Medeek HVAC

Extensions
#1

I’m not sure if I’m ready to jump into this one yet, full force but… I am rolling some ideas around.

I’m probably less familiar with HVAC or mechanical design than I am with residential electrical, at least with electrical I do have some hands on experience. Funny how that is considering my degree is in mechanical engineering.

Is anyone familiar with WrightSoft? A Mitek company.

http://www.wrightsoft.com/

I’m pretty impressed by their offering and I think something along these lines in SketchUp would be really cool.

This extension would be the “M” in the mdkMEP suite.

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#2

I suspect it would be somewhat more complicated than Medeek electric, as there are a lot of airflow calculations involved.

Most of which would be dependent upon the size of the dwelling, the HVAC system and U/R factors involved.

But maybe not, I’ll guarantee some one here will have a more concise answer than I.

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#3

The design and airflow calculations and such should be done by the appointed Mechanical Engineer. Until you’re ready to do that deep dive rather produce a tool that can be used for the layout, auto sense and insert the correct item at turns and has a variety of the diffusers / split units (typical) / grilles / whatever that can be used.

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#4

Bumpety McBump sending everyone greetings. HVAC Medeek style please!

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#5

Again I’m not an HVAC person, or at least my knowledge is very little at this point. I will need to educate myself, and quickly.

#6

Opinions expressed below are my own, feel free to comment / agree / disagree.

We should be careful that the extension isn’t too prescriptive as this is really the specialist field of the Mechanical Engineer and requirements / conditions will differ between sites / jobs / areas. This extension could come in two flavours: Engineering (Pro) version (that might be able to do the required math), and Planning (Lite) version where you can route / block out rule of thumb requirements input by the operator.

The range of mechanical equipment is probably too vast to cover and may bloat the extension with all the libraries required.

Having said that, a system that you can size/choose HVAC ducting (rigid square, rigid rectangular, rigid round, flexible round) from commonly used sizes would be beneficial. The input method should also be flexible (offer opportunity for manual input). Don’t forget the space surrounding ducting for required bracketing to both keep the ducting together and fit it to the structure (they are different components). Also, offer option of customised thickness of insulation (sound attenuation and thermal options).

When it comes to grilles / diffusers, the same type of flexibility in interface design and options should be considered. A range of generic components (possibly dynamic components?) would suffice.

If one wants to exchange these for product specific ones then the user could do it as they see fit with models / components they supply. This may also be a possible revenue stream to get manufacturers to supply these models (or link to online repository in the background) and “advertise” using the extension. However the extension should not get locked into any specific brand / supplier.

Obviously, as per Medeek extensions usually spoiling us, be able to assign custom materials & layers (now tags since SU 2020) and custom layer / tag names to the various levels / kinds of entries.

*** EDIT ***

These don’t need to do auto cutting of walls / ceilings / whatever, that function can be performed by the operator using the tool of their choice.

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