bim-Plat Blog

Trimble introduces SketchUp AI

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 06:31:00 GMT

Subscription-based service includes generative AI image creation and text to 3D capabilities

Trimble has introduced SketchUp AI, a suite of AI tools designed to help simplify modelling, visualisation and learning in SketchUp.

Features include AI rendering, 3D geometry creation, and a Help chat where users can ask specific questions about their workflow, modelling needs, or the SketchUp ecosystem.

SketchUp AI, initially available as a monthly subscription, includes AI Render and AI Assistant.

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

AI Render, formerly SketchUp Diffusion, is Trimble SketchUp’s generative AI image creation tool designed to accelerate visualisation. Previously in the SketchUp Labs beta testing program, AI Render includes a redesigned interface and enhanced controls, such as Reference Images, Inpainting, and Negative Prompts.

With AI Render, designers can combine their SketchUp model with a text prompt and/or predefined styles to create images ‘in seconds’, from early concept iterations and inspiration to ‘realistic client deliverables’. Users can also refine generated images, such as altering colours and materials, or adding entourage.

Meanwhile, AI Assistant is an AI-powered SketchUp chatbot and 3D modelling partner. With Generate Object, an AI Assistant capability, users can turn an image or text prompt into 3D objects in seconds, directly within SketchUp.

Users simply upload an image or describe what they want to create, and AI Assistant generates the 3D object. It can be used as an alternative to 3D Warehouse, or to bypass the need to model from scratch.

AI Assistant also acts an AI-powered help tool, providing in-app support through natural language prompts, helping users find advice on best practices, troubleshoot issues, or discover new ways to use the software.

SketchUp AI operates on a credit-based system. Every Trimble SketchUp subscription includes a starter allocation of credits, with additional credits available to purchase as needed.

An AI Render costs 5 credits, Generate Object costs 30 credits and AI Help costs 0 credits.

A SketchUp Go subscription gets 100 credits per month; SketchUp Pro, 150 credits per month; and SketchUp Studio, 200 credits per month

The post Trimble introduces SketchUp AI appeared first on AEC Magazine .

NavLive adds Control Points to handheld scanner

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 08:01:00 GMT

New feature said to deliver higher-accuracy 3D scans and verified site data

NavLive , a handheld construction scanner that combines handheld LiDAR, AI processing, and “instant” Scan‑to‑Plan output, now includes a new Control Points capability to improve the accuracy and reliability of 3D scans.

According to the company, the feature introduces a faster, integrated way for teams to ground their scans in real-world coordinates, reducing drift and alignment issues that can lead to costly errors or repeated site visits.

Control Points gives users the ability to log survey markers in real-time during a scan and to import external ground-truth coordinates into the NavLive Portal. Once captured, scans can be aligned with this real-world information through two methods: a simple rigid alignment that positions the entire model without altering the point cloud, or an optimised non-rigid alignment that adjusts the data to ensure both captured and imported coordinates match with higher precision.

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

NavLive explains that this workflow helps eliminate the subtle drift that can accumulate as operators move through large or complex environments, and allows teams to merge multiple scans into a single, coherent coordinate frame.

The feature also introduces visual verification tools that highlight alignment quality and accuracy.

“Precision is everything in construction and surveying,” said Chris Davison, CEO of NavLive. “Even small amounts of drift can undermine decisions later in a project.

“Control Points allows teams a fast and dependable way to ground every scan to real-world truth, whether they need quick alignment of a single capture or combining multiple datasets. It brings together the speed of mobile LiDAR with the accuracy of traditional survey methods, giving users data they can trust without slowing their workflow from first capture to final model.”

The post NavLive adds Control Points to handheld scanner appeared first on AEC Magazine .

ACC to support NFL stadium build

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 07:36:00 GMT

Autodesk Construction Cloud will be used on Cleveland Browns new Huntington Bank Field stadium

Autodesk has announced a new partnership with the Cleveland Browns, under which Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) will be used to support the build of the NFL team’s new 75,000 capacity Huntington Bank Field stadium, scheduled to open in 2029.

ACC, now part of Autodesk Forma , will connect project teams through a unified model, to support informed decision-making, early issue detection, and streamlined coordination.

According to Autodesk, this approach will help reduce waste, optimise resources and deliver a more predictable, sustainable project from start to finish.

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

Huntington Bank Field will be the first enclosed stadium in the AFC North which will provide climate-controlled comfort for year-round use and an elevated fan experience while opening the door to other sports and entertainment events, serving as a catalyst for Northeast Ohio’s largest economic development project to date.

Autodesk technology is also supporting Tennessee Builders Alliance in the construction of the new Nissan Stadium in Nashville, home of the Tennessee Titans.

Teams are using Revit and ACC to create, store, and coordinate design and fabrication models, providing real-time collaboration and helping project teams efficiently deliver the stadium for its planned opening in 2027.

The post ACC to support NFL stadium build appeared first on AEC Magazine .

Airship Hangar Mülheim: A landmark in advanced timber engineering

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 07:54:00 GMT

A multi-award-winning hangar shows how state-of-the-art structural design, precise digital modeling and circular material strategies can transform a historic aviation icon – engineered with ALLPLAN’s integrated BIM workflow

Airships no longer play a major role in air travel, yet they still command attention in the sky as flying billboards. Since the early 1970s, WDL Luftschiffgesellschaft in Mülheim, western Germany, has sustained this niche – and now delivers one of today’s most striking structures: the Airship Hangar Mülheim.

Completed at the end of 2022, the timber hangar replaces a previous lightweight textile hall and serves as a maintenance and winter storage facility. The innovative structural concept was developed by Ripkens Wiesenkämper (structural engineers) using ALLPLAN.

Timber engineering under tight constraints

Authorities granted permission for a replacement structure only, so the footprint and the original curved profile had to be retained. Unlike the old steel hall, the new hangar would be built in timber.

To express an industrial aesthetic with a sense of lightness, Smyk Fischer (architects) chose a truss solution. Ripkens Wiesenkämper, together with Marx Krontal Partner, developed a purely timber truss system that, thanks to nearly 600 engineered timber nodes and beams, requires no steel.

The structure comprises 15 two-hinged arches, each 26m high. Top chords and diagonal members integrate into a cross-laminated timber (CLT) roof shell, while an aluminum standing-seam cladding forms the outer skin.

A standout feature is the double-leaf door. Each 72-ton wing requires precise handling of large movable components. Dr Schippke + Partner delivered the door engineering, combining massive hinges with a guided track system driven by 80-horsepower electric motors.

A benchmark in circular construction

Beyond its distinctive form, the hangar advances sustainable practice . Using around 557 tons of spruce saved approximately 156 tons CO₂ versus a comparable steel solution.

The building also follows circular principles: both the timber frame and the aluminum skin are 100% demountable and designed for reuse or recycling. Components are documented in a building resource passport on the Madaster material database. Several elements are already “second-hand”: the substructure reuses foundations from the previous hall and the floor incorporates concrete slabs salvaged from a former logistics center.

Digital design at full precision

Ripkens Wiesenkämper used ALLPLAN to develop a complete 3D model, including complex connections and other critical zones. The model supported clash detection to resolve conflicts early and underpinned accurate material and cost estimation.

In parallel, the engineers created a reinforcement model for the foundations, enabling precise rebar layout and direct derivation of formwork and reinforcement drawings. Real-time, cloud-based planning allowed multiple designers to work simultaneously in the same ALLPLAN model.

Excellence recognised across the industry

The Airship Hangar Mülheim has become a symbol of innovative, sustainable construction. Honors include the Ernst & Sohn Engineering Award, the Architecture Award, the Timber Construction Award NRW and, most recently, the 2024 German Engineering Award (National Prize).

Moreover, the hangar has proven to be a double win for the city of Mülheim. The city not only gains a highly visible, iconic masterpiece of modern timber construction but also a very special event venue. On days when airships are not in operation, the hall can be used – and, above all, experienced – for events hosting up to 1,500 people.

The post Airship Hangar Mülheim: A landmark in advanced timber engineering appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Views from the AEC data lake

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 06:07:00 GMT

AEC firms are starting to recognise the value they could extract from their data, if only it weren’t scattered across countless systems, formats and project contributors. The answer for many is a shift away from proprietary files in favour of cloud-based databases that promise genuine ownership of data and better control over it

As companies in the AEC industry digitise, it’s increasingly recognised that their most valuable asset is not to be found in drawings, models, or even the tools used to produce them. Their most valuable asset is the data buried inside every project – data that captures geometry, relationships, parameters, costs, clashes, RFIs, site records and more.

This data represents the accumulation of knowledge that a firm may have spent decades developing and supporting. Yet much of it is scattered across different formats and systems, often locked behind proprietary file structures and metered cloud APIs.

This familiar situation is accompanied by an uncomfortable truth: employees at these firms can open their files, they can view their models, but the firm does not meaningfully own or control the data within them. If employees want to analyse it, run automation on, or train an AI model using it, they must purchase additional subscriptions from their software provider, or even additional applications. As the industry chases meaningful digital transformation, this dependency has increasingly become a strategic liability.

Prefer a quick overview?
Jump to the executive summary at the end

But there is an alternative. AEC firms can benefit by shifting from files to their own in-house, cloud-based databases, gaining long-overdue control of their data and possibly freeing themselves from proprietary bottlenecks.

The answer may lie in data lakes and data lake houses, which offer an open data architecture where project data can live as governed, queryable, interoperable information, rather than isolated blobs inside Revit RVTs, AutoCAD DWGs or proprietary cloud databases. This is the landscape into which the industry is now moving.

RIP files

For thirty years, the AEC industry has revolved around files: RVTs, DWGs, IFCs, 3DMs, PDFs, COBie spreadsheets and thousands of others, all acting as containers for design intelligence. In the desktop era, this was entirely logical. Everything had to be saved, packaged, versioned and emailed. Files were the only workable abstraction.

But the reality of modern project delivery is vastly different from that of the 1990s. Today’s projects involve thousands of files, generated by hundreds of tools, frequently being used by people working across multiple firms. The result is a digital environment that is fragmented, brittle and slow, one in which coordination headaches, data duplication and time delays are not bugs in the system but features of the file-based architecture itself.

Meanwhile, cloud platforms, APIs and increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming the defining technologies of modern workflows – and these technologies do not want files. They want structured, granular, persistent data that is streamable, queryable, validated and can be used by multiple systems simultaneously.

A monolithic RVT file cannot support real-time analysis, multimodal AI or firm-wide automation. It was never designed to perform that way.

In fact, firms are realising that their true competitive asset isn’t a file at all, but the data inside it, with its representations of objects, parameters, schemas and historical decisions. A file is simply a container that slows everything down, and because most file formats are proprietary, the data ends up trapped inside someone else’s business model.

Few voices have been more consistent, or more technically grounded on this point than Greg Schleusner, principal and director of design technology at HOK, who also represents the Innovation Design Consortium (IDC). For years, Schleusner has argued that the AEC industry must stop treating BIM as a file-based activity and start treating it as data infrastructure.

At NXT BLD, Schleusner laid out the problem plainly . Revit knows everything about an object the moment it is drawn, he told attendees, but that intelligence is locked inside a file until someone performs an export. That could be hours, days or weeks too late. As he put it: “It’s never been an issue getting the metadata out from Revit. It’s always just been the geometry that’s been the slow part.”

Schleusner began his presentation by analysing how the media & entertainment industry has solved similar problems. Pixar’s USD format became the standard for exchanging complex geometric and scene information across tools. Its depth far exceeds IFC, but it has no concept of BIM data. To tackle this issue, Nvidia and Autodesk’s Alliance for OpenUSD aims to extend USD into AEC, but this work is still in progress and is still far from replacing BIM data requirements.

HOK’s Greg Schleusner speaking at NXT BLD 2022 .

The more radical step in Schleusner’s research is his call to stop thinking about BIM models as files at all. Instead of exporting federated models, or waiting for ‘Friday BIM drops’, he proposes streaming every BIM object – every wall, window, beam, annotation – into an open database the moment it is authored. Each element would have its own identity, lifecycle and change history and would be immediately available for clash detection, rule validation, energy checks or analytics while the model is still being authored.

This vision is now driving a broader conversation about how AEC firms should manage their project data, and why data lakes and lake houses are becoming unavoidable.

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

Data lakes 101

To understand why the ‘data lake house’ has become such an important issue in AEC, it’s worth stepping back and looking at how other industries have navigated the data problem. The first major attempt to manage organisational data at scale arrived in the late 1980s with the data warehouse. Warehouses were designed for one job: to pull clean, structured information out of operational databases through a strict ETL (extract, transform and load) pipeline and then serve it up as predefined reports.

The data warehouse did this well, but only within narrow boundaries. Data warehouses were expensive, rigid and completely unprepared for the tidal wave of semi-structured and unstructured content that would later define the digital world, including images, logs, documents, telemetry, and later, multimodal information.

By the early 2000s, the so-called Big Data era hit. Organisations in every sector began generating vast amounts of high-velocity, highly varied data that had no obvious schema and traditional warehouses were overwhelmed. Their rigid structure was a poor fit for unpredictable information.

The tech industry response was the data lake, an architectural about-face: instead of structuring data before storage, firms dumped all data – structured, semistructured, unstructured – into a cheap cloud object store such as Amazon’s S3, and only transformed it later as needed. This ELT approach (extract, load, transform) offered enormous flexibility and scale, giving rise to a marketing narrative that data lakes were the future.

But early data lakes quickly developed severe problems. Without governance or schema control, they quickly became data swamps – vast, murky repositories, in which inconsistent, duplicated and unvalidated data accumulated in an uncontrolled manner. Querying could be painfully slow. Trust in data deteriorated. And critically, data lakes lacked transactional integrity: a system could be reading data as another was rewriting it, resulting in broken or inconsistent results.

In short, data lakes solved storage issues but broke reliability, governance and performance – three qualities that AEC firms need more than most.

The data lake house emerged as the solution to this tension. It combines the low cost, infinitely scalable storage of a data lake with the structure, reliability and transactional control of a warehouse. It does this by adding a relational-style metadata and indexing layer directly over open format files stored in cloud object storage.

HOK’s Greg schleusner spoke at NXT BLD 2025 .
Watch the full presentation here

This hybrid design is the critical step that can turn a loose collection of files into something that behaves like a ‘proper’ database. With this metadata layer in place, a lake house can guarantee ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) transactions, meaning that multiple systems can read and write simultaneously. It enforces schema, so project data follows well-defined structures. It maintains full audit trails, so lineage and accountability are preserved. And it allows BI tools, analysis engines and AI models to run directly on the live dataset, rather than duplicating extracts and creating conflicting versions.

For AEC, this is not just convenient. It is foundational. AEC project data is inherently multimodal and includes solid models, meshes, drawings, schedules, reports, energy data, specifications, RFIs, documents, photos and point clouds, as well as the metadata that ties them together. A single Revit file can contain thousands of elements with their own parameters, relationships and behaviours. Trying to run AI, automation or cross-disciplinary analysis on this information using file-based workflows is like trying to do real-time navigation with a paper map that’s updated once a week.

In short, the lake house shifts the paradigm. A project dataset sits in one place, in open formats, behaving like a continually updated, queryable database. The file no longer defines the project; the data does.

At the base of most lake houses sits Apache Parquet, a columnar storage format that has become the industry standard. Parquet stores data by column rather than by row. That may sound minor, but it is transformative for analytical workloads. Most queries only need a few columns, so engines can read exactly what they need and skip everything else, reducing I/O dramatically. This is crucial in AEC, where models can contain thousands of parameters, but only a handful are needed for any given check.

Parquet’s openness is equally important. It avoids the proprietary format trap that has hamstrung AEC for decades. Once your project data is in Parquet, any tool in the open ecosystem, from Python and Rust libraries to cloud engines like Databricks, Snowflake or open-source query engines, can read it natively. You no longer need to negotiate with vendors or wait for APIs to mature. The data is yours.

If Parquet provides the necessary storage, then Apache Iceberg provides the intelligence. Iceberg is an open table format originally developed at Netflix to bring reliability, versioning and high performance to massive data lakes. It adds a metadata layer that tracks the state of a table using snapshots. Each snapshot refers to a manifest list, which itself points to a set of manifest files acting as indexes for the underlying Parquet data.

A manifest is effectively a catalogue: it lists which Parquet files belong to a table, how they are partitioned, what columns they contain and how the dataset has changed over time. Rather than scanning thousands of files to answer a query, Iceberg reads the manifests and instantly understands the structure.

This is an elegant solution with significant consequences. It delivers consistent views, because every query targets a specific snapshot, ensuring results remain complete and coherent even as new data is being written. It provides true transactional safety, where any change is either fully committed as a new snapshot or not committed at all. And it supports genuine schema evolution, allowing columns to be added, removed or renamed, without having to rewrite terabytes of Parquet files, an essential capability for long-lived AEC datasets. Together, Parquet and Iceberg deliver the reliable, unified project database that the AEC industry has never had before.

Big AEC benefits

Once AEC project data sits inside an open lake house – structured, governed and queryable – the benefits begin to accumulate quickly. The most immediate shift is that data finally becomes decoupled from the authoring tools that produced it. Instead of each BIM package jealously guarding its own silo of geometry and metadata, the project information lives in a neutral space where any tool can read it.

This single change unlocks capabilities that, until now, have been aspirational rather than practical. Firms can build their own QA systems that directly interrogate geometric and metadata standards across every project model, regardless of whether the source was Revit, Tekla Structures, Archicad or anything else. There is no export step, no format translation, no broken parameters. The data is just there, in a clean schema, ready to be queried.

With proper schema enforcement, elements, parameters, cost codes and property sets follow firm-wide standards. That finally makes automated reporting reliable, rather than a brittle sequence of half-working scripts – something the industry has talked about for a decade.

Once a dataset becomes trustworthy, AI and machine learning models become dramatically more effective. Instead of scraping data from a handful of projects, a firm can train predictive systems on its entire project history. Models can forecast costs from early design parameters, identify risky design patterns from past change orders, predict schedule risks or optimise building layouts for energy performance. These capabilities are not theoretical. They are exactly the sort of AI workloads that other industries have been running for years, but which have been hamstrung in AEC due to poor data foundations.

The same architecture also enables genuinely federated collaboration. Instead of exchanging bloated files, firms can give project partners secure, query-level access to precisely the objects or datasets they require, all drawn from a live single source of truth. A clash engine could read from the same table as a cost tool, which could read from the same table as an AI model or an internal search engine. That interoperability is the essence of BIM 2.0: a move away from document exchange and toward continuous data exchange.

In short, the lake house doesn’t just solve a technical problem. It opens a strategic opportunity: for firms to build their own intellectual property, automation tools and data-driven insights on top of a foundation that is finally theirs.

Automation penalties

As the industry accelerates toward automation-heavy workflows, the commercial incentives for large software vendors are beginning to shift in uncomfortable ways. Automation reduces the number of manual, named-user licences — the traditional revenue backbone of the design software business. And history suggests vendors rarely accept declining per-seat income without looking for compensatory levers elsewhere.

In today’s tokenised subscription world, that compensation mechanism may lead to higher token prices, steeper token consumption rates for automated processes, and an overall rebalancing designed to recover revenue lost to more efficient, machine-driven workflows. In effect, the more automation delivers value to practices, the more vendors will seek to recapture that value through metered usage.

This is precisely why the conversation around data lakes and lakehouse architectures matters so much. Owning your data is no longer a philosophical stance, it’s a strategic defence. If automation becomes a toll road, then firms need control of the highway. By centralising and owning their data, and by running automation on their own plain field rather than someone else’s, practices can decouple innovation from vendor metering and protect themselves from being priced out of the very efficiencies’ automation is meant to provide.

Data extraction

The next challenge is practical: how does the industry transition from thousands of RVTs, DWGs, IFCs and other formats to an environment in which project data lives as granular, structured, queryable information?

For past projects, there is no shortcut. Firms must extract their model archives – geometry, metadata, relationships – and convert them into open formats that the lake house can govern. This is labour-intensive but unavoidable if firms want their historical data to fuel analytics and AI.

But the real transformation begins with live projects. At HOK, Schleusner has no interest in continuing to export files forever. He is designing a future in which BIM data streams from authoring tools as it is created and directly into the lake. Instead of waiting days or weeks for federated models or periodic exports, the goal is a steady flow of BIM objects, with each wall, room, door, system and annotation arriving in the lake house in real time.

This turns the lake house from an archive into a live, evolving representation of the project. Real-time clash detection stops being a dream and becomes standard practice. Rules-based validation can run continuously instead of catching issues once a week. Analytics and AI can operate on the dataset as it changes, not after the fact.

But there are practical barriers to all this. The first stumbling block for the live streaming of BIM objects – inevitably – is Revit. When Schleusner approached Autodesk to ask whether Revit could stream objects as they are created, as opposed to files being saved, the answer was an unambiguous ‘No’. Revit’s underlying architecture was simply not built for this. The geometry engine and much of the historic core remain predominantly single threaded, making real-time serialisation and broadcast of object-level changes impractical without significant performance penalties. In other words, the model cannot currently emit deltas as they occur.

Yet several vendors have found ways to work around these constraints. Rhino. Inside can interrogate Revit geometry dynamically. Motif claims to capture element-level deltas as they change. Speckle has developed its own incremental update mechanism capable of extracting small, structured updates, rather than monolithic payloads. Christopher Diggins, founder of Ara 3D and a contributor to the BIM Open Schema effort , has also demonstrated experimental object streaming from Revit and recently released a free Parquet exporter for Revit 2025.

A step in the right direction for Autodesk is its granular data access in Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), which generates separate feeds for geometry and metadata – but only after the file is uploaded and processed. This is useful for downstream analysis, but it is not true real-time streaming.

Meanwhile, Graphisoft is in the early stages of developing its own data lake infrastructure to support all of the many Nemetschek brands and their schemas. It’s certainly a trend that now is pervasive in the core AEC software suppliers.

As Schleusner puts it: “We don’t want to do what we currently have to do, which is every design or analysis tool running its own export. That’s just dumb.”

What the industry needs, he argues, is single export with multi-use. Data should be extracted once into an open, authoritative environment from which every tool can read and act. By putting BIM data into a shared platform, every tool, internal or external, can consume that data dynamically, without half the industry re-serialising or rewriting half the model every time they need to run a calculation, test an option, or update a view.

His experiments have ranged from SAT and STL to IFC and mesh formats, but none have provided the fidelity and openness he needs. His preference today is for open BREP – rich, precise, and free from proprietary constraints.

This is where the next piece of the puzzle appears: the Innovation Design Consortium (IDC). This group is emerging as the most significant collective data initiative the AEC sector has seen. It is a public-benefit corporation, comprising many of the largest AEC firms, primarily drawn from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Large Firm Roundtable. These firms are pooling resources to solve shared data problems that no individual firm could tackle alone.

Schleusner joined the IDC’s executive committee nearly three years ago and brought with him a clear, technically grounded vision: to create a vendor-neutral foundation for project data that enables the streaming, storage and governance of BIM objects in an open, queryable architecture.

He is candid about why the industry hasn’t done this before: “The reason this has not been done or thought of being done today is because there’s no open schema that can actually hold drawing information, solid model representation and mesh representation.”

In his research, the closest fit he has found so far is Bentley Systems’ iModel, a schema and database wrapper that can store BIM geometry, metadata, drawings and meshes while supporting incremental updates. Crucially, iModel is now open source. That gives the IDC something the industry has never had: an adaptable, extensible schema that can act as the wrapper for all the lovely data.

There are caveats, of course. Solid models in iModel use Siemens’ Parasolid kernel, which is still proprietary. Some translation challenges remain. But as a starting point for an industry-wide intermediary layer, it is far further along than anything Autodesk, Trimble or Graphisoft have offered, although Bentley will still need to do some re-engineering.

The IDC is no longer in its prototype phase. It is actively building real tools for its member firms: extraction utilities, schema definitions, lake house integrations, and proof-of-concept pipelines that show Revit, Archicad, Tekla Structures and other tools publishing into a shared, vendor-neutral space.

The goal is not another file format. It is a live representation of BIM objects that can feed clash engines, QA systems, cost tools, search engines and AI pipelines without rewriting half the model each time.

The IDC also plans to support AI directly. “We’re going to start hosting an open-source chat interface that can connect to IDC, provide data and individual firms’ data, keeping them firewalled,” says Schleusner.

Another technology layer, Lance DB, is also being evaluated. This is emerging as one of the most compelling formats for a modern AEC lake house, because it solves a fundamental problem into which the industry is running headlong: multimodal data at scale.

BIM models are only one part of a project’s digital footprint. The real world adds drawings, specifications, RFIs, emails, photos, drone footage, point clouds, and increasingly, AI-generated embeddings. Traditional columnar formats like Parquet handle tabular data well, but struggle when you need to store and version media, vectors and other nontabular assets in the same unified system.

Lance was designed for this exact world. It brings the performance of a high-speed analytics engine, supports zero-copy data evolution, and treats images, video and embeddings as first class citizens. Netflix built it because its data is inherently multimodal – but so is that of AEC firms. A lake house built on Lance can finally treat all project information, geometry, documents and media, as one coherent, queryable dataset.

This is the first genuine attempt to build a shared AEC data infrastructure, one that is not driven by a vendor, but instead by firms who actually produce the work.

Another uncomfortable truth is that even if the industry succeeds in building a lake house for BIM data, model geometry and parameters alone are not enough to power meaningful holistic AI of project data. Having a model only will miss the context that lives in issues, approvals, RFIs, change orders, design intent and all those emails.

Worse, the data that does exist is scattered across owners, architects, engineers, specialists, CDEs and contractors. No single party holds the entire picture.

As Virginia Senf at Speckle explains: “It may be the large general contractors and top-tier multidisciplinary consultants who are best positioned to assemble project datasets, because owners are now demanding outcomes, not drawings.

“AECOM’s recent shift toward consultancy reflects this. But even if you gather everything, historical models are often inconsistent or simply wrong, a lot of legacy BIM data is unsuitable for analytics or AI at all.”

The way forward

The shift to a data lake house isn’t an IT upgrade. It is a re-platforming of the AEC business model. Firms have spent decades selling hours, yet the real value they have generated – the patterns, insights, decisions and accumulated knowledge encoded in their project data – remains locked inside proprietary files and vendor ecosystems.

A lakehouse finally gives firms a way to monetise what they actually know. Data stops being a dormant archive and becomes a living asset that can predict outcomes, guide design intelligence, improve bids and reduce risk.

What makes this moment significant is that the architecture is now proven. Open formats such as Parquet and Iceberg have stabilised. Cloud object storage is cheap and mature. Tools capable of extracting BIM data into open schemas exist. And, crucially, the first coordinated industry effort, the IDC, is bringing firms together to build a shared, vendor-neutral foundation for the next decade of digital practice.

Moving from siloed, proprietary files to an open, unified, AI-ready lake house is the clearest path to future-proofing an AEC firm. Especially when software companies are increasingly looking to toll ‘automated’ seat licences, which are used to batch process workflows using APIs to access the data.

The lakehouse replaces brittle integrations and repetitive exports with a single source of truth that every tool, and every emerging multimodal AI system, can build upon – and your practice will own its own data.

If BIM 1.0 was about authoring tools, BIM 2.0 is about the data itself — structured, queryable and controlled by the firms who produce it.

The IDC architecture is currently in development and will be adopted by its members when it’s ready. Wider distribution is currently being considered. For now, a number of very large firms have their own experiments internally and are deploying resources to build their own lakehouse stacks, mainly to own their own IP, run their own applications and experiment with creating bespoke AI tools and agents.

AEC Magazine will continue to explore this topic from a number of different angles in 2026 and it will certainly be a hot topic at NXT BLD in London – 13-14 May .

To join in this development work, membership is available through the IDC .

Executive summary for normal humans

To many in the AEC industry, data lakes and lake houses sound very much like approaches about which only a CIO or software engineer would care. But the truth is far simpler: this is about finally getting control of your own project information, and stopping the madness of exporting, duplicating and re-formatting the same models over and over again.

Think of a BIM file as a shipping container. Everything you need is technically inside it, but you can only open it from one end and moving it around is slow and clumsy. If you need one box from the back, you still have to haul the entire container to take out its contents.

A lake house is the opposite. It behaves like a warehouse in which every object inside a project – every wall, room, door, parameter, schedule item, photo, scan or RFI – sits neatly on a shelf. It is indexed, searchable and instantly accessible. Nothing has to be unwrapped, exported or repackaged. Every tool, whether internal or external, sees the same live information at the same time. This immediately solves three of the most familiar pain points in BIM delivery.

The first is speed: in a file-based world, clashes are found tomorrow, or Friday, or at the coordination meeting. In a lake house, clashes appear while someone is still modelling the duct. Checking rules, validating properties, or running energy assessments can happen continuously, not in slow cycles defined by exports.

Second comes ownership: right now, firms only ‘own’ their data in theory. In practice, it sits inside proprietary formats and cloud silos, to which access is metered, limited or simply not available. A lake house flips that. The data sits in open formats you can control yourself. Vendors don’t get to decide what you can do with your own project information.

The third issue is AI deployment: every firm wants to apply AI to its project history, but almost no firm can, because the data is so scattered. A lake house finally puts all data in one well-governed venue, so that AI tools can use it. The future will be AI agents working on your project information doing cost prediction, design optimisation, risk profiling, automated documentation – all the things that many professionals in the AEC industry would love to see.

This shift isn’t about technology for its own sake. It’s about reducing rework, stopping duplication, ending lock-in, improving quality and giving firms back control of the knowledge they already produce. For an industry built on coordination, clarity and shared understanding, it sounds like a transformation we need.

Explainer: Netflix’s lake house solution

Some years ago, Netflix faced almost exactly the same problem the AEC industry struggles with today: mountains of fragmented, multimodal data, scattered across incompatible systems. Its crisis wasn’t content creation. It was scale, complexity and chaos – the same forces reshaping digital AEC.

Netflix’s media estate spanned petabytes of wildly different content: video, audio, images, subtitles, descriptive text, logs, user-generated tags and, increasingly, AI-generated embeddings. Each data type lived in its own silo. Data scientists spent more time hunting and cleaning data than training models. Collaboration slowed. Infrastructure costs soared. No one had a unified view of the organisation’s own assets.

To solve this, Netflix built a ‘media data lake’, using an open multimodal lake house architecture centred on the Lance format. Lance allowed Netflix to store every data type in one system, with relational-style metadata, versioning and schema evolution layered directly over cloud object storage. Critically, Lance enabled zerocopy data evolution — teams could add new AI features, such as embeddings or captions, without rewriting the underlying petabytes of source video.

The parallel with AEC is obvious. AEC’s data is just as varied and just as with pre-lake house Netflix, this information is locked inside singlepurpose tools. Every application exports its own version of the truth. Every team maintains its own copy. Every AI initiative begins with cleaning up someone else’s chaos.

The Industry Data Consortium’s pursuit of “single export, multi-use” is effectively the AEC version of Netflix’s journey. By extracting project data into open Parquet tables and managing them via Iceberg, firms gain a single source of truth that supports transactional integrity, schema governance and reliable engineering workflows.

Suddenly, AI pipelines, energy report parsers, internal search tools and firm-wide assistants become possible — because the data is unified, structured and finally under the firm’s control.

Explainer: Parquet and Iceberg

Parquet and Iceberg form the backbone of the AEC data lake house. Why?

Apache Parquet has emerged as the AEC industry’s open file format of choice, storing data by column rather than by row – a simple shift that transforms performance. Most analysis only needs data from a handful of columns, so engines can read exactly what they need and skip everything else. When working with AEC data – thousands of BIM parameters, millions of elements – this reduction in I/O is essential.

Apache Iceberg, originally developed at Netflix, brings database-like intelligence to raw Parquet files. It adds a metadata layer that tracks tables using snapshots, each one referring to a set of manifest files. A manifest is essentially an index: a lightweight catalogue listing exactly which Parquet files belong to the table, what they contain, and how the dataset is partitioned.

Instead of scanning thousands of files to understand the table, Iceberg simply reads the manifests. This gives the lake house the qualities AEC desperately needs consistent views, transactional safety, version control and the ability to evolve schemas without rewriting terabytes of data.

The post Views from the AEC data lake appeared first on AEC Magazine .

Trimble builds AI strategy around agentic AI platform

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:25:00 GMT

As industry giants continue to flesh out their AI strategies, Trimble’s Dimensions conference in Las Vegas earlier this month was an opportunity for the company to relay its own plans for integrating the technology with its various products and services

Where is the construction software market headed and what role is AI likely to play in it? These are the two questions that Trimble executives were keen to address at the company’s annual Dimensions conference, held in Las Vegas in November 2025.

While many vendors seemingly feel obliged to label every product announcement as ‘AI-driven’, Trimble’s message suggests a more considered strategy, based on embedding agentic AI across its technology stack and within the workflows of customers and partners.
At the heart of this strategy is a new agentic AI platform, designed to provide a standardised foundation for building agents, complete with services for their deployment, security and management.

Trimble positions Trimble Agent Studio as both an internal development layer and an extensible system on which customers and partners can build. The company arguably has little choice but to take this route. After all, construction is a fragmented market, so any AI push that sees the technology embedded directly within individual products would simply carry that fragmentation forwards. In other words, AI needs to be a foundational technology, not a bolt-on.

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A platform-first approach

Trimble’s response is its Agent Studio, which abstracts the plumbing to enable multi-agent workflows and cross-tool automation. Trimble Agent Studio is currently in pilot testing at a handful of select customers.

Executives at Trimble say this platform-first approach is necessary because the number of AI use cases emerging in construction is outpacing any vendor’s ability to build bespoke features. The theory is that an agentic layer lets Trimble embed intelligence into onboarding, object generation, data search, field reporting and asset maintenance more consistently, rather than replicating engineering work across SketchUp , Tekla , ProjectSight, Viewpoint and Trimble Connect.

In practice, this is also an attempt to reinforce the company’s wider ‘Connect and Scale’ strategy, an ongoing push to break down internal data silos and move towards a more coherent ecosystem.

The practical expression of this is seen in the AI features funnelling through Trimble Labs, the company’s early-access programme. SketchUp already has AI rendering available, with object generation and an assistant planned for late 2025. Tekla has rolled out user and developer assistants and an AI-based cloud drawing capability. ProjectSight offers help agents, auto-submittals and AI title block extraction in production, with daily report agents in testing. Similar assistants are on the way for Trimble Connect and Unity Maintain.

If the pace of this rollout seems brisk, a long list of phrases such as “expected in Q4 2025” and “available in early 2026” signals that this will be a multi-year transition rather than a ‘big bang’ delivery of a fully realised AI ecosystem.

New dimensions

Perhaps the most grounded Dimensions announcement was that relating to ProjectSight 360 Capture, a new workflow that brings 360-degree imagery directly into Trimble’s project management and collaboration environment.

The idea is simple enough: the user walks a site equipped with a 360-degree camera, an AI algorithm maps the path automatically, and the imagery is stitched back into drawings to form a living record of as-built conditions. The system aligns images, filters out faces for privacy, links images to tasks and workflows, and allows comparisons of progress over time.

This move feels overdue. The market has been moving towards integrated reality capture for years, with various point solutions offering site-walk automation, issue documentation and progress tracking. Trimble’s advantage lies not in the novelty but in its ability to tie the captures directly into broader workflows via ProjectSight and Trimble Connect, and by extension into ERP systems such as Spectrum and Vista. Issue identification and resolution, from BCF topics to change orders, becomes part of a single ecosystem rather than a patchwork of uploads and shared links. This is precisely the type of connective tissue the industry has historically struggled to solve. Trimble’s vision makes this look more tangible.

The company also took the opportunity to announce Trimble Financials at the Dimensions event. This targets small contractors who lack the skills, time and staff to manage full ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems. Instead, this new subscription tool handles job costing, AP/AR visibility, cashflow dashboards and proposal generation, backed by an AI assistant capable of answering basic financial questions.

Taken together, the announcements relating to Trimble Agent Studio, ProjectSight 360 Capture and Trimble Financials all point to a company that is knitting together what has previously been a broad and somewhat disjointed portfolio into something more unified, using AI for both connective logic and marketing narrative.

Whether an agentic platform can genuinely standardise workflows across the full range of Trimble products remains to be seen – but Dimensions 2025 delivered a coherent signal of intent that Trimble’s AI will be grounded in delivering real workflows.

The post Trimble builds AI strategy around agentic AI platform appeared first on AEC Magazine .

Aecom acquires AI start-up Consigli

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 17:05:00 GMT

Deal, which is worth a reported $390m, has raised eyebrows across the AEC industry

Global infrastructure engineering giant Aecom has acquired Norwegian AI start-up Consigli, in a deal worth 4 billion NOK (approx US $390m), according to Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) .

Prior to the acquisition, Aecom and Consigli had worked together on several projects. Consigli founder and CEO Janne Aas-Jakobsen will take up the role of head of AI engineering at Aecom.

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

The acquisition marks a notable shift in the AEC software landscape, where startups are typically snapped up by established software vendors rather than their customers. It suggests that Aecom views Consigli’s technology — and its engineering talent — as a strategic differentiator.

Consigli brands itself as “The Autonomous Engineer”, an AI agent for space analysis, unit optimisation, automated MEP loadings, level 3 modelling, report generation, plant room optimisation, tender documents de-risking, O&M docs and more. The company claims its technology gives reductions in engineering time of up to 90%. It is not yet clear if Consigli will remain a commercial entity or will only be for Aecom’s internal use.

For Aecom, the deal addresses a growing battleground: the convergence of construction services and embedded predictive software. With project margins under pressure and clients demanding real-time data-driven insights, owning a targeted AI layer would offer a differentiator

From Consigli’s perspective, being part of a global infrastructure services business opens access to large-scale projects and the global engineering-delivery pipeline. And, if DN’s reported figure of $390 million is correct, it’s the exit many start-ups in this space can only dream of.

The acquisition has raised eyebrows across the AEC industry. Software vendors weighing potential startup targets may now feel added pressure, and losing one to a customer could spark a frenzied wave of negotiations. Meanwhile, other AECO firms may feel compelled to behave more like tech companies — or risk being pushed into commodity territory.

Consigli was approached for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.

Consigli founder and CEO Janne Aas-Jakobsen spoke at NXT BLD 2025 .
Watch the full presentation here

Consigli founder and CEO Janne Aas-Jakobsen joins Nvidia’s Jeff Mottle on stage at NXT BLD 2025 .
Watch the full presentation here

Main image caption: On stage at NXT BLD 2025: Consigli founder and CEO Janne Aas-Jakobsen will now be Head of AI Engineering at Aecom

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Why digital modelling must start at the policy stage

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 10:32:00 GMT

If governments do not model before they promise major infrastructure projects, they risk promising what they can never deliver, warns Dan Ashton of Proicere Digital

When the government announced in September that plans for new train infrastructure in the North of England would be delayed , ministers were quick to stress that they wanted to avoid “another HS2”.

The high-speed rail project – like so many public projects – has become a byword for spiralling costs, exaggerated promises, missed deadlines and political headaches.

But the lesson from HS2 is not just that the UK needs tighter budgets and more rigorous oversight. It is that projects are often politically committed before they are technically validated. Announcements come first, reality checks later. And by the time the technical detail is stress-tested, ministers have already promised a scheme that may never be deliverable as sold.

This is precisely where digital planning tools, such as 4D construction sequencing, building information modelling (BIM) – and, arguably more importantly, digital twins – could make the difference. The technology exists to simulate, model and interrogate a project before ground is broken. The problem is that in the UK, these technologies tend to be introduced after political announcements, not before.

Digital ‘after the fact’

HS2 is a case in point. The project’s “ Virtual Railway ” digital twin now in use allows engineers to simulate rail operations and construction logistics in detail.

Yet by the time it was deployed, fundamental decisions on route, scope and budget had already been made – attracting much criticism from analysts at the time . Digital modelling was applied to deliver the scheme more efficiently, rather than to validate the scheme before it was announced.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has alluded to this problem, calling for stronger governance of publicly funded megaprojects in its March 2025 report .

BIM, meanwhile, has been mandated for centrally procured projects since 2016, but mainly at the design and delivery stages. While BIM is mandated on centrally procured projects, consistent early-stage use (before design freeze) remains patchy across the UK public sector.

Countries such as Singapore and Denmark take a more proactive approach, embedding digital modelling early in public projects. In Singapore, BIM supports planning and approvals; in Denmark, public clients expect BIM deliverables from concept stage.

While not every project begins with a full model, both show how early adoption leads to stronger policy and design decisions. The UK still lags behind in applying digital planning as a policy tool rather than a delivery aid.

The government’s pain points

It is too simplistic to expect government departments to “invest in digital earlier” for the following reasons:

Political timing pressures: Ministers are under pressure to announce bold projects quickly, often before detailed feasibility work is complete.
Skills and capability gaps: Civil service teams may lack the in-house expertise to commission or interpret complex digital models.
Procurement inertia: Current procurement rules make it cumbersome to bring in digital consultants at the “ideas” stage without triggering lengthy tenders.
Budget optics: Spending millions on consultants before a project is even approved risks being painted as wasteful.

These challenges must be acknowledged if we aim to make digital planning part of government decision-making culture.

4D planning: Upfront costs – but big savings downstream

The budget optics are particularly tricky. Ministers know that if they announce early spending on consultants, they risk excoriating headlines in the Daily Mail or a grilling on
the Today programme. Yet this is precisely where digital planning needs reframing.

Admittedly, digital planning requires higher upfront investment compared with traditional planning. Creating a 4D model of a project , running digital twin simulations or commissioning integrated BIM models is not cheap. But the savings, created through risk avoidance, are orders of magnitude greater.

It is well documented that the later design changes are made, the more significantly these changes increase costs due to rework, wasted time and lost productivity, with studies showing that design and construction rework can add between 5% and 15% to project costs – increases that are often avoidable through better upfront planning.

Every pound spent on digital planning upfront saves many more in avoiding redesign, compensation and cancellation later. It is far cheaper to discover a clash or an unrealistic
timetable on a digital model than to re-engineer concrete already poured.

A 4D schedule allows stakeholders to explore how tasks interact in time and space, in a way that is not possible with static 3D models. This includes ensuring access, avoiding
rework and safely coordinating multiple trades and vehicle movements in confined areas. Time-lapsed simulations often expose risks invisible in static models, enabling design teams to resolve them before construction begins.

For one nuclear industry infrastructure programme exceeding £1bn in value, for example, 4D workflows helped identify over £80m in potential rework. Extrapolate that for a project like Northern Powerhouse Rail, with a conservative estimate of £5bn, and it is reasonable to assume avoidance of errors that would have cost the taxpayer upwards of £400m.

Practical solutions

Modern governance no longer relies solely on paper-based reviews. Digital assurance systems demonstrate how artificial intelligence (AI) and automation can continuously test project data, giving decision-makers live confidence in cost, schedule and scope before approvals are made.

How, then, can the government embed digital earlier without creating new bureaucracy or political risk? Here are some practical solutions for overcoming resistance and winning over the sceptics:

Policy sandboxes: Commission short, contained digital modelling exercises known as ‘sandboxes’ at the policy stage, to test assumptions confidentially before projects are announced.

For example, using existing data from Network Rail, Ordnance Survey and local authorities, a small team of digital consultants would build lightweight 4D and BIM models of several rail route or delivery options. These models would simulate real-world issues such as costs, timelines, development of land, logistics and carbon impact, giving policymakers a clear view of feasibility before promises are made.

If exposed as weak by modelling, the concept can be quietly dropped. But if a strong concept is validated, the government can proceed with the confidence that the plan has been stress-tested against data instead of wishful thinking.

Capacity building: Pair consultants with civil servants to train teams, so government departments become “intelligent clients” of digital tools – levelling up knowledge!

A digital consultancy can help ‘level up’ knowledge through short, non-technical training sessions and live demonstrations that show policymakers how to ‘read’ and interrogate digital models, challenge assumptions and use visual evidence to guide decision-making.

The aim here is to equip civil servants and ministers with the ability to ask the right questions early, justify digital investment publicly and make evidence-based infrastructure decisions.

Tie digital validation to public funds: While the UK already has a series of project assurance checkpoints thanks to the Infrastructure & Projects Authority’s Gateway Reviews and the Five Case Model, these processes still rely largely on paper-based evidence.

A natural evolution would be to embed digital validation into these gates, creating a “model before you promise” step that uses live BIM, 4D and digital twin data, to prove feasibility before public commitments are made.

Data and models can be questioned before policy announcement and later, before parliamentary approval, to confirm that assumptions about cost, time, land use and environmental impact are supported by evidence. Each model offers the opportunity to test assumptions, challenge “optimism bias” and, if necessary, make fundamental changes, such as a course adjustment.

Prove value through transparency: The hiring of consultants in the public sector tends to be associated with waste and hollowing out of in-house expertise. It is therefore vital for the government to keep a sceptical media and electorate onside by being transparent about how a digital approach delivers measurable returns.

To demonstrate value, therefore, departments should publish data showing the cost of early digital modelling compared with the cost of overspends and delays avoided.

Regular reports may describe the uncertainties that were clarified, what options were ruled out and the value of potential overspend that was prevented. Digital spend may thus be regarded as an insurance premium that protects both taxpayers’ money and the government’s reputation.

A chance to restore credibility

The UK’s infrastructure credibility is fragile. HS2 is only the latest in a string of projects that have eroded public trust in government promises. The decision to delay northern rail proposals underlines the fear of repeating mistakes.

Adopting a digital-first mindset at the policy stage is not a panacea. Political realities, procurement rules and capacity limits will always shape what is possible. But it is a powerful way to reduce the risk on public projects before ministers go out on a limb.

If governments do not model before they promise, they risk promising what they can never deliver. And if they cannot deliver, no amount of reannouncements, rephasing or rebranding will restore credibility.

The good news is that today’s 4D digital planning technologies have proved their value in construction and the manufacturing industry. Moreover, harnessing artificial intelligence, these technologies are likely to become only more powerful – analysing more datasets, from logistics to environmental constraints, identifying patterns that humans miss and generating optimised scenarios faster.

All that is required is the will to use digital planning as a tool for policy formation, not just delivery. It is, after all, much cheaper to find problems on a computer screen than in concrete.

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Smarter, greener, more connected: Nemetschek Group highlights AI and digital twins at BIM World Munich

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 07:28:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence, including emerging agentic AI capabilities, is rapidly reshaping the way we design, build, and operate our built environment, as the Nemetschek Group will explore at BIM World Munich

At this year’s BIM World Munich, the Nemetschek Group , a leading global provider of software solutions for the AEC/O and media industries, will showcase together with its brands how AI is revolutionizing the built world and enhancing resource efficiency. In addition, numerous Nemetschek experts will provide insights into the latest trends in digitalization across the construction sector as part of the event’s presentation program.

At BIM World Munich 2025, taking place on 26 – 27 November at the ICM – International Congress Center Messe München, the Nemetschek Group will present its comprehensive and future-oriented solutions at joint booth number 9 on the ground floor. The booth will feature leading brands ALLPLAN, Bluebeam, CREM SOLUTIONS, dRofus, dTwin, Graphisoft, NEVARIS, Solibri, Spacewell, and Vectorworks (represented by ComputerWorks), as well as the Nemetschek AI & Data Innovation Hub and the start-up Imerso.

The focus lies on driving innovation in construction through the use of artificial intelligence, digital twins, and sustainability, thereby empowering more efficient, collaborative, and data-driven workflows across the entire industry. These developments demonstrate how digital transformation and intelligent tools can make planning, building, and operating processes smarter, faster, and more sustainable.

“We are proud to showcase how the Nemetschek Group is pioneering the next generation of digital solutions for the construction industry. Our commitment to open standards, ethical and trustworthy AI , and real-world impact underscores every innovation we bring to market. We look forward to engaging with customers and partners to drive progress and shape a more sustainable industry future together,” said Yves Padrines, CEO of the Nemetschek Group.

With over 250 speakers on eight stages, including numerous representatives of the Nemetschek Group and its brands, BIM World Munich provides valuable insights for all those involved in the AEC/O industry. At the same time, CAFM World will take place, highlighting advancements in facility and asset management as part of its broader focus on the digital lifecycle of buildings.

The Nemetschek Group’s presentations at a glance:

Wednesday, 26 November 2025

The Open Digital Twin Platform
- 11:00 – 11:25 | Breakout Session 3 | German
- Speakers: Martin Sikorski / Nemetschek dTwin, Andreas Steyer / Nemetschek dTwin
Vectorworks meets openBIM
- 11:25 – 11:50 | Breakout Session 2 | German
- Speaker: Antonio Landsberger / ComputerWorks GmbH
BIM4RealEstate
- 12:20 – 13:10 | CAFMWORLD Congress Stage | German
- Speakers: Sebastian Palmer / Phoenix Contact Deutschland GmbH, Detlef Niehues / Apleona GmbH, Andreas Steyer / Nemetschek dTwin
Digitalisierung beyond BIM
- 12:30 – 12:55 | Congress Stage 2 | German
- Speaker: Christoph Becker / Bluebeam
Think Space, Save Energy – Digitale Synergien zwischen Fläche und Energie (Think Space, Save Energy – Digital Synergies between Space and Energy)
- 14:20 – 14:45 | CAFMWORLD Congress Stage | German
- Speaker: Björn Otterbach / Crem Solutions
Graphisoft MEP Designer
- 14:35 – 15:00 | Breakout Session 1 | German
- Speaker: Holger Kreienbrink
An AI Revolution: Smarter Tools, Better Insights, Stronger Buildings
- 15:20 – 15:50 | Congress Stage 1 | English
  - Speaker: Momchil Marinov / Nemetschek Group
BIM-Ideal und Realität (BIM ideal and reality)
- 15:25 – 15:50 | Breakout Session 2 | German
- Speakers: Ingo Butterweck / Bluebeam GmbH, Patrick Scheer / Bluebeam GmbH
Examples of Digital Twins
- 15:10 – 15:35 | CAFMWORLD Congress Stage | English
  - Speaker: Dr. Jimmy Abualdenien / Nemetschek Group
The AI-Powered Future of AEC/O
- 17:15 – 17:40 | Congress Stage 1 | English
- Speaker: Fabian Riether / Nemetschek Group

Thursday, 27 November 2025

Die unterschätzten Möglichkeiten eines BIM-Modells (The underestimated possibilities of a BIM model)
- 10:00 – 10:25 | Breakout Session 1 | German
- Speaker: Andreas Damrau / NEVARIS Bausoftware GmbH
Abgleich Scan/BIM & As-built (Comparison of scan/BIM and as-built)
- 10:25 – 10:50 | Breakout Session 2 | German
- Speaker: Tilman Köberlein / Imerso
Vectorworks meets openBIM
- 10:50 – 11:15 | Breakout Session 2 | German
- Speaker: Antonio Landsberger / ComputerWorks GmbH
Digital Twin Workflows
- 13:40 – 14:05 | Breakout Session 2 | English
- Speaker: Dr. Jimmy Abualdenien / Nemetschek Group
KI-Agenten im Projektalltag (AI agents in everyday project work)
- 14:30 – 14:55 | Congress Stage 2 | German
- Speaker: Stefan Kaufmann / ALLPLAN
Eine Strategie für die Zukunft (A strategy for the future)
- 13:45 – 14:15 | Congress Stage 1 | German
- Speaker: Holger Kreienbrink / Graphisoft
Bluebeam MAX – KI im Bau (Bluebeam MAX – AI in construction)
- 14:05 – 14:30 | Breakout Session 2 | German
- Speakers: Ingo Butterweck / Bluebeam GmbH, Patrick Scheer / Bluebeam GmbH

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Managing aging water infrastructure: a proactive approach

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 07:54:00 GMT

By Keaton Clay, National Account Executive: Oldcastle Infrastructure CivilSense

Beneath our communities lies a complex network of pipes, pumps, and treatment infrastructure essential for public health, economic stability, and daily life. Much of this critical water infrastructure is aging, deteriorating, and increasingly vulnerable to failure. The consequences of failure are significant, including disruptive service interruptions, catastrophic main breaks and substantial financial losses through non-revenue water (NRW). For municipalities and water managers, shifting from a reactive repair model to a proactive asset management strategy is now a necessity.

The challenge is immense. Many of our nation’s water systems were built decades ago, with some pipes dating back over a century. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) consistently gives the nation’s drinking water infrastructure a “C-” grade, pointing to a water main break every two minutes and an estimated loss of six billion gallons of treated water each day. This NRW represents a massive drain on resources. It is water that has been abstracted, treated and pressurized at a significant cost, only to leak back into the ground without ever reaching the customer.

Addressing this issue requires a fundamental change in mindset, moving beyond emergency repairs to embrace a forward-thinking, data-driven approach to infrastructure management.

The High Cost of Reactive Maintenance

Historically, many water utilities have operated on a “run-to-failure” basis. Assets are repaired or replaced only after they break. While this might seem cost-effective in the short term, the long-term consequences are severe and multifaceted.

Financial Strain: Emergency repairs are significantly more expensive than planned maintenance. They involve overtime labor, expedited material procurement, and often result in more extensive damage to surrounding public and private property like roads and buildings.
Disruption: Unplanned shutdowns inconvenience residents and can cripple businesses that rely on a consistent water supply, such as restaurants, hospitals, and manufacturing plants, while main breaks directly disrupt and reduce access to businesses, infrastructure, and essential services.
Public Health Risks: Main breaks can lead to pressure loss in the system, creating a risk of contamination from groundwater infiltration. This can trigger boil-water advisories and pose a serious threat to community health.
Resource Depletion: Every gallon of water lost through leaks is a waste of the energy, chemicals, and labor used to treat and distribute it. In an era of increasing water scarcity and focus on sustainability, this level of waste is untenable.

The issue of NRW exacerbates these problems. It silently drains utility budgets, forces rate hikes for paying customers, and places unnecessary strain on water sources. Effectively managing an aging system means getting a handle on NRW.

The Power of Proactive Asset Management

A proactive approach to water infrastructure management focuses on understanding the condition of assets, predicting potential failures, and prioritizing maintenance and replacement activities to maximize system reliability and minimize lifecycle costs. This strategy empowers water managers to make informed decisions that extend the life of existing infrastructure while planning for future needs.

The benefits are clear and compelling:

Reduced Operational Costs: By identifying and repairing small leaks before they become major breaks, utilities can save millions in emergency repair costs, reduce water loss, and lower energy consumption for pumping.
Enhanced System Reliability: A planned maintenance schedule ensures that the most critical components of the network are in good working order, significantly reducing the frequency and impact of unexpected service interruptions.
Improved Capital Planning: With a comprehensive understanding of asset health, utilities can develop accurate, long-term capital improvement plans. This allows for strategic budgeting and prevents the financial shock of a sudden, large-scale failure.
Increased Sustainability: Conserving water by minimizing leaks is a powerful act of environmental stewardship. It protects precious water resources, reduces the carbon footprint associated with water treatment and distribution, and builds community resilience.

Implementing a proactive strategy is about moving from guesswork to data-driven certainty and requires the right tools and technologies.

Leveraging Technology for Intelligent Water Management

Modern advancements in sensor technology and data analytics have revolutionized how underground infrastructure is monitored and managed. These smart solutions provide the real-time visibility needed to transition from a reactive to a proactive operational model, allowing managers to see what’s happening within their distribution network without expensive and disruptive excavation.

With access to precise ROI data, water managers can transition confidently from traditional practices to advanced asset management models, ensuring sustainability and long-term savings.

This constant stream of data and actionable insights provides unprecedented system performance visibility. For water managers, this provides the ability to:

Detect Leaks Early: Subtle changes in flow patterns or water levels detected by sensors can indicate a leak long before it surfaces. This early warning allows crews to perform a targeted, planned repair at a fraction of the cost of an emergency response.
Monitor System-Wide Health: Aggregating data from multiple points provides a holistic view of the entire distribution network. This helps identify systemic issues and pinpoint areas of high water loss.
Predict Failures: Advanced analytics can process historical and real-time data to identify trends that signal an impending asset failure. This predictive capability allows utilities to intervene proactively and replace a vulnerable pipe or valve before it leads to a catastrophic event.

Building the Resilient Communities of Tomorrow

The challenge of aging water infrastructure is not going away. As pipes continue to age and climate change places additional stress on water resources, the need for intelligent, proactive management will only intensify. The cost of inaction is far too high to ignore.

Municipalities and water managers must take decisive steps to get ahead of the problem. This involves securing funding for infrastructure renewal, adopting comprehensive asset management plans, and embracing innovative technologies that provide critical operational insights.

About Oldcastle Infrastructure

Oldcastle Infrastructure, a CRH company, is a leading provider of engineered building solutions across North America. With nearly 80 manufacturing facilities and a workforce of over 4,000 employees, the company delivers a comprehensive portfolio of more than 16,000 products, including precast concrete, polymer concrete, and plastic components. These solutions serve critical sectors such as water , energy, communications, and transportation, supporting the development and maintenance of essential infrastructure.

Committed to sustainability and innovation, Oldcastle Infrastructure aligns its operations with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on responsible consumption, climate action, and the advancement of sustainable communities. As part of CRH plc, one of the world’s largest building materials companies, Oldcastle Infrastructure combines global resources with local expertise to deliver reliable, high-quality solutions that meet the evolving needs of modern infrastructure projects.

The post Managing aging water infrastructure: a proactive approach appeared first on AEC Magazine .

Vectorworks takes top honour for Architectural Design Software at 2025 Construction Computing Awards

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 07:41:00 GMT

Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc. , is proud to announce that its flagship product, Vectorworks Architect , has been named Architectural Design Software of the Year at this year’s Construction Computing Awards. Additionally, OMI Architects received the Sustainability Project of the Year award for their work on the Havelock project , designed using Vectorworks Architect

Located at 70 Great Bridgewater Street in Manchester, the Havelock project transformed a dated office building, formerly known as Evershed House, into a modern, energy-efficient workspace. Utilising Vectorworks Architect, OMI Architects collaborated closely with their project partners to coordinate design models, optimise building performance, and communicate design intent across every stage of development.

Commonly referred to as “The Hammers ,” the Construction Computing Awards recognise outstanding technologies, tools, and solutions that drive innovation and efficiency across the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. Winners were announced during a ceremony at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London.

Bringing “bold, sustainable ideas to life”

“We are delighted to be recognised by the Construction Computing Awards,” said Rubina Siddiqui, AIA, senior product marketing director at Vectorworks. “This honour reaffirms our commitment to empowering design professionals with tools that combine creative freedom, workflow efficiency, and sustainable design. In a time when innovation, agility, and environmental responsibility are more vital than ever, Vectorworks Architect helps designers bring bold, sustainable ideas to life — and this award reflects that impact.”

Vectorworks Architect empowers designers to sketch, model, and document within a fully integrated workflow. With powerful 2D graphics, advanced 3D modelling and visualisation tools, and seamless cloud collaboration through Vectorworks Cloud Services , the software enables unparalleled creative expression and technical precision.

Check out the latest Vectorworks software suite

The newly released Vectorworks Architect 2026 builds on this legacy with tools that streamline sustainability and elevate design performance. Highlights include the Sustainability Dashboard for carbon calculations, intuitive Worksheet Slicing, enhanced Depth Cueing, and new Door and Window Assembly tools — all created to give architects even more freedom to design without limits.

The complete list of winners is available here and will also be featured in the November/December issues of CAD User and Construction Computing magazines.

To learn more about the latest release, visit vectorworks.net/2026 .

The post Vectorworks takes top honour for Architectural Design Software at 2025 Construction Computing Awards appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

The IFC Data Validation Nightmare That Cost Me Weeks

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 18:19:00 GMT

The post The IFC Data Validation Nightmare That Cost Me Weeks appeared first on Bim Corner .

Nemetschek Group wins at Construction Computing Awards

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 07:56:00 GMT

The Nemetschek Group, a leading global provider of software solutions for the AEC/O and media industries, celebrated another success at this year’s Construction Computing Awards – affectionately known as “The Hammers” – in London. Nemetschek brands ALLPLAN , Graphisoft , and Vectorworks were honoured for their outstanding products

The renowned Construction Computing Awards recognise technologies, tools, and solutions in the planning, construction, maintenance, and conversion of commercial, residential, social buildings, and civil engineering projects of every scale.

This year marked the 19th edition of “The Hammers,” with the award ceremony held in London on November 6, 2025.

Nemetschek brands recieved more than 20 nominations

Nemetschek Group brands, including ALLPLAN, Graphisoft and Vectorworks, Inc., were nominated more than 20 times, including in the categories “Company of the Year,” “BIM Product of the Year,” “Architectural Design Software of the Year 2025,” and “Innovation of the Year.”

At the festive ceremony, ALLPLAN earned the “Cloud Based Technology of the Year 2025” award for its “ALLPLAN for BIMPLUS” platform, which is revolutionising cloud collaboration in the AEC industry. ALLPLAN was also recognised as runner-up in the “Structural Engineering Application of the Year 2025” category for ALLPLAN for SCIA.

Graphisoft was celebrated with the “BIM Product of the Year 2025” award – marking the fifteenth consecutive win for Archicad in this category. In addition, Graphisoft, together with Anotherkind Architects, won the “Digital Construction Project of 2025” award for the Sherwood Observatory project.

Vectorworks once again captured “The Hammers” award for Vectorworks Architect in the “Architectural Design Software of the Year 2025” category, with Graphisoft’s Archicad recognised as the runner-up in that field.

Using digital innovation to drive the industry forwards

“It is truly an honor to receive four of the ‘Hammers’ awards for the Nemetschek Group,” said Yves Padrines, CEO of the Nemetschek Group. “Our brands remain dedicated to putting our customers’ needs first in every product we create. My sincere congratulations and thanks go out to the teams of all our nominated brands – and especially to this year’s winners, ALLPLAN, Graphisoft and Vectorworks. Together, we are pushing the construction industry forward, addressing today’s complex challenges through digital innovation, and empowering our customers to help shape the world.”

ALLPLAN, Graphisoft, and Vectorworks, Inc. are part of Nemetschek Group’s Planning & Design Division. With its four segments – Planning & Design, Build & Construct, Operate & Manage, and Media & Entertainment – the Nemetschek Group covers the entire lifecycle of buildings and provides creative professionals in the media & entertainment industry with tools to develop 3D content, animations, graphics, videos, and computer games.

The post Nemetschek Group wins at Construction Computing Awards appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

The pragmatic path to smart buildings for existing estates

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 08:30:00 GMT

Lucas Cusack from Glider Technology explains why true value lies in the data, not the model

When we talk about “smart buildings”, it’s easy to assume that Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the starting point. The reality is that nine out of 10 buildings in use today weren’t designed with digital in mind. They predate BIM, yet they still hold enormous potential for digital transformation.

I have recently joined the new Start With Smart discussion group, which is bringing together cross-disciplinary professionals from around the globe to address the big disconnect between project delivery and building operations.

A central part of this conversation is how BIM-to-smart enablement can help plug this divide. This discussion was very timely, as it is linked to my talk on this very topic at the
recent Smart Buildings Show.

Legacy buildings lack structure

Across the built environment, only around 15%–25% of buildings are truly “smart”. Another 30%-40% have some form of building management system (BMS), while the remaining 40%-50% have little to no digital infrastructure at all. That’s a staggering proportion of assets effectively locked out of the smart building conversation. This isn’t because they lack potential but because they lack structure.

These buildings still generate and contain valuable information. From maintenance logs and energy readings to asset lists and floorplans, the information is often fragmented across spreadsheets, PDFs and paper documents. Without a consolidated data foundation, facility teams are forced into reactive management rather than proactive optimisation.

The real value of data

According to research by McKinsey, digital tools can reduce overall project costs by up to 45%, while advances in AI could deliver efficiencies equivalent to 25%-40% of an average asset manager’s cost base. JLL’s Dr Matthew Marson estimates that every $1 invested in smart building technology delivers about $3 in value over five years. That makes the commercial case for smart operations hard to ignore.

But these efficiencies aren’t driven by flashy 3D models. They’re driven by well-structured, accessible and connected data. Poor data management is a key reason many assets risk becoming “stranded” and unable to meet ESG, regulatory or operational standards.

A practical approach to smart building transformation

Think of a mechanic diagnosing a car fault. They don’t need a 3D blueprint of the engine to do their job. They use a digital diagnostic tool to read and interpret data.

The same principle applies to buildings. You don’t need to recreate your estate in BIM to make it smart. You just need to connect and understand the information you already have.

Start with what you have

The journey towards a smart, data-driven estate begins by working with what’s already available. Gather data from all possible sources. This might include BMS readings, Excel
schedules, maintenance records, PDFs, paper manuals and floorplans. The goal is to bring everything into one place where it can be accessed and managed.

Once you have consolidated your data, the next steps are simple.

1. Migrate and cleanse: Digitise paper records. Rename and tag files so they can be found easily. Remove duplicates and old versions.

2. Consolidate: Store or connect everything in a single secure platform. Make it searchable and auditable.

3. Structure: Build an Asset Information Model (AIM). This becomes the foundation for smarter, more efficient building operations.

The outcome is an Intelligent Asset Register. This is a living database of your building’s information that provides context, traceability and insight.

Making data meaningful

Creating structure around your information enables better decision-making. You can identify trends, track maintenance needs and forecast performance. You can also share data across teams and systems without losing accuracy or control. This is the foundation for any smart building strategy.

Spatial data adds even more value. Point Cloud and 360-degree photo scans give visual context without the need for a complex BIM model. These provide a clear, accessible view of spaces and assets, supporting maintenance, planning and operations.

Adopt BIM when it adds value

Once your data is structured, BIM can come later. You can adopt BIM standards gradually as you maintain and grow your data. This approach means that when a major refurbishment or system upgrade is needed, BIM can support that project without disrupting existing information.

This is BIM for operations rather than BIM for its own sake. It delivers real benefits and builds on a strong foundation of structured data.

Smarter doesn’t have to mean new

Legacy buildings have huge potential. With the right approach, they can perform just as well as newer, digital-native buildings. Smart operations are not about starting again or investing in unnecessary technology. They are about making sense of the data you already have and using it to make better decisions.

By creating structure, you unlock the value hidden in your information. You move from reactive management to proactive, data-led operations. And you open the door to digital transformation for buildings that were never designed to be digital in the first place.

For property and facilities managers looking to make progress today, the message is clear. You don’t need BIM to go smart. You just need a pragmatic approach to data.

If this is an area of interest and something you would like to discuss further, we invite you to join the Start With Smart group. This is where we’re continuing the conversation on how to bridge the divide between project delivery and operational value. We welcome your feedback and look forward to the discussion.

The post The pragmatic path to smart buildings for existing estates appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

The IFC Confusion: Why So Many Still Don’t “Get” OpenBIM (and How to Fix It)

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 19:24:00 GMT

The post The IFC Confusion: Why So Many Still Don’t “Get” OpenBIM (and How to Fix It) appeared first on Bim Corner .

Vom Laserscan zum Revit-Modell: Holzdach digital rekonstruiert

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 12:08:15 GMT

Gemeinsam mit Leica Geosystems haben wir einen Videokurs entwickelt, der den Aufbau eines historischen Dachstuhls in Autodesk Revit zeigt. Wir führen euch Schritt für Schritt durch den gesamten Prozess – von der Punktwolke bis zum fertigen 3D-Modell.

Im Kurs werden zwei Ansätze vorgestellt: die klassische Modellierung mit Trägerfamilien und die adaptive, parametrische Arbeitsweise – mit deutlichen Unterschieden in Präzision und Flexibilität. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf der adaptiven parametrischen Modellierung – einer Methode, mit der sich selbst komplexe Geometrien flexibel und effizient abbilden lassen.

Ziel des Kurses

Erstellung eines Revit-Modells einer historischen Dachkonstruktion (Holzbau), das auf einer Punktwolke basiert. Dabei werden zwei Methoden verglichen:

Klassische Modellierung mit Balkenfamilien
Adaptive Modellierung mit parametrischen Familien

Kursablauf – Arbeitsschritte

Vorbereitung

Archiv mit Projektdateien herunterladen und entpacken
Projekt in Autodesk Recap anlegen (E57-Datei importieren)
Punktwolke bereinigen und Koordinatenursprung korrekt setzen

Einrichtung in Revit

Neues Projekt starten, Punktwolke verknüpfen
Achsen, Ebenen und Bearbeitungsbereiche anlegen
Punktwolke in Revit richtig platzieren und fixieren
Sichtbarkeitsbereiche (Scope Box, View Range) einstellen

Konzeptionelle Modellierung

Erstellung einer konzeptionellen Dachform mit Referenzpunkten und -linien
Aufbau von Dach- und Turmgeometrien
Parametrische Steuerung (z. B. Dachwinkel, Höhen, Punkte)
Erstellung von adaptiven Linien und Flächen für spätere Holzrahmen

Architektonische Modellierung

Aufbau von Dach-, Boden- und Wandflächen auf Basis der konzeptionellen Form
Einfügen von Öffnungen (Fenster, Schornsteine)
Arbeiten mit Ansichtsvorlagen und Sichtbarkeitseinstellungen

Klassische Holzmodellierung

Verwendung einer Trägerfamilie (Beam Family)
Balken nach Punktwolkengeometrie ausrichten
Manuelle Winkel- und Schnittanpassungen über Parameter
Nachteile: hohe manuelle Nacharbeit bei Änderungen

Adaptive Holzmodellierung

Verwendung adaptiver Komponentenfamilien mit Referenzlinien
Automatische Anpassung an konzeptionelle Form
Platzierung von Sparren, Pfetten, Stützen und Streben
Parametrische Steuerung von Winkeln, Offsets und Längen
Deutlich flexiblere Anpassung an Änderungen der Form

Verfeinerung und Detailierung

Einfügen von Diagonalsparren, Querstreben, Pfetten und Stützen
Anwendung von Schnittfamilien zur präzisen Verbindungen
Überprüfung der Anpassungsfähigkeit (Parametrisierungstest)

Abschluss

Zusammenführen der Geometrie
Kontrolle in 3D- und Schnittansichten
Synchronisation und Abschluss des Projekts
Vergleich beider Methoden (klassisch vs. adaptiv)

Vectorworks launches Creative Genius Awards to celebrate bold, boundary-pushing designers

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 08:12:00 GMT

New Vectorworks Creative Genius Awards program invites designers to share their most imaginative work created in Vectorworks

Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc. , has announced the Vectorworks Creative Genius Awards , a new global competition recognizing designers who dare to break the mold and think differently.

The program invites creative professionals in architecture, interior, landscape, and entertainment design to submit their most daring and inventive projects — completed or in progress — that solve problems in unexpected ways and inspire fresh perspectives, for a chance to win a prize package featuring cash, innovative tech, and more.

Shaping the future of design

“Every bold idea starts with someone willing to think beyond limits,” says Vectorworks vice president of Customer Engagement John D’Addario. “With the Vectorworks Creative Genius Awards, we’re celebrating the innovators who reimagine what’s possible, challenge conventions, and inspire a global community of designers with their creativity. We’re excited to see the remarkable entries and the ways our customers’ ideas will continue to shape the future of design.”

One grand prize winner in each of the four categories: Architecture , Interior Design , Landscape Design , and Entertainment Design , will receive $5,000 USD, exclusive Vectorworks swag, a tech bundle, and more.

A panel of judges, comprised of Vectorworks executives, industry experts, and creative professionals, will evaluate submissions based on several criteria, including design quality, the use of Vectorworks features, originality and innovation, presentation, and sustainability.

Additionally, there will be specific criteria for each category that evaluate key aspects of bold design:

Architecture : Focus on adaptive reuse, contextual integration, and BIM workflows.
Interior Design : Emphasis on experiential quality, spatial innovation, and material usage.
Landscape Design : Consideration of ecological strategies, planting design, and site integration.
Entertainment Design : Emphasis on immersive experiences, technical complexity, and innovative use of Vectorworks Spotlight, and/or Braceworks , ConnectCAD , or the Showcase feature in Vectorworks Spotlight.

Designers are encouraged to share their genius by January 31

Winners will be announced during the Vectorworks Open House event in 2026. To be considered for an award, all designs and creative concepts must be created in Vectorworks. For more information and to enter, visit vectorworks.net/creative-genius-awards .

The post Vectorworks launches Creative Genius Awards to celebrate bold, boundary-pushing designers appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

AI extracts knowledge from past projects

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Tektome KnowledgeBuilder designed to turn know-how from past projects into “design Intelligence”

Tektome has unveiled KnowledgeBuilder, an AI -powered platform designed to automatically organise massive volumes of siloed project documents to help AEC teams make smarter decisions while avoiding repeated mistakes.

The software, already piloted by Takenaka Corporation, one of Japan’s largest construction firms, analyses and extracts key content from scattered files — including drawings, reports, photos, and handwritten notes on marked up PDFs — and consolidates the data into a central, structured, and “instantly searchable” knowledge base.

The platform enables architects and engineers to ask questions in plain language and quickly see how similar issues were handled in past projects, eliminating the need to “reinvent the wheel.”

According to the company, even non-IT staff can configure what to pull from drawings, proposals, photos or meeting minutes without coding or complex setup.

KnowledgeBuilder works across PDFs, CAD files (DWG and DXF), scanned images, handwritten markups, and more, with support for BIM files (RVT and IFC) coming soon.

Its search functionality includes two modes: combined filtering across project attributes, file-level attributes, and keywords for precise narrowing, and a semantic keyword search that understands context and synonyms, and highlights matches inside documents and drawings.

According to Tektome, this natural query ability helps teams retrieve critical insights on demand, greatly improving decision-making speed and confidence.

For its KnowledgeBuilder implementation, Takenaka Corporation established multiple working groups. On-site team members took the lead in verifying how as-built drawing data could be structured and after a three-month pilot programme, were able to set up their own custom extraction criteria tailored to their needs. This allowed them to quickly retrieve practical information such as past as-built drawings that matched specific project requirements, reference examples from similar projects, and summaries of relevant numerical data from previous designs.

Takenaka is now expanding the system by importing a larger volume of past as-built drawings and further enhancing search options and usability.

“The shift from manually searching hundreds of thousands of pages of drawings to instant access through natural language has revived veteran design expertise as actionable knowledge, allowing designers to focus on more creative tasks,” said Mr. Takaoka of the Structural Department, Design Division at Takenaka’s Tokyo headquarters.

The post AI extracts knowledge from past projects appeared first on AEC Magazine .

AI-powered construction ERP platform launches

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 13:50:00 GMT

Nexus from CMiC offers natural language processing, “construction intelligence” and agent-driven automation

CMiC has launched Nexus, a construction ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) platform powered by more than 25 intelligent AI agents. According to the company, Nexus redefines how construction teams interact with data, automate workflows, and make critical business decisions — enabling them to focus on high-value strategic work rather than repetitive processes.

“Our AI-powered features offer users advanced data visualization capabilities, business intelligence tools, and the ability to leverage natural language to optimise key business functions,” says Gord Rawlins, president & CEO, CMiC.

For project management, AI automates drawing uploads by extracting sheet numbers and titles, organises spec books into trade sections with CSI codes, and pre-fills submittal records to accelerate log creation.

The Project Pulse Dashboard uses sentiment analysis on daily journal entries to detect emerging issues like delays and safety concerns before they impact project outcomes.

The Financials module enables users to create Balance Sheets, Income Statements, and other financial documents using natural language which, according to the company, dramatically reduces preparation time from hours to minutes.

CMiC’s Analytics capabilities are said to democratise data access as team members are able to ask questions and receive instant insights, regardless of technical expertise. On top of that, agent-driven automation deploys over 25 AI agents across project management and financials to handle routine tasks, from master cost code maintenance to bank reconciliation and financial impact analysis.

In addition to its AI capabilities, Nexus features a modern user interface built on Material 3 design principles, delivering what CMiC descrivbes as enhanced visual clarity, improved readability, and faster information processing.

“NEXUS represents a fundamental shift in how construction teams interact with their ERP. From agentic workflows that handle complex tasks autonomously, to ‘AL’ delivering instant insights, to AI woven directly into the tools you use every day — it all comes together in a modern, unified experience. This is construction technology reimagined for the AI era,” said Steve Cangiano, Chief Product Officer at CMiC.

The post AI-powered construction ERP platform launches appeared first on AEC Magazine .

IFC Use Cases – 5 Practical Applications

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 09:22:00 GMT

The post IFC Use Cases – 5 Practical Applications appeared first on Bim Corner .

mbue launches AI-powered submittals

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:53:00 GMT

mbue Submittals uses AI to analyse drawings and specifications then automatically extract product information

Construction technology company mbue has launched a new platform designed to automatically generate “fully compliant” product data submittals, helping subcontractors reduce weeks of manual work to just minutes.

mbue Submittals uses a proprietary AI model and computer vision to analyze drawings and specifications — including electrical schedules — and automatically extracts the required product information. The platform can generate submittals for light fixtures, switchgear, panels, devices, and other materials, streamlining a traditionally time-consuming and error-prone process.

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

The company anticipates the new platform will drive productivity by over 30% through reduced rework, fewer rejections, and labour hours redirected to higher-value work.

“mbue Submittals removes a long-standing bottleneck for subcontractors,” said Jean-Pierre Trou, founder and CEO of mbue. “By compressing weeks of paperwork into minutes and improving the accuracy of what gets submitted, we’re giving contractors a faster, more reliable path to approval so they can focus on building, not busywork.”

“Submittals have traditionally been a painful, labour-intensive process that slows projects down.” said Garrett White, VP, Texas at Weifield Group.

“With mbue, we’re seeing submittals completed in a fraction of the time, with greater accuracy and confidence. This is a huge step forward for the industry and directly helps us increase the amount of volume each PM can deliver, we can do more with the same team which directly contributes to our company’s revenue growth.”

mbue Submittals is initially focused on commercial electrical contractors, with access expanding to all subcontractors in future releases.

Pilots are underway with leading electrical contractors, including Weifield Group.

The post mbue launches AI-powered submittals appeared first on AEC Magazine .

CivilSense ROI Calculator launches

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 12:53:00 GMT

New tool helps build stronger financial cases for water infrastructure investments

Oldcastle Infrastructure has introduced CivilSense ROI Calculator, a digital tool designed to help municipalities and utilities make informed, data-driven decisions for water infrastructure projects.

The CivilSense ROI Calculator supports municipal water management decisions by revealing hidden water losses within the supply network and demonstrating the long-term financial benefits of building sustainable, resilient water systems.

Supporting the CivilSense platform, the ROI Calculator addresses critical challenges in water management by quantifying the likely impacts of aging infrastructure.

It allow users to calculate the significant costs associated with non-revenue water (NRW) losses, project probable leak frequencies and economic consequences of water main breaks based on system characteristics, and model the long-term value of infrastructure investments.

According to the developers, it provides a valuable overview of the financial impact, strengthening the business case for necessary upgrades to aging water infrastructure and new projects.

“Addressing our nation’s aging water infrastructure requires not just innovative products, but also smarter, more transparent planning tools,” said Peter Delgado, business development manager at Oldcastle Infrastructure. “The ROI Calculator is a direct response to this need. By clearly demonstrating the long-term financial benefits of sustainable and resilient water systems, we are empowering our partners to build stronger, more reliable communities for the future.”

Meanwhile, learn more about CivilSense in this AEC Magazine article .

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

The post CivilSense ROI Calculator launches appeared first on AEC Magazine .

Inconsistent QA/QC standards threatening construction profits

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 08:14:00 GMT

Planradar report reveals inconsistent QA/QC leads to reduced visibility, putting projects at risk of higher costs and lower margins.

A new report by PlanRadar suggests inconsistent QA/QC standards are eroding margins, driving rework, and fuelling disputes across construction projects.

According to the study, companies rank QA/QC among their top priorities when construction begins, with more than 70% of companies beginning QA/QC processes from day one of construction, yet 77% still report inconsistent documentation that varies across projects, sites and trades.

Planradar suggests this fragmentation pushes costs into the shadows and exposes projects to cascading disruption – from rework and schedule slippage to disputes and warranty claims.

The report traces how inconsistent QA/QC turns into reduced visibility, putting projects at risk of higher costs and lower margins. “Different standards across sites and trades” is the most common problem cited by respondents (56%), and over half (55%) acknowledge they lack enforceable processes. Where no common standard exists, cost visibility disappears: companies without defined QA/QC are nearly twice as likely to have no view of rework costs (43% vs 22%).

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

The same data shows the upside of consistency. Companies that apply QA/QC systematically are 28% more likely to report margins above 3% (60% vs 47%) and are far more likely to keep rework under 5% of budget (56% vs 37%). In practice, that advantage often comes down to eliminating variability: when approvals, forms and evidence are captured the same way on every site, leaders gain the defensibility and foresight to prevent small issues from growing into month-long setbacks.

Additionally, the report finds that quality misses can cause cascading challenges throughout projects, with two in three companies (67%) linking QA/QC failures to delays. Among those able to quantify the impact on project schedules, nearly six in ten say quality issues add more than two weeks on average, and almost one in four report delays extend beyond a month. Commercial exposure doesn’t stop there: firms without consistent standards are over 50% more likely to face warranty risk (54% vs 35%) and are 23% more likely to encounter subcontractor disputes (43% vs 35%).

The findings, detailed in PlanRadar’s Construction QA/QC Impact Report , provide a snapshot of QA/QC execution across Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. A total of 811 qualified professionals who directly perform or oversee QA/QC participated, spanning project and construction consultancies, general and specialty contractors, architecture firms, developers/owners and other construction entities across 13 countries.

The study’s UK-specific findings reveal particular challenges for British construction firms and highlight key differences from the global outlook.

Significantly, 78% of UK respondents agreed that better QA/QC would improve their margins, with 36% identifying reducing rework and costs as their top priority for improving quality processes.

When things go wrong, UK respondents said the main impact is project delays and lost time, with 75% reporting this, whereas globally the emphasis is on rework that could have been avoided (71%).

Furthermore, when delays do happen, UK firms see the greatest cost as damage to client relationships (72%), while globally the top concern is the added labour and overtime costs (76%).

In short, Planradar suggests the UK view of QA/QC is more people-centric and client-oriented, with challenges framed around team compliance, project timelines, and client trust. Globally, the emphasis is more on structural complexity and financial cost – different standards, rework, and extra labour.

“These findings reflect what we’re seeing across UK construction sites daily. The industry recognises that consistent QA/QC is fundamental to profitability, yet most firms are struggling with the practical execution,” said Rob Norton, UK Director at PlanRadar. “When 61% of UK companies can’t ensure their teams follow the QA/QC plan, and only 22% achieve consistent documentation, we’re looking at a systemic challenge that’s directly hitting margins and client relationships.

“The 72% who report that quality delays damage client relationships understand the real cost – it’s not just about immediate rework expenses, it’s about long-term business sustainability. The solution lies in moving beyond paper-based processes to unified digital standards that teams can actually follow consistently across every site and trade.”

Planradar is a platform for digital documentation, communication and reporting in construction and facility management.

The post Inconsistent QA/QC standards threatening construction profits appeared first on AEC Magazine .

Asta 4D: Transform your construction projects with model-based planning and real-time collaboration

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 16:04:00 GMT

Discover how model-based planning and real-time collaboration can revolutionise the way you plan, manage, and deliver construction projects

Download Elecosoft’s free guide and register for the upcoming Asta 4D webinar to see the future of project planning in action.

Asta 4D: The heart of integrated, model-based construction delivery

Asta 4D is more than just a scheduling tool — it’s the centrepiece of a model-based, fully integrated approach to construction delivery. Traditional planning relies on static Gantt charts and disconnected workflows. Asta 4D replaces these with a unified, digital environment that connects schedules, 3D models, and teams in real time.

Powered by the Active4D® engine, Asta 4D keeps your project plan and BIM model perfectly synchronised. As designs evolve, schedules update automatically — helping you identify risks earlier, make faster decisions, and eliminate costly late-stage surprises.

The next era of construction planning — benefits at a glance

Integrated platform – One unified system for schedules and models. No manual data re-entry or fragmented files.
Real-time collaboration – Instant updates for all stakeholders, reducing miscommunication and delays.
Automation & efficiency – Generate schedules directly from 3D models for faster, more accurate planning.
Informed decision-making – Spot risks and opportunities earlier and act with confidence.
Clear, visual planning – Turn complex data into rich, interactive visual insights.
Model-based workflows – Unlock new levels of productivity, visibility, and control.

Inside the white paper: Model-based planning — The future of integrated construction delivery

Explore how model-based planning is reshaping construction with:

A fresh perspective on why the industry must evolve from disconnected, reactive planning to active, collaborative delivery.
An in-depth look at how the Active4D® engine automates and enhances planning with live project data.
Actionable guidance and real-world examples to help your teams adopt model-based workflows effectively.

Whether you’re new to 4D planning or ready to elevate your delivery performance, this guide shows how Asta 4D can transform your project outcomes.

The post Asta 4D: Transform your construction projects with model-based planning and real-time collaboration appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Scia Engineer 2026 launches

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:55:00 GMT

Structural analysis and design software puts spotlight on mobile loads, while expanding code compliance

Scia has released Scia Engineer 2026, a major update to its multi-material structural analysis and design software.

Headline enhancements include better tools for designing structures subject to mobile loads, full compliance with the upcoming 2 ^nd generation of Eurocodes, and automated wind load generation in compliance with the latest US design code ASCE 7-22.

Other new features include “accurate and economical” design of structures subjected to significant torsion and new tools to help eliminate vibrations due to human activity.

For moving load systems, such as traffic on bridges, cranes in industrial facilities, or crowds walking across slabs, Scia promises significant time savings for simulation by making it “easy and straightforward” to handle the large number of load combinations. The software automatically identifies the worst-case load positions before running calculations, eliminating the need to process negligible or non-critical load cases.

For buildings with large open areas, footbridges or lightweight floors, the new foot-fall (vibration) analysis capability allows engineers to model human-activity induced dynamic responses, helping to eliminate vibration issues and avoid costly modifications after construction.

For elements subjected to high torsion or thin-walled/open-section beams, the “Beam FE accounting for warping (7th degree of freedom)” feature is said to ensure deeper, more accurate analysis, avoiding the limitations of standard beam finite elements.

Additionally, modelling of external (unbonded) tendons for beams, slabs, walls and plates has been enhanced: users can define tendon paths manually or import them and perform staged analysis to simulate installation, tensioning and grouting processes.

Finally, on the interoperability front, SCIA Engineer 2026 integrates with the broader Bimplus model-based data and information management collaboration platform to help support model-based data sharing across disciplines and project phases from design through build and operation.

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

The post Scia Engineer 2026 launches appeared first on AEC Magazine .

City of Raleigh using AI to gain insight into traffic

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 13:03:00 GMT

Digital twin pilot project analyses data captured by real-time cameras

Technology from Esri , Nvidia , and Microsoft is being used in a pilot project for the City of Raleigh to better understand traffic flows and impacts. The “Raleigh In Motion” digital twin project uses AI to analyse massive volumes of data captured by real-time cameras.

The traffic monitoring software allows city officials to monitor current and historic traffic flows through key intersections at the city. Nvidia AI technology processes real-time video from hundreds of cameras around the city to identify vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians.

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

These feeds are then mapped in Esri ArcGIS where city officials can analyse which intersections are congested based on time of day and day of week.

Indicators on the map turn from green to yellow to red as congestion builds up in intersections. The dashboard can even flag current events like stalled vehicles in an intersection that are impacting traffic.

By fusing real-time streaming data via ArcGIS GeoEvent Server with computer vision capabilities from Nvidia, this digital twin can help Raleigh identify dangerous intersections, reduce congestion and provide safer roadways for vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians.

With these insights, the city can better respond to current incidents and intelligently plan how to remediate problematic, and even dangerous, intersections, helping the city maintain safer streets.

The post City of Raleigh using AI to gain insight into traffic appeared first on AEC Magazine .

OpenSpace acquires construction progress tracking firm Disperse

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 11:02:00 GMT

Acquisition will help strengthen OpenSpace’s “Visual Intelligence Platform” uniting jobsite capture, analytics, and verified progress tracking

OpenSpace has acquired Disperse, the company behind the construction progress tracking technology that powers OpenSpace Progress Tracking, launched in June 2025 to help construction teams identify productivity issues earlier in projects.

The system combines 360° jobsite imagery, computer vision, and “expert human verification” to provide an objective, trusted, and detailed view of what has been built — and what hasn’t

“Disperse was built to give construction teams a trustworthy, objective picture of progress,” said Olli Liukkaala, CEO of Disperse. “By joining OpenSpace, we can deliver that clarity at unprecedented speed and scale—and bring even more value to GCs, owners, and specialty contractors on projects of every size.”

Discover what’s new in technology for architecture, engineering and construction — read the latest edition of AEC Magazine

OpenSpace Progress Tracking is part of OpenSpace’s Visual Intelligence Platform. It allows teams to to validate work-in-place for billing, identify schedule risks early by comparing actual progress to planned milestones, coordinate more effectively across trades, and deliver clear, visual progress summaries to all stakeholders.

The system integrates with widely used project scheduling tools, including Oracle Primavera P6, Asta Powerproject, Microsoft Project, and Excel.

OpenSpace Progress Tracking is part of OpenSpace’s Visual Intelligence Platform and is used to validate work-in-place for billing, identify schedule risks early by comparing actual progress to planned milestones, coordinate more effectively across trades, and deliver clear, visual progress summaries to all stakeholders. It integrates with commonly used project scheduling tools, including Oracle Primavera P6, Asta Powerproject, Microsoft Project, and Excel.

“The speed at which [OpenSpace Progress Tracking] was implemented and the speed at which we started to get real accurate data back was pretty astounding to our executive team,” shared Elliot Christiansen, SVP operations, Cleveland Construction. “Because the data was accurate, we could have effective two-way conversations with our field team and get answers quickly, without having to play twenty questions with them like we used to. It’s so invaluable we’ve deployed it across our entire portfolio.”

OpenSpace says the acquisition of will help accelerate development of new Spatial AI models, improve automation and accuracy, and introduce new AI-powered capabilities. The company emphasises that, unlike black-box AI systems, its hybrid approach — combining AI with human verification — ensure builders can trust every data point which is especially critical for automation and decision-making.

The post OpenSpace acquires construction progress tracking firm Disperse appeared first on AEC Magazine .

Sustainable by design: Building greener

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 07:43:00 GMT

How thoughtful design leads to lasting, sustainable results

Sustainable construction demands more than a mere compliance with minimum requirements, it demands informed choices and design from the outset. With time running out and embodied carbon still climbing, the AEC sector needs to accelerate efforts and prioritise smarter decision making throughout every phase.

Achieving this requires a shift from traditional design thinking to interconnected workflows, actionable data and close collaboration anchored in clear sustainability goals.

Some of the most influential factors impacting a building’s future carbon footprint are determined well before ground is broken. Early considerations, such as material selection, energy strategies and construction techniques, ultimately shape environmental performance for years to come.

With advanced digital tools such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), project teams can weave sustainability into each stage of design and construction.

Here are some practical ways BIM can support carbon reduction, from early planning through to prefabrication and reuse.

Sustainability starts early

A building’s sustainability potential is shaped during the design phase, well before the construction work gets underway. Choices about materials, structural systems, geometry and site planning all have lasting environmental impacts.

That’s why giving teams early insight into carbon and energy metrics is so important. With the right information, designers can compare alternatives and select design options with a lighter footprint. BIM software is instrumental in this process, enabling early-stage carbon evaluations, flexible parametric modelling and performance-driven design.

Exploring “what if” scenarios add real value. Whether replacing concrete with timber or optimising a wall system, modelling the environmental impact allows teams to move past guesswork and make informed, data-backed decisions for truly sustainable outcomes.

Why material and structural decisions matter

A building’s structure is usually the largest source of embodied carbon but it’s also where the greatest carbon reductions can be made. Too often, structural improvements are delayed or missed altogether, with optimisation left until late in the process.

BIM software that connects seamlessly with structural analysis tools enables engineers to use less material without sacrificing safety. Solutions like SCIA and FRILO support code-compliant designs that are both precise and resource efficient.

By focusing on reinforcement where it’s required, rather than using broad safety margins, projects can cut back significantly on steel and concrete, sometimes by as much as 30%.

Greener construction

Sustainable design is just the starting point; how a building is constructed is equally important. During the build phase, emissions from transportation, on-site energy, unnecessary waste and rework can accumulate rapidly. The good news? This is also where BIM brings significant efficiency gains.

With features such as clash detection, issue tracking and strategic site planning, BIM helps teams eliminate waste before it occurs. 4D construction sequencing allows for precise scheduling and better logistics, while digital, paperless workflows – like those enabled by ALLPLAN’s Bluebeam integration – reduce reliance on printed documents and keep everyone on the same page.

Taking it further, offsite construction and prefabrication multiply these efficiencies. Digital detailing and factory fabrication lower on-site emissions, reduce material waste and speed up the assembly process. BIM tools that support these advanced workflows play a vital role in making sustainable construction at scale a reality.

Lifecycle matters: Managing buildings for the long run

Embedding sustainability during building operations means optimising energy and water use, incorporating renewable systems, and using digital twins for ongoing performance improvement.

Solutions like Nemetschek’s dTwin bring together live data from BIM models, IoT sensors and facility systems, creating a digital twin that delivers actionable insights on energy consumption, equipment health, and maintenance planning.

Designing with flexibility and longevity in mind ensures buildings remain adaptable and resilient. Planning for straightforward maintenance, upgrades and modular adaptations helps extend service life and minimise costly renovations. With BIM-driven asset data, teams can approach cleaning, repairs and operations proactively, streamlining resource consumption and reducing the risk of unexpected downtime.

Embracing deconstruction, reuse and adaptability is central to circular construction. BIM makes this possible by storing rich material and system data from day one. Teams can track inventory, schedule improvements and plan staged demolition, equipping themselves to make smart, sustainable choices throughout the building’s lifecycle.

The carbon countdown: Smarter building workflows

Achieving a greener built environment begins with informed choices and those choices rely on the right digital tools. With BIM, teams gain powerful capabilities for early carbon analysis, intelligent structural design, efficient offsite workflows and seamless collaboration. The result? Lower emissions, less waste and projects that benefit both the planet and the bottom line.

For a practical approach to assessing your current processes, ALLPLAN’s free ebook, The Ultimate Sustainability Checklist for BIM Projects , covers everything you need to know. If building smarter is your goal, make this your starting point.

*Please note that this is a commercial profile.

The post Sustainable by design: Building greener appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Top 5 OpenBIM struggles according to 10,000 BIM Corner followers

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 06:50:00 GMT

The post Top 5 OpenBIM struggles according to 10,000 BIM Corner followers appeared first on Bim Corner .

Vectorworks: changing the game for custom residential projects

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 07:41:00 GMT

In a world brimming with creativity, how can you make the most of the technology at your fingertips to support your residential design process?

As a residential architect, you build homes that go beyond the list of needs and wants. Every wall, trim, and finish is created with detailed intention, dreamed up from a vision.

In this article, you’ll read about the tools and capabilities in Vectorworks Architect that you’ll want to know as a residential architect. These features are your ultimate toolkit for creating bespoke residential architecture.

Powerful, collaborative tools for every phase of your residential design project

Before penning the first sketch, you can use Vectorworks Architect as a tool for pre-design and site analysis . The ability to import site surveys and GIS (Geographic Information System) data enables you to create a detailed terrain model, facilitating a more comprehensive analysis of the site and its surrounding area. Tools like Spaces will allow you to quickly and dynamically explore spatial requirements and constraints for the project.

Vectorworks Architect comes with the free-to-use mobile Vectorworks Nomad app, giving you access to existing conditions scanning. Available on both Android and iOS platforms, among Nomad’s many features is Photogrammetry , which converts photos into 3D models, allowing you to transform them into detailed 3D models easily.

And if you use Apple iOS products with LiDAR, the Room Plan feature makes it easier than ever to capture real spaces with point-cloud scanning on your iPhone or iPad. No more fumbling with tape measures or pricey equipment—just point, scan, and capture the space around you to add to your preliminary analysis and model. Nomad integrates fully with our complimentary Cloud Services, allowing you to process directly on the Vectorworks Cloud and preserve your hardware resources.

Once you’re ready to design, intuitive drawing and modeling tools allow you to quickly explore concepts. Even your starting geometry, like massing models, comes appended with data, so you can progress from concepts to developed BIM models naturally. Built-in rendering capabilities, combined with AI visualization potential, enable you to create more immersive scenes for effective client communication.

As you progress, focus on the details with advanced modeling tools. Using history-based solid modeling, NURBS , and Subdivision, you can build custom details like moldings, trims, and unique architectural features, all within the 3D modeling toolset.

Customization that fits your detail-oriented residential design

Details matter, and having a tool that you can shape to your workflow can deliver precisely that.

Utilize dedicated tools to create accurate roof plans with ease. Use the Roof Object tool for a standard pitched roof, or the Roof Face tool for complex or custom slopes. For flat roofs, the Slab tool (with Slab drainage) defines water flow. For even more unique shapes, use 3D modeling tools to build and integrate custom forms.

Create custom building elements that update automatically as your design evolves. With tools like Wall, Door, and Window , you can modify every detail to fit your needs. Refine your interiors with dedicated tools, such as the Cabinet and Countertop tool. Elevate your stairs with the Stair tool, with available modifications for custom railings, slab edges, and more.

Get an even more detailed model for all your framing needs. Combining Wall, Slab, and Roof framing tools and Structural members, you can model, document, and extract the quantities you need for accurate material takeoff.

Each customized styled object built using these tools can be quickly referenced for reuse through the Resource Manager , a vast library of components that saves you time in your design workflow.

Data-driven design with seamless integration

Construction documents are your lifeline, so you’ll need to rely on your software’s ability to create them accurately. With Vectorworks Architect, you can generate accurate plans, sections, elevations, and more, directly from your 3D model, creating a complete set that you can easily access at any time.

Any change you make is instantly reflected across all views, ensuring consistency throughout your project. This connectivity also saves you from manually recreating sheets when you need to make revisions.

Thanks to its unified design environment, Vectorworks Architect enables you to work simultaneously in 2D and 3D without needing to switch platforms. Whether you’re sketching ideas, modeling complex forms, or producing construction documents, everything happens in one cohesive space.

WYSIWYG graphics and intuitive editing tools enhance the quality of your documentation. You can easily adjust attributes within each tool or directly on object geometry, while annotations (such as dimensions, callouts, and data tags) help communicate design intent more clearly. Tools like Graphic Legends , detailed annotations, and Data Tags help your clients, contractors, and permit reviewers better understand your documentation.

Each object in your model carries embedded data that supports automated schedules, cost estimation, and material takeoffs. This consistent, data-rich workflow streamlines project management, even as complexity grows, allowing you to stay organized and in control, from start to finish.

Consistent workflow, wherever you work

You don’t work alone, and your tools should support that. The Project Sharing feature allows you and your team to collaborate on a real-time, synced file of your project. For collaborating with others, you can import and export DWG, Revit, IFC, and PDF formats, in addition to a variety of others.

Reviewing is easy using the Cloud Document Reviewer , where your team can markup drawing sets from anywhere. Vectorworks’ connection to Bluebeam also gives you access to a familiar collaboration platform.

Enhanced presentation for impactful communication

Immerse your clients with photorealistic images and animations with real-world textures, lighting, and camera effects, all within Vectorworks Architect. Take a step further with Odyssey , a virtual reality tool that takes clients on a tour through their future home. Lead their imagination and set the scene with the Heliodon tool for a bright sunny morning, or a calm evening. Capture key moments in your clients’ future home tour using Saved Views , allowing them to savor their imagination longer.

Make Vectorworks Architect work for you

Whether you’re crafting a minimalist modern getaway or a detailed historic renovation, Vectorworks Architect gives you the confidence to build; a complete platform that supports your vision from the first sketch to the final walkthrough.

These highlights are only the tip of the possibilities that Vectorworks can offer. Discover more in-depth courses and expert tips through Vectorworks University and expand your skills. We can’t wait to see what you’ll design next.

The post Vectorworks: changing the game for custom residential projects appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

The BIM Role Shuffle: Defining Your Value in Digital Construction

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 07:48:00 GMT

The post The BIM Role Shuffle: Defining Your Value in Digital Construction appeared first on Bim Corner .

IDS: Stop Manual Checking – Automate BIM Validation

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 11:56:00 GMT

The post IDS: Stop Manual Checking – Automate BIM Validation appeared first on Bim Corner .

Planted reveals finalists of student design competition in partnership with Vectorworks

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 13:24:00 GMT

Planted, in partnership with Vectorworks, is delighted to reveal the finalists of the Design for Renegeration UK-wide student design competition, championing the next generation of regenerative designers

Students from across the country were invited to submit projects which reimagine the built and natural world through regenerative design. The competition was open to students studying architecture, interior and landscape design, furniture, product and industrial design.

“The calibre of this year’s finalists demonstrate an extraordinary breadth of imagination and rigour, with projects that not only minimise environmental harm but actively seek to regenerate ecosystems and communities. From innovative uses of natural materials to socially driven solutions, these students are setting a new benchmark for how design can shape a more resilient and restorative future.” Said Deborah Spencer, Co-founder of Planted

The finalists were selected from hundreds of courses across the UK, judged on creativity, innovation, material choices, aesthetics, and crucially clear regenerative intent. The panel looked for designs that not only minimise harm to natural ecosystems, but also actively contribute to their restoration and renewal from individuals producing the most outstanding concepts in architecture, interior and design.

Design for regeneration finalists

1. Charlotte Carlyle from Leeds Beckett University (BA Hons Architecture) – The Entropic Sanctuary. A living architecture born from water and decay where biophilia, entropy, and regenerative design converge to form a sanctuary that breathes, grows, and gently disappears.

Judges’ comments:
“This project reimagines York’s flood-prone riverbank as a biophilic sanctuary, treating flooding as a catalyst for architecture and biodiversity. With strong regenerative ambition and site-specific storytelling, it weaves ecology, community, and heritage into a restorative vision.”

2. Bryn White from University of Gloucestershire (MA Landscape Architecture) – Western Harbour Park, Bristol. A place where people and nature coexist, demonstrating how post-industrial spaces can harness natural processes to restore ecological health and community

Judges’ comments
“This project reimagines a fragmented post-industrial site as a regenerative landscape that is ecological, educational, and social. Through strategies such as soil remediation, floating wetlands, adaptive reuse, and community programming, it demonstrates technical rigour, innovation, and transparency. Deeply rooted in Bristol’s ecology and heritage, it delivers a compelling vision for a restorative urban future.”

3. Jamie Ferguson from University of Bath (MA Architecture) – Kahani: A Stone and Bamboo Pattern Book for a Regenerative Bhopal. Kahani is a pattern book for a regenerative reimagining of live-work housing across Bhopal and India; the book entails construction details for bamboo and stone, encouraging low-carbon bioregional innovation.

Judges’ comments:
“This project systemically rethinks mass housing in India for deep regeneration, marrying environmental impact with bioregional craft. The pattern book offers directly replicable, modular, low-carbon details; research and prototyping show rigour. Highly innovative (pre-fab bamboo stone hybrids, modernist/vernacular fusion), with clear data on carbon savings.”

4. Adam Saint from Leeds Beckett University (BA hons Architecture) – The Metamorphic Ruins. A living archive and progressive sanctuary where architecture, ecology and time converge, inviting humans and wildlife to coexist, observe and shape a shared evolving landscape.

Judges’ comments:
“An excellent example of protecting historic sites using both traditional and contemporary design. This project reimagines the Antonine Wall and Rough Fort as evolving ecologies, using controlled decay, biodiversity, water management, and reversible structures to link built form, landscape, and community stewardship.”

5. Polina Bielova from University of East London (BA Hon Interior Design) – From Waste to Wellness. A Regenerative Restaurant Experience. A regenerative restaurant under a historic London archway that uses biophilic design, mycelium materials, and aeroponic technologies to transform food, space, and trash into a circular living experience.

Judges’ comments:
“This project combines circular food systems, mycelium innovation, and biophilic design to enhance environmental and community health. Rooted in Borough Market’s heritage, it weaves food, architecture, and ecology into an immersive, multi-sensory journey.”

6. Erin McCaffrey from University of Cambridge (MA Architecture) – Towards the River Clyde. Reusing local tenement sandstone, the proposed coastal park invites residents to engage with memory, nature, and leisure along the River Clyde’s transformed ex-industrial edge.

Judges’ comments:
“The project takes a regenerative, place-based approach—reusing local sandstone, transforming Port Glasgow’s industrial shore, and embracing tidal ecologies for recreation, renewal, and community benefit. Its innovation lies in carbon-cutting circularity, habitat creation, and the integration of social, educational, and ecological ambitions, all grounded in local heritage and community engagement.”

SEE ALL FINALISTS HERE

The next stage of the Planted x Vectorworks student competition will see the six finalists assessed at the Vectorworks Design Day conference at the Royal College of Physicians in London on Tuesday 14 October 2025. The top three submissions will then present their work to a live audience of delegates to select the winning project. The top designer will receive a cash prize of £1,000, Vectorworks Design Suite one-year subscription, exposure through Planted and Vectorworks platforms, mentorship opportunities and a stay in Planted’s Cabin at River Cottage.

Judges included Planted co-founder Deborah Spencer, whose career began at New Designers and who later founded the award-winning designjunction. Fellow Planted co-founder and former Sunday Times journalist Sam Peters, biophilic design expert Oliver Heath, and Professor Alia Fadel of Leeds Beckett University. They were joined by Tamsin Slatter, Director of Customer Experience at Vectorworks with a background in landscape design and training, and Martyn Horne, Product Marketing Director at Vectorworks with extensive expertise in BIM workflows and digital design innovation.

As a leading platform for sustainable design, Planted connects people, businesses, and ideas through events, content and collaborations that promote nature-based solutions and regenerative practices.

REGISTER FOR DESIGN DAYS CONFERENCE HERE

The post Planted reveals finalists of student design competition in partnership with Vectorworks appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

AEC Magazine September / October 2025

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Highlights of our September / October 2025 edition

Cover story ‘Contract killers’ – most architects overlook software small print, but today’s EULAs are redefining ownership, data rights and AI use — shifting power from users to vendors.
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From pixels to prompts: How Chaos is blending AI with traditional viz, rethinking how architects explore, present and refine ideas
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Autodesk shows its AI hand: Autodesk has presented live, production-ready tools, giving customers a clear view of how AI could soon reshape workflows
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Autodesk Forma is finally expanding beyond its early-stage design roots with a brand-new product – Forma Building Design – focused on detailed design

It’s available to view now, free, along with all our back issues .

Subscribe to the digital edition free + all the latest AEC technology news in your inbox, or take out a print subscription for $49 per year (free to UK AEC professionals).

The post AEC Magazine September / October 2025 appeared first on AEC Magazine .

IFC Exports from Revit, Done Right: Settings, Mapping, and Less Headaches

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 12:13:00 GMT

The post IFC Exports from Revit, Done Right: Settings, Mapping, and Less Headaches appeared first on Bim Corner .

Migration of CAD (DWG) Models to IFC – Step-by-Step Guide

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:39:00 GMT

The post Migration of CAD (DWG) Models to IFC – Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Bim Corner .

Vectorworks 2026 Software Suite now available

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:26:00 GMT

Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc., is thrilled to announce the official release of Vectorworks 2026, empowering designers to cut through busywork and focus on bringing their best ideas to life

With a renewed emphasis on clarity, collaboration, and streamlined workflows, Vectorworks 2026 introduces a host of innovations that help architects, landscape architects and designers, and entertainment professionals boost productivity and push the boundaries of design. The 2026 release includes Vectorworks Architect , Landmark , Spotlight , Design Suite , Fundamentals , ConnectCAD , Braceworks , and Vision , with the English-language editions of this version now available.

“At Vectorworks, we know that every project is an opportunity for creative impact. That’s why Vectorworks 2026 is designed to reduce manual adjustments, pursue bold ideas, and help you meet technical standards with ease,” said Vectorworks chief product officer Darick DeHart. “Our customers want to design without limits, and this release is all about freeing up their time for creative exploration. This is a software that adapts to you, so you can take your work to the next level.”

Responding to industry trends with smarter workflows and sustainability tools

Industry research and reports from Vectorworks and other sources indicate that Building Information Modeling (BIM) and sustainability are significant trends influencing value in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) and landscape architecture and design industries. Consequently, this release features new tools and enhancements specifically designed to help professionals adapt to and take advantage of these trends.

According to Vectorworks’ 2025 report on AEC industry trends , BIM is expected to continue growing in popularity and importance over the next decade, likely due to a high return on investment and significant client interest.

To meet the AEC industry’s demand for BIM-based detailed documentation, Vectorworks Architect 2026 boasts Door, Window, and Wall 2D Detailing, allowing granular control over 2D graphics of doors and windows at multiple detail levels. Architects can generate informed wall plans directly from 3D geometry, helping drawings appear as intended without manual workarounds.

As climate strategies gain increasing importance worldwide, many professionals who haven’t yet embraced sustainable design analysis technology intend to do so within the next five years. This represents the highest percentage among the trends highlighted in Vectorworks’ 2025 report. Vectorworks 2026 makes it easier for architecture and landscape design professionals to deliver environmentally aware projects with the new Sustainability Dashboard, which combines several sustainability-focused tools into a centralized dashboard, providing live sustainability metrics.

Responding to entertainment industry trends

As live events and productions become increasingly immersive, entertainment professionals seek tools that deliver cutting-edge, reliable visuals. Vectorworks Spotlight 2026 introduces a new LED Video Wall tool, enabling designers to easily create and visualize dynamic video displays as part of their production workflows. This enhancement reflects the growing role of LED video integration in live entertainment, concerts, and installations.

Beyond new functionality, Vectorworks 2026 reinforces its commitment to the entertainment industry with substantial quality and performance improvements, giving designers greater confidence and efficiency in every stage of production.

Investing in quality

Vectorworks 2026 is built with a balance of new functionality and meaningful enhancements to the tools designers use every day. It introduces new tools and workflows that help bring big ideas to life with fewer manual steps, smarter automation, and seamless customization. In addition to flagship advancements like Depth Cueing and Worksheet Slicing, this release also introduces improvements and refinements that make design work faster, more intuitive, and more consistent.

“Vectorworks 2026 isn’t just an upgrade, it’s a commitment to smarter, faster, and more sustainable design. We’re excited to see how designers around the world push their boundaries with these new tools,” said Vectorworks senior product marketing director Rubina Siddiqui, Assoc. AIA.

Experience Vectorworks 2026

The release of localized language versions will begin in October and conclude in the first quarter of 2026. Contact your local Vectorworks distributor for more information about the availability of Vectorworks 2026 in other markets. Vectorworks Subscription and Service Select customers can download Vectorworks 2026 once the product is released in their local markets.

Discover what’s new by visiting vectorworks.net/whats-new or join the conversation on social media with #Vectorworks2026. Make the most of Vectorworks 2026 with practical how-to guidance and resources available here.

Members of the press can visit vectorworks.net/whats-new/press to access further information about the release, including high-res images. They can also contact pr@vectorworks.net to request interviews, demos, and more.

The post Vectorworks 2026 Software Suite now available appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

IFC automation in Rhino & Grasshopper

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 11:28:00 GMT

The post IFC automation in Rhino & Grasshopper appeared first on Bim Corner .

Insights into the future of BIM and digital delivery with Retha Swanepoel

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 06:20:00 GMT

Retha Swanepoel, head of the BIM & Design Systems team and partner at Foster + Partners , discusses her career highlights and predictions for the future of BIM with Women in BIM (WIB)

Retha leads Foster + Partners’ growing team of BIM and design systems experts and promotes the practice-wide BIM strategy. She qualified from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, with a professional Masters in Architecture.

Retha’s career began in South Africa, working across high-end residential, mixed-use and healthcare projects before moving to London in 2008. She spent almost 15 years at Gensler, focusing on commercial developments across various practice areas and global locations, evolving into integrated digital design and BIM management and later leading BIM implementation across Europe as regional design technology manager. Retha managed some of the largest projects at Gensler, working in partnerships with the core teams on projects to ensure technical delivery.

Today at Foster + Partners , Retha oversees a team spanning BIM and design systems operations, digital delivery, technology/computational design, technical support and career development, ensuring alignment with the practice’s goals for digital transformation and sustainability. The team plays a critical role in coordinating information, enhancing workflows and driving innovation in digital design processes.

Q1: What attracted you to a career in the AEC industry?

RS: I never imagined I would end up in the AEC industry, as my first passion was for music. Initially, I intended to pursue a career in music. However, I found myself drawn to architecture. I became fascinated with the discipline’s ability to shape environments and impact lives, which led me to pursue three degrees in the subject.

While studying, I worked professionally, building physical architectural models, which deepened my appreciation for how things come together. That hands-on experience naturally evolved into an interest in digital workflows, where models become centralised data hubs that drive decision-making throughout a project’s lifecycle.

Today, my role is about ensuring that our teams work in a structured, efficient way to enhance collaboration across disciplines. BIM has given us the ability to connect design intent with execution, ensuring accuracy, efficiency and better sustainability outcomes.

Our team’s focus is not just on creating digital models but on leveraging information to improve project outcomes, streamline coordination and make smarter design decisions. This intersection between technology, problem-solving and design innovation is what keeps us engaged and constantly evolving.

What attracts many of us to this field – and keeps us engaged – is the opportunity to solve complex problems collaboratively, using technology to make projects more efficient, sustainable and well-coordinated.

Q2: What currently inspires you and excites you the most about working in the built environment?

RS: Being part of and helping grow the BIM & Design Systems team at Foster + Partners is both a privilege and a rewarding challenge. With over 100 team members, our approach is unique within the industry, especially in how we integrate with the other technology teams and in partnership with all the specialist groups across the practice.

Our team plays a crucial role in the successful delivery of projects, acting as the backbone for coordinating information across disciplines. By ensuring the availability of a single source of truth, we enable seamless collaboration between architects, engineers, consultants, contractors and clients. This approach ensures that project information is coordinated, accessible and reliable, allowing for more efficient workflows and supporting decision-making with insights into cost, schedule and sustainability.

What excites me most is how design technologies are transforming the industry. We are at an exciting crossroads where data-driven decision-making and AI technologies are reshaping how we design, construct and operate buildings. The integration of smart buildings, proptech and contech is accelerating, enabling us to optimise energy performance and focus on sustainability in ways we never have before.

I’m also inspired by the growing commitment to inclusivity and collaboration in the industry. Creating a supportive and empowering work environment where teams collaborate towards shared goals not only leads to better design outcomes but also fosters a more welcoming space for diverse talent.

Q3: What has been a career highlight for you?

RS: One of my greatest career highlights has been leading the development of BIM strategies that drive better project outcomes across global teams. It is incredibly rewarding to see how structured information management reduces errors, enhances collaboration and improves efficiency on major projects.

Stepping into my role as partner and head of BIM & Design Systems at Foster + Partners has also been a defining moment. Leading a globally recognised firm’s digital transformation and BIM strategy is both a privilege and a challenge. Our team’s work is at the forefront of ensuring that technology supports – not complicates – the design process. What we achieve collectively – driving innovation, improving workflows and ensuring that digital processes empower design teams rather than hinder them is very valuable.

What I take the most pride in, however, is mentoring and developing talent. Success in BIM is not about one person; it is about how well we work as a team to refine processes, share knowledge and push boundaries together. Seeing individuals grow, take on leadership roles and shape the future of digital design is what makes this work truly meaningful.

Why is Women in BIM an important initiative to you?

RS: Foster + Partners is a proud corporate sponsor of Women in BIM , supporting its work to promote the power of diversity, collaboration and mentorship. For me, I see how Women in BIM fosters a community of support, ensuring that women in digital roles are visible, encouraged and provided with opportunities to advance.

We all benefit from an environment where professionals, regardless of background, are supported, recognised and given the tools to succeed. Beyond gender diversity, initiatives like Women in BIM reinforce a collaborative and inclusive culture within the industry.

I am also in supporting of fostering an environment where diverse perspectives are valued and drive innovation. A more inclusive industry leads to better decision-making, improved team dynamics and, ultimately, stronger project outcomes.

As a leader, I am advocating for equitable career progression and supporting a culture where everyone can thrive. By sharing experiences and best practices, Women in BIM helps build a supportive network that empowers professionals to excel and inspire the next generation.

Q5: In what direction do you see the future of BIM heading?

RS: The future of BIM is about deep integration, automation and a data-driven approach to project delivery. We are seeing a shift from traditional 3D modelling to AI-driven workflows, predictive analytics and real-time decision-making.

However, while technology is evolving rapidly, success still hinges on data quality and human collaboration. Without structured, standardised data, challenges like “garbage in, garbage out” remain. Our role is to embed BIM seamlessly into daily workflows – woven into every phase of a project rather than treated as an isolated process.

BIM is also expanding beyond design and construction into long-term asset management and smart building operations. As interoperability improves, BIM will become the foundation for connected, intelligent buildings, where real-time data helps optimise energy use, maintenance and operational performance.

Ultimately, BIM’s future isn’t just about technology; it’s about how well we integrate, collaborate and manage information. The more we break down silos and work together, the more powerful BIM will become .

To stay ahead, organisations must embrace a culture of continuous learning, ensuring that professionals have the skills to leverage these advancements effectively.

Understanding the full lifecycle of a building is essential. BIM provides the framework for this, enabling a seamless connection between design, construction and operations. It’s not just about creating digital models; it’s about ensuring structured information is available to the right people at the right time.

Q6: What is something new in the last 12 months that you would like to share?

RS: One of the most significant shifts to consider is a greater emphasis on team culture and structured career development within digital roles.

At Foster + Partners, we have focused on establishing clear career structures within the BIM & Design Systems team, ensuring that professionals have defined growth opportunities and the same leadership pathways as traditional design roles.

A testament to this is our internship and graduate programme, developed with Nottingham Trent University, which is helping develop and nurture the next generation of BIM talent. We are committed to BIM in education and the importance of academic and employer partnerships as well as the learning and upskilling support technology developers are providing.

We look forward to continuing to build a supportive, knowledge-sharing culture that drives innovation and success.

The more we foster a culture of openness, inclusivity and mentorship, the stronger our industry will be.

The post Insights into the future of BIM and digital delivery with Retha Swanepoel appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Why Contractors Should Care About IFC?

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:24:00 GMT

The post Why Contractors Should Care About IFC? appeared first on Bim Corner .

Vectorworks, Inc. and DIALux launch BIM workflow for advanced architectural lighting design

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 06:26:00 GMT

New partnership streamlines BIM collaboration and enhances lighting design workflows through IFC compatibility

Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc. , and DIALux , the world’s leading planning and design software for building and site lighting, have announced a new partnership that streamlines BIM collaboration and enhances lighting design workflows.

This collaboration brings together Vectorworks’ robust BIM environment with DIALux’s Windows-based, advanced lighting simulation tools, using the open IFC standard to enable seamless data exchange and a more connected, efficient, and data-driven design workflow.

“Lighting impacts not just aesthetics but also performance, comfort, and compliance,” said Vectorworks vice president of Product Management, Vlado Stanev. “Our partnership with DIALux builds on our commitment to open IFC workflows, empowering users to leverage advanced lighting simulations and manufacturer-specific data, then bring that intelligence back into their Vectorworks projects—ensuring seamless data exchange, driving accuracy, maintaining compliance, and strengthening collaboration across disciplines.”

Bringing all strands of the architectural lighting design process together

Leveraging the IFC file format , an open international standard, this new collaboration enables architects, interior, and landscape architects and designers to exchange files between their Vectorworks models and DIALux’s advanced lighting design capabilities.

Designers can access products from more than 450 leading lighting manufacturers, perform daylighting studies, and conduct detailed lighting analyses to make informed design decisions.

Analysis data and specifications can be brought back into Vectorworks for precise documentation, helping teams meet lighting codes and standards, reduce errors, and improve coordination—resulting in faster decisions, stronger collaboration, and a more efficient, high-quality design process.

For step-by-step instructions, compatibility details, and a closer look at the partnership in action, visit the DIALux blog.

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Barriers to BIM integration and how to overcome them

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 14:00:00 GMT

The benefits of BIM are well documented. But two challenges stand in the way of its full integration: a lack of interoperability and a lack of training. Leica Geosystems’ senior product engineer Zühal Duran Goeminne explores how we may overcome these hurdles

Returns on investment exceeding 1,000% and total savings of over $10m. These are the main benefits of implementing BIM.

A recent meta-analysis from Sweden reports that many scientific studies on the usage of BIM reveal enormous returns on investment, often exceeding 100%, and in one case, even reaching a staggering 1,654%.

This is thanks to reduced downtime, more opportunities for efficient prefabrication and fewer design errors and rework. To top it all off, energy consumption and waste production can easily be reduced by over 50%.

It is therefore not surprising that, for example, the Collaborative Life Sciences Building (CLSB) in Portland, Oregon, reported saving $10m in construction costs on the overall $295m budget, just by using BIM.

The gains are significant. Yet there are two key challenges still hindering BIM integration: insufficient training and lack of interoperability.

Diverse training for a diverse workforce

Limited BIM training slows the adoption and integration of digital workflows, as construction professionals struggle to keep up with new digital methods. Industry professionals have different levels of BIM expertise, but expectations are very high.

Over 60% of BIM users believe mechanical-electrical plumbing (MEP) and civil engineers should be able to make full use of BIM software. In reality, only around half are satisfied with the capabilities of these engineers , according to a 2021 Smartmarket report.

Luckily, several solutions are emerging. Access to easy-to use software tools and more user-friendly solutions, along with having Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) managers or BIM experts in an organisation, help expedite the adaptation process.

Additionally, most universities now routinely offer courses on BIM and graduates with these experiences are expected to facilitate faster implementation of BIM.

Contrary to common belief, there is no requirement to be highly skilled in BIM to contribute to a BIM lifecycle project.

For example, maintenance technicians can contribute to BIM lifecycle projects by using handheld devices to easily access and update asset information.

The solution is therefore not to implement a blanket BIM training programme but to know which stages of a project lifecycle require in-depth knowledge – and therefore more extensive training – and which do not.

Interoperability challenges of open BIM standards

One of the most frequently quoted benefits of BIM is better collaboration.

Using an integrated 3D model enables construction professionals to reduce potential errors and conflicts and facilitates better communication and data sharing. BIM has the potential to become a standardised approach in construction but the current variability in implementation strategies shows that, despite industry efforts, this has not been fully achieved yet.

Open BIM standards like Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) have existed for almost three decades, but data exchange between software platforms remains highly inconsistent.

Every domain in the industry, from airport and tunnel builders to miners, has developed its own IFC standards. To give one example: IFC4precast and IFC4 Reference View are both Model View Definitions (MVDs), focused IFC schemas that specify how information should be exchanged for a specific use case. They are based on the same IFC4 schema, but they are incompatible due to different modelling principles. Data cannot be reliably exchanged between them, which confuses both developers and users, and weakens trust in IFC as a reliable standard. Some tools have even multiple IFC exports; one for each MVD.

A concerted effort for one common, open BIM standard

Luckily, buildingSMART, a global organisation committed to developing and implementing open digital standards and services for the construction industry, has started several initiatives to help facilitate interoperability:

Standardisation of MVDs : The challenge IFC faces is the proliferation of custom, incompatible MVDs. We are moving from customisation towards three standardised base MVDs, with additional exchange requirements built on top. The aim is to improve compatibility between different domains and software implementations.
Implementation of IDS : The Information Delivery Specification (IDS) standard is being developed and adopted alongside IFC to define exchange requirements. This, in addition to BIM, helps define data exchange requirements, including non-geometric information in models, and integrates with ISO 19650 for consistent project lifecycle information delivery.
Development of bSDD : The buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD) is a collection of linked data dictionaries that define terms for the built environment.

It supports consistent classification and definition of properties and terms across different software platforms. This helps stakeholders interpret and exchange data reliably throughout the project lifecycle.

We can see how this standardisation benefits surveying and construction companies in practice. For example, Hexagon’s Building Solutions team worked with Operandi , a French surveying firm that was looking for an alternative to their legacy CAD software.

By simply switching to a technology toolset that understood multiple industry file formats and could integrate into their existing workflow with limited disruption, the company saved the equivalent of 3.5% of its total revenue – this is as much as the company’s employee profit-sharing plan.

BIM has significantly impacted the construction industry, but its full potential is yet to be felt. The future success of BIM depends on addressing the fundamental challenges of training and interoperability.

A concerted effort across the industry, involving harmonising standards, improved interoperability , consistent education, regulatory alignment and sharing best practices is required to move closer to true standardisation.

The post Barriers to BIM integration and how to overcome them appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Global Building Information Modelling market to top $15.4bn by 2030

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 08:20:00 GMT

The global Building Information Modelling (BIM) market will almost double to $15.42bn (£11.4bn) by the end of the decade, according to new research

Analyst MarketsandMarkets said the growth from the market’s current size of $9bn is being driven by several factors, including growing demand for efficient project planning across construction and infrastructure, the push for more sustainable and energy-efficient buildings, and government mandates and policy support for the technology, such as mandatory BIM usage for public infrastructure projects.

In addition, the rising popularity of modular construction and prefabrication techniques aligns well with BIM’s digital workflows, the report said.

Meanwhile, technological advancements, including integration with IoT, digital twins, cloud platforms and AI are further expanding BIM’s capabilities, driving demand across sectors like commercial, residential, transportation and industrial construction.

Design & modelling software lead market

By software type, design & modelling software is expected to lead the BIM market in 2025 due to its central role in the early stages of construction planning and architectural development.

This software enables stakeholders to create accurate 3D models, simulate building performance, and identify potential design conflicts before physical execution, significantly reducing rework and costs.

It is already widely applied across architectural design, structural engineering and MEP on both large-scale infrastructure and residential projects.

The growing demand for visually rich and data-intelligent models, especially in urban development and green building initiatives, is also driving the adoption of design & modelling tools. The increasing integration of this software with emerging technologies like digital twins, cloud platforms and AI-based generative design further strengthens its market leadership.

North America leads BIM market

North America is expected to lead the BIM market in 2025, driven by the region’s early adoption of digital construction practices and stringent government mandates promoting the use of BIM in public infrastructure projects.

Countries such as the US and Canada have made significant investments in smart city development, infrastructure modernisation and sustainability, which are accelerating BIM deployment across commercial, residential and public sector projects.

The presence of key BIM technology providers such as Autodesk, Trimble and Bentley Systems further strengthens the ecosystem.

Outside of the US, other key BIM market players identified in the report include Nemetschek Group (Germany), Dassault Systèmes (France), Schneider Electric (France), Hexagon AB (Sweden), Asite (UK) and Archidata Inc (Canada).

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Vectorworks 2026 coming soon

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Vectorworks is set to launch its most forward-thinking software version yet: Vectorworks 2026

Engineered to elevate every step of the design process, Vectorworks 2026, which builds on the provider’s “design-first” philosophy, is fueled by the evolving needs of designers today and informed by the challenges of tomorrow.

This release delivers powerful automation, customisable features, and real-time sustainability intelligence, helping designers transform creative thinking into results that matter most for their business, clients, and our planet.

“At Vectorworks, we believe that creativity should drive business results, not be hindered by software limitations,” said Vectorworks CEO Jason Pletcher. “Designers are ambitious, and Vectorworks 2026 offers the tools to transform their big ideas into reality. Our latest version allows designers to work more efficiently, break free from busywork, automate manual processes, and unleash their design freedom, so their best work can move forward.”

Focusing on balancing creative exploration and technical accuracy, this release enables designers to streamline documentation, collaborate across disciplines, and meet environmental targets—all within a single, integrated platform, eliminating the headache of transferring files between programs to get work done.

For all designers

Vectorworks 2026 encourages design freedom through smarter technology, focusing on optimising major everyday workflows across multiple industries. Automated Depth Cueing of linework for elevations, sections, and 3D views enhances the legibility of your drawings by manipulating how objects appear based on how far away they are. This allows designers to achieve professional-looking depth and clarity in their drawings instantly, without adjustments, enhancing both the technical and creative aspects of their project work. Additionally, a new intuitive Worksheet interface that allows slicing and linking will provide speedier, complete page layout control of large reports.

The latest version offers designers improved access to emerging technologies that enhance their everyday workflows. Vectorworks Cloud Services now integrates seamlessly with the Vectorworks desktop application, providing a direct connection to the Vectorworks Cloud computing platform. This enhancement enables users to leverage the immense computing power of the Vectorworks Cloud for resource-intensive tasks without needing to leave the desktop application. Customers can stay synchronised, productive, and focused on their projects while taking advantage of the powerful capabilities offered by cloud computing.

Vectorworks is dedicated to continuously increasing the value of its subscriptions. As part of this commitment, Vectorworks 2026 introduces the File Health Checker palette, available exclusively to subscription customers. This new tool helps keep files in optimal condition and ensures that projects run smoothly and efficiently, especially when integrating files from external sources. Additionally, subscription customers will benefit from uninterrupted productivity thanks to Vectorworks Cloud processing for Revit imports. The Cloud manages large Revit file imports from consultants and collaborators in the background, allowing projects to progress smoothly and efficiently.

“Vectorworks 2026 brings thoughtfully refined solutions across all our industry sectors, streamlining routine tasks and allowing your focus to remain on realising your creative vision,” said Vectorworks vice president of product development Hugues Tsafak. “With enhanced automation and intelligent design documentation capabilities, Vectorworks 2026 helps you work smarter, faster, and with greater confidence—enabling you to deliver outstanding results every time.”

For architects and landscape architects, and designers

The new version also highlights Vectorworks’ commitment to the built environment across architecture and landscape by delivering smarter, more sustainable, and more-connected tools to support informed design decisions and environmental accountability. The new Sustainability Dashboard combines several sustainability-focused tools into a centralised, easy-to-access dashboard with real-time monitoring, tracking, and reporting of your project’s compliance targets, including Embodied Carbon calculations, Biodiversity Net Gain, Urban Greening, and SITES Biomass metrics.

Additionally, improvements to the Massing Model tool allow for the planning of mixed-use buildings with custom floor heights and usage data during early-stage planning for even greater flexibility.

For architects

Building on its history of continuous development and a foundation of trusted tools, Vectorworks 2026 emboldens architects to explore new frontiers in design with a software that meets the ever-changing needs of the industry without compromising creativity. With the introduction of the advanced Door and Window Assemblies tool, modelling complex, combined architectural openings is fast, smart, and intuitive. With the addition of this feature, architects will enjoy real-time, interactive editing, flexible layouts, and detailed reporting that enables creative freedom, speed, and construction realism.

For landscape architects and designers

For designers in the landscape industry , Vectorworks 2026 focuses on a unified workflow for creative planting plans. This includes a new Plant Style Manager that can instantly build, manage, and customise the Plant Style library with continually expanding content, batch editing, seamless web data import from nursery partners, spreadsheet import, flexible plant placement and editing tools, and a streamlined content structure. This unified system saves you hours, keeps your plant data accurate and project-ready, and lets you focus on creative planting design.

With version 2026, you’ll also be able to create regulation-ready Existing Tree models that integrate effortlessly with your landscape projects . Plus, you can design and edit flexible Grade Objects along with Data Tag labelling for faster, clearer site plans. With input that matches the real-world result every time, you can confidently set Hardscape pathway offsets.

For lighting, scenic, rigging, and event professionals

Vectorworks 2026 continues Vectorworks’ ongoing dedication to accelerating entertainment and live event professionals’ workflows with an added emphasis on quality. Designers can unleash their creativity with the new LED Video Wall tool, which streamlines the design and creation of any shape of LED wall, from basic straight to complex curves and three-dimensional forms, at any angle. Complete with intuitive drawing tools and instant reports for fully documented installations, this new tool enables professionals to deliver creative and fully documented installations with ease.

Professionals can increase their efficiency with more complex and realistic sidearms. A dedicated sidearm object and insertion tool, combined with smart clamp and equipment rigging, saves time and boosts design accuracy. Version 2026 also includes workflow quality improvements to the Bridle, Device Database, Shared Reports, and Showcase features. A new MVR-xchange Protocol eliminates the need for manual file transfers, allowing customers to commit and receive MVR files instantly with any connected application in the same network group, streamlining collaboration and reducing workflow interruptions.

Get ready to move your most creative work forward

The upcoming English language release of Vectorworks 2026 will be available to active Vectorworks Service Select members and subscription customers in September 2025.

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Nemetschek Group: Q2 2025 with very strong revenue growth of +30.5% (currency-adjusted) and high profitability; revenue outlook for 2025 increased

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:43:00 GMT

The Nemetschek Group has continued its very strong and profitable growth in the second quarter of 2025

The dynamic development is driven, on the one hand, by the Design segment, which, in addition to its good operational performance, once again benefited from a strong pace in the subscription transition including a higher-than-anticipated demand for multi-year contracts. These contracts are being strategically leveraged to accelerate the segment’s transition to a subscription-based model. The Build segment also contributed to the better-than-expected development with continued very strong organic and inorganic growth (including GoCanvas).

Based on the very successful operating performance in the first half of 2025, the Executive Board has, as announced on July 24, 2025, raised the revenue forecast for the 2025 fiscal year. Currency-adjusted revenue growth compared to the previous year is now expected to be in a range between 20% and 22% (previously: between 17% and 19%). The EBITDA margin for the full year, including the dilutive effect of GoCanvas consolidated as of July 1, 2024, is still expected to be around 31%. This reflects, among other things, extraordinary non-operating effects from the unexpected insolvency of a service and payment provider.

“Nemetschek continued its strong growth trajectory. We have once again recorded an extremely successful quarter marked by high dynamic growth,” said Yves Padrines, CEO of the Nemetschek Group. “Our innovative strength – particularly in the field of agentic AI – the consistent execution of our subscription and SaaS strategy, and our increased internationalization are the key drivers of this success. Despite growing global uncertainties, we are excellently positioned to continue generating sustainable and value-adding growth in the future.”

Key Group performance indicators for Q2 and the first half of 2025

Group revenue grew very strongly in the second quarter by 27.4% (currency-adjusted: 30.5%) to EUR 290.0m (Q2 2024: EUR 227.7m). Organic and currency-adjusted revenue growth also increased significantly by 21.6%. In the first six months of 2025, consolidated revenue grew by 26.8% (currency-adjusted: 27.8%) to EUR 572.8m; the organic, currency-adjusted revenue growth was also high at 19.5%.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR) in Q2 increased by 35.1% to a new record high of EUR 1,078.3m (currency-adjusted: 38.7%), significantly outpacing Group revenue. The organic growth (excluding GoCanvas) reached 26.3% (currency-adjusted: 29.4%). The main driver in Q2 was once again the revenues from subscription and SaaS models, which increased by 67.3% (organic, currency-adjusted: 57.6%). With a growth of 74.8% (organic, currency-adjusted: 61.5%), this revenue category grew strongly in the first six months of 2025 to EUR 403.6m (H1 2024: EUR 230.9m).
Consolidated operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased over-proportionally to revenue in Q2 by 44.0% (currency-adjusted: 46.3%) to EUR 88.5m (Q2 2024: EUR 61.4m). The corresponding EBITDA margin in Q2 expanded significantly to 30.5% (Q2 2024: 27.0%). On a six-month basis, EBITDA reached EUR 169.1m, leading to an EBITDA margin of 29.5% (H1 2024: 28.7%). The consolidated EBITDA margin for the first half of the year includes, among other things, an extraordinary non-operating effect in the low teens million euro range resulting from the unexpected insolvency of a service and payment provider. Adjusted for this effect, the EBITDA margin in the first half of the year would have reached a high 31.5%. No further effects from the insolvency are expected.
Net income for the quarter grew by 25.0% to EUR 52.4m, corresponding to earnings per share of EUR 0.45 (Q2 2024: EUR 0.36). Earnings per share for the first half of the year amounted to EUR 0.84 (previous year: EUR 0.73).

Strategic highlights in the first half of 2025

The Group-wide transition to a subscription and SaaS centric business model continues to be very successful. The share of recurring revenue as a percentage of total revenue rose further to a new record high of 92% in the first half of the year, up 7 percentage points versus last year.
At the same time, the Nemetschek Group is consistently driving forward its internationalization and group-wide go-to-market approach . Revenue growth abroad increased over-proportionally to overall growth in the first half of 2025, at around 34%. The Nemetschek Group also further expanded its local presence in high-growth regions such as India and Saudi Arabia.
Innovation remains a key success factor. With the gradual introduction of a new Agentic AI Assistant across several brands, the Nemetschek Group is setting new standards for AI-supported productivity and innovation in the construction industry.
Strategic acquisitions and targeted investments in start-ups remain important pillars of the growth strategy. The integration of GoCanvas into the Build segment is progressing successfully and according to plan. In addition, further targeted smaller bolt-on acquisitions – such as the acquisition of Manufacton in the Design segment and Laubwerk in the Media segment – strengthen the Group’s solution portfolio and open up additional growth opportunities. Additionally, the Nemetschek Group continues to actively invest in promising start-up. In the first half of 2025, for example, Nemetschek invested in Handoff – a start-up whose cutting-edge platform uses artificial intelligence to streamline and automate administrative workflows for construction companies.

Segment development in Q2 and the first half of 2025 (see also table)

The Design segment recorded strong growth of 16.7% (currency-adjusted: 18.3%) to EUR 131.2m in Q2. Growth was driven by very strong subscription and SaaS revenues, which nearly doubled. This also reflects stronger-than-anticipated demand for three-year contracts which are being strategically leveraged to accelerate the segment’s transition to a subscription-based model. The EBITDA margin in Q2 was significantly higher than in the previous year at 30.5% (previous year: 23.8%). On a half-year basis, revenue rose by 14.1% (currency-adjusted: 14.8%) to EUR 260.1m. The EBITDA margin remained nearly at the previous year’s level at 27.2%. In addition to the short-term accounting-related dampening effects on profitability associated with the transition to subscription and SaaS models, the margin also reflects extraordinary non-operating effects from the insolvency of a service and payment provider.
In the Build segment , the very strong growth momentum following the successful transition to subscription models for the Bluebeam brand continued in the second quarter of 2025. Including the GoCanvas business consolidated since July 1, 2024, segment revenue increased significantly by 56.5% (currency-adjusted: 63.0%) to EUR 116.8m. The segment also recorded very strong organic growth of 30.7% (currency-adjusted: 35.9%) for the quarter. The EBITDA margin in Q2 was at the previous year’s level at 34.1% despite the dilutive effect of GoCanvas. The organic margin (excluding GoCanvas) was significantly above the previous year’s level at 36.2%. The figures for the first half of the year show a very similar profile in terms of revenue growth and profitability.
In the Manage segment , revenue was almost at the previous year’s level at EUR 12.5m (-0.5%; currency-adjusted: -0.8%). The discontinuation of a low-margin consulting services unit in Q2 2024 had a negative impact on revenue. The EBITDA margin was 7.6% in Q2 (previous year: 8.2%). The first half of the year showed a similar development.
In the Media segment , revenue increased by 4.5% (currency-adjusted: 6.4%) to EUR 30.1m in Q2. Revenue for the first half of the year increased by 2.1% (currency-adjusted: 2.3%) to EUR 59.5m. The subdued growth reflects the insolvency of a service and payment provider, which had a negative impact primarily in the first quarter. As a result, the EBITDA margin declined to 25.2% in Q2 (prior-year quarter: 28.4%) and to 28.1% in the first half of the year (prior-year period: 32.9%). Adjusted for this extraordinary effect, revenue growth in the second quarter and first half would have been in the higher single-digit percentage range and the EBITDA margin at the previous year’s level.

Revenue outlook for 2025 raised

Following the very strong first half of the year, the Executive Board has raised its revenue outlook for the financial year 2025 , as already announced in the ad hoc release on July 24, 2025. Currency-adjusted revenue growth, including the revenue contribution from GoCanvas acquired in the previous year, is now expected to be in a range between 20% and 22% (previously: between 17% and 19%). This includes an M&A-related revenue contribution from the acquisition of GoCanvas of around 450 basis points (previously: 350 basis points). The EBITDA margin including the dilution effect from GoCanvas for the full year is still expected to be around 31%, reflecting, among other things, extraordinary non-operating effects from the unexpected insolvency of a service and payment provider.

This forecast is made expressly subject to the condition that macro‑economic and industry‑specific environments do not deteriorate materially during the current financial year. Moreover, the outlook does not factor in any potential adverse effects arising from escalating geopolitical tensions and higher tariffs on the global economy, corporate and consumer costs, or on investment and spending behavior.

Overview of quarterly key figures (Q2-25)

Overview of quarterly key figures per segment (Q2-25)

Overview of half year key figures (H1-25)

Overview of half year key figures per segment (H1-25)

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AI and BIM: Reimagining healthcare facilities with AEC/O lifecycle innovation

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 15:00:00 GMT

AI’s integration with BIM could usher in a new generation of future-ready healthcare facilities, writes Manish Sharma, chief product officer in the Build & Construct Division at Nemetschek Group

For healthcare organizations and hospitals worldwide, addressing rising costs and operational challenges tied to growing demand, strained capacity, and increasing regulatory and crisis management pressures has become a serious concern.

Making matters worse, many efforts to solve these issues through strategic construction and renovation have been repeatedly thwarted by abnormally high material costs, persistent labour shortages and other pressures affecting the global AEC/O landscape.

Whether dealing with new or existing facilities, these challenges highlight the urgent need for hospital operators and their AEC/O partners to adopt intelligent, modernised construction and building management solutions.

Fortunately, while the transformation required is complex and spans all project phases, it coincides with rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI).

AI’s integration with Building Information Modelling (BIM) and other supportive technologies promises to accelerate modernisation and usher in a new generation of resilient, future-ready healthcare facilities – for the benefit of patients and providers worldwide.

Centralising data and optimising management across the building lifecycle

One major challenge in building, renovating and maintaining hospitals is managing the vast amount of critical data generated across the lifecycle. Without a truly unified data management solution, collaboration among stakeholders becomes difficult, often resulting in higher costs, avoidable errors and unreliable decision-making.

This longstanding issue has plagued AEC/O professionals for decades. The Nemetschek Group has worked to address it through solutions like dRofus , a cloud-based planning and data management platform that centralises all project data and provides real-time visibility across the building lifecycle. Even early versions of this technology have significantly improved efficiency and collaboration, especially in constructing new healthcare facilities.

A prime example is Glasblokkene Trinn 2, a 50,000 sq m children’s hospital in Bergen, Norway, designed and built using a digital twin created from dRofus’ master database.

By leveraging the digital twin from the earliest planning stages, stakeholders could access all relevant data when needed, improving collaboration and avoiding costly delays and errors common with fragmented documentation.

The benefits realised in this project reflect what we call Building Lifecycle Intelligence – an approach that bridges data gaps, preserves information value throughout design and construction and enhances long-term operations.

With continued AI and machine learning integration, these benefits will only grow – deepening insights, improving predictive accuracy and expanding automation across the entire lifecycle.

Revolutionising hospital safety and regulatory compliance

Another critical challenge facing modern healthcare facilities is the need to design and build unique safety and regulatory standards. More than most built environments, hospitals must meet and consistently maintain extraordinarily strict building requirements to safeguard patients and care providers. Ensuring compliance with all regulations can be incredibly costly and time-consuming for construction and maintenance teams.

Whether ensuring the reliability of fire walls, ventilation or alarm systems, traditional risk identification and mitigation processes remain inefficient and overly reliant on manual inspection. However, this issue is now being addressed by innovative, digital-first solutions like Imerso, which leverages a combination of BIM, reality capture and AI technologies to automate construction oversight and safety inspections.

For example, Imerso’s AI-powered software has been an invaluable tool for the construction and engineering teams at Nyt Hospital Nordsjælland outside Copenhagen, who used the technology to streamline fire wall construction and compliance across the entire facility.

By incorporating Imerso, they’ve been able to automate multiple key processes related to the hospital’s fire walls, including quality monitoring, risk identification, system testing and even proactive safety validation during the planning phase.

As a result of these critical modernisation efforts, Nyt stakeholders dramatically reduced construction time while increasing productivity and completed the project with an estimated cost savings of €5.2m.

Moreover, the team reports that continued use of Imerso has increased monitoring capacity by 15x compared with previous methods, while using only 7% of the resources.

Supporting healthcare’s rapid evolution

As impressive as these early use cases may be, the true potential of these technologies lies in the ability of AI-powered systems to learn and improve through continued development and adoption. Rather than being limited to niche applications, AI is rapidly expanding to support a wide range of trends within the healthcare industry’s broader evolution.

For example, improving sustainability to combat climate change has become a major priority, with hospitals and care facilities responsible for roughly 5% of global carbon emissions each year. This issue is especially pronounced in the United States, where hospitals account for about 8.5% of annual emissions.

In response, several regulatory mandates and incentives have emerged to address the industry’s environmental impact, such as the UK’s Sustainability & Transformation Plan (STP) and the International Joint Commission’s Healthcare Sustainability Certification.

This is an area where AI-based solutions are already showing strong potential. By integrating AI and machine learning into design and construction planning, teams can run virtual simulations to proactively assess environmental impacts and identify strategies for maximising sustainability. In operations, AI monitoring and predictive maintenance tools help optimise energy usage and reduce waste.

Another notable trend is the growing demand for decentralised care, seen in the construction of smaller, community-based facilities and modular care units that expand capacity and improve infrastructure flexibility. In addition to enabling fast, efficient construction of new care centres, the renovation and modular augmentation of existing facilities can benefit greatly from tools like Imerso, dRofus and similar technologies – especially for space optimisation and regulatory compliance.

Finally, the global healthcare industry is now on an accelerated, long-overdue path toward digital transformation – and it’s clear that AI is becoming essential to ensuring hospital infrastructure can keep pace with complex demands and rapid innovation. As the global healthcare ecosystem evolves, and the AEC/O sector deepens its integration of these tools, AI is expected not only to transform how hospitals are designed, built and operated but also to dramatically enhance access and quality of care for patients worldwide.

*Please note that this is a commercial profile.

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How 3D laser scanning solutions can accelerate infrastructure surveying as reservoir building boom begins

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 15:43:00 GMT

As Britons endure another scorching summer with bouts of record warmth up and down the country, it bears repeating that this state of affairs is fast becoming the new normal – a new normal with increasing infrastructural and policy implications

This is especially the case when it concerns access to fresh water. And by extension, the pressing need to construct new reservoirs to better maximise the supply we do have while stockpiling for the lack of rainy days.

Or, in the age of climate change, downpour days so intense, it leaves little ability for soil to absorb said moisture, requiring large artificial or man-manipulated catch basins.

The conversation surrounding the need to do more gained added traction back in the spring when it was widely reported that the country experienced one of its driest three-month periods on record.

Sun worshippers may have basked in the Mediterranean-like air and strawberries may have turned an uncharacteristic ruby-red but images out of the Woodhead Reservoir in Derbyshire were also turning heads.

With water levels at record lows, water minister Emma Hardy warned the UK could face shortages of drinking water within a decade.

Fast-tracking the proposed Fens Reservoir in Cambridgeshire and the Lincolnshire Reservoir still places estimated project completion dates out to 2036 and 2040, respectively.

With the clock ticking, can more be done to cut costs, drive workflow efficiencies, maintain speed and build accuracy, and accelerate these timetables before our taps run dry?

3D laser scanning: A ‘flood’ of unmatched potential

The answer to the above question is ‘yes’.

Although the technology has been around in various forms for several decades, ongoing advances in speed, accuracy, automation, portability and ease-of-use mean that today’s generation of laser scanning solutions bears little resemblance to the products of yesteryear.

Modern laser scanners, like the FARO® Focus Laser Scanning Solution , for instance, boast faster time to data through the power of Flash scanning, a proprietary software algorithm that enables users to halve the time it takes to capture 3D point clouds.

Meanwhile, an impressive scanning range – up to 400m – leads to superior area coverage per scan position and is ideal for geospatial applications like topographical surveying or infrastructure projects – both critical elements when either building a new reservoir from scratch or expanding/retrofitting an existing one.

With superior scan-to-BIM workflows, tripod-based terrestrial laser scanners like the Focus help ensure the construction process goes smoothly, requiring fewer on-site personnel and greater confidence the final structure (in this case, two reservoirs) aligns with the design intent, reducing the risk of downstream errors, saving both time and money.

Moreover, the scan data is vital for project supervision and collaboration across different trades, as well as sharing that information via cloud-based platforms, like the FARO Sphere XG® Digital Reality Platform , with additional priority stakeholders.

These scanners thrive in the geospatial industry, especially in surveying and mapping through workflows like infrastructure surveying or corridor mapping, making them the ideal choice for tasks that demand flexibility and precision.

As it relates to reservoir construction, the technologies can assist with a variety of tasks, including, but not limited to, site assessment and feasibility, design planning, construction monitoring, post-construction maintenance/ensuring lifecycle longevity and documentation and compliance.

Designed as the ideal tool for simplicity of use, Blink takes 360-degree images and builds a corresponding point cloud “underneath” a compelling visual. This makes it particularly effective at documenting site progress, mapping pipe rooms, pumping stations and other indoor facilities.

Digging deep: How else can 3D laser scanning assist?

But what specific roles can 3D laser scanning of reservoirs help accelerate?

For site assessment, devices like the Focus and Orbis can perform topographic mapping – high-resolution 3D scans to create detailed terrain models – capturing natural contours, slopes and geological features.

There are also volumetric calculations to consider, critical in designing/planning embankments or spillways. Even vegetation and obstruction mapping can all be rendered in virtual 3D models, added to a BIM model.

From a design and planning perspective, scanned data can support hydrological models to simulate reservoir fill rates, flood scenarios and spillway performance.

Last, and perhaps most obvious, 3D laser scanning ensures precise placement of intake structures, tunnels and access roads by integrating laser scan data with geospatial design tools. This is beneficial not only during initial construction but also as part of continual upkeep, identifying structural shifts over time with repeat scans, and crack detection and erosion damage.

Putting it all together

Thus, as the UK moves deeper into August and an autumnal chill inevitably settles in, here’s hoping the powers that be consider the latest 3D laser scanning solutions to expedite the Fens Reservoir and Lincolnshire Reservoir projects.

And, for future projects not yet shovel-ready in our increasingly climate changing world.

Please note: this is a commercial profile

The post How 3D laser scanning solutions can accelerate infrastructure surveying as reservoir building boom begins appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

From concept to concrete construction: The case for connected workflows

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 11:29:00 GMT

If we are to truly deliver sustainably, faster and safer then connected workflows are a must. David Sanderson, analysis and design product manager at Trimble , explores the value of connected ecosystems and workflows, and what this can look like on the ground for construction teams

At the heart of an efficient, productive and coordinated construction workflow is a streamlined flow of data, stretching from Preparation & Briefing (RIBA Stage 1) to Handover & Use (RIBA Stages 6 and 7).

Connected data connects teams , disciplines, software and construction stages, taking you from the initial concept design to structural analysis, detailing and beyond.

It also connects places, providing a bidirectional link between the office and the field. With the connection between digital hardware and software, you can import real-world survey data into the 3D modelling environment, and then push this back out to the field for reliable setting out.

Even once construction is underway, data connectivity ensures that all site progress, concrete pours and processes are tracked and reported for easy traceability and management back in the office.

Disrupting this flow of data can lead to the loss of information, corruption of data, wasted time and data silos – to name just a few. It can also lead to increased Requests for Information (RFIs), when the goal is to reduce them. Not only can RFIs extend the duration of a project, they can also be costly.

Interoperability

To avoid this, it’s important to focus on interoperability and look for software providers that invest in an open BIM approach.

Consider, for example, the Concept Design stage, when the architect is liaising with the early stage structural engineers. Generally speaking, the concrete scheme will have been modelled by the architect (often in AutoDesk Revit, or similar) and it is then the structural engineer’s responsibility to review this within a design and analysis software package.

Here, the engineer will apply loads and critical data, carry out a structural analysis of the proposed concrete design, make any updates or suggestions, and send the revised model back to the architect for further review.

With direct integration and communication between the architectural modelling software and the structural analysis software, the 3D BIM models can easily be shared from one to the other and vice versa, as many times as is needed, all while maintaining the data and integrity of the model itself.

In comparison, consider how this process would look without this direct link – an obstacle that many architects and engineers are faced with every day.

Rather than being able to benefit from the automated capabilities and instantly import the model and its data into your chosen software package, the structural engineer would instead have to make all changes manually, cross-referencing the electronic drawings received from the architect and marking those up in their own structural design model. Such a manual process understandably leaves it wide open to human error, in turn potentially leading to major issues and project delays.

Connected workflows reduce inefficiencies across the entire project lifecycle

It’s a similar situation when you consider the coordination between the Spatial Coordination (Stage 3) and Technical Design (Stage 4) phases, with communication required between the structural engineer and the detailer in the drawing office. These are two significant stages of a project and cannot be considered in isolation; you cannot have the constructible model without the engineered design model.

Given the time and resources spent by structural engineers in developing the completed engineered model, why should this time then be put to waste by an inefficient transfer of information, with teams essentially having to build the model twice?

Without full software coordination and integration, project teams can be faced with having to manually migrate the data across from one model and one software to another. As well as being a clearly inefficient use of time, essentially doing the same job twice, this can also result in the loss of information or corruption of data, with a project able to easily fall foul of data silos.

Data liberation

It’s all about making the construction data readily available to those who need it, achieved through the use of cloud sharing platforms, APIs and an open BIM approach.

At the heart of this data liberation is design intent. Take rebar, for example, a notoriously complex feature of reinforced content. With connected workflows, engineers can effectively communicate the design intent, pushing this information through to the 3D model for detailing. There the detailing team can visualise everything clearly, allowing for rebar congestion or problem areas to be easily flagged, reducing the likelihood of rework or errors on site.

This same information-rich 3D data can then be pushed further through to fabrication, reusing the information to automatically generate bar bending schedules and drawings. It’s all about using and sharing a project’s constructible data and building upon it, as the project progresses from initial design through to site.

Building Safety Act

Digital, accurate and accessible data is at the heart of mastering compliance with the Building Safety Act. That said, it’s not enough to just have a common data environment. Instead, we need to be taking an open platform approach to BIM, with the need for IFC files of BIM models to remain functional and accessible, as well as seamless and broadened interoperability between software and platforms.

Some providers (like Trimble) are actively championing APIs and interoperability, recognising the need for open data workflows and connected platforms, regardless of the originating software.

If the industry is to master compliance with the Building Safety Act and its new evidential frameworks, it’s clear we need a connected and integrated ecosystem of software tools, enabling a streamlined flow of data communicated between all project stages, stakeholders and platforms – providing the Golden Thread of data needed to take you smoothly from Gateways One to Three.

Learn more about Trimble and our approach to connected construction, here: https://bit.ly/3Z6Gfv4 .

Please note: This is a commercial profile

The post From concept to concrete construction: The case for connected workflows appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Landscape design software honored for innovation, usability, and professional value

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 09:19:00 GMT

Green Industry Pros magazine has named Vectorworks Landmark 2025 an Editor’s Choice Award winner

Developed by global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc., Landmark 2025 was recognised as one of the industry’s most innovative and impactful products, based on evaluation by the publication’s editorial team and advisory board.

“Compact, precision, electric, and autonomous—these were common ways to describe this year’s winners of Green Industry Pros’ Editor’s Choice award,” said Green Industry Pros content director Marina Mayer.

“This year’s winning products are designed or enhanced to help landscape professionals balance the daily demands of their business, save on time, money, and labour, and work smarter, not harder.”

Award-winning software to transform design, modelling, and presentation workflows for landscape architects

As the industry-leading, landscape-focused design and modelling software solution specifically designed for landscape architects and designers, Landmark enables you to transform your design, modelling, and presentation workflows.

Vectorworks Landmark 2025 opens a new world of visual understanding and communication, delivering tools to enhance collaboration, streamline documentation, meet industry standards, and save time.

“We’re honoured that Green Industry Pros has recognised Vectorworks Landmark 2025 with this award,” said Eric Gilbey, PLA, ASLA, product marketing manager – Landscape at Vectorworks.

“The 2025 version continues our mission of empowering landscape professionals with the tools they need to design, collaborate, and deliver exceptional outdoor spaces. From precise site modelling to stunning presentations, every feature is designed to enhance productivity and support sustainable design practices.”

To learn more about the latest features in Vectorworks Landmark 2025 and how it can support your landscape design workflows, visit vectorworks.net/landmark . Start a free trial to experience the software firsthand and explore the Vectorworks Public Roadmap to see what’s coming next.

About Vectorworks, Inc.

Vectorworks, Inc. is an award-winning design and BIM software provider serving the architecture, landscape architecture and design, and entertainment industries in 85 countries. Professionals worldwide are using Vectorworks on Mac and Windows to create, connect, and influence the next generation of design. Built with designers in mind since 1985, Vectorworks software offers you the freedom to follow your imagination wherever it leads you. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with offices in the UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan, Vectorworks is a part of the Nemetschek Group. Learn how you can design without limits at vectorworks.net or follow @Vectorworks.

The post Landscape design software honored for innovation, usability, and professional value appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Vectorworks Design Days 2025 return to global stage, empowering designers worldwide

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 12:37:00 GMT

Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc., will host its global Design Days again, inviting architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture and design professionals to these worldwide networking and educational events

Global networking and learning events are taking place in London, Vancouver, Tokyo, and Sydney, where customers can connect with peers, explore emerging industry trends, and get a firsthand look at the latest features in Vectorworks 2026, launching September 2025.

“Design Days are about fostering a global community where designers can exchange bold ideas, explore cutting-edge tools, and shape the future of design,” said Vectorworks senior product marketing director Rubina Siddiqui, Assoc. AIA. “This year, we look forward to highlighting powerful updates and features that help architects , interior designers, and landscape professionals design more sustainably and creatively.”

Along with networking opportunities, attendees will hear success stories from industry peers and gain insights from Vectorworks senior leadership on the future of design and technology, including highlights from the Public Roadmap.

Vectorworks Design Days 2025 schedule:

Design Day London: October 14, 2025
Design Day Vancouver: October 30, 2025
Design Day Tokyo: December 5, 2025 (Architecture only)
Design Day Sydney: May 2026

Registration is free for each Design Day event. Prospective attendees can secure their spot through the registration page.

Press interested in attending can contact the Vectorworks Public Relations team at pr@vectorworks.net for more information or to schedule interviews with senior leadership or industry experts.

About Vectorworks, Inc.

The post Vectorworks Design Days 2025 return to global stage, empowering designers worldwide appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Valtria achieves faster and more robust MEP designs with Trimble’s Stabicad for Revit

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 12:12:00 GMT

Cleanroom specialist Valtria has adopted Trimble’s Stabicad for Revit to streamline its MEP system designs and calculations, delivering up to 40% time savings, improved productivity and enhanced collaboration with clients

Valtria designs and installs custom cleanroom solutions for a wide range of clients across the world. This includes heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), air treatment systems, specialist fluid and gas supplies, electrical systems and the integration of specialist medical and scientific equipment. Since 2013, the business has delivered more than 900 projects, totalling over 300,000 square metres of cleanroom space.

Valtria has been using Trimble’s Stabicad for Revit for four years

Previously, its designers were using a standard version of Revit for the 3D design, with calculations completed manually by the engineers using a separate solution. Stabicad integrates fully into the Revit platform allowing 3D design and engineering calculations to be completed within the one design environment. It also provides mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) specific functionality to streamline this element of the design.

Elena Gonzalez, global manager of Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) at Valtria said: “We have used Stabicad on major projects across Europe, including in Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. It is very user friendly and, when compared with other software, is much quicker for our designers to learn to use, many of whom do not have an advanced engineering background. This means that our designers can become productive using the software in half or even a third of the time required for similar software packages.”

Valtria feels the benefits of Stabicad throughout a project’s lifecycle

During the initial stages of the design, Stabicad allows the team to efficiently generate MEP system layouts to quickly visualise the possible routing of pipes and ducts. This not only helps to identify potential challenges and allow for coordination with architects on space reservation but also allows for an accurate estimation of costs and materials early in the project.

“The ability to create these initial 3D designs with all the required details makes it simpler for clients to understand the proposed system, making collaboration between them and our team easier to achieve,” Elena explained. “The speed in creating the initial design also provides us with a competitive advantage when it comes to tender submissions. We can supply the proposed designs and an estimation of costs swiftly and to an appropriate level of detail, often before other potential suppliers.”

At the detailed design phase, Stabicad enables precise, accurate and reliable calculations to be carried out within the Revit environment. Stabicad also determines flow rates, velocity, and pressure drops and automates system sizing to ensure the design will perform optimally once installed. All calculations and sizes are automatically updated as design changes are made, ensuring the model remains accurate and up to date at all times.

There are several Stabicad product features that have particularly benefited the Valtria team

One of these is the Node Solver function, which simplifies and automates the process of detailing complex routings and connections accurately. The ‘Solve Node’ function intelligently connects ducts to air terminals, ducts to ducts, pipes to pipes, and ducts or pipes to specific equipment, significantly reducing the time required to build a seamless ductwork and pipework layout. The ‘Solve Node with Options’ command offers even greater flexibility and control by calculating and suggesting various connection options tailored to specific project requirements, providing a balance between control, automation and customisation.

Another key feature for Valtria is Stabicad’s built-in content library of manufacturer-specific information, as Elena explained:

“The content library contains dimensionally correct digital versions of products with all the applicable technical data attached. This means our team can create the design using specific rather than generic components. The higher degree of accuracy that this allows reduces the potential for issues at the installation phase and provides added assurance that the system will perform as designed. For products not yet included in the content library, Stabicad makes it simple to create new product entries, which can then be added to the database and used on future projects.”

Given Valtria regularly works on global projects, Stabicad’s support of various national standards makes it simpler to ensure compliance with local regulations. Designers can simply choose the appropriate standard from the options listed and Stabicad will use the correct industry calculations based on those regulations. For the UK, the calculations are also CIBSE certified, providing additional assurance of accuracy and reliability.

This streamlining of the design and calculations throughout a project means that Valtria has seen a significant return on investment. Elena commented: “We estimate that by using Stabicad, we can achieve a 30 to 40% time saving in the design process compared to completing the same work using other packages. Due to these benefits, we are expanding the use of Stabicad to more Valtria offices globally.”

To help ensure a smooth adoption of Stabicad, Trimble has provided the Valtria team with ongoing support and in-depth training, delivering technical help on Stabicad functions as Valtria’s use of the software expanded.

Elena concluded: “Stabicad is a powerful and user-friendly solution for MEP design and calculations, with many tools available to help make it easy to optimise designs. This has resulted in significant time savings for us, allowing greater productivity. Additionally, in contrast to some other software suppliers, the support we have received from Trimble has been excellent, with any issues we had while learning the new software solved quickly.”

For more information about Stabicad visit: https://mep.trimble.com/en/products/stabicad-for-revit.

The post Valtria achieves faster and more robust MEP designs with Trimble’s Stabicad for Revit appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

How accessibility, clearance and data validation checks unlock project wins with BIM

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 06:48:00 GMT

Clash detection is just one part of what BIM can do. Discover how accessibility, clearance and data validation checks help teams build more inclusive, functional and reliable projects, and how Solibri makes it easy to get started

When people talk about use cases for building information modelling (BIM), one application almost always comes up: clash detection. And this constructibility check certainly delivers value. It spatially coordinates the project in the virtual realm to make sure nothing physically collides with anything else. This gives teams a way to meaningfully reduce rework and change orders.

The problem, though, is that industry professionals can have near-tunnel vision here. BIM has usefulness well beyond clash detection. By focusing primarily on this check, teams miss out on valuable opportunities to drive further project wins. That, then, raises the question: how else can teams leverage the model to design and build better projects? Here are three additional BIM-enabled checks that can unlock success.

Accessibility checks

Buildings need to function for all occupants and visitors. That includes people who use wheelchairs, walkers or other accommodative devices.

Ideally, designers operate with the locally applicable accessibility standards in mind. Still, as stakeholders bring their contributions to the table, issues can arise. To accommodate a larger mechanical system, for example, someone might shorten the length of a ramp on a shop drawing.

Fortunately, when the project is planned with BIM, accessibility checks can catch potential issues here. These checks guide the design team, flagging anything that doesn’t comply with inclusive building design. Then, as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) contractors contribute to the model, this kind of check continues to call attention to potential clashes.

When the appropriate guideline is built into the BIM checking software, it can automatically look for any potential infringement on:

Wheelchair turning radiuses.
Ramp requirements (slope, width, landings).
Stair requirements (riser height, tread depth, handrails).
Door dimensions and clearances.
Accessibility routes.
Restroom requirements.

Better yet, strong accessibility check software allows users to adjust rules in alignment with occupant/visitor needs. In the UK, building accessibility is guided by the Building Regulations Part M and the Equality Act 2010. These set out requirements like minimum space for wheelchair turning (usually around 1500mm or about 59 inches), ramp slopes, door widths and accessible toilets.

Using BIM, you can set these standards in your models to ensure your building is inclusive and compliant. You can also adjust these parameters if you want to go beyond the minimum and create more accessible spaces for everyone.

Accessibility checks make it easier for teams to design and construct projects that serve anyone who enters it.

Clearance checks

Clash detection specifically looks for the intersection of two solids. But just because two objects don’t overlap doesn’t mean the space is functional.

Consider a serviceable system that’s tucked up against a wall too closely for a human to access it. Not catching this kind of clearance issue until the project is complete means rework. That can take a hefty toll on the project’s budget, schedule, client schedule and even the firm’s reputation.

To solve for this, teams can deploy clearance checks, also called freespace checks. Wielding this tool in BIM means looking for the absence or presence of objects relative to each other. It gives stakeholders a way to ensure things are sufficiently far apart to be functional, or close enough to one another to meet users’ needs.

Clearance detection, then, gives teams a way to create safer, easier-to-maintain spaces. It can make it simpler to build high-functioning mechanical rooms in which maintenance personnel have the access and space they need. It can ensure that corridors have enough clearance for emergency evacuations.

Clearance checks can be tailored to the project’s unique requirements, too. If a hospital needs set clear space to ensure machinery and hospital beds can manoeuvre, those parameters can be set.

Users have the opportunity to build the project’s needs into their clearance check processes. They can define target elements and set spatial boxes around them. Then the model checking software automatically scans the entire project for any potential conflicts.

Data validation checks

Also called a property check, this process verifies that model elements align with the project’s data standards. Specifically, it allows users to check elements against any standards for:

Accuracy.
Consistency.
Compliance.

As the data saying goes, “garbage in, garbage out”. That’s as true of BIM as any other data application. When the data in the model isn’t reliable, it results in a faulty tool. Trying to run clash detection, accessibility checks or freespace checks becomes an exercise in futility.

As firms expand their BIM maturity, bad data in the model can have ripple-out effects. If the firm employs 4D BIM for scheduling, 5D BIM for project costing or 6D BIM for sustainability efforts, problems in the model can prevent teams from reaching their sequencing, budget or environmental impact goals. The issues expand if the owner uses the model for a digital twin or operations and maintenance.

This is all particularly troublesome because interoperability has long been a challenge for BIM users. If the modelling software used by, say, the electrical contractor doesn’t play nicely with the GC’s authoring platform, it could potentially introduce inaccuracies. Data validation checks give stakeholders an automated way to look for potential problems. Better yet, leading-edge BIM technologies provide a platform-agnostic solution. Today, users can operate in a browser-based environment to perform property checks. This prevents the need to toggle back and forth between platforms, which can create data integrity issues.

An easier and more effective property check means a more reliable model. As a result, this validation process builds user trust in both the model and any BIM processes for which it’s used.

That makes the model useful for not just the checks we’ve outlined here but for other applications, too. With an accurate, consistent model, teams can perform automated material take-offs, for example.

Unlocking project wins with BIM

Building information modelling allows teams to catch and address issues when they’re still in the virtual realm — and, consequently, much faster, cheaper and easier to fix.

That doesn’t only encompass the collision of two solids, although clash detection is absolutely a useful tool. By allowing stakeholders to check for compliance with accessibility standards, the model helps teams build more inclusive spaces for everyone. With freespace checks, BIMverified buildings become safer and easier to maintain. And with data validation checks, everyone using the model can have a high level of confidence it will deliver these wins.

If performing all of these checks seamlessly sounds appealing, deploy Solibri. Solibri offers various solutions for BIM quality assurance. That includes Solibri CheckPoint to get you started quickly and easily on all the essential checks, and Solibri Office , an advanced rule-based solution for more specific use cases like accessibility, fire safety and more. Plus, Solibri integrates with Autodesk Construction Cloud, BIM 360 and other platforms to make it easy to track and resolve any clashes that do come up.

To learn more about Solibri, get in touch with our team today. We’re here to help you explore how using accessibility, clearance and data validation checks can help you drive project success.

*Please note that this is a commercial profile.

The post How accessibility, clearance and data validation checks unlock project wins with BIM appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Creative uses for building shell tools in Vectorworks Architect

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 15:32:00 GMT

When you think of Vectorworks Architect’s Building Shell toolset, you probably think walls, windows, and roofs — the essentials. But with a little creativity, these tools can do a lot more than what you might expect

Last time we discussed the Building Shell toolset , you saw ways to step away from it by leaning into features like Data Tags, Graphic Legends, and advanced 3D modeling commands. Now, it’s time to zoom back in to help round out your expertise.

In this article, you’ll explore some unexpected ways to repurpose Building Shell tools for faster modeling, cleaner drawings, and more efficient workflows.

Wall tool for base trim

Many designers will model base trim with the Extrude Along Path command, but there’s another way that displays well in 2D and can make editing easier: the Wall tool.

Try creating a wall style that matches the height, thickness, and texture of your base trim. By doing so, you can quickly add trim throughout your project without extra modeling steps while also ensuring uniformity of the base trim in plan, elevation, and 3D views.

When using this method, it’s important to turn off Auto-Join Walls to avoid messy auto-connections. For better organization, it also helps to place the trim on a separate layer, such as your furniture or floor finish layer.

Railing tool for chair rail and crown molding

When you need more detailed trim profiles like chair rails or crown molding, the Railing tool has your back. Instead of manually modeling, you can define a custom profile and apply it to the handrail component, then hide all other parts of the railing. Setting the correct height and offset allows you to position the trim exactly where you want it, and saving it as a style makes it easy to reuse.

One major advantage here is that railings can follow changes in elevation, making it simple to model trim that wraps around staircases or sloped walls without extra effort.

Window tool for wall vents, returns, and access panels

For small elements like vents, returns, and access panels, many will manually build symbols, but there’s a faster way: you can repurpose the Window tool to create these components.

Consider setting the window to a fixed glass, no sash configuration, and replacing the glazing with a louvered panel, which allows you to quickly model “vents” without needing custom symbols. Adjusting the frame size and offsets lets you fine-tune the appearance to match your design goals.

For access panels, you can use a casement window configuration instead, giving you an easy-to-edit, parametric solution that updates dynamically.

Curtain wall tool for screened-in porches

The Curtain Wall tool isn’t limited to glass and metal. You can redefine it to create a fully parametric screened-in porch by using wood posts as the framing and setting the infill panels to screens. This method makes it simple to design and adjust screened enclosures while keeping the flexibility and smart object behavior of curtain walls.

Slabs or countertops for wall caps

Wall caps can be modeled efficiently by repurposing Slabs or Countertops . If you need a cap with a slope for drainage, a slab is the better option. If you need a specific edge profile, such as a bevel or bullnose, using a countertop gives you more control. In both cases, you can trace the top of the wall to create the cap, making the process quicker and more parametric than manual modeling.

Learn more about the countertops tool

Expert tip: Adjust IFC data when repurposing building shell tools

When working within an IFC-based workflow , remember that Building Shell objects come with IFC data already attached. If you’re using these objects for unconventional purposes — like modeling trim or vents — it’s smart to update their IFC classifications. Use the Data Manager to map new IFC properties to your styles, keeping your BIM data clean, accurate, and compliant.

The post Creative uses for building shell tools in Vectorworks Architect appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Can 3D visualisation tools help prepare London’s homes for heatwaves?

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:04:00 GMT

As heatwaves surge in the United Kingdom, millions struggle to stay cool. Chaos’ Roderick Bates looks at how architects can use 3D visualisation technology to design the buildings of the future by borrowing from the past

On the heels of some of Britain’s hottest summers ever, many wonder how the UK will cope with the increasing number and severity of heatwaves.

The recent rising temperatures are more than just an annoyance, with sensitive population groups, such as the elderly, at particular risk. According to government data , heatwaves have killed more than 12,000 British people since 2017.

Historically, British homes have been built to trap heat, insulating as much as possible to keep people warm during cold, wet winters. However, with increasingly warmer weather, the same feature that historically helped reduce heating energy has become a liability during the hot summer months.

Minimising heating energy is still important, but cooling structures in a cost-effective manner is becoming increasingly relevant – and for those in poor health, an imperative. To find a solution, architects need to go back to the drawing board and apply design strategies from regions with a long history of hot climate management.

Modernising the design process with 3D visualisation

Given the long history and deep culture of housing design in the UK, a complete overhaul of the design of homes is no easy feat and likely unfeasible. It is a game of trial and error.

Mistakes can be costly and not altogether visually pleasing. 3D visualisation technology can help by allowing architects to experiment with designs before their implementation, evaluating not only their aesthetics but also their environmental performance.

By providing tools to visualise potential designs before they are executed, 3D rendering helps architects, designers and the eventual occupant better understand and evaluate design options.

Stakeholders can make necessary changes to optimise for comfort, energy performance and aesthetics. Through the use of visualisation to facilitate design making, the design process isn’t just improved, it’s accelerated by minimising delays from protracted decision making.

It also allows for design missteps to be “seen” digitally and corrected before they are physically made, where the cost of correcting them is exponentially higher. In practice, this means producing a visual representation of how cooling methods can be implemented into new designs and existing structures , running rapid energy models using appropriate comfort set points for cooling and heating. Eventual occupants can then understand easily how the finished product would look and function.

What about air conditioning?

Currently, less than 5% of British homes have air conditioning units. Adding these components to new designs or existent buildings sounds like the logical solution, but it’s not so simple.

More than 10m buildings in the UK were built over 80 years ago. They lack the basic infrastructure required to easily install air conditioning units.

The extensive use of brick and the lack of air cavities in existing structures make it particularly difficult to install air conditioning units. It is almost impossible to retrofit ductwork, especially in terraced houses where the party walls eliminate the easy placement of the condenser units required by HVAC systems. Mapping out the feasibility of an installation, by virtually locating equipment on site in a rendering, is essential.

While air conditioning is an option, the cost and difficulty of installation, not to mention the long-term cost of maintenance, make it a strategy best deployed as a last resort, or at the very least on a building where passive cooling strategies are already exhausted.

Additionally, air conditioning isn’t without environmental consequences, accounting for nearly 4% of all greenhouse gas emissions and 10% of all electricity consumption worldwide.

The best strategy is to use air conditioning as the final comfort measure, after more sustainable and cost-effective traditional strategies for passive cooling are deployed.

Passive cooling

People have used passive cooling methods to regulate temperature since ancient times – upper-class Romans had impluviums, shallow pools that cool a home as water evaporates. Even Neanderthals took advantage of the thermal mass of caves, which provided a cool refuge from extreme temperatures.

Sceptics may wonder what contemporary passive cooling methods look like, considering that most people wouldn’t dream of living in a cave, and hardly have room for an indoor cooling pool.

Passive cooling can include minimising solar gains, with strategies as simple as adding external blinds, painting roofs white and walls a lighter shade to reflect the sun’s radiation.

Another option would be to add upper-storey exhaust fans to evacuate hot air and operable windows to bring in cooler air at night.

More invasive methods include installing preventative techniques in a building’s structure to prevent internal or external heat gains. These passive methods lower interior temperatures, reducing HVAC usage and, in turn, lowering electricity consumption and bills.

This isn’t just speculation. One study found that passive cooling methods result in an average temperature drop of 2.2C, a reduced cooling load of 31% and a 29% saving in energy consumption.

In contrast to the likes of air conditioning, passive methods even work during power outages, which is particularly relevant for areas with unreliable power grids. With warnings from the Net Zero Watch Group that the ageing UK power grid has limited capacity, this is increasingly concerning.

Given the above, for new builds, there’s more reason than ever to design with passive cooling in mind. And there’s still plenty of opportunity to redesign existing structures with passive features, even on limited budgets.

3D visualisations can illustrate design moves to mitigate solar gains and maximise passive cooling, such as deploying external shading devices, repositioning windows and doors to enable cross ventilation and changing the exterior paint colour.

They can also model design elements like ventilated gaps between the ceiling and roof, allowing stratified hot air to escape, helping assess feasibility and aesthetic impact before construction.

The future of climate resilient homes

Regardless of style, budget, or location, there are a variety of techniques that can be implemented to new buildings or existing structures to help the UK cope with the rising temperatures.

While changing anything with as deep of a tradition as homes in the UK is no small task, 3D rendering software can help architects and stakeholders test and visualise how active and passive cooling can be integrated into both new and existing spaces.

At Chaos, we are dedicated to empowering the sustainable designs of the future, even when it means borrowing from the past.

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Vectorworks Architect 2025 Selected as a Jury Winner in Architizer A+Product Awards

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:00:00 GMT

Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks , Inc., is pleased to announce that Vectorworks Architect 2025 has been named a Jury Award Winner in this year’s Architizer A+Product Awards

Honored in the Architizer Design Tools category and selected through a rigorous process determined by a panel of architects, designers, and other industry professionals, Vectorworks was recognized for its innovative approach to helping AEC professionals unlock their creativity and elevate their design process.

“Being named a Jury Award Winner by Architizer is a tremendous honor and a testament to our ongoing commitment to supporting the creative freedom of designers everywhere,” said Vectorworks chief product officer Darick DeHart. “This release delivers meaningful enhancements—from faster 3D modeling and refined documentation tools to improved performance and data-driven design capabilities . Everything we build focuses on helping architects explore ideas more freely and bring their visions to life with greater precision and confidence.”

A hundred-person jury selected the winner

The A+Product Awards celebrate the building products that power today’s most inspiring architecture—selected by the very architects and design professionals who use them. As a definitive benchmark for excellence in the industry, the awards recognize the products and materials shaping the future of design. This year’s jury featured over 100 influential leaders and visionaries from across the global design community—individuals actively defining the built environment.

Built for design-centric workflows, Vectorworks Architect 2025 empowers architects to sketch, model, and document with precision. With seamless 2D/3D integration, intuitive modeling tools, and superior graphics and visualization capabilities, Architect 2025 is purpose-built to enhance creativity, support design precision, and boost overall efficiency.

Explore the award-winning product built for architects and interior designers at vectorworks.net/architect or start a 7-day free trial of Vectorworks Design Suite . To see what’s on the horizon, preview upcoming features on the Public Roadmap .

About Architizer

Architizer’s core mission is to Empower Architects by connecting designers with building-product manufacturers, and via our inspiring content, awards programs, competitions, and global reach spotlighting the world’s best architecture. We connect architects with the tools they need to build better buildings, better cities, and a better world.

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Vectorworks launches new AI Assistant (preview) built for designers

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 06:15:00 GMT

Vectorworks has announced its new built-in AI Assistant, created to accelerate learning, enhance productivity, and support smarter design workflows, is now available

Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc. , part of the Nemetschek Group, has announced the availability of its AI Assistant (Preview), an innovative new tool designed to give users instant and accurate answers to their Vectorworks-related questions.

As a preview feature in the release of Vectorworks 2025 Update 5 , the AI Assistant (Preview) marks the first phase of integrating AI learning technology into Vectorworks software, with the long-term goal of providing more intelligent, personalized, and time-saving solutions to designers.

Built for Vectorworks users, by Vectorworks experts

Available through the Help menu and the Vectorworks Home Screen, the built-in AI assistant is designed to give customers quick, context-aware answers to their questions, allowing them to stay focused on their creative work.

Whether users need to learn new features or simply seek guidance, the AI Assistant (Preview) delivers fast, reliable support by drawing from official Vectorworks content and resources. With built-in feedback tools and continuous updates, AI Assistant (Preview) becomes increasingly smarter and more personalized with each interaction, evolving the more it’s used.

The AI Assistant (Preview) is more than just a chatbot. It offers:

Confidence Scores – Communicates how reliable each answer is.
Language Localization – Automatically adjusts based on browser settings.
Built-in Feedback – Users can rate responses and contribute to the tool’s improvement.
Resource Integration – Direct links to Vectorworks Help and Vectorworks University for deeper learning.

“The AI Assistant (Preview) is your partner in learning and productivity and is a significant advancement in the Vectorworks experience,” said Vectorworks vice president of Product Management Vlado Stanev. “It’s an intelligent tool designed to meet designers at their level, whether they’re new to the software or seasoned pros. This is just the beginning of our vision for how AI can support our users.”

A preview of what’s to come

The AI Assistant (Preview) represents the first phase of Vectorworks’ AI learning integration, laying the foundation for deeper AI integration across the platform. Future plans include leveraging the Nemetschek AI Layer to deliver even smarter, more efficient, and increasingly adaptive solutions to address designers’ evolving needs and unique design workflows.

The AI Assistant (Preview) is available to users with the release of Vectorworks 2025 Update 5 . To install the update, select “Check for Updates” from the Vectorworks menu (Mac) or the Help menu (Windows).

Experience Vectorworks for yourself and explore the capabilities of your new learning partner, the AI Assistant (Preview), with a free 7-day trial of Vectorworks Design Suite . To learn more about the future of Vectorworks, explore the Public Roadmap .

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Blending tradition and technology: How open-BIM shaped the Kutina mixed-use project

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 07:16:00 GMT

A new mixed-use building proves that innovation and local identity can go hand in hand. Through a fully digital, openBIM-based workflow, the project team delivered a modern retail space that blends seamlessly into its traditional surroundings

Where pitched roofs and modest family homes define the streetscape, a new mixed-use development has quietly redefined what commercial architecture can look like.

Designed by MR 2 arhitektonski studio in Archicad and brought to life through the technical expertise of Baldini Studio, the project delivers a contemporary retail space that doesn’t shout – it respectfully integrates into its urban fabric.

From the outside, the building appears to be a simple one-storey home with an attic, clad in sleek aluminium sheeting. But behind this carefully considered façade lies a dynamic interior – an indoor pedestrian street that links multiple retail units within a shared circulation space. The goal was clear: respect the existing neighbourhood character while introducing a new architectural and commercial experience.

Complexity in a compact form

While the finished building looks understated, the design and construction process was anything but. The project team had to work within strict height limitations and carefully balance the massing to blend with its surroundings. At the same time, they needed a structurally optimised layout that could handle varying spans, complex load paths and retail-specific demands – all within a tight footprint.

To meet these challenges, Baldini Studio adopted a fully digital workflow from the outset. A BIM-centered approach enabled early synchronisation between architectural and structural models , reducing coordination issues later on. This digital-first strategy was especially important given the building’s unique layout and constrained site conditions.

openBIM and seamless data flow

True to the openBIM philosophy, the team tested two different routes for data exchange. One involved importing the architectural model directly into BIMPLUS, while the other passed through Allplan before being uploaded to the cloud. Both workflows ran smoothly, giving the team confidence that there would be no integration issues further down the line.

BIMPLUS proved especially valuable for tracking design iterations. Using the platform’s visual comparison tools, structural engineers could identify model changes at a glance, with colour-coded highlights making adjustments immediately clear. This streamlined communication, reduced meetings and helped avoid potential missteps during model handover.

AutoConverter also played a key role in bridging the gap between design and analysis. Instead of manually adjusting geometry or managing node alignment in SCIA Engineer, engineers followed a guided and automated process that simplified the transformation of the architectural model into an analytical one. With each step clearly defined, the conversion process became faster, more intuitive and significantly less error-prone.

Closing the Loop: From Analysis to Reinforcement

Once the structural design was validated in SCIA Engineer , the team explored how to streamline the next stage – reinforcement. Rather than interpreting calculations manually, engineers generated reinforcement for beams and columns directly within SCIA Engineer, then transferred it into Allplan for detailing and documentation.

This approach delivered clear and measurable benefits. It reduced the time needed to model rebar layouts and lowered the risk of misinterpretation between analysis and drafting.

Instead of redrawing reinforcement from scratch, draftsmen could focus on refining automatically generated layouts, combining these bars with project-specific detailing and print preparation.

By feeding the reinforcement model back into the architectural environment, the team also gave architects greater visibility into how the structure interacted with their design.

The result was a fully integrated esign loop – from concept to analysis, reinforcement and documentation – that minimised manual effort while maximising accuracy, efficiency and cross-discipline coordination.

*Please note that this is a commercial profile.

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Nemetschek Group and Nesma Infrastructure & Technology sign MoU to drive digital transformation in Saudi Arabia’s AEC/O sector

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 06:50:00 GMT

The Nemetschek Group, a global leader in software solutions for the Architecture, Engineering, Construction & Operations (AEC/O) industry, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nesma Infrastructure & Technology (NIT), a renowned Saudi Arabian infrastructure and technology firm

This strategic partnership between the Nemetschek Group and Nesma aims to accelerate the digital transformation of Saudi Arabia’s construction and infrastructure sectors, aligning with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives.

The MoU establishes a collaborative framework between Nemetschek and NIT to implement cutting-edge digital solutions, including Building Information Modeling (BIM), digital twins, and open standards, across large-scale infrastructure projects throughout Saudi Arabia. The partnership seeks to enhance project efficiency, sustainability, and innovation in the AEC/O industry.

A significant milestone in Saudia Arabia’s development plans

“This partnership marks a significant milestone in our commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030,” explains Muayad Simbawa, managing director of Nemetschek Saudi Arabia. “By combining Nemetschek’s global expertise in digital construction technologies with NIT’s deep understanding of the local market, we aim to deliver transformative solutions that will redefine the construction landscape in the Kingdom .”

Eng. Fouad Alsherebi, chairman of Nesma Infrastructure & Technology, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration: “Partnering with the Nemetschek Group aligns perfectly with our strategic vision to lead the digital transformation in Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure sector. Together, we will leverage advanced technologies to enhance project delivery, operational efficiency, and contribute to the Kingdom’s sustainable development goals.”

The MoU outlines joint initiatives in areas such as smart city development, digital infrastructure planning, and workforce upskilling in digital construction methodologies. Both organizations are committed to fostering innovation and setting new benchmarks for excellence in the AEC/O industry.

About Nesma Infrastructure & Technology

Nesma Infrastructure & Technology (NIT) is a subsidiary of the Nesma Group, specializing in delivering comprehensive infrastructure and technology solutions across various sectors, including energy, telecommunications, and water. NIT is committed to supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 through innovative and sustainable project delivery.

The post Nemetschek Group and Nesma Infrastructure & Technology sign MoU to drive digital transformation in Saudi Arabia’s AEC/O sector appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Delivering comprehensive fire safety compliance with BIM

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 07:05:00 GMT

PBC Today sat down with Solibri’s BIM Expert Simon Gilbert to discuss how BIM can help AEC companies build fire-safety compliant buildings

In your 20-plus years working in digital construction, would you say the last eight years have seen some of the most dramatic changes in the industry?

There’s no doubt that technology has brought major changes to the construction industry. While these advancements offer clear benefits, adoption can often be slow due to several common challenges. Navigating regulations and standards, ensuring compatibility with existing systems and workflows, while managing already tight project timelines can make the shift to new tools a significant undertaking.

For companies willing to test and roll out new technologies, the process can involve a steep learning curve. However, it also holds the potential to boost efficiency and productivity—ideally without disrupting project timelines or budgets. Over time, embracing these changes should lead to greater certainty in design and construction.

When people think of fire safety measures, they often think of active protections such as extinguishers and sprinklers, or perhaps more passive protections like fire doors. How do BIM models support these protections (and more) and ensure requirements are met?

BIM models can help us plan for both active and passive safety elements in a building. These elements aren’t just chosen at random – they’re guided by strict regulations about where and how many are needed.

But it’s not just about following the rules; consideration is required based on the unique layout and purpose of each building, making sure these safety features truly protect the spaces and people inside. Solibri with its logical rules-based templates can assist in this process.

Solibri, Laing O’Rourke, and BDP recently collaborated on the new Everton Stadium; a three-year project which involved working with heritage assets and installing precast elements with the use of 3D modelling. What role did BIM play in securing fire safety compliance throughout this process?

Solibri was selected for its robust and mature capabilities, particularly its ability to create custom rule templates that support compliance with fire stopping requirements . The software was key in two main areas: first, in identifying all service penetrations through compartment walls and floors; and second, in verifying that each of these penetrations is properly fire stopped in accordance with manufacturer specifications. This ensures that the fire compartmentation retains its integrity, ultimately allowing safe evacuation of the buildings occupants in the event of a fire.

The project team then defined the necessary checks for both the design and construction phases, drawing on the Best Practice in Design and Installation Guide for Fire Stopping of Service Penetrations . This guide outlines a series of nine ‘Golden Rules’—two key sections were directly supported through Solibri’s rule-based checking.

Solibri played a pivotal role in meeting the following key rules:

- Golden Rule 3 – Concept Design: Concept Design – Identifying all service types passing through compartment walls and floors including any insulation products.
- Golden Rule 4 – Spatial Coordination: Spatial Coordination – Follow the Design process for the provision of penetration seals.

Solibri offers an array of BIM technologies and solutions to support UK duty-holders in achieving fire safety compliance. Where would you advise AEC companies to start when looking at Solibri’s BIM library?

Fire stopping checks in Solibri should ideally begin once the model is fully coordinated —meaning all federated model coordination checks, such as clash detection and clearance, have been completed. Running these checks too early can lead to unreliable or inconsistent result (false positive issues).

As the project life cycle moves from design to construction, it’s important that data is progressively added to support increasingly detailed checks. For the rules to work effectively, they need access to specific information, including: the type of service, material, size, compartmentation requirements (including fire ratings, acoustic and deflection ratings).

Additionally, Builders’ Work in Consideration (BWIC) and fire seals must be assigned IDs. These IDs are crucial for grouping related issues around specific penetrations and ensuring all necessary data is captured and traceable— supporting the Golden Thread of Information throughout the projects lifecycle.

Looking to the future, how do Solibri solutions support stakeholders over the entire lifecycle of a project?

Solibri can support the Lifecyle of a project in many ways . Listed items below give a brief indication as to its capability.

- - Design: consultants design requirements can be checked during design phase – indications for design, rules of thumb, clients brief requirements, regulatory and standard checking processes.
  - Design/Construction: BIM Coordination of consultant’s design to ensure fit and clash free design along with any spatial requirements for components.
  - Construction Fabrication Comparison of design to fabrication models to ensure they are synchronised.
  - Construction Change Management: Identify any model changes at each iteration.
  - Specialist checks : such as COBie and Fire Stopping.
  - Providing QA/QC checked models: both geometry and data for contractual requirements i.e. Facilities Management.

You can learn more about Solibri’s range of construction software solutions here .

The post Delivering comprehensive fire safety compliance with BIM appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

How to implement a successful digital twin for the AECO industry

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 08:12:00 GMT

Digital twins offer transformative potential for the AECO industry; however, two main problems are hindering their successful delivery: the sector’s disconnected work processes and the disagreement between building owners and AECO professionals over their value, writes Taylor Cupp, vice-president of Hexagon’s Building Solutions

When it comes to digital twins, a value perception gap exists within the AECO sector. 65% of building owners recognise the high value of digital twins, compared with just 47% of AEC respondents, according to Hexagon’s Digital Twin Industry Report .

This disconnect highlights a fundamental challenge. And, despite documented digital twin benefits – including improved efficiency, better problem-solving tools, reduced risk and 80% of companies reporting a reduction in carbon emissions – the fragmented nature of building projects presents challenges. These obstacles make it difficult to both initiate the use of digital twins and maintain their successful implementation.

The following best practices can help ensure success.

Mandate digital twins for AECO

For the AECO industry, it’s the O, or operations, which not only requires a ‘digital twin’ deliverable but also maintains and utilises it the longest.

A successful digital twin spans the entire asset lifecycle from design through to documentation, bidding, coordination, construction, commissioning and operations.

However, when digital twins are not implemented correctly, creating them can feel like a nuisance to some teams. After all, digital twins touch so many areas of the project lifecycle and involve numerous stakeholders. At first, inefficiencies and silos are likely to arise.

Until the end customer, such as a facility manager or building owner, mandates their implementation, digital twins often remain fragmented tools serving only specific teams working on specific segments of a project. Success begins with a requirement, and with the roadmap outlined next.

Create a roadmap for implementing digital twins

As AECO lags behind other industries in adoption, organisations need a clear roadmap when starting out.

Roadmaps should ensure teams:

Avoid common pitfalls

New adopters often stumble by attempting to build, on day one, overly complex models that prove unsustainable and difficult to deliver and maintain.

Additionally, when starting out with digital twins, many companies engage their facilities teams too late in the process. By engaging the individuals who will ultimately operate and maintain the digital twin as soon as possible, companies report increased usage and engagement with the digital twin once the construction project is complete, plus reduced handover challenges and resistance to adoption.

The age-old adage of “beginning with the end in mind” applies here more than ever, but it’s just as easy to fall into the trap of “trying to boil the ocean”. Customers who succeed in realising value from the data-rich asset they are creating generally start small, with a clear end goal in mind.

Start with a pilot project

Companies should start with assets where they control multiple project phases. This helps maintain data continuity throughout the process. It also offers the freedom to shape data requirements from design through to occupancy, keeping processes streamlined and efficient.

Buildings with repetitive elements also maximise learning opportunities while minimising challenges. For example, a healthcare facility with repeating and identical patient rooms, exam rooms and operating rooms can employ the “one-to-many” approach. Applying the same model across multiple instances helps scale the benefits efficiently through a single digital twin solution.

In addition, these rooms are traditionally very system-heavy and frequently undergo renovation, so they can quickly realise value through better system management and planning.

Finally, choose projects where operational efficiency gains have clear metrics that demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) . An example of this might be monitoring energy consumption and HVAC system performance and comparing it with the pre-digital twin data.

• Overcome data fatigue

Digital twins rely on quality data from multiple sources. We have the tools to capture an immense amount of data, react to it and gain insight from it.

“But what if the data is wrong?” is a question that frequently arises. Data can certainly be difficult, especially when projects involve tens of contractors, each using separate data systems, inconsistent formats and, occasionally, legacy systems with limited integration capabilities that require extensive reconciliation to build the digital twin.

However, the true value realised in taking a digital twin approach is that it creates a framework for unbiased and automated data entry. When a human is removed from the data entry loop, the lag in entry, errors and biased opinions can lead to well-informed and immediate decision-making.

The journey from fragmented BIM to comprehensive digital twins, which are optimised and maintained by operations teams, requires strategic planning, stakeholder alignment and an ongoing commitment to data quality.

By starting with appropriate pilot projects and establishing robust data integration frameworks, AECO organisations can bridge the perception gap and realise the full potential of digital twins.

The post How to implement a successful digital twin for the AECO industry appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Value and Use Cases of Digital Twins

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 06:02:00 GMT

Digital twins have rapidly gained attention as a fascinating technology that creates virtual replicas of physical objects or systems, continuously updated with real-time data. But beyond the buzz, what is the value of digital twins across a building’s lifecycle and for the various industry segments?

Digital twins have emerged as a transformative technology in the building industry, enabling stakeholders to create dynamic, data-driven virtual replicas of physical assets.

These digital counterparts continuously integrate real-time information from various sources, providing a comprehensive and actionable view of a building’s status throughout its lifecycle.

This article explores the key use cases of digital twins for buildings , organised by life phases – planning, construction and operations – and by industry segments such as commercial real estate, healthcare, education and airports.

Digital twins across building life phases

1. Planning and design phase

During the initial phase of a building’s life, digital twins serve as an advanced extension of Building Information Modelling (BIM), enriching design data with real-world context and enabling more informed decision-making.

Data integration and visualisation: Digital twins aggregate and harmonise diverse datasets – architectural plans, engineering models, geospatial data and environmental factors – into a unified 3D visualisation. This holistic view facilitates better collaboration among architects, engineers and planners by breaking down data silos.
Scenario simulation and optimisation: Designers can simulate various design alternatives and assess their impacts on energy use, daylighting or structural integrity before construction begins. This reduces costly rework and supports sustainability goals.
Stakeholder communication: Immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), integrated with digital twins, enhance stakeholder engagement by providing intuitive walkthroughs and visualisations of planned buildings. This improves alignment and accelerates approvals.

2. Construction phase

The construction phase benefits from digital twins by enabling real-time monitoring, quality control and resource optimisation.

Progress tracking and quality assurance: Digital twins ingest data from reality capture technologies such as laser scanning, photogrammetry and drones to compare as-built conditions with design models. This ensures construction accuracy and identifies deviations early.
Supply chain and workforce management: Integrating logistics data and sensor inputs allows project managers to optimise material deliveries, equipment usage and labour allocation, reducing delays and cost overruns.
Safety monitoring: Sensor data combined with AI-driven analytics within the digital twin can detect hazardous conditions on-site, improving worker safety and compliance.

3. Operations and facility management phase

The operational life of a building is where digital twins deliver the most tangible benefits in terms of efficiency, cost savings and occupant satisfaction.

Real-Time monitoring and predictive maintenance: Digital twins continuously collect data from building management systems (BMS), IoT sensors and integrated workplace management systems (IWMS) to monitor HVAC, lighting, security and other critical systems. AI-powered analytics predict equipment failures before they occur, enabling proactive maintenance that reduces downtime and repair costs.
Energy management and sustainability: By simulating operational scenarios and analysing energy consumption patterns, digital twins help optimise energy use and reduce carbon footprints.
Space utilisation and occupant experience: Digital twins provide insights into how spaces are used, enabling dynamic adjustments to heating, cooling and lighting based on occupancy. This personalisation enhances comfort while minimising waste.
Compliance and reporting: Automated data aggregation simplifies regulatory reporting and supports ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) goals by providing transparent, verifiable operational data.

Use Cases by Industry Segment

Commercial real estate

For commercial buildings, digital twins drive operational excellence and tenant satisfaction. Facility managers use digital twins to optimise energy use, reduce operational costs and improve maintenance workflows. The ability to visualise and analyse building performance in real time supports strategic decision making, such as retrofitting or space reallocation, to maximise asset value.

Healthcare facilities

Hospitals and healthcare campuses benefit from digital twins by ensuring critical systems operate reliably and efficiently. Real-time monitoring of HVAC and air quality is crucial for infection control. Digital twins also support emergency preparedness by simulating evacuation scenarios and infrastructure resilience. Integration with medical equipment and asset tracking further enhances operational efficiency.

Educational institutions

Universities and schools use digital twins to manage complex campuses with multiple buildings and stakeholders. Digital twins facilitate space management to accommodate changing student populations and optimise energy consumption. They also support long-term maintenance planning and sustainability initiatives, helping institutions reduce costs and environmental impact.

Airports and transportation hubs

Airports are complex infrastructures with high operational demands. Digital twins enable integrated management of terminals, runways and support facilities. Real-time data fusion supports crowd management, security monitoring and energy optimisation. Predictive maintenance of critical infrastructure ensures safety and minimises disruptions.

The role of Nemetschek’s dTwin platform

Nemetschek’s dTwin platform stands out by offering an open, API-based, horizontal solution that integrates all relevant data sources into one overarching digital twin. This approach eliminates data silos and fosters collaboration among architects, engineers, contractors, owners and operators.

Key features include:

Variable 3D visualisation: dTwin supports and combines different types if visualisation (2D, BIM, point clouds, 360-degree photogrammetry, GIS) without any of them necessarily being predetermined or without having to convert data beforehand.
Open data integration: dTwin connects CAD/BIM, IWMS, IoT, CAFM and building management systems, enabling a seamless flow of information throughout the building lifecycle.
Real-time insights: Dashboards and reports provide stakeholders with tailored, actionable insights from IoT sensors and other applications, enhancing transparency and decision-making.
Scalability and flexibility: As a cloudbased SaaS platform, dTwin supportsprojects of varying sizes andcomplexities, from single buildings tolarge campuses.

Conclusion

Digital twins are no longer just a futuristic concept but a practical tool delivering measurable benefits across all phases of a building’s life and across diverse industry segments. By bridging design, construction and operations data, digital twins enable smarter, data-driven decisions that improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance occupant experience.

Nemetschek’s dTwin platform exemplifies this evolution by providing a comprehensive, open and integrated solution that harmonises data streams and unlocks the full potential of digital twins in the built environment. As adoption grows, digital twins will become indispensable for owners and operators seeking to realise more value from their buildings throughout their entire lifecycle.

*Please note that this is a commercial profile.

The post Value and Use Cases of Digital Twins appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

It’s time to bridge the BIM-to-field gap

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 09:21:00 GMT

Field management software like Re-flow links BIM and on-site teams, providing a single, efficient solution for real-time updates

At its best, Building Information Modelling (BIM) appears to have revolutionised construction – it’s been described as a “superstar” tool for the industry.

However, its application often falls short in the field, when it can be perceived more as a design tool and not as an innovation relevant to the day-to-day running of sites. Statistics indicate that only 41% of construction companies using BIM connect their office and site teams.

This disconnect and siloed data leads to BIM models becoming quickly outdated as work progresses.

On site, manual processes can hinder data capture and real-time data sharing, negating BIM’s potential for more informed decision-making and reactive insights.

The impact of disconnected field operations

A study by Autodesk and FMI revealed that poor project data and miscommunication are responsible for 52% of all rework in construction.

Rework leads to significant financial losses. Navigant Construction’s report, The Impact of Rework on Construction & Some Practical Remedies concluded that “average rework on projects can cost between 7.25% and 10.89% of total construction cost (…) and can cause a project delay of approximately 9.8% of the planned project time”.

Field management software can help unify operations

Field management software like Re-flow bridges the gap between BIM and on-site teams by providing comprehensive data capture and a single, efficient solution for real-time updates to the field. This transforms sites into live, interconnected networks of information and a central hub for all communication.

Here’s how:

1. Live, version-controlled documents

Management software offers real-time access to the latest project documents, including drawings, specifications and health and safety information. Updates can be instantly sent to sites, sent through the cloud to the software’s phone app.
Field teams can access up-to-date information directly on their mobile devices, ensuring that all team members are working from the same information, minimising errors and rework caused by outdated or incorrect data.
Notifications can also alert teams about any changes.

2. Geotagged photos and site forms

The platform allows for the capture of geotagged photos and completion of site forms directly from the field.
This real-time data collection provides accurate and immediate feedback on site conditions and progress. The data can be integrated back into the BIM model, ensuring that the digital representation reflects the actual state of the project, facilitating better decision-making and planning.

3. Audit trails and digital sign-offs

Software like Re-flow maintains comprehensive audit trails and supports digital sign-offs for tasks and inspections.
This enhances accountability and traceability of actions taken on-site and allows for more robust management.

4. Customisable workflows

The platform offers customisable workflows tailored to specific project requirements and BIM maturity levels. Forms can be built to capture the specific data points a project might need that directly correspond to BIM model attributes, like installation status, material properties and inspection outcomes.
This flexibility allows teams to adapt the platform to their unique needs, enhancing efficiency. New demands for data or evidence can be immediately created, preventing frustrating delays.

The impact on project outcomes

By facilitating real-time communication and data sharing, field management software prevents data siloes and unifies BIM teams with the workers doing the actual construction.

This reality then significantly reduces the likelihood of errors and rework, while the ability to integrate real-time field data into the BIM model ensures that it remains a living document, accurately reflecting the project’s status and facilitating better decision-making throughout the construction lifecycle.

A modern way of working

Bridging the gap between BIM and field operations is crucial for maximising the benefits of digital construction methods. Platforms like Re-flow play a vital role in this integration, ensuring that the rich data generated during construction is effectively utilised, leading to improved project outcomes and reduced costs.

For more information on how Re-flow can enhance your data management and field operations, visit our website .

*Please note that this is a commercial profile.

The post It’s time to bridge the BIM-to-field gap appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Bridging the gap between BIM and smart buildings

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 08:53:00 GMT

The Digital Building Council’s BIM to Smart initiative aims to bridge the gap between building information modelling and smart building technology. Project lead John Clarke discusses the project ahead of the DBC’s BIM to Smart panel at Digital Construction Week

The digital transformation of the built environment is undeniable, yet a significant chasm often separates the world of Building Information Modelling (BIM) from the burgeoning realm of smart buildings.

While both are critical for modern construction and operations, my experience working across multiple smart building projects has highlighted a common disconnect between the different teams overseeing these separate workstreams.

It was during some of these project struggles that I stepped up to help lead the Digital Buildings Council’s (DBC) BIM to Smart initiative. Our mission is clear: to actively explore and address the complex integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) with smart
building technologies.

The core of our investigation, and indeed the focus of an upcoming panel at Digital Construction Week (DCW), centres around overcoming challenges in data integration, communication breakdowns, digital twin lifecycles and crucial standardisation barriers.

This panel, a direct reflection of our project initiative, will bring together a slimmed-down range of expert perspectives from both the BIM and smart building sides, including leading main contractors.

We firmly believe that greater collaboration between these communities can foster a more unified approach to smart building development, driven by knowledge sharing and cross-industry education to enhance best practice. During initial discussions within our working group, most of the recurring questions and observations consistently fell into one of three critical categories:

The disconnect between BIM and smart buildings .
The importance of collaboration and education.
The urgent need for standardisation and alignment.

The disconnect between BIM and smart buildings

While each of these areas warrants at least one article each, I’m going to focus here on what I see as the inherent disconnect between the two areas.

BIM has revolutionised design and construction, providing rich, data-centric models. However, its project delivery strengths and clash detection benefits often don’t transition to the operational lifecycle of a smart building. This isn’t typically the BIM team’s fault, but a broader lack of cohesion beyond immediate construction drivers.

BIM models, comprehensive for design and build, often lack the granular, asset-level data essential for smart building systems. This can stem from a “selfish BIM” approach, where models are created primarily for construction needs, neglecting operational data requirements of sensors, IoT and performance monitoring. The result: design data not easily translated into actionable intelligence for smart operations.

In my experience, this shortcoming often boils down to the sheer quantity and variable quality of documentation. Employer’s Requirements (ER), BIM Execution Plans (BEP), trade specifications and Smart Specifications frequently request data in multiple places.

Unfortunately, these documents often, at best, don’t align and, at worst, directly contradict each other. Furthermore, the distinct focuses of the BIM (design, construction) and smart building (operations, technology) communities lead to entrenched communication silos. Critical information isn’t exchanged effectively, causing data omissions and challenges in translating design intent into functional smart systems.

While BIM offers a robust foundation for building projects, its true value in the operational phase of a smart building often remains untapped. A critical aspect of bridging the BIM-to-smart disconnect is rethinking how BIM is developed and maintained with ongoing operational use firmly in mind.

It’s not uncommon for extensive time and effort to be invested in meticulously detailing every single asset, item or sensor within a BIM model, only for this rich data to be largely overlooked by the maintenance and facilities management teams once the building is handed over.

This often highlights a fundamental challenge: operational teams frequently lack the specialised skills and software to effectively manage and extract actionable insights from complex BIM systems. Expecting a maintenance operative to consult a highly detailed BIM model, or to require a skilled CAD engineer every time a minor change, like moving a light fitting, is needed is simply impractical. Such approaches create friction, inefficiency and ultimately lead to the abandonment of the BIM model as a living operational tool.

Therefore, a “less is more” approach in the integration of BIM into a smart and operational building is often a more logical and effective strategy. This means prioritising the capture of BIM data that is truly relevant and directly actionable for ongoing operations and smart system integration. The focus should shift from exhaustive detail to strategic utility, ensuring that the information within the BIM model is accessible, understandable and directly supports the operational workflows of the building management teams.

BIM to Smart panel at DCW

Our BIM to Smart panel at DCW on 4 June, along with ongoing DBC initiatives, aims
to illuminate this critical gap and champion collaboration, education, standardisation and alignment.

By openly discussing challenges and sharing best practices, we empower stakeholders across the construction and operations spectrum. This dialogue is crucial for standardised approaches, improved communication and, ultimately, ensuring valuable data from design and construction is fully leveraged throughout a building’s lifecycle.

As part of our DBC BIM to Smart working group, we seek feedback and input from diverse industry sources: CAD system providers, consultants, contractors, system trades and MSIs. Watch this space for further announcements.

The BIM to Smart panel at DCW promises a vital conversation for anyone in the built environment. By addressing the critical need for better integration and collaboration, the industry can achieve truly efficient, high-performing and intelligent buildings, improving ESG performance and overall building effectiveness for decades to come.

The post Bridging the gap between BIM and smart buildings appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Leveraging AI and BIM in construction risk management: Toward a new standard in project efficiency

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 14:00:00 GMT

As construction projects grow in complexity, value, and stakeholder scrutiny, improving risk management through BIM is a strategic imperative

In a new meta-study published in the Journal of the American Institute , researchers Santje M. Iriyanto, Suyatno, and Meity Halena from Universitas Sains dan Teknologi, Jayapura, provide a crucial roadmap for modernising and adopting BIM construction risk management.

Their findings signal a paradigm shift in integrated digital technologies — particularly BIM, AI, and multi-agent simulations, which are now central to achieving time, cost, and quality efficiency.

This article synthesises their insights with the latest peer-reviewed research to illuminate what BIM professionals must know in 2025 to lead risk-optimised project delivery.

Digitalisation as a risk management lever

Risk management in construction has traditionally relied on empirical methods, experience, and qualitative checklists. However, this no longer suffices when navigating climate volatility, inflationary material markets, and complex supply chains.

The reviewed study confirms that Building Information Modelling (BIM) is foundational to modern risk mitigation. When deployed effectively, BIM supports clash detection before construction, scenario planning for design changes, enhanced collaboration across architecture, engineering, and contractor (AEC) teams, and real-time data integration with scheduling (4D) and cost estimation (5D).

Alzoubi (2022) found that BIM-based risk visualisation and change propagation reduced cost overruns by 12–18% in high-rise projects. This reflects broader adoption trends in the UK under the ISO 19650 framework, which standardises information management across the asset lifecycle.

Multi-objective optimisation: Managing trade-offs

The study highlights that time, cost, and quality are no longer independent variables. Efficient construction delivery depends on the simultaneous optimisation of these factors.

For example, Sharma & Trivedi (2021) presented an AHP-NSGA-II algorithm that balances:

Time compression vs. labour costs
Quality assurance vs. material procurement risks
Resource scheduling vs. project sequencing

In practical terms, these models allow BIM and project control teams to create pareto-optimal schedules, visualised through BIM-integrated tools like Vico or Primavera with 5D extensions.

In terms of industry integration, the UK’s Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) programme explicitly encourages the use of multi-objective decision models in its value toolkit. This aligns with public procurement frameworks such as the Construction Playbook, which prioritise whole-life value over initial capital cost.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning: From prediction to prevention

Iriyanto et al. incorporate findings from Abioye et al. (2021) and Hashemi et al. (2020), underscoring the maturing role of AI in construction risk modelling.

Applications include the predictive cost estimation using supervised ML on historical BoQs and project data, AI-enhanced contingency modelling using decision trees and probabilistic logic, and real-time risk scoring via IoT sensor inputs from construction sites.

AI tools are increasingly embedded into platforms like Autodesk Construction Cloud, Oracle Aconex, and bespoke Power BI dashboards for BIM-enabled risk analysis.

Recent UK infrastructure projects have leveraged AI-enhanced Earned Value Management (EVM) to detect scheduling and procurement risks weeks ahead of human detection, reducing programme slips by 9–11% (source: Mott MacDonald 2023 pilot data).

Multi-agent simulation: Modelling uncertainty in prefab and modular projects

Complex prefabricated environments introduce stochastic variables such as:

Shipping delays
Inconsistent tolerances
Installation sequence dependencies

Du et al. (2019) developed a multi-agent simulation (MAS) framework to test prefabrication workflows. This model supports iterative design feedback loops and optimises sequencing for offsite-manufactured components, critical in HS2 and similar modular projects.

The Jayapura study integrates this MAS approach as part of a risk-aware design strategy, reinforcing its application beyond academia.

BIM’s central role in cross-disciplinary co-ordination

Risk in construction encompasses not only technical aspects, but also procedural and contractual elements. Delays often originate from breakdowns in communication and versioning errors. BIM’s single-source-of-truth capability aligns design intent with scope definition, risk registers, and response plans

In large-scale UK hospital projects, BIM-integrated risk logs tied to CDE platforms (e.g. Viewpoint, Asite) are replacing traditional Gantt-linked registers, enabling live mitigation tracking and stakeholder accountability.

The Iriyanto study suggests that risk mitigation should transition from document-based to model-driven processes, providing real-time insights and traceability.

Case study reflection: Infrastructure in Southeast Asia

The study cites a major bridge project in Southeast Asia as a practical example. With severe climate, terrain, and supply chain risks, the project team:

Applied BIM from design through operation
Used PSO algorithms for schedule optimisation, and
Predicted and adjusted for weather disruptions

This enabled project delivery 20% ahead of schedule, 15% under budget, and fully compliant with performance specs.

This empirical evidence validates that digital optimisation is not theoretical; it’s operational.

Strategic recommendations for BIM professionals

Drawing from Iriyanto et al. and the wider literature, key strategic actions include:

1. Advance BIM skills to include risk workflows

BIM managers should learn to:

Create risk matrices within BIM tools
Link model elements to risk categories
Automate risk alerts for design changes

2. Incorporate multi-objective decision tools

Platforms like @Risk, Crystal Ball, or even open-source Python libraries (e.g. PyMC, SciPy) should become standard in project planning.

3. Foster AI readiness

Establish project data governance early to enable training of AI models for future forecasting and risk mitigation.

4. Adopt integrated risk governance

Move from siloed Gantt charts to model-based workflows using ISO 31000-aligned digital systems.

Conclusion: Risk-Driven BIM is the New Gold Standard

As construction evolves under pressure from net-zero mandates, tighter margins, and global uncertainty, project success hinges on predictive, tech-enabled BIM construction risk management.

The Iriyanto et al. study offers robust validation: BIM is no longer just a design tool; it is a critical instrument of risk governance and optimisation. When paired with AI, MOO, and MAS, BIM leads a digital ecosystem that can transform how we build, manage, and mitigate.

For BIM professionals, embracing this risk-optimised future is not optional. It is strategic.

The post Leveraging AI and BIM in construction risk management: Toward a new standard in project efficiency appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Accurate reinforcement estimation with BIM: Evaluating Tekla Structures vs Autodesk Revit for column rebar QTO

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 11:30:00 GMT

In today’s complex and sustainability-conscious construction industry, quantity estimation isn’t just a technical detail — it’s a business-critical process

Quantity Take-Off accuracy (QTO), particularly for reinforcement (rebar), significantly impacts project budgets, procurement decisions, construction timelines, and material waste management.

Why rebar QTO accuracy matters in digital construction

With steel accounting for a significant portion of construction cost and embodied carbon, accuracy in rebar estimation has become a priority across the industry.

Manual methods, though still in use, are increasingly being phased out in favour of Building Information Modelling (BIM) workflows that offer model-driven data integration, change automation, and high-level precision.

In this context, two BIM software tools dominate structural workflows: Autodesk Revit and Tekla Structures. While both are widely used in the UK and globally, their performance and applicability in QTO for reinforcement work needed further validation — until now.

A new academic study published in Construction and Material Journal by Deva Maula Al Farizi and Kartika Hapsari Sutantiningrum from Politeknik Negeri Jakarta addresses this very question. Their work compares the QTO outputs from Revit and Tekla for column reinforcement and benchmarks them against conventional manual methods.

The findings offer a valuable knowledge base for BIM co-ordinators, cost consultants, and structural engineers seeking evidence-based guidance in digital construction.

Study summary: Tekla and Revit in comparative focus

The research centred on the modelling and QTO of reinforced concrete columns across a 16-storey structure. The study followed a consistent methodology:

Modelling the same structural elements in Tekla Structures 2023 and Autodesk Revit 2021
Performing QTO for the column rebar in both
Comparing each software’s results and cross-referencing them with manual (conventional) estimations

The aim was not only to validate the accuracy of the software platforms but also to identify potential operational advantages BIM could offer over traditional methods.

The study found there was a 0% deviation between Revit and Tekla QTO outputs, and only 0.132% deviation between BIM-based and conventional QTO results, indicating substantial efficiency improvements in data processing and change propagation with BIM

Why this matters: Implications for UK BIM professionals

These findings are particularly relevant for the UK’s digital construction landscape, where public sector BIM mandates and private sector innovation are pushing the boundaries of model-based project delivery.

This has several specific implications for industry stakeholders:

Confidence in software interoperability

The zero deviation between Tekla and Revit confirms that both platforms, when used properly, can produce identical and highly reliable Quantity Take-Off accuracy. For multi-disciplinary teams or collaborative frameworks like the Common Data Environment (CDE) in ISO 19650 workflows, this means that structural engineers can use Tekla for detailed rebar modelling and architects and general contractors can use Revit for integrated project design while quantity surveyors can depend on outputs from either system.

Sustainable and efficient procurement

Material wastage — particularly rebar offcuts — can inflate project costs by up to 10%. BIM-based QTO enables exact material ordering and more precise scheduling. For example, BIM systems link QTO to 3D geometry, and changes in geometry (e.g. increased column size) will automatically update BoQs and cost plans

This directly supports the UK’s Construction Playbook and net zero targets, which emphasise cost transparency and sustainable delivery.

Speed and automation in cost planning

Traditional QTO methods are time-intensive and prone to human error. The study shows that using BIM tools can eliminate those inefficiencies. BIM automates dimensional calculations,cross-checks between drawings and BoQs, and updates across affected model elements.

This improves both pre-construction planning and onsite change management. Cost planners using RICS NRM 1 and 2 standards can generate estimates faster and with reduced error margins.

A closer look at the tools: Revit vs Tekla

Autodesk Revit is commonly used for architectural and MEP design, but also supports structural detailing. Its key advantages include:

Intuitive UI for beginners
Integrated schedules and parameters
Strong interoperability via IFC and Dynamo

However, its rebar detailing is often considered less robust than Tekla’s.

Tekla excels in steel and concrete detailing and is widely used for:

High-detail rebar modelling
Connection design
Fabrication-level documentation

It does require a steeper learning curve but is favoured by structural engineers and steel detailers for accuracy and flexibility.

Training recommendations based on study insights

The authors of the study suggest a staged training approach, which would Begin with Revit for early-phase modelling and general familiarity, and then Progress to Tekla for in-depth structural QTO and fabrication readiness.

This approach aligns with best practices in BIM Level 2 adoption and is especially useful for SMEs or local authorities transitioning into digital construction.

Linking BIM to broader digital construction trends

This research connects with broader industry transformations, such as:

4D and 5D BIM for time and cost modelling
Digital twins for lifecycle asset management
AI-enhanced QTO and clash detection for automation

As the UK continues to embrace digital built environment frameworks (e.g. through the Centre for Digital Built Britain and the National Digital Twin programme), accurate and integrated QTO is no longer optional—it’s foundational.

Reliable estimation is key to digital transformation

This comparative study affirms what many practitioners experience on the ground: BIM-based QTO, when applied correctly, is faster, more accurate, and more efficient than traditional workflows. Whether you’re delivering schools in Birmingham or hospitals in Bristol, reliable estimation underpins every successful construction project.

The takeaway for UK BIM professionals is that both Revit and Tekla are valid, high-performing platforms. BIM training and precision modelling are essential, and integrating BIM for QTO accuracy enhances project predictability and cost control

As the construction sector continues its digital shift, studies like this provide the empirical foundation to support smarter, leaner, and greener building processes and Quantity Take-Off accuracy.

The post Accurate reinforcement estimation with BIM: Evaluating Tekla Structures vs Autodesk Revit for column rebar QTO appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Neuigkeiten in Revit 2026 und 2026.1

Tue, 27 May 2025 13:11:00 GMT

Es ist höchste Zeit, dass wir über die Neuigkeiten vom neuen Revit Release 2026 und mittlerweile auch schon 2026.1 schreiben, denn wie jedes Jahr, ist wieder viel passiert und wir bekommen viel positives Feedback von unseren Kunden, wobei jeder seine eigenen Highlights hat. Hier also ein paar der Highlights zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum von Revit , dass seine Erstveröffentlichung am 5. April 2000 hatte und sich seit dem zur erfolgreichsten weltweiten BIM Lösung durchgesetzt hat:

Zunächst einige Highlights von Revit 2026.1

Revit 2026.1 bringt mehrere Verbesserungen, welche die Arbeitsabläufe und die Performance optimieren. Wichtige Aktualisierungen umfassen erweiterte Modellierungswerkzeuge, verbesserte Dokumentationsfunktionen und eine erhöhte Interoperabilität mit anderen Autodesk-Produkten wie z.B.

Dynamo 3.5 mit intuitivem visuellen Verändern von z.B. Flächen, Fassaden, Freiformflächen, o.ä., besserer Autovervollständigung, besseren Nodes zum Anpassen von Listen, besserer Package Manager, etc.
Verbesserte Technologievorschau der beschleunigten Graphik von 2026, die schneller aufgerufen werden kann und weniger RAM benötigt. Mehr Infos dazu unten bei den 2026er Highlights
Verbesserte Doppelklick Optionen und Tastaturkürzel
Automatische Last Kombinationen in der Tragwerkwerksplanung
Sschnelleres Auswählen und Erstellen des physikalischen und Berechnungs-Modells
Ein-Klick Ändern der Richtung (Anfang-Ende) eines Bewehrungsstabs

Und hier die Highlights der Revit 2026 Version

Zusammenfassung aller Highlights:

Recap Pro für Revit-Plugin

Das neue ReCap Mesh Revit-Plugin unterstützt nachhaltiges Bauen und Bauen im Bestand, indem viel GB große Punktwolken in ReCap Pro auf nur MB große Meshes reduziert und in Revit verlinkt bzw. importiert werden. In Revit stehen Funktionen zur Verfügung, die die vermaschten Punktwolken zu den bestehenden Kategorien mappen oder auch in Famiiein umwandeln lassen. Dieser neue Workflow beschleunigt und verbessert den Scan to BIM Prozess enorm mit ebenfalls großen Performance Gewinnen.

Technische Vorschau für beschleunigte Grafik

Autodesk stellt die Accelerated Graphics Tech Preview vor, welche die graphische Performance und Navigation von Revit stark verbessert. Durch Technologien wie USD (Universal Scene Description) und Hydra wird die Navigationsgeschwindigkeit in 3D- und 2D-Ansichten erhöht, was eine effizientere Modellbearbeitung und Navigation ermöglicht. Diese Vorschau wird nach und nach weiter implementiert und verbessert, bevor sie als Standard gesetzt wird (siehe auch 2026.1 Verbesserungen).

Geländemodell-Verbesserungen

Seit der Einführung des Geländemodells vor zwei Jahren haben wir die neuen Topografie Funktionen und Workflows kontinuierlich weiterentwickelt und dabei Ihr Feedback berücksichtigt. Die neue Version von Revit 2026 bietet mehrere Verbesserungen, die für ein flexibleres, effizienteres und präziseres Modellieren sorgen

Verbesserte 2D Funktionallitäten / Dokumentation

Unsere Vision ist es, die Dokumentation zu automatisieren, damit Nutzer sich auf kreative und anspruchsvollere Aufgaben konzentrieren können. Die Funktion „View to Sheet Positioning and Automated Placement“ in Revit 2026 verbessert die Konsistenz und spart Zeit durch präzise Platzierung von Ansichten auf Plänen. Außerdem wurden geteilte Parameter in Beschriftungsfamilien erweitert, um zusätzliche Ansichtsinformationen einzubeziehen, was die Flexibilität der 2-D Planung erhöht.

Verbesserungen in der Tragwerksplanung

Für die Tragwerksplanung wurden einige Verbesserungen im Stahlbau, für die Automatisierung des Berechnungsmodells und der Bewehrung entwickelt, die vor allem für schnellere Ergebnisse mit weniger manuellen Schritten sorgen sollen, z.B. Parametrische Kröpfung von Bewehrungseisen und Punkt-zu-Punkt-Modellierung im Stahlbau wahlweise mit oder ohne Anfangs- und Endversätze, flexibel umstellbar je nach Anwendungs- und Auswertungsfall.

Verbesserungen in der Gebäudetechnik

Für die Gebäudetechnik sind vor allen zwei Highlights interessant, die Unterstützung von mehradrigen Kabeln für die weltweit verwendeten Installationstypen , bei denen die Größen der einzelenen Leiter variabel eingestellt werden können.
Das zweite Highlight ist die neue Möglichkeit, analytischen Rohr- und Kanalsegmente jetzt einen benutzerdefinierten Verlustkoeffizienten oder Druckabfall zu geben , womit nun auch eine Kontrolle über den Gesamtdruckverlust gegeben ist, wenn das Netz noch nicht vollständig detailliert modelliert wurde.

Interoperabilität und Zusammenarbeit

Die neue Version von Autodesk Docs verbessert die Steuerung und Sichtbarkeit von Koordinationsmodellen, was die Zusammenarbeit und Fehlerreduzierung fördert.
Die IFC Verlinkungen sind nun mit Wahl des Revit Koordinatensystems möglich, womit die Positionierung von IFC-Dateien in Revit stark verbessert wird, ein Highlight für viele Kunden.
Der Dialog „Verknüpfungen verwalten“ ermöglicht nun eine bessere Verwaltung und Transparenz importierter CAD-Dateien (bisher nur verlinkter CAD-Dateien) was die Überichtlichkeit großer und komplexer Projekte optimiert, bzw. eine unübersichtliche Vergrößerung von Projektdateien verhindert.

Weitere neue Funktionen

Dynamo Core 3.4.1, siehe auch 2026.1 mit Dynamo 3.5
Verbesserter Familienersatz (Mapping) für Twinmotion für Revit
Kopieren/Einfügen von Punkten und Linien für Toposolids, Geschossdecken und Dächer
Wanderstellung nach Raum oder Segment z.B. für Putzschichten o.ä.
Flexible Ebenenpriorität für Wände, Böden und Dächer
…

Die vollständige Dokumentation zu Revit 2026 finden Sie in der Produkthilfe bzw. im AEC Tech Drop

New research reveals how BIM is tackling road construction delays and planning failures

Wed, 21 May 2025 09:05:00 GMT

A groundbreaking international study has revealed how BIM is helping to solve persistent scheduling and planning problems in road construction projects, offering a clear path to improved delivery, reduced disruption, and cost certainty

Published in Sustainability (2025), the study — led by researchers from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Universidad Industrial de Santander, and international collaborators — examined the most impactful BIM applications for mitigating key deficiencies in road project scheduling , from poor traffic management planning to resource estimation and coordination failures.

The problem: Why road projects go off track

Road infrastructure projects across the globe continue to face avoidable challenges during planning and execution stages.

Among the key deficiencies identified:

Inaccurate material quantity estimates
Scheduling errors and misaligned dependencies
Poor traffic flow planning during construction
Ineffective use of on-site space and equipment
Budget overruns due to disconnected cost data

These issues contribute to delays, increased costs, and public dissatisfaction — especially in urban settings where transport disruptions ripple into economic and social impacts.

The BIM solution: Seven targeted uses

The study identified seven specific BIM uses with the greatest impact on improving scheduling and reducing risk in road construction:

4D construction planning – Simulates project sequences in time and space, allowing teams to visualise the build process before ground is broken.
Traffic management planning – Enables virtual modelling of traffic flows, signage, and closures to minimise public disruption.
Schedule estimation – Enhances accuracy by linking real-time data with simulation to forecast and adapt project timelines.
Quantity take-off and cost estimation – Improves budget accuracy and material logistics through detailed digital models.
Equipment and material planning – Optimises the coordination and delivery of site resources.
Space use planning on site – Prevents layout inefficiencies and safety risks by digitally simulating site operations.
5D cost analysis – Integrates financial data into project models for better cost control and forecasting.

Top performer: 4D BIM leads the way

Of all the uses, 4D BIM was ranked as the most influential in resolving planning issues, particularly for defining activity sequences, allocating resources, and visualising construction timelines. Interviewed experts cited 4D planning as essential for spotting missing work packages, sequencing errors, and coordination gaps — often before they affect the site.

Expert insight

“Using BIM for 4D simulations means we can walk through the construction sequence and catch inconsistencies long before they cause issues,” said one project manager involved in the study. “It’s not just about planning smarter — it’s about building smarter.”

Other practitioners noted that traffic management modelling helped reduce confusion and safety risks during high-impact roadworks, while quantity take-off features improved forecasting accuracy and reduced material waste.

What this means for UK infrastructure

As the UK continues to modernise its infrastructure delivery through initiatives like project speed, digital roads, and net zero commitments, this research offers a practical framework for embedding BIM into national and local road programmes.

The findings align with the Construction Playbook’s emphasis on digital tools, better risk management, and whole-life project value.

While BIM has become commonplace in vertical construction, its uptake in horizontal infrastructure — especially roads — has lagged. The authors argue this must change.

“This research clearly shows that BIM is not just a modelling tool — it’s a powerful enabler of schedule certainty and resource efficiency in road construction,” said lead author Dr Rodrigo Herrera.

“Governments, contractors, and consultants should urgently scale up BIM deployment to avoid the repeated failures we’ve seen in road planning over decades.”

Read the full open-access study: Castañeda, K. et al. (2025). BIM Uses for Mitigating Deficiencies in Road Scheduling Planning. Sustainability, 17(6), 2729. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17062729

The post New research reveals how BIM is tackling road construction delays and planning failures appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Nemetschek Group expands into Saudi Arabia to advance digital transformation in the construction and media industries

Wed, 21 May 2025 06:17:00 GMT

The Nemetschek Group , a leading global provider of software solutions for the AEC/O (Architecture, Engineering, Construction & Operations) and media industries, has announced the launch of its operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

This strategic move underscores Nemetschek’s commitment to supporting the region’s rapid growth, digital transformation, and sustainability ambitions as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

The expansion brings Nemetschek’s portfolio of industry-leading brands – including Allplan, Bluebeam, Graphisoft, Maxon, Solibri, Spacewell, and Vectorworks – closer to one of the world’s most dynamic construction markets. The Saudi construction sector is experiencing unprecedented growth, with over $1 trillion in mega-projects underway and a strong push for digitalization and sustainable building practices. The Nemetschek Group’s solutions will empower local architects, engineers, builders, and creative professionals to deliver projects more efficiently and sustainably through advanced BIM, AI, and digital twin technologies.

Muayad Simbawa will lead Nemetschek operations from Riyadh

Muayad Simbawa has been appointed managing director for Nemetschek’s operations in Saudi Arabia and will lead the company’s regional efforts from Riyadh. He brings a strong background in sales and operations, with deep relationships across the Kingdom. With nearly 20 years of experience in digital transformation, infrastructure, oil & gas, power, and enterprise software, Muayad Simbawa is a seasoned technology leader.

Known for leading market entries and building high-performing teams, his leadership will drive innovation in the AEC/O sector and shape the future of construction and design in the Middle East.

The initial focus will be on supporting key giga projects and fostering digital transformation across the built environment. The company’s first major appearance in the Kingdom is at the Saudi Giga Projects 2025 Summit in Riyadh, a key event for senior decision-makers in the country’s construction sector. The summit offers a unique platform to showcase Nemetschek’s expertise and forge partnerships with stakeholders at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s transformation.

Building “a more efficient, sustainable, and connected future”

“Saudi Arabia is leading the way in global construction innovation , with ambitious developments and a strong commitment to digital transformation. By establishing our presence in the Kingdom under the leadership of Muayad Simbawa, we are dedicated to equipping professionals across the region with the technologies and support they need to build a more efficient, sustainable, and connected future,” says Yves Padrines, CEO of the Nemetschek Group.

“We are excited to bring Nemetschek’s world-class solutions to Saudi Arabia, supporting Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s drive towards digitalization and sustainability. Our goal is to collaborate with local partners and customers to unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation across the construction and media sectors,” adds Muayad Simbawa, managing director, Nemetschek Saudi Arabia.

As part of its commitment to the region, the Nemetschek Group will also participate in the upcoming Saudi Entertainment and Amusement (SEA) Expo (20 – 22 May 2025) with its brands Maxon, Spacewell and Vectorworks. SEA is a premier event that brings together professionals from the global entertainment industry. The Expo offers a unique platform for collaboration, where industry leaders can connect, address real-world challenges, and co-create innovative, actionable solutions.

Nemetschek’s involvement reflects its broader vision for the Middle East – to serve as a catalyst for digital transformation and sustainability, aligned with the region’s ambitious development goals. Through its advanced software solutions, the Group aims to support the evolution of smart cities and future-ready infrastructure across the region.

The post Nemetschek Group expands into Saudi Arabia to advance digital transformation in the construction and media industries appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today .

Forma und Stadtentwicklung: Wie skandinavische Gemeinden eine datenbasierte Planung nutzen

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:26:00 GMT

Warum digitale Lösungen in der Stadtentwicklung entscheidend sind

„Die digitale Unterstützung der Stadtentwicklung verbessert den Prozess und den Dialog mit den Beteiligten. Wenn alle sehen, wie und warum verschiedene Lösungen die Umwelt beeinflussen, können wir konstruktivere Gespräche führen und bessere Entscheidungen treffen.“

Diese Worte stammen von Oskar Berglund , Entwicklungsingenieur für Stadtplanung in der schwedischen Stadt Malmö , der die Detailplanung eines neuen Stadtviertels leitet.

Schlüsselakteure im Stadtplanungsprozess der nordischen Länder – darunter viele Gemeinden – sind Pioniere bei der Nutzung neuer Technologien zur nachhaltigen Stadtentwicklung. Immer mehr Stadtplaner setzen auf Autodesk Forma , um die Herausforderungen einer nachhaltigen Stadtplanung zu bewältigen und bestmögliche Stadtviertel für kommende Generationen zu gestalten.

Digitale Stadtplanung mit Forma: Herausforderungen und Lösungen

Der Planungsprozess ist in den nordischen Ländern weitgehend einheitlich: Gemeinden sind wichtige Partner während des gesamten Verfahrens. Sie stehen jedoch vor ähnlichen Herausforderungen:

Wohnungsmangel und steigende Anforderungen an soziale Stadtplanung
Hohe Nachhaltigkeitsziele und Klimaschutzauflagen
Strengere Vorschriften und komplexe Genehmigungsprozesse
Enge Projektfristen und begrenzte Budgets

Da Projekte immer größer und dichter werden, wird die Planung zunehmend komplexer. Dies erfordert eine verstärkte Digitalisierung, um die Kommunikation zu verbessern und datenbasierte Entscheidungen zu ermöglichen.

Eine von Autodesk im Jahr 2022 in Schweden durchgeführte Umfrage ergab, dass die am häufigsten verwendeten digitalen Werkzeuge in den Gemeinden oft keine analytischen Funktionen besaßen, die den Planungsprozess hätten beschleunigen und vereinfachen können. Gleichzeitig wird soziale Nachhaltigkeit in vielen Projekten immer expliziter verfolgt, was noch präzisere Planungen erfordert.

Mehr Transparenz in der Stadtplanung

Ein weiteres wichtiges Thema ist Transparenz – alle Beteiligten im Planungsprozess – von der Bauverwaltung über Investoren, Architekten, Ingenieure und Betreiber bis hin zu den Bürgern – sollten eine klare Vorstellung davon haben, wie sich verschiedene Entwürfe auf ihre Interessen auswirken. Transparenz bedeutet, dass Informationen verständlich und nachvollziehbar sein müssen – anstatt technischer Dokumentationen, die nur Experten lesen und interpretieren können.

Dies ist eine reale Herausforderung für alle Stadtplaner in den nordischen Gemeinden. Daher weckt der Einsatz intelligenter, datengetriebener Planungswerkzeuge wie Forma großes Interesse bei den Gemeindevertretern, da sie ihre Arbeitsweise und Zusammenarbeit verbessern können.

Aber wie genau nutzen die nordischen Gemeinden datengetriebene Planung und KI, um diese Herausforderungen zu bewältigen? Hier sind einige konkrete Beispiele, die zeigen, wie Forma ihre Arbeitsabläufe und Projekte verbessert.

Erfolgreiche Stadtentwicklungsprojekte mit Forma

Rødovre, Dänemark: Effiziente Flächennutzung durch digitale Tools

Mit nur 12 km² ist Rødovre die drittkleinste Gemeinde Dänemarks – und gleichzeitig eine der am dichtesten besiedelten mit 42.000 Einwohnern .

„Das stellt hohe Anforderungen an die Flächennutzung, weshalb wir stets daran arbeiten, die neuesten und besten digitalen Lösungen für unsere Planungsarbeit zu nutzen“, erklärt der ehemalige Stadtarchitekt Jesper Pagh, der mittlerweile in die Gemeinde Horsens gewechselt ist.

„Unser Ziel ist es beispielsweise, die Qualität der Bebauungspläne zu verbessern und die Zusammenarbeit mit Bauträgern zu optimieren, damit wir gemeinsam so viel Mehrwert wie möglich für die Einwohner der Gemeinde schaffen können.“

Aus diesem Grund nutzt die Stadtverwaltung Forma , um die Qualität ihrer Stadtentwicklungsprojekte zu verbessern. Derzeit kommt das Tool in drei Wohnbauprojekten mit insgesamt rund 200.000 m² zum Einsatz, darunter das größte Stadtentwicklungsprojekt der Gemeinde, Bykernen .

„Die städtische Entwicklung ist ein komplexer Prozess, der in enger Zusammenarbeit mit Politikern, Bauträgern, externen Beratern und anderen Partnern erfolgt“, erklärt Jesper Pagh weiter. „Forma macht es einfach, zu visualisieren, was praktisch möglich ist, sodass die Beteiligten ein Projekt leichter verstehen und wichtige Entscheidungen treffen können. Selbst in der Entwicklungsphase liefert das Tool messbare Daten zu Sonne, Wind und Lärm für das fertige Gebäude, wodurch es viel einfacher wird, verschiedene Projektvorschläge zu vergleichen und die beste Option auszuwählen.“

Da durch die Gemeinde eine stark befahrene Ringstraße verläuft, muss bei neuen Wohnprojekten besonders auf Lärmschutz geachtet werden.

„Jetzt können wir den Verkehrslärm präzise messen und visualisieren. So können wir sicherstellen, dass unsere neuen Stadtentwicklungsprojekte die Bürger besser vor Lärm schützen, gesundheitliche Probleme vermeiden und eine höhere Lebensqualität bieten. Das sind die zentralen Elemente guter Architektur“, so Jesper Pagh.

Vantaa, Finnland: Nachhaltige Verdichtung digital planen

Für die Entwicklung des Stadtteils Kivistö in Vantaa wollte die Gemeinde die Nähe zur Natur bewahren , gleichzeitig jedoch das Wohnviertel erweitern. Verdichtete Stadtviertel sind ein Bestandteil nachhaltiger Entwicklung, können jedoch die Lebensqualität beeinträchtigen, wenn sie nicht sorgfältig geplant werden.

Die Stadtplaner entschieden sich daher für Forma , um zwei neue Gebiete im Stadtteil – Onnenkivi (50.000 m²) und Lumikvartsi (60.000 m²) – zu planen.

„Es gibt viele gute Gründe für eine dichte städtische Bebauung , etwa aus Klimaschutzgründen. Aber wie stellen wir sicher, dass die Umgebung trotzdem lebenswert bleibt und die Bewohner sich dort wohlfühlen?“ – Anna-Ritta Kujala, Regionalarchitektin, Stadt Vantaa

In diesen Gebieten nutzte die Gemeinde Forma , um zu analysieren, wie verschiedene Entwürfe das Endergebnis beeinflussen. Ein Beispiel ist die Lärmanalyse , die dem Team schnelle Ergebnisse und frühe Erkenntnisse über die Lärmbelastung lieferte. Dadurch konnten die Auswirkungen von Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen auf den Lärmpegel in der Planungsphase berücksichtigt werden.

Wenn die Auswirkungen verschiedener Lösungsvorschläge von den beteiligten Akteuren schneller visualisiert und bewertet werden können, steigt auch die Qualität des Entwurfs – eine Rückmeldung, die wir regelmäßig von den Gemeinden erhalten, mit denen wir sprechen.

„Es ist fast so, als würde die Software einen dazu zwingen, verschiedene Möglichkeiten auszuprobieren. Im Lumikvartsi-Gebiet, in dem die Pläne fast fertig waren, konnten wir das Konzept der Innenhöfe noch weiter verfeinern. Wir konnten genau sehen, wie sich Windströmungen reduzieren lassen und wo eine Sonnenterrasse sinnvoll platziert wäre. Obwohl der ursprüngliche Plan bereits sehr gut war, haben wir dank dieser Technologie noch greifbare Verbesserungen hinzufügen können“, sagt Ville Leppänen, Stadtplaner.

Stadtplanarchitektin Niina Rinne aus Vantaa fügt hinzu: „Intelligente Softwarelösungen lehren einen, die Dinge anders zu sehen. Es ist jetzt einfach, mehrere Windanalysen durchzuführen und über Perspektiven nachzudenken, für die zuvor keine Zeit gewesen wäre – zumindest nicht in dieser Detailtiefe. Oder wir hätten die Analysen extern vergeben müssen. Jetzt kann der Planer die Auswirkungen verschiedener Lösungen direkt auf das Leben der Menschen erkennen. Forma ist eine zusätzliche Intelligenzebene für den Designer, die hilft, die Qualität unserer Pläne zu verbessern.“

Bergen und Bodø, Norwegen: Nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung mit digitalen Lösungen

Die Stadt Bergen wächst rasant und gehört zu den frühen Anwendern von Forma . Durch den Einsatz von Forma in Projekten unterschiedlicher Größenordnungen hat die Stadt bereits klare Vorteile festgestellt, darunter die Sicherung einer hohen Lebensqualität für die Bewohner in neuen Stadtentwicklungsprojekten sowie verbesserte Kommunikation und Zusammenarbeit mit internen und externen Interessengruppen.

„Als Kommune müssen wir die neueste Technologie nutzen, um nachhaltige Stadtprojekte zu schaffen und sowohl den aktuellen als auch zukünftigen Bedürfnissen unserer Bürger und der Umwelt bestmöglich gerecht zu werden. Forma hilft uns, den Überblick zu behalten und Szenarien für große öffentliche Planungen zu entwickeln sowie private Planungen mit Hilfe aller Analysen zu überprüfen.“
– Knut Knutsen, Stadtplaner und Architekt, Stadt Bergen

Ein herausragendes Beispiel für den Einsatz von Forma in Bergen ist das Vision- und Strategiekonzept für das Stadtentwicklungsprojekt Dokken , das größte Transformationsprojekt im Stadtzentrum von Bergen. Darüber hinaus wird Forma für den ersten Bebauungsplan für Dokken sowie für weitere öffentliche Wohnungsbauprojekte, Landschafts- und Sozialinfrastrukturprojekte wie Grønneviksøren genutzt.

In Bodø war die Stadtverwaltung von Anfang an eng eingebunden, als der Immobilienentwickler Clemens Eiendom Forma in mehreren Projekten einsetzte. Dies erleichterte die Zusammenarbeit zwischen den beteiligten Parteien erheblich.

„Mit Forma hatten wir bereits in einer frühen Planungsphase Zugriff auf Analysen zu Wind undSonneneinstrahlung. Das war für uns als Kommune und Grundstückseigentümer äußerst wertvoll. Durch die iterative und analysenbasierte Arbeitsweise haben wir Zeit gespart und den gesamten Planungsprozess verbessert“, sagt Mats Marthinussen, Abteilungsleiter für Stadtentwicklung der Stadt Bodø.

Malmö, Schweden: Visualisierung erleichtert die Entscheidungsfindung

In Malmö , der drittgrößten Stadt Schwedens, entsteht ein neues, naturnahes Stadtviertel namens Elinelund , das sich zu einem lebendigen und nachhaltigen Stadtteil entwickeln soll.

Die Stadtverwaltung von Malmö hat Forma genutzt, um die Zusammenarbeit zwischen den verschiedenen öffentlichen Verwaltungsstellen zu erleichtern. Dies wurde insbesondere durch die Visualisierung und Erklärung alternativer Bauweisen ermöglicht. So konnten die Auswirkungen auf Lärm, Sonnenlicht, die Gestaltung sozialer Räume und den Schutz wertvoller Naturlandschaften – wie dem nahe gelegenen Kalksteinbruch – besser analysiert werden.

Dieses lebendige Viertel wird 2.000 Wohneinheiten, eine Grundschule, eine Kita, eine Sporthalle, ein Parkhaus, Geschäftsflächen und Grünflächen umfassen. Da die Stadt Malmö als Grundstückseigentümerin auch für den detaillierten Bebauungsplan verantwortlich ist, war eine gründliche Vorbereitung notwendig, um die Baurichtlinien attraktiv für Investoren zu gestalten.

Die Stadtverwaltung hat Forma zudem bei der Entwicklung der dritten Bauphase von Elinelund , die sich in der Endphase der Planung befindet, eingesetzt.

„In einem visuellen Datenmodell konnten wir und das Stadtplanungsamt die Lage und Höhe von Gebäuden und Straßen einfach variieren und optimierte Lösungen finden. Dadurch wurde der Planungsprozess schneller und effizienter“, erläutert Oskar Berglund, Projektleiter in der Verkehrs- und Immobilienverwaltung Malmö.

Auch in Malmö hat Forma zu mehr Transparenz im Planungsprozess beigetragen. Beispielsweise konnten Vertreter der Schulen die Visualisierungen der Stadtverwaltung nutzen, um zu beurteilen, wie sich der Lärm je nach Gebäudeanordnung auf die Schulumgebung auswirkt .

„Der Wind weht hier meist aus südwestlicher Richtung. Wir erhielten Vorschläge, die Gebäude gestaffelt anzuordnen, um zu verhindern, dass der Wind den Lärm tief ins Viertel trägt. Mit den Simulationen von Forma konnten wir schnell Lärm-, Wind- und Sonnenanalysen durchführen , die sonst Wochen oder Monate in Anspruch genommen hätten.“ – Annie Altengård, Stadtplanerin im Stadtplanungsamt Malmö

„Die digitale Unterstützung in der Stadtentwicklung verbessert den Prozess und den Dialog mit den Beteiligten. Wenn alle sehen können, wie und warum verschiedene Lösungen die Umwelt beeinflussen, können wir konstruktivere Gespräche führen und bessere Entscheidungen treffen.“ – Oskar Berglund

Norrköping, Schweden: Digitale Zukunft der Stadtentwicklung

Weiter nördlich, in Norrköping , rechnet die Gemeinde damit, dass die Bevölkerung von derzeit 140.000 auf 175.000 Einwohner im Jahr 2035 wachsen wird. Um den zusätzlichen Wohnbedarf zu decken, müssen in den kommenden Jahren etwa 15.000 neue Wohnungen gebaut werden.

Auch hier erkennt die Stadtverwaltung, dass die Stadtentwicklung immer komplexer wird und immer mehr Anforderungen an den bebauten Raum gestellt werden. Dies gilt insbesondere im Hinblick auf die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels – gleichzeitig soll das Bautempo jedoch hoch bleiben.

Wie viele andere nordische Gemeinden arbeitet Norrköping an der Umsetzung der Agenda 2030 , wobei ein starker Fokus auf Ziel 11 liegt: „Städte und Siedlungen inklusiv, sicher, widerstandsfähig und nachhaltig gestalten.“

Datengetriebene Planung beschleunigt den Entwurfsprozess

„Ein guter städtebaulicher Entwurf ist die Summe vieler verschiedener Faktoren, die zusammenwirken. Um diesen Prozess zu unterstützen, testen wir nun Forma. Damit können wir neue Stadtstrukturen skizzieren und gleichzeitig verschiedene Analysen durchführen, beispielsweise zu Lärm, Sonnen- und Tageslichteinfall oder Windverhältnissen. Das Ergebnis ist ein schnellerer und dynamischerer Entwurfsprozess als bei herkömmlichen Methoden, bei denen jede einzelne Analyse von einem externen Fachberater durchgeführt werden müsste.“
— Erik Telldén, ehemaliger Digitalstratege der Stadt Norrköping

Möchten Sie Forma testen?

Kontaktieren Sie unser Team, um mehr darüber zu erfahren, wie Forma Ihrer Gemeinde helfen kann, bessere Entscheidungen zu treffen, die Zusammenarbeit zu verbessern und nachhaltigere Ergebnisse in Ihren Stadtentwicklungsprojekten zu erzielen.
Forma ist als Teil der AEC Collection und für Einzelabonnenten erhältlich. Hier können Sie eine kostenlose Testversion starten: https://www.autodesk.com/products/forma/free-trial

Ein herzliches Dankeschön an die Gemeinden Rødovre, Bergen, Bodø, Vantaa, Malmö und Norrköping für ihre Unterstützung bei diesem Beitrag. ��

Autodesk Issues Addin für Revit 2025 verfügbar und mit weiteren neuen Funktionen

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:32:00 GMT

Das Autodesk Issues Addin für Revit optimiert seit längerem den bidirektionen Austausch zwischen der Autodesk Construction Cloud und Revit an. Somit können Aufgaben aus Docs in Revit angezeigt, bearbeitet und auch neu erstellt werden, inklusive aller relevanten Informationen der Aufgaben, wie Fälligkeitsdatum, verantwortliche Firmen, Personen, etc.

Durch die Umstellung von Revit auf .NET8 musste das Addin komplett neu programmiert werden. Zusätzlich hat die Entwicklung an ein paar Verbesserungen gearbeitet, die nun endlich in dem Addin mit der Version 7 verfügbar sind wie

Unterstütztung von Revit 2025
Dieses Update ermöglicht es Kunden, die neueste Version von Revit zu nutzen, um Autodesk Construction Cloud nahtlos mit ihren Planungsprozessen zu verbinden.
Erstellung von Issues / Aufgaben in 3D-Ansichten in Revit
Hinweis: Die in 3D-Ansicht in Revit muss eine in der ACC veröffentlichte Ansicht sein.
Durch die frühzeitige Identifizierung und Lösung von Problemen in der Planungssphase werden Zeit und Ressourcen gespart, Verzögerungen vermieden, Nacharbeiten reduziert und Risiken gemindert, was zu einem reibungsloseren Projektablauf führt.
Markierungs Pins in 2D-Ansichten
Hiemit markieren Sie eindeutig dedizierte Stellen in 2D-Ansichten, um Aufgaben und Änderungen einfach zu bearbeiten und zu lösen, inklusive nötigen Kommentaren und Beschreibungen

Wo finde ich das neue Autodesk Issues Addin für Revit 2025
Im Autodesk Account https://manage.autodesk.com/

Leitfaden für Medienanschlusspunkte – Kommunikation zwischen den Gewerken

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 10:44:00 GMT

In der Planung von komplexen Gebäuden wird die Aufgabe der Planung von speziellen Fachplanern übernommen, die unterschiedlichste Bereiche eines Gebäudes beplanen. Dies können Labore, Großküchen, Logistikbereiche, Produktionen, Reinräume, etc. sein. Alle diese Bereiche benötigen neben baulichen Anforderungen (z.B. Durchbrüche) auch eine Versorgung durch die Gebäudetechnik. Für eine koordinierte Planung dieser muss der Planer der Gebäudetechnik wissen, welche Medien wohin und in welcher Menge geliefert werden müssen.

Nach dem Leitfaden zur BIM Modellierung und dem Leitfaden für die modellbasierte Schlitz- und Durchbruchsplanung in der openBIM-Methode möchten wir nun einen dritten Leitfaden vorstellen, der wieder durch die Revit User Group DACH initiiert und erstellt wurde. Dieser Leitfaden ist kürzer als die vorherigen und soll eine Hilfe für die Koordination der Medienanschlusspunkte mittels Kommunikation zwischen den Gewerken sein, mithilfe verschiedenfarbiger “RUG-Smarties”.

Vielen Dank vor allem an Leander Gailus, Jakob Steiner und Roland Wyler für die Zusammenfassung dieser wichtigen Informationen und Erstellung dieses Leitfadens!
Hier gehts direkt zum Leitfaden auf der Revit User Group Webseite www.rug-dach.de

openAEC bSDD Plugin für Revit und Civil 3D

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 14:26:00 GMT

Der buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD) ist ein Dienst für den Austausch von Definitionen und Begriffen, um einheitliche und konsistente Bezeichnungen zwischen allen Beteiligten zu gewährleisten – besonders nützlich auch bei mehrsprachigen Projekten und Standards.

“bSDD dient als Bibliothek, um gemeinsame Definitionen in IDS-Spezifikationen und IFC-Daten zu referenzieren. Mit dem bSDD können Standards verbreitet, Vereinbarungen festgehalten, Bedeutung vermitteln und das Verständnis für die Daten der gebauten Umwelt geteilt werden.”
(Quelle: bimdeutschland.de)

ONESTRUCTION, strategischer Partner von Autodesk im Bereich openBIM aus Japan, hat unter dem Marke OpenAEC aktuell zwei bSDD Plugins für Revit und Civil 3D veröffentlicht, die Sie in dem Autodesk AppStore finden können: openaec | Autodesk App Store

Diese Plugins ermöglichen Ihnen den Zugriff direkt auf die bSDD und decken somit verschiedene Anwendungsfälle ab, z.B.

Neben diesen Anwendungsfällen arbeitet ONESTRUCTION auch an der IDS Integration in der Autodesk Construction Cloud, zu dem wir Sie natürlich hier in diesem Blog auf dem Laufenden halten werden.

Enscape Animationen

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 21:47:18 GMT

Unsere Enscape Experimente von 2019

Simulate any manufacturing project with Visual Components

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 21:22:09 GMT

Qonic: accurate BIM

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 21:06:13 GMT

Qonic: accurate BIM

Quelle/Source: Qonic: accurate BIM - AEC Magazine

While BIM has changed the way architects work, it hasn’t necessarily benefitted all project participants equally. The lack of trust, and the need for different types of information to be included at different phases, has brought in new inefficiencies. New start-up Qonic aims to help.

In AEC Magazine over the last few years, we have looked at how BIM modellers were originally devel oped to automatically produce drawings, and therefore provide productivity savings. In isolation, in a utopia, this has been the case so long as you don’t edit them in a 2D drawing application like AutoCAD, as changes to the model will need to be manually edited again.

The idea of a single building model, on which all companies would collaborate has not come to fruition, with the standard practice being multiple models created by multiple project participants for different purposes.

This has led to the need for Common Data Environments (CDEs), complex file management and much duplicated effort. It also extends into fabrication, where detailed 1:1 models and drawings are created.

All these issues combined have left many in the industry pondering what comes next. And with a new generation of design tools, what functionality and capabilities will we need?

The flow of data from concept design to fabricated building is interrupted many times. Somehow, we need a system that can talk openly throughout the design and construction process.

The re-start-upNeuer Text

Startup Qonic is developing what it promises to be a unique take on ‘upscaling’ BIM, while taking it to the next level of accuracy, both in geometry and depth of data.

Based in Ghent, Belgium, there are a few familiar faces to be seen at its HQ. The co-founders – Erik De Keyser, Mark Van Den Bergh, Tiemen Strobbe , Tjerk Gauderis and Sander Scheiris – are all formerly from Bricsys (developer of BricsCAD). In some ways calling Qonic a start-up is a misnomer, as the group has worked together as a team for many years. This is a re-start-up and it has already grown to twenty people.

De Keyser has a long history in AEC software. He was an architect, got into software development, developed TriForma, which was licensed to Bentley Systems, and when that deal soured he formed Bricsys to develop BricsCAD, an AutoCAD clone that eventually outgrew that constraint and became a complete development platform for BIM, manufacturing and civil design in itself – all based on DWG. Finally, in 2018, De Keyser sold Bricsys to Hexagon and after spending a short amount of time there, he left.

Now free of BricsCAD, as well as the constraint of developing with a DWG envelope, the team has been able to start anew on a fresh, contemporary BIM engine. De Keyser has always used solid modelling in his applications to define 3D geometry – TriForma used Parasolid, BricsCAD used ACIS and now Qonic features a top secret new lightweight kernel of origins unknown, which has direct modelling capabilities and can handle NURBS.

This adherence to solid modelling is not unique (Vectorworks is also powered by Parasolid) but it’s exceptionally important to one of the vertical niches to which Qonic wants to appeal – those working with estimates of quantities.

As the majority of BIM models are inaccurately modelled, taking quantities off them has always been a problem and would lead to more work than was originally intended.

In a Qonic model, concrete volumes, for instance, will be accurate and details will be modelled and intelligently applied throughout a model at 1:1 accuracy. Qonic’s role is about beefing up the bits of BIM models that support downstream processes to alleviate the pressure on remodelling by sorting the problems earlier on in the golden thread.

Hybrid BIM

One of the key aims that this industry needs to address in the next five years is how design information flows from architect to fabricator.

Currently all BIM systems have been developed for a traditional workflow. And while there has been considerable investment in skills and software, for architects, MEP engineers and some structural engineers, the contractual endresults get squashed down to 2D drawings in PDF format.

As firms look to benefit from digital fabrication and off-site construction, Qonic looks to play a role as an intermediary system capable of understanding and absorbing traditional BIM files, at various levels of detail, together with highly accurate solid representations of parts to be manufactured, or materials to be procured for construction.

The development team is committed to utilising open standards and the demonstration we saw in Ghent, was heavily biased towards importing IFC models and displaying them in Qonic’s cloudbased viewer.

Many people are unaware that IFC now has the capability to capture and display high resolution geometry. Qonic parses the IFC and generates a solid model version of the data. This can be from one IFC or multiple contributed models.

Even when launching a multi-gigabyte dataset, it was very fast to move about the model and access the underlying BIM data. And this is still alpha code. The team has utilised streaming games technology to ensure that geometry closer to the point of view is full definition, while model data that is far away is rendered in lower detail. As one moves around the model it’s possible to see a slight shimmering of distant geometry, as the software streams in additional detail as it gets closer to the field of view.

Models are stored locally and shared via the cloud, the initial transaction taking the longest time and, from there on in, only the changes are sent. It’s possible to work offline and synchronise on demand, with the system tracking changes and keeping the history of edits.

Devil in the details

Viewing is the basic functionality. Qonic aims to drastically reduce errors by taking the strain out of performing tedious tasks which are error prone – tasks such as manually placing lintels for a specific type of window across an entire model.

If the window varies in size, then Qonic comes with a library of detailed parts which will find and replace the low detail windows in the model and adjust the lintel for each one. This will also apply to details such as sills, roof caps, interior finishes, wall composition for all spaces in the building. If using a spaces designation – e.g. for a hospital design – then the correct room fit out can be applied, or fire doors detailed. This is aimed at turbo charging the process of adding in details to benefit all stakeholders.

Neuer TextAll this means Qonic can be used as a tool to collate data from different systems, at different levels of detail. It benefits from automated detail generation throughout components. And because IFC is at the very heart of it, it can be exported and brought into any other IFC compatible applications. This is a lot more than your typical common data environment application. This is a design refinement tool.

The viewing app is very impressive, and comes with several smart filters to quickly isolate and see IFC classified groups, such as columns, beams, MEP etc. Every element contains material layers, so complex filters could be set to find columns made of a certain material. This works very much like hash tags and is very easy to use.

Qonic is cloud-based enabling collaboration, which here means sharing designs with colleagues and teams, or having access in the field. The viewer can be accessed on a web browser, on a mobile phone or on desktop. Having said that, some capabilities will be reserved for the desktop version, requiring local processing power for modelling etc.

Conclusion

Qonic isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. It seeks to address common problems that affect everyone in the industry for which there are no real solutions other than remodelling, redrawing. The level of detail that its database can hold demonstrates that it’s exceptionally performant.

To model to this level of detail would kill any of today’s BIM systems. This is the benefit of being able to start from scratch with a clean sheet and being able to use the latest technologies.

The team is adamant that it will keep the system open, with commitment to IFC at the core, together with APIs for open access.

Unfortunately, the application will not be out in beta until later this year. However, if you like what you’ve read here and are interested, the team have invited firms to get in touch by reaching out to them via LinkedIn.

Finally, one for the details folks – the name Qonic originates from a Ghent conical sweet delicacy, the Cuberdon. Unfortunately, the cone domain wasn’t available, which introduced the need for some creative thinking.

Inventor to Revit

Mon, 15 Jan 2024 11:48:24 GMT

Source: How to Export an Inventor Model to Revit using Interoperability Tools - Man and Machine

Autodesk have enhanced some already fantastic tools that allow us to work with Inventor and Revit together. We have been able to export our Inventor designs, such as light fittings or plumbing fixtures, out for a while now using the BIM Content tool, however we can also export our designs directly as Revit files to be linked into a larger Revit Project. This is especially useful for businesses such as kitchen fitters or joiners, where you are working to bespoke dimensions.

Using Inventor’s AnyCAD functionality and the Interoperability tools, you can import a Revit file into Inventor to use as a reference model, and then design your product or constrain your product to the correct location using that imported geometry.

For our example today, we will be using an office floorplan and adding in a bespoke shelving unit.

The standard workflow is as follows:

Create 3D view in Revit to be imported into Inventor.
Import Revit 3D view in Inventor and reduce the complexity of the view.
Create or import Inventor design using Revit geometry as a reference.
Export Inventor design out to Revit.
Import Inventor design into Revit.

Repeat steps 1-5 to make more adjustments to the same project.

1. Create 3D view in Revit.

We require a 3D Revit view, which we need to simplify down to only include the required geometry. In the example above, we have removed the rest of the building and only included the space where we will be installing the shelving unit, as well as any office furniture that has the potential to get in the way.

2. Import Revit 3D view in Inventor.

In Inventor, open a blank assembly. In the Assemble tab click the Place dropdown and then select Place Imported CAD Files. Navigate to the Revit project and open it. This brings up the AnyCAD Import Window. Keep the file as a Reference Model and select the specific 3D view from the drop-down menu. You can further reduce the number of elements by unselecting specific categories. Press OK.

Right click, and select Place Grounded at Origin. This is a very important step, as it will ensure that your Inventor model is designed in the correct location. When you export the model out to be used in Revit, the Inventor model will automatically be positioned in the correct location relative to the reference geometry.

We now have our Revit view in Inventor. We can further reduce the complexity of the model by expanding the Revit model and toggling off the visibility of objects that aren’t required in the view. We have toggled off more furniture that is not required in the design.

3. Create or import Inventor design using Revit geometry as a reference.

We can now leverage Inventor’s powerful modelling capabilities to create our bespoke shelving unit. We will use Inventor’s Frame Generator to create the structure of our shelving unit, whilst using the walls to shape our design. You can use the Assembly to create annotated drawings or presentations for installation or fabrication instructions, which includes the referenced Revit model.

4. Export Inventor design out to Revit.

Now that we have the shelving unit designed in Inventor, we can use our export tools to export this file as an IFC or RVT model, which we can then import into our Revit project. We first need to hide the reference model by right clicking on it and toggling off the visibility. Select File > Export > RVT. This will bring up the simplification Tool, and you will see that the output type already has Revit Model selected.

When exporting files to Revit, it is best practice to simplify the model to only include data that is required for the project. If you would like to learn more about the simplification tool, this blog post goes into more detail on all the options available to you. Once you are happy with your simplification, press OK to start the export.

5. Import Inventor design into Revit.

Now that we have exported our Inventor model, we can link it into our original Revit model by going to Insert > Link Revit. You will see that the Revit model is placed precisely in the correct location.

6. The circular workflow .

Quite often changes are made to a project late in the design process, and this can impact a lot of factors. Because there is a live link between the Revit model and the Inventor assembly, any changes to the Revit model will be carried through to the Inventor assembly, unless that link is manually broken. This allows us to utilise the parametric capabilities of Inventor to allow our design to automatically update if there are any changes in the Revit Model. We will test this by decreasing the gap between the back wall and the chair of the Revit model. Before doing this, we measured the width of the bespoke shelving unit as 2732 mm, whilst constraining the position of the unit offset at 50 mm from the walls

After updating the Revit model, we updated the reference file in Inventor. We can see that the position of the shelving unit is still 50 mm from the walls, and because we used the geometry of the walls to determine the size of the unit, we can see that its width has increased to 2844 mm.

BIM Door for Revit

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 19:32:11 GMT

This is the Revit plugin of our own development.
The idea behind this plugin belongs to Michael Plat (kontakt[at]bim-plat.de)
and is developed by Alexandr Grigoryev (argrigoryev[at]icloud.com).

The app automatically evaluates the following door properties:

[Door Side]
[To Room Number]
[To Room Name]
[From Room Number]
[From Room Name]
[Wall Type]
[Wall Width]

ATTENTION:

The app does not work with linked Revit models. All objects such as doors, walls and rooms must be in a Revit file.
After installation, the following parameters are automatically added to the Revit project: [Door Side Yes/No], [Door Side], [To Room Number], [To Room Name], [From Room Number], [From Room Name], [Wall Type], [Wall Width]

Otherwise, please watch a short video on how to use the app.

Privacy Policy

bim-Plat GmbH built the BIM Doors app as a Commercial app. This SERVICE is provided by bim-Plat GmbH and is intended for use as is.

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The terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions, which is accessible at BIM Doors unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy.

Information Collection and Use

For a better experience, while using our Service, [I/We] may require you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information, including but not limited to bim-Plat. The information that [I/We] request will be [retained on your device and is not collected by [me/us] in any way]/[retained by us and used as described in this privacy policy].

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These Services do not address anyone under the age of 13. [I/We] do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age. In the case [I/We] discover that a child under 13 has provided [me/us] with personal information, [I/We] immediately delete this from our servers. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact [me/us] so that [I/We] will be able to do necessary actions.

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[I/We] may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, you are advised to review this page periodically for any changes. [I/We] will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

This policy is effective as of 2021-08-28

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If you have any questions or suggestions about [my/our] Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact [me/us] at kontakt(at)bim-plat.de.

IFC-Combiner V2.0.0

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 22:26:02 GMT

Das ist eine Fortsetzung des Beitrags https://www.bim-plat.de/ifc-combiner-v1-0
Es handelt sich dabei um eine komplette Überarbeitung einer App, die das Zusammenfügen von mehreren IFC-Dateien ermöglicht.
Es ist jetzt möglich die Anwendung unter Windows, MacOS und Linux zu installieren.
Es handelt sich dabei um eine experimentelle Entwicklung. Daher übernehmen wir keine Gewährleistung für mögliche Fehler.
!!! Die Anwendung wurde nur mit IFC 2x3 getestet !!!

This is a continuation of the https://www.bim-plat.de/ifc-combiner-v1-0 post.
It is a complete overhaul of an app that enables multiple IFC files to be merged.
It is now possible to install the application on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
It is an experimental development. We therefore do not accept any liability for possible errors.
!!! The application was only tested with IFC 2x3 !!!

Grundstücksgrenze als Punktwolke

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:13:56 GMT

Grundstücksgrenze als Punktwolke mit Null-/EinfügepunktpunktSite boundary as point cloud with zero/insert point

BIM 360 Issues Add In for Navisworks

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 09:19:13 GMT

BIM 360 Issues Add In for Navisworks

Model Coordination with Navisworks and BIM 360

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 09:16:49 GMT

Model Coordination with Navisworks and BIM 360

"NURBS" in Revit

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 18:38:31 GMT

"NURBS" in Revit

Laser Scanning and Revit - What you NEED to Know

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 18:28:09 GMT

Laser Scanning and Revit - What you NEED to Know

Floor framework with voids

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 09:20:38 GMT

Floor framework with voids

Quelle/Source: https://landarchbim.com/2020/09/22/floor-framework-with-voids/

When working with shaped-edited Floors, it can be a bit cumbersome to work with complex shapes, since Revit will create a point at each vertex of the outline.

So for example, if you are making a sidewalk shaped like this, Revit forces a point at each vertex:

One way around this is to create a larger floor “framework” and then to cut out the shape you want using voids.

To start off, I usually like to create the complex floor first as a flat floor. This is useful to simply visualize the shapes and also to serve as a guide when creating the voids.

So here is the shape I’m working with.

This is a common sidewalk shape, once you account for the various planters that are usually along the curb.

So the next step is to determine the shape for the larger floor. This is where grading and slope should be considered. For sidewalks, usually the simpler the better, but for other situations it might vary. Essentially, think about where you want to have points and try to make a shape that connects those points with as few segments as possible. For this sidewalk, it looks like this:

And then create the void. This can be done with the Vertical Opening (on the Architecture tab).

And the final result is a complex floor that is graded in 3d, yet only controlled by 4 points.

There are several downsides that I have found when using this method:

It is more complex to manage. Basically, instead of a single floor boundary, you need to manage the two boundaries of the larger floor and the void(s).
You can sometimes run into cutting errors, especially when working with curved shapes. A few tips to reduce those errors:
- Extend voids out past the edge of the framework boundary.
- Avoid using curved edges for your larger framework unless unavoidable. Using curves can reduce vertices, but they are tricky to work with and can also give you some funny results.

This process can also be used to create more complex shapes, such as these:

Though how exactly you decide to frame and cut them could vary depending on your grading and modeling needs.

New Technology Preview Now Available: Load Autodesk Family

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 13:16:50 GMT

Load Autodesk Family

Load Autodesk Family is a cloud-based tool that allows you to access all Autodesk-provided Revit RFA families that you would normally download and extract separately. It is available to all Revit and Revit LT subscribers running 2021.1, and to start it up, you will need to close and restart Revit.

With this technology preview you can search or browse the entire library of Autodesk provided content. No more having to download and extract lots of packages of content. Just search and find only what you need and access Autodesk families when you need them, without having to dedicate significant hard drive space to it.

You might be asking – why this for a technology preview? Well, it’s a cloud service and we want to make sure it is resilient, stable, and scalable — no matter where you might be creating with Revit. We also want to get some feedback, of course, so please try it out and let us know how it is working for you in the Revit Forum . This preview is available for anyone, anywhere, in any language, as long as you have a Subscription – it will also work for Revit trial users.

This feature requires Revit 2021.1 , an active Autodesk subscription, and internet access – it’s a cloud service! You will not be able to load content through the Load Autodesk Family button without them.

For BIM managers, we understand that you might not want this technology to display in Revit. There is an option to turn it off that is easy to deploy and manage. Simply add the following to the Revit.ini so the button and the technology preview will not display:

[Misc]
ShowLoadAutodeskFamily=0

For more information about the Revit.ini, please refer to our help documentation here . You can read more about Load Autodesk Family here . Check out Load Autodesk Family in Revit 2021.1 today and remember to let us know what you think or flag any issues you find within our Revit Forums .

Inside the Factory Sessions: Ep 1

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 13:11:47 GMT

Performance Matters

IFC-Combiner V1.0

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 17:53:42 GMT

Das ist eine Fortsetzung vom Thema „Zusammenfügen von mehreren IFC-Dateien“
Unten können Sie ein Tool downloaden, das die Prozedere von Zusammenfügen der mehrehren IFC-Dateien zu einer Datei automatisiert.
Im Video wird die Handhabung vom Tool erklärt.

Zusammenfügen von mehreren IFC-Dateien

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Hier zeige ich eine Möglichkeit wie man mehrere IFC-Teilmodelle mittels eines Texteditors zu einer Datei zusammenfügt.
Es ist dabei wichtig, dass keine doppelten Zuweisungen gemacht werden.
Im Video wird gezeigt wie sich das vermeiden lässt.

Revit-Treppe für LPH5

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 16:50:11 GMT

Im Video geht es um das Konstruieren einer Treppe aus Betonfertigteilen für die LPH 5
Der Betonfertigteil ist eine Objektfamilie unter der Kategorie „Skelettbau“
Der Treppenbelag ist eine Revit-Systemfamilie, Kategorie „Treppe“
Im Video wird auch eine mögliche Vorgehensweise für eine Geländerkonstruktion LPH5 gezeigt

Revit Treppengeländer für LPH 2-4

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 21:18:57 GMT

ein Treppengeländer LPH 2-4 mit Revit Standartmitteln

In diesem Video wird eine Vorgehensweise gezeigt wie man ein Treppengeländer mit Revit-Standartmitteln konstruiert. Diese Modellierungstiefe eignet sich gut für die Darstellung in M1:100 / M1:200

Revit Treppe für LPH 2-4

Sun, 02 Feb 2020 20:09:50 GMT

eine Treppenkonstruktion LPH 2-4 mit Revit Standartmitteln

In diesem Video wird eine Vorgehensweise gezeigt wie man eine Treppe / ein Treppenhaus mit Revit-Standartmitteln konstruiert. Diese Modellierungstiefe eignet sich gut für die Darstellung in M1:100 / M1:200