Gulf Construction Online - Autodesk portfolio boosts efficiency

Environment Protection

Bhardwaj ... streamlining building design.

Autodesk portfolio boosts efficiency

01 December 2009

AUTODESK has launched a software portfolio aimed at creating cost-effective and resource-efficient building designs that can be implemented easily and efficiently.

The 2010 Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Infrastructure Modelling (IM) software portfolio includes the 2010 versions of popular products like Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, Revit MEP, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Navisworks and Autodesk 3ds Max Design.

At the heart of the Revit platform is building information modelling, a digital approach to building design, delivery and management, says Manish Bhardwaj, marketing manager – Middle East and Africa, Autodesk Middle East.
“Designers, architects, engineers, and production teams all use industry-specific tools while working on the model. As they design, Revit automatically creates all other corresponding project information, including accurate floor plans, elevations, sections, quantity takeoffs, area calculations, schedules and more. And once they update the model, all the other disciplines have access to accurate and complete information about the entire project,” he says.

Revit platform enables architects to link the structural model directly into the architectural model and see the structural components on the architectural drawings, which results in a much tighter integration between structure and architecture departments.

“Autodesk’s 2010 software portfolio for BIM will help building designers, civil engineers, contractors and the clients they serve to more easily create and profit from digital design data and more streamlined communications across extended project teams,” says Bhardwaj.

“By investing in software for BIM, architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms will have the tools to help them to more accurately visualise, simulate and analyse project performance, appearance and cost, to create more resource-efficient buildings and infrastructure, as well as renovate or replace aging infrastructure,” he says.

With Autodesk AEC software, architects, engineers, and designers can predict the performance of their projects before they are built, which helps them determine the impact on communities and the environment. They can measure and analyse performance, cost and occupant experience of a building, or model the layout of a new road and understand its environmental impact.

“We make sustainable design easier and more efficient through software that increases communication and collaboration between all the building disciplines, leading to reductions in resource waste and an increase in productivity. The end results are buildings and infrastructure thoughtfully designed with a more responsible relationship to the environment,” says Bhardwaj.

Benefits of Autodesk AEC applications include:
Substantial reductions of material waste: Autodesk’s parametric change technology helps ensure that a project’s building information model and documentation are synchronised, consistent, and complete. All design information can be coordinated across various representations of the project, capturing more value in the building itself by reducing duplicated effort and resources during construction.

Increased energy efficiency: Energy analysis is critical to a building design strategy to ensure increased efficiency. Autodesk solutions, integrated with industry-leading third-party analysis software, can provide detailed and reliable design information to complete energy analysis early in the design cycle. This information enables a designer to make decisions about how the building is placed on a site and evaluate day-lighting options for optimal energy savings.

Decreased use of fresh water and improved air quality: Autodesk modelling technology allows designers to predict with precision the use of fresh water in their designs, and test alternatives that conserve the use of water in plumbing and landscaping systems. That same modelling capability provides a platform for analysing air distribution and use of fresh air in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, allowing an optimised use of indoor and outdoor air to achieve best quality with minimum use of energy for heating and cooling.

Efficient specification management: The environmental impact of extracting, processing and transporting building materials makes their careful selection an important aspect of sustainable design. Through integration with industry-leading third-party analysis software, Autodesk offers highly-automated coordination of project specifications, providing direct extraction of product and material requirements. The ability to help ensure that the building model and project specifications remain coordinated as the design progresses helps create a sustainable outcome.

More accurate evaluation of project lifecycles: The average commercial structure will cost 10 times as much to operate, over its typical 100-year life span, as its cost to build. Utilising Autodesk solutions to create a computer model helps designers predict how a built project will consume energy over its entire useful life and allows them to quickly assess the effects of choosing alternative sustainable building materials.

“Buildings consume about 70 per cent of the world’s energy. We believe sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present while improving the ability of future generation to meet their needs,” says Bharwaj. “And we would like to introduce design innovation into this global conversation.

“We believe global sustainability challenges can be addressed through better design, implemented throughout the design process. Autodesk 3-D BIM is a critical tool in the global effort to shift the building
sector to a more sustainable model.”

Autodesk digital 3-D modelling software allows for sustainable design decisions to be introduced at each step of the design-and-build process. This encourages designers to identify and implement sustainable solutions from the beginning. “This is important as energy use in a building can be reduced up to 50 per cent by analysing design decisions early,” he says. “Autodesk software helps evaluate overall building energy use and performance (heating and cooling load, day-lighting, thermal mass). Alternatives can be compared and modified for optimal performance.”
“We have also pioneered BIM that enables testing and analysis of new and better materials while reducing waste. Recycled and non-traditional materials can be tested in a digital 3-D model to ensure safety and long-lasting performance. Designers can also use visualisation software to show clients how a new design or material will look, reducing risk and re-dos,” he continues.

“Also, Dynamic Simulator can help determine the optimal size of motor for maximum energy efficiency, while Inventor’s design-to-manufacturing process automation flow can predict the energy used throughout a product’s lifecycle and evaluate energy-efficient alternatives,” he says.

Elaborating on the company’s commitment to sustainable building, Bharwaj says: “Autodesk has an opportunity – and we believe, a responsibility – to promote and encourage widespread adoption of sustainable design principles through the products we create and sell, which have a global reach. Our customers are the millions of architects, engineers, and designers who are creating the built world all around us – from buildings to cars to bridges. Our job is to provide innovative design tools so that these designers can analyse and surface sustainable options earlier in the design process.

“Our solutions are widely used in almost every major project in the region. Every engineering company these days is looking for consistent, reliable design information, better documentation, and the ability to evaluate sustainable building and infrastructure design alternatives using analysis to predict performance before breaking ground,” he says.
Autodesk says it is committed to making its own operations more sustainable and is reviewing its policies and procedures to reduce the environmental impact of its facilities, starting with energy efficiency and water and resource conservation.

“In addition to familiar recycling and car-pooling initiatives, our ongoing footprint reduction includes reviewing future real estate decisions for Leed certification, sourcing green power, reducing the amount of printed marketing materials we create, all the way down to the day-to-day use of non-toxic cleaning supplies,” says Bhardwaj.

To promote awareness and adoption of sustainable design practices, the company is partnering with industry leaders, educators and its customers.

Autodesk has a strategic relationship with the US Green Building Council to promote the use of technology into everyday building practices, and has co-developed curriculum on sustainable design which is now being piloted in seven universities.

It also works with governments and communities on sustainable building projects. Autodesk is a member of the China-US Centre for Sustainable Development, which is accelerating the adoption of sustainable design, and encourages collaboration across business, government, education and non-governmental organisations.