Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Modeling Spaces for Building Load Analysis
The key to any successful building load analysis, as well as energy analysis,
lies with accurately modeling the spaces within the building. Components
that need to be modeled for each space include, but are not limited to,
building construction, such as walls, roofs, and floor slabs; external shading
and windows; internal loads, such as the number of people, the activity
within the space, the heat gain from lighting, and the equipment operated
within the space; and external factors, such as solar heat gain to the space,
weather and typical outdoor temperatures, and infiltration. These are but
a handful of factors that need to be addressed for each space that is being
created. Each of these factors has several significant inputs that can affect
the reporting of heating and cooling loads within the space.
Creating Spaces
Firstthingsfirst—spacesneedtobecreatedintheprojectfile.Why?Itseems
redundant to create spaces, seeing as how the architectural model already
has rooms created and defined, right?
Not so.
In Revit MEP,
spaces
are created within room-bounding elements such as
walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, and room separation lines that exist in a linked
architecturalmodelorfromthesetypesofelementswithinyourMEPmodel.
This means that the same elements that define a room in the architectural
model define the spaces in your MEP model. Spaces carry the engineering
data that is necessary for analysis, whereas rooms contain the information
requiredbythearchitects.AfterloadingyourMEPprojectandlinkinginthe
appropriate architectural model, you want to make sure that the elements
that make up a room—walls, doors, ceilings, and so on—will define your
MEP space accurately.
Figure 8.1
shows a sample building model with
rooms.
