About Standards

A standard is a type of identification criteria used throughout the HVAC Design apps. Standards are used to determine the values of:

• Discrete attributes (Nominal size, Rating, End Style, Outside Diameter, Wall Thickness).
• Some specifications (Min. Tangent Length, Turn Rules, Pipe Reference, etc.)

Typical examples of standards include "SSTL" and "ASTL".

The standards you use in your designs must be listed in a single Standard table resource file. For each standard listed in this file, there is a corresponding set of discrete attribute files. The standards and the discrete attributes are used during various operations in the setup and design processes:

• The value of the standard informs the system which table has to be used during the system design stage.
• The discrete lists set attribute values during component creation.

For example, when the administrator decides to use a certain standard, such as "ASTL", the users will only have access to specifications that meet that standard. Whenever the user tries to define a value for Nominal Size, for instance, they will be prompted to select from a predefined list that comes from the ASTL standard.

Factors to consider when you define the list of standards:

• Which standards are you using? (DIN, ANSI, ISO, JIS, GOST, UK, GB …..)
• Which standards are you using in the same collaborative space?
• If more than one, what is the proportion? (for example: 95% ANSI, 5% ISO)
• For each standard, which codification are you using for the discrete lists; Nominal size, Rating, EndStyle (Outside Diameter, Wall Thickness)?

Tip: Working in a multi standard environment increases the number of resources to manage; it may be of interest to consider using a single customized standard which is a mix of different standards.

You use a standard because it ensures that all the parts you place and the manner in which you place them will meet certain minimum requirements or be within a certain range.

Standards restrict users to certain parts, or part sizes, or other attribute values that are compatible with a project. When a user selects a standard during the part design or system design process, then only the values defined in the resource file associated with that standard can be applied to the design.

The HVAC Design apps include a default set of example standards and discrete lists in the following directories:

• ..\Startup\EquipmentAndSystems\HVAC\Discrete
• ..\Startup\EquipmentAndSystems\HVAC\Standard

When you create your own standards, you can use a different directory location as long as you specify it in the Data Setup app, but it is recommended that you keep the same directory structure as the samples.