Spaces can include a variety of information that helps the architect and engineer with several design features. One of the most powerful relates
to the use of property set definitions. Every space has some specific properties, such as area, assigned by default. Let’s take a look at these
properties, and see how we can add even more data to a space. Open the drawing, AMEP12C0003T0003. Select a space in the
upper left corner of the building as shown. Open the properties dialog. From the design tab, let’s review what the space already has assigned to it. Key
space properties that are created upon generation include: The layer – this is based on the layer key style that is associated with spaces - out of the
box, it complies with the national cad standard. Style – you can have a variety of styles, which control all examples of a space. To import space
styles, select the Style Manager on the manage tab. Select the open file icon to browse to the style library. Select CONTENT from the favorite places
list, and then select the styles folder. Go to US Imperial, and then browse to locate the spaces – commercial drawing. Pick it, and then select
OPEN. Expand the selection tree on the left, and then expand the architectural objects. Pick space styles. To copy all of the styles into our drawing,
right click on the space styles title (you can also use CTRL to pick several styles in the right side of the dialog) and select Copy. Scroll up to the
exercise file – right click on the title, and choose PASTE. When the import export duplicate dialog appears, make sure Leave Existing is checked,
and then pick OK. Pick OK to close the style manager. Next, return to the screen and select the same space. Go to the properties palette, and
select the OFFICE MEDIUM style. Note how the style is now a different color and hatch pattern. Right click on the space, and choose Edit Space
Style. The style helps with controlling how a space appears in the model, and also with design rules for sizes and names. It also helps with hatch
materials for floors and ceilings, and with classifications for items such as phasing and BOMA space types. When you assign the style, a
predefined list of room names is also loaded, but you can add to this list and edit as needed. Select the space again – component dimensions reflect
the overall height, ceiling height, floor and ceiling thickness, and other key dimensional data. Since this space is associative, it gets the length, width,
base area, perimeter, and volume from the actual dimensions, which are defined by the bounding elements such as walls. Switch to the extended
data tab. This allows you to add your own custom scheduling data. Some items are included by default – this includes: Classification of the space
for phasing, BOMA standards and more; Documentation information for links to websites, notes and reference documents such as
specifications, and property sets. Property sets are not automatically added in most cases, so you may have to use the ADD PROPERTY SETS ICON to
add more data. One key property set that engineers really need is the space engineering objects. This property set is stored by default in the
AECB MODEL US IMPERIAL CTB template, and includes key information that is exported to a gbXML file. A gbXML file is the format needed to
export space and zone geometry and data to external applications such as Trane Trace – which is what AutoCAD MEP spaces were originally
designed to work with. From this tab you change engineering data as shown, such as the space type, the condition type, equipment load, lighting
load, occupancy and design air flows. By storing this data with the space, you can export it to excel, create schedules that automatically populate in