gbXML Project Location and Revit

Location, location, location! These days, even with the real-estate market in peril, this seller’s mantra should still be relevant for anyone that is serious about their energy modeling practice and Revit’s model translation. When exporting your model to a gbXML compliant file, according to the Revit Architecture manual, all you need is the ZIP code and the building type. Well, not quite so as unfortunately, even though the latitude and longitude data is exported to gbXML, it does not relate to the project’s zip code but to the location that is determined via the advanced model graphics settings. And since the DOE 2.2 manual clearly states that hourly loads are the function of a building’s longitude and latitude one should take that extra step of synchronizing the ZIP code and sun location within Revit before translating Revit’s building geometry. Or, we can just hope that in one of the next installments of Revit BIM platforms the sun data and energy data will be automatically synchronized. You can easily verify the inherit discrepancy that is described above by opening the newly created gbXML file and verifying the “Campus” entries of the ZIP code, longitude and latitude.