The Viking Corporation, a provider of fire protection and life safety systems, announced the release of a new Revit family library for its complete line of fire sprinklers. The new Revit families, which are now available on Viking’s website, provide Revit users with an enhanced BIM design process for Viking sprinklers.
Sprinkler Types and Models
In developing its new sprinkler families, Viking has taken an innovative approach that allows designers to access families at either a category level, model level, or for a specific sprinkler. When a new family is loaded into a BIM project, the designer can choose a specific Viking sprinkler(s) based on various attributes including sprinkler type, orientation, temperature, and finish.
This allows for a more precise representation in the BIM project and avoids over-burdening the project file with unnecessary data. Each new Revit family is provided in a zip file, which includes both the Revit file (.rfa) and a corresponding text file, which contains the specific sprinkler types, models and attributes. When extracted from the zip file, the text file will download automatically and is then referenced behind the scenes to allow for the customization of the selected sprinklers in the BIM project.
Accurate 3D View Of The Sprinkler
Additionally, based on extensive feedback from the Revit user community, Viking has optimized the visual representation of the new Revit families to provide an accurate 3D view of the sprinkler, while also removing unneeded visual detail, thus allowing for faster rendering and load times.
In addition to providing the ability to select specific sprinklers and attributes, the new Revit families also allow for customization of various instance parameters within the BIM project, including the sprinkler’s thread engagement with fittings, inclusion of an escutcheon, and deflector positioning. Also, when working in the Revit plan view, the new Viking families reference the appropriate sprinkler symbols, following the NFPA 170 Standard.
