Calculated values in area tags

[Tom Dorner]

I'm starting to use Revit as a lease management tool for a client that is a property management firm. I'm using area plans and everything works fine, except I'm stuck on getting a calculated valued to appear in an area tag. In the property management world there is USF (usable square footage) and RSF (rentable square footage). The USF is the actual "Area" calculated by Revit. RSF in this case is the USF * 1.15 (or 15% over the USF). The calculation works fine in a schedule, but I now want the USF & RSF figures to show in the area tag. The USF is no problem in the tag but the RSF is. I have created a RSF shared parameter and can simply type in the RSF into the area tag, but can find no way to make this a calculation so is updated automatically.

Is it possible to make this happen? If so, any hints would be appreaciated.

Tom

[sbrown]

I don't think you can add it to the room tag, for now I would place a schedule with the info on the same sheet as the plan and then filter out the data you don't want to see. If you create a shared parameter it might work the way you want, however calculated values are currently very limited, so I'm not sure.

[Tom Dorner]

Thanks Scott,

I didn't think it was possible, but wanted to make sure before I gave up. A "wish list" item perhaps? I had already created a "tenant schedule" filtered by floor and added to each floors lease diagram. For now that will have to do.


Another use for calculated values in tags I was thinking of was to get a room tag to display a calculated to occupancy load of each room based on area type. I.e. if "B" then Area/100 If "A-3" the Area/15 etc. Maybe the next release.

Tom

[hand471037]

Tom, where I recently worked we did a whole lot of exactly what you are doing. Revit worked very well for this. We used a different approach, but not for the reasons that you might be thinking.

We would generate custom area tags that had the 'gross' area of that suite/space (the default area tag), and also had a user-editable RSF parameter. This wasn't driven by formula from the Load Factor due to the fact that it's common for RSF to be a negotiated thing that doesn't always match the 'real' RSF. That way we could generate a schedule showing both, side by side.

Now with fomulas in schedules & by using shared parameters you could make an Area tag that would use a load factor and apply that to a Area to produce a RSF that could then show up in a custom area tag. I can talk you through this later if you want. If you wanted to be extra fancy, you could even have the fomulas in the schedules generate your Load Factor from your varous area types; but again it's been in my experance out here that unless someone is re-calculating thier building to meet current BOMA, at least the Load Factor, if not the RSF too, is something that's already got an existing value, and one that has been used. That Load Factor is allready in place for the whole of the building.

Remeber that RSF is actually a legal thing, and if someone signed something that says they are paying X for X RSF, and your documents show that space with a different RSF, that it could cause headaches for everyone.

So what I would do is both; list the 'Gross Area', the negotiated RSF as a user-defined thing that can't change, a user-defined Load Factor, and a calc'ed RSF that's generated from that. This would be for an existing building, where you are going to be taking the client's legacy data and using Revit as a management tool.

If you're starting blank-slate, however, then I would go full-bore and make the RSF generate from the Load factor, which would be auto-generated from the BOMA rules. However this might not work as you wish, for until you have every space in the building properly drawn and ID'ed your Load Factor would be off.

[hand471037]

Tom, I just did *exactly* what you are talking about, where I made a schedule that kicked out the number of occupants dependant on the Occupant Load Factor.

I've attached the example I made to show to someone else...

[stuntmonkee]

Tom, I just did *exactly* what you are talking about, where I made a schedule that kicked out the number of occupants dependant on the Occupant Load Factor.

I've attached the example I made to show to someone else...

Why can I not get this to work?

[hand471037]

It's case-sensitive, and it has to be in the proper units for the Calculated Value to work.

Also, it doesn't seem that you can make a calculated value report itself into a tag ala a Shared Parameter. So it seems Calc'ed values only live in the schedule right now.

[stuntmonkee]

right, I'm only trying to do it in the schedule, and I have opened yours, checked and compared, and its still not there. One thing I did notice is that you have your set as an area calc, but its showing a number? It seams like it should be simple, but im missing something simple i think.

open schedule, go to fields, make sure both fields are present (area, and Load Factor) create a calculation prarameter, type in set the title of the parameter, set it to "number", set calc. . .Area / Load Factor. . .hit enter and it tells me its not present!