Bentley Building Mechanical Systems

Compress design development time

To facilitate the rapid design and modeling of complex air handling and plumbing systems, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems supports the widest variety of components, materials, and cross section with a comprehensive range of dedicated tools. Components, such as rectangular, round, oval or flexible ducts, pipes, connectors, in-line devices, valves, grills and diffusers, dampers, filters, and silencers, are created and modified parametrically; dimension-driven. In addition, various country-specific standards as well as selected metric and imperial manufacturers’ catalogs are supported.

Rapid design is further facilitated through automatic insertion of transitions, elbows, Tee and Wye connectors, as well as automatic diffuser hook-up to ducts. Modification and re-sizing tools allow the user to edit and update the system with re-healing done automatically or through key-in. In addition, custom components, ducts, and fittings can be created with VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) to meet fabrication standards or Bentley’s own parametric components can be modified and extended by the user through VBA. Finally, with a single click, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems automates the sloping of entire piping systems - one of the most tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone tasks.

Benefits

• rapidly design and model the most complex systems
• gain more time to evaluate more design options
• achieve significant time savings in the design development phase

Get immediate visual feedback

Bentley Building Mechanical Systems provides immediate visual feedback and streamlines the creation of convincing presentations without the need to export data to an external visualization application, because powerful design visualization tools, which include ray and particle tracing, radiosity, animation, lighting, and camera controls, and more, are seamlessly integrated.

In addition, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems not only supports Adobe PDF, the standard for electronic deliverables in AEC, including embedded 3D models, but also connects to the Google Earth service. 2D and 3D models in DGN and DWG can be published directly to the Google Earth environment, so you can zoom from space onto a site, view the facility in the context of rich geography imagery, fly around the building, and then view associated content, like floor plans, sections, elevations, details, schedules, rendered images, web pages, etc. via embedded links.

Benefits

• forget the need to export models to external visualization application
• get immediate visual feedback
• streamline the creation of convincing client presentations
• better communicate the design intent and project information to stakeholders

Integrate design, analysis, documentation, and fabrication

For performance-based duct sizing, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems includes a Bentley duct sizer and the Trane® Ductulator. Entire duct and plumbing systems can be analyzed and checked for integrity, connectivity, and flow paths. Gaps in the system, open air duct endings, and grilles and diffusers without defined air rates can quickly and easily be found and fixed. Air rates of all components within a system are collected and the difference between supply and return air rates at the AHU is calculated. This tight integration of design and analysis allows mechanical engineers and consultants to adjust and optimize entire air handling systems.

Component catalogs from manufacturers, such as Nibco, Victaulic, and Lindab, are delivered with Bentley Building Mechanical Systems. Therefore, all part and performance data come directly from manufacturers, ensuring accurate analysis.

Export to fabrication:  Single, selected, or all generic (non-catalog) components can also be exported to CAM-DUCT (i.e., component information from the model can be used directly to drive plasma cutters without the need for drawings), thus increasing the value of the building information model even further.

Benefits

• use only components that can be purchased or fabricated to industry standards
• seamlessly integrate design with analysis
• make better informed engineering decisions with accurate analysis data
• avoid re-entering of data and eliminate errors associated with manual data input
• export component information to CAM-DUCT for rapid fabrication

Reduce construction documentation time

From a consistent building information model, plans, sections, elevations, and shop drawings are generated automatically, which comply with accepted drawing standards and conventions. Full control is given over the cut plane(s) and forward and reflected view representation, as well as levels, symbology, and material representation. User-definable drawing rules produce a variety of shop drawing representations: showing single line or outline duct and pipe representation, duct insulation, hidden lines, labeling and annotation, and changes since the last extraction can be highlighted

Benefit

• create accurate and coordinated 2D drawings from 3D models
• control every aspect of representation
• achieve significant time savings in the construction drawings phase

Predict performance, quantities, and costs

User-definable properties associated with mechanical and plumbing components are used to query the building information model, to make selective or global changes to the geometry and non-graphical information. Accurate bills of materials and cost reports, and schedules can be generated in Microsoft® Excel that include lengths, dimensions, and materials of ducts, pipes, and components, flow rates, and more. Modeling can be done with manufacturers’ catalogs allowing the production of lists of off the shelf parts that can be ordered and priced through local vendors.

Benefit

• query any aspect of the building information model
• make geometry changes through associated attributes
• generate accurate schedule and reports
• order and price ‘off the shelf’ parts through local vendors

Avoid errors and omissions

Bentley Building Mechanical Systems automatically coordinates mechanical design and construction documentation through all project phases and manages inherent component attributes and properties significant for design, documentation, analysis, construction, and operations. Because all information is tightly linked, changes made to models are reflected in shop drawings, schedules, and reports. Mechanical and plumbing components can be pre-defined and stored with settings for material, level, 2D and 3D symbology, etc., thus enforcing corporate and project standards as well as capturing knowledge for reuse on subsequent projects.

Benefits

• assure consistency across all forms of project documentation
• enforce compliance with corporate and project standards
• capture knowledge for reuse on subsequent projects

Empower your organization

Unlike applications that impose a particular way of working, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems provides complete workflow flexibility. Using the same tools and an identical interface, you can work in a traditional 2D plan or advanced 3D model environment, associate attributes and properties with mechanical components and objects at the time of placement or add them as the project progresses. In any case, changes made in either environment may be tracked and synchronized.

Available in major languages, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems is delivered with localized content supporting a variety of country-specific CAD standards. Customizable with corporate and project standards, datasets include common mechanical and plumbing components with default settings for symbology, level, material, and more. So, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems can be used right out of the box.

The user interface of Bentley Building Mechanical Systems is easy to use, intuitive, and self-explanatory, making 3D modeling as simple as 2D drafting, thus shortening the learning curve and allowing full exploitation of the many powerful tools and features.

The Bentley Institute develops and delivers accredited professional training to help busy infrastructure professionals enhance their skills, increase productivity, and stay competitive. With unlimited access to all distance learning and OnDemand eLearning courses, the Bentley LEARN training subscription maximizes an organization’s return on investment in professional development by providing effective learning opportunities to all users while reducing costs and streamlining budgeting. The end result is a highly effective, well-trained workforce that increases revenues and profitability through service offerings that meet market needs and improved project delivery that’s on time and within budget.

Benefits

• define how you want to work, so it best suits your projects and workflows, not the application
• use  Bentley Building Mechanical Systems right out of the box with localized content
• shorten the learning curve
• empower mechanical engineers and consultants
• streamline budgeting for training
• achieve significant savings in training costs and greater return on software investment

Interoperability

Bentley Building Mechanical Systems is fully integrated with other applications, such as Bentley Architecture, Structural Modeler, Bentley Building Electrical Systems, Bentley Facilities, and Bentley Navigator, providing a truly multi-disciplinary collaboration environment within a shared model. For instance, Interference Manager ensures that coordination during the design phase translates into seamless fabrication and installation, thus saving tremendous amounts of time and expense. For interoperability with CAD-based applications, all major industry standards, such as DGN, DWG, DXF, STEP, and IGES, are supported. In addition, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems includes full support for the IFC 2x3 coordination view, the emerging standard for information exchange between object-based BIM applications in the building industry.

Benefits

• better collaborate and integrate
• collaborate seamlessly across disciplinary borders in shared multi-disciplinary models
• interoperate across different file formats
• save time and costs for fabrication and installation through clash-free design
• facilitate rapid prototyping
• ‘build as one'

Manage change securely

Bentley Building Mechanical Systems tightly integrates with Bentley ProjectWise, a collaboration server that manages access to project information across a LAN, WAN, VPN, or through the Internet, and publishes and synchronizes shared information, manages change, protects intellectual property rights, and more.

Benefits

• share and synchronize project information securely with project partners
• manage change effectively
• protect your intellectual property