COURTESY OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Color-Coded Computed using city data, the map breaks down energy use into four categories: space heating, space cooling, electricity and hot water. Researchers at Columbia University's school of engineering have laun-ched a public, online catalog of all New York City buildings, each characterized by estimated energy consumption based on size and use.When users mouse over the interactive map, pop-ups present energy consumption estimates for individual buildings. The estimates are derived from a formula that multiplies square footage by the building type, such as single- or multifamily residential, business, school or industrial. Energy consumption is broken down
Guest Commentary: With President Obama’s proposal for a new $100 billion infrastructure jobs package still on the table, there has never been a better time for our industry to talk seriously about how we build and design American infrastructure. And, with the U.S. currently ranked at 16th place in terms of global infrastructure – falling from a previous ranking of 6th – engineering and construction firms will be challenged to find new ways to better build or retrofit infrastructure when this new funding becomes available.As we wait for the final infrastructure job bills, the question firms have to ask themselves
Photo courtesy of Gehry Technologies Frank Gehry forms an advisory board of noted architects and construction professionals to advance the use of BIM and similar technologies in design and construction. Gehry Technologies is forming a new strategic alliance of prominent architects and construction professionals to serve as an advisory board that will promote new technologies in design and construction. Frank Gehry, who founded the Los Angeles-based company in 2002, said in a statement on Oct. 18 "I am dedicated to giving architects better control of the process so they can deliver the fruits of their imagination, which is what our
+ Image + Image Construction and technology can be strange bedfellows at times.Take the U.S. Air Force example: Last year it graduated fewer fighter pilots and now uses more virtual pilots than real aviators (with UAV—unmanned aerial vehicles such as Predator drones). That's one story of innovation and its impact.What does this mean for the construction industry? How is innovation affecting our profession? Sometimes you have to review the basics to understand the trends. In “Diffusion of Innovation,” by Everett Rogers, a sociologist from the University of Iowa, Rogers uses math and charts based on his theory of how ideas,
In a difficult economy where new design projects are still hard to land, many firms are adding in as many services as possible to the list of client deliverables. The idea is to charge a higher fee while offering more than your competition's pricepoint.How to make that happen? Designing entirely on a computer screen certainly helps; changes, whether from the construction site or due to changing client needs, flow through the project naturally to the as-builts. In the months ahead, I’ll be talking about some of the ways that’s done during construction, with the latest portable equipment.But in this case,
After years of chugging along, the development of the nation's first consensus-based standard for the use of building information modeling is finally picking up steam. The buildingSMART alliance, which is releasing the National BIM Standard-United States, or NBIMS-US, says a version of the standard will be out by year's end. Beginning on Aug. 3, the 30-day public-comment period will broach the 45 topics that form the core of the standard.“We're out of the back room,” says Deke Smith, executive director of the alliance, which is a council of the National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington, D.C.Smith and his colleagues have
Attendees of the Society of American Military Engineers' annual agency briefing burst into applause last month upon hearing the news the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is moving to a platform-neutral approach to building information modeling software for its standardized building designs contracted through its Centers for Standardization. Rendering: Courtesy of STV Inc. Virtual model of Ft. Stewart, Ga., Army brigade building was used for structural erection. Their delight may be short-lived. The Corps' apparent reversal of a policy that mandated use of only Bentley Systems Inc. software for BIM project models has a few more twists. Each of the
Contractors building one of the largest and tallest pediatric research hospitals, hemmed in on a tiny site in Chicago, say they are several months ahead of schedule in part due to the owner�s requirement that designers and contractors collaborate using building information modeling, a digital tool that helps prevent errors. However, the use of BIM apparently still has some growing up to do. For the 1.25-million-sq-ft hospital that stands 457 ft tall on just 1.8 acres, the building team not only is tackling the challenges of urban, vertical hospital construction, it also is conducting research to determine if the time
Building information modeling, still relatively rare in the transportation construction world, proved key in gaining public approval for a planned $573-million, 9.4-mile rapid-transit bus system in Hartford, Conn. Advocates hope transit agencies will begin to ramp up use of BIM in future projects. Slide Show Image: SEA Three-dimensional imaging proved a valuable public-outreach method. The Connecticut Dept. of Transportation had planned on design-build for the line connecting Hartford and New Britain. “We had a designer bring the project from [environmental permitting] to 30% design,” says Michael Sanders, ConnDOT transit administrator. But after then-Gov. John Rowland (R)—who had approved special design-build
Athird of the engineers surveyed in recent market research on building information modeling say they get a negative return on BIM investments; a fifth say they break even. The perceived return on investment for architects is better, with 19% saying they have a negative ROI and 23% saying they break even. BIM value for owners and contractors is perceived as much greater, at about 70% ROI. + Image Source: McGraw-Hill Construction “Engineers are the most pessimistic about the value of BIM, with 12% saying they see no meaningful value from it,” according to a market report, “The Business Value of