Managing Curtain Walls in Assemble Systems

Curtain Wall families in Revit are indicated by 3 dashed lines at the perimeter of the system. Each Curtain Wall system contains multiple components: Curtain Panels, Curtain Mullions and the boundary condition of the overall Wall System. Upon publishing to Assemble, a Curtain Wall System is represented in Assemble graphically displaying the Curtain Panel and Curtain Mullion components. The boundary condition for the overall Curtain Wall system is not supported, but the summary Quantity is published in the Walls Category. This document outlines how to manage Curtain Walls in Assemble.

Figure 1: Curtain Wall System highlighted in Revit 2015.

Figure 2: Curtain Panel (a singular component in the Curtain Wall system above) and Curtain Mullion (at right).

The following workflow can help the VDC/BIM Manager, communicate the various curtain wall quantities and their relationship to the estimator.

Step 1:  Create a View of the Curtain Panels, Curtain Mullions and Curtain Wall.

Select all Curtain Panels and Curtain Mullions. Choose the Door families labeled Curtain Panel or Storefront. Finally choose all families in the Walls category labeled Curtain Wall. Then choose Hide Others from the Selection Bar.

Step 3: Group the View by Host ID

1. Click on the Dropdown next to Group by in the Model Inventory header.

2. Click Create New Grouping to make the following Grouping:

Step 4: Save the View

1. Click on the Save button to save changes and name your new view.

Step 4: Review the quantities for Curtain Panels and Curtain Walls

1. Now in the Curtain Wall View, you can associate the total square feet of Walls: Curtain Wall: Storefront with the Curtain Panels and Doors that have the same Host name of Storefront. In this example the total area of the Curtain Panel labeled Storefront is 7865.69 SF and the total area of Curtain Wall doors is 402.50 SF for a total of 8,268.19 SF (See Figure 4 for details). The corresponding calculations of Walls: Curtain Wall Storefront is 9,321.10 as it represents the total area of the system, including Curtain Panels and Curtain Mullions. Assemble displays both values so that you understand the overall area of a system and the area of just panels or the lineal ft of just mullions.

NOTE: The Walls Category is a redundant quantity and does not display in the VIewer. It represents the total area for a particular system type. Curtain Panel and Curtain Mullions have quantities associated with their geometry individually. Both are displayed at the request of our customers and provide you with two ways to view the same information.

Figure 3 - View of Curtain Walls

Figure 4- View of Storefront Quantities