The Principle of Data Exchange Between Revit and Ecotect
In July 2007, Autodesk acquired SquareOne Research Limited along with Dr. Andrew Marsh, gaining all assets related to conceptual building performance analysis software tools, including Ecotect.
Revit Architecture
File exchange between Revit Architecture and Ecotect Analysis is not fully compatible or synchronized. For example, model information from Revit Architecture can be imported into Ecotect Analysis for simulation results. However, Ecotect Analysis refers to Revit Architecture using DXF format files. The primary data exchange formats from Revit Architecture to Ecotect Analysis are gbXML and DXF files.
The GBXML format represents a space-based model that preserves spatial structure, including elements such as roofs, interior and exterior walls, floor slabs, windows, doors, and spatial openings. These are simplified as surfaces without thickness or detailed component information. In contrast, DXF files provide detailed 3D models where building components have thickness.
GBXML files are used for analyzing thermal environments, lighting, acoustics, resource consumption, environmental impact, solar radiation, shadow occlusion, and building visibility. DXF files are better suited for light environment analysis, shadow occlusion, and visibility analysis. Due to the thickness of building components, DXF files can deliver more accurate analysis results. However, exporting or importing DXF files for complex building models in Revit Architecture can be very slow.
Data Exchange Through gbXML Format
When exchanging data between Revit Architecture and Ecotect Analysis using gbXML format, certain preprocessing steps are necessary in Revit Architecture, including:
- Establishing room boundaries
- Defining room dividing lines
- Simplifying the model
- Setting room types and space areas
- Creating new rooms
- Performing room conflict checks
- Generating room profile test maps and verifying conflict check results
Data Exchange Through DXF Format
When exchanging data using the DXF format, the main focus in Revit Architecture is simplifying the model. Building model views in Revit contain many objects and a large amount of data. Exporting these views to other software generates visible graphics across one or more views, which leads to the following benefits:
- Improved performance during the export process
- Reduced output file size
- Enhanced performance of output files in other applications
- Elimination of unnecessary content in output files
As a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, data exchange between Revit Architecture and Ecotect Analysis has improved over previous versions. Currently, Ecotect Analysis 2011 offers effective data exchange capabilities.
That concludes the overview of the principle of data exchange between Revit and Ecotect. I hope this article has been helpful to everyone!
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