Troubleshooting VICO Office after active VPN connection

In some instances starting VICO Office on 64 bit system could be a bit problematic during an active VPN session or immediately followed closing of such. In order to jump start VICO Office, VERSANT database service needs to be restarted. Simply open your Computer management panel and under listed services look for "VERSANTD", select it and restart it.

This will take care of your post VPN blank VICO Office dashboard .

Revit Categories....

While mapping our assembly classification from Uniformat II to OmniClass Table 21 I needed the list of Revit object categories. This is only a part of that 200+ entry list that can be accessed upon exporting Revit model to ODBC.

Id	Name
-2000011	Walls
-2000014	Windows
-2000023	Doors
-2000032	Floors
-2000035	Roofs
-2000038	Ceilings
-2000080	Furniture
-2000100	Columns
-2000120	Stairs
-2000126	Railings
-2000151	Generic Models
-2000160	Rooms
-2000170	Curtain Panels
-2000171	Curtain Wall Mullions
-2000180	Ramps
-2000190	Filled region
-2000191	Plan Region
-2000340	Curtain Systems
-2000700	Materials
-2000996	Shaft Openings
-2001000	Casework
-2001040	Electrical Equipment
-2001060	Electrical Fixtures
-2001100	Furniture Systems
-2001120	Lighting Fixtures
-2001140	Mechanical Equipment
-2001160	Plumbing Fixtures
-2001180	Parking
-2001220	Roads
-2001260	Site
-2001300	Structural Foundations
-2001320	Structural Framing
-2001327	Structural Beam Systems
-2001330	Structural Columns
-2001336	Structural Trusses
-2001340	Topography
-2001350	Specialty Equipment
-2001354	Structural Stiffeners
-2001360	Planting
-2001370	Entourage
-2003600	Spaces
-2008000	Ducts
-2008003	Duct Tags
-2008010	Duct Fittings
-2008013	Air Terminals
-2008015	Duct Systems
-2008016	Duct Accessories
-2008020	Flex Ducts
-2008037	Electrical Circuits
-2008039	Wires
-2008043	Piping Systems
-2008044	Pipes
-2008049	Pipe Fittings
-2008050	Flex Pipes
-2008055	Pipe Accessories
-2008075	Telephone Devices
-2008077	Nurse Call Devices
-2008078	Nurse Call Device Tags
-2008079	Security Devices
-2008081	Communication Devices
-2008083	Data Devices
-2008085	Fire Alarm Devices
-2008087	Lighting Devices
-2008090	gbXML Surface
-2008099	Sprinklers
-2008101	Switch System
-2008107	HVAC Zones
-2009000	Structural Rebar
-2009003	Structural Area Reinforcement
-2009009	Structural Path Reinforcement
-2009010	Structural Path Reinforcement Symbols
-2009013	Rebar Shape
-2009030	Structural Connections

Top Ten reasons to do 5D BIM

Interesting perspective on why to use cost estimating as well schedule integration as a part of the comprehensive Virtual Design and Construction process...

Head-Tracking VR technology for BIM models

An interesting application of head-tracking technology which can be used to examine 3D models.

AU Building Performance Analysis

This year's AU attention to sustainable design with the aid of Autodesk's BIM enabled applications is just another confirmation that ADSK means green business. I am particularly interested to see how far down the road we can push the information gathered through sustainability analysis during the design process into the construction activities. Some courses look very promising in that regard.
Along the same lines they just ‘up the ante’ by conducting the survey of their existing facilities from the energy footprint point of view. These results are published and posted on Autodesk’s website (Link).

Virtual Design and Construction Survey

This is a link to a survey on the role of Virtual Design and Construction / BIM in construction industry with an emphasis on the use of this methodology by both General Contractors and Design-Build firms.

Autodesk - Building Performance Modeling Powerhouse

After the recent acquisition of Green Building Studio, the acquisition of Ecotect is anything but a surprise. As the old saying goes, "If you can't beat them, buy them" and ADSK is apparently very good at doing so. What to expect next? Speculations aside, in my opinion another flavor of Revit might emerge, Revit Analytical as the melange of best what GBS and Ecotect can offer, Interface and DOE engine. Only time will show, but today it is quite certain who is 100% committed to BIM and BPA integration.

Ecotect v5.60

As far as I am concerned if this June looks like a February (just referring to the 6 months old post on the Ecotect site), it might very well be one. According to the posting on the Square One site, the v5.60 release candidate is available for download and this highly anticipated release could be the one that was worth waiting for. Like I said, if they said February then this is February indeed. Personally I am looking forward to another productive analytical year with Ecotect by my side.
In next few weeks we will put it to the test and see what improvements it brings to the realm of Building Performance Analysis.

Green Building Studio 3.2 - The first Autodesk update

This is the first release of Green Building Studio after the recent Autodesk acquisition and it brings a few changes. The most noticeable one is tighter integration with the 2009 line of the Revit platform via the External Application addition to the Tool pull down menu.
The second update is the client application for all of the other BIM platforms that can produce gbXML files. Therefore, AutoCAD Architecture 2009 and MEP 2008 and 2009, as well as ArchiCAD users will still have to submit their files outside of their applications.
I almost forgot, black is the new green as the Green Building Studio web interface has changed to resemble the ADSK home page.

Review of the development and implementation of IFC compatible BIM

One of the most comprehensive, and the least "cool aid drinking", reviews on implementation and interoperability of BIM complaint platforms in European AEC industry.
(Link)

Green Buildings in Google Earth

"What are "green buildings"? This KML showcases buildings across the United States that are included in the Department of Energy's High Performance Buildings Database, which features buildings that meet certain energy and environmental performance guidelines. Be sure to click the "View 3D model in Google Earth" link to see a 3D virtual representation of the building."
(Link)

Revit 2009 - Smart about shading surfaces

The Revit 2009 line of products offers some rather nice improvements in regard to the structure of the gbXML file, as well as in regard to how the geometry is translated into the same.
The first visible improvement starts with Energy Data entry within RAC 2009 Project Information options. The user will have the option to define the ground plane location and project phase as well as the “Sliver” tolerance, which specifies the tolerance for areas that will be considered sliver spaces.
But to me the most interesting one is the ability to specify whether the exported analytical model will contain "Shade" surfacesTypes enumerators or not. If the decision is made to export the model without Shade surfaces, the resulting gbXML file will represent pure space/volume analytical geometry, stripped of any intended or unintended "Shade" surfaces.

In the case that you really don’t care whether the addition of "Shade" surfaces will offset your results, go ahead and turn on the "Shading Surfaces" option, and voila, they are back whether you like them or not. This opens the possibility of manually merging the non "Shading Surfaces" model with only those shading surfaces that are welcome in your analysis, like eaves , overhangs, and various tectonic elements that will impact the insolation loads.
The following workflow describes one possible way of merging both gbXML files by using GBS’s VRML browser and a suitable XML editor like XML Marker.

Export two gbXML files: one with "Shade" surfaces turned off and one with "Shade" Surfaces turned on.
Submit the one with "Shade" surfaces to GBS and look at it in the VRML viewer. Examine the surfaces whose name contains “depx” as part of their description and this will help you identify those that you are willing to keep.

Once those surfaces are identified, in the XML editor open the file containing "Shade" surface, copy the entire surface(s) definition, and paste them by appending those after the last element definition in the gbXML file that does not contain any of the “Shade” surfaceType enumerators. Save the modified file and compare the results.

If you work with a relatively small building these results will not be noticeable, but as the scope increases and the complexity of the structure increases, as well as the need to switch from generic building elements to those that have real world thickness, the difference between these different Shading Surfaces options will become more evident.

AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - Green Again!

Without making the argument whether AutoCAD Architecture is a valid BIM platform, or is just “Better for architects”, with this new release one can not but acknowledge the return of the very useful ability to export an ACA based model into gbXML format. This time, unlike with the version 2006 and prior, this is not a third party developed plug-in but is part of this version core functionality.

So why is this a big deal, or is it? Well ACA has one very peculiar object type. The e-space object is probably unlike any other ACA object, in terms of its capacity to serve as a fully customizable data container, as well as in its ability to be shaped with an ease that very closely resembles the functionality of SketchUp or the ease of Ecotect’s zones. Its geometry can be chiseled into almost any conceivable shape, but what really makes it unique in this version is the ability to assign surface enumerator types (analytical surface tags) to any bounding surfaces, including opening types, windows and doors, and export them as such for analysis to Green Building Studio.

Unfortunately, as this platform is being marketed as just a better drafting tool for those architects that still did not cross over to the other side, most e-space features are being underutilized. Their suitability for program evaluation (a minimum BIM compliancy requirement by GSA), FM required data encapsulation, and now the ability to create quick schematic design energy evaluation models places them in the category of objects that have no true competition in any of Autodesk’s offered BIM platforms. Not to exaggerate, but one can literally make e-spaces talk to the user and report any programmed relationship within the BIM model! (This example will be posted soon.)

In the next few weeks I will attempt to evaluate the quality of ACA’s 2009 gbXML file and its compliancy to gbXML schema 0.35, both in the Green Building Studio environment and hopefully with the new release of highly anticipated Ecotect 5.60 that will be able to import gbXML compliant files.
So, for anyone that wants to get their feet wet and evaluate their schematic design energy models at the early stages of their design process, the 2009 line of Autodesk architectural products is bringing some rather interesting improvements.

BIM – methodology that is redefining the building industry

An interesting article posted in AECbytes, about the role that BIM has and will have on the future of building industry. Prof. Chuck Eastman is one of the coauthors, and he can be, without any exaggeration, regarded as the godfather of building information modeling methodology.
(read more)

DWF - Design Options with Design Review

Thanks to RobiNZ and his blog post this great tip did not go unnoticed. For quite some time I have advocated and used DWF - Design Review as a communication and design tool, but not knowing the fact that rearranged objects can be captured in their location via user defined views, made me rely on creation a snap shoot sequence.
This technique described in Beyond the Paper blog is the right way to do it...

IES Revit Architecture 'Plug in' Now Available

IES is pleased to announce it has developed a free plug-in to Autodesks Revit Architecture which provides a direct link to its software and to the companys new architect-orientated Toolkits.
(Read more...)

Download the plug-in....

Transstudio and Transmaterials

Great resource for everyone that is trying to operate within the evermore demanding field of performance based design.
Watch the video, and subscribe to the free material newsletter...

Autocad Architecture LEED EQ 8.1 update

After some positive feedback and a few constructive suggestion here is the updated LEED EQ 8.1 Daylight Factor interactive schedule that takes into account Net Area and Door/Window Assembly objects.

Digital Pen for Autodesk BIM platforms

Adapx (http://www.adapx.com/), the company that is changing the economics of field data management, today announced that the first public demonstration of Capturx for Autodesk(R) products will be held at the Autodesk University Conference in Las Vegas, November 27-29. Attendees can get a sneak preview of the Capturx enterprise-ready digital pen ...
(Read the entire article on marketwire)

LEED EQ 8.1 Credit (Daylight and Views) for ACA 2008

(Real time daylight design tool for AutoCAD Architecture 2008)

In 2005 when my article on BIM and knowledge management was published, I indicated the opportunity within BIM as a methodology that has the potential to capture cumulative knowledge that aggregates within a firm and to implement the same within any BIM compliant platform.As we all understand the need to evaluate the performance of our buildings, the need for this knowledge integration is even more evident, and one avenue via which we can explore this methodology is in the integration of LEED credits compliance within the BIM model.
The Importance of LEED certification and its necessity for the creation of a sustainable built environment can be debated from several perspectives but considering the integration of real time evaluation tools should be a prerequisite for the creation of any expert system that will be used for instantaneous knowledge (code / rule) feedback.

I have to admit that, besides a few scheduling screen shots in Revit Architecture and some in articles that were relevant to AutoCAD architecture, I have not seen any serious attempt to tie in more closely any application with the concept of LEED credits take-offs or any LEED scheduling framework provided by the software manufacturers.

Now some of you could ask the question why this example is not available in Revit Architecture, and the answer to this is quite simple. I do not know how to make it work, and in this instance I will blame this on my own ignorance unless some one out there can actually explain to me why one has to calculate the area property of an room object as a result of volume by unbound height division as this, in spaces that have a sloped ceiling, will produce an unacceptable inconsistency.

So in order to have an interactive real time daylight factor analysis tool one should work with these ingredients:

Window use classification
Window style
Property Set Definition
Space style Property Set Definition
Display Theme for DF (Daylight Factor)
One not particularly customized schedule
And a few lines of VBS code slowly brewing in the background.

First we start by defining a window object classification category that defines any instance of a style as either an EXTERIOR or INTERIOR window, where only those that the user marks as EXTERIOR will contribute to the EQ8.1 calculation.

The second step is to define three different List Property Definitions whose values represent different window factors that are required for DF calculation. Those factors are:
GF – geometry factor
HF – height factor
TVmin – minimum visibility factor
TV – visibility factor

which are all dependent on window type, location and current glazing visibility as presented in this table.This method assumes that values are associated with a particular window style and in order to vary them from instance to instance one should copy and assign style in place and change the style based property definitions in order to accommodate for these variations.

On the other hand the Space Objects Property Set Definition has been modified in order to perform a required DF analysis by querying the current file for all of the windows that have matching location ID with the space objects for which the calculation is executed. The matching ID within every window object is placed within the Window Styles Property Set Definition via Location Property Definition and thereby the logical spatial link between two objects is established.

For the sake of differentiating from the OOTB Property Set Definition I decided to create two new PSD one for Window Styles and the other one for Window Objects.The object based one is labeled as 01_LEEDWindowObject and this is the one where the link to the Space Object is documented through the “WindowSpaceID” property definition while its relevance for DF calculation is established by the “001WinLocation” classification based property definition. The space based PSD is labeled as 01_LEEDWindowStyles and this is where the previously described window variables are hosted.



“LEED_GF”, “LEED_HF”, “LEED_TV” and “LEED_TVmin” are all style bound and this is where the associated space object reads the relevant values for its daylight formula.To visualize DF in real time I have included a basic Display Theme that is providing for a graphical feedback based on the calculated DF.
Tying all this together was executed within Space Objects PSD and in particular within the formula property definition that taps into two ADT libraries in order to make this work.

Set acadApp = GetObject(,"AutoCAD.Application.17.1")



Set AecBaseApplication = acadApp.GetInterfaceObject("AecX.AecArchBaseApplication.5.5")
Set SchBaseApplication = acadApp.GetInterfaceObject("AecX.AecScheduleApplication.5.5")
Set ActiveDoc = AecBaseApplication.ActiveDocument
DF_win = 0
DF = 0
PropValue_GF = 0
PropValue_HF = 0
PropValue_TV = 0
PropValue_TVmin = 0
WinArea = 0
For Each obj In ActiveDoc.ModelSpace
objName = TypeName(obj)
 If objName = "IAecWindow" Then
 Set objPropSets = SchBaseApplication.PropertySets(obj)
 Set objPropSet  = objPropSets.Item("01_LEEDWindowObjects")
 objWinLocation = objPropSet.Properties.Item("_WindowLocation").value
 objWinSpaceID = objPropSet.Properties.Item("_WindowSpaceID").value
  If objWinLocation = "EXTERIOR" and objWinSpaceID = "[ObjectID]" Then
  Set PropSets =  SchBaseApplication.PropertySets(obj.Style)
  Set PropSet  = PropSets.Item("01_LEEDWindowStyles")
  PropValue_H = objPropSet.Properties.Item("Height").value
  PropValue_W = objPropSet.Properties.Item("Width").value
  WinArea = (PropValue_H * PropValue_W) / 144
  PropValue_TV = PropSet.Properties.Item("LEED_TV").value
  PropValue_TVmin = PropSet.Properties.Item("LEED_TVmin").value
  PropValue_GF = PropSet.Properties.Item("LEED_GF").value
  PropValue_HF = PropSet.Properties.Item("LEED_HF").value
  DF_win=(WinArea/[BaseArea])*PropValue_GF*(PropValue_TV/PropValue_TVmin )*PropValue_HF
 DF = DF + DF_win
 End If
 End If
Next

RESULT = DF * 100

Without going into a lengthy discussion about what this VBS is doing, I just want to point out that the main loop is using SchBaseApplication object to access the property set of each window instance in ModelSpace object and compare its “_WindowSpaceID” property to the [ObjectID] property of the current Space Object.If the match has been confirmed within the first If statement of the outer For Each – Next loop and the examined ModelSpace object is indeed of IAecWindow type, then the second If statement is comparing “_WindowLocation” and “_WindowSpaceID” properties.
When both of these requirements are met than the set of relevant variables is accessed via SchBaseApplication object and are being channeled to DF_win formula that is being compounded within the primary loop to create the final DF value for this given Space Object.

In order to evaluate the final daylight value for a floor plan I have created a schedule that does it, but similar compounding and property extraction code could have been used to calculate the final result within a Space Object.


The prerequisites for this DF real time calculation method are the following:
ACA 2008 or ADT 2007 due to their capabilities to apply classifications to an AEC object and their use of List definitions.
This code can be retrofitted to operate within ADT 2006 and 2005 in a slightly less sophisticated way.
The code within a Space Object can not query window objects within a x-ref file and therefore both the envelope and spaces have to be part of a same construct, or a plain independent file. It is worth mentioning that the code within these customized SpaceObjects is taking a toll on ACA’s performance, but as I have tested it on a 60000 SF project with the acceptable performance the entire process can be even more streamlined during the initial design by having a zonal approach to DF evaluation.

After downloading this sample file the user should try to rescale the windows associated with their spaces and observe the change in color as the DF for this space crosses the threshold of 2%. It is worth noting that in order to create a window with the different performance values the existing style should be copied into a new style and those values should be adjusted within this new style based Property Definitions.

For any of you that have ever driven a certain French car, and you know the connotation, and especially those that were made between 1955 and 1979 by a company which I will not name but whose creation was closely connected with the architecture of Le Corbusier, you will understand my enthusiasm with this, not officially BIM like, Swiss army knife application that is still quite a useful BIM tool if you know which buttons to push. Thanks to the inspiring work of several people, like David Koch, Jimmy Bergmark, Jay Moore, Robin Capper and few others that are not yet ready to give up on the potential of embedded code within BIM compliant objects, this application proves that a good amount of intelligence can be placed behind a comprehensive BIM model.
For myself, I can not but wonder if ADSK is really listening, as I am quite sure that a few skilled programmers, and ADSK has enough of those, can crank out this code in a matter of minutes and have it become an integral part of the AutoCAD Architecture. The bigger picture is that ADSK should at least make an honest attempt to add the tools so needed in this “non BIM” application so that we can really take the full advantage of the outdated “object” technology.

This file includes all of the above described elements and I am encouraging you to test it on your own LEED projects. Being aware that there is a ton of room for improvement to this proposed code as well as that this can be far more efficient code if executed via VBA or VB, I am looking forward to get some constructive feedback.

autocad architecture