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#DEV Readme

##Developer machine setup

To build the AMEE-in-Revit addin you will need:

  • Autodesk Revit 2012
  • Autodesk Revit Addin Manager (recommended)
  • Visual Studio 2010 C# Express (Visual Studio 2010 Pro+ recommended)

Alterately, Amazon EC2 AMI EU-West -> ami-cbefd7bf contains all the required software to build and test the AMEE-in-Revit addin.

##Architecture

###AMEEConnect AMEEConnect is a REST based API exposed over HTTP.

###AMEEClient The AMEEClient library is a .NET based REST client library, with a series of convenience methods for mapping a material name to the relevant CO2e data stored in AMEE.

The following code snippet illustrates how the AMEEClient library would be used to calculate the CO2e value for 10kg of copper

var _ameeClient = new Client(new Uri(AmeeUrl), AmeeUserName, AmeePassword);
var mapper = new AMEEClient.MaterialMapper.MaterialMapper(@"MaterialMapper\SampleMaterialMap.xml", _ameeClient);
var co2eCopper = mapper.GetMaterialDataItem("1:Copper").CalculateCO2eByMass(10);

###AMEE-in-Revit.Addin The AMEE-in-Revit Addin is a .NET4 based plugin for the Revit 2012 Architecture BIM tool that connects the materials in the BIM model to the AMEEConnect data for those materials via the AMEEClient library.

The AMEE-in-Revit Addin contains the following "modules":

  1. Ribbon integration - AMEE_in_Revit_Initialise implements IExternalApplication, which in run on Revit application startup.
    This class adds a number of buttons to the Analyse tab in the Revit ribbon.
  2. CO2eParameter - a Revit SharedParameter named CO2e is created (currently manually) for every element in the building model.
    An IUpdater named CO2eFieldUpdater is registered to be triggered on every model element change. When triggered, the CO2eFieldUpdater queries the element for its volume, passes this to the AMEEClient and stores the resulting CO2e value in the CO2e shared parameter for the element.
  3. Visualizations - A visualization of the CO2e parameters for every element is attached to the CO2e 3d view in the model. This view attaches the CO2e value of each element as a measurement to each corner of each face of the element in the view. A custom AnalysisDisplayStyle is attached to the view that colours the face measurements according to a heatmap style spectrum of colours, ranging from green (low) through to red (high).
  4. Commands - are a series of classes implementing the IExternalCommand interface, triggered by the Ribbon buttons or the developer focussed Add-in Manager tool. Typically these perform batch operations, such as calculating the CO2e value for all elements in the model.
  5. Logging - Log4Net is used to write runtime log files to the debug console & a text based log file (C:\AMEE-in-Revit.Addin.log by default)

###CO2e calculation algorithm All the logic for calculating the CO2e value for an element is embedded in AMEE_in_Revit.Addin.CO2eParameter.ElementCO2eCalculator.

In summary, the algorithm used is:

  1. Query the Revit API for the list of materials in the element.
  2. Loop through these, and for each one find the volume in m^3 of each material used by the element using the Revit API method element.GetMaterialVolume(material)
  3. Match the Revit material name with the AMEE data item - this is done via a lookup to the material mapping file
  4. Calculate the mass (in kg) of the material by multiplying the material volume by the material density (as defined in the material mapping file )
  5. Submit a CO2e calculation request for said mass of said material to the AMEEConnect API
  6. Increment the element's total CO2e value, and move on to the next material in the element

###Further documentation

  1. samples\Revit 2012 SDK contains useful documentation, tools & sample code
  2. http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com is a very useful selection of Revit Addin tips & techniques. Check here first when wondering how to do something in the Revit API
  3. A useful technique for debugging without having to constantly start & stop Revit is described at: