Reflections on IPD and Site Progress

Having all the mechanical parties heavily involved in the design from the get go means there really isn’t much need for little old me out in the trenches. Sure, I can take a trip out to site, snap some pics for our records, and scrawl up a glowing construction report, but at the end of the day I could just as easily have taken a spin through the 3-D model.
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Digging Deeper with a Budget

The role of an estimator is not an easy one, especially in the conceptual design stage. Traditionally, the design is near-complete and specifications are already set by the time the General Contractor gets a chance to evaluate costs. And, if you’re lucky, hopefully the design team has considered efficient, cost-effective designs without running amok on scopes of work...
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Balancing Reality and Good Design

You cannot design a net zero building without a detailed Energy Model to accompany you throughout the design process. Nor can you design a geothermal system without a detailed energy model providing a clear picture of the loads extracted and rejected from the ground. You also need an energy model for the LEED submission process. A casual observer might naturally assume that this energy model is always done by the same person. Unfortunately, this is almost never the case.
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Why BIM Can Save Design

BIM, Building Information Modeling, is nothing more than a virtual three-dimensional digital design with embedding information. This information can be about cost, materials, qualities, source of manufacturing, contact information for servicing, instructions for recycling or, simply, length, width, height and weight. This information can evolve as the BIM model is constructed into reality or as the design gets renovated and remodeled.
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