Scenario Comparison with parameters

[RicardoHüttl]

Hey, guys

I'm trying to make a scenario comparison similar to "What if", but using text parameter instead. I have connected a building 3D model to Power BI and need to analyze some situations. For example, if I click a wall that is now made of brick, I have its area and cost (from 3D model), but what if I change its material to drywall or wood frame? What would the cost be? Any ideas on how to do that? I thought using an external database, but can't make the relationship between them. Now the total cost is calculated by "area x unit cost". What I need is to calculate total cost by "area x unit cost for any system".

Thank you

[ebeery · Accepted solution]

@RicardoHüttl there are probably lots of ways to do this, but I've attached an example with one possibility.  Basically just involves a Material/Cost table, and a single-selection slicer to control which material is selected.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kQF5Kf_zDko0N1SuXGB4IvG0LBM_6j5F/view?usp=sharing 

[RicardoHüttl]

ebeery, that's exactly what I need, thank you very much!

let me ask you another question, please. what if I want to use multiple materials? Something like wall 1 - wood, wall 2 - drywall ,and the others walls brick, using the same table. In this case,  I want to analyze the impact on global cost if I change just one or two walls, not all of them.

[ebeery]

@RicardoHüttl it is theoretically possible - you would probably need to duplicate the structure built though (wall 1 material table, wall 2 material table, etc.).  At a certain point, I would question whether Power BI is the right tool to be using.  In my opinion and experience, doing scenario modeling which requires a lot of flexibility can get pretty cumbersome very quickly in Power BI, and you might be better off just starting with a well-designed Excel model, using Data Validation, lookup tables, etc.

[RicardoHüttl]

Yeah, makes sense. Thank you again!