Track systems with the System Browser

00:01

In this lesson, we will cover reviewing systems in the System Browser and adjusting settings to review system information

00:10

In this project a few duct systems have been created and a few piping systems have been created.

00:18

At this stage of the project when you are laying out equipment and creating systems,

00:24

the System Browser is a great way to track the systems that have been created.

00:29

It's also a great way to review system information.

00:35

To open the system browser, switch to the View ribbon and then in the Windows panel, expand user interface and select system browser.

00:49

This opens the system browser, which is docked to the right of the screen By default.

00:56

To begin, you can expand the dropdown at the top to choose what the system browser is showing.

01:03

You can select Systems, Zones or Analytical Systems.

01:09

For this lesson, we're going to focus on systems.

01:13

You can then filter the systems by discipline.

01:17

In this case, I'll leave it set to all disciplines and we'll take a look at the System Browser.

01:24

Every connector that is in the project is going to appear in the System Browser.

01:30

And so connectors are placed on components, either equipment or air terminals or several things and those are all going to appear here.

01:41

And so there's an unassigned branch and you can see that there are 218 items.

01:47

And so that's where most of these connectors are going to appear right now because we're just beginning to create systems.

01:55

And when you expand those, you can start to see those individual connectors.

01:59

You can see that somewhere on equipment, somewhere on return air terminal, somewhere on supply, exhaust so on and so forth

02:07

and so to begin, you can see the unassigned connectors.

02:13

What we're more concerned about right now are the systems that we've actually created.

02:18

When I expand mechanical, you can see a supply air branch,

02:23

and when I expand piping, you can see two branches, condenser water supply and condenser water return.

02:30

I'll expand these a bit so we can see better.

02:33

So when you expand a discipline, you're going to see system types.

02:38

So these are the system types that have been created in the project that we actually have systems for.

02:45

And then when I expand supply air, you can actually see mechanical equipment listings.

02:51

And when I expand the equipment branches, you can see actual supply air system names.

02:59

Now it's slightly different on the piping side.

03:01

When I expand a type, you can see the system names.

03:05

And so the reason is because for the supply air systems, mechanical equipment has been selected.

03:12

So when you create the system, select equipment and the mechanical equipment was chosen.

03:18

That has not been done for the piping systems.

03:22

And so when that's the case, that's the difference that you're going to see here in the system browser, you will not see a branch for the equipment.

03:31

Now when we want to review individual systems,

03:35

we can use this tool right here called AutoFit All Columns and I'll do that so we can see these names and parameters a little bit better.

03:46

So I will expand SA 1 which is supply air system one and you can see supply diffusers, you can see the flow and the size which is the next size.

03:58

And if I expand this a bit more, you can see the space name and the space number that those air terminals reside in or that they are serving.

04:07

And then as we move up, you can see the total flow for the system.

04:12

And so that's a great way to track the air terminals that are on the system. The flow in each air terminal and then the total flow in the system.

04:24

Similarly, if I expand CWR 1 which is condenser water return one.

04:30

You can see the heat pumps that have been added along with their flow and then the total flow for the system along with the connector sizes.

04:42

So as you can see here, it's a great way to track systems.

04:45

And then just a couple more things that you probably noticed,

04:49

when I hover over certain components, such as especially the equipment You can see other branches highlight,

04:57

and in this case when I highlight a water source heat pump, the mechanical piping and electrical branches under unassigned are highlighting.

05:06

This is because there are several other connectors.

05:09

There are other mechanical piping and electrical connectors.

05:13

And so everywhere that one of the connectors on that equipment, wherever it exists, those branches are highlighting and so you just be aware of that.

05:23

You can also select a listing here and right click and there are a few options here.

05:31

So in this case I selected a water source heat pump.

05:33

I can delete it, select it, show it or click Properties and then see the properties over here in the properties palette.

05:41

If I select a system, I can then right click and there are few other options here.

05:46

So for a piping system I can select all the members. I can inspect it. I can delete it.

05:52

Once again select it, show it or view a pipe pressure loss report and then once again, Properties.

05:57

It's just going to show the properties in the Properties palette.

06:02

Supply air systems, very similar.

06:05

There's not a pressure loss report but a couple options here.

06:08

Also I can divide this system.

06:12

Lastly, if you want to view additional information, you can click this Column Settings button and that's going to open up the column settings dialog.

06:22

And as I expand each of the branches here, you can see that there are additional parameters that I can add.

06:30

So you can see there are several options here.

06:33

So for example, if I want to view the number of elements and I'll select static pressure and let's do system classification.

06:41

I'll click Ok.

06:43

And now you can see that those parameters have been added and I'll keep expanding the System Browser here,

06:49

and you can see those parameters in the System Browser as well.

06:53

So in summary, the System Browser is a great way to track systems that you have created and also review system information.