Code Compliant Automation Through Dynamo

For my term project, I am planning on automating a handful of tasks that will satisfy basic code compliance from an Electrical Engineering perspective as well as handle a few tasks that would be otherwise tedious. The code compliance automation tasks include the following:

• Adding fire alarm strobes to rooms with an occupancy of 2 or greater, and a certain area
• Adding fire alarm speaker strobes to rooms with an occupancy of 2 or greater, and a certain area
• Spacing ceiling mounted speaker strobes through common areas and corridors meeting code required spacing and visibility
• Making sure all outlets within a 3' radius of sinks are GFCI type
• Laying out conference room receptacle layouts to comply to new NEC code requirements

These tasks will be the primary focus of the project. I would also like to automate the following convenience tasks:

• Adding room tags in a newly created view
• Tag receptacles and lights with circuit tags
• Add plus designation to all receptacles modelled above the standard mounting height of 1'6"
• Space Wireless Access Points
• Layout a typical office layout

I will be creating a one floor basic office model with a handful of offices, open office area, cafe, conference room, corridors, and restrooms. I will then develop the Dynamo script that will handle these routines. It's possible that I will need to split these tasks into two or three separate scripts in order to avoid the Dynamo graph from becoming too cluttered. This will help keep the Dynamo script from crashing which would crash the Revit file. For practical purposes, this/these script(s) need to work smoothly so that they could, in theory, be used on larger projects at design firms. 

I plan on starting by sitting down and putting together pseudo code for each task that will better help me map out and execute the development of the code. Once the pseudo code is developed I can then translate it to actual Dynamo code. I will be documenting and logging my progress as I go including how long it takes me to complete certain tasks as well as including my pseudo code and plans in my report.


https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/02/b4-mika-awai-project-description.html
Hey Mika,

I think this is a very interesting project design given the climate in the industry and the push to make buildings more sustainable, doing an analysis of the available software would prove to be very beneficial. Especially if it would make designing to LEED that much easier.

https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/02/course-project.html
Hey Michael,

I'm very interested to see where this project goes and what the finished product looks like. I think that this model could be incredibly beneficial not only from an owner's viewpoint but also from a design viewpoint. This would greatly affect the materials chosen for the building envelope, which mechanical systems are chosen, and where energy consumption can be improved.

https://ae-410-510-ay19-20.blogspot.com/2020/01/bell-blog-4-project-information.html
Hey Dane,

I was also very interested in this topic and considered looking into it as well. The process seems geared more towards architectural design in that it iterates through different forms, shapes and materials easily, but I wonder how this could be applied to iterating through envelope designs and other engineering elements of building design. I really enjoy the thought of being able to expand and increase the speed of design option development with this process. I'm looking forward to seeing where this project goes.