When brainstorming technology story ideas at ENR, our editors frequently start by trying to feel your pain. Our readers are the construction people who depend on technology to improve their personal and company performance, but they also are the people who are left frustrated or wistful when needed technology fails them or has yet to be invented. When we hear those stories about common technology wishes and issues we start looking for folks who have found or invented solutions, and then we write about those.  If it is new and helpful and we can find it and it’s not widely known,

Related Links: Video Demonstration of the MARS App PARWorks Website Augmented Reality for Facilities Management Leaping Into Use Photos of construction projects are as common as hardhats and work boots on a jobsite these days.But what if construction crews could use photos and videos to assemble an updated 3D building information model of their project in seconds, using that overlay to check the building's progress against a 4D BIM schedule?That's just one example of the possibilities and new applications bubbling up from a hybrid 4D augmented reality (4DAR) platform developed by construction engineering professors and students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute

(Guest column for ENR)As a surveyor working in the site/civil consulting world, I learned early on that the staying ahead of the technology curve can provide a clear market advantage, so I have been progressive in my adoption and use of new technologies as they come on the scene. From digital data collectors, robotic total stations, 3D CADD, GPS, to GIS, my 30-year professional career has been heavily impacted by the repeated adoption of new technologies. So it’s no surprise that 3D Laser Scanning to develop building information modeling for existing conditions has made the list of current top, new

Image courtesy of Balfour Beatty Construction Related Links: How Balfour Beatty and Autodesk are Driving BIM Use How Ready Is 'BIM-?Ready'? Online Assessment Tells All Technology adoption quickened its pace with more construction professionals in 2012, fueled by growth in cheaper cloud- computing resources, faster networks and a variety of new tablet devices that have lower price points.And then there were apps—lots more apps.If 2011 was the year that tablets took off in construction, then 2012 could be called the year when even more apps found their way on to construction professionals' tablets and smartphones.As ENR's Luke Abaffy noted in

Related Links: ENR Mountain States: BIM Use ENR Mountain States: Optioneering Use of building information modeling has grown from 28% to 71% in the construction industry in the last six years, and the profile of BIM users has also seen a major shift in the last three years, according to a recent McGraw-Hill Construction survey. In the first and second BIM SmartMarket Report research studies, published by McGraw-Hill Construction in 2006 and 2009, architects led the industry in BIM use by a substantial margin. In the most recent study conducted this fall, not only has the gap between players in

Related Links: Gehry Tech Launches Latest BIM Collaboration Tool Gehry Technologies Website Tallest Residential Tower in NYC Is Frank Gehry Demystified (subscription only) As chief technology officer of consultancy Gehry Technologies, Dennis Shelden spends a lot of his time talking with clients, design professionals and students about the profound changes that technology innovation is bringing to the computation and design disciplines. He would know. Shelden holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Design, a Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and a Ph. D. in Computation and Architectural from MIT, where he also teaches design and computation.But even

Image courtesy of Gehry Technologies Related Links: New Cloud-Based 3D Project Collaboration Tool Offered for Free Until Sept. 30 Gehry Technologies Website New Yorks Tallest Residential Tower Is Frank Gehry Demystified As more powerful processor cores are harnessed into cloud computing services, collaboration using massive data files is gaining in use and sophistication—especially in the design and construction disciplines that work in 3D files.One example is the latest launch from Gehry Technologies, which has gone to market with its GTeam platform following six months of testing. The firm calls it a cloud based 2D and 3D file management and project

Photo courtesy of Sundt Construction Contractors are using BIM for San Diego International Airport's $1.2-billion Green Build project. Related Links: BIM: Not Just for Buildings Read the Free Smart Market Report Building information modeling is quickly expanding beyond vertical construction into infrastructure, and as project teams gain more experience with parametric modeling, they are finding ways to boost their return on investment.Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation is a case in point. It plans to include civil 3D models as part of standard design for all new projects starting in mid-2014. At that time, WisDOT also will deliver a 3D surface model

Bentley Systems Inc., Exton, Pa., announced on Sept. 18 that it has acquired Ontario, Canada-based Ivara Corp., whose asset performance management software is based on a reliability-centered maintenance philosophy. Ivara works to maximize uptime and the safe, economical performance of facilities in asset-intensive industries, such as mining, power generation, oil and gas, through predictive analysis of real-time, equipment-specific performance data. Bentley CEO Greg Bentley says the acquisition “may be our most significant in years” as it creates an “unprecedented opportunity” to improve facility design and operations by linking the data of designers and engineers with the live data of operators

Image courtesy of Cupertino Electric Inc. A BIM can integrate power usage information into a "Master System Integration" program which would increase facility lifecycle efficiency and entice owners to invest in designing-in the systems technology early on. White targets in this model indicate "spheres of influence" for the seismic hangers. Building information modeling is a very useful tool for optimizing initial construction build and lowering facility development cost.It's great technology, but how do you fund it? If you can't fund it, you can't get it.I think the answer is that we can fund BIM as a facility development cost if