Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
or architect provides the pad. If the equipment you are creating always
requires a pad, you can build it directly in the equipment family—that's
assuming that you are responsible for placing and sizing the pad. When the
structural engineer is responsible for the equipment pad, you can use the
Offset parameter of your mechanical equipment to elevate it on top of the
pad.
You can also use the Align tool to align your equipment to the architectural
wall, floor, or ceiling; however, your equipment will not move with the
architectural element if that model is adjusted.
Once you have determined the hosting behavior of an equipment family,
you can build the solid geometry of the equipment in relation to the host
object or reference plane that represents how the family will be placed into
a model.
Family Categories
There are essentially two choices for categorizing your equipment families:
Mechanical or Electrical Equipment. This may seem limiting, but keep in
mind that you can make any subcategories you choose. It may be necessary
to categorize an equipment family as some other model category, depending
on how it is used in your projects. This is typically done for visibility control
or scheduling purposes, although for scheduling the most common way is
to use a parameter for filtering out just the equipment you want to display
in your schedule. Variable air volume (VAV) boxes need to be in a different
schedule than boilers, although both of them are mechanical equipment. By
creating a parameter such as Schedule Filter and assigning the value in the
VAV box family to, say, VAV, you will be able to schedule (filter out) VAV
boxes separately from the other equipment in the project. Alternatively, if
you use a rigid naming structure in your family names or type marks, these
can be used to separate out the different equipment elements in schedules.
