Library
The V-A Design project library is accessed by clicking the “Library” text in the left margin.
Access the V-A Design Library with the “Library” text.
Within the Library, the header of the left margin contains links to two (2) separate views:
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Project. Displays objects that exist only in the active Project. These include objects like Air Handling Units, which may have project specific operating conditions and sound data.
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Organization. Separate repository, shared by all users of your Organization. Any object that exists in the Project Library can be pushed to the Organization Library, which allows you, as well as anyone else in your Organization, to use on any project in the future.
Project and Organization tabs in the Library.
The Library uses a tree view to organize data in groups, centered around architectural elements, electrical equipment and mechanical equipment. Folders and subfolders can be created within any category to organize data, using the New Folder button.
Tree view structure of Library with Folders and Elements.
To create an element, select the category or folder for the object and click the Create Element button. In the center of the user interface, fields are displayed to capture attributes of the object, based on the object type. Typically, the Name might be something like a Trane Voyager unit, where the Project Tag might be AHU-1. When objects are stored in the Organization Library, the designation of AHU-1 doesn’t apply; rather, the Name is used to define the object globally.
Below these, a number of pre-loaded attributes are shown. These correspond to attributes, or shared parameters, used in the Autodesk Revit environment. These fields are not used by the application, and are intended primarily as meta data or reference points for the user. You can add custom groups with the “Add Group” button, if there are additional points you’d like to store with your project. Also, additional parameters can be added to any of the Attribute Groups with the Add Parameter button.
Names, Tags, and other attributes for Library element.
The Acoustic Data section is displayed next, which is the most important data used by the application. Here, you can define 1 or more data sets to use in your project. For something like an air handler, it’s common to have a Discharge, Inlet and Casing Radiated data set, used by calculations in your project. To add a data set, click the Add Data button and populate the user inputs for Data, Metric and Octave Bands.
Acoustic data ascribed to Library elements.
All Library objects can be used in a project with the Library Element Quick Add icons. There are 4 icons shown here, which are just different views into the Library; the behavior of each is identical.
Library element “quick-add” icons to add elements to a calculation path.