Revit Elevation Plans

 In my elevation plan I marked the roof slope in all the views and added a Ceiling level that was 1/2" below the Roof level. Then I checked my textbook to see what else was needed to be included; I was to label the top of the window height, the shingle type, the overhang distance, column type and where brick was located. The front view required the most text because it showed the most detail of the house and the elements were constant for the whole of the house.

Revit Roof Plan

Recreating my roof plan on Revit was tedious because I had to connect three roofs to create the one shown below. Also, because of my provisions I made to the plan, I had to recalulate the ventilation. I changed the roof type to hip from gable and took out the two gables that were in the front of the house. I also added downspouts to the house. They were fairly simple to put in because I only had to shorten and allign them to the house. The gutters and fascia on the other hand were difficult because corners would not connect and would sometimes mess up the alignment of the downspouts.

Revit Floor Plan

The past few months I have been using Revit. I like using this program more because you can see the house in 3D and get an actuall feel for how the house would look if it was to be built. Here I could choose the color of the floors and brick; I even changed some window sizes because I found that they looked too tiny for the area. I could do so much more in Revit than in AutoCAD, but I found it harder to grasp the concept.

HVAC Plan's

I learned about heating ventilation and air conditioning in this unit. A furnace and an air conditioning unit needed to be added to my floor plan along with registers, returns, flexible air ducts and their sizes. I ended up with eleven registers and three returns.
Calulating the BTUH heat loss and heat gain was a tad confusing at first, but I managed to calulate 45531 for the heat loss and 21703 for the heat gain. These numbers helped me determine which furnace and airconditioning unit was needed for the house.

Notes

The HVAC Plan 

Plumbing Plan

The next step of designing my house is to make the plumbing plan. This included the cold and hot water piping, plumbing fixtures, sanitary piping, and gas piping. I started with the main house drain, connecting them to the drains of each fixture. Then I drew the main hot water and cold water pipes and determined thier widths. I had to connect smaller pipes to the required fixtures that needed them. The pipes that go off of the main pipes had a smaller width, so instead of a 3/4" pipe it is a 1/2" pipe. The cold water pipe ended outside of the house as a hose bib. Hot water pipes connect to the water heater in the service area. I needed less gas  piping in the house because it only connected to the fire place and the meter outside of it. The piping was 3/4" wide and made of iron. Shut offs were put in places that required one, for example I placed one for both the hot water and cold water piping in front of the washing machine.

The Plumbing Plan 

 The fixture plan was made to organize which plumbing fixture I have choosen. In total I have
choosen eighteen fixtures to be placed inside the house. These include the sinks, tubs, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and faucets.

The Fixture Schedule 

Finished Electrical Plan

I created the Electrical Plan to map out the locations of the lighting fixtures and the outlets. I learned from reading that there are many requirements that are needed to be included. For example GFCI outlets are put in place where the outlet may come in contact with water and weatherproof outlets are to be placed outside. Convenience outlets, for residential plans, should be placed 6" to 8" apart along each wall.

I found lighting fixtures on the Progressive lighting website; in my house I have a total of twenty eight lighting fixtures, including the fan hangers in the bathroom. I placed recessed lights in the kitchen above each work area; another was placed above the fireplace to light up the mantle. The service room had a fluorescent light because it is brighter than the other fixtures. To accommodate a rechargeable wheelchair, I places a special outlet in the master bedroom.

The lighting plan contains the fixture type, manufacturer, model number, quantity, mounting height and watt number. And I calculated the circuit data to determine the amount of amps needed and the number of circuits needed in the circuit box.

The Not So Big House

I was assigned to research and learn more about the Not So Big House concept. The concept is presented in a trilogy of books by Sarah Susanka. She suggests that instead of building larger homes, people should build homes that are of average size but are more convenient to live in.

I was also assigned to measure each of the rooms in my personal house (not the one I had previously designed in Architecture 1). The chart I created includes the room name, the activities that take place in that room, the length and width, square footage and the frequency of activity.

Making Changes

Yesterday I reviewed the floor, roof, and foundation plans of the house I designed in Architecture 1. To make my house more functional I decided to make a few changes. Instead of having the garage separate from the house I plan to make it flush with the rest of the house; meaning the garage will share a wall with the kitchen and the dining room. On the floor plan I noticed there was an unneeded corner wall in the dining room, because I want to remove it I will need to add a beam. the beam will help support the cathedral ceiling. Originally a sun room was in the rear of the house. It did not seen necessary to include it; upon removing it from the plan I added more windows to the family room. With out the sun room, the roof of the house has to be adjusted.

Class Overview

This semester in Architecture 2 I will be learning how to create schedules, electrical plans, plumbing plans, HVAC requirements, plot/site plans specification and building estimations and presentation drawings. I took the first Architecture class last year, so the new plans that I will be creating will be based on the house I designed in that class.