How to Jump-Start Electrical Designs in Revit

MARTIN SCHMID: Hello. Welcome to the Jump Start Electrical Designs in Revit class. Before we get started, because we are presenting some future information, we are obliged to provide this safe harbor statement that basically says that we will be providing some future, forward-looking information. And as a result, do not make purchasing decisions on the future information. Only make your purchasing decisions based on what is presently available.

So with that, we will now go into a quick introduction. So I will first let my colleague Zhengrong introduce himself.

ZHENGRONG FU: Yeah. Thanks, Martin. So my name is Zhengrong Fu, a product owner of Revit development team, based in Shanghai, China. So in recent years, I've been working with Martin and a really strong team to develop the electrical analysis feature workflow in Revit. So I'm glad to be here with Martin to show you more details about how to use this workflow to start load estimation and preliminary design within Revit. Thanks, Martin.

MARTIN SCHMID: Yeah, thank you. And I am Martin Schmid. I am one of the product managers focused on Revit with responsibilities for some of the electrical functionality, mechanical design and fabrication functionality, as well as our fabrication portfolio of CADmep, ESTmep, and CAMduct. So as Zhengrong said, I work with his team, as well as some other teams on functionality as we're evolving the Revit product capabilities.

So with that, we will now get into the learning objectives. So for this class they are related to getting into electrical design in Revit with some new workflows, how to create conceptual power distribution systems, how to estimate building loads based on the area and preliminary equipment ratings from that information.

From an overall agenda perspective, we will start with a bit of a high-level strategy of our focus on the MEP functionality within Revit. And then we will get into some of the concepts of these new capabilities, go through some workflow and demos, and then we'll touch on some of the new functionality beyond that-- some of the things that are new in '24 versus '23, just to make sure that that's all clear. And then we will touch on some of the things on our roadmap.

So to kick it off, the strategy. So this is the design-to-make piece for MEP. And when we look at the broader Autodesk corporate vision, it's really about empowering our users of our various products to-- with design and make technologies-- to create the new possible. So you'll likely see this theme throughout Autodesk University. And ultimately, as we see construction continuing to transform at a very rapid pace, we're also witnessing a shift towards cloud-connected data driven approaches to address varying demands and challenges throughout the industry.

So that's high level, the theme of design-to-make. But then when we get into the MEP space specifically, and looking at the MEP vision and mission, it's kind of an iteration on that of delivering higher performing, more sustainable MEP systems with integrated design analysis, coordination, documentation, detailing, and fabrication. So that's spanning a lot of stages throughout the MEP design and installation, coordination and construction processes, and various stakeholders on the electrical side as well as the mechanical side.

So the image here is meant to evoke this idea of data at the center connecting all these various tasks and activities across various stakeholders, various people providing inputs that become the inputs for the next stage, which then provide various outputs throughout the process. So when we look at this idea of integration and connecting these experiences, we've been sharing this diagram for a number of years of various stages, simplifying it down, of course.

But when we think of design and analyze, we're thinking about the engineers that are making initial assessments and key design decisions, which then become the basis of the coordination and documentation activities, traditionally been within the Revit environment of creating a 3D model and deriving documentation from that, which then goes down into the construction workflows, where estimators, detailers, and fabricators take that information, evolve it into something that's constructible and installable.

When we look across the spectrum of Autodesk University classes this year, we were very intentional about looking at the various stages throughout these life cycles, both from the mechanical side as well as for the electrical side. So these aren't all the classes that are available on the MEP topics at AU this year, but you'll see that there's a theme through all of these where we try to touch on common pieces across these workflows, make references to other capabilities in other areas, as these different workflows connect to the various stages across various stakeholders.

And then when we drill down another level deeper into the specifics of this class and the electrical workflow, we see, again, across the top those same three themes that we saw-- design and analyze, coordinate and document, and detail and fabricate. So those same three rings that we saw before, but then applying that specifically to the electrical space.

And one way to think about that is conceptual design, thinking about the loads the, analytical information that an engineer traditionally is taking spreadsheets and creating estimates, maybe doing area takeoffs in PDFs or in other tools. And then from that, starting to conceptualize the distribution system. What are the major pieces of equipment? What are their equipment ratings? Where are they going to be located within the building?

And then from that, starting into the feeder design creating that main connectivity throughout those components within the distribution system, the major cost associated with that distribution in those feeders and the main distribution components, and then on to the detailed circuit design of individual loads, lighting fixtures, so on and so forth.

So that's kind of the analytical workflow of a lot of information that's established throughout those various stages. And then, of course, as that evolves, then there's also a kind of a parallel track that emerges of the physical workflow, of taking those distribution components, figuring out what sizes of equipment are required, starting to figure out coordinating that into 3D space with the architect and other stakeholders.

Then evolving that into the feeder design in 3D space of the major distribution, cable tray, busway, conduit, so on and so forth, and where they're going to fit and how they're going to coordinate with other components within the distribution. And then on to all the detailed circuit design and every component, ultimately, that a contractor will need to procure install within the building. So you see that evolution across the analytical, physical.

The intent is to connect those things over time within the product, and then, of course then, also connect the various stakeholders-- everything from engineers involved at early stages out to contractors at the other end of the spectrum there. And then when we drill down yet another level and focus on what we've been working on lately, again it's this area of enabling new electrical analytical workflows within Revit.

So we've kind of already briefly mentioned this idea of defining loads as area-based loads or equipment loads, whether these are connected loads, and then figuring out the demand associated with those loads, and then from that starting to define the conceptual distribution system. So that's the big picture. That's the main focus of what this presentation will be today on those new capabilities and those new workflows.

And now I will hand it off to Zhengrong to start with the concepts and walk you through the various demos.

ZHENGRONG FU: OK, so thanks, Martin for introducing the background of this feature we are presenting today. In the next 40 minutes, I will show you more details, starting with some basic concept of the workflow.

So with the launch of Revit 2023, we provide a new electrical preliminary design capability in Revit. The new functionality provides a way for electrical designers and engineers to start capturing electrical design requirements natively within Revit. And it allows you to utilize the linked DWG files or PDF or Revit models as a basis of load take off within Revit.

And these take offs are, along with the new capability to conceptually define electrical power distribution system elements, allow you to determine preliminary building load and the load on main equipment components directly within Revit environment. And these take off may then be used to produce documentations and schedules, communicate design intents to the stakeholders.

So there are two core concepts in this new workflow-- the creation of the loads and the creation of these analytical power distribution components. So by creating the loads, the total load may be determined to estimate the service entrance requirements, including the analytical components. And associated loads [INAUDIBLE] provides the ability to plan how the loads will be served and determine preliminary reading for the elements in the electrical systems.

So in this page, we show you two types of analytical loads we are providing. The first type is what we call the area based loads, which allows you to determine the load classification, the load density, and graphically define the region the loads applies to in order to determine the load contribution.

And you can use view filters or to color them or text to annotate your preliminary design over the architectural floor plan. And the other type is the equipment load, allows you to capture the other individual loads, such as the main piece of mechanical equipment, elevators, or other equipments that are typically not estimated based on the area density-- sorry, the power density.

And you may have watched on other MEP classes this year, one of them from Joe Simmons is introducing the HVAC schematics created using Revit system analysis feature. So he also introduced a mechanical engineer provide electrical coordination schedule to the electrical engineers using their tools. And here, the equipment loads represent this kind of loads provided from the mechanical engineer.

Unlike the area based load, the equipment loads are not visible in [INAUDIBLE], so they are kind of non-geometry data, which can be managed in System Browser or in Schedules. So both type of this loads may be connected to electrical buses and to tabulate the loads throughout the conceptual power distribute system.

And it brings you to another concept, distribution system elements. The electrical system components consist of power sources-- like utility power generators-- transformers, and buses, which represent panels, switchboard, busways, and et cetera, and will also provide the transfer switches to help you design more complicated cases.

So by associating loads with various system elements and creating the system hierarchy by connecting it together, the load may be used to determine the preliminary rating of the various distributed components.

OK, so now we learned the basic concept of the electrical analysis workflow. And these new capabilities provide the electrical engineer the load estimating workflow directly within Revit. And in the next session I would like to demonstrate you how to use this capability to create a preliminary electrical design and estimate the loads for a mixed-use building using the new Revit sample model we released with Revit 2024.

So first of all, let's take a look at the conceptual power distribution design, which included in this sample model. You can tell there's a sheet. There are some floor plans representing how we take off the loads from these architectural floor plans. And there are a bunch of other schedules. So talking about these floor plans, you can tell it's based on the architecture floor plan. We color code them, make sure each type of the loads are taken from the right area.

I select the area based load. You can tell their load classifications, voltage, apparent load, and other key information about the load. And all these identical loads can be found in System Browser in a hierarchy way. It includes the area based load, like these residential ones. And it also include the equipment load, like the elevators or pumps, which is not typically related to the areas.

And then in here, we can find that there are similar parameters for area based load and equipment load. But the like I said before, the equipment load only can be found in System Browser. It cannot be found in [INAUDIBLE]. It's kind of non-geometry data.

So if we go back to the whole sheet, we also can find there are a lot of schedules. On the top we have load schedules, which help you to tabulate all the load you capture in this project. You can see the grand total or total for each load classification. And we also can create a bus schedules to represent these major equipment in your project.

By seeing this connected load and demand load calculated on the buses, you can initially estimate the current rating for this major equipment in your project. So it gives you an overview of what covering the sample model and what we are going to create in this workflow demo.

OK, so in the next video, I will show you more details where you can access to this commands and what a typical workflow looks like. So in this demo, we start with this area based load. You need to use this area based load boundary line to sketch a enclosed area so that you can place an area based load just like you work with these other kind of area or things in Revit.

After you place an area based load, you can specify name, voltage, and you also can specify the area based load type, which defines the power density, either using the true load or apparent load. We have a power factor here. You can use this number to specify the exactly requirement for this type of the area based load. And you also can specify a load classification which links to a demand factor, which will help you calculate the demand load eventually, which will be covered in the coming section.

So this is a basis of creating a area based load. And talking about the area based load types, it also can be accessed through the MEP settings dialog, the menu. And these kind of settings can be transferred between projects to speed up your process of creating new ones. And, as usual, you can set up the column settings in System Browsers, showing more parameters of the loads. And the one we just created for lighting is listed there.

And talking about the equipment load, you can also find it on the ribbon or on the System Browser toolbar. Like I said, it shares similar parameters. You can define them through the property pattern or schedule. You also can specify a load classification, just to give you an overview where you can access to this command.

And besides the loads, when you're creating the power distribution components, you also can find all of them on the System Browser. Please note they are only available in System Browser. There's no asterisk command on your ribbon.

I have shown you the power source, the transformer buses, which has a switchboard here, setting the voltages, and other attributes for the pattern, using the supply form, [INAUDIBLE] each other to form the initial preliminary design of your power distribution system. That's the very quick overview.

OK, so in the next section, I'm going to show you five steps to create an electrical analytical design. You have been seeing the sample model. And here's an overview of all the five steps. So it starts from creating loads and estimating the total. With more and more details we input into the model, we can finally create a power distribution design using these distribution elements, like transformers and buses, and associate those with them to gather the rough estimation of all the components.

And in the step 4, I will introduce you how to design a backup power source using a transfer switch, which is typically used to estimate the capacity of the transformer. And in the last step, we will see how demand currents are calculated to help you determine preliminary ratings for your major distribution elements in your design.

OK, so let's start with the first step-- creating analytical loads. So we have shown you that you can sketch a boundary line directly. But in your real project, probably you would like to use pick lines to precisely gather boundaries of your floor plan.

And in this example, you can tell, if I'm using a red linked Revit model, it actually gives you a lot of lines. Please make sure you can turn on this disconnect marker, help you to understand if any open end for the boundary lines. And alternatively, probably, in your early stage of design, you haven't really got a Revit model. And in this case, I will show you how to use a simplified PDF files to take off loads.

And please make sure you enable the snaps of that PDF link so that you can pick lines from the PDF. And in this example, I'm quickly pick out all the exterior boundary lines of this floor plan, trying to create an area based flow for the whole level. So when you placing the area based flow, you can tell it will automatically recognize all the load areas which are defined by this boundary lines.

So in order to get just a big one for the whole level, I can use a trim tool or the other modify tools you're familiar with to clean up these boundary lines. And then you can tell, OK, now I have a whole area based load for the entire floor. And I get the area directly from the visual takeoff. And you can specify a purpose, the load, the type for it. And then you will get a apparent load calculated automatically.

I want to mention that you actually can place multiple area based load in the same enclosed area. And here I tried to define another area based load in different purpose. And by opening the System Browser, you can tell there are two area based loads with the same area but have different connected load reported because it's defined with a different power density.

To continue the workflow, I delete the second one. Continue show you how you can add it, how you can manage this large area based load. So I start to creating more and more interior boundary lines. So you can tell these interior lines won't change the area based load itself. It's still a large one. But you can use the added area based load command. Use the Add and Remove Load Area to modify it. That's a pretty typical behavior.

But in some cases, I think you're mainly would like to split or divide this large area based loading to smaller chunks. So I can show you another tool, which we call the Divide Area Based load in a minute. So let me undo several times to have the large area based load for the entire level. So instead of using Edit, Remove load area from the large one, you also can use this Divide.

So unlike the Edit command, after you use the Divide Area Based Load, you will immediately get a new area based load, like you can see from this diagram, from this thing-- the cameras. So the left-hand side, there's a new area based load is created. We can continue using this way to exclude part of the load area from the existing area based load to form the corridor area and commercial, residential. By

Opening a System Browser, now you can tell, OK, we have split the original large area based load into four pieces for a different purpose. We can specify the load type. For example, this larger area is the commercial part. And the-- yeah, continuing this way.

So the workflow I demonstrate here is mainly starting with a very large area based load in the beginning for a rough estimation. And then you can continue dividing large area based load into small chunks with more detail provided from the architects or other stakeholders. So this workflow is comparing to the original one it's pretty lightweight.

You don't have to work with all these models. You can just consume the architecture design in different format, for example, like the RBG file you have seen here, PDF, DWG files. And you can quickly change these definitions after you get a revised design from your stakeholders like architects. Yeah, so for sure can rename this area based load in System Browser. Check, then, if you capture all this load in the right way.

And by checking these actual columns you see more information about it in System Browser. And I think you probably have noticed that all these area based load have colors. So it actually comes from the view filters. If you go to View Filter tabs, now all these new electrical analytical categories are available to create the filters.

So I'm not jumping to too details about how you create the filters, but just want to mention they are available. Having this color on the area based load actually helps you give a better documentation, convey your design intent. And at last, I create several equipment load to represent the pumps or other equipment that is not depends on the area of the floorplan.

And you can also input the voltages, apparent load, and pretty similar when working with area based loads. In this way, I think all the electrical MEP loads are captured within Revit for the first future use.

And then here comes the quick recap. So in the first video, it's pretty long, covers several steps, starting with how you take off the loads from the RBG model, Revit model. Or you can work with PDF, DWG files, picking lines from that. And then we create a large area based load. We use the edit tool and the divide tool to split into small pieces.

We add a view filter to color all of them, to make a better documentation. And eventually we check all this load in System Browser, creating the equipment load. That's the first step to get all the loaded captured.

All right, and then the second step is about estimate total loads. So with all these loads are captured in Revit, now you can estimate the total. I would like to introduce you two ways to do so. First of all, you can create a power source in the System Browser. And then I select all the loads created for this project. I use this platform to connect it to the power source.

So if you scroll up, you can see a total kinetic load or show on the power source. Pretty straightforward, connecting all the loads to a single source. And the other way you can use is about creating schedules. We have supported to create a schedule for all these new categories, like the analytical electrical loads we select here.

So in this case, we select load name, apparent loads, and other key factors about the loads as the schedule columns. And you can see a calculator-- Calculate Total Options in the Format tab to show all the total loads. So if you go to the Property, find the Sortings, find the Formatting and use the Column Total. And don't forget to check the grand total. Then you will see exactly same number the total kinetic loads listed down below in the schedule.

And beside this grand total for all loads, you also can use a schedule to create all kinds of-- to report loading all kinds of other ways. For example in here, I can group all the loads in their types. Now you can tell how many loads in commercial part, how many residential.

And you also can create a load schedule. For example, use the load classification. You may notice we have defined some load classifications on the area based load and also the equipment load at very beginning. By using the grouping and sorting, uncheck the Itemize Every Instance option here, and select the Load Classification as the sorting group-- sorting and grouping field.

Check the Calculate Total here. You will get a very complex schedule telling you how many loads in each load classification, like power and lighting. So, yeah, Schedule is very typical tool. I believe you are familiar with it. I just show several cases that you can quickly tabulate the results from all the loads you have created.

Yeah, so this is the step of 2. So in this section, we have learned how to create more distributed elements-- sorry, create the power source, helping to tabulate all the existing loads in your project using Schedules. There are two major ways you can get a kinetic total for all the loads you have created.

And then we would like to go to the step 3. In the previous sections, we have learned how to create an analytical load and a power source. And in this section, I will show you more kinds of analytical distribution components, like electrical buses, transformers.

So all these electrical distribution components only can be created from System Browser. Please notice that they lie on this toolbar of the System Browser. I created a transformer, switch board. And you probably have noticed if I creating a bus, when you're selecting a node, existing node will be connected to it automatically. If you select nothing when you're creating a power source, or, sorry, creating a bus it will list under the unconnected node. You can use a Supply From field to move it to connect later.

So after using this method, we can form power distributing system. And we start to move all these loads into the right place, connecting to the specific buses in that area. You may have noticed the residence field listed in the pull-down list. You also can use a filter function in the pull-down list to speed up the process.

So, like I said, with more and more electrical buses created, now you can continue dividing the area based load and create more buses for each area, so that each load can be can be fed upon a specific bus, just like typically we work with electrical panels and circuit at a detailed design stage.

So major differences of working with these analytical components are-- most of them do not have a geometry representation in the [INAUDIBLE]. So it's at the area based load. So these analytical components actually help you quickly design the power distribution system, estimate the loads, without spending too much time in modeling the details.

So in this section, we actually have learned how to create more distribution elements like transformers, buses, to complete the power distribution and estimate the total loads for a project. So after creating all these load and distribution elements using the way I demonstrated in the process 3 sections, we almost get a similar design to the sample model. And in the next section, I will start to show you more advanced functions.

So besides the normal utility power, there are lots of cases where you need a backup power source. Like in here, we create a generator as a backup power. So in some kinds of projects-- so I created two fire pumps. And I would like to have a panel to make sure these two fire pumps can either be fed from the normal utility power but also the generator.

So I use the platform to connect up two fire pumps to the panel. And unlike the previous step, I start to create a transfer switch. You can find it on the System Browser toolbar so you can rename it to automatic transfer switch. So unlike the other electrical loads, there are two supply [INAUDIBLE] of this transfer switch, which means you can specify two upstream components for it.

So I select the Supply From 1 as a specifier. That's from the normal power for the Supply From 1. And select the generator for the Supply From 2. So after it's properly connected, we can see the loads and the transfer switch are propagated to either upstream components.

So you can tell it doesn't really work like a switch to pass the load only to one source or the other. Instead, all the downstream loads can be seen on either power sources or the backup power, which helps you to determine the largest load could appear on the bus. And in here, I also show you another way to create a power source schedule to see how these loads are propagated to the upstream power sources.

So in this section, we learn how to work with transfer switches when a backup power source is required. And please note that Add the Analytical Transfer Switch button only can be found on the toolbar of System Browser. It's not on the ribbon. And you can create schedules of different types of elements to check how these loads are propagated.

And then we come to the last step. Till now, we have mainly checking the kinetic load of all this major equipment. And since Revit 2024, Revit actually provides the estimated-- the demand loads and the demand current calculated in Revit. This value actually implied about by the load classification and demand factor-- you have specified loads. And this demand load and the demand current can be found in System Browser and Schedule in other places.

So for an area based load, you can find the load classification is specified in the Needs Type. In here, I select a general lighting for this area based load. And you can tell there are three ways to define the calculation method. In this example, it just use the constant, which is a 125% for the lighting.

And after defining the demand factor load classification, you can tell now we have a different demand load value comparing to the connected load. And you also can define a lower classification and demand factor for this equipment load. So in this case, I changed the load of these pumps to 10,000, which is a bit easy for calculation.

If I apply the motor load classification, which is, well, count the largest motor as a 125%. And then you can tell the demand loads have become larger while the kinetic loads keep the same. So by using the demand load, we hope it can help you better gather estimated demand loads and better sizing of major equipment.

And then we can see another example. So here I created several elevators. As you know, in the ATC code, elevators' demand load are actually counted based on the quantity of this equipment. So if I go to the demand load of this elevator, you can see I said currently I have three elevators. So I get a 90% demand factor. If I created more elevators, the percentage will also get changed based on the setting, the demand factor.

Yep, so it concludes. There are different ways you can use the low classification and the demand factor just like you work with electrical devices or lighting fixtures as usual. And then another new feature I wanted to show you, which is new to 2024, is creating a load set.

So in some cases, you probably want to specify a load as a backup load. In this case, you have three pumps. You would like to set one of them as a backup load, which is not always operating. By setting the quantity on standby. You can eliminate the load of the smallest one from the load set, so it gives you 20,000 kVA in total for the demand load.

So if we go to how you manage this load set, you can use the right click command or use another tab on the System Browser to switch to the Load Set Manager tab. And there, you can remove them or set the quantity on standby. Yeah, so that's load set, only available in Revit 2024. Make sure you upgrade to the latest version to use this function.

And after all this being done, now you can see all the total-- all the demand loads, demand currently calculated on the major equipment. And you can use this number to decide your major rating, current rating for your key equipment.

And then, here comes another quick recap. In this section, we have learned how to work with load classifications, how to set demand factors to get your demand load and demand current calculated. You can find it in System Browser, Schedules-- help you to estimate your major equipment-- the rating for your equipment.

So in short, we have shown you how to create this analytical load in Revit. It could happen at the very beginning of your project. And then it gives you the demand current calculated based on your input. So hopefully this introduction helps you understand the basic workflow, how to weigh this analytical loads and distributing components, how to do the early stage estimation for your project.

And then, I'd like to hand over to Martin to introduce more about this new workflow.

MARTIN SCHMID: All right, thanks, Zhengrong. That's great information. So now we'll jump into what's new, just, again, to recap what's new in '24, versus what you might be seeing in '23, and then some other new information pertaining to the roadmap and so forth.

So first of all, as mentioned, there were a number of things that Zhengrong showed today that will only be in 2024. So a big chunk of the functionality, the new concepts of the analytical loads and the conceptual distribution, all that core functionality was released as part of 2023.

So we recognize that many users are maybe just now getting to 2023, finishing up projects on '22. So just be aware that not everything you see today will be in 2023. Some of it is not available until you install 2024. And those key things are the demand factors. So in 2023, you're only going to see total connected load, whereas in 2024, you could see assigned the demand factor and have that additional level of analytical information.

The other new thing that was shown was the load sets of being able to identify backup loads and have the system account for deducting those redundant or backup components. And then another thing that we didn't show today is this multi-level boundary indicator.

So at the early stages, when we were showing creating the boundary lines for the area based loads, those can actually span multiple levels. So if you have a building that has a common profile all the way up through multiple levels, or if you have various geometry that is common, instead of having to trace that out on each individual level you could do it on one, tell that boundary line that it applies to multiple levels.

And then in a view filter, you could color code that differently, just like you can with any other filtered element, So that you could visually see, oh, I'm editing something that spans multiple levels. So that you're aware that when you're making that edit that you're editing multiple things instead of just the view or the level that you're working on. So, again, new things to look forward to when you get to 2024.

The other key thing that we want to make sure that you're aware of is that we have an alliance with Schneider Electric, so Schneider Electric as a electrical equipment manufacturer, provider, service provider. They also have a variety of software technology tools. And one of those is integrated with Revit to provide some advanced and additional capabilities on top of what you see within Revit.

So they are a strategic alliance partner. There is a link there to their website that provides more information, that we invite you to take a look at that to look at the additional capabilities that they provide to address additional industry challenges, and provide an additional level of expertise on top of what is provided with the Revit functionality that you've seen so far.

So one of the things that we want to make sure that you're aware of in that capability is-- one of the key things that we keep common deliverable of electrical designers and a common design tool is the ability to show single lines and risers and so forth. And so, what you're seeing here is the Schneider Electric tool. And this is a stage, a step, basically, of importing all the analytical components that you saw previously Zhengrong go over.

So one of the key differentiators here is that their analytical components are a level of detail more. So in Revit today, we have generalized things as a bus. We don't get into the details of if it's a switchboard, or a panel board, or a motor control center. Whereas getting into AED, you can add that additional level of information.

Once you've done that mapping, you could see it's generating dynamically what they call a key-line diagram that you could then further edit. And there's additional information to see what is the voltage, what's the load, a lot of information to help understand as well as also showing that as one-line representation.

So we know that that's one of the key things that users want to see from their electrical distribution is the ability to see this diagrammatically. And so that's one of the key values from the partnership with Schneider, in addition to the additional analytical capabilities that you can learn more about on their website.

So we'll talk a little bit more about some future plans that we have regarding some integration. But that was one of the key things that we wanted to make sure that you're aware of, of those capabilities and that key need that we commonly hear about, wanting to show single-line diagrams.

So that gets us into the roadmap. And so we'll cover a number of things here. But the first thing, again, I want to share a QR code. This QR code will take you to our up-to-date roadmap. So what you see here is a snapshot-in-time when we're recording the video. But this will likely be updated with some new information as we get closer to AU. So make sure to make note of that QR code and check in regularly for updates there.

But instead of dwelling on the overall, we're going to drill into some electrical specific capabilities to make sure that you're aware of. So one of the things that we didn't mention is that so far the electrical analytical workflow that we've covered is all focused on assuming that all loads and all distribution components are three phase. So even if it's like a residential load, or if you know that it's ultimately receptacles, you could still kind of quantify that as an average of a three-phase load. So that's kind of the initial set of workflow, is just assuming everything is balanced three phase.

So one of the new things that we're working on is to support actual single-phase load, single-phase distribution components, throughout that electrical distribution. So we'll talk about the preview release site, where you can get a sneak peek of this by the time you're at AU.

The next is this idea of starting to connect all this analytical information to the physical model. So today, the way the functionality works is, there's these analytical components. And then there's what you're used to within Revit of the electrical equipment and transformers and all those components that you're placing in the model.

Today, there's no relation between the two. These are, at this point, separate sets of functionality. But over time we envision these evolving into providing a continuous workflow from the analytical components into the physical.

And one of the reasons for that and of this evolution, is that when we're talking with users about what they're putting in their distribution systems and the kind of needs and requirements and additional levels of complexity that they're looking at wanting Revit to support, we see that the way that electrical equipment is in Revit today, it's basically represented as a single bus. It's just a single bus within a component. Whereas there's a variety of different scenarios where these things could get far more complicated pretty quickly.

So some of those concepts are what I just referred to here as multi-component equipment. So you might have load segregation, where you're separating lighting loads from other types of loads, or where you're separating-- or where you have an isolation panel in a medical facility where there's a transformer incorporated into the panel, and which might have one or more buses within it. Or there might be components such as integrated power centers that have a high-voltage bus, a transformer within it, and then a low-voltage bus.

So trying to define these as parametric families would be quite complicated because the permutations could go on literally forever. There's really no limit how this might be put together. So the idea here is really having these fundamental behavioral components-- buses, transformers, transfer switch-- root fundamental behaviors of elements but that can be combined in a variety of different ways analytically, and then ultimately associated with geometry or physical components within the model.

So that's kind of how we see this evolving over time, to be able to support more complex distribution without having to have more and more complexity with how families themselves need to be created. It's really more an idea of defining the analytical behaviors of the various components within the distribution and then associating that with geometry, is kind of how we envision that evolving over time.

Then the next piece of the distribution system that would start to come into play here is the components or the conductors that connect the various components within the distribution system. So as soon as you place a switchboard and you have a transformer, well, you know you're going to have some sort of conductor between the two.

And so there's existing limitations that we want to take care of as we evolve these capabilities at this analytical stage and then on into the physical realm. And some of those are the fact that wires within Revit today only support the US convention of American Wire Gauge. They don't support other units such as square millimeters to define the conductor cross-sectional area. So that's one thing that we hope to provide a solution for in the future is the ability to support more of a global audience.

The next bullet there is about cables versus individual wires. So, again, when we look across the ecosystem of various countries and different parts of the world, and even in the US, things are evolving towards utilizing cables that have standardized packages, if you will, of this set of components or this set of wires within a cable of what's available more as a catalog as opposed to just pulling individual conductors. So that's another thing that's on the radar to be able to address in the future.

And then the other is user-defined sizing. So if you've ever used the wiring functionality within Revit, you've probably come across the fact that Revit does its own computation to compute the wire size. And if it doesn't compute the way that you want it, you have no recourse. And so this is on our radar for sure of providing flexible ways of letting you control that, override it, set it however you like in the future. But, again, it's something that is kind of on that roadmap for future development efforts.

The next is what I just referred to as external calculation logic. So today within Revit, we talked about the various demand factors and the different types of rules that can be set up and that those cover a lot of different scenarios. But, of course, they were originally tailored around the US National Electrical Code.