When creating electrical and lighting plans in AutoCAD MEP, you begin by adding electrical equipment. This is equipment made up of items
referred to as targets and sources – items that distribute and receive power in a model. Electrical equipment is defined as a multi-view part that
includes items such as switchboards and motor control centers. These parts include connections for adding conduit. Panels are another form of
electrical equipment, but these items can also have circuits and electrical loads assigned to them, and may also be assigned to other panels, so their load
is transferred to the upper panels. Lights and power devices are connected to panels, and the load assigned to these devices is passed up to the
panel, so it’s best to locate your panels early in the job. Let’s see how this works. Make sure you have the Livgren project for chapter 4 open. From the
constructs tab, open the Electrical Base – 1st floor. When using Project Navigator, all physical objects are created in a construct, so this is the right file to
be working in. The architectural plan is already loaded into this construct. We want to add a transformer and panels to the plan, and a generator
to the outside of the building. To place electrical equipment, make sure you have the Electrical workspace set current. Once the workspace is
current, you have two places to locate equipment commands. The first is the HOME tab and the Build Panel. The equipment tool is a flyout, which
includes common components, such as a generator, junction box, motor control center and switchboard. The other location is the tool palette –
make sure you can see the palette, and then go to the Equipment tab. Select the Emergency Power Generator - Gas tool to place a generator. The
MVPART palette will appear – this is a floating palette, and can be pinned into place, or set to autohide. Leave it pinned. The tool from the palette
is set to jump directly to the category for generators. Select the Emergency Power Generator – gas. This is important – check the
elevation – this is the only thing you really need to know about working in 3D – this sets the height or Z elevation of the part, based on the insertion point
of the part. Set this to 0", so it is placed on the ground. For the part size name, select the 25kw Gas Emergency Power Generator. If the dialog is
pinned, left click once in the model space area to place the part. Select a point on the east side of the building, outside of the storage room. The MEP
compass will appear, showing the increment angles that can be used to place the part. Pick a point as shown, and then set the rotation to 180
degrees. While the dialog is still open, make sure the Part tab is selected. Scroll down in the list until you find the Power Transformers. Select the Dry
Type 225-300kVA dry type – pick the 225kVa part size, and check the elevation – it should still be set to 0 from the generator. Select a point in the
electrical room, and then rotate the unit 270 degrees. The next item we want to place is a panel – this serves as a power source to other power and
lighting devices. In order to set information for the panel, the properties palette cannot be hidden – so select it if auto hide is turned on for the palette.
Pick the panel tool. Immediately go to Properties – check the style. When the style is picked, you open a master drawing – this contains panel styles,
which set the block image and behavior of a panel. Pick the surface category, and then pick the SURFACE SOLID – 42 slots. Select OK to
continue. Panels can be placed and rotated just like an MVPART – but since we’re using AutoCAD Architecture backgrounds, you can also use the
ALIGN TO OBJECT option. On the properties palette, change Align to Objects to YES. Notice how the panel aligns to the wall – now we can