ABB ACH550 VFD BIM Lineup

BIMAdvent™ is proud to announce the ABB HVAC VFD BIM model is live on Autodesk Seek!

Well I shouldn't really say it's a "BIM Lineup" as its only one family file…. With over 970 possible combinations….. with NO type catalogue!! That's right NO type catalogue. We originally did this family with a type catalogue then wanted to see if we could pull off doing it as an "instance configurable" family and we did. The instance configurable family was larger in file size due to 3d error handling text, but both versions were sent out to our extended beta testing network of multiple MEP firms. The feedback was overwhelmingly for the instance configurable. 87% of the beta testers agreed the ability to configure on the fly far outweighed the extra 300kb file size that was added to the model.

And if you think about how VFD's morph and change throughout the design process it really makes sense. An HVAC engineer throws it in the plan and enters in the HP he needs to handle his pump or fan. Then the electrical engineer says "Why did you select the VFD at 208V and not 480V??" and the HVAC engineer says "What does it matter??" and then staplers fly across the office!

Now the EE can easily swap the voltage without having to find and download a new model, reconnect the conduit, reconnect it to his electrical system etc. Also there are typically several VFD's specified on a single project, by having one family to cover all possible configurations you actually end up saving project file size as compared to having separate models for each VFD which was another great observation provided from beta testing.

We recently blogged about error handling codes. This Revit family utilizes some of the most powerful parametric formulas we have done to date. This family will communicate back to the designer intelligent information based on how he is specifying the product.

Select a HP outside of the capable range of that VFD	"ERROR: Configuration Not Found"
Select more than 1 Nema Enclosure	"ERROR: Select Only One NEMA Option"
Select a NEMA option that is not available with a specific construction type	"ERROR: NEMA 12 Not Available with Selected Construction Type"
Select more than 1 voltage	"ERROR: Select Only One Voltage"

You can see the family in action in this video:

We then have taken this family and thought about further improving the user experience in configuring the product and inserting it into Revit. We have created a SpecPoint™ configurator for this family which further simplifies the configuration process through a nice and easy to use GUI interface. The engineer makes his selections then inserts the fully configured BIM model directly into Revit!

  

SpecPoint™ Configurators are currently in Beta and are exclusively available through the LaunchPoint™ application store. LaunchPoint™ is currently out in a limited release Beta, sign up for the beta today! We hope you enjoy the ABB VFD family! Feel free to leave us any comments below.

Cheers,

Steve Germano