BIM Lighting Design with RELUX: Three Routes
For lighting planners, electrical engineers, architects and BIM coordinators who want to enter the BIM process without data loss and without media breaks
In practice, BIM-compliant lighting design rarely fails because of the calculation – it fails because of the data exchange. Export, import, map, check, correct: with every model change, the whole game starts over.
In episode 55 of "Fun with Relux", host and RELUX developer Matthias (responsible for the BIM area) shows how to avoid exactly that. His takeaway in short: there are three ways to bring BIM models and lighting calculations together – and two of them cost nothing. Here's the overview.
Route 1: The free Revit plug-in (RDF workflow)
The freely available ReluxCAD for Revit plug-in connects Revit and ReluxDesktop losslessly and bidirectionally.
- In Revit, you can select individual rooms, entire levels or the complete building and export them as a RELUX file (.rdf).
- Handy optimization filters help during export: ignore heavy 3D objects (for better performance), exclude complex instance parameters, or merge collinear walls.
- The architect sends the .rdf file to the lighting designer, who places the luminaires in ReluxDesktop, assigns usage profiles and calculates the project.
- The updated file goes back into Revit – the luminaires are converted back into Revit families (.rfa) without losing any geometry or photometric properties.
In short: a real, end-to-end planning workflow instead of a one-way street.
Route 2: The free IFC integration
Anyone working with other BIM applications – such as Vectorworks, ArchiCAD or Tekla – uses the equally free IFC import and export in ReluxDesktop.
- IFC projects can be read in directly. Important: the IFC file should contain "IFC Spaces" so that rooms and measurement areas are generated cleanly.
- IFC doesn't transfer the full depth of luminaire details and usage profiles the way the Revit route does – but for placement and visualization (e.g. with real-time renderers like Enscape) it works excellently.
- On export you have two options: write the new luminaire data (including light intensity values and maintenance factors) back into the original IFC file – or generate a new IFC file containing only the spaces and luminaires.
This makes IFC ideal for open, cross-tool exchange and archiving.
Route 3: The paid full version of ReluxCAD for Revit
The licensed version brings the RELUX calculation core directly into Revit – you no longer need to open ReluxDesktop at all. This lets you calculate and evaluate right inside the Revit model, with no media break.
Among other things, it unlocks:
- Calculations directly in the Revit model – including EasyLux for fast illuminance calculations
- Results display directly in Revit: false-color rendering and results tables
- Usage profile assignment and manual creation of measurement areas
- Stairwell tool plus automatic measurement areas for task areas and stairs
- Room manager and batch processing
- Emergency lighting planning and sensor placement (EasySens)
- Aiming tool – aim spotlights precisely at targets right inside Revit
- automatic output generator: viewports, false-color tables, luminaire lists and status plans efficiently combined on a single page
Which route for whom?
RouteRecommended forRevit plug-in (free)Revit users collaborating losslessly with external lighting designersIFC (free)Teams on other BIM tools; open exchange & archivingFull version (paid)Anyone wanting to handle lighting, sensors and plans entirely in Revit
Rule of thumb from the episode: for repeated, precise planning loops, the direct Revit route is the fastest and most reliable. IFC plays to its strengths in tool-independent exchange.
Conclusion
Getting started with BIM lighting design doesn't have to cost a thing: both the Revit plug-in and the IFC workflow are free – and already cover the vast majority of collaboration scenarios. If you want to keep the entire process, including the calculation, inside Revit, the full version is the way to go.
How do you exchange lighting design data in BIM projects today – via IFC, via the direct plug-in, or in a completely different way? Let us know in the comments.
More on the topic in FUN with RELUX episode 55
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