by: Pedro Rivera and Damian Serrano

feature focus
MEP

You can do that with Worksets

really?

Back in 2006 our company signed a contract to
provide Architectural and Engineering design
services to the Department of Veterans Affairs. It
was a joint venture with Ellerbe Becket Inc. Our
mechanical and plumbing portion was 900,000
sq. ft. The entire project was 1.2 million sq. ft. and it was one of
the largest projects our company had ever worked on. We were
very happy we landed a big job but we were also a little bit worried
because it had to be done in Revit MEP. How are we going to
do this? we thought. Our Mechanical Department didnt really
have a lot of Revit MEP experience at that time, but one thing we
were sure of is that large Revit models can be very slow. We had
pretty decent 8gb RAM computers at that moment, but still if
you try to open an entire 250 megabyte model you might be wait-
ing a while before it opens.
Our Architecture Department had more experience with Revit
and they were using Worksets to make large files more workable.
As explained in the Revit help, a Workset is a collection of mod-
eled elements. Worksets were initially created for multiple user
collaboration, allowing them to borrow chunks of a model and
preventing other users from making changes in the meantime.
But since you can also borrow individual objects, Worksets have
become more of a tool to improve model performance. Pedro ad-
mits that at the time he was a bit skeptical about this: Architects
told me about worksets and how to use them to optimize model
performance. I said Worksets could make the Revit model faster?
.................. whats in your coffee?
breakdown it was easy for all Revit users to become familiar with
the linked models from other disciplines.
The mechanical models were split in worksets by level and sys-
tem, for example LEVEL 1 DUCTWORK , LEVEL 1 PIPING,
LEVEL 2 DUCTWORK, LEVEL 2 PIPING and so on. We
also set up worksets for elements like MECHANICAL EQUIP-
MENT. This was very helpful in the initial modeling stage, but
later we combined worksets when possible, for example LEVEL
1 PIPING and LEVEL 1 DUCTWORK merged into LEVEL
1 HVAC workset.
In addition, worksets were created for the different Revit Links.
While our Architecture Department uses one workset per
linked model our Mechanical Department found it more useful
to combine multiple Revit links into one Workset based on how
you need the links for particular tasks. For example, Electrical
Power linked model and an Electrical Lighting linked model
were placed in a workset called RVT LINKS - ELECTRICAL
POWER AND LIGHTING. You definitely want to minimize
the amount of worksets you have in a model as too many worksets
may make it difficult for the users to model in the correct one.
One thing to absolutely avoid when creating worksets for linked
models is having all the Revit links assigned to only one workset
as shown in Figure 1.

The main benefit of worksets is that you can partially open a

model loading only the elements assigned to the opened worksets,
without having to load all other elements and links you dont need
for your particular task or area. How you set up the worksets is
critical for collaboration and model performance. While Work-
sets can also be used for controlling visibility as an override, our
office has a policy of not using Worksets for controlling visibility.
Partially loading elements and multiple user collaboration are
much more important than any visibility aspect of Worksets.

The project setup

The largest building of the project included a Clinic and a Hos-
pital. These two areas combined were close to 900,000 sq. ft. We
knew we needed more than one model. You are probably thinking
one for the Clinic and one for the Hospital, right? Nope. We set
up a total of 11 models for HVAC, Plumbing, Fire Suppression
and Medical Gas. We looked at how the architects split their
models and followed a similar set up. By having a similar model
Figure 1
This is a huge problem for Revit users who only want to load cer-
tain (but not all) Revit Links. As previously stated, we created
more specific worksets and assigned the Revit Links to them as
shown in Figure 2.

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feature focus MEP

Figure 2 Figure 3

Initial BIM Coordination Default Workset Opening

We had a BIM kickoff meeting with Revit users to discuss all as-
pects of BIM regarding this specific project. Kickoff sounds like a
one-time meeting and you are done but we later discovered that it
would be better to meet regularly to make sure everyone followed
procedures correctly. We explained how worksets were set up and
the reason they were set up that way. We also went over the main
benefits of partially opening a model:
Improved modeling speed.
Improved saving and synchronizing time.
Partially opening Worksets will only affect your local file
and not the central file.
We also thought to ourselves, well, if they dont Open Specify,
we can set up the model to Open with the Specify option as a de-
fault. To accomplish this we re-created the central file (of course
using the same file name and location) and selected Specify...
under the File Save Options (Figure 4). Now they were prompted
automatically with the Worksets dialog box after clicking the
open button. Little by little, as people got more familiar with
worksets and open specify, they seemed to embrace it. We kept
progressing on the models and even though the models got larger
in size, people got used to only loading the necessary worksets
and the models were still running at considerable speed.

Open Specify
As the models got larger in file size, some people complained about
how slow the Revit models were. The first thing we would ask was
Did you open specify?. No is what most people replied. Well,
its only a matter of clicking the pull down button right beside the
Open button and selecting Specify.... This brings the Workset
dialog so you can specify which worksets you want to open, in-
stead of using the default opening option.

We made a picture to show them that if you are only working

on the 3rd level, then you dont need to load Level one, two, four
and five. Plus you dont need to load all the linked Revit models
(see Figure 3). Some people just refused to open specify. In our
position sometimes we have to be a little of a psychologist to deal
with peoples personalities and attitudes. We think they didnt
want to open specify because they got a sense that they wouldnt
see everything they needed. That is a true statement IF you did
not model in the correct workset, which is why we always stress so
much the need to place the objects in the correct workset. They
were also worried about how open specify would affect the cen-
tral file. It doesnt. If you open specify, partially loading worksets
only affects your local file.
Figure 4
It was very hard convincing them of the open specify tool but
we killed negativity with creativity when we actually took a stop Modeling in the correct workset
watch and timed how long it took to open the whole model versus In order for all this to work properly, it is critical that objects are
open specifying only the area they were directly working on. placed in the correct workset. It seems obvious, but a lot of times
users just dont realize what workset they are working on, thus
creating objects in the wrong workset. Revit 2011 has helped a

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 feature focus
MEP

Figure 5
lot by having the Active workset shown in the Status Bar (Fig-
ure 5), but at the time we were using Revit 2010 and most users
were confused about this. Also, when objects land in the wrong
workset there is no easy way to troubleshoot. Workset property
cannot be scheduled, so the only way to move objects to the right
workset is by isolating worksets, finding the offending objects and
changing their workset property manually.
Again, we cannot stress enough how important it is to place ob-
jects in the right workset, so when you partially open a model you
get what you expect.
Now Revit Veterans
Our first big Revit MEP project was a success and it received an
Honorable Mention at the 2010 AIA TAP BIM Awards. Even
thought we had a tight schedule, not enough Revit experience,
not enough Revit users and a big project, we were still able to
complete the project with quality engineering and provide the
owner with a MEP BIM deliverable. Now everybody is more ef-
ficient with worksets and other Revit MEP features. Throughout
this experience we learned that people will resist the unknown,
but if you stay persistent in trying to convince others on what you
believe in, eventually they will embrace it. We also learned that
even though Revit MEP still has some limitations, sometimes
you have to be creative and adjust to change to achieve what you
desire. Not only did this experience make us better at using Revit
MEP, it also made us a better Mechanical Department.
Damian is a Project/BIM Coordinator at RLF
Inc. With 19 years of experience in the AEC
arena he has been a primary force in RLFs mi-
gration from CAD to BIM. Damian is a Revit
Architecture Certified Professional, and also an
Adjunct Instructor at Seminole State College
of Florida and Valencia Community College.
He implemented the first collegiate BIM/Revit
courses in Central Florida. Damian has a degree in Building Design
and Construction and an Architecture degree from University of Bue-
nos Aires, Argentina. damian_serrano@rlfae.com
About RLF Inc.
RLF is a nationally recognized Architecture, Engineering and Interior
Design firm located in Winter Park, Florida serving the Regional,
National and International Community. Founded in 1935, RLF is
leading the pack in implementing BIM for large healthcare and federal
projects. Among many awards, RLF has recently been named 2010
AIA Florida Firm of the Year and received an Honorable Mention
at the 2010 AIA TAP BIM Awards for the 1.15 million square-foot
Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Orlando, FL.

Pedro is a Mechanical Designer/BIM Coordi-

nator for RLF Inc. With more than 10 years
of experience, he successfully implemented BIM
technology to the Mechanical Department. He
specializes in the development, training and im-
plementation of Revit MEP and Navisworks.
He also established Revit MEP organization
and standards for the Mechanical Department.
Pedro has an Associate of Science degree from ITT Technical Institute.
Pedro_Rivera@rlfae.com

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