Until now MEP engineers have been limited by the building and space types Revit has by default. These are based on American definitions and are not always applicable around the world or in specific situations.

Consider a company that manufactures stainless steel kitchen equipment and then designs custom kitchen for franchised restaurant chains. There is not default kitchen space type in Revit. In the past, they would have had to override an existing space type (inappropriately named) and which they were sure would not appear in another part of the design. This is because the energy properties of spaces may only be set by type, not instance.

Select the space > Instance Properties > Energy Analysis > Space Type > Radio Button Control

In the space Type Settings Dialog, search for a space type (Kitchen) to see if one exists.

In this case none does. So now either click the “New” control to create a space type from scratch,

Or start with a space type that closely resembles that which you need and duplicate it:

Rename it appropriately:

Then specify the energy settings as required:

This new space type is now available for usage in the rest of the design.

When a custom construction type is created:

The categories may be overridden as usual.

These two tools make specifying the behavior of spaces more accurate. It also negates having to find workarounds that may be confusing to others (reassigning an unused space type as something else entirely).