BIM and Green Building Studio (1-2-3 Revit Tutorial)

Architects transform their designs from carbon-positive to carbon-neutral.

Aug 28, 2008 By: Rick Rundell, AIA Cadalyst Magazine

Editor's note: This tutorial courtesy of Autodesk.

Since almost half of greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States come from the built environment, it's clear that reducing the carbon footprint of buildings is critical to reversing climate change. The 2030 Challenge and the rise of LEED and other green building certification systems are visible examples of the building industry's commitment to sustainable design.

The ability to perform accurate whole building energy, water, and carbon emission analyses early in the design process is essential for sustainable building design. This month's article explores how the Autodesk Green Building Studio allows architects — the majority of which are not specially trained in any of these analyses — to easily evaluate the carbon "footprint" of a building design emerging from a Revit BIM workflow using the just-released Green Building Studio plug-in for Revit.

...

Inline Energy Analysis
The Autodesk Green Building Studio Web service enables whole building energy, water, and carbon emission analyses of a Revit building design that can be performed by architects, from within their own design environment, directly over the Internet. This streamlines the entire analysis process and allows architects to get immediate feedback on their design alternatives — making green design more efficient and cost effective.

Based on the building's size, type, and location (which drives electricity and water usage costs), the Web service determines the appropriate material, construction, system, and equipment defaults by using regional building standards and codes to make intelligent assumptions. Using simple drop-down menus, architects can quickly change any of these settings to define specific aspects of their design: a different building orientation, a lower U-value window glazing, or a 4-pipe fan coil HVAC system, for example.

The Web service uses precise hourly weather data, as well as historical rain data, that are accurate to within 9 miles of any given building site. It also uses emission data for every electric power plant in the United States and includes the broad range of variables needed to assess carbon neutrality.

...continue reading...

http://aec.cadalyst.com/aec/Column:+1-2-3+Revit/BIM-and-Green-Building-Studio-1-2-3-Revit-Tutorial/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/546064?contextCategoryId=6573

Source: Friday, August 29, 2008 http://kcrevit.blogspot.com/2008/08/revit-and-green-building-studio.htmlRevit and Green Building Studio Posted by Patrick Davis at 5:11 PM

Read more...

I love Vista!!!! I just installed it and Revit is faster.

I never thought I'd say this, but I absolutely love Vista.
My computer specs are:
I have a Dell Precision M90
Intel Core 2 2GHz (Single Processor 2 Core)
4GB RAM,
250GB HD Nvidia
Quadro FX 2500M

I have to be honest about all this. I started with DOS in 1983 and have been happy with XP for years. I've been badmouthing Vista just like everyone else out of ignorance and had never even tried it before today. Resource hog, slows the computer, just another pretty interface (yeah, all the same things AutoCAD users say about Revit). Well, I was wrong. The installation was so easy and painless. I stuck in the new hard drive, popped in the Vista disc and 30 minutes later, I was up and running. Futhermore, it took me about 5 minutes to find my way around Vista and be comfortable with the changes. Seems like going from AutoCAD to Revit is like going from DOS to Vista. Sorry, I just have a thing aganst any program with a command line in it. That's just so 80s!

I hadn't reinstalled XP since I got my laptop in 12/06 and my computer seemed to take forever to do anything. Revit Architecture went from a minute to start up to 15 seconds. Having a 64 bit OS really seems to make a difference. Everything opens instantly and now that I found an XM Radio widget for my desktop, I'm one click away from satellite radio.

Well, I'm off to transfer 150GB of data and music to my new and improved computer.
Now, if only Revit 64bit would get here already!!!!

One last note. If you're getting a new machine, get Vista. If you're upgrading an older computer, make sure you have Vista drivers available for it before you upgrade. I think that's the sticking point for most people.

Please review these two posts for additional information on picking a computer and how to get a Dell cheaper!!!!

• Hardware Part 2

• What kind of computer do you need if you're using Revit and want to do renderings.

Read more...

Autodesk - AutoCAD MEP Services & Support - AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009 Product Update 1 32-Bit

Autodesk - AutoCAD MEP Services & Support - AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009 Product Update 1 32-Bit: "*
* Consulting
* Training
* Community
* Support
* Data & Downloads
o Updates & Service Packs
o Utilities & Drivers
o Viewers
o Tools
* Documentation


AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009 Product Update 1 32-Bit

Published date: 2008-Aug-19
ID: DL11632169
Applies to:
AutoCAD® MEP 2009
AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009
Revit® MEP 2009

ars2009sp1.exe (exe - 16841Kb)

Readme (select language version):

* English
* Italian
* Korean
* Russian

This product update applies to the version of AutoCAD MEP 2009 (32-bit) that comes with the Revit MEP Suite 2009."

Read more...

Autodesk - AutoCAD MEP Services & Support - AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009 Product Update 1 64-Bit

Autodesk - AutoCAD MEP Services & Support - AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009 Product Update 1 64-Bit: "AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009 Product Update 1 64-Bit

Published date: 2008-Aug-19
ID: DL11673591
Applies to:
AutoCAD® MEP 2009
AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2009
Revit® MEP 2009

ars2009sp1.exe (exe - 33773Kb)

Readme (select language version):

* English
* Italian
* Korean
* Russian

This product update applies to the version of AutoCAD MEP 2009 (64-bit) that comes with the Revit MEP Suite 2009."

Read more...

Announcing our newest BIM Partner - Adapx Digital Pen with CapturX for Autodesk Design Review

This posting is about the highest low tech solution we've now become partners with.
We have just become a distributor and reseller for Adapx.com. They sell the Adapx Digital Pen with Caputrx for Autodesk Design Review.

For those of you who have been reading my blog over the past year, you've seen my posts about my Logitech IO2 Digital Pen. I've been telling people how someday you can use the pen to mark up construction drawings with this technology. As it is, you can sketch a floorplan with the pen and import it right into Revit to convert to a 3d model as seen here.

Well, Logitech just left the market recently, so I bought my second generation pen from Livescribe.com. No, don't go running to their site because I'm totally disappointed with their pen. On the one hand, it's cool because it records your voice as you write and you can tap on any page and it will replay the voice that was recorded while you were writing. I found the pen to be clunky to use and it takes 10 seconds to turn on. Also, the battery life isn't so great. The Logitech pen started as soon as you pulled off the pen cap. Besides, the Livescribe pen is round with no clip and always rolled off the desk and fell on the floor, usually right on the pen tip causing serious structural damage. Great concept, bad execution. I'll be selling it someday soon probably to a student who can use it for lectures.

Now, for a personal note to my wife, "Honey, I'm sorry I bought another digital pen."
The president of my company says I can't sell 12 Adapx pens by December. Is it cheating if I say that I will have a drawing for some free training for one of the first 12 people who buy the pen and the software? Not that I should have to, because this is the most amazing use of the digital pen technology that I have every seen as it relates to the Architectural, Engineering, Contstruction, FM and GIS world. You can use it with ArcGIS, Microsoft Office OneNote and even create your own custom forms. This is so cool.

Improve Field Collaboration and Design Decisions with Capturx™ for Autodesk® Design Review
Capturx for Autodesk Design Review enables design and building project teams to collaborate with the field and reach decisions faster with software that seamlessly integrates hand-written markups made on printed designs with the original DWF fles.
Capturx works with Autodesk Design Review to print digitally enabled designs on normal paper. Te printouts are marked up in the field with a digital pen, which digitizes and uploads the data into DWF fles.

See a Webcast Get Adapx Newsletter Calendar

Capturx for Autodesk Design Review Capturx™ for Autodesk Design Review® helps architects, engineers, and contractors quickly collect and share design review data to enable better collaboration and design decisions. With Capturx, teams can print Autodesk designs on ordinary paper and mark them up with a digital pen, which digitizes the handwriting and integrates the data directly into Autodesk applications. Real- time data access to digitized design mark-ups consolidated across field teams No more waiting for paper mark-ups to be couriered, faxed, or re-keyed Eliminate transcription errors by uploading data directly into DWF files Integration with AutoCAD, Revit, and other Autodesk products through DWF formats Supports large format print outs for convenient review of large, complex designs As easy as a pen; no new software, PCs, or PDAs to buy, learn, replace, and support Minimizes unnecessary change orders, for about the cost of a single typical change order

Improve Field Collaboration and Design Decisions with Capturx™ for Autodesk® Design Review
Capturx for Autodesk Design Review enables design and building project teams to collaborate with the feld and reach decisions faster with sofware that seamlessly integrates hand-written markups made on printed designs with the original DWF fles.

Capturx works with Autodesk Design Review to print digitally enabled designs on normal paper. Te printouts are marked up in the feld with a digital pen, which digitizes and uploads the data into DWF fles.

BETTER COLLABORATION AND FASTER DECISIONS
With Capturx, teams work together better, with information gathered and shared
in close to real time.

• Immediate data access to digitized notes and markups consolidated across feld teams synced by USB from digital pens.
• Eliminate transcription errors by uploading original markups and designs directly into Autodesk Design Review.
• No waiting for paper markups to be couriered, faxed or re-keyed.

WORKS THE WAY YOU DO

• Capturx matches the way designs are reviewed in the feld today: designs are printed and marked up with pens. Only Capturx keeps this process digital without requiring extensive training or unnatural process changes.
• Work with DWF fles to prepare designs for printing and review.
• Print Large Formats with many common printers and plotters* which is the best way to review and compare large complex designs.
• An easy-to-use and durable pen requires no complex training, no special care in rugged environments, and is the ultimate in portability with as much as 10-days of battery life.

IMMEDIATE RETURN ON INVESTMENT

• Capturx can reduce the number and extent of change orders; ofen costing less than the cost of a single change order.
• Avoid costly errors in change orders due to out-of-sync data and teams.
• Reduce the cost of paper handling and data entry and scanning by letting professionals focus on higher value tasks.
• Avoid expensive feld computing equipment and related costs for training, support, and replacement.
• *Capturx works with most color laser jet postscript printers, please contact revit3d+adapx@gmail.com for more information.

How Capturx Printing Works

Capturx turns ordinary paper into extensions of your computer desktop applications through a special dot pattern which Capturx adds to print outs to enable them to be read by a digital pen. The dot pattern is unique for each page and appears as a light background on prints. The digital pen has a sensor which reads the dot pattern as it writes, tracking its location on that unique sheet as you write.

The dot pattern is printed with high precision using black ink, which is the only color “visible” to the digital pen. The information in the file, which is visible to humans, is printed using your printer's yellow, magenta, and cyan inks. Any visible lines that look black are actually combinations of those color inks.

An initial Capturx purchase includes a large amount of unique digital dot pattern: enough to print more than 6000 8-1/2-x-11 pages or more than 2000 E-sized prints. Dot pattern is like printer toner: it gets used up as you print. Additional dot pattern is available for purchase and download from Adapx.

Capturx-enabled print outs must be made with a 4-color postscript printer. We have tested a broad range of printers which work with Capturx from leaders such as: HP, Okidata, Oce, Ricoh and Canon. To learn more about specific printers, please contact us.

Get More Information

Capturx for AutoDesk Design Review Supporting Info:

Datasheet

Product Demo

Webcast: August 21:Capturx for Autodesk Design Review Webcast 11AM PST

http://labs.blogs.com/its_alive_in_the_lab/2008/06/adpax-capturx-f.html

http://labs.blogs.com/its_alive_in_the_lab/2007/12/mark-up-special.html

If you want to buy one or get more information, please contact me. We can sell the pens anywhere in the world, so don't be shy.

PS. Anyone going to AU? We'll be there.

December 2

Autodesk University 2008 (AU 2008) Tuesday, December 02 2008 to Friday, December 05 2008 The Venetian Resort Hotel Las Vegas, NV

December 3

Adapx Seminar at AU 2008

“Keeping it Digital in the Field: Digital Pen Collaboration with Autodesk Products”
Wednesday, December 03 2008
By Paulo Barthelmess of Adapx
5:15 PM to 6:45PM

Read more...

Sun Of A BIM

I guess this Green Building and Sustainable Design stuff is going mainstream...

By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: August 14, 2008

Companies will build two solar power plants in California that together will put out more than 12 times as much electricity as the largest such plant today, the latest indication that solar energy is starting to achieve significant scale.

The plants will cover 12.5 square miles of central California with solar panels, and in the middle of a sunny day will generate about 800 megawatts of power, roughly equal to the size of a large coal-burning power plant or a small nuclear plant. A megawatt is enough power to run a large Wal-Mart store.

...continue reading the article...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/business/15solar.html?bl&ex=1219032000&en=1bd6be8f0fed5637&ei=5087%0A Read more...

Quote of the Day - The evolution of design

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

Read more...

IES Releases Most Significant Update Ever With V5.9 ToolBox

Upgrades include more visual inputs and outputs and feature-rich reporting

Boston – August 11, 2008 Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), a world leading provider of integrated performance analysis software and consulting services for sustainable building design, today announced the availability of its most significant upgrade to-date. IES <"Virtual Environment"> v5.9 offers a comprehensive package of building performance analysis tools, enabling designers to look at how key design and climate factors influence the sustainable performance of a building. IESs worldwide users benefit from both local and global enhanced technical capabilities – including major graphical input and output developments, and more visual, interactive and flexible reporting.

...continue reading the article...
Read more...

Announcing the Autodesk Stimulus Rebate Program - Buy Revit and get a $400 Rebate

Efficiency Stimulus Promotion Launches August 18

http://autodesk.myonlinerebate.com/efficiency_stimulus/

To help customers improve their design and manufacturing efficiency during the economic slowdown, Autodesk is offering an Efficiency Stimulus Program for U.S. commercial customers only on new seat sales (five-seat limit) beginning August 18, 2008 and running through October 17, 2008.

This new program offers unprecedented savings of up to US$2,000 on the purchase of eligible Autodesk® products to help businesses cut short-term capital expenses while realizing immediate gains in efficiency, productivity, and quality. It positions businesses well for future growth as market conditions improve.

Buy a new seat of AutoCAD LT® software and get a US$200 rebate.

Buy a new seat of the following eligible products and get a US$400 rebate:

AutoCAD® 2009 Autodesk 3ds Max® 2009 Autodesk 3ds Max® Design 2009 AutoCAD® Architecture 2009 Revit® Architecture 2009 AutoCAD® MEP 2009 AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Suite 2009

AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Suite 2009.1 Revit® Structure 2009 AutoCAD® Revit® Structure Suite 2009 AutoCAD® Revit® MEP Suite 2009

Government and Education customers are NOT eligible for this promotion.

Of course you'll want to use the rebate money to help pay for training, implementation and Revit Families :-)

Read more...

What we say and what you hear. Life in the Autodesk Channel

Sometimes it's fascinating working in the Autodesk Channel. 25 years of software, marketing and changes in technology really have left an indelible mark on many AutoCAD users.

Every year, Autodesk releases new software and every year, customers complain that they're fine with R14 and why do they need to upgrade.

Well, on occasion, when I'm talking to an architect or drafter about Revit, I know they're thinking "Blah blah blah Autodesk salesman, blah blah blah, buy more software, blah blah blah BIM BIM BIM".

I hate to say this, but if you've never seen Revit in action, I'd feel the same way. Here's the sales guy and Autodesk has a new product of the week and they want us to buy this stuff and it'll disappear in a year or two.

I must say, I can't blame you for feeling that way. After all, AutoCAD's been around for 25 years and it's still alive. On BIM's behalf, Revit was created in 1997 and it's getting bigger and bigger every day after 11 years of existence.

What does all this mean. My opinion, if you're not using Revit, you really need to start taking a look at it now. It really does double productivity and doubles accuracy at the same time. When you factor in LEED, BIM and Integrated Project Delivery, it really does make good sense.

As I always tell the naysayers who are happy with 2D drafting, download the Revit trial and play with it for as long as you want. That doesn't cost you a penny and you'll be pleasantly surprised how easy and intuitive it is.

Now that Revit comes bundles with AutoCAD Architecture, it's really only a matter of when, not if, you move to Revit. If you're not using it, your competitors are and they're showing it to their clients. That means you lose a huge competitive advantage for design, simulation, analysis and visualization. For the rest of you, blah blah blah Revit, blah blah blah.....

Read more...

AU 2008 registration is officially open

Go to http://au.autodesk.com/register/ for Autodesk University 2008 in Las Vegas.
Better hurry up and get registered. It's a pain to stay at other hotels once the Venetian books up.

The Revit classes fill up the fastest...Gee, I wonder why...
See you at the show. Read more...

New Acquisitions Boost Building Performance Analysis using Revit Tools

(Ecotect and Green Building Studio)

By Rita Stange, ConnectPress Published 07/28/2008 23:17:58

Autodesk is constantly enhancing the AEC Solutions portfolio to support sustainable design and enable their customers to “experience designs before they’re real.”

With those ongoing commitments in mind Autodesk recently closed the deal with Green Building Studio after announcing intent back in February to acquire the web-based service for whole building analysis. Out of the blue, they also announced that they had acquired Ecotect, building design and environmental analysis software from Square One Research Ltd.

Autodesk’s ongoing mantra of letting customers “experience the design before it’s real” continues to play a role in providing solutions that give customers more options to see this through, said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, Autodesk AEC solutions.

According to Bhatt, one of the areas the company is focused on is analysis, specifically sustainable analysis, due to the huge impact buildings have on the environment in terms of energy consumption and carbon footprint output.

continue reading the article: http://www.revitcommunity.com/feature_full.php?cpfeatureid=29340&page=all&PHPSESSID=926344b864593efef311cb3bfea6bad4
Read more...

Office Building Lit With 100% LED Light

Click to read the post: Office Building Lit With 100% LED Light

http://www.metaefficient.com/leds/office-building-lit-with-100-led-light.html

My Revit lighting guru Mark has already created a Revit CFL Lightbulb which I'll be posting shortly.
Mark, can you get all the lights show here converted into Revit light bulbs? I'm sure you'll make a lot of Revit users very happy.
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=A23AUXUEVS3TT3&isPopup= Read more...

Congrats to our BIM Partner e-SPECS on the coveted blessing of Autodesk - InterSpec Named an Autodesk Preferred Industry Partner

We're proud to be the Florida reseller for e-SPECS and thrilled that Autodesk and e-SPECS are helping take BIM to the next level.

Portland, Maine – August 12, 2008 – InterSpec Inc., a global innovator of construction specification management software and services, today announced that it has been chosen as a Preferred Industry Partner by Autodesk, Inc., the leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets.

InterSpec’s patented e-SPECS software solutions automate the preparation of construction specifications and selection of products and materials that are incorporated into commercial construction projects. InterSpec has a longstanding partnership with Autodesk and was one of the first companies to take advantage of Revit Architecture software and its building information modeling capabilities to automate a downstream process. The company’s e-SPECS products are used by thousands of architects, engineers and construction professionals to help them keep their construction drawings and specifications in sync while reducing the overall cost of development.

“Our e-SPECS software allow architects and engineers who use Autodesk design software to save countless hours and dollars while ensuring that their digital construction models and drawings agree with the specifications,” said Michael Brennan, CEO of InterSpec. “Autodesk Revit Architecture software is an especially powerful combination with e-SPECS because of the integrated change management and coordination, enabling efficient and coordinated construction document management, design team collaboration and enterprise level data management. We are pleased to be recognized as a Preferred Industry Partner by Autodesk and look forward to continuing our close association.”

We’re proud to be working closely with an industry leader like InterSpec," said Jim Quanci, director of the Autodesk Developer Network. “Together with our partners, Autodesk is committed to developing solutions that help customers realize the potential of Building Information Modeling by supporting efforts that automate critical construction processes from the information derived from the Revit models. Partners like InterSpec and their e-SPECS products are central to achieving this goal."
---
Visit http://www.e-specs.com/especs-revit.html and then give me a call to help you get to the next level of BIM.
Read more...

Bragging rights on Revit MEP

One of our favorite firms using Revit MEP, Ross & Barruzzini is actually using the product and successfully. I hate to brag, but my team of Revit techs helped get the ball rolling. They're now on the their second project and we'll be right by their side to support them in every way possible.
I'm not supposed to say anything about how their original reseller sent in a tech who knew nothing about the product and the training was a waste of time. I'll just say that Revit resellers aren't about price anymore, it's about Revit experience.

One of the things I most love about my blog is the ability to reach so many people and hopefully provide enough insight and information to keep you coming back.

When you start a blog, at some point when you get burnt out, you start to panic and say, "what the heck am I going to write about?" Well, this whole Revit and BIM thing is exhausting. It just doesn't stop. Everyday, more and more information pours in. I wonder if Revit would have ever succeeded without blogs, Autodesk Forums and the great job that AUGI does. And we musn't forget our friend "The Google". Between, blogging, maps, my Gmail account and Google spreadsheets, I'd be lost.

So, thank you to everyone from around the country who has contacted me and CADD Centers for Revit training and implementation. Ken Schriever and Tim McDuffie, you're the Revit3D reviteers of the day.

Here's Ross and Barruzzini's latest post. Congratulations to you on successfully implementing Revit MEP. Even though it's not 100% there, that didn't stop them from using the program. One of my clients today told me he was hitting his head against a formica counter because their MEP engineer still won't start using the software even though the architect clearly said "I will not convert my Revit files into an AutoCAD background anymore for you. Buy your own copy of Revit and do it yourself". I'll keep you posted on that one.

Here live and direct from http://revit.rossbar.com

Revving up Revit Part 2

from The Ross & Baruzzini *Revit* Blog - *Revit* in the Workplace by Ken Schriever

During our first attempt at a full MEP project the Owner requested Autocad Documents toward the end for final delivery, so even through the project was started in Revit, its final delivery output was in CAD. The lesson learned is to try to gear a project toward a Revit firm that will be expecting the deliverables in Revit. Everyone is bouncing back and forth on an inevitable topic that is BIM will be the standard. It may not be today, next week on even this year but it will be here very soon. As all of you know the government agencies and most hospitals and higher ed facilities have already publically announced a Revit cutover date.
...
Once we start the project we will utilize the same training process used on the first project. Ross & Baruzzini will let all of the users start the project with direction from CADD Centers. We will fly The CADD Centers' trainers into our office to get everyone going on the project and make sure that everyone’s questions are answered from the beginning. This insures we start off with everything working and all model linking is correct.
...continue reading the post... Read more...

Forbes.com - Making Energy-Saving Buildings

Forbes.com - Magazine Article: "Forbes.com





Cleantech
Making Energy-Saving Buildings
Kerry A. Dolan, 08.05.08, 8:00 PM ETBurlingame, Calif. -

A Wal-Mart in Las Vegas may just be the prototype for the energy-sipping building of the future. Lit with light-emitting diodes and cooled by an indirect evaporative system that runs cold water through pipes under the floor, the supercenter consumes up to 45% less energy than the retail giant's other stores.

Over the next 15 years, commercial buildings in the U.S. are expected to become even more energy-efficient than the Las Vegas Wal-Mart , capable of producing as much energy as they consume.

That's the vision behind a new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) "net-zero energy" commercial building initiative launched Tuesday. The program's goal, set forth in a section of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, is to get net-zero energy commercial buildings of all types up and running in the U.S. by 2025.

At the moment, however, this is not economically feasible. "You could build a building that's net-zero energy-efficient today, but the utility savings are not sufficient to pay back that investment over the life cycle of the building," says David Rodgers, the DOE's deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency.

Rodgers says that today it is cost effective to install technology in buildings and improve energy consumption by 30%. To push things forward, the DOE plans to launch a competition for development of a building that is 50% more energy efficient than current structures.

Much of the public debate about energy consumption has focused on automobiles. But buildings use even more power. "The building sector represents 40% of the nation's primary energy consumption--72% of electricity and 55% of natural gas--exceeding any other sector of the U.S. economy, including transportation and industry," says DOE assistant secretary Alexander Karsner. And greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. buildings are nearly equal to the total greenhouse gas emissions from France, the U.K. and Japan combined.

To help translate building-related research into market adoption, five of the DOE's national laboratories have become co-sponsors for the Green Building Prize of the California Clean Tech Open's 2008 Competition. The $50,000 prize helps a start-up company with a good idea move forward.

The green-building sector is attracting increased attention and money from a variety of Silicon Valley investors. Hycrete of Carlstadt, N.J., has developed a molecule that repels water in concrete. The molecule makes concrete water- and moisture-resistant, and eliminates the need for a membrane that typically seals the concrete.

By skipping this step in the production process, builders save time and money. Hycrete's mixture has been used in 90 buildings so far, including several in California. The company has raised $25 million from venture capital firms including NGEN, Rockport and Mohr Davidow.

Serious Materials, which has raised $65 million from venture firms including Foundation Capital and New Enterprise Associates, is developing a green alternative to standard drywall. There are many other start-ups in building materials as well.

Besides Wal-Mart, other large retailers including Target, Home Depot and Petco are developing showcase stores with energy-saving technologies, Rodgers says.

With enough innovation and market testing from companies large and small, the goal of net-zero energy buildings may look less like a hopeful vision and more like an achievable reality.

Read more...

Sustainable Design Webcast Series for Continuing Education Credit

Autodesk is offering a new, live webcast series on sustainable design and building. As a special feature, American Institute of Architects (AIA) continuing education credit is available.

(See requirements and restrictions on the webcast series webpage.) We have already held the first webcast in the series, but there is still time to register for the remaining webcasts.

The series examines the principles of sustainable design, sustainable building techniques, and building information modeling (BIM) as a means for multi-disciplinary project teams to design, analyze, coordinate, and build high-performance, sustainable buildings.

The webcasts in the series are:

Bridging Environmental and Architectural Design to Nurture Renewability
(Broadcast July 15. View the archived version of the webcast [not for credit] at www.autodesk.com/sustainable-webcasts.)

Sustainable Design and the Civil Engineer
Tuesday, August 12, 10:00–11:00 a.m. PDT

Sustainable Design and the MEP Engineer
Tuesday, September 16, 10:00–11:00 a.m. PDT

Going Paperless and the Environmental Impact of Architectural Practices
Tuesday, October 14, 10:00–11:00 a.m. PDT

Trends in Constructability and Waste Reduction: The Architect & General Contractor Partnership
Tuesday, November 11, 10:00–11:00 a.m. PST

The Importance of Design Visualization for Creating Renewable Designs
Tuesday, December 9, 10:00–11:00 a.m. PST

Action: Learn more at www.autodesk.com/sustainable-webcasts Read more...

The essence of BIM...updated

I've updated the BIM graphic from my recent posting. I added facilities management software into the mix and color coded the products. Feel free to use this for any presentations or educational purpose. If you'd like to show anyone this graphic, please just go to www.bimcycle.com



Read more...

Yeah...I just finished signing up for AU 2008

That was exhausting. The schedule is intense. IPD, Navisworks, Families, Lighting, Modeling, Coordination, CNC, API, VSTA, SDK, Revit, Revit, Revit, BIM, arghhh...make it stop....BIM overload. I don't know how much more my brain can take.

I'm officially the first salesperson from our company to ever attend an AU. No wonder my competitors are still selling AutoCAD and not Revit.


Here's a PDF of the whole schedule if you want to look through all 75 pages...
http://www.bimwit.com/files/info/AU_2008_file_5309.pdf


PS. Matt, I signed up for your class....It better be good or they'll never let you back into the country.
Viva Las Vegas. Revitas Ergo Zoom.

To any of my blog subscribers attending AU. I'm budgeting for a Revit3D Round of Drinks one evening. RSVP via email if you'd like to join the party...I don't know how many people I can afford, but I'll try to save up for December. Matt, this does not include you. You owe me enough Australian wine as it is!!!!! I'm going to try to get Broutek to sponsor it as well, so if you're interested in meeting me and seeing the best Revit content creation company on the planet, let me know. Read more...

Announcing Autocad Revit Architecture 2009.1 now including Autocad Architecture and Autocad.

THIS IS A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!

You're never going to believe this, but Autodesk is now bundling AutoCAD Architecture (ADT) with Revit Architecture.

No more having to decide whether you want AutoCAD Architecture or Revit Architecture.
You can now have both. If you have Autocad Architecture, you can now crossgrade to Revit and keep your AA and now have to downgrade to AutoCAD in the bundle.

One License, One Subscription Fee. No more Revit-UP promos.
This will allow customer to migrate to Revit and get the value of BIM without affecting your workload. If you're not on subscription, this is a huge reason to get it now. Call me if you're in Florida and I'll answer any pricing questions.

So, this will let you transition from AutoCAD or AutoCAD Architecture to Revit Architecture and keep your existing software so you can:

• Gain the powerful competitive advantage of BIM using Revit Architecture
• While supporting ongoing or legacy work in AutoCAD or AutoCAD Architecture
• Transition to BIM with the flexibility of being able to choose the right tool for the job.

If you're on subscription, you will automatically receive AutoCAD Architecture when Autodesk starts shipping in Mid-September

You will receive 4 discs in the 2009.1 release.

Click here for the Autodesk Customer Q&A PDF
And here, thanks to rmejia, an Augi user is the Augi forum posting about it all.
Here's the Autodesk Forum posting as well...
AutoCAD Architecture will still be available as a standalone product.

We still haven't heard anything about 64bit Revit yet.....

visit www.autodesk.com/architecture-webcasts for some great webcasts about migrating to BIM.

Click here to Subscribe to my blog and always have the latest official Autodesk information Read more...

For the AIA Florida convention visitors who've never seen Revit before....and any other first time Revit visitors

So, you've been reading about Revit or saw a demo and you really wish your firm would switch, but for whatever reason they won't? Remember when you had broadband at the office, but dialup at home.

Painful wasn't it? We had the first designer from a firm in Miami come in for training last month. After every new lesson during the 3 days of training, he looked like a 6 year on his first trip to Disneyworld. It was "wow" or "that will save me so much time" or "this is so amazing." Well, the firm wanted him to be the Revit inductee since he was the only one who knew anything about 3D. He was so disappointed at the end of the class because he knew they didn't have a new project coming up soon enough for him to work on in Revit.

• You can come back here in the future by visiting BIMbuilder.com/start
• I highly recommend you subscribe to my blog as I have daily updates and you'll never keep up w/Revit otherwise. BIMbuilder.com/subscribe
• Also, visit BIMbuilder.com/apps to see all of the peripheral programs for Revit
• Visit http://bimboom.blogspot.com/search/label/Demo for some quick vidoes on how Revit works
• Last, go to BIMcomplete.com to see the McGraw-Hill report that provides you all the ROI information that'll really compel you to take it to your boss now.
• Any questions? Email me. I'm here to help you.  
  

Well, you can be the first person in your firm even if they're stuck in 2D.

1. Download and install Revit.bimbuilder.com/start
2. Click Help and open the Getting Started Guide Revit3d.com/guide
   Note: This will download Revit 2010 w/the Ribbon toolbar. The Guide is written for Revit 2009 w/o the toolbar. You'll need to download the Ribbon Hack to open Revit 2010 as 2009. Just visit www.revit3d.com/ribbonoff to download a little zip file w/instructions to use the 2010 as 2009 desktop shortcut. It takes 30 seconds and will cause no harm to your computer. It's just a batch file.
   
   
3. Build the house in the Guide in 4 hours.
4. Rinse and repeat. Practice makes perfect.
5. Click here to download the Help Tutorials
   
6. 1,000 pages of tutorials. Don't stay up too late. In Revit, click on Help and there they are for 2010.
   
7. After the 30 day trial expires, YOU CAN STILL USE REVIT. You just can't save or export. This means you can practice until you're perfect. Revit becomes a free viewer at this point as well for your contractors and owners.
8. On my Samples page link here, download Revit sample files, play around with them and disect them.
9. Tell everyone in your office to do the same.
   
   
10. Once you've all learned Revit on your own, create a mob, walk into your bosses office and tell him that you're all ready to make the switch. Now push the that was easy button. It will start the Revit Building download.
11. Come back here often. There's an ever growing list of resources for Revit. www.Revit3D.com or I really recommend you subscribe. You can visit the monthly archives to skim through past posts. www.revit3d.com/archive
    
12. Step 12. Send me an email and let me know how easy it was to learn Revit.

You've just solved another Piece of the Puzzle! I know all of this is overwhelming. You either want to learn Revit or are being forced to. Quick little piece of advice. The less you know about AutoCAD the better. Learning Revit is easy. Transitioning the CAD workflow and processes to Revit is not so easy. We have an implementation program that helps make the transition much easier. Bottom line is, you really don't have a choice. Revit, BIM, LEED and IPD are rapidly taking over and the sooner you make the decision to move to Revit, the sooner you'll be making money and having fun again. I guess that's why you're here in the first place.

Good luck and keep me posted about your progress. I really want to know how you like Revit.
~Gregory

Anonymous said...

Listen to him, I almost mastered Revit due to his instructions. :)

December 6, 2007 4:34 PM

 History of Revit (over 400,000 copies sold)
Call me for pricing. It's less money to crossgrade to the Autocad+Revit Suite than it is to upgrade from Autocad 2007 to Autocad 2010.

Other Reference Material:
Download Training Application

Revit for AutoCAD Users (pdf - 100Kb)

Revit Interoperability with CAD (pdf - 371Kb)

BIM and Facilities Management (pdf - 263 Kb)

Barriers to the Adoption of Building Information Modeling in the Building Industry (pdf - 140 Kb)

Building Information Modeling for Sustainable Design (pdf - 612 Kb)

Building Information Modeling: A Key to Performance-Based Design (pdf - 63 Kb)Building Information Modeling for Sustainable Design Briefing (pdf - 94 Kb)

BIM Down Under (pdf - 263 Kb)BIM in Brazil (pdf - 217 Kb)

BIM Concept to Completion (pdf - 64 Kb)

BIM in China (pdf - 80 Kb)

BIM and Cost Estimating (pdf - 417 Kb)

BIM and DWF (pdf - 194 Kb)

BIM for Interior Design (pdf - 763 Kb)

Using BIM for Greener Designs (pdf - 82 Kb)

Transitioning to BIM (pdf - 349 Kb)

BIM in India (pdf - 126 Kb)

BIM in Action (pdf - 56 Kb)Tapping BIM using ODBC (pdf - 115 Kb)

BIM on a WAN (pdf - 167 Kb)

Parametric Building Modeling: BIM’s Foundation (pdf - 285 Kb)

BIM’s Return on Investment (pdf - 207 Kb)

BIM Goes to School (pdf - 276 Kb)

BIM Rolls Out in South Africa (pdf - 134 Kb)

Small, Medium…Extra Large! (pdf - 121 Kb)

Read more...

Wow, What a great reception to Revit at the AIA show

I want to thank everyone who stopped by our booth yesterday at the AIA Florida convention.
I've never seen so much interest in Revit and BIM and what a varied range of questions we had.

BIM is the new buzzword and it looks like every AIA convention is having lectures on the topic.
One thing I'd like to point out is that BIM is not a piece of software. It's more of a process, connection between people and software and working off a database of Building Data, not lines, circles and arcs. It's almost comical to me that a lot of principals who are so detached from the software their staff uses to come to a convention, hear a lecture about BIM and then go back to their office Monday morning telling everyone about this great new technology that they need to embrace immediately. Expect to see some pretty strange looks from your staff because they'd been telling you for 2 years about Revit and you said, "we're fine with Autocad and we're not spending any money on new software." Your staff is going to wonder what the heck happened to you to make you start talking about BIM and Revit.

One thing I've observed over the last 3 years of selling Revit is the following:
Every single architecture and engineering firm on the planet who's considering moving to Revit and BIM has the exact same questions, concerns, fears and doubts when looking at Revit.
Yes, you must change your use of resources. Yes, your first few projects will seem to take forever to complete (although your construction documents will be generated much faster, with fewer errors and less constuction administration). Yes, you will be frustrated trying to find that special windows and doors on the internet (Stop searching and use www.Broutek.com). Yes, you will have no idea how to set up your project templates or coordinate with your engineers (who of course are using Autocad R12 - you'll have to tell them to switch to Revit as soon as possible).
Yes, the drawing output will look just like Autocad and it's easier to print in Revit.

Here's the easy answer, at least if your in Florida (no let me amend that. Our techs are available to do training and tech support via GoToMeeting all around the world now and that saves on gas and travel expenses). You will need training on Revit and you will need to pay for some implementation support. Yes, I know you never spent any money on training for Autocad and you figured that program out fine. But, your engineers never told you how crappy your layering system was and how your lineweights make no sense because they don't want to piss you off and lose business from you.

Our Revit trainers are ranked number 1 and 2 in the state of Florida. That means we can answer all of your questions, train you to use Revit and be functional in 3 days, have access to our 191 page implementation manual (thanks Joe, Mark and Elias for that), take our patent pending custom classes on Revit Architecture Families, Revit MEP Families, Advanced Revit Rendering, Lighting in Revit and our Conceptual Massing and Modeling classes (in our office or live over the internet from anywhere). We have a spectacular tech support contact available to anyone for help with your first few projects. Yes, we will travel anywhere in the US (if you don't mind paying for a plane ticket and Mark's meals (and boy, can he eat)).

Bottom line, our customers are successful with Revit. Why? Because we do training in Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and Revit MEP. We offer support on coordination between disciplines. We sell Broutek, IES, Reed Smart BIM Library (Arrol, thanks so much for flying in and working with us on the show), CostX, e-SPECS (which is so much easier to use now), Cadapult FM and now for the first time ever, we're officially a Navisworks reseller.

To all of the architects who visited our booth and had that look of "Wow, Revit looks great but we'll never be able to afford it or the training" my answer is simple.
Revit can be learned in 3 days. The benefits of automating sections, elevations, detail/section/elevation/callout numbers, roofs, stairs, curtainwall, storefront, floor, ceilings, renderings all save you labor, QA and QC time. Getting your CDs done faster AND WITH FEWER PEOPLE, means you can actually start making money on your projects. We've found that minimally, just from automatic schedules and automated numbering and tagging, you can save 1,000 to 2,000 dollars per project. Read this post for details.

Fewer drafters means less salary. Less salary means more money that you can invest in training and implementation. Fewer RFIs and Change Orders means less construction administration. That means fewer emergency visists to jobsites, which means lots of money can be saved on gas. That means profit for you. Finally, a software that can make you money on your design projects.

Revit is not AutoCAD. It doesn't have linesweights or layers to worry about. It's all about modeling and designing your buildings. Revit does full construction documents. You won't need Autocad anymore, but Revit comes bundled with Autocad anyhow, so you'll always have both. Revit now does photorealistic renderings. No more paying thousands of dollars to a rendering company. You can do your own renderings now and charge the owner for them. Wow, a new source of revenue.

Now, everyone who I gave my Revit3d.com business card to yesterday, call me. Let's set up a time to meet and let us help you move to the ultimate in architectural design. Read more...

Today 3pm - 7pm AIA Florida Convention

If you happen to be in Florida, and are attending the AIA Florida Convention at the Breakers in Palm Beach, please stop by and visit us at Booth #40.

We'll have live demos of Revit, e-SPECS, Reed Smart BIM Library Manager and more. Read more...

SiteMeter is preventing access to websites.

I just removed my Site Meter module. Apparently, it is preventing people's websites from opening in Internet Explorer. I'm a Firefox 3.0 man myself, so I don't worry about these things

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