In this post I’ll be creating a BIM version of the Pella ThermaStar window (sold at Lowes). You can download the model at the end of the article, or at any time in the BIM section.
I need a model of the new construction version of these windows for a home model I’m working on, and as is usually the case, there is no model available –so one needs to be made. I need the model to be a fair representation only —reasonably accurate in general looks, but very accurate in the areas where it will interact with other elements of the design. If good fit and good looks are possible without too much additional effort, I’ll likely go that route.
Right off the bat (ever had one of those weeks) I hit a little snag. The excellent little add-in created by Brian Hall of Qube-It no longer works after the Service Packs I installed the other day. I tried uninstall/reinstall, repair, etc., to no avail. Bummer. It is a nice tool that I have used quite a bit since installing. Brian describes the tool and how to get it in the video below. I’m sure it will work in other configurations…
Back to the window BIM object. I don’t know if the measurements I take from the sample window I have will be relevant for all sizes available for this particular window, and for my purposes it doesn’t matter as I am only using two sizes and both have the same profile. If you use these in a project, you may want to double check. It would make sense for Pella to not have too many extrusions, so it is likely that all sizes use the same extrusion, but I have no idea if that’s true or not.
Creating the Pella ThermaStar BIM Model
The first thing I did was center a rectangle on the XZ plane around the center point (Brian’s tool does this automatically), and create two parameters to size it.
Any reasonable size will do for now. 24” x 38” —the size of one of the windows on-hand, is what I used. Any other parameters I create will be on-the-fly parameters which are created by typing a name in the Edit Dimension dialog, followed by an equal sign, then the equation. The only thing I don’t like about these is that they do not list as User Parameters like explicitly entered ones do…
At any rate, I created the Gap parameter because I needed to offset the original rectangle inwards to become the path for the windows profile. The first rectangle represents the rough opening, and will be used to constrain part to its opening on placement. An offset rectangle generally only requires one dimension, but splitting one of the lines will destroy this associativity —thus, the four instances shown above.
If you need more in-depth instruction on creating and sweeping a profile around a rectangular path, check out the iDrawer tutorial.
The profile plane and sketch of the window extrusion were created in the same manner as described in the tutorial above. After the profile was drawn, I created a driven dimension called Sash_Inset between the Centerport of the sketch, which is located at a split in the path, and the innermost bounds of the upper sash (and upper sash track in this model)…
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