BIM & BEAM

Interview with Ericksen Roed & Associates

Company	Ericksen Roed & Associates
Address	2550 University Ave West  Ste 201-S
City, state, ZIP Code	Saint Paul, MN 55114
Phone number	651-251-7570
Web site address	www.EricksenRoed.com
User	David Pluke
Title	Principal, VP of Technology
E-mail address	dave@ericksenroed.com

The great state of Minnesota is where our Super User David Pluke resides.  Dave belongs to Ericksen Roed and has provided me with lot of great information on how they use and take advantage of Revit Structure.  I think you'll enjoy his feedback and super images he has provided.

• Culotta:  Please tell us about your business, the markets you serve and the services that you provide.
  • Pluke:  Ericksen Roed & Associates is a Structural Engineering firm, founded in 1984.  We provide Structural Design, Steel Connection Design plus Pre-cast Concrete Detailing Services.  Our clients run the gamut from Retail, Academic, Sports Facilities, Multi-unit Residential, Hospitality to Healthcare and our projects are located throughout the United States, with some International work.  Construction budgets run from less than $1 million to hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Culotta:  What is your role in the company?  How long have you been with the company?
  • Pluke:  I joined Ericksen Roed in 1988, as "the CAD guy".  At that time, we had two 80286 Personal Computers and one IBM Selectric Typewriter.  My initial job was to develop CAD standards, customization, libraries and training, along with production CAD work.  System configuration (this was in the days of DOS Extenders and RAMDisk Overlays) and troubleshooting soon followed.  As it became more obvious that our growing number of computers needed to talk to each other, I handed off CAD Management duties to Jamie Richardson and moved on to the challenges of Information Technology.  I'm now a Principal of the firm and Vice President of Technology.

• Culotta:  Please share with us a few projects you've created with Revit Structure?  What was the situation and how did you deliver the solution?
• Pluke:  Sure.  Let me elaborate on a few.

  Regional Hospital Building

  We just finished the Schematic Design (SD) phase for a Regional Hospital's Behavioral Health Building. For this project, we used Revit Structure as a tool to identify design issues early in the process. It helped us more effectively produce a working grid system which, in turn, kept the Architects on the same page as ourselves. During the beginning stages of laying out the Structural system, Revit Structure allowed us to shift columns and instantly view the effects of that shift on each level.  Observing how each design concept interacted with the existing structure helped the entire team make faster and better decisions.  Resolving conflicts and making well thought out decisions in this phase using Revit Structure has allowed us to roll into the Construction Documentation (CD) phase well ahead of the game.

  At this point, the Architects are able to use our model from SD to start their CD model. They will be linking in our Structural model to display elements such as footings, foundation walls, Structural columns and Structural framing. In return, we will be linking in their model to share non-Structural walls that interface with the Structure, openings for windows and doors and other Architectural elements that may need to be addressed in our Structural set. This method of collaboration allows us to have our models coordinated on a daily basis and reduces redundancy.

  

  

  

  

  Download the DWF of this Project:  http://revit.downloads.autodesk.com/download/Structure Blog/MSTR2009_REGIONS.dwfx

  ER-POST^TM System - U.S. Patent No. 7010890

  We utilize Revit Structure as a presentation tool to model buildings that are candidates for our patented ER-POST^TM System. We will model the same building constructed with alternate Structural systems. We'll then print drawings from Revit Structure that can be laid side by side so the Owner, Client, Contractor, etc., can make informed "Big Picture" decisions – well before any procurement or construction has taken place.

  3D DWF files are created so the model information can be relayed to other parties.  The DWFs allow a much more in-depth review of the Structure by providing the ability to freely spin the model, to toggle the display of elements on or off and to cut slices through the building to produce instant cross sections at any given area.  Revit Structure allows us to quickly create these 3D DWFs and put them directly into the hands of those who make the important decisions.

  

  

  

  Mechanical Support Frames

  Revit Structure works for all types and sizes of projects.  An example would be the case of support frames for new Mechanical Units to be installed on existing buildings. Revit Structure allows us to model the existing framing, which provides multiple viewpoints to determine how the new frame interacts with it.  It also allows us to create intuitive perspective views that help communicate the design intent to the Contractor as well as eliminate the need to cut additional orthographic sections.

  

  

  Modeling for Construction

  We were hired to model a Parking Structure for a Contractor and Pre-Cast Concrete Fabricator.  Apparently, the Engineer of Record (E-o-R) was either unwilling or unable to provide a model.  Using Revit Structure to model for Construction was a learning experience.  The typical E-o-R models we produce don't contain characteristics such as item number, sequencing, status, cost, etc..  Looking ahead as to how we can add more value to our Revit Structure models, we may wish to, at the very least, provide placeholders for this type information.

  

  

  

• Culotta:  When did you and the company begin using Revit Structure?
  • Pluke:  Jamie returned from Autodesk University 2004, extremely enthusiastic about what he had seen in the pre-release version of Revit Structure.  We ordered RS1 as soon as it was available (Summer of 2005) and began to find ways to utilize it in our environment.

• Culotta:  What were you using before?   For how long were you using it?
  • Pluke:  We started with AutoCAD Release 9, back in 1988.  Prior to Revit Structure, approximately 70% of our construction document production work was performed in AutoCAD, with the remainder done in Bentley Microstation.

• Culotta:  What made your company switch to Revit Structure and how did you do it?
  • Pluke:  The value of Building Information Modeling (BIM) was apparent to us, but we had yet to find a tool that worked in a Real World environment until Revit Structure came along.  We were frustrated with the loss of intelligence and potential for conflict that 2D CAD presented.  At the same time, several of our best Architectural clients were migrating to Revit.  The platform compatibility and promise of the upcoming MEP version gave Revit Structure a strategic advantage.
    
    Being a relatively small company (just under 70 people at the time of this writing), we have to be prudent with budgets.  As a result, we grew our Revit effort organically.  Our prime BIM Advocate (Jamie Richardson) exposed our office to the power of Revit and mentored small groups of users until they became Advocates and mentored others, and so on and so on…

• Culotta:  What is the biggest advantage or benefit to your company in using Revit Structure?
  • Pluke:  We deliver a better set of Construction Documents to the field, thanks to Revit Structure.  Revit virtually eliminates a scenario where a Section or Detail doesn't match the Plan.

• Culotta:  How does your company transfer the benefits gained in using Revit Structure onto your client?
  • Pluke:  We work very closely with several of our best clients, linking their Architectural models into ours and vice versa throughout the Design process.  As a result, we are all much less likely to be surprised by changes.

• Culotta:  What kind of return on investment have you seen since using Revit Structure?
  • Pluke:  I can't present any tangible numbers on that.  What I can report are intangible indicators such as fewer questions from the field, fewer change orders and claims for errors or omissions on our Revit projects.  One quick flip through a set of our Construction Documents will reveal the additional value that Revit Structure brings to the process.

• Culotta:  Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with Revit Structure?
  • Pluke:  Like any other evolving technology, deploying Revit Structure will not be without its little bumps in the road.  There will be days when things just don't seem to be going the way you'd like them to go. At those times, just ask yourself; "Would I rather be doing this in 2D CAD or gutting it out in Revit Structure?".  You'll say "Revit Structure".  If you don't believe me, you can ask every Revit Structure user here at Ericksen Roed.  The program has grown from a "terrible two year old" into a well behaved teenager and gets better with each release.  Each and every day you will learn something new and exciting about it!

• Culotta:  If you could give one piece of advice to someone in the field of structural engineering who is NOT using Revit Structure today, what would it be?
  • Pluke:  Do absolutely nothing – your clients will find us!  But, seriously, don't wait any longer!  Revit Structure is a mature tool capable of producing higher quality Construction Documents than 2D CAD and providing better information for downstream use.  Much of the content we had to develop internally in the early releases is now available right out of the box.  Ignore this industry trend at your own peril (I am serious about that!).

Interview with SCA Consulting Engineers

Company Name	SCA Consulting Engineers
Address	12511 Emily Court
City, state, ZIP Code	Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Phone number	(713) 779-7252
Web site address	www.scaengineers.com
User	Gregg Kite
Title	Director of Production
E-mail address	gkite@scahouston.com

 

Our recent Blog entry comes from Lone Star State! 

Considered by many of its residents and others, such as myself who have driven through it, a country onto itself!  This state boasts many great things, including home to a great Structural Consulting Firm SCA Consulting Engineers. 

Everyone should know that SCA was our very first Revit Structure Customer!  Gregg Kite, the Director of Production at SCA was kind enough to take some time out of his schedule for this interview and to share with us some great images.

 

• Culotta:  Please tell us about your business, the markets you serve and the services that you provide.

   

  • Kite:  Founded in 1983, SCA Consulting Engineers has provided structural consulting services for thousands of projects for the industrial, commercial, financial and health care markets throughout the United States and in Mexico, Canada, Europe, Central America, South America, Africa and the Pacific Rim. Our staff of over eighty professionals is able to take advantage of the exposure in working with national and international clients and negotiating with unique building codes and officials, allows SCA to provide creative solutions for a wide range of projects.

 

• Culotta:  What is your role in the company?  How long have you been with the company?

 

• Kite:  I am the Director of Production for SCA which means several things but in a nutshell, it is my responsibility to ensure that the appropriate team is assigned to each of our projects and that those teams have the necessary information and tools to efficiently complete our designs. I coordinate all of our project schedules with our clients and am involved in contract negotiations as well as being a liaison between our clients and our staff. I was originally hired at SCA in 1992 as a structural designer/project manager.

 

• Culotta:  Please share with us a few projects you've created with Revit Structure?  What was the situation and how did you deliver the solution?

   

  • Kite:  SCA has completed over fifty projects with Revit Structure ranging from high rise condominiums and hotels, office buildings, hospitals, retail centers, and various designs for offshore structures. While we had procrastinated in implementing Revit Structure into our wood framed projects, we are in the process of doing so now and are extremely encouraged with the results that we are experiencing.

 

• Culotta:  Are there any images you can share with us of these projects?

   

  • Kite:  SCA is extremely proud of the fact that Autodesk has chosen one of our models to be featured on the CD box covers and in the promotional material for each of the last two releases of Revit Structure. For RST 2008, Autodesk selected an image from our model of The Vue, a fifty story condominium project that is to be built in Charlotte, North Carolina. We were honored again when for the 2009 version, another image from one of our models was chosen for this distinction. That project is named Torre Administrativa and is the administrative headquarters for the state government of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. This image is displayed each time a Revit Structure 2009 user opens the program which never ceases to entertain our staff.

   

II City Plaza – Baton Rouge, LA    Click here to View DWF model

1900 McKinney – Houston, TX    Click here to View DWF model

 

C&M Marine Deck House – Offshore Barges    Click here to View DWF model

 

Streeterville – Chicago, IL    Click here to View DWF model

 

The Vue – Charlotte, NC    Click here to View DWF model 

 

Brooklyn Village – Charlotte, NC  Click here to View DWF model

 

Centro de Gobierno Plaza Civica – Monterrey, Mexico      

Click here to View DWF model

Prime Outlet Mall – St. Augustine, FL  Click here to View DWF model

 

• Culotta:  When did you and the company begin using Revit Structure?

 

• Kite:  SCA has been using Revit Structure since the release of the original Beta version early in 2005. We were actually able to complete our first Revit project before Release 1 was made available to the general public.

 

• Culotta:  What were you using before?   For how long were you using it?

   

  • Kite:  Personally, I was using AutoCAD for several years before joining SCA but I believe that the company has been using AutoCAD to some degree for around 19 years.

 

• Culotta:  What made your company switch to Revit Structure and how did you do it?

   

  • Kite: The answer to the first part of this question is actually a pretty good story and one that I enjoy to telling. Mark Shepard, one of the owners of our firm, dropped by my office one afternoon after returning from a business trip. It seems that Mark had read a Revit advertisement in an in-flight magazine and had decided then and there that SCA should begin to design our projects in 3D. You can probably imagine the reaction to this decision from an old "CAD Jockey" like me.

     

    I politely began to explain to Mark that he had no idea what he was talking about and how 3D drafting applications were not conducive to SCA's workflow. Mark listened to my objections and then calmly told me that while he respected my opinion, this was something that he wanted me to investigate.

     

    Frankly, I simply ignored Mark's instructions until a couple of weeks later when he asked me what I had learned. My response was that I honestly thought that this was a waste of time and had not believed that he was really serious about the prospect of implementing new software that would be such a big departure from what our staff was very successfully using currently.

     

    Well, my arguments were not enough to sway Mark and he made it clear that this was a priority with him and that I should make it one of mine as well, so I began my research.

     

    Very quickly it became embarrassingly obvious to me that the developments in 3D modeling technology had made tremendous advancements while I had been very busy ignoring them. Immediately, I upgraded half of our AutoCAD seats to Architectural Desktop but soon discovered that this solution fell far short of what we were looking for. After inquiring with numerous companies that were producing BIM products, I learned that Autodesk was in the process of producing a version of Revit for structural engineers that would be able to be exported to a variety of structural analysis programs.

     

    It was at this point that we as a company made the leap and after numerous conversations with the Revit Structure development team, SCA was invited to participate in the initial Beta testing program. The rest is history and we have never regretted our decision.

   

• Culotta:  What is the biggest advantage or benefit to your company in using Revit Structure?

   

  • Kite:  I hope that someday soon I will be able to say that the biggest benefits are the bi-directional links to structural analysis software but to date we have been disappointed with their reliability. Unfortunately, the various structural analysis companies that Autodesk has partnered with are responsible for creating the link to their respective programs and each of them have shown a different level of commitment to this effort. Certainly, once the analysis partners realize the immense value that these links provide and the links are improved to the extent that we are truly able to use a single model for multiple roundtrips between Revit Structure and the various analysis programs, the advantages of this collaboration will be tremendous.

     

    I have to believe that once Autodesk has adapted Robobat for use in the US market, their link will be the most reliable and this is something that we anxiously anticipate. Currently, we are experiencing erratic results depending on which analysis package we are using for a specific project but we are always able to take advantage to some degree of geometry from the Revit models to create our analysis models

     

    Other benefits to using Revit Structure are the vastly improved coordination between the architect's design intent and within our own set of construction documents. Additionally, our responses to RFI's during the Construction Administration phase of our projects is being streamlined with the use of 3D views that have been oriented to a specific section, allowing the contractor to better visualize complicated areas of the structure.

 

 

• Culotta:  How does your company transfer the benefits gained in using Revit Structure onto your client?

 

• Kite:  It is actually my primary focus this year to identify new ways to share SCA's data rich models downstream so that they can be leveraged by contractors during construction. It has been frustrating to me that these very valuable models are hitting a dead end at our front door and not being utilized beyond our office.

   

  It is very encouraging to see that the construction community is rapidly embracing BIM as I honestly believe that they are the part of the process that can potentially benefit the most from this technology which in the end, benefits the owner. Material take-offs and estimating are just the beginning and as fabrication drawings are able to be generated with AutoCAD Structural Detailing directly from Revit Structure models, I am confident that we will begin to see wide spread adoption of Revit by contractors. This is sure to have a dramatic and positive impact and on the way that relationships are structured between the construction and project design teams.

 

• Culotta:  What kind of return on investment have you seen since using Revit Structure?

   

  • Kite:  After our staff gained proficiency with the software, we have seen reduced man-hours in virtually every phase of our Revit Structure projects and one benefit that we are only now fully recognizing is the streamlining of our Construction Administration phase. It is clear that our drawings are better coordinated and more dimensionally accurate with Revit projects which reduces the number of RFI's and questions in shop drawing submittals.

     

    However, these gains did not just happen overnight as we invested heavily in training for our staff and the obstacles encountered in abandoning our expertise with AutoCAD and implementing a brand new workflow have definitely been challenging. To his credit, our CFO remained patient as we expended training funds for many months and now after seeing the results, he is probably the biggest proponent of Revit in our office.

     

• Culotta:  Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with Revit Structure?

   

  • Kite:  SCA has been very fortunate to have been able to work closely with the Revit Structure development team and that relationship is one in that is very important to us. Nicolas Mangon and his entire team have been there for SCA whenever we have stumbled and our success in implementing Revit Structure within our office has clearly been important to them as I am sure it is with all of their customers. Our achievements with Revit Structure are in no small way a tribute to their dedication and belief in the product and we look forward to working with this group for many years to come.

 

• Culotta:  If you could give one piece of advice to someone in the field of structural engineering who is NOT using Revit Structure today, what would it be?

   

  • Kite:  Get on board or get left behind.

     

    With the proliferation of BIM that we are witnessing worldwide, it is only a matter of time before it becomes the standard in our industry. Failure to adopt this rapidly growing technology could prove to be far more costly tomorrow than the cost of implementing it today.

    One analogy would be the rate at which the industry adopted AutoCAD beginning some twenty years ago. For literally hundreds of years, construction drawings were produced manually with pen and paper and when some refused to embrace the adoption of computer aided drafting, they soon became obsolete. The adoption of BIM is gaining acceptance at a much faster pace than CAD did and firms that ignore this shift in technology could easily face the same fate.

 

 

Interview with Walter P Moore

Company name		Walter P Moore
Division		Structural Engineering Services Group
Address		201 E. Kennedy Blvd. Suite 300
City, state, ZIP Code		Tampa, Florida 33602
Phone number		813-221-2424
Web site address		www.walterpmoore.com
User name	David Harrington
Title	Senior Associate

Here is great interview with David Harrington at Walter P Moore. David is superstar when it comes to using Revit Structure and has provided a lot of great feedback on his experiences with it… Not to mention a bunch of really cool images as well. Enjoy!

• Culotta: Please tell us about your business, the markets you serve and the services that you provide.

  Harrington: Walter P Moore provides structural, structural diagnostics, civil, traffic and transportation engineering and parking services. We help clients create convention centers and performance halls to airports, sports stadiums, corporate campuses, entertainment centers, healthcare and education facilities, and urban roadway systems and other infrastructure. Our firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas but our locations span coast to coast.

• Culotta: What is your role in the company? How long have you been with the company?

  Harrington: I'm listed as a Senior Associate but as we all know what you do is never that simple. Generally I work to provide modeling/drafting efforts on our projects but additionally I help manage our Autodesk product line and associated customization. Recently I have also been traveling a bit conducting Revit Structure training as needed for our staff. I first started with Walter P Moore back in 1987, primarily drafting by hand but quickly jumped on the AutoCAD bandwagon with v2.6.

• Culotta: Please share with us a few projects you've created with Revit Structure? What was the situation and how did you deliver the solution?

  Harrington: One of the densest models we have made to date is an arena project. No longer a simple bowl with exit ramps, now these sorts of facilities are entertainment driven so esthetics and functionality are very important. As part of this is now a desire in the industry to have the building itself be a driving force in the esthetic of the building. We are now designing more sloping columns, longer cantilevers, and exposed structural systems. With today's BIM solution, Revit Structure, we can not only meet the demands of the documentation process but also aid the engineering by fully visualizing the conditions that the structures must now meet. Our method of delivering these projects is customization. We evaluate the project at the outset and determine what specialty conditions exist. Then examine our Revit means and methods ability to handle the challenges and if required invest in R&D to aid in delivering the project.

• Culotta: Are there any images you can share with us of these projects?

  Harrington: Sure!

Concrete Joint

When we began to do '3D' we wanted to convey what the possibilities were by showing how our work really isn't that simple. Here is a simple concrete column to beam with slab connection right?

Concrete Joint Spans

But once before you can pour your concrete, there is quite a lot of stuff that has to be placed!

Steel Connection

Similarly, steel has moderately complicated connections. Again this was made as a sort of internal marketing effort to explain structural elements to new staff and modelers.

Roof Canopy

One of our more interesting modeling challenges was a canopy roof for a MLB stadium. The design for the roof over the upper seats changed numerous times and it was designed in AutoCAD by the client. We took that design, created a wireframe in AutoCAD and then used internally made programs to read the DWG and populate an Excel spreadsheet. Then we used the Revit Extensions to import that data into our Revit model.

A fairly typical building form, flat slab with dropped panels and concrete shearwalls.

Arena

A rather complicate arena architecturally, made for a nice Revit Structure challenge!

Arena Exterior

From the outside the project looks a little dense.

Arena Interior

But once you get inside you get a sense of the openness of the space as well as the precast stadia used.

Top

The very top of a large tower project as an interesting spire of steel structure supporting the architectural cladding system. From ground to roof… all in Revit Structure.

• Culotta: When did you and the company begin using Revit Structure?

  Harrington: Personally I toyed with Revit before Autodesk purchased them but didn't do much with it. Once Autodesk got on board and issued Revit Structure 1 we bought a few licenses and began development. By October of 2005 we had a good crew trained and underway.

• Culotta: What were you using before? For how long were you using it?

  Harrington: We used AutoCAD primarily and have since before I joined the firm in 1987. We also have used Architectural Desktop as a structural solution on select projects. Additionally we on occasion have utilized Tekla Structures for contractors who specialize in that platform – typically large span roof systems.

• Culotta: What made your company switch to Revit Structure and how did you do it?

  Harrington: As a member of an A/E/C team it was a tough nut to sell. We saw the value of BIM but in many cases our fellow consultants were still 2d and not *needing* to change. Once Autodesk became involved and carved off a version for our specific discipline we no longer wanted to wait and went forward. Our first step was getting training for staff. Our full-time Revit Structure users each had a 4 day training session. Following that we created centralized locations for storage of our customization as well as created an internal support distribution list to allow people to help each other.

• Culotta: What is the biggest advantage or benefit to your company in using Revit Structure?

  Harrington: Well it isn't creating drawings as one would think. AutoCAD is a great 2D drafting platform and is used by millions. So we have had to leverage Revit Structure technology to do what AutoCAD cannot. A very big benefit is the 'virtual construction' of our projects. Being able to put a building together before having to answer RFI's or giving grounds to contractor change orders is a huge positive. No one wants to do a poor job but 2D representation doesn't do a great job of a defining a 3D object like a building.

• Culotta: How does your company transfer the benefits gained in using Revit Structure onto your client?

  Harrington: Surprisingly, very few clients to date understand what a BIM of their project can do for them downstream. We are prepared to give them much more than they traditionally ask for but in general they don't have a use for it. One area where it is leveraged is using the model during meetings both within Revit Structure as well as Autodesk NavisWorks. Having a model for them to review and study during the design phase is a great asset. Additionally, in cases where other team members are creating their own BIM files, we run clash detections so that coordination is more solid.

• Culotta: What kind of return on investment have you seen since using Revit Structure?

  Harrington: This is a tough question to answer in monetary terms. Not because it isn't a positive but rather because we don't do BIM to save money. We do it because it is the way to provide a better product to the client. Ultimately you will work (and bill) for ever hour you can or have time for, so you won't see a net reduction in hours. You will probably move hours worked from later in the CD phase to earlier in the SD or CD perhaps. That is because it is more efficient to model properly the first time. So whereas in AutoCAD you would have gladly refined your project as you went along, you can save a lot of time by knowing your detail before you model.

  An example of this is a given member size. In AutoCAD it is a line and then later in CD you add text indicating the size. Well in Revit Structure, if you can tell me the size earlier then I may not have to fix it later, for I have to pick a size to start with. That line in Revit Structure is a real beam after all and *needs* a size.

• Culotta: Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with Revit Structure?

  Harrington: It was interesting to say the least. Certainly some aspects are painful and some are enlightening. But I think anyone who is in this business is here because of the work – not the software. Just as an artist will choose the best brush in which to paint, the best 'brush' to create structural projects is no longer AutoCAD. Getting ones hard head around that can be tough. But once you do and you embrace the change as a chance to improve the workflow, then you get to spend more time on the joy of the work, and fairly soon don't miss your old friend CAD that much.

• Culotta: If you could give one piece of advice to someone in the field of structural engineering who is NOT using Revit Structure today, what would it be?

  Harrington: Well I'm sure that most everyone in the industry has heard about BIM and Revit Structure. So I don't think they need encouragement to move in that direction – the A/E/C world is making that decision. Whether you like it or not, if you want to be a competitor it will be something that must be adopted to at least some degree. Therein is the rub, if you adopt for the projects you must but hold onto your AutoCAD dearly, then you will probably never realize the benefits it can bring. It is similar as doing analysis by hand and by computer. Until you trust the computer enough you will always be second guessing your work and wasting time keeping two systems of delivery.

Interview with Halsall Associates Limited

Company name	Halsall Associates Limited
Division	Structures
Address	2300 Yonge Street
City, state, ZIP Code	Toronto, Ontario M4P 1E4
Phone number	416-487-5256
Web site address	www.halsall.com
User	Ian Trudeau
Title	Senior Project Draftsperson

Ah… Toronto! What a city! It is by far one of my favorites.

What made my trip to Toronto even more exciting was the opportunity to visit Halsall and to have lunch with Ian Trudeau, Michael Parker and David Brand. After having a great conversation and a few laughs while eating spinach and ricotta Angolotti, Ian and I sat down for a great interview about Halsall and his use of Revit® Structure. Below is my interview with Ian as well as some really impressive images that Ian shared with me. I look forward to my next trip to Toronto!

• Culotta: Please tell us about your business, the markets you serve and the services that you provide.
  • Trudeau: Halsall is a consulting engineering firm based in Toronto with six offices across Canada, one in Dubai, UAE and one in the Cayman Islands. Our consulting services include structural engineering, green buildings, restoration engineering, cladding engineering and capital planning.

• Culotta: What is your role in the company? How long have you been with the company?
  • Trudeau: As a senior structural project draftsperson I have the added responsibility for Revit integration, development and developing and conducting internal training. In addition I am part of an internal task force to test and integrate design programs into the Revit platform. I have been with the company for over 5 years.

• Culotta: When did you and the company begin using Revit Structure?
  • Trudeau: We began as a Beta test facility for Autodesk prior to the release of Revit Structure in early 2005 and were a contributor to the Revit online tutorial for Canadian content. We have been using Revit Structure extensively since its release.

• Culotta: What were you using before? For how long were you using it?
  • Trudeau: We have been using AutoCAD since 1988 and converted to ADT in 2005. Some work was done using the 3D capabilities on specialty projects but 3D was never used in working drawings
• Culotta: Please share with us a few projects you've created with Revit Structure? What was the situation and how did you deliver the solution?
  • Trudeau: There are two more prominent projects we have done to date.
    • The first is a 240,000 sq.ft Quantum/Nano research facility for the University of Waterloo with Toronto architects KPMB and U.S. firm HDR. Very stringent vibration criteria and a very complex structure, including concrete waffle slabs and an 8 story steel tower with a "honeycomb" curtain structure suspended from the roof, supporting the edge of the floors below, as well as 2 steel bridges to adjacent existing buildings and an underground service tunnel.
    • The second is Honda's new Canadian Head Office with ZAS and HOK architects in joint venture, Toronto. The campus includes a 140,000 sq.ft., 4-storey office building to house 500 staff, 88,000 sq.ft. Technical Resource Centre to be used for training and research and a 225,000 sq.ft. Product Distribution Centre for small parts storage and distribution. A Central Plant services the heating and cooling needs of the campus.
  • Our clients on both of these projects were also using Revit.

• Culotta: Are there any images you can share with us of these projects?

DWF files of the projects below are available at:

Trudeau: The below images are:

University of Waterloo, Quantum Nano Centre

Waterloo, Ontario

Download DWF model 

Architecture:     Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects

Structure:     Halsall Associates Limited

Mech. & Elec.:    H.H. Angus and Associates Limited

Trudeau: The below images are:

Honda Canada Campus

Markham, Ontario

Download DWF model 

Architecture:    ZAS Inc. & HOK Canada, Architects in Joint Venture

Structure:    Halsall Associates Limited

Mechanical:    Stantec

Electrical:    Mulvey + Banani

• Culotta: What made your company switch to Revit Structure and how did you do it?
  • Trudeau: We have not switched to Revit Structure, but have added Revit Structure to our list of tools we use. BIM is exciting technology and Revit Structure seems well positioned to be the industry leader. Autodesk has the commitment and where-with-all to continue the necessary development to satisfy the growing market trend into BIM. 

• Culotta: What is the biggest advantage or benefit to your company in using Revit Structure?
  • Trudeau: Ease of visualization has proven to be our biggest advantage over 2D drawing. We have done large and complex projects with Revit Structure and it has proven to be very useful in visualizing the building complexities in the early stages. Additional benefits include faster detail creation and automatic drawing coordination for section marks etc.

• Culotta: How does your company transfer the benefits gained in using Revit Structure onto your client?
  • Trudeau: It is much easier to communicate our design intent with a Revit Structure model. If our client also uses Revit it is easier to coordinate our structure with the Architectural elements, i.e. Partitions, cladding, openings, etc. This avoids changes and corrections during the construction phase of a project, ultimately saving money for the building owner.

• Culotta: What kind of return on investment have you seen since using Revit Structure?
  • Trudeau: It is early to determine the ROI at this point since we still consider ourselves to be in the development and training stages of the implementation. As we get more users trained we are expecting production savings combined with a much richer data set for our clients with potentially higher fees for our company.

• Culotta: Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with Revit Structure?
  • Trudeau: Our experience with Revit Structure has been very positive. It is intuitive, relatively easy to learn and the benefits of visualization have proven to be very powerful.
• Culotta: If you could give one piece of advice to someone in the field of structural engineering who is NOT using Revit Structure today, what would it be?
  • Trudeau: BIM is the future of our industry. For anyone using AutoCAD it is an easy decision to use Revit Structure as their BIM platform. Revit Structure should be embraced by any structural firm.

Interview with BECA

Company	Beca
Division	Structural
Address	77 Thorndon Quay
City, state, ZIP Code	Wellington, New Zealand
Phone number	64 4 4737551
Web site address	www.beca.com
User	Peter Davies
Title	Senior structural designer

Now here is an interview that I REALLY WISH I had the opportunity to do in person. I mean who wouldn't want a chance at go and visit J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth as represented by Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy.

I'm hopeful that on my next business trip to Asia Pacific I will be able to interview Peter Davies, the Senior Structural Designer at Beca, and the rest of his team from the same vantage point that Frodo and Sam have here.

Peter was kind enough to spend some time in answering a few questions I had around his experience with Revit® Structure. Take a look at his responses and cool project images below.

• Culotta: Please tell us about your business, the markets you serve and the services that you provide. 
  • Davies: Beca www.beca.com is a multinational company covering engineering, planning, project management, architecture, GIS and surveying, cost estimating, asset management and valuations. Our structural engineering groups cover all facets including commercial, institutional, bridging, industrial, governmental, airports, wharves etc.
• Culotta: What is your role in the company? How long have you been with the company? 
  • Davies: I've been in the industry for 30 years now, the last 13 with Beca, based in our Wellington, New Zealand office. I've enjoyed working on many interesting and often challenging projects in my role as a senior structural designer.
• Culotta: When did you and the company begin using Revit Structure? 
  • Davies: I first looked at Revit Structure release 2 I think it was in 2005, beginning our first project using Revit in November 2006.
• Culotta: What were you using before? For how long were you using it? 
  • Davies: We have used AutoCAD for many years, CSC's 3D+ and ProSteel in the last eight years. Whilst being great products they never quite came up to our dream of a product that easily allows multi material, multi user and multi discipline collaboration all from one common file structure in a 3D environment.
• Culotta: What made your company switch to Revit Structure and how did you do it? 
  • Davies: We had 2 users in the company who were passionate about the benefits they could see in using Revit Structure. When we heard Revit MEP was to be released also, that served to strengthen our resolve to give Revit Structure a vigorous trial. We started on our initial project with a desire to show others the benefits that we believed Revit Structure can provide. Once we had proven the value of Revit Structure to our company we had increasing support from management, other staff and potential users. Targeted training was then provided by our Revit Structure resellers to get our users further up skilled. The training now consists mainly of in house programs, on the job training, and encouraging monitoring of the numerous Revit Structure related blogs and web sites which have a lot of great content. At the same time I started our first project, we also had one of my colleagues working through organizing Revit Structure to meet our companies presentation standards, setup a file structure for our installation, resolve file naming and location protocols, and write a Revit Structure procedures manual specific to Revit Structures use within our company. This work has proved invaluable.
• Culotta: What is the biggest advantage or benefit to your company in using Revit Structure? 
  • Davies: Many people tell of the one model benefits, certainty of views all showing the correct information, effortless sheet cross referencing, 3D views wherever you want them, ease of making amendments etc and we agree with all these statements. More so though, as structural engineers and designers we are using Revit Structure also as a conceptual design tool to allow us to efficiently explore many options before we proceed with the final design. Revit Structure is now an integral part of the design process itself and providing us with huge efficiency gains in the structural design. This methodology sees our clients being able to benefit from both increased speed and the increased flexibility of our thinking. I guess you could say it a great tool for encouraging creativity.
• Culotta: How does your company transfer the benefits gained in using Revit Structure onto your client? 
  • Davies: We can produce superior documentation due to the one model nature of Revit Structure, and this is of great benefit to all. 3D and 2D DWF files are a great aid as well. I guess the previous question pretty well sums it up.
• Culotta: What kind of return on investment have you seen since using Revit Structure? 
  • Davies: I think it is very difficult to measure the ROI accurately, but my belief is that we were seeing direct time savings in the order of 25% almost from day one. I also think that the more complex the project is, the greater the ROI. Another benefit of using Revit Structure is that users love it, again I'm not sure how to measure this in terms of ROI, but my "gut feel" tells us we are on the right track.
• Culotta: Please share with us a few projects you've created with Revit Structure? What was the situation and how did you deliver the solution? 
  • Davies: The first project we modeled using Revit Structure was a geothermal power station which is now built. We began this project in November 2006. Revit proved to be invaluable on this project.

 

• Davies: The second project we modeled with Revit Structure was known as "The Rock" due to its shape. Comprising both reinforced concrete and steelwork, it is an extension to the local international airport. Geometrically this was as complex a project as I have seen in my career. In many areas grids were almost of no value as nothing was square, plumb or parallel, every roof frame was different. There was no option but to use Revit Structure, as a 2D approach could not have worked we believed. The architectural team carried out all their modeling in 3D using 2 different packages. We got together early in the project to define how we would collaborate via file exchange. This approach paid dividends almost immediately by enabling a 3D approach to coordination. We also used 3D DWF files a lot, and also issued documents via 2D DWF.
• Davies: I have since been told by other experienced Revit Structure users from outside our company that this project pushed Revit Structure well outside what they believed to be the "envelope". Just goes to show I guess, sometimes it's good to push through the boundaries.
• Davies: We have used Revit Structure on many projects now which are completed. At last count we had 35 Revit structure, 22 MEP and 10 Architecture licenses. In our structural group we are currently modeling two bridges, a steel mill expansion project, another geothermal power station, a large police station, brewery relocation, a 5 storey school building, about to begin a very large shopping mall. Our mind set has shifted from "should we use Revit Structure" to automatically assuming that "Revit Structure will be used" even on very small projects.

• Culotta: Are there any images you can share with us of these projects? 
  • Davies: We would love to share some images with you.

 

• Culotta: Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with Revit Structure? 
  • Davies: Revit Structure frees people up to concentrate on the important thing, being the project, rather than having to consider layers, dimension scales, clipping planes etc that many other programs rely on for continuity, Revit Structure looks after such issues itself. You could say it "clears the mind" to allow more creative thought processes on the project. With Revit Structure we like to think of ourselves not just as structural engineers, structural designers, and drafters but also as "virtual constructors". I believe that with Revit Structure in many ways you are building the project in a virtual manner.
  • Davies: I see Autodesk Navisworks as a key partner to Revit for us for many of our projects. I'm interested in exploring the benefits of this program especially in terms of collaboration with other packages, clash detection, animations, programming aids for the builders (The 4^th dimension, time), asset management etc
• Culotta: If you could give one piece of advice to someone in the field of structural engineering who is NOT using Revit Structure today, what would it be? 
  • Davies: Try and identify one or two, preferably two, people in your organization with the desire to have a good look at Revit Structure, often these people will identify themselves. Get the trial version of Revit Structure, and allow them to explore the possibilities. Most people I know who have had any exposure to Revit are pretty well hooked immediately. After you are familiar with Revit Structure in broad general terms, get quality training. There is nothing to be scared of.
• Culotta: Peter Davies, thank you for your time, I look forward to meeting you one day in New Zealand for a face to face Interview. 

Interview with Faber Maunsell /AECOM

Faber Maunsell, www.fabermaunsell.com, is an award-winning, international consultancy specializing in buildings, transportation and environmental services. Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Gemunu Nanayakkara, Principal CAD Modeler at Faber Maunsell. Gemunu and his team have immersed themselves in the use of Revit® Structure and had these great things to say about the product.

 

1. Culotta: Gemunu, Please tell us about your business, the markets you serve and the services that you provide.
   1. Nanayakkara: AECOM is One of the world's leading providers of professional, technical and management support services for government and private clients. Faber Maunsell comprises an exceptionally broad range of skills and disciplines in     building engineering, transportation and environmental consultancy services. Our markets include commercial offices, transport infrastructure, health, retail, utilities infrastructure, education, residential, industrial, laboratories and pharmaceutical, sport and entertainment, hotels, and defense, both in the public and private sectors.
2. Culotta: What is your role in the company? How long have you been with the company?
   1. Nanayakkara: Role: Principal CAD Modeler- and my main duties are to give in-house Revit Structure training to all technicians and to set up company standards on Revit Structure while actively involved in live projects. I've been with the company for just over six months now.
3. Culotta: When did you and the company begin using Revit Structure?
   1. Nanayakkara: I started about five to six years ago. St Albans office started using as soon as I joined the company and it spread across to other offices throughout the U.K.
4. Culotta: What were you using before? For how long were you using it?
   1. Nanayakkara: I was using AutoCAD for about 15 years. The company was using Auto CAD and 3D+. Currently we continue to use AutoCAD in parallel with Revit Structure until we train all our technicians and engineers on Revit Structure and increase the number of license.
5. Culotta: What made your company switch to Revit Structure and how did you do it?
   1. Nanayakkara: Understanding of the power of BIM and the ability to integrate with Revit Structure models with design software at an early stage of the design process. In-house training for CAD technicians and on the job training enabled us to get in to a fine start on new projects.
6. Culotta: What is the biggest advantage or benefit to your company in using Revit Structure?
   1. Biggest advantage is that we are now able to produce presentation materials with very fine details to a highest quality within the shortest possible time.
7. Culotta: How does your company transfer the benefits gained in using Revit Structure onto your client?
   1. Nanayakkara: We share the BIM information with all parties to facilitate coordination in a 3D environment. Production of presentation models, fly through & walk through, time liner presentations using Navisworks etc. based on Revit Structure model.
8. Culotta: Please share with us a few projects you've created with Revit Structure? What was the situation and how did you deliver the solution?
   1. Nanayakkara: Recently we were involved in producing a structural solution to one of the largest projects related to 2012 Olympics and our sustainable green solution was created 100 % on Revit Structure. Also we are working on number of school projects throughout U.K. and Revit Structure gives us the complete flexibility to achieve feasible solutions to complex situations.
9. Culotta: Are there any images you can share with us of these projects?
   1. Nanayakkara: Yes. Take a look at a few images from some projects.

      

      

10. Culotta: Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with Revit Structure?
    1. Nanayakkara: We are very impressed with Revit Structure's ability to manage frequent changes of project details and specifications with minimal time. Also the capability of creating complex geometries in 3D with least effort.

    

11. Culotta: If you could give one piece of advice to someone in the field of structural engineering who is NOT using Revit Structure today, what would it be?
    1. Nanayakkara: Revit Structure is probably the best BIM software package available in the market! It allows you to integrate and coordinate with other disciplines and to produce a complete solution to any situation

Culotta: Gemunu, Thank you for your time today.

Nanayakkara: You are very welcome.

The Autodesk Experience Virtual Event This Tuesday June 3, 2008

OK, so have you ever been to one of these Virtual events? If not then you really should check this one out. Imagine going to a tradeshow, but instead of physically being there, you can attend it online. The user interface is very cool in that it looks just like a real trade show. You can go and visit the different booths and interact with people at those booths. See below a screen shot of what it will look like. Live people will be online and will interact with you. Of course my preference is that if you go to this event, and check out the Structural Industry booth and Session.

Here are the details on it. The event takes place on June 3, 2008 at 10:00 AM EDT. Register for this event at www.autodesk.com/aecvirtualevent

The Autodesk Experience Virtual Event will include:

• Autodesk Solutions for Structural Engineering sessions with live Q&A (see details below)
• An exhibit hall where you can stop by our booths to chat with Autodesk representatives and receive more information about our new line of software solutions
• Networking opportunities
• Chance to win a 16GB iPod touch!

Structural Industry Sessions include:

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EDT - Autodesk Solutions for Structural Engineering session:

Find out how Revit® Structure 2009, the building information modeling (BIM) software integrates physical and analytical modeling for efficient, accurate, and flexible analysis, design, and documentation. In this session you'll be introduced to a multimaterial physical model integrated with an independently editable analytical model allowing you to deliver more efficient, accurate, and flexible analysis, design, and documentation.  You'll also learn about improved coordination by leveraging information from architectural files, and about effective change management with structural analysis and parametric change management technologies.

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EDT - Building Information Modeling for Architects, Civil Engineers and Building Engineers:

This session will cover the principles of building information modeling (BIM), the innovative approach to coordinated and consistent communication between architects and engineers.  Learn how BIM can help you efficiently create and exchange information among all your project stakeholders.  You'll get an overview of how Revit, our premier BIM design software, instantly updates design changes and reflects them throughout all design views, making coordination easy and efficient, and how Civil, MEP, and Structural Engineers can work more efficiently with less errors and omissions. We'll outline ways to utilize your existing AutoCAD data while migrating to BIM and discuss in-process design visualization tools that let you leverage BIM quickly and effectively.

I hope you can make this event and attend the Structural sessions!

All the best,

Tom

Interview with URS Corporation LTD

I had the great opportunity to interview Allan Brown, Senior Technician in the Buildings Structure Division at URS Corporation for my first posting in the Tom's Corner. Allan is a big fan of Revit Structure and has shared with me some great information and a few cool images as well that I believe you'll find interesting. Take a look at my questions and Allan's responses below.

1. Culotta: Allan, tell us about your business, the markets you serve and the services that you provide.
   1. Brown: Revit Structure is used in our engineering service line. This service line covers design services in Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Transportation, US Department of Defense, Ministry of Defence, Health, Education, Stadia, Custodial and Retail sectors.
2. Culotta: What is your role in the company? How long have you been with the company?
   1. Brown: My primary role within URS is of Senior Technician in the Building Structures department in our Glasgow office. I have been with URS for eight years and I have been in involved with various work sectors, from Health, Leisure, Commercial, and Residential to Industrial.
3. Culotta: When did you and the company begin using Revit Structure?
   1. Brown: URS started to look into Revit Structure in the summer of 2007. We download the 30-day free trial to review the software and it's capabilities and started to work through the metric tutorials provided over the course of the summer. Once we were happy with what Revit could provide we had our formal training in October 2007.
4. Culotta: What were you using before? For how long were you using it?
   1. Brown: Currently we run three software packages for our drafting work, not just within Glasgow, but also throughout the UK, these are AutoCAD 2008, CSC's 3D+ and now Revit Structure.
5. Culotta: What made your company switch to Revit Structure and how did you do it?
   1. Brown: We have always looked into better and more efficient ways of working, we had moved over to 3D modeling around six years ago as we felt that it was inevitable that the industry would move over to 3D modeling as a standard in years to come. As such, we wanted to have as much experience within this style of drawing generation as we could.

      A colleague and I started looking at the 30-day trial and working through the tutorials. We wrote a report based on our experience with the software and to compare it against our other 3D modeling package to draw up the pros and cons of the software. This was provided to our CAD service line leader for review.

      Once we had approval to move forward we arranged formal training with three members of staff from the Glasgow office initially fully trained. With the turn of the new year, we then rolled out Revit Structure to our London office who also took on a further two licenses with a further three members of staff gaining training.

      We hope to roll out Revit Structure to our complete Structures department within Glasgow by the end of the year and in the long-term roll out Revit Structure as our standard CAD platform UK wide.

6. Culotta: What is the biggest advantage or benefit to your company in using Revit Structure?
   1. Brown: With the 3D package we had it was limited primarily to steelwork. When we reviewed Revit Structure we were impressed at how compact and self contained the software was. We were able to do complex foundations, ground slabs, metal decking, steelwork and retaining walls with no real requirement to move externally outside of Revit Structure. Other packages were AutoCAD based and drawing generation in itself could be time consuming. Furthermore, amending the models could be awkward if any changes occurred due to external parties requiring changes and once the model was updated drawings then had to be regenerated and tidied before they could be issued.

      With Revit Structure there is no draw regeneration process. When elements are updated all drawings with the elements relating tags move, it is an almost instant process which has saved a lot of drafting time. The nature of Revit Structure enables you to build up your information on a plan-to-plan basis just as you would with a conventional AutoCAD drawing. We are hoping this approach to 3D modeling will enable our staff with little or no experience in 3D modeling to adapt to the software easier than that of our previous 3D modeling package.

7. Culotta: How does your company transfer the benefits gained in using Revit Structure onto your client?
   1. Brown: for the main part we can create more detailed 3D models, which we can present to a client to look at and move around through the DWF viewer that Autodesk provide. Previously we could not have given over a model with the same sort of detail as we can now. This obviously will apply to the rest of the design team as well, architects and mechanical and electrical Engineers also benefit from Revit Structures detailed models.
8. Culotta: What kind of return on investment have you seen since using Revit Structure?
   1. Brown: Limited at present as live projects are only just beginning. We expect to see a return based around the nature of effectively drafting and modeling at the same time and the quick ability to cut sections and elevate elements anywhere within the model, which is significantly different to how we have worked in the past.

      We also expect to see a return on the process of amending drawings. This process has been made easier through Revit Structures technology and removing the issue of possible errors occurring over multiple drawings. Updates, which would have been handled manually, previously (even to a certain degree on other 3D packages) are now automated thanks to the nature of Revit's technology.

9. Culotta: Please share with us a few projects you've created with Revit Structure? What was the situation and how did you deliver the solution?
   1. When we first started out with Revit Structure after our training we wanted to move into it as soon as we could. Any new work that came through was to be done in Revit Structure no matter how big or small the projects were as we were aware that there can be the opinion you should only model larger structures with 3D technology, and that smaller work would be quicker in AutoCAD. So we knew that we had to show that Revit Structure could produce quality just as quickly if not faster than that of AutoCAD even on the smallest of jobs.

      The jobs we came across first were external retaining walls. We would never have modeled retaining walls with our previous 3D package and we knew this was an excellent opportunity to see what Revit Structure could do outside of a traditional building construction. With the inbuilt wall and foundation tools we felt that Revit Structure could handle it. We were dealing with a tight site with an approx 5-6m drop across the length of the site. There was in the region of 30 different retaining walls with pedestrian ramps with varying wall head and foundation levels. Using the architects CAD plan as a base we used the wall tool to pick the wall locations on plan and then using the foundation tool applied the foundation to the underside of wall locking the two together. With all the walls modeled it was a simple process of elevating all the walls using the section tool, once the sections were cut we detailed up the walls as you would traditionally within AutoCAD using Revit Structure's own drafting tools.

      As a bonus we were able to utilize the topography tool within Revit Structure so we could check the ground profiles against wall heads and foundation levels to ensure there were no clashes, something we would never had been able to do within AutoCAD. The whole process took in the region of five working days, which we estimate is about half the time it would have taken if we had used the AutoCAD route.

1. Culotta: Are there any images you can share with us of these projects?
   1. Brown: Yes take a look…

      

      

      

      

      

2. Culotta: Anything else you'd like to share about your experience with Revit Structure?
   1. Brown: Generally we have had a very positive experience with the software. We found that, as you gain experience and knowledge the process of generating models and drawings grows quicker and you really start to see the huge benefits when elements have to be changed.
3. Culotta: If you could give one piece of advice to someone in the field of structural engineering who is NOT using Revit Structure today, what would it be?
   1. Brown: Download the free trial to see what it does. Revit Structure has handled everything we have done in it so far in projects, small and large. Once you get around how Revit Structure works you do feel your work process is more efficient and you feel confident all elements are linked through your model and drawings.

Tom’s Corner:

Welcome to Tom's Corner!  Here you will find interesting interview's I've conducted with users of our Structural Software Products.  You'll also see some very cool images of projects that our users have created using Revit Structure.  My goal is to create awareness around the great things people do with our product line and to inspire others of its potential.  In addition to user interviews, my plan over time will be to blog about other relevant marketing topics as it relates to the Structural Software products.  I hope you enjoy this new blog category in BIM & BEAM!

 

All the best!

Tom