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News relevant for Revit users worldwide: you can now download Revit families for Kemper globe and butterfly valves and use them for free in your projects. Download them now!

Download Kemper valves!

BIM is all about sharing and managing information – and there’s heaps of data that can be used to enrich your models.

There are a lot of ways to describe just one object in a system: dimensions, brand, price, material type, and several other types of data. But since you want to maintain a high design speed, plus have a model that’s easy to work with, how do you decide which information should actually be in your project and to which you need to say "no"?

This article continues on Constructible >>>

The Productivity Tools App has been improved with new functionalities!

This app provides productivity support for designing MEP systems. The functionality is meant for easily connecting, rotating and reconnecting Revit families in routing systems. The tools are easy to use, powerful and versatile. Moreover, the tools can also be used with self-created families.

Next to Connect Elements, Rotate Elements around Element, Rotate Elements in free space, Reconnect Elements, Connect & Copy Elements and Connect & Rotate Elements, we just added two more!

Attach hanger(s) to System

Attach & extend hanger rod(s) to Construction.

Bonus: You can add Flamco hanger(s) to your System in Revit now!

Why the Productivity Tools?

The steps for connecting and rotating families on the Revit platform with native Revit functionality are extensive. Connect and rotate functionality with the productivity tool app increase user-friendliness, expand productivity and save clicks. Reconnect element tooling makes it easy to restore disconnected saddles and solves a native Revit platform issue.

Use these 8 Productivity Tools in one App and work faster in Revit!

We've uploaded a new batch of Grundfos products on our platform MEPcontent.com. More than 50 series have been added to the library. Multistage pumps from the CR series, double pumps from the Magna series, submersible pumps, circulation pumps, etcetera. The families are using type catalog files in order for engineers to make the right selection.

Here you may find all the products of Grundfos

From pencil and paper to 3D, 4D, or even 5D BIM— there is no question that things are changing rapidly in the construction industry. CAD is transforming the way we all work and will continue to do so in the future.

Computer technology has offered many advantages when it comes to managing processes and increasing efficiency and productivity to both design and manufacturing industries. A lot of time that was previously spent on lengthy design and correction processes by hand, has been saved by the introduction of Computer Aided Design.

The next step after 3D systems is BIM (Building Information Modelling), which is attracting a lot of attention in recent years. However, the concept of BIM dates 30 years back and nowadays we can already talk about 3D, 4D, 5D and 6D BIM. What is the history of BIM and what does the future hold when it comes to CAD?

This article continues on Constructible >>>

20 years ago, when humans talked about robots, it was still the reign of imagination. Back then, we could barely envision a world where robots could effectively accomplish tasks that were previously the exclusive domain of humans.

Today, we see robotics making headway through technologies such as exoskeletons, 3D printing, modularization and robotics, AI and analytics, digital twin technology, and supply chain optimization.

These allow managers to increase efficiencies, safety and speed through automation.

The article continues on the Constructible platform >>>

The Mitsubishi Electric BIM library on MEPcontent has just been updated with several items for MXZ heat pumps. Download them here as Revit families or .IFC files!

They are also available in the Mitsubishi Electric System Designer App. This means that you can place them even faster, directly from within your project environment. The App is free to download and use from the App store and it encompasses a wide range of Mitsubishi Electric items.

MXZ Inverter heat pumps available in R32 & R410A

The MXZ Heating & Cooling INVERTER residential systems offer high-efficiency heating and cooling for a variety of rooms, including bedrooms, basements, sun rooms and more. A variety of indoor units provide zone comfort control while the INVERTER-driven compressor and electronic controls in the outdoor units provide closer control and higher efficiency with minimal power usage.

INVERTER technology

The INVERTER-driven technology results in substantial energy and utility savings for homeowners. Zone control is provided for improved comfort and decreased energy usage.

Wide Choice of Indoors

The homeowner has an even wider range of indoor unit types with a selection of almost 30 different sizes/ types including Hi Wall, Low Level Floor mounted, Concealed ducted, Ceiling suspended and of course a wide range of Ceiling Cassettes. Due to easily accessible filters, simple wiring between the indoor and outdoor units a minimal level of maintenance is needed. Stylish LN Series of Hi Wall units in R32 Refrigerant with features like Built-in Wi-Fi, 3D i-see sensor technology, Dual vane airflow control finished in a range of deep, rich colours with a Premium quality feel. The AP range offered in R32 refrigerant has a stylish design with Built-in Wi-Fi and low noise level of 19dBA. R32 is a high-efficiency refrigerant and has a low GWP of 675.

197 new articles from Caleffi can now be imported in Stabicad with the function ‘Import Product Lines’. The PLS contains articles that include properties and dimensions which makes them suitable to be placed dimensionally stable in AutoCAD and Revit MEP.

Valves

Caleffi is the leading Italian manufacturer of high-quality components for heating, cooling and plumbing systems and a supplier of high-performance hydronic solutions. They offer a wide range of valves for several uses including mixing valves, safety relief valves, fuel shut-off valves, temperature relief valves, differential by-pass valves and much more.

Air vents

Automatic air vents are designed to remove the air that accumulates in heating and cooling systems without the need for manual intervention. This prevents harmful air that may compromise the life and the performance of the system which includes:

• corrosion due to the oxygen
• pockets of air trapped in the heating emitters
• cavitation in the circulation pumps
• noise from air passing through the pipes

The accumulation of air bubbles in the air vent body causes the float to drop and thus the vent valve to open. The air vent functions correctly, as long as the water pressure remains below the maximum discharge pressure.

Air separators

Caleffi air separators use a coalescing element that consists of an element of concentric diamond pattern mesh surfaces. This element creates the whirling movement required to facilitate the release of micro-bubbles and their adhesion to these surfaces. The bubbles, fusing with each other, increase in volume until the bouyancy force overcomes the adhesion force to the surface. They rise to the top of the unit from where they are released through a float-operated automatic air release valve.

View the Caleffi PLS now!

It can be challenging to make a decision about what BIM content to use in a project. As the MEP engineer you might sometimes be pulled in several directions by the project owner, the architect and other parties taking part in the project.

There are actually two ways to approach this decision:

1. Make your decision based on previous experience with manufacturer items and input from stakeholders -> search for content on trusted platforms -> download and place files


2. Regularly review the content published on trusted platforms -> research product specific information and reviews from peers -> make your decision based on your knowledge and project specifications -> download and place files

As you can see, you can either base your decision on previous experience or on newly acquired knowledge. The construction industry is changing fast, just like all industries out there, and it is essential that you stay up to date with the latest developments in order to provide the best solutions for your design, no matter if you have tried it before or not.

Admittedly, the second path requires a bit more effort than the first. Instead of relying on what you already know, you have to do research, tests and comparisons, and all of it for what?

Well, in some cases, the extra knowledge can prove invaluable. For instance, instead of choosing a traditional fuel-based energy source, such as a gas boiler, you can go for a newer system for generating energy, such as a heat pump. This way, you will reduce resources spent while considerably increasing efficiency. New solutions for MEP systems are constantly being developed and introduced to the market and in order to maintain yourself ahead of the game, you need to be aware of all of them.

How to gain knowledge and review articles fast

So what are the best ways to actually review manufacturer content and decide on your best options, without spending hours browsing online for answers? Don’t worry, we made things easy for you!

1. Every week, look for the MEPcontent newsletter in your inbox

In the weekly newsletter we include the most important updates about new manufacturers joining the MEPcontent platform or new items being published. If you click on the button below each article, you will be directed to a page where you will find valuable information about the item such as best conditions in which to use it, strengths and weaknesses or background information about the manufacturing company. You can additionally visit the website of the manufacturer itself for more technical and detailed information on the product. Even if you don’t download the items straight away, at least you know what your options are.

2. Set yourself a goal to check the platform regularly and commit to it

Emails can get buried in your inbox before you get the time to read them, but there are always ways around that, since time is one of the biggest challenges today for everybody. Create a task for yourself to visit MEPcontent.com to check for the latest content updates. The latest content added will always appear on the top of the BIM overview page. Don’t forget to select the country of your choice to view the localizations available for your region. The frequency of the reminder can be daily, weekly, every few days, or as often as you think necessary. You can use this Google Chrome extension to be sure you don’t forget the commitment you made to yourself.

3. Use bookmarks to stay organized

In order to be sure that the content you are using is up-to-date, it is actually not such a good idea to download and store files locally. When there are changes made to an item, your local library will not sync automatically with the one available online, which means that you run the risk of using outdated content. In order to avoid that, but still keep yourself organized, you can use Internet bookmarks. We recommend creating a general “MEPcontent” folder that contains several sub folders named after the manufacturers that are of most interest to you. Alternatively, you can organize your folders according to categories. For instance, the general folder ”Mechanical” can contain the sub folders “Pipes”, “Valves”, “Pumps” where you store product pages from items that you would like to use for future projects. View all the categories available on MEPcontent here. Bookmarks are a great way to keep yourself organized and to make sure that you always check for the latest content updates.

4. Follow manufacturers on MEPcontent

What many MEPcontent users don’t know yet is that you can actually follow manufacturers and get personalized notifications by email when new content from them is published. It’s just like following friends on Facebook or other social platforms to get notified about their activity. You can find the “Follow” on each product page, such as this one for a Mitsubishi Electric heat pump. Look under the manufacturer information on the right side of the screen.

5. Automatically get notified when relevant updates are published

In the news section on MEPcontent we regularly publish closely verified information about BIM and MEP to help designers gain knowledge and practical information about the industry. Some of these news items end up in the newsletter, but not all of them. In order to be sure you don't miss important updates, or if you are not a big fan of email because your inbox gets cluttered too fast, you can choose to receive these updates as browser notifications. Just do a hard refresh of the MEPcontent website (Ctrl + F5 for Windows or ⇧ Shift and Reload for MAC) to clear the cookies and click "Allow" in the window that will appear next. You can switch off your notifications at any time from your browser's settings.

6. Browse and filter articles with the MEPcontent Browser

If you want to work at the highest speed, you may want to try the MEPcontent Browser plugin. It allows you to filter on several important criteria and to select the desired items from the list of results. All of it happens right within your project environment, so you never have to switch windows while working and risk losing concentration.

Go ahead and make a pledge to yourself that you will try at least 3 of these actions in order to start choosing better BIM content for your projects!

Why do we need BIM content?

BIM content is essential for your project. BIM articles equipped with the correct technical and geometric parameters can be an invaluable asset in the processes of forecasting, calculating and ordering. It can potentially save a lot of time and extra costs. Here you can find out more about why MEP engineers need BIM content.

There are several aspects that come into discussion when talking about BIM content. How do you make the information is correct? And do you avoid overloading your project by using large size article files? Moreover, how will you make sure that the content you use is up-to-date with the latest changes announced by the manufacturer? Taken separately, all of these issues have their solution. Which doesn’t mean that solving them separately will be fast, nor easy.

The MEPcontent Browser

The MEPcontent Browser is a plugin that can be used both in Revit and AutoCAD to easily browse, filter and insert 3D BIM content in your projects. It is a gateway to MEPcontent.com, the largest BIM library for MEP engineers, directly from within your project environment. The plugin is free to download and to use from the MEPcontent App Store.

Uniform and high quality content

In order to provide MEP engineers with reliable 3D content, we work in close collaboration with over 300 building product manufacturers worldwide. That is how we make sure that the content we make available on the MEPcontent platform and in the MEPcontent Browser is always up-to-date, uniformly build and evaluated according to the EMCS Standard and ready to be used in your projects.

Quick access to your files

You can access the BIM library directly from within your project. No need to switch to an external window or download files locally. Using the advanced filtering options such as category, manufacturers, or availability you can find the articles that you need within seconds. If you have to take some time to decide what item you want to use, you can visit the manufacturer URL included in the article description to consult the documentation provided.

A source of BIM news

The Communication Channel available in the plugin is your constant source of information about new content releases, new manufacturers joining the platform, product updates, news from the BIM industry and a lot of valuable information to help you realize better building installations.

Download the MEPcontent Browser straight away and start working faster with BIM content!

Image: CityLife Milano, by Deerns

Levels of BIM adoption vary across the world. However, no country remains unaffected by the new way of working. Italy is no different. In fact, according to the latest figures the value of BIM projects in the public sector reached over 2,6 billion in 2016, with a 30% increase in comparison to the year before. Kim Smit, business development specialist at MEPcontent, talks about the latest BIM developments in Italy and gives an insight into the changing industry.

How does Italy compare to other countries when it comes to BIM?

Although Italy has not been at the forefront of BIM adoption in Europe, we have seen a very significant growth in 2018. Italian manufacturers who recently started with the BIM implementation in their organization have learned from the challenges of (competing) early adopters and are using this to their advantage. Now it’s the right time for manufacturers in Italy to get BIM ready. More importantly, manufacturers can profit now from the latest, most innovative BIM solutions available on the market, which go far beyond the - let’s say – traditional content creation. Engineers will of course benefit from these solutions in their daily workflows and manufacturers are increasingly considering this when it comes to their BIM strategy.

See what your country is doing in terms of BIM adoption.

So, BIM adoption seems to be increasing, right?

If we look at the the number of Italian users of our platform we see a significant growth of 48.5% in 2018, bringing Italy to the top 10 of both number of visitors and of downloads of the MEPcontent platform. We also see leading Italian engineering firms that are willing to test our apps for Revit. So BIM is definitely gaining ground in Italy.

Additionally, BIM maturity varies a lot across regions. Especially in cities in the northern regions of Italy, like Milano, Bergamo and Brescia, firms are already operating at a high BIM maturity level similar to advanced BIM countries. We’ll see that first large and international projects are being realized with BIM, and later the smaller projects will follow.

What challenges are there when it comes to BIM adoption?

First, the Italian MEP landscape is quite dispersed: there are many small engineering firms scattered widely across the country. It will take some time for everyone to invest in the knowledge and education and the software required for BIM. Also, software incompatibility and bureaucracy can be issues to get started with BIM. These are a few things that slow the adoption of BIM down, but there’s no doubt BIM is the future, also in Italy.

What is the government’s approach to BIM?

The government is definitely supporting the development of BIM. A decree has been issued with a multi-year plan stating that all public projects have to be realized with BIM in 2022. From January 2019 this will be a requirement for all projects worth more than 100 million euros; in 2021 for the more complex projects, and in 2022 for all public projects. This will give the smaller firms some time to prepare themselves for BIM. Additionally, an Italian norm is being developed: the UNI 11337 (Normativa UNI 11337). Different parts of this standard have already been published, providing guidelines and a framework for managing digital information processes.

Are there other ways to accelerate the BIM adoption?

What will help is the drive of manufacturers to keep a competitive position. Increasingly, MEP engineering firms are taking the quality of BIM objects into consideration when selecting a manufacturer. Therefore internationally oriented Italian manufacturers have been working with BIM for quite some time as part of their strategy. Manufacturers that are in business with countries like the Netherlands, the United Kingdom or Australia, have already embraced BIM to meet the demand for BIM content. Who wants to be part of big international projects, can’t stay behind. Furthermore, we see that these manufacturers are also investing time in educating MEP engineers on working with Revit and BIM, which helps the BIM adoption increase.

What can other countries learn from the Italians when it comes to BIM?

In Italy, quality is not just a word. In my experience, everything is done with passion and with eye for detail and quality. On the one hand, this can delay processes. On the other hand, it also ensures the quality that Italian products are known for across the world. Therefore Italians typically will take more time, evaluate potential issues and all options before making a decision. However, this also means that the results are likely to be impressive too. This becomes clear when looking at the remarkable BIM projects that have already been realized in Italy, such as the Brennero Tunnel, the Scala theater and the Citylife Building in Milano.

The pursuit of quality is also reflected in the interest in the Extended MEP Content Standard, which is matched to multiple international standards. When we talk to Italian manufacturers we hear that they are looking for a BIM standard that guarantees the quality of the content in Italy as well as on a more global scale.

We also get positive feedback from Italian engineers who use the BIM objects from MEPcontent, as they have experienced the quality of the content guaranteed from the EMCS.

Any final tips for starting with BIM?

Content is very important to the quality of your BIM project. So if you’re an engineer; make sure you work with high quality content. If you are a manufacturer, keep in mind that the BIM solution(s) you offer are primarily for the benefit of the engineer.

Also, it’s easy to find a software supplier able to create BIM models, but it’s more important to find an innovative, MEP specialized BIM partner who knows what manufacturers and engineers need; now and in the future.