3 Ways from Revit To PowerBI (and one Bonus)
If you’re looking for the easiest way to create a dashboard from your Revit model, you might want to check out Vyssuals. It’s by far the simplest solution and requires literally no setup. But if you’re set on using Power BI and are prepared for significantly more involved setups, here are the best options for connecting your Revit data to Power BI.
Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC)
If you’re already working within Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), this is the most straightforward way to connect your Revit models to Power BI. Autodesk provides a built-in data connector for Power BI that allows you to link directly to your ACC Revit models. Here’s an overview of how it works:
Connection Overview
Autodesk has a data connector inside Power BI that enables users to load and analyze Data Exchanges with ease. This connector includes a built-in Data Filter feature, allowing for server-side filtering to import only the specific data you need, such as categories, families, types, or detailed properties.
Two Methods to Load Data Exchanges:
Without Data Filter:
- Open Power BI and select Get Data.
- Choose Autodesk Data Connector, select Data Exchange as the source type, and sign in.
- Navigate to your model folder or input the Data Exchange link to load the desired data.
With Data Filter:
- Follow the same steps as above but enable the Use Filters option.
- Use the filter UI to refine data selection by category, family, or type. Select specific properties or advanced properties as needed.
- Click Apply and then Load to start the loading process.
Once the data is loaded, you can transform and shape it in Power BI’s query editor to create visualizations and gain insights. For multiple Data Exchanges, separate links with semicolons.
Tutorial Link
https://help.autodesk.com/view/DATAEXCHANGE/ENU/?guid=pwrbi-load-data-exchange
Speckle
For those seeking a less Autodesk-focused solution (which is completely understandable), Speckle offers a powerful alternative. Speckle acts as a cloud platform where you can store full or partial 3D models from Revit (and other modeling software) along with detailed element data. Speckle also provides a Power BI connector to import data from their servers into Power BI. Additionally, their Power BI 3D visual lets you incorporate 3D models directly into your dashboards.
Connection Overview
Revit to Power BI in 3 Steps
Send Data from Revit
Open the Speckle Connector in Revit, choose a project (or create a new one), and click “Send” to transfer data to Speckleverse.
Receive Data in Power BI
Copy the model URL from Speckle’s web app. In Power BI, navigate to Get Data, search for "Speckle," connect, and paste the URL to load data into Power BI’s query editor.
View Model in 3D
Add the Speckle 3D Viewer Visual to your Power BI dashboard. Configure input fields by dragging "Stream URL," "Commit Object ID," and "Object ID" columns into their respective fields to visualize the model in 3D.
Tutorial Link
https://www.speckle.systems/tutorials/revit-to-power-bi-in-3-steps
Tracer by Proving Ground
Tracer is one of the first third-party tools that put BIM data visualization on the map. Tracer’s latest version, V3, features a Revit add-in that exports Revit elements to an SQLite database, which can then be loaded into Power BI. They also provide a 3D viewer for Power BI dashboards.
Connection Overview
Tracer exports element data and geometry from Revit into an open and widely adopted SQLite database format. The exported data can then be loaded into Power BI using the standard SQLite connector. While the export process is straightforward, interpreting the database structure in Power BI can be challenging. Fortunately, Tracer provides Power BI templates to improve the user experience.
Tutorial Link
A Word on Historical Data
Out of the box, the above methods provide current and up-to-date data from your BIM model. However, creating a data history to track changes over time (something Vyssuals handles effortlessly) requires a more sophisticated setup. At this point, you’d likely need to write a custom data exporter—using Python, for example—to save data snapshots as CSV files in a structured folder. These files could then be loaded into Power BI using the folder connector. However, such setups don’t support 3D visualization, which limits their utility for BIM dashboards.
Final Thoughts
Revit to Power BI is a process you really need to want. While it’s absolutely doable, and Power BI is an incredibly powerful business intelligence tool, it’s not inherently designed to visualize 3D BIM models. If you’re looking for a simpler, more intuitive solution that’s tailored to Revit data visualization, give Vyssuals a try. It eliminates the headaches of complex setups and focuses on delivering meaningful insights with minimal effort.