Creating a Programming Schedule in Revit with Color Coded Conditional Formatting

I had the idea to make this tutorial after a meeting today where we were discussing the formatting of a hard copy programming worksheet.  I wanted to see if we could plug the programming data directly into our Revit model file so that we can track how the spaces within the model compare to the POR.  The process of this tutorial is based on a concept I saw from a tutorial by HOK where they used conditional formatting to color code a schedule for when a room is over the required area or under.  The problem with their method is that it required the area be exactly on target.  I think it is more realistic to set a goal for how close a space must be to the required area.  In the following videos I arbitrarily chose to set the goal to within 10% of required, but you could make it whatever you choose.

Creating Type Catalogs of Standard AWI Casework

The following video tutorials demonstrate the use of standard AWI casework.  The AWI library comes with only one cabinet size per type.  I have created a type catalog of typical sizes for each cabinet.

Using Filters to Create a Color-Coded Life Safety Plan

It can be a challenge in Revit to come up with an intelligent method of identifying walls that are fire rated.  The use of various hatch patterns can be mistaken as identify wall construction rather than wall rating.  Drafting lines over top of your plan with dash-dot patterns to identify wall ratings is not actually linked to the wall types in place.  The best method I have found is to create color-coded plans that fill in rated walls with a solid color fill.

To do this, create a new plan view and set the detail level to course.  Enter the Visibility/Graphics  dialogue (VG keyboard shortcut) and add new filters.  Click the Add button.  We will need to create new filters.  Click on the icon in the bottom left corner (The little paper with the plus sign).  Name your filter in a way to easily identify its purpose; I have used "Walls - Fire Rated - 1Hr".  Next, select the categories that the filter will apply to.  For our purpose, we will just pick Walls, but if you were to use this on a section, you may want to also select floors, ceilings, and roofs.

Under 'Filter Rules", in the Filter By pull-down, select 'Fire Rating'.  In the next pull-down, pick 'equals' and then type in 1.  Repeat this process to create filters for all of the fire ratings that need to be color-coded on the plan.  Pick all of the filters that you create and then select 'OK'.

Now we need to set the graphic overrides for the filters.  Make sure that the check box in the Visibility column is checked.  In the Cut column, click 'Override' under Pattern.  Switch the pattern to Solid Fill and then change the color to something easily identifiable.  In the above caption, I have set 1 hour to blue and 2-hour to green.

Now, your plan view should have all of the rated walls color coded.  This will help to recognize where you make have breaks in the continuity of your fire rated assemblies.

The following video walks through the above steps: