New Technology Products at the AIA 2004 Expo

In This Issue:

• SoftPlan
• IntelliRoof and IntelliWall
• Affinity
• ArchiOffice
• Other Solutions

In the last issue of the AECbytes newsletter, I described the highlights of the recently concluded AIA 2004 National Convention from a technology perspective and provided an overview of the new releases of existing products that were unveiled at the show. This issue is devoted to exploring some of the new products that made their debut on the Expo floor this year.

SoftPlan

SoftPlan is an architectural application customized for the design of residential and light commercial buildings that has been around for several years but new to the AIA Expo. It was introduced to me at the show as a BIM (building information modeling) application, even though there is no mention of BIM in its product literature yet. The BIM trend is certainly catching on! Even though SoftPlan uses predefined intelligent building objects such as walls, windows, doors, and so on to represent a building—which does qualify it to carry the BIM tag—it operates a little differently from conventional BIM applications. In SoftPlan, you use the building objects to first create a main floor plan drawing, and then use this plan as a base for creating other floor plans. Once all the floor plans are created, they are used by several dedicated tools for automating the creation of other building elements such as floor joists, roof, framing, and so on, as well as the creation of drawings such as the site plan, elevations, sections, framing drawings, etc.

Additional products are available that integrate with the base product and expand its capabilities: SoftView for generating 3D renderings with textures, lighting, and backgrounds; SoftList for generating a complete material list and cost estimate report for the design; and SoftTalk for accessing SoftPlan's menus verbally using voice recognition technology. While SoftPlan's customization for residential and light commercial design allows it to have several smarts for drawing creation and editing, these don't come cheap. The base product costs $2385, which is close enough to general-purpose BIM applications to require a serious comparative evaluation. A light version of the product customized for basic residential design, SoftPlan Lite, is available for $985.

IntelliWall and IntelliRoof

Under development for over five years but being exhibited at the AIA Expo for the first time were two applications for wall and roof design that are integrated within AutoCAD. Named IntelliWall and IntelliRoof respectively, these separate applications will eventually become the first two modules of a more comprehensive design application, IntelliModel, targeted towards architects, structural engineers, fabricators and estimators. They operate within AutoCAD as well as Autodesk Architectural Desktop using a proprietary user interface, which is simplified in comparison with the original AutoCAD/ADT interface.

The key strength of these applications is that they are integrated with an advanced structural analysis package, GT STRUDL, which allows roofs, truss systems, and stud walls to be accurately modeled in 3D, detailed, and analyzed. Since the design and analysis are tightly interconnected, the applications provide added intelligence that improve speed, efficiency, and accuracy in comparison with a general-purpose CAD or modeling application. In addition to generating 3D models of the wall and roof elements, IntelliWall and IntelliRoof automate the creation of plans, elevations, sections, schedules, fabrication drawings, bill-of-materials, and cut lists. Other key features related to wall and roof design include automated framing around mechanical equipment, ducts, and chases, auto trussing and webbing, automated web alignment, material optimization, and the ability to model and frame complicated roof types including stepped, arched, barrel, domed, and compound roofs.

Affinity

Another product that has been around for some years but was new to the AIA Expo is Trelligence's Affinity, a project control and planning tool for residential and commercial building projects. It provides a customizable questionnaire for capturing project and client requirements, which can then be used to drive the creation of schematic designs using integrated space planning tools. Additionally, requirements that specify spatial relationships, finish details, and size/cost constraints can be added to a project. All these requirements are then tracked as the design is modified within Affinity, and can be reviewed to ensure validity in the design. Once the schematic design has been finalized, it can be exported to a CAD application for further development. All other project information can also be exported to cost estimation and project management tools if required.

In yet another instance of the BIM trend catching on, Trelligence is positioning Affinity as a complementary solution to BIM systems, filling in the knowledge about the intended use of a building that these systems don't capture. Current BIM solutions lack a dedicated space programming module (see my cover story "Should We BIM?" in the June 2003 issue of Cadence magazine) and thus have no way to analyze or evaluate a design against the customer's project requirements. Affinity has the potential to bridge this gap. However, this potential can be best realized only when it can integrate seamlessly and have a two-way communication with BIM solutions, so that the design can be checked for validity even when it is being further developed and finalized in them.

ArchiOffice

A brand new application unveiled at the AIA Expo this year, ArchiOffice is a comprehensive yet inexpensive application for managing the various workflow needs of the professional architectural services firm. It includes modules for different tasks: managing contact information and tracking all projects, documents, events, invoices, and payments related to a contact; creating employee time and expense slips for generating invoices and tracking office overhead; managing and tracking different aspects of a project such as team members, documents, events, time/expense slips, invoices, and payments; generating invoices and billing reports including revenue, receivables, transactions, and retainers; and managing a daily, monthly, and weekly calendar where events and to-do's can be scheduled for individuals or for teams.

I was impressed by the pleasing and user-friendly interface of the application and the extensive array of capabilities available at a low price tag of $400, compared to higher-end office management solutions that cost thousands of dollars. In particular, for architectural firms that don't yet use an integrated office management application and have been relying on diverse applications to carry out these tasks on a piecemeal basis, ArchiOffice seems like a great way to get started.

Other Solutions

The line-up of debutants at the AIA 2004 Expo also included a few other solutions. There was Rhino, an established general-purpose 3D modeling application used by a select number of architectural firms (see my case study of Frank Gehry's firm) that is trying to have a stronger presence in the AEC industry. It is being positioned as an advanced modeling solution for architects that lets them conceptualize as well as construct unusual forms, giving them the "freedom to design outside the box." Rhino provides not just the traditional repertoire of modeling, rendering, and animation tools common to 3D applications, but goes further and also provides the capabilities for engineering, analysis, and manufacturing that allow for accurate construction of non-conventional architecture.

Another application new to the show was the redesigned AIA Contract Documents software, which allows contract documents to be easily created, shared, and managed. It uses a series of dialog boxes to input project and other necessary data, and then uses this information to automatically create draft documents that can be edited with Microsoft Word. Variances from standard AIA contract language can be viewed in the draft. Once the documents are finalized, they can be generated and archived in read-only PDF format.

And finally, there was Designguide.com, a new Internet directory that aims to transform how people source and market professional services and building products for the design and building industry. It allows design professionals and manufacturers to display the nature and scope of their project experience or product applications through image-supported descriptions. It currently includes over 20,000 web links to professionals and products and nearly 150,000 images. It is interesting to see another portal dotcom emerge amidst the ruins of the dotcom era, and its survival should be a good test of whether dotcoms can stage a comeback in the AEC industry.

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.

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