IMAGINiT Building Solutions Blog

Transforming Building and Construction Projects with Reality Capture Technologies

by Dan Chapek, Director Reality Capture Solutions

Building and construction firms, like all businesses, are always looking for ways to generate new revenue and to increase customer satisfaction. Reality capture technologies are a proven way to reduce design revisions and field change orders, provide more accurate project status tracking, and capture precise data about as-built conditions.

Several technologies fall under the reality capture umbrella. These include:

• Drones and Photogrammetry. Drones equipped with a camera are an effective way to gather conceptual information about buildings and worksites. This data is helpful for creating visualizations of buildings, as well as capturing data for work site progress monitoring.
• Robotic Total Stations. These devices utilize detailed building models to automatically generate layout points for construction teams. The process is precise and less labor intensive than manually creating layout points.
• 3D Laser Scanners. Scanners generate accurate point cloud data that can be used for modeling as-built conditions and for validation work.

To learn more about how building and construction firms are using reality capture, as well as how to evaluate investments in these technologies, check out our new white paper “Leveraging the Power of Reality Capture for Buildings and Construction”. This includes a series of questions that can help you determine if reality capture tools could be beneficial for your firm.

IMAGINiT’s Building Solutions Team Gains Licensed Professional Engineer

by Joe Eichenseer, Director of Building Lifecycle Solutions

The team at IMAGINiT’s Building Solutions Division is pleased to announce that Nick Bowley, one of our Senior Solutions Consultants, recently passed the Professional Engineer (PE) exam and is now a licensed PE in the state of Maryland.

We’re proud of Nick’s hard work to earn this professional distinction. His background in architectural and MEP design, as well as construction, ensures that he provides the best service to our clients through training, process improvements, custom content creation, and more. Nick has worked for IMAGINiT for over three years.

Like Nick, many of our Solutions Consultants in the Building Solutions Division hold professional and industry certifications such as LEED AP and ADDA Certified Professional. Nick and the rest of the team leverage their experience every day as they work with clients to make the most of their design technology.

Case Study: Page Interworks Adopts BIM Processes and Expands Capabilities

We are always pleased to help firms gain skills to help them expand their potential. Page Interworks provides high quality MEP services to clients across the United States and they wanted to work more closely with their architectural clients who had implemented BIM.

Before adopting a process, Page Interworks asked their clients what programs they used, uncovering that most of the firms asked used Autodesk Revit.

"Before we could take on BIM work, we knew we had to proactively implement Revit and get employees trained on  it. We could have done the implementation in-house, but that wouldhave taken significant time away from revenue generating projects for customers." said Carl Page, owner of Page Interworks.

Read the full Page Interworks Case Study.

Want to start your own success story? Contact us today. 

Vegas, Baby! Vegas! - AU 2015

By Carl Storms, IMAGINiT Building Solutions

It’s that time of year again, everything is pumpkin spiced, all the stores are talking about Black Friday, and all you can think about is what Santa is going to bring you this year………you know because you have been soooo good.

Well I would like to remind you of an event that happens after you have had your fill of turkey and shopping, but before the big man in the red suit comes, Autodesk University – AU for short.

AU is that magical time of year when you and 10,000 of your closest Autodesk-loving friends come together in Las Vegas for 3 days and nights of non-stop fun. Okay so it’s not all fun, there is some serious learning that goes on too, with a ton of great sessions to learn about all things Autodesk from some of the brightest minds in their fields. Of course before you can partake in all the learning and fun you need to get yourself to AU first. Don’t worry, Autodesk has you covered with all the info you will need to show your boss all of the value of going to Autodesk University. Head over to the AU website and look for the “Convince Your Boss” section, everything you need is there, including a conference benefits worksheet, talking points, and even a sample letter you can download and personalize for your manger. Heck they even have an email your boss template that is all filled out for you with costs and everything!

Now that you have the okay from your boss to attend AU 2015 on December 1st – 3rd at the Venetian in Las Vegas, you will need to select classes. There are always so many choices, of course the longer you wait the less choices you will have (but even then still tons of great options). All of the disciplines and fields are represented at AU from education to media and entertainment, manufacturing and product design as well as architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC). If you are interested in AEC, and in particular Revit and early conceptual design might I suggested a class for you? Why don’t you check out my class: Session “AS9579 – Revit + FormIt = Bye Bye SketchUp”. The session is offered on Thursday December 3rd from 3:00 – 4:00 pm.

Here is some more info on what the class is about:

• Topic: Revit + FormIt = Bye Bye SketchUp!

• Class Summary: For years there has been a conceptual massing part of Revit that would allow designers to do many of the things they can do in SketchUp inside of Revit directly, but this has never really caught on and designers keep returning to SketchUp for ease of use. Now with the help of FormIt you can take your project from conceptual design all the way to construction documents with these two connected products without having to leave the .RVT file format. You can begin the conceptual design in FormIt and once the design is settled, continue with working drawings in Revit. There is also the added benefit of being able to work on FormIt on your iPad or on any computer in a web based version, this allows for anytime anywhere design to happen. FormIt also has a feature that allows real time team collaboration on a design. This means the multiple members of a team can be simultaneously working on the same file from different locations, and different FormIt platforms.

• Class Length: 60 Minutes

• Class Type: Instructional Demo

• Instructor: Carl Storms – Senior Applications Expert, IMAGINiT Technologies (yup its me!)

Hope to see you all there!

P.S. If you haven't seen "Swingers" yet it is a MUST SEE before you head to Vegas, Baby! Vegas!

 

Update: This class is in such high demand - there is now a second session!

It will take place on Tuesday, December 1st at 1:30pm and is a 60 minute session. Only 8 seats left as of November 17th!

 

[Infographic] BIM and FM Gap Survey Results

Remember when we all called it AEC…

By Carl Storms, IMAGINiT Building Solutions

If you work in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry then you are very familiar with the acronym “AEC” which stands for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction. However, those simple days of just one acronym seem to have passed us by. Now that we are living in a BIM world and collaboration is on everyone’s mind there have been some new acronyms going around that are trying to be more inclusive. I think the idea is that with BIM and the ability to have models be useful beyond just construction and continues being used for Facilities Management (or building operations) that “AEC” was not enough to get the point across anymore.

So now comes the onslaught of new (and longer) acronyms:

“AECO” = Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Owners

This seems to be a natural progression from the old AEC. Perhaps the 2nd “O” is not really needed as the operators will be agents of the owner anyway?

“AECOO” = Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owners, and Operators

This one likes to make sure all parties are accounted for and does include the 2nd “O”. However I find saying “A-E-C-O-O” a bit of a mouthful, I find it rolls off the tongue better is you say it like this “A-E-C double O”.

“OAEC” = Owners, Architecture, Engineering, and Construction

This one has the “O” out front because we all know the Owners (read the money) come first!

Now I’m sure there are more variation out there, which will only make it more confusing. It was so much easier back in the good old days when everyone just said AEC.

I say we have an Acronym Battle Royal (ABR), and in the words of the High Lander “There can be only one!”

Which team are you on?

I’m on Team #AECdoubleO

Setting the Right Standards: The Intersection of Levels of Development (LOD) and Facilities Management

A great deal of the information captured in construction models is helpful for ongoing facilities management work. However, identifying the data that is most valuable for FM and then getting that into the appropriate facilities management system is not always easy.

During the design and construction process, architects and contractors often use a Level of Development (LOD) Specification. This standard helps teams specify information in Building Information Models (BIMs) with a higher level of clarity and reliability. The specification referenced above uses and expands on LOD definitions that were developed by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

There are six levels of development – LOD 100, LOD 200, LOD 300, LOD 350, LOD 400, and LOD 500. These define how much detail is included in a model element. To derive the information needed from BIMs, facilities management teams should create their own standards that refer to the LOD specification framework. Here are three tips that can help your team with this effort:

1. Recognize that not every model element needs information at the most granular level of development. Wasting effort on detailing that’s not needed is never advisable from a time and effort perspective.
2. Decide which facilities management functions could benefit from information stored in the Building Information Model (BIM). Take time to map out which activities would take less time or be more cost efficient if BIM data was available in the facilities management information system.
3. Determine what LOD is needed to support different FM activities. For example, space and asset management may not need information specified to a high level of development. Remodeling, however, usually requires a much higher LOD and may demand field verified information.

Has your team created an organization-specific standard that defines what information facilities management needs from BIMs and what LOD is appropriate? If not, what’s been holding you back? IMAGINiT’s facilities management team understands how to guide teams through standards development, as well as how to integrate BIM source data with facilities management systems. We’d love to hear what challenges you are facing.

Come Talk with Us at CanBIM and RTC

We've been busy this month and last with the 2016 releases. We have webcasts on the Autodesk products next week (psst - see the webcasts and sign up here), we'll be on several panels at CanBIM the week after that as well as out at the Hexagon Conference talking about reality capture and BIM.

Then, we can take a quick break. Until the Revit Technology Conference in DC. Then we have more sessions and you can swing by our booth to see how our team can help your save time and effort.

See all the conferences we'll be at in June and July. Want us to come and speak to your group or association? Just drop us a line. 

Tips for Rendering Your 3D Model - with the background photo

By Vince Daniele, IMAGINiT Building Solutions

So you've put the time in to create a really spectacular 3D model but when you go to render it, something is missing … it’s just a static object in space. No need to fret! It’s time to make that model come alive by giving it some context! This whitepaper demonstrates the methods needed to render your 3D model with a background environment image and give it that realistic touch.

 

A Room by Any Other Name (or Number)...

Room numbering can be maddening. Ever been to a campus where one building the room numbers alternated even on one side and odd on the other only to find that the next building has letters instead of numbers?

Deciding on how you number is an important step for facilities managers. Given that there are several factors to consider when creating a room numbering system, our team of experts put together this whitepaper on the subject. Registration is required for viewing, but free.

How did you create your system? Tell us in the comments.