You can analyze and plan the connected load in a Revit model before placing physical electrical families using this workflow:
Define Electrical Analytical Loads
When defining loads, you can define area-based loads and equipment loads.
- Create area-based loads to define a closed region and indicate power requirements based on power/area density. For example:
- lighting in 2nd floor office spaces is 2w/ft2
- while lighting in conference rooms is 3w/ft2
- general power across the entire floor is 3.5 w/ft2
- Add area-based loads to define power requirements based on power/area density.
- Click Analyze tab > Electrical Analysis panel > Area Based Load Boundary .
- On the Modify | Place Area Based Load Boundary tab, use the Draw tools to sketch a boundary.
- If the boundary spans multiple levels, with the area based load boundary selected, in the Properties palette, specify the Top Level and Bottom Level properties.
- Click Analyze tab > Electrical Analysis panel > Area Based Load .
- Click Edit Area Based Load tab > Add Load Area .
- Select the desired enclosed area, and then click Finish.
- To set the load type, select the area based load and in the Properties palette, click (browse) for the Area Based Load Type parameter.
- In the Electrical Analytical Load Type Settings dialog, select an Area Based Load Type and click OK.
- Add additional area-based loads as needed.
- To remove a portion of the area, select the area-based load and click Modify | Electrical Analytical Loads tab > Edit Area Based Load > Remove Load Area .
- Click Finish Editing to save the changes or Cancel Editing to discard the changes.
- In the drawing area, select an area-based load with one or more boundaries.
- Click Modify | Electrical Analytical Loads tab > Analytical Load Tools panel > Divide .
- Click Divide Area Based Load tab > Move to New .
- Click Divide Area Based Load tab > Back to Existing .
- Click Finish Dividing to save the changes or Cancel Dividing to discard the changes.
- Assign equipment loads to define load requirements associated with major equipment components, such as elevators, chillers, or any other component beyond the general power density-based loads.
Before you can define Electrical Area Based Loads, you must first define a closed region using Area Based Load Boundaries.
On the Modify | Place Area Based Load Boundary tab, use the Draw tools to sketch the area-based load boundary. For example, outline the portion of the building where you want to define a load.
The Multilevel Boundary property is enabled.
Add area-based loads to define power requirements based on power/area density.
The Load Classification and Power Density are populated. The True Load value is computed by multiplying the Load Density by the Area. The Apparent Load is computed by multiplying the Quantity by the True Load, then dividing by the Power Factor.
With the additional boundaries in place, you can add additional area-based loads for smaller regions. For example, three regions may represent office space, circulation space, and laboratory space, all with unique power requirements.
In the System Browser, you can right-click an area-based load and delete, select, show, rename, or disconnect the area based load, specify its supply, or view its properties.
You can schedule the Electrical Analytical Load to summarize both area-based loads and equipment loads. You can use standard schedule formatting capabilities to group and sum load totals.
You can divide an area-based load into smaller loads so that you can better plan how the load is fed from the distribution system and determine preliminary equipment ratings.
The selected portion of the original area-based load will define a new area based load and may be supplied from a separate source. The remaining portion of the original area-based load will be reduced in size.
The new area-based load is added back to the original area-based load.
Define the Conceptual Distribution System
Use the System Browser to add and connect electrical distribution elements including:
- Electrical Analytical Power Source
- Electrical Analytical Bus
- Electrical Analytical Transformer
- Electrical Analytical Transfer Switch
- Analytical Loads
When you define the conceptual distribution system, you can create power sources, busses (panelboards and switchboards), transformers, and transfer switches. Like electrical equipment families, you can interconnect these components to sum loads in the distribution system. Additionally, you can then associate area and equipment loads with the busses to tabulate load on each equipment component in the system concept.