New Technology Solutions Exhibited at AIA 2010 Expo

Last month, we looked at the highlights of the wide range of technology solutions exhibited at the recently held AIA 2010 National Convention and Expo from vendors such as Autodesk, Bentley, Graphisoft, Nemetschek North America, IES, Trelligence, AutoDesSys, and Z Corporation, as well as some new technology initiatives from the AIA. This year’s convention was unique in having a number of new products launched at the show, which is commendable given the dismal state of the economy as a whole and the building industry in particular. It is heartening to see that the entrepreneurial spirit remains undaunted in the AEC technology industry and companies are continuing to innovate and come up with new products and new ways to address the tasks of building design, construction, and collaboration, despite the uncertainty surrounding the economic downturn and how long it might last. This article takes a dedicated look at these brave new entrepreneurial ventures that have the distinction of being launched during one of most trying times in the building industry.

Real-time and Any-time PDF-based Collaboration

Bluebeam Software, best known for its PDF Revu application for PDF creation, editing, and markup, launched a new technology at this year’s AIA Convention called Bluebeam Studio, which enables digital collaboration on PDF drawings and documents in real-time. Similar to its Revu product, Bluebeam Studio is specifically designed for architecture, engineering, and construction professionals. It is available as a new feature in the latest version of PDF Revu, 8.5, and includes options for starting a Studio session as the host, joining a session as an invited attendee, logging out of a session, and managing user settings. Using Studio, attendees in a session can chat and post markups to a single copy of a PDF using Bluebeam’s redlining tools such as clouds, callouts, CAD symbols, and measurements (see Figure 1). Every chat message and markup is tracked in the Record, a comprehensive list of all session activity, which includes document, page, and view information. This allows attendees to click through a Record to not only review comments and markups made by others, but also to experience the same view of the PDF as when the comment was made. Additionally, attendees can follow a partner in real time so that their view of the PDF updates as the partner zooms, pans and redlines. While a fully licensed version of Bluebeam PDF Revu is required to start a session, anyone else can participate as an attendee, enabling distributed project teams to share and review project documents in PDF format in real time easily and inexpensively.

While Bluebeam Studio might seem similar to the online collaboration capabilities Adobe had introduced through Acrobat.com in its Acrobat 9 release (see http://www.aecbytes.com/review/2008/Acrobat9ProExtended.html), the difference is that Studio enables not just “real-time” collaboration but “any-time” collaboration. It is a digital version of the "war room" that firms use, in which they pull out a drawing set and leave it in a conference room for a few days so everyone can review the drawings and add their comments. Once a Studio session has been initiated, all those who are invited are not required to meet at the exact same time to collaborate—they can go in at different times to review the comments that have been made and add their own markups and follow-up comments. Attendees entering the session later can see all previous markup and chat activity logged in the Record, with the ability to see the exact part of the PDF for which a markup or comment was made. This "any-time collaboration" aspect of Studio is especially helpful for firms working on global projects, because it means that one party doesn't have to wake up in the middle of the night in order to collaborate with the other. And, of course, the “real-time collaboration” option is also available for live review meetings when required. Another difference between Bluebeam Studio and Acrobat.com is the pricing model. Studio is an included feature in Bluebeam PDF Revu 8.5, as mentioned earlier. Anyone with a licensed version of this application can become a host, upload PDFs, and invite attendees to collaborate. Invited attendees only need a trial version of Bluebeam PDF Revu to be able to collaborate and markup. Even after the 30-day trial has expired, attendees can still use it to participate in a Studio session.

Modeling of Organic Building Forms and Curved Surfaces

Another new solution launched at the AIA show was RhinoBIM, which is a suite of several planned plug-ins to enhance Rhino 5.0 specifically for use in the AEC industry. Rhino, developed by Robert McNeel & Associates, is a general-purpose NURBS-based 3D modeling application that is very popular for conceptual design in architectural firms such as Frank Gehry’s, best known for buildings with complex, organic forms (see the AECbytes article, Technology at Work at Gehry Partners: A Case Study). But Rhino is not a BIM application, and this is where a solution like RhinoBIM comes in, which is focused on facilitating the use of Rhino for BIM-based design and construction processes. It is developed by Virtual Build Technologies, which originally started in 1991 as C-cubed Virtual Architecture and focused on developing CATIA-based 3D digital modeling processes for use in projects by leading architects, designers and general contractors including Frank Gehry, Moshe Safdie, Richard Serra, Mortensen Construction, and Turner Construction. At the AIA show, the first plug-in tool of the RhinoBIM suite called RhinoBIM Structure, developed for 3D structure modeling, Clash & Clear analysis and structural analysis, was demonstrated (see Figure 2). Using Rhino 5.0’s new light extrusion technology, RhinoBIM Structure builds 3D structural design elements that are much lighter in data weight, significantly decreasing model size. The light database allows the Clash & Clear analysis capability to find identity errors and possible design conflicts quickly, without the need to export the model to another program to perform the analysis.

The AIA show also saw the unveiling of another offering related to the modeling, design, and construction of complex forms. This comes from Radius Track, a full service provider of curved steel framing solutions. The company was actually started in 1996 with the creation of a tool called TrackBender, which could enable contractors to shape their own track and angles with precision and speed at the job site. The technology was used in several projects such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Target Field, the Minnesota Twins stadium in Minneapolis. The company has subsequently expanded to offer a wide array of products and services for architects and contractors, ranging from simple tools to be used on the jobsite, to BIM and 3D modeling services that can help the design team identify the best way to create complex curved structural systems, enabling dramatic cost savings without sacrificing aesthetic or structural objectives. At the AIA show, Radius Track demonstrated how its BIM and 3D modeling services for curved surfaces were used on Gehry Partners’ current project, the New World Symphony campus expansion in Miami Beach, which has curved surfaces in almost every space of this 106,350 square-foot project (see Figure 3). The company uses Rhino extensively for its 3D modeling services.

BIM and 3D Content

There was a lot of development around the content front at this year’s AIA Convention, with many product manufacturers taking the initiative to develop and provide 3D and BIM models of their products, either for Google’s 3D Warehouse or for BIM applications such as Revit. Examples of the former include KraftMaid Cabinetry, which doubled the number of its digital 3D cabinet model offerings through the Google 3D Warehouse to almost 2,000 models, and Merillat Cabinetry and DeNova countertops, both of which introduced their 3D product model collections in the Google 3D Warehouse. All of these models are created as Dynamic Components, allowing the cabinets and countertops to be resized to any of the brands’ available dimensions. In addition, users can access specification information embedded within each model and link back to each brand’s website for more information. These models can be used directly in Google SketchUp or in several other 3D modeling and BIM applications that can import models from the 3D Warehouse.

On the BIM front, 3M Company, well known for its wide portfolio of fire protection products, introduced 3M Fire Protection Revit BIM objects which support architectural design using the BIM approach. Architects using Revit can now more easily integrate 3M Fire Protection products into their 3D design specifications. These new Revit objects are available in myriad categories, including through penetrations in concrete floor, concrete brick walls and gypsum walls, construction joints, head-of-wall perimeter joints, as well as duct wrap protection systems. They are content-rich, face-based systems that are fully integrated with Revit families and are product systems/assemblies-based BIM models, as opposed to product models; therefore, they provide unique BIM options specifically application to fire protection. Additionally, they incorporate shared parameters, which give architects and contractors the ability to create schedules and quality take-offs. 3M’s new Fire Protection Revit BIM objects can be accessed online at the 3M Fire Protection website as well as through Autodesk Seek, Autodesk’s online portal for design professionals to access branded and generic BIM objects, drawings, and specifications, which is also integrated within AutoCAD and Revit (see Figure 4).

Autodesk Seek itself had news of its own to showcase at the AIA show. Launched at the 2008 AIA Expo, Autodesk Seek has grown to include over 35,000 products from nearly 1,000 manufacturers and averages more than 900,000 searches per month, while providing nearly 300,000 downloads of building product information and models to architects, engineers and other design professionals. Autodesk Seek will now be included as part of a new McGraw-Hill Sweets BIM Package for building product manufacturers (BPMs), building on the existing collaboration between Autodesk and McGraw-Hill. With this new package, manufacturers can have high-quality BIM models of their products created through the network of Autodesk Content Service Providers and include these models in both the Autodesk Seek web service as well as McGraw-Hill’s own Sweets.com.

Another product manufacturer, Firestone Building Products, is going further than simply providing BIM models of its products. At the AIA show, it launched a new roof modeling tool for the commercial roofing industry called RoofGenuity. This is an online tool that enables architects, consultants, and roofing contractors to populate the roof area on their building designs with various configurations of Firestone single-ply, asphalt and metal roofing systems and polyiso insulation BIM objects to create the optimal model for their commercial building needs. It can be used for a wide range of building types, including educational facilities, commercial, industrial and office buildings, entertainment venues, healthcare facilities, and government buildings. Available in pre-configured or fully customizable systems, the modeling tool prompts users to select their preferred assembly features, including system type, attachment method, R-value, deck type and desired warranty. They also can choose options such as a cool roof, coverboard, or vapor retarder. Based on the responses, a list of potential roof assemblies is generated, complete with product details and 3D models. RoofGenuity also features links to product and technical information on the Firestone Building Products’ website. After final customizations are made, a 2D CAD drawing or 3D model of the finished assembly can be downloaded (see Figure 5). RoofGenuity currently integrates with Revit, allowing the model to be directly loaded into a Revit project. Integration with other popular BIM applications is planned for later this year.

Wide-Format Scanning and Printing

Contex, a leading developer of wide format scanning and imaging solutions, used the AIA show to unveil a new affordable wide-format scan-to-print solution, the XD2490 MFP. The MFP pairs the low-cost XD2490 wide format scanner along with Contex’s imaging software with a custom stand (see Figure 6). It is a lightweight (35 lbs), space-saving, single-footprint, multi-function solution that retails for around $5,000 and can be coupled with most 24-inch printers, such as those from HP and Canon. This price point makes the solution affordable for many architects and engineers to have in-house, both at the office as well as the job site, enabling them to make professional scans and prints of wide format drawings instead of relying on expensive service bureaus. The XD2490’s 24-inch scanner creates high-quality scans of drawings, sketches, renderings, and markups, which are still commonly used and shared daily within an architectural firm. Also, with much of the work in the AEC industry currently focused on renovations, a lot of old drawings are requiring to be scanned and incorporated into CAD/BIM workflows, and the new scanning solution from Contex makes this task easier and more affordable.

This wraps up AECbytes’ virtual coverage of the AIA 2010 National Convention and Expo. The AIA 2011 Convention is scheduled to be held in New Orleans from May 12 to 14. I do hope to be able to make it to the show in person next year!

About the Author

Lachmi Khemlani is founder and editor of AECbytes. She has a Ph.D. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, specializing in intelligent building modeling, and consults and writes on AEC technology. She can be reached at lachmi@aecbytes.com.