Instructions

What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?

• What do they need?
• What do they care about most?

How much detail should you include in your building model? How do you decide?

• As you develop your initial design?
• As you continue to iterate and develop on your design?
• What are the key stages?
• And how much detail should you include at each stage?

How much detail should you include about the composition (layers, materials, thicknesses) of your wall, floor, and roof assemblies at different stages of your design process?

• Conceptual design - a conceptual design does not need any specific details as this is the "idea" stage. At this stage, a list is created as to what things will be included in the design, like whether there will be patio or an ADU or whether a separate building for workshop is needed, etc.
• Preliminary design - at this stage, dimensions, like how big a roof will be, or how high a ceiling is desired, will be needed. Other details, such as whether solar panels will be installed and therefore, the size and shape of the roof needs to be decided, which then affects the material that will go into the roof. Other items, however, do not need to be defined yet, such as whether the walls will have drywall sheets or be finished with wood coverings.
• Design development - All of details of composition of the wall, floor, and roof should be included at this stage because the design development will provide the construction documentation. Therefore, as the design is developed, details such whether the roof is going to be made from lightweight shingles, or heavier concrete ones should be included.
• Construction documentation - every informative detail that is possible should be included at this stage as contractors need to know exactly what they are buying and how much of each, and then how much room to leave for fixtures like shower items. 2x4 walls will require different fittings than 2x6 walls, etc.

Many door and window manufacturers provide Revit families for doors and windows that you can specify for your building design.

• What is the advantage to manufacturers for providing these families? (it's not free to create and provide them...) It can serve as a marketing tactic by companies to get there products' design out on the market. As an example, JeldWen can come to designers and say, "this is our new line of windows and doors, feel free to include it your designs." Consequently, if a designer wants specific details, then the design may use those JeldWen products of which families have been provided, and get JeldWen's some word-of-mouth publicity.
• What is the benefit to you as the designer of using these manufacturer-provided families? Is there an advantage to using them versus the families provided in the Revit library? As a designer it gives the ability to create a design with that extra layer of specificity when there is access to manufacturers' drawings. Rather than having a generic door, I may be able to specific model of door that would go into the design. Another benefit would be that I would be aware of changes to items in the market. As an example, windows used to be all single pane, but now practically all are double pane. As a designer, I need to be aware of these changes in order to create accurate models.

What are the advantages of getting the Revit component families (for furniture, equipment, and fittings) directly from the manufacturer versus from an online sharing website like RevitCity.com?

The manufacturer has the exact specification of the furniture/equipment/fittings and so they can provide the most accurate dimensions of those items. In RevitCity, people can share their own designs which may not be the most accurate. Furthermore, the manufacturer can provide a complete family of designs, some of which may not be provided in all markets worldwide, and therefore private designers may not have access to certain items.