See the top rated post in this thread. Click here

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 25

Thread: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

  1. #1
    I could stop if I wanted to
    Join Date
    2003-10
    Location
    Santa Barbara
    Posts
    397
    Login to Give a bone
    1

    Default

    I just got a response from Ecotect support indicating that they will be supporting REVIT GBXML in their next release, this is sopme really neat energy modelly software for those that havent seen it www.ecotect.com

    (edit sd: fiixed the link to the ecotectsite)

  2. #2
    Super Moderator beegee's Avatar
    Join Date
    2003-05
    Location
    crusing 11 kms above Australia
    Posts
    5,153
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    Ecotect looks good !

    Also check out Green Building Studio

  3. #3
    AUGI Addict hand471037's Avatar
    Join Date
    2003-05
    Location
    Oakland, California
    Posts
    1,934
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    ECOTECT Also supports Radiance, for those of you out there who might have been interested in this Rendering software.

    This is great news! I love ECOTECT. I wonder if it's going to support the full 3D importing of the model. I've picked throught the GBXML files, and it looks like some 3D info is in there, but I don't know if it would be enough to re-create the model in full 3D....

  4. #4
    I could stop if I wanted to
    Join Date
    2003-06
    Location
    Manchester, NH
    Posts
    222
    Login to Give a bone
    1

    Default Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    I've picked throught the GBXML files, and it looks like some 3D info is in there, but I don't know if it would be enough to re-create the model in full 3D....
    gbXML is not meant to be a full 3D import export of the entire model. It is a "lightweight" import export of the basic model geometry. There are a number of limitations and approximations made for the model geometry that can be constructed in Revit and what gbXML will accept as a valid surface.

    Some of the current behavior is documented below:
    Levels
    The levels in the model will be used to create building floor-to-floor heights. The placement of levels at appropriate elevations is important for the validity of the exported gbXML file. Actual floors and roofs in the model are not supported at this time. The export will create simple flat floors and ceilings from the room polygons and levels. Sloped floors and roofs are ignored for now.

    Design Options
    The Design option used for export is the Active Design Option.

    Openings
    Openings for each vertical surface will be computed from the extents of the windows, doors or openings belonging to each wall. Openings in curved walls, floors, roofs and ceilings are not supported at this time.

    Material
    No materials from the Revit model components are transformed into thermal and optical properties for the surface definitions in gbXML at this time. If you are using the Green Building StudioTM web service, default properties for the specified building type and location will be supplied during processing.

    Phase
    The Project Phase used for export is Last Phase

    Postal Code
    The Project Address parameter under Settings > Project Information is searched for a zip code. Any five-character sequence that is numeric and greater than 999 is considered a zip code. If several instances are found, then the last one is used. The zip code is used to define the geographic location of the building.

    Spaces
    Each space is currently extracted as a zone. All rooms marked with room tags are collected and processed story by story. The boundaries, walls, or room dividers surrounding the room are measured by their center lines. A planar polygon is formed by extending and trimming these boundary segments. Each boundary segment may be divided into smaller line segments as for curved walls. The resulting polygon defining a room will define the polygon of a space. The polygon is scanned for duplicated vertices and these vertices are removed if possible. There can be no more than 120 vertices in a polygon at this time.

    Space Types
    ASHRAE enumerated space types are not supported in the Revit model at this time. If you are using Green Building Studio web service, default space types will be supplied during processing.

    Stories
    All levels are sorted by elevation and processed to see if they qualify as a story. To qualify, a level needs to have room tags and boundaries. After the stories have been determined, the height for each story is set. For all stories except the top one, the height is set to the difference in elevation up to the next story. The height of the top story is set to the maximum height of the walls belonging to that level, relative to the elevation of the story.

    Surfaces
    The room bounding polygon will define a space’s floor and ceiling. A floor or slab surface will be created for each space, depending on which story the space belongs to. If the space belongs to the lowest story, then the surface will be a slab; otherwise it will be a floor. A ceiling or a roof surface will be created for each space, depending on the story. If the space belongs to the highest story, then the surface will be a floor; otherwise it will be a ceiling. Single surfaces that transition from an interior to an exterior, such as floor overhangs or cantilevers, are not supported at this time and will be treated as interior surfaces.

    For each segment of the room boundaries, a vertical surface will be created. If the segment belongs to two rooms (boundary between two rooms), then the wall surface will be an interior wall. If the segment belongs to one room (boundary to one room), then the wall surface will be considered an exterior wall. The height of the surfaces will be set to the height of the story. All surfaces created from the room bounding elements will be extended up to next story, in order to form a solid space. A wall surface can belong to two spaces, but will only be output once in the gbXML export file.

    True North and Shared Coordinates
    If the model is a linked file to a host using Shared Coordinates, then all coordinates will be transformed according to the active location. The azimuth for the surfaces will be calculated according to the True North specified by the active location.

    Units
    If the Length Units in the Revit model are set to any English unit, then the coordinates, areas, and volumes will be specified in corresponding Feet, Square Feet, and Cubic Feet. If the Length Units in the model are set to Metric, then the coordinates, areas, and volumes will be specified in corresponding Meters (m), Square Meters and Cubic Meters.

    Volume & Area
    The area for the space is computed by the defining planar polygon (described previously under “Spaces”). The average height is determined for the space by calculating the vertical areas of the surrounding walls and the perimeter of the planar defining polygon. The volume for the space is then computed from the average height and the area.

    hth

    jason

  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    2004-05
    Location
    Petaluma, CA USA
    Posts
    3
    Login to Give a bone
    1

    Default Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    Hello all.

    I am glad to see that Square One will be enhancing ECOTECT to read gbXML. If anyone from Square One reads this please contact me so we can assist you with any questions you may have.

    Everyone should realize, as I think some posts here have indicated, that gbXML is intended to streamline the ability to do various analyses with your building by eliminating the "take-off" step for entering geometry into another program.

    gbXML contains the thermal model geometry of the building including shading surfaces. It also has elements that can contain the majority of information necessary for doing green building analyses. I encourage you all to try our Green Building Studio web service as early as you have your building form designed in Revit 6.1 or later to get imeadiate energy use values.

    Our service is applicable for buildings located in the USA, but we will be enabling it in other countries as demand requires.

  6. #6
    AUGI Addict Scott Hopkins's Avatar
    Join Date
    2003-05
    Location
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Posts
    1,197
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    Along these same lines, see this latest press release from Autodesk...

    http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...linkID=1977925

  7. #7
    I could stop if I wanted to ita's Avatar
    Join Date
    2003-09
    Location
    Perth Australia
    Posts
    365
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Smile Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    Ecotect V5.xx will read and load 3ds files (this can be achieved by Revit>ADT or Autocad>Vis, however most 3ds models imported are too complex for accurate modelling. My understanding is that this is an issue with many energy or emnvironment modellers. The imported models mostlt have two planes to define matertial or element thickness and so read the two surfaces as a combined thickeness - thus doubling the R value of the element when ecotect reads the model for analysis.

    I find it simpler, quicker and achieve a more accurate result to sketch the model in the
    Ecotect modeller. Because Ecotect is interested in the material envelope of the zone, which is represented by single planes - complex modelling is not required to achieve outstanding results.

    For Oz users, Andrew Marsh is a grad from the School of Architecture at University of Western Australia, and developed Ecotect during his encumberance as a lecturer - all the daylight and weather tables for Oz towns and cities are readliy available as standard.

    Personally I find Ecotect an absolutelu in valable tool. I make the most user from modelling an opening in a wall and designing the sun shade - from the rev erse analysis capabilities of the app.

  8. #8
    All AUGI, all the time janunson's Avatar
    Join Date
    2003-07
    Location
    Grand Rapids, MI
    Posts
    650
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    I have version 5.2, and can't find any indications that i can import GBXML. Is this still a future feature?

    Square One's site is down at the moment so i can't refer to their docs, but it sure would be great to get some good analasys tools that read right from Revit, so we can do a little less duplicate modeling...

  9. #9
    All AUGI, all the time janunson's Avatar
    Join Date
    2003-07
    Location
    Grand Rapids, MI
    Posts
    650
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    Slight change on the Square 1 site - they now have a message (Whew! they're still there!) saying they'll be back soon -

    http://www.squ1.com/
    Quote Originally Posted by www.squ1.com
    This site is currently closed for maintenance -- but we will be launching our new website, brand new version of ECOTECT (and our other software), as well as lots of other goodies,
    very, very soon.



    So please check back again shortly, when we will be back on-line with all things brand new!



    (Updated January 2006)

  10. #10
    AUGI Addict Joef's Avatar
    Join Date
    2003-12
    Location
    Victoria, BC
    Posts
    1,273
    Login to Give a bone
    0

    Default Re: ECOTECT SUPPORT FOR REVIT

    I am curious why U.S. only for these products? An imaginary line drawn on a map could hardly impact environmental calculations. Just curious.


    Joe

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Getting a Revit model into ECOTECT?
    By truevis in forum Revit - R & D Lounge
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 2009-09-22, 05:23 AM
  2. Revit to Ecotect DXF file
    By bdorsey.189306 in forum Revit Architecture - General
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 2009-01-28, 04:34 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •