Rooms and occupant load

Add rooms by occupancy group, give each one a use, and see how the occupant load is figured room by room.

The Rooms tab lists every room line, grouped by occupancy group (A-2, B, S-1 and so on). Each line has a use, which sets its occupant load factor, and an area.

Add rooms #

Use any of these, at the top of the Rooms tab:

+ Room in occupancy group…: pick a group to add a room to it. Groups already in the count have a check mark. Each group's header also has + Room.
Paste rooms…: paste a room schedule. See Paste a room schedule.
Link a Space Ledger… (or From this project's Space Ledger… on an empty count): add the project's program as linked rooms. It shows when the count is in a project. See Start from a Space Ledger.

Identical rooms go on one line with a quantity.

The room columns #

Room: the name. Rooms with the same name roll up into one row in the result tables.
Occupancy use (function): the use that best matches the room, from the edition's occupant load table. It sets the load factor.
Qty: how many identical rooms.
Area each (SF): the area of one room, measured net or gross as its use's factor says.
OLF: the occupant load factor, in square feet per occupant, and whether it's net or gross.
Occupants each: the occupants in one room.
Load: occupants each times quantity.
Note: free text.

Two more columns appear when they're needed: Zone (a floor, wing or tenant; a linked program's department), and Units each for fixture rows counted per unit, like dwelling units or patient rooms.

How the occupant load is figured #

Each room's occupants are its area divided by its use's factor, rounded up to a whole person, room by room. A line with a quantity of 10 is 10 roundings. Then the rooms add up.

A room with no use counts 0 occupants. The flags under the tabs say how many lines have no use.

Use an approved design count #

If the building official approved a design occupant count for a room, type it in Occupants each. The box is marked, and the notes on the Results tab say that a design count was used. Click the undo arrow next to the box to go back to the calculated number.

Move or remove a room #

Drag a row to reorder it.
Pick a group in the group… list to move the room to another occupancy group.
Click × to remove it.

Paste a room schedule #

Copy a room schedule from Revit or Excel, header row included.
Click Paste rooms… and paste it into the box.
Tick Replace the current rooms if the paste should replace what's there.
Click Add rooms.

Columns are matched by their headers. Name and Area are needed. Occupancy (the group), Occupancy use or Function, Qty and # Occupants are used when they're there. Common room-tag abbreviations in the use column are understood. A row whose use doesn't match is kept with no use, for you to pick.

Uses guessed from room names #

When rooms come in from a Space Ledger program, the tool guesses each use from the room name and marks it. Check each one: pick a different use, or click the check mark next to it to confirm it. Confirm all in the flags confirms every guess at once.

Start from a Space Ledger #

A fixture count can start from a Space Ledger program and stay linked to it.

On the tool's home page, click Start from a Space Ledger in this project. In a count that's already in a project, use Link a Space Ledger… on the Rooms tab instead.
Pick a program.
Under File the rooms under occupancy group, pick the group for the rooms. The list shows each space's guessed use.
Click Start the fixture count (or Add the rooms).

Each program space becomes a room line with its quantity, area each and department. Program areas are net. When a room's use has a gross factor, its load runs low until you gross the area up, and the flags say so.

Keep up with the program #

The chip in the toolbar shows the link:

Program: name ✓: every linked room matches the program.
Program changed: the program has changed. Click Update… to see what was added, changed or removed, choose what to take, then click Update. Rooms keep their use, group and overrides.
The refresh button reads the program again. unlink stops following it; the rooms stay as typed rooms.

Spaces removed from the program are flagged, never deleted on their own. Fixture Count never changes the program.