Conventional and Unconventional Ways to Leverage Data with Ideate BIMLink

Nicholas M. Kramer (NK), LEED® AP is a well-recognized guest lecturer on BIM and sustainability at Autodesk University (AU) and other forums. He is employed as a BIM Project Administrator at HMC Architects in Ontario, California, and currently serves as president of the BIM User Group Inland Empire (BUGIE), and is Program Manager for Revit Technology Conference (RTC) North America.

At RTC 2012, Nicholas presented his experience in the use of collecting, cataloguing and leveraging room data with Ideate BIMlink. On behalf of RTC, he also explored a heretofore unreported use of Ideate BIMLink.

In a recent interview with Ideate Director of Software Development Glynnis Patterson (GP), N.C.A.R.B., Nicholas shed light on these two distinctively different uses of Ideate BIMLink. One is a unique and unexpected usage, and the other represents a more mainstream AEC data problem.

GP: As the Program Manager for the Revit Technology Conference in North America, one of your jobs is to select and coordinate the speakers. Can you tell us about your unique use of Revit and Ideate BIMLink as a way of managing this rather unconventional “BIM” data in 2012?

NK: We had over 400 online applicants who were interested in speaking at this year’s RTC conference. Part of our challenge was to not only select great speakers but also to provide the right balance of topics across disciplines, difficulty levels and to make the most of each available time slot. Because we’re already using Revit to manage data, we took it upon ourselves to see if we could also apply it to this event management problem.  

The event management software we have been using can provide us with a .CSV file. The file contains each proposed speaker’s contact information along with 17 other data fields. We use those to sort and refine our selection process.
After we created a simple custom family within Autodesk Revit to represent each potential speaker, we used Ideate BIMLink to transfer the data from the event management software onto our “speaker” object. Importing 17 data fields for each of the 400 speakers would have taken quite a while, but with Ideate BIMLink it took just a few minutes to set up and then import all the data.

By using some simple visibility parameters, we were able to color code each speaker and arrange the speakers into a virtual conference. We used this as one way to assess whether we had the right mix of speakers during each time slot.

GP: It’s great to see such an unconventional use of the software. I understand you also used Ideate BIMLink in a far more conventional way: the management of a space program for a project you’re working on at HMC Architects. Can you tell us about the customer’s requirements for cross-coordinated data and how Ideate BIMLink was used to address these requirements?

NK: Sure. The customer is California State University (CSU) at Pomona and HMC was selected to do a 17,000 square foot wing addition for Collins College. They have specific submittal requirements in format as well as the links between multiple forms from program validation to the project estimate.
 
I realized early on that being able to manage this data for a relatively small project such as this one within a highly portable format, such as Microsoft Excel, would be central to our success with larger projects on our horizon.  We utilized Ideate BIMLink to transfer our programmatic requirements into Revit at the beginning, and then throughout the project we were able to continue to manage the requirements via Ideate BIMLink. Managing this amount of data any other way would have meant a loss of profit on our end.
 
GP: You mention that Excel is “portable.” Can you elaborate on that and explain how accessing the Revit data via Ideate BIMLink increases portability?
 
NK: This was one of the themes of my RTC presentation, leveraging the BIM data. Being able to use the data where and when you need it is one of the many hot topics in the AEC industry. The reality is that not everyone will be using Revit throughout a project’s lifecycle. Ideate BIMLink helps by putting the information into a portable and usable format that allows non-Revit users to leverage this important BIM data.
 
GP: If people want to learn more about your RTC presentation, where should they go?
 
NK: I’ll be expanding upon my RTC presentation at this year’s Autodesk University in November 2012, so I hope those who are interested will come out to Las Vegas if they can. In the interim, a hand-out distributed to BUGIE is available here.
 
Learn More
Nicholas M. Kramer (NK), LEED® AP, is a project leader and BIM project administrator at HMC Architects in Ontario, California. He has been using Autodesk® Revit® since version 8.1 and has helped implement Revit access across an architectural company with a staff of more than 400. He is currently the company-wide resource for BIM content creation and standardization on a wide variety of projects. His project experience varies from a 400,000 square foot library to higher education laboratory buildings to medical tenant improvements to the renovation of the MLK hospital in Los Angeles, California.

Import Space Program Data into Revit
http://hmcarchitects.com/
www.rtcevents.com
http://www.meetup.com/BUG-IE/
http://au.autodesk.com
http://www.ideatebimlink.com/

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Glynnis Patterson is a registered architect and the Director of Software Development at Ideate, Inc. In a previous life Glynnis spent many hours looking at blueprints with a scale, highlighters, and a scratch pad to develop detailed cost estimates.

Project Highlight: UC Davis Wine & Beer Laboratory by KPW Structural Engineers

Ideate is proud to work with KPW, Structural Engineer of Record for the new state-of-the-art Research and Teaching Winery, Brewery, and Food Service Laboratory University of California, Davis.

KPW, teaming with BN Builders and Flad Architects, worked closely with the University to deliver the $16M, Design-Build laboratory and teaching facility. The new facility will be used for scientific research, student training, and industry collaboration. This 34,000-square-foot building will house a food processing pilot plant, a dairy processing facility, pilot brewery, and a platform for experimentation in wine processing. From the start, REVIT was used as the BIM platform to assure full coordination between structural, architectural, mechanical and the complex process system requirements prior to the start of construction. KPW's innovative approach to structural efficiency virtually eliminated field welding and provided 60 ft. clear spans throughout the structure. This will be the first LEED Platinum Winery, the first LEED Platinum Brewery, and the third LEED Platinum project for the UC system.

A recent edition of the UC Davis Spotlight described the project features.

Join John Westphal, Structural Engineer, SE, LEED AP, KPW on Thursday, June 17 for a tour of the facility. Click here for details and registration information.

Highlights from GreenBIM Conference (Boston)

Submitted by Glynnis Patterson, N.C.A.R.B. – Ideate Director of Services

I recently attended the GreenBIM Conference in Boston which was put on by McGraw-Hill Construction. It was a great one-day conference with presentations focused on how building information modeling is having a positive impact on sustainability and energy efficiency. The presenters included government representatives, researchers (building performance), and building and MEP contractors.

Keynote: Regulatory drivers in Sustainability and BIM by John Dalzell, Senior Architect for the Boston Redevelopment Authority
• Boston has implemented a Green Building Zoning code (Article 37) which is similar to the code in San Francisco.
• Boston is looking at LEED ND (Neighborhood Design) to drive sustainability through street layout and making alternate modes of transportation possible.

Case Study: Shanghai Tower by Ken Sanders, Managing Director, Gensler
• Able to reduce wind load by 24% by making a smooth building envelope, plus saved $50 million in structural material costs. BIM is making these kinds of analysis possible.

Impacts of BIM-Enabled Prefab on Sustainable Construction by John Cannistraro, Jr., President, J. C. Cannistraro, LLC
• IPD/Contractor for Autodesk’s headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts (MEP)
• Cannistraro took the time to review the cost of change orders for hundreds of jobs over the past 6 years and found that more collaborative BIM led to a significant reduction in the cost and number of change orders (from 24% of the base contract cost down to 2%).

Case Study: Empire State Building Retrofit by Paul Rode, Project Executive, Solutions Division, Johnson Controls
• The retrofit is geared towards reducing the energy costs from $11M to $4M per year.
• Providing wireless thermostats was one of the simplest and cost effective measures possible.
• Providing user feedback loop online also helps in lowering costs.

In addition to partially fulfilling my 2011 architectural license renewal requirements, the conference provided me with a more rounded understanding of how BIM is impacting non-architectural players. The presentations noted highlight that with a few key choices in design, collaboration or products, it is possible to have a dramatic affect on sustainability.

Glynnis is a Registered Architect and has worked within the BIM industry since 1998. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, she has worked as an architect, educator and construction site manager. Glynnis is currently the Director of Development Services at Ideate, Inc. and continues to work with AEC clients across the nation, developing, and implementing best practices solutions. In her spare time Glynnis is a member of the Morristown Environmental Commission and builds Lego projects.

Ideate Tech Team Welcomes Cesar Escalante AIA, LEED AP, CCCA

We are pleased to welcome Cesar Escalante, AIA, LEED AP, CCCA, to the Ideate technical team in the role of AEC Specialist.

Cesar has a Master of Architecture from the University of Texas and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Central America in El Salvador. He is a Registered Architect with the State of California and a LEED accredited professional and Certified Construction Contract Administrator - to mention just a few of his licenses and certifications.

Cesar's work experience has included the role of Project Manager at VDK Architects and Project Captain at RPR Architects, both located in Oakland, California.

Cesar will be based out of Ideate's Authorized Training Center in San Francisco, California, reporting to David Haynes, Director of AEC Services.

To learn more about the Ideate Tech Experts and how we can help your business, contact education@ideateinc.com.

CE News: Taking the LEED with clients

Leadership in sustainability is redefining the practice.

By Scott A. Ward, P.E., MBA, LEED AP

Civil engineering firm Travis Pruitt & Associates launched a sustainable business division — GreenPoint US — focused on introductory training on sustainability, continued exam preparation for the new LEED 2009, and continuing education required to maintain LEED AP accreditation...

Click CE News to read the entire article.