ICF wall blocks

[Anonymous]

Please forgive the beginner questions.

I'm a student just getting started with architecural drafing/design and have just installed v8.1 today.

1) How would I go about creating a library of ICF (insulated concrete form) shapes and cross-sections to use in my designs? The vendor whose blocks I want to model has 4' and 8' straight sections, 90's, 45's, T's and curved sections (custom radius), and of different nominal thicknesses.

2) As a former installer of ICF blocks I know that using whole blocks is the easiest thing to do in the field rather than constantly cutting them to fit an unusual specified dimension. So in my designs I'd like to try to ensure that my room sizes use 'standard' blocks without trimming as much as possible - this minimizes waste and errors on-site. Is there any way in ArchiCAD to enable/enforce a rule that these structural elements 'snap to' the nearest standard ICF dimensions?

3) Once the symbols/objects for the ICF are defined, can ArchiCAD calculate a 'takeoff' of the number of ICF blocks required for the structure, ie. 210 90-degree corners, 421 8'-straight sections, and so on. If so, where and how is this done?

[Anonymous]

Create library of blocks. You will be able to calculate number of blocks basing on name of the block (ie. ICF -90 )

[Anonymous]

By using values in the parameter window of creating the objects, you can get the size stepping. Create different objects for the different shapes and make the different size and thickness available through parameters (with values for predefined dimensions). From there, with some modification IS could calculate the quantity of the pieces by object, size, and thickness.