4/5/2021 gbXML Interoperability with TRACE 3D Plus and Autodesk® Revit

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gbXML Interoperability with TRACE 3D Plus and Autodesk® Revit

Published 10/17/2019 08:21 AM | Updated 02/24/2021 01:36 PM

How to create a gbXML?

How to integrate TRACE 3D Plus with Autodesk(R) Revit?
What capabilities does TRACE 3D Plus have with gbXML?
Minimum Requirements:
Autodesk® Revit 2016 or later (LT version is not supported).
Trane TRACE® 3D Plus Version 2 or later.

Summary:
This document is meant to guide a user through the process of exporting Building Information Models (BIMs) from Autodesk® Revit and
increase the likelihood of success when importing them into TRACE 3D Plus. Often, the MEP design engineers will receive a BIM from an
architect. The BIM, however, can vary in the purpose and detail. To export to gbXML, the model must be configured so that it can be
successfully exported to the gbXML format.

Exporting to gbXML, depending on the model provided, can be as quick as a few click or as arduous as setting room or space geometries
throughout the entire building. Users will be somewhere between these two extremes. The user must also understand that programs like
Revit can perform functions and model features outside of the gbXML standard. For more information on the gbXML standard, please see the
following website: http://www.gbxml.org/.

TRACE 3D Plus was tested using a number of gbXMLs created from EnergyPlus IDF files. TRACE 3D Plus was also tested against a
number of gbXMLs exported from Revit that were carefully created for the sole purpose of exporting to gbXML. In all cases, the user must
take ownership of the geometry within the gbXML and how it was created. A building created must be created with proper use of alignment
and snapping. The user must also understand that an HVAC design and energy analysis model like TRACE 3D Plus may not be able to
understand and calculate every combination of geometries which exist in buildings; simplifications are often required.

TRACE 3D Plus was designed to: 1) facilitate engineering decisions with a simplified workflow, 2) provide a means for alternative
comparisons, and 3) enable the user to store building component libraries of information which can be easily reused for any project. For
these reasons and others, the developers of TRACE 3D Plus have decided to import only the building geometry from a gbXML in Version 2.0.
All other parameters (such as weather, constructions, loads, airflows, systems) must be assigned by the user, which can be performed in a
bulk process using the graphical inputs, themes, templates, and libraries. In the workflow of TRACE 3D Plus, this is why the import gbXML
function occurs AFTER the user has set up themes and templates. See the Templates tab and the Library in TRACE 3D Plus.

How to import a gbXML into TRACE 3D Plus:

Go to Building & Site -> Create Building. Click Import gbXML File.

Alternatively, click on the ellipsis (...) icon to the lower right, then click Import gbXML.

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Key elements in Autodesk® Revit which must be configured:

1. The Revit project units (see Manage -> Project Units) are entirely in meters (SI) or entirely in feet (IP) AND the TRACE 3D Plus project
(see Pref -> Regional) is CREATED in the same units. If the units are different, the TRACE 3D Plus project must be recreated. While
notifications have been written to help prevent this, if the gbXML does import with units different than the TRACE 3D plus project, the model
will be wrong by a factor of 0.3048 or 1/0.3048 so starting with alignment of units for the model/project is paramount.

2. Structure Properties:
a. All rooms were created and are bounded on all sides by a physical structure (floor, wall, roof, etc.) and the physical structures are
set as “Room Bounding.” Set the “Room Bounding” property for all surfaces that need to be exported to the energy model. This
should include all exterior walls, roof, ceilings, partitions, windows, doors, slabs and floors. Columns that are part of the exterior wall
should be defined as “Room Bounding”. Columns in the interior spaces, closet doors of shallow depth closets, and any drawing
elements that are not required for energy modeling should have the “Room Bounding” property unchecked. See image in b below.

b. To ensure that rooms and structures all tie together at the same elevations, use levels to constrain the top and at the bottom,
keeping track of offsets used.

c. Walls that overlap or are adjacent to each other (e.g. interior space divisions have two layers each belonging to one space) will
result in two room bounding elements with no space in between them. It is also possible when compound, two or multi-layered wall
elements are created, each layer may have the room bounding property specified. This will cause the energy model to have invalid
and redundant spaces with no volume for space conditioning, resulting in simulation fatal errors. Only one of the outermost layer of
multi-layered wall elements, and only one of two internal partition walls should be specified as room bounding.

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If there are two or more surfaces in parallel and adjacent to each other with no gap, make sure not all such parallel and adjacent
surfaces are specified as “Room Bounding”. Only one of these surfaces should be identified as “Room Bounding”. Typically, this
situation occurs when the interior portion of exterior walls and exterior cladding of wall assemblies are created as two separate
families, but are placed adjacent to each other as shown in the figure below,.

d. Floor openings, elevator shafts or other voids are typically treated as part of the space which surrounds them. Verify that room
bounding elements are present to wrap floor openings, elevator shafts, and closet spaces. If these are smaller than the “Space
Resolution” tolerance, then they are automatically added to the adjacent space.

3. All rooms must extend at least as high as the ceiling or roof they are under and as low as the floor they sit upon. The Room height may
be 10 feet while the ceiling height may be 13 feet, which would cause the room to be unbounded by a physical structure, since it does not
extend as high as the bounding structure.

4. Multi-level rooms or atriums (called non-standard rooms in TRACE 3D Plus) must be created in Revit with separate walls for adjoining
interior and exterior surfaces. In the image below, three walls in Revit were used, on exterior from ground to roof, one interior between the
room and the atrium, and one exterior above the room.

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5. Ceiling Voids and false ceilings must be addressed. Depending on this depth and the Analytical Space Resolution setting (see
Autodesk® Revit F1 Help), the treatment of each ceiling void is the result of one of 3 conditions (from Revit F1 Help):

1. Less depth or less resolution: No separate analytical spaces are created for ceiling voids.
2. Room-bounding is disabled for ceiling panels: No separate analytical spaces are created for ceiling voids.
3. Greater depth or greater resolution: Separate analytical spaces are created for ceiling voids and will be simulated as such when
the average depth is less than 6.5' (2m).

In TRACE 3D Plus, plenums or ceiling voids are a part of the room/space model. In Revit, plenums and ceiling voids can be exported
separately as their own geometry/space volume. When plenums or ceiling voids bounded rooms are imported in TRACE 3D Plus they will be
treated as separate room/space volumes. Since TRACE does not have a method to use Revit exported plenums/ceiling voids as return air
plenums, it is recommended that condition 2 above is used in the model. To import properly into TRACE 3D Plus, use condition 2 and disable
Room Bounding to ceiling panels. Then use the Edit Wizard in TRACE 3D Plus to add drop ceilings to multiple rooms after import.

If Condition 3 is exported in the model, a level will be added to TRACE 3D Plus for each unique ceiling elevation and each plenum or ceiling
void will be created as its own space/room. In this case, spaces can be either treated as unconditioned spaces in the model or each level
that was created for the plenums/voids must be deleted and the level height increased for each floor that has plenums. The Edit Wizard can
then be used to quickly add the plenum/voids back in the TRACE model: this is the only option if the space is to be modeled as a return air
plenum.

6. Creating “Rooms” or “Spaces” to be exported. The user can choose one of two methods: “Rooms” or “Spaces”.

a. In the “Rooms” method, the user will assign a “Room” (see Architecture -> Rooms) to each enclosed volume. Use the features of
Autodesk® Revit to expedite the creation of rooms as much as possible. Rooms must be fully enclosed by structures like walls, floors,
roofs, or room separators. TRACE 3D Plus will import room separators as walls as of Version 2.0, and the user will need to revert
these to “air walls” in the wall properties in TRACE 3D Plus.

b. In the “Spaces” method, the user will assign a “Space” (see Analyze -> Spaces) to each enclosed volume. Use the features of
Autodesk® Revit to expedite the creation of spaces as much as possible. Spaces must be fully enclosed by structures like walls,
floors, roofs, or space separators. TRACE 3D Plus will import space separators as walls as of Version 2.0, and the user will need to
revert these to “air walls” in the wall properties in TRACE 3D Plus.

c. Each space name can be edited by providing a value for the “Name” property. The space names should be unique. All
occupiable spaces in the building should have “Occupiable” property checkbox selected. Plenum spaces should have the “Plenum”
property check box selected as shown below. At least one occupiable space must be present in the model to export gbXML without
warnings in Revit.

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7. Revit requires the model to be in a 3D view (see View -> 3D View) in order to export a gbXML (see File -> Export -> gbXML). TRACE 3D
Plus will import geometry and room names. The room area and volumes will be re-calculated by TRACE 3D Plus and will not be imported.

8. Export gbXML

a. Set the Export Complexity parameter to “Simple”.

b. The Project Phase in the gbXML export must match the Project Phase of the rooms/spaces.
c. TRACE 3D Plus defaults the ground level as Level 00, while Revit defaults the ground level to Level 1. The user must specify
which level sits on the “Ground Plane” in the gbXML export window.
d. Below is an example for the Export gbXML Rooms method. The Room method will export area, volume, room name, and
geometry. TRACE 3D Plus Version 2.0 imports geometry only (see the statement in the introduction paragraphs). As time progresses,
more elements from the gbXML will be imported by TRACE 3D Plus.

e. Below is an example for the Export gbXML Spaces method. The Space method will export content similar to Rooms as well as
loads, infiltration, systems, and envelopes. Before the user spends additional time inserting these additional Space parameters into
Autodesk® Revit, most of this information will not be imported by TRACE 3D Plus. TRACE 3D Plus Version 2.0 imports geometry only
(see the statement in the introduction paragraphs). As time progresses, more elements from the gbXML will be imported by TRACE
3D Plus.

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f. Set the “Sliver Space Tolerance” according to the needs of the model. For TRACE 3D Plus, try starting with 1 foot (0.3 meters).
Autodesk® Revit gbXML export setting for “Sliver Space Tolerance” is set by default to 1 foot, meaning that the volume of all tangent
spaces of width smaller than the tolerance will be added to the adjacent space. Sliver spaces are narrow areas bounded by parallel
interior room-bounding components (see the following image from Autodesk® Revit F1 Help). Under the following circumstances,
Autodesk® Revit automatically includes the volume of sliver spaces in the volume of a tangent space:

i. Identical parallel room-bounding components enclose the sliver space, and

ii. The width of a sliver space is equal to or less than the Sliver Space Tolerance parameter specified in the dialog, and
iii. A space component has been placed in the tangent spaces on both sides of the sliver space.

g. All gbXML errors reported by Revit in the Details tab of the Export gbXML window must be addressed. If there are unenclosed
spaces or other geometry errors, a yellow triangle will appear in the Building Model tree in the “Details” tab of the gbXML export dialog
as seen earlier. Review this for any potential export errors and resolve these. Once all spaces highlighted are satisfactory for the
energy model, select “Next” in the gbXML export settings dialog to export and save the ‘xml’ file in gbXML format for importing into
TRACE 3D Plus. Contact Autodesk® support for information on these errors. https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products.

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Possible workflow warnings and their resolutions:

1. Missing Spaces:

At least one occupiable space needs to be defined in the model before exporting to gbXML. Review the floor plan and ensure room bounding
surfaces or space separators are included before creating spaces. Also check if the “Occupiable” property is enabled for at least one space.

2. Ceiling voids:

This error message is received when spaces are created with room bounding elements (walls and floor), but do not have a roof or ceiling that
encloses the space. Such a situation can be rectified by reviewing the space properties panel and updating the “Limit Offset” property to
represent the full height of the space from floor to ceiling. The following four possibilities need to be checked for each space:

• The upper limit of the space is specified incorrectly.

• The limit offset of the space is specified incorrectly.
• The space is referencing the wrong base level.
• The base offset of the space is specified incorrectly.

Note: TRACE 3D Plus only supports the English language so any gbXML files that are generated for import into the
program must be in English. If there is any issue with importing geometry, as a last check, open the XML and verify the
language. If a different language is being used, contact AutoDesk for support in order to ensure the target language is
English.

References:
Further information available for the following topics from Revit Documentation/Autodesk Knowledge Network:
1. About Creating Energy Models from Architectural Elements
2. Create the Energy Model: Detailed Architectural Model

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