BIM For Government (November 16, Sacramento)

DATE
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm, Tuesday, 11.16.10

LOCATION
Department of General Services Auditorium
The Ziggurat
707 Third Street
West Sacramento, CA 95798

REGISTER ONLINE
This event is free; pre-registration required.

Building Information Modeling for Government
Learn how to take advantage of large civil and military projects, positioning your firm to win GSA and USACE projects with BIM. Join Ideate and special guests for an overview of various BIM mandates and programs underway across several Federal Agencies, including a detailed debrief on the GSA BIM program and current BIM deliverable requirements. You’ll learn in detail the USACE (US Army Corps of Engineers) BIM requirements and how Architects, Engineers and Builders can deploy Autodesk BIM solutions on most of these projects. In addition to GSA and USACE, the discussion will also cover the VA, Air Force and some emerging commercial owner BIM requirements. Learn what BIM capabilities your firm will need to compete for these projects, along with examples from TLCD Architecture, a successful early adopter of BIM who is winning business with the VA.

The General Services Administration (GSA) and the United U.S. Army Corps Engineers (USACE) are planning long-term, system wide commitment to adoption of BIM. Not just theory, the agencies are on an aggressive path to increase efficiency, building omissions and sustainability and save on costs and taxpayers’ money. The GSA spends over $10 billion annually on new and renovation construction activity and owns more than 1,500 federal facilities totaling 177 million square feet and manages more than 184 million square feet of leased space. The USACE is the largest landowner and the largest building owner in the United States. With over $1 billion in projects this year, they were recently named “2010 Owner of the Year” by editors and contributors of California Construction Magazine.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Architects, Engineers, General Contractors and specialty subcontractors who are interested in competing for Federal Design and Construction projects, especially US Army Corps of Engineers, GSA Public Building Service and VA. Firm principals, business development personnel, project managers as well as BIM and VDC (Virtual Design and Construction) Managers will find the information worthwhile.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Guy Messick, AIA, Architect, Director of Design Technology at TLCD Architecture is trained in fine arts, design and woodworking. Guy finds architecture as the profession best able to unite these disciplines. With his strengths in both design and technology, Guy has blazed a trail at TLCD to propel the firm into a leadership position in utilization of BIM. This methodology allows Guy to be more responsive to client requirements, from programming and design as well as extraordinary efficiency in construction. Guy balances work as a project architect with education of the firm and AEC community at large in BIM technology, as a way to elevate its use in the industry. Guy is a licensed architect in California.

John Sullivan is a Business Development Manager for Federal Government Clients at Autodesk, Inc. John has been with Autodesk for 13 years and has been responsible for developing strategic sales and consulting solutions for city, county, federal and commercial clients. John is currently focused on the application of BIM technologies for Federal Government programs through a project based approach to these implementations.



Get It. Know It. Use It.

Customer Innovation Showcase

BIM technology is transforming the concept of the construction drawing and taking customer presentations to a whole new level. Renderings now vie with elevations while cut-away isometrics compete with 2D details.

Ideate salutes our customers who are leading the way with innovative design and documentation methods. These firms have met the BIM challenge head-on and have transformed their documentation and presentation methods to make the most of the advances BIM affords.

Do you have a great design that you’d like featured on our Customer Innovation Showcase?

Ideate is seeking architectural and civil engineering firms to feature in our quarterly Solutions catalog and Customer Innovation Showcase. We are looking for a wide-range of projects complete or in-progress. To be considered for the Showcase send the following information to marketing@ideateinc.com:

• 2D or 3D image created using Civil 3D or Revit software (low-res for submissions, hi-res files will be requested if your project is chosen). Renderings and/or working drawing images are equally sought.
• Short statement about your firm’s use of BIM and how it has impacted your business, construction documentation process, coordination efforts, or customer communication.

Ideate will be selecting no more than (3) applicants to feature each quarter so don’t miss out on this great opportunity to market your firm’s BIM prowess!

Image courtesy TLCD Architecture. To learn all about TLCD Architecture's adoption of BIM, click here.

Get It. Know It. Use It.

Study in Success - TLCD Architecture (Part 3 excerpt)

TLCD Architecture and the “I” in the Future of BIM

Excerpt from Ideate Study in Success
Part Three of a Three Part Series

As TLCD looks to its future, the firm pays close attention to the “I” in BIM. Information only increases in importance, for a number of reasons.

Revit provides realism early.

In Revit, even at a very early design stage, the TLCD design team can create highly detailed, realistic and precise room diagrams, establish an accurate envelope for the building then enjoy the flexibility of moving the diagrams easily, arranging them to establish correct adjacencies.

Revit generates statistics toward funding.

Agencies want and need to know how efficient the building is and how much square footage is dedicated to various areas. TLCD is able to imbed pertinent statistics about the project into the model.

Revit encourages collaboration with live updates.

The TLCD design team orchestrates the work of consultants in harmony. Revit allows TLCD architects to communicate interactively with consultants via GoToMeeting. All contribute to a common accessible model simultaneously.

Revit provides a realistic, constant reference point.

Decisions are made and implemented throughout the model with the updated effects visible immediately. Everyone involved knows what the whole project looks like. The model is realistic and has a level of detail that resembles construction.

In the pre-Revit world, information of interest to the mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineers who need to know adjacencies, statistics, characteristics and important specific features, used to reside in a cumbersome-to-change, inconvenient-to-access Program Document. With Revit, the information imbedded in the model is available instantly to everyone involved in the project no matter where they are located and is also accessible later to those who own and operate the building.

TLCD envisions a seamless future with Revit. With the modeling capabilities of Revit, TLCD is able to design buildings that would have been future fantasy with pre-BIM technology. Integration of BIM into the design process opens new possibilities for a seamless transition between design and fabrication, between designer and fabricator. The firm looks forward to a not too distant future when interoperability permits the Revit model to guide the machining and manufacturing processes for building elements.

As Guy Messick, TLCD Director of Design Technology says, “Design is an innovative process to determine the best way to arrange elements, and Revit is the tool that TLCD uses to implement the design.”


To read the complete text of the Ideate Study in Success http://ideateinc.com/ideas/case.html

To learn more about TLCD Architecture http://www.tlcd.com/

Study in Success - TLCD Architecture (excerpt Part 2)

How TLCD Architecture Capitalizes on BIM

Excerpt from Ideate Study in Success
Part Two of a Three Part Series

By 2002, new TLCD projects were being modeled in Revit. By 2006, BIM was the firm’s core methodology for project delivery. The well-known Revit advantages of consensus building and collaboration solidified the firm’s commitment. TLCD also found that the visualization, scheduling, analysis and phasing capabilities of Revit underpinned many successes.

Visualization and Leveraging

With Revit, TLCD can produce strong, striking images at any point in the process, and the visualization capabilities alone make the tool invaluable. Leveraging Revit in combination with other software increases its value further.

As one example, to help clients visualize, the TLCD team uses a familiar imaging tool, Google Earth. From an outer space perspective, they zoom toward the targeted continent, country and region until recognizable area landmarks orient the client to the location, then they drop the 3D Revit model into its proposed site.

Scheduling

With Revit, schedules and quantities are live views of the building database. With interior design for example, what-if scenarios facilitate exploration of design options for cost efficiencies and other criteria. Human counting errors shrink to virtually nothing. Preliminary costs grow in accuracy. The client sees the 3D use of space, the functionality earlier in the process in surprising detail. Redundant work disappears. TLCD can offer alternatives and suggest scenarios for customizations and cost-efficiencies.

Estimating and Cost Benefit Analysis

Revit has the ability to extract and summarize quantities of materials, a capability that points to a future where cost benefit analyses facilitate sustainable designs. Historically, estimating was done at fixed episodic points. Now, TLCD is focused on a new model where cost and quantity data are fluid in real time.

Real time estimating will enable the firm to determine a measurable value for virtually any and all design features, to test them in the model and weigh their benefits. Given this data, at any point in the process from conceptual to construction, the firm will be able to extract information and quantify its effect on the overall cost of the building.

Phasing

Since tenant improvements (TIs) proceed in phases, TLCD renovations of existing spaces make the phasing capabilities of Revit very useful. Revit enables tracking so that a sequential approach for each stage of the project can be established.

The snapshot of the construction process Revit provides and the capability of Revit to organize the project are especially useful in TIs for medical facilities. Hospitals never shut down, so the design team must provide disruption planning to allow operation during construction. In the specific design of medical clinic examination rooms, health practitioners need to see details such as placement of sinks and electrical outlets in proximity to exam tables to accommodate issues such as patient safety.

Revit helps orchestrate phasing, enabling the client to coordinate staffing and plan for materials management throughout the project. By using GoToMeeting and Sketch Up with Revit, TLCD is able to facilitate client communication. Utilizing Revit for phasing also helps the contractor visualize what a space will look like.

With Revit, TLCD is able to provide visualizations, scheduling, analyses and phasing. It is in the what-if scenarios that the client discovers what works, what doesn’t work, and what are the best alternatives.

As Stephen Peakes, TLCD Project Manager – Healthcare Projects explains, “With Revit, you have changed the paradigm for the industry.”

To read the complete text of the Ideate Study in Success http://ideateinc.com/ideas/case.html
To learn more about TLCD Architecture http://www.tlcd.com/

Study in Success - TLCD Architecture (excerpt Part 1)

How TLCD Architecture Pioneered Adoption of BIM

Excerpt from Ideate Study in Success
Part One of a Three Part Series

In 2000, when Revit was a barely emerging solution, TLCD recognized the potential of BIM and blazed uncharted territory. The firm initiated Revit implementation and took a four-faceted approach to its firm-wide commitment. As one of the earliest adopters of BIM, TLCD has mandated BIM as its core methodology for project delivery since 2006.

Company Backgrounder: TLCD Architecture is an architectural and interior design practice founded on collaboration, exploration and innovation. The company has a strong commitment to design excellence and social responsibility; its core values are People, Place and Craft. TLCD designs buildings that comprise the core infrastructure of society, from cultural, civic, educational and medical centers, to hospitality, mixed-use and commercial projects that serve their communities.

Founded in 1965, TLCD Architecture is a 50-person practice based in Santa Rosa, California. The company provides expertise in planning and programming, architectural and interior design, furniture planning and selection. Its work evidences a strong commitment to sustainability, with 22 members of the TLCD staff LEED accredited.

The Software on Board: Autodesk Revit Architecture, Globe Link Plug-in for Revit, Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk 3ds Max Design, Google SketchUp Pro, V-Ray for SketchUp from ASGvis, LLC, Google Earth, GoToMeeting, modo® from Luxology, LLC, Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office Suite

Challenges inspire creative solutions.

TLCD staff members tinkered with a demo copy of Revit in 2000. They hailed the newcomer software solution as “cool” and began implementing it on a project.

The firm recognized that project managers and principals must be acquainted with Revit at a depth-appropriate level. The primer the firm developed with Ideate later evolved to become Ideate’s one-day course, Revit Architecture for Project Managers.

Staff members confirmed what TLCD principals expected. Revit works the way architects think. Autodesk snapped up Revit the following year, and TLCD purchased Autodesk Revit from Ideate, Inc.

At the outset, barriers to BIM arose on a number of fronts. Prospective clients, unaware and inexperienced, perceived stunning 3D visualizations as perhaps unnecessary “high-ticket” items. They needed education and TLCD became committed to educate.

As a pioneer, TLCD needed to cultivate awareness, build proficiency and encourage collaboration among professional colleagues. As a creative experimenter, TLCD needed and retained a resource for timely expert support, Ideate. As a firm adopting a new methodology, TLCD determined that having an in-house BIM champion was paramount. The firm embarked on a series of initiatives.

Create a position. TLCD Director of Design Technology spearheads BIM as a project delivery system, to intercept, evaluate and implement emerging technologies that contribute to meaningful interoperability.

Commit to training and support. New TLCD staff members complete the Ideate three-day Revit Architecture Fundamentals course. Others with responsibility for managing Revit projects take the Ideate Revit Architecture for Project Managers course. Ideate Support also proves essential for a firm that experiments and tries new approaches.

Cross pollinate within the industry. Revit user group events hosted at TLCD with Ideate have helped the firm exchange information with other trailblazing companies and consultants. In fact, leadership in the adoption of BIM has led to the cultivation of more consultants who are valuable BIM-adept resources for TLCD.

All-in commitment. TLCD opted not to run BIM pilot projects parallel with traditional projects but instead jumped into Revit with both feet.

As Guy Messick, TLCD Director of Design Technology says, “Now Revit is part of our firm’s culture.”

To read the complete text of the Ideate Study in Success http://ideateinc.com/ideas/case.html

To learn more about TLCD Architecture http://www.tlcd.com/