Spend less time drafting and more time designing. Only Autodesk Building Systems unifies building engineering design, documentation, and analysis in an integrated environment. The benefits: increased productivity, automated coordination, and greater accuracy.

Overview :

Connect it all—from conceptual design through construction documentation. Autodesk® Building Systems provides integrated AutoCAD®-based building systems design and analysis for increased productivity, accuracy, and coordination.

• Improve Workflow Efficiencies with Increased Productivity
  Flexibly implement Autodesk Building Systems, adapting it to existing workflows to improve the design process. Move from schematic design to documentation faster through automated construction documents with an object-based model. Reduce drafting time by working in an intuitive design environment with intelligent engineering objects.
• Streamline the Design Process Through Greater Accuracy
  Incorporate actual industry-based parts and equipment into design layouts for more efficient design development and construction documentation. Automatically exchange engineering data among model and third-party analysis, fabrication, and estimating applications. Reduce requests for information (RFIs) and costly design changes in the field with construction documents that are dynamically linked to the design model.
• Work Effectively with the Extended Design Team for Increased Coordination
  Help ensure coordination with architectural and structural designs prior to construction with instant feedback from the object-based model. Clearly communicate design intent with a realistic representation of building systems directly from the model. Collaborate seamlessly with the extended team using the industry-leading DWG file format.

Features

• HVAC Layout Improvements
  Improved connectivity between objects and enhanced modifying tools streamline the design process. Easily modify system layouts while maintaining the system integrity as you stretch, move, and change the elevation of objects. Quickly make design changes, including the size and shape of objects, directly from the Properties palette, which now provides complete access to engineering data.
• System Connectivity Through Xrefs
  This release introduces system connectivity through external reference files (xrefs). Easily lay out, resize, and modify complex or multistory designs that span numerous drawings. The software now notifies you when objects in referenced files have changed. And for quick onscreen feedback, take advantage of improved tooltips that now provide the ability to view object properties through an xref.
• Extended Engineering Data
  Easy access to engineering data in your system model enables data sharing for automated sizing calculations, enhanced scheduling, and improved annotation. Extract engineering data from your models in standard file formats, such as gbXML (green building extensible markup language) and ddXML (duct design extensible markup language). Take advantage of the application programming interface (API) for interoperability with third-party analysis, cost estimating, and fabrication applications, minimizing manual transfer of design data and helping to ensure the accuracy of your designs.
• More Content
  Now including more content, Autodesk® Building Systems can be used on a wider range of projects. Building Systems 2006 introduces standards-based pipe classes and support for ANSI/ASME and ASTM/ANSI standards. The software includes new pipe-related equipment, such as more valves, clarifiers, heat exchangers, pumps, and a variety of customer requests for HVAC and electrical content such as silencers and access doors. Content is available in imperial, U.S. metric, and U.K. metric units.
• Heads-Up Design
  An enhanced workspace moves tooltips, dimension input, and command information from the command line to the graphical interface, so you can focus on your design. By drastically reducing dialog boxes, direct manipulation of objects enhances design productivity. With additional objects grips, you can add new objects from connectors on existing objects and quickly place fittings on the fly. As you work, dynamic dimensions help ensure that design changes are precise and accurate.
• One-Line Duct Design Improvements
  Avoid duplication of work and move smoothly from preliminary design to design development by taking advantage of duct design improvements. Increase productivity with improved connectivity between objects that makes system layout even easier, and convert one-line designs to sized 3D through intuitive onscreen modifications.
• Display Themes
  Use display themes to graphically analyze and present your design intent with this releaseÕs ability to use nongraphic data, such as a roomÕs heating or cooling load requirements, or calculated data, such as velocity in duct or pipe runs, to create color-filled thematic displays, complete with legends.
• Haloed Line Enhancements
  Eliminate the need to manually add construction annotation by taking advantage of haloed line display to accurately represent plan views of objects that cross at different elevations. This release supports haloed line display for pipes and conduits, and masks duct hatching on underlying ducts, making it easier to interpret designs.
• 3D Autodesk DWF (Design Web Format)
  With the click of a button, publish your designs as Autodesk® DWFª (Design Web Formatª) files for easy viewing in Autodesk® DWFª Composer or the free Autodesk® DWFª Viewer. This release supports the creation of 3D DWF files, complete with engineering data, for better communication of design intent. And with DWF file format, team members can review and redline as well, making the DWF format an efficient means to distribute and share data.
• Setup and Deployment Options
  More flexible setup and deployment options provide consistent standardization and management of software installations for both network and single-user installations. Through the use of profile-based shortcuts, a license can now automatically default to specified template drawings when the software is launched. New project standards help maintain consistency across an Autodesk Building Systems 2006 project, project tool palettes provide all team members with the tools they need, and workspaces enable you to save user-interface settings as a specific Òtheme,Ó making it easy to switch between common properties.
• Increased Performance
  Get better overall performance with Autodesk Building Systems 2006 software. Manage your projects with tools that are now smoothly integrated with the AutoCAD® Sheet Set Manager, increasing the speed of drawing coordination. And access parts through the Add and Modify dialog boxes faster from the streamlined, comprehensive parts catalogs.