See U and AU 2013

I'm off to Autodesk University again this year.

I typically go to AU every year as I find it's a good opportunity to network directly with people in the AEC industry from all over the US (and the world) and also with Autodesk employees. It's good to make those kind of contacts ;-)

I also get to catch up with some good friends...although this year quite a few have bailed on my for various reasons and not able to make it to AU this year. :-( 

I get to catch up on some training, talk to the "high level" guys like Steve Stafford, David Light, Scott Sheppard, Shaan Hurley, etc... I check out the technology previews, talk to some of the vendors and bring back a bunch of swag.

I also gather as much material as possible on every session on AEC, I can quite often "recycle" and modify some of these sessions for training the tech staff back at the office as well as bring back ideas on new processes or software to improve our workflow.

This year I'll be focusing on Healthcare, workflow and QC processes as well as collaboration tools. I have volunteered to be a AU Mentor as I have attended AU for the past.... 7 years now.. I think? I'll be attending the networking lunches as well as the BIM Managers luncheon, heading up to the CASE party. I really enjoy the Keynote address at the beginning of AU, especially listening to Carl Bass talk about future technology.

Hope to see you there...
I'll write on my badge "RevitJedi" if anyone wants to connect with me.
I'm a 6' Aussie dude in a suit!

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Analyze your Building in a Wind Tunnel

Project Falcon, from Autodesk Labs  is application that allows you to simulates air flow around vehicles, buildings, outdoor equipment, consumer products, or other objects of your choosing in a virtual wind tunnel. 

"Falcon technology is extremely geometry tolerant and easy to use, enabling you to begin seeing and understanding air flow behavior within seconds of starting the application. Results update almost in real-time in response to changes in wind-direction and speed that you specify. Visualization tools available within the Falcon family of applications include 2D and 3D flow lines, shaded result planes, vector plots, and surface pressure shading. Quantified outputs include velocity, pressure, drag force, and drag coefficient."

Simulation

Recently they also added a plug in for Revit which will allow you to analyze the affects of your building design to wind allowing you to position the building to either maximise the gain from a prevailing breeze or to shelter a specific area such as outdoor gathering spaces or a pool area.

It's very easy to use and set up using the correct time, location and desired orientation of the building.

you can also use Project Falcon on:

• Project Falcon stand-alone (installs on Windows and Mac and requires no CAD software)
• Project Falcon for Inventor (add-in that runs inside Autodesk^® Inventor^® 2014 64-bit software)
• Project Falcon for Revit (add-in that runs inside all versions of Autodesk^® Revit^® 2014 64-bit software) 
• Project Falcon for AutoCAD (add-in that runs in Autodesk^® AutoCAD^® 2014 64-bit software)

But not for long, this preview will operate until January 31, 2014.

I'm hoping then it'll be released as a add on tool from the App center.

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Tag your Property Lines

New to Revit 2014 is the ability to tag your property lines. 

(Ha! I thought this was a new feature! I guess you learn something new everyday and this is one of them for me!)

A colleague here at work created this Property Line Bering and Distance Tag which allows me to easily tag the property lines with the correct bearing and distance which (if drawn correctly) should match your Civil or Survey drawing.

When creating the tag you now have Bearing and Distance categories to choose from.

This works great!
Thanks Dan!.

Download Tag Here.

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Autodesk Apps and Podcast

I was just searching for the Autodesk University App to download and came across a bunch of podcast I didn't know about!

There are podcast on the Autodesk Learning Channel on "Smoke" , Maya" and... 3Ds Max, that's the one I'm interested in...

If your using any of these programs check out what Autodesk Learning Center has to offer from the iTunes App Store, there's even a app for learning Revit!

 Anyway... I found the app for Autodesk University. I used the one from last year and found it very helpful so I'm looking forward to using it again this year.

The AU app allows you to view event schedule, explore class schedule, find social events, it has a map, allows you to check into classes, share photos and comments as well as see what other people are doing and much much more.

If your going to AU check it out.

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Building Performance Analysis Certification

I just completed the online Building Performance Analysis Certificate through the Building Sustainability Workshop offered by Autodesk online.

"The Autodesk Building Performance Analysis (BPA) Certificate Program is a free online, self paced education program for Students, educators and professionals that will help improve your knowledge of building science fundamentals and Autodesk building performance analysis tools."

As part of the BPS course you not only learn about  building science but also hands on exercised using the Autodesk sustainability tools such as Revit, Green Building Studio and Vasari. I even used Project Falcon to analyze the affects of the prevailing winds on a building.

The program walks you through a tutorial on a specific subject followed by a short quiz and/or a exercise using one of the above mentioned software. This is a great introduction to these tools if your not already familiar with the tools or the subject. 

If you are already knowledgeable on the subject and are using the tools go ahead and get certified and add your name to the Certified BPA database.

Items covered in the BPA are:

• Introduction to Building Performance Analysis
• Energy Literacy & Building Loads
• Climate Analysis
• Sun & Shadow Studies
• Solar Radiation Analysis
• Whole Building Energy Analysis
• Wind & Airflow Analysis
• Daylighting

So now I'm BPA Certified!

Check it out, especially if your a student or a Revit Tech wanting ti improve your skill set.

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BIM Networking Event Reminder

If your in the Okanagan, don't forget!!

I'm running another BIM Networking event here in Kelowna at the Coast Capri Hotel on November 20th.

We have three presentation by local members of the industry:

Drew Jarvis – Cansel: Engineers and Architects are realizing the efficiency and cost savings that EdgeWise Building™ and Edgewise MEP brings. EdgeWise for Revit has a lightning-fast workflow that allows you to go from field-to-finish Revit deliverable in record time. 

Ben Rawlingson – Focus Engineering: Ben will demonstrate the ability of Autodesk® Infraworks to quickly generate 3D models, creating infrastructure designs and proposals in the context of the built environment.

Robert Parlane – CEI Architecture and Trevor Butler – Integral Group: Trevor and Robert will explore how a modern administration centre for the Glenmore Landfill addresses these targets through the principles of regenerative design, environmental footprint, holistic solutions and  industrial ecology.

Click on this link to register: 

https://cansel.wufoo.com/forms/bim-networking-event-for-construction/

See you there...

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Cool Projects

Here at CEI Architecture we have the opportunity to do some pretty cool projects.

One of these projects we "joint ventured" with Parkin Architects on the Surrey Memorial Hospital Critical Care Tower.

Targeting LEED Gold

CEI Architecture, in joint venture with Parkin Architects, led the design of the Surrey Memorial Hospital Emergency Department and Critical Care Tower Redevelopment and Expansion P3 Project. CEI/Parkin represents the architectural component of the project, which will see a new state-of-the-art critical care tower constructed on the hospital campus. The project adds new acute care beds, helping address Surrey’s future healthcare needs and easing current congestion at the hospital.

Click HERE to read more.

We recently had the project professionally photographed by Ed White Photographics .. and they look amazing, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to blog about this project.

Here's just a sample of the photos.

Photos courtesy CEIArchitecture. Photos by Ed White Photographics.

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Remembrance Day

Monday November 11th is Remembrance Day.

On this day we pay tribute to the members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This memorial day is observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War 1.

Canadian, Australian and New Zealand armed forces have fought together in many conflicts including: (to name a few)

Second Boer War (1899–1902)
Armenian–Azerbaijani War (1918–1920) 
WW1 (1914 - 1918) 
WW2 (1939 - 1945)  
Korean War (1950 - 1953) 

"The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem "In Flanders Fields". These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I"

Winston Churchill once said:

"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."

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Architects in Space

I just read a great blog posting by Daniel Carrapa titled The Architects Guide to Life in Outer Space on the Architizer web site.

Daniel writes... "Space stations have been a part of sci-fi iconography for more than a century. Propelled by the technological innovations of the Second Industrial Revolution—including the automobile, the airplane, electrification, and modern communication systems—the idea of living in space inspired a new era of science fiction."

Elysium, Neill Blomkamp, 2013.

It's a great article and well worth the read..
Check it out.

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Autodesk and Autoturn

Autodesk recently launched Vehicle Tracking... which is add in software  to AutoCAD which  designs your vehicle movement. Ideal for figuring out the vehicle movement around your building such as fire truck, ambulance and delivery vehicle movement.

Integrated swept path analysis software

Vehicle Tracking software is a comprehensive transportation analysis and design solution for vehicle swept path analysis. The software enables engineers, designers, and planners at government agencies and engineering consulting firms to predictably evaluate vehicle movements on transportation or site design projects.

Autoturn did release a version for Revit "Autoturn for Revit" but I haven't seen it in action yet.

Anyway.. I just found out Autodesk bought AutoTrack earlier this year.... I guess I'm out of the loop and missed that one!

Autodesk have re-branded it and it's now called VEHICLE TRACKING   Hmmmm I think would have called it something a little more impressive, they should have asked the guys over at Autodesk Labs to come up with the name. thy would have come up with something cool like "Hyperdrive" or "Millennium Falcon"  or "Executor" ... something cool like that.

Earlier this year we bought a copy of Autoturn so I'm interested to see how this is going to change things with Transoft. Maybe Autodesk will roll "Vehicle Tracking" into a Suite.

Stay tuned... I'm sure this will develop further.

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Good web site for Revit content

I just checked out Bradley's web site looking for a specific Bradley sink for a project.

Bradley have an excellent library of Revit Families. 
Definitely a website I'll bookmark for future reference...

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Who benefits from BIM?

CEI Architecture uses building information modelling processes and software to design most of our new projects. This post is part of a series by Scott Chatterton, CEI’s in-house BIM guru, on the benefits and opportunities of BIM for us and our clients.

As an architectural firm we prefer to use BIM software—such as Revit—and we really see the benefits, especially when all consultants are on board. It allows us to collaborate on the building model and iron out clashes between the structural, mechanical, electrical and architectural models.

But it’s the owner and developer of the building project that really benefits. If a project enjoys full collaboration, including participation by the contractor, the owner and developer can see real, measurable savings in the time and cost of construction.

Every building is a prototype; we do not build the same design or “re-use” a set of drawings over and over again. If we can design it digitally using building information modelling, we will solve many of the problems and issues that normally come up during construction. It’s far easier to make those changes and corrections in a digital model rather than in the field during construction. It’s much cheaper too!

As architects we gain the benefit of fully understanding our digital model, which enables better expression of the “design intent.” We can (and do) create a great service and product using traditional, non-BIM methods—remember the drafting board?—but BIM allows us to do our jobs better. We can now analyze the design and its implications to a greater extent because we have a digital, 3D version of the building prototype that we can interact with from every possible direction.

Using BIM allows us to provide a better service, but the true benefit of the building information model comes into play after the design is done. Being able to confidently pre-fabricate duct systems, estimate quantities and volumes of materials, and even be able to prefabricate a bathroom and plug it in to the building. All this can be done with BIM. Time and money can be saved just by the ability of a contractor to create a construction sequence, check access for cranes and trucks, or access the staging area on site.

All of this and more can be done using building information modelling. In other words, we all benefit.

 Read this article and more on the CEI Architecture web site.