Remodels and Alternates in

Autodesk Revit MEP

®

Daniel John Stine

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Copyright 2019 Daniel John Stine

All rights reserved. This document may not be copied, photocopied, reproduced, transmitted, or
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Publications.

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their respective holders.

Disclaimer
The author and publisher of this book have used their best efforts in preparing this book. These efforts
include the development, research and testing of the material presented. The author and publisher shall
not be liable in any event for incidental or consequential damages with, or arising out of, the furnishing,
performance, or use of the material.

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Course Description:
This session will deal with many of the challenges of working on multidiscipline projects with phasing and
design options. This will include dealing with linked Revit models and logical systems. We will cover the
limitations Revit has and discuss some workarounds.

About the Author:

Daniel John Stine AIA, CSI, CDT, is a registered architect with over twenty years of experience in the field
of architecture. He is the BIM Administrator at LHB, a 250-person full service design firm. In addition to
providing training and support for four offices, Dan implemented BIM-based lighting analysis using
ElumTools, early energy modeling using Autodesk Insight, virtual reality (VR) using the HTC Vive/Oculus Rift
along with Fuzor & Enscape, Augmented Reality (AR) using the Microsoft Hololens, and the Electrical
Productivity Pack for Revit (sold by CTC Express Tools). Dell, the world-renowned computer company,
created a video highlighting his implementation of VR at LHB.

Dan has presented internationally on BIM in the USA, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, Australia and Singapore.
He was ranked multiple times as a top-ten speaker by attendees at Autodesk University, RTC/BILT, Midwest
University, AUGI CAD Camp, NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference, Lightfair, and AIA-MN Convention. By
invitation, he spent a week at Autodesk’s largest R&D facility in Shanghai, China to beta test and brainstorm
new Revit features in 2016.

Committed to furthering the design profession, Dan teaches graduate architecture students at North
Dakota State University (NDSU) and has lectured for interior design programs at NDSU, Northern Iowa State,
and University of Minnesota, as well as Dunwoody’s new School of Architecture in Minneapolis. As an
adjunct instructor, Dan previously taught AutoCAD and Revit for twelve years at Lake Superior College.
Dan is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Construction Specifications Institute (CSI),
and Autodesk Developer Network (ADN), and is a Construction Document Technician (issued by CSI). He
has presented live webinars for ElumTools, ArchVision, Revizto and NVIDIA. Dan writes about design on his
blog, BIM Chapters, and in his textbooks published by SDC Publications:
• Residential Design Using Autodesk Revit 2019
• Commercial Design Using Autodesk Revit 2019
• Design Integration Using Autodesk Revit 2019 (Architecture, Structure and MEP)
• Interior Design Using Autodesk Revit 2019 (with co-author Aaron Hansen)
• Residential Design Using AutoCAD 2019
• Commercial Design Using AutoCAD 2013
• Chapters in Architectural Drawing (with co-author Steven H. McNeill, AIA, LEED AP)
• Interior Design Using Hand Sketching, SketchUp and Photoshop (also with Steven H. McNeill)
• Google SketchUp 2013 for Interior Designers; Just the Basics

Social Media:
Students can use social media, such as Twitter and LinkedIn to start developing professional contacts and
knowledge. Follow the author on social media for new articles, tips and errata updates. Consider following
the design firms and associations (AIA, CSI, etc.) in your area, this could give you an edge in an interview!
Author’s Blog: http://bimchapters.blogspot.com/

Twitter
@DanStine_MN

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

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Table of Contents

Page

1. Architectural Model Review 5

2. Prepare Provided Phase 1 MEP Model 11

3. MEP Project Setup 13

4. Setup MEP Views 21

5. Design Options Setup 22

6. Link and Bind the Existing MEP Model 25

7. Phase Filters 26

8. Tags for Existing Elements 28

9. Phasing and MEP Logical Systems 34

10. Rooms, Spaces and their Tags 37

11. Setting Up Demolition Plans 44

12. Modelling in Design Options 48

13. Modelling Existing Electrical Loads 53

14. Electrical Design Options Example 54

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08 Tags for Existing Elements

There is often a desire to make an existing tag appear
different from tags for new elements, here are four ways to
accomplish this:
A. Change text color; print with grayscale
i. Negative: All colored elements print
a shade of gray
B. Change tag appearance (prefix or boxed); Print
with black lines
ii. Edit family and add prefix “EX” to label
iii. See image below
C. Create Phase Prefix parameter, concatenate tag; Print with black lines
iv. Use special schedule to sort by Phase
v. Enter “EX” to populate all content at once (or use Dynamo)
vi. Same tag for new and existing, nothing shows if param empty
vii. This is what we currently use in our MEPPP sold by CTC
D. Tag override to halftone; print with black lines
viii. Negative: Must override for each element

1. Open the 1 - Mech HVAC floor plan view.

2. Zoom into the upper left corner.

3. Let’s quickly do the following:

a. add a short piece of new duct and cap (select adjacent & create similar)
b. Add tags (w/o leaders)
c. See image below.

We will adjust these duct tags to compare the results in a printed PDF.

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Option A:

4. Select the duct tag on the far left.

5. Click Edit Family

6. Save as and name it Duct Size Tag_EX.rfa.

7. Change the color of the text

a. Select the text
b. Select Edit Type
c. Change the color

8. Load the new tab back into the project

9. Back in the project, press Esc to cancel the tag command.

10. Select the tag on the far left again and swap it out with the new tag we just
created.
That completes the first example. This tag prints grey as long as ‘grayscale’ is selected in
the print dialog.

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Option B:

11. Select the 12”x10” tag.

12. Click Edit Family

13. Save as and name it Duct Size Tag_EX with Prefix.rfa.

14. Add a prefix to the label (i.e. text)

a. Select the text

b. Select Edit Label on the Ribbon
c. Add the prefix “EX-“
d. See image below

15. Load the new tag back into the project

16. Back in the project, press Esc to cancel the tag command.

17. Select the 12”x10” tag again and swap it out with the new tag we just created.
That completes the second example. A special tag for existing ductwork.
Option C:

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This option is a little more complicated to setup, so we will not do the steps in the lab.
Rather, this will sever as a basic overview, which includes using Shared Parameters.
First we create a Shared Parameter called
‘Existing Phase Symbol’, which is associated will
all categories.

Next, create a multi-

category schedule
with its phase set to
‘Existing’ and filtered
for the existence of
‘Existing Phase Symbol’
parameter, we can
enter “(E)” once for all
existing elements.

Then create a tag

which uses the new
Existing Phase Symbol
parameter (see image
to right).

Finally, use the

tag in a project.
The tag only
populates with
the existing
symbol if
something has
been entered in
that field.

The drawback is
you must keep
checking the
schedule as
additional existing elements are added.

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Option D:

18. Select the 8” diameter duct tag on the far right.

19. Right-click and select Override Graphics in View  By Element… as shown in the
image below.

20. Simply check the Halftone option as shown in the image below.

That completes the last example. To properly compare the results we need to print to
PDF twice; once with Black Lines and again with Grayscale.

21. Print to PDF using the Grayscale appearance setting (see image below).

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22. Print to PDF again, but with appearance set to Black Lines.

Notice with Grayscale, the colored duct also prints a shade of gray rather than black.
Also notice the Black Lines option still prints all things set to Halftone as a shade—this
includes the Arch/Struct background plus anything manually set to Halftone like our
tag. In this last example the colored duct also prints black, which is typically desirable.

The last option may be the best. The only drawback is the need to manually set each
tag to Halftone. Maybe using the API or Dynamo to the rescue?

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