Sustainable infrastructure is needed to replace the $41 trillion worth of infrastructure that needs to be replaced or retrofitted around the world.
According to Paul McRoberts , vice president of the Infrastructure Product Line Group AEC Solutions at Autodesk, there is only about $22 trillion available to remedy this situation. How is this to be accomplished?
Autodesk’s Infrastructure Design Suite 2012, Autodesk’s BIM for Infrastructure solution, combines the tools needed to plan, design, build and manage infrastructure. Autodesk Infrastructure Modeler, a new product, represents the expansion of Autodesk’s BIM portfolio and is geared around the idea of being able to leverage existing information such as GIS data and any kind of disparate data: lidar data, raster and photogrammetry; and being able to layer this information in and to create a representation of existing conditions. Infrastructure Modeler can compare conceptual models that can be used for new proposals to help customers and stakeholders understand what the future infrastructure is going to look like.
Detailed models can be imported from AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk Revit, and other software to create an infrastructure model.
Surface data in raster form, road center lines, land use, parcels and building footprints can be used to create an infrastructure model. Raster data or AutoCAD 3D surfaces can be used to create terrain and make the terrains more realistic and informative by tracing aerial photography, site plans or topographic maps on top of them. CAD and GIS data can be used to display 3D representations grown from 3D data both above and below the ground. These different data formats can then be configured to become different feature types such as buildings, trees or roads, and some land coverages.
AutoCAD Map 3D can be implemented during the initial acquisition of existing conditions for planning, and for managing the infrastructure once the project is complete. AutoCAD Civil 3D is used for transportation and land development design and Autodesk Navisworks during the construction phase. Those not familiar with the design and construction world can access the model and understand the proposed project very early in the design process.
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At Autodesk’s AEC Media Day 2011 held in Waltham, Mass. the past two days, the opening discussion revolved around the various Design Suites which now encompass Autodesk products. According to Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, AEC Solutions, suites are a simplified way for customers to absorb their technologies. What the Suites are now: plant, building and infrastructure, and are sold in standard, premium and ultimate packages. Suites promise customers:
Reduced cost
Improving compatibility
Ability to update (e.g patches and service packs) apps all at once
Streamlines license management
What customers are asking for:
Flexibility to innovate
Economical and convenient
Comprehensive and sophisticated
All the Revit products – Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, and Revit Structure are being sold in the same suite now. The reason is that there may be a need to explore some of the other Revit tools even if you mainly are an architect, MEP, or structural engineer. According to Autodesk, Revit is being used for concept design now.
BIM is expanding into water and wastewater and storm systems, management and routing, and analysis tools are built into that portfolio.
There were lots of figures tossed out at the event, mainly to illustrate the dire need for spending on infrastructure.
This AEC day really felt like there was so much information, it kept whizzing by as executives worked hard to get their message across. There was the feeling that they had lived with the reality of some of these thoughts and technologies for some time. It was unclear at many points in the presentations whether products discussed were currently available, available only on Autodesk Labs or were in the “technology” category which means they haven’t become a product yet. Upon further investigation, Project Neon is a cloud technology on Labs, some new structural technology shown is in the “technology” phase, and Dasher is in the pilot phase and not on Labs.
Topics included the need to get concept energy and analysis data into existing building, and doing 3D laser scans of buildings to get accurate data of existing conditions.
I thought it was curious to have Inventor inside the the Building Suite, aimed at construction professionals, when Inventor is what we all know of as an MCAD product. The reasoning is that contractors want to do their own prefabrication of bolts and small parts – not necessarily fabricating entire sections of wall or things of that nature.
BIM 360 is a new tool (not sure if it’s available yet) “to provide AEC project teams with a view of their project whereever they are.” The entire AEC collaboration data solution includes BIM 360, Vault, and Buzzsaw.
Navisworks is where the BIM model comes together, and enables people to look at the whole project – create walkthroughs, analysis, construction, simulation model viewing, clash detection and 4D scheduling.
The software company Newforma announced their eighth edition of Newforma Project Center software, a project information management (PIM) offering that serves the needs of AEC firms. The product addresses the “I” in information technology, with specific functionality to address the BIM workflow.
According to the press release, Newforma Project Center Eighth Edition incorporates “significant additional capabilities and customer-requested enhancements for managing key project information and further streamlining project delivery, including:
·Document control – A new Document Control activity center enables AEC project teams to standardize revision management of record documents issued for review, permitting and construction without disruption to existing document filing protocols. Document control can be used to manage sheet sets from Autodesk Revit as well as related project processes such as action items, markup, RFIs and change orders.
·Actionable meeting minutes – A new Meeting Minutes activity center simplifies the management of agendas, minutes and follow-on commitments associated with project meetings in order to keep project teams focused and accountable for project priorities. The Meeting Minutes activity center links meetings scheduled in Microsoft Outlook with related action items and supporting documents, and tracks action items, RFIs and other open project items across a series of meetings until they are resolved.
·Project images – A new Project Images activity center enables firms to take control of the ever-expanding volume of digital site photos and project images. Photos and images can be located with ease regardless of their location in project folders, and may be filtered, sorted, searched and grouped by any image file property, including EXIF properties such as camera model, date taken, tags and subject. Additionally, images can be tagged with project keywords for search and filter-based discovery and retrieval.
·Shared files and coordinated folders – Newforma Info Exchange, the file transfer communication server deployed in conjunction with Newforma Project Center, has also been enhanced in Eighth Edition. In addition to the existing capabilities to easily and securely transfer large project files with automatic logging and tracking of who downloaded what and when, project folders on the network can now be linked and automatically synchronized with folders on the Info Exchange server. Internal users simply copy files into synchronized folders to share them with remote external or internal team members. External team members and remote internal users can now upload files via Info Exchange using a new drag-and-drop capability. Download access and upload permissions for external team members, as well as sending email notifications and reminders, can all be managed by internal users with no need for IT support.
·Remote access to project information– Newforma Info Exchange now delivers role-based remote access capabilities for internal and external team members from any internet-connected browser, even via an Apple iPad digital device. Live access to project information from the field including record document revisions, meeting minutes, full log views of RFIs, submittals, change orders, action items and more helps project teams avoid delays in making decisions. Smartphone access is also available using the Newforma® Mobile option.
·Microsoft® Office Excel reporting – Easily modified Excel-based templates can now be used to customize the formatting of reports throughout Newforma Project Center.
·Building Information Management and Spatial Index activity centers – New Building Information Management and Spatial Index activity centers provide project teams with a spreadsheet interface for editing sheets, spaces and properties from a Revit building information model. Bi-directional synchronization is provided through the optional Newforma® Add-in for Autodesk® Revit®.”
Look for a more in-depth report on the eighth edition of Project Center in AECWeekly in the coming weeks.
