element added to represent an addition.

Building elements with a mass added to represent an addition

To use both Revit elements and masses in the EAM the Energy Settings dialog must be accordingly as shown in the image below.

Tell Revit to use masses and building elements to create the EAM

Also in the Energy Settings dialog, the WWR can be set. This only applies to the mass element.

Seeing WWR for mass elements

The image below is the EAM as seen in Revit. The walls and windows are explicitly defined by the Revit elements, while the mass element has 40% glazing applied to the three exterior sided.

• FYI: of course the mass element does not know how there will be a parapet so the wall area and WWR are off a little.

EAM in Revit

When pushed out to Insight 360 we see the BIM Setting matches what we saw back in Revit.

Results as seen in Insight 360

In addition to what was defined within Revit, Insight allows the overall WWR to be adjusted for each N/E/S/W face. Simply adjust the sliders to define a range until you are more confident in a specific value. While defining a rage, the Cost/EUI listed is the mean value.

One final note... as a test to see if I could, this entire post was created from my iPad. Everything, except the screen captures. I added the mass element in Revit, created the EAM and used Insight 360 all on the iPad.

The EAM in Revit shown on an iPad

Autodesk Insight 360 - Walls; Part 4

In this installment we will continue to look at how Revit determines the Window to Wall Ratio (WWR) when creating the Energy Analysis Model (EAM) and how that relates to the BIM Setting in Insight 360.

Using the same super simple model from the previous posts, I added three 6 foot square windows as seen in the image below. Notice the east and west facing walls have no windows. Additionally, the north face (not the clothing products) is represented by two separate wall elements.

Here is a quick 3D view with the windows on the south facing wall.

When the EAM is created, we see the modeled windows are now what is represented (compared to analytical windows added to the mass geometry in the previous post). The image below shows a window selected. Notice it is listed as an Operable Window here, whereas the window for the mass element was a Fixed Window. For Revit elements (i.e. Walls, Windows, Curtain wall) a Window family is always listed as an Operable Window and a Curtain Wall is listed as a Fixed Window. I am not sure this makes any difference once in Insight (If I find out I will update this post).

With the EAM pushed out to Insight, we see the BIM Setting (triangle symbol) for the Eastern Walls shows a 0% WWR as we would expect based on the Revit model shown above.

The Southern Walls cost range shows a BIM Setting of 18% which is correct (333sf of wall and 72sf of window), and this calculation does not include the parapet. Awesome.

Finally, the WWR for the Northern Walls is the sum total of both walls and the single window. Hovering the cursor over the BIM Setting lists the actual value.

That's all for today... the next post will cover WWR for a mix of Revit walls and Mass elements. Stay tuned for that...

Autodesk Insight 360 - Walls; Part 3

In the previous two posts on Insight 360 and walls, we looked at how conceptual and schematic wall constructs are applied when mass elements and Revit's wall elements are used. Those  posts can be found here:

• Autodesk Insight 360 - Walls; Part 1,
• Autodesk Insight 360 - Walls: Part 2

In this post I want to highlight how Revit determines the Window to Wall Ratio (WWR). Early on in a project this value does not matter on the Revit side, as there is a dynamic input for WWR for each face (N,E,S,W) of the building. Thus, this input can be changed within Insight irrespective of the Revit model and it's settings.

First, let's see how we define WWR when using mass elements. I am using the same mass model from the "Part 1" post. In case it was not clear in that first post, the entire building is represented by a single mass element. That is interesting when you consider the Energy Analysis Model (EAM) resulted in separate vertical walls in the same plane; Exterior Walls and Underground Walls due to the Ground Plane setting in the Energy Settings dialog.

If we want to set a baseline value of 40% (per ASHRAE 90.1) we can do so in the Advanced Energy Settings dialog. Notice the related Target Sill Height and Glazing is Shaded options.

When the EAM is created, we see the analytical windows are added. In this selected example, the window is 201sf and the remaining above-grade wall is 302sf - thus, 40% of the wall is window. None of the below grade wall is considered in this equation.

When this EAM is pushed out to Insight 360, we see the BIM Setting for the four WWRs is 40%.

• TIP: Notice how the BIM Setting always aligns with zero on the vertical scale.

The great thing about Insight 360 is we can dynamically adjust the WWR without needing to go back into Revit and make changes. In the image below, the Western WWR was adjusted to be 95%, which resulted in the Energy Cost Mean changing from $2.13 (sf/yr)  to a less efficient $2.25 (sf/yr).

• FYI: The $2.13 value was based on a WWR range between 0% and 95%, and the $2.25 is based on a single input of 95%.

Quick closing tip... if you prefer EUI (kBth/sf/yr) over Cost (dollars/sf/yr), simply click on the circle in the upper left corner.

I have a few more posts in mind related to walls, so please stay tuned...