RCx projected to have an 83% Annual Growth Rate the next 4 years: What?! Commercial Building Retro Commissioning (RCx)
Posted by Jim Foster in Built Environment, Smart Building, Sustainable Retrofits on September 19, 2011
So according to Pike Research, yes “Commercial Building Retro-Commissioning Revenue Could Surpass $1.8 Billion in the United States by 2014” So that’s a mouthful. Retro-Commisoning, also dubbed RCx, why? I don’t know, looks cool, but RCx simply ” is a process that seeks to improve how building equipment and systems function together. ” Why not say that, well, see cool comment earlier. But according to Evan Mills. 2009. “Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse-gas Emissions” and thier report which “provides the world’s largest database of commissioning case studies for new and existing buildings.”
The results demonstrate that commissioning is arguably the single-most cost-effective strategy for reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse-gas emissions in buildings today.
Who stands to benefit from retro-commissioning? according to EnergyStar, “Building owners, managers, staff, and tenants all stand to gain from the retrocommissioning process. It can lower building operating costs by reducing demand, energy consumption, and time spent by management or staff responding to complaints. It can also increase equipment life and improve tenant satisfaction by increasing the comfort and safety of occupants.”
And if this RCx did not have enough addictive properties:
- Median commissioning costs: $0.30 and $1.16 per square foot for existing buildings and new construction, respectively (and 0.4% of total construction costs for new buildings)
- Median whole-building energy savings: 16% and 13%
- Median payback times: 1.1 and 4.2 years
- Median benefit-cost ratios: 4.5 and 1.1
- Cash-on-cash returns: 91% and 23%
- Very considerable reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions were achieved, at a negative cost of -$110 and -$25/tonne CO2-equivalent.
So where to start? Well like a lot of trends California is a good place, and their Commissioning Collaborative Handbook. And this thing is such a mouthful I’ll need to further elaborate in future posts after I can digest this RCx meal.
The Whole Building and nothing but the Whole Building : BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in BIM, Built Environment, LEED on August 19, 2011
When speaking of the Built Environment, many people, including myself take an economic impact view of the building, that is existing buildings take up the majority of resources so how can we design/retorofit these things to be more efficient, more efficient means less consumption, means less operating costs all good things. So being late August and having the opportunity to read exciting things like, The Case Study of CALSTRS Headquarters, West Sacramento CA you are reminded of the more holistic approach to building design. The building was awarded LEED Gold and is in the process of qualifying for LEED EBOM (Existing Building Operating and Maintenance) so they compare it to other buildings in energy performance, however, also taken into account were the following factors:
Thermal comfort and overcooling
Speech privacy
Occupant controls for energy and comfort
Operator/building controls
Constituent input Landscaping
So how about taking into account the comfort and happiness of the occupants. I have to say “speech privacy” was not in my list of concerns until I read it about it here, but noticing that “the CalSTRS building has a smaller amount of square footage per occupant than the average for office building(s)” in this survey I guess it should not come as a surprise. There was also a complaint of ‘over air conditioning’ on the North Side of the building. I would have to imagine that controls are in place to manage North/South orientation and the design of HVAC systems, if not that would seem to be glaring oversight during the design of the system and building since they would essentially be two different environments. However, it seems to me if you can quantify happiness, can you build it into design software? Honestly, with the advent of software, any software, it’s not only to automate tasks, but also get the knowledge of users into the software, hence making everyone more productive. So if you can put variables in like # of occupants into the design, assigning them SF can we have software suggest break out room for speech privacy, maybe this stuff is automated and in software and I am too dense to have discovered it, hell for all I know it’s a sub menu in Revit I have not discovered but automating what could be common sense, now that would be something.
“Hey Jim what’s up with putting a smiling cow image on this blog post?”
A) That’s a very cool picture
B) I was thinking happy environment, happy people and in this case happy environment, happy cow.
The study was conducted and published by the folks at the aptly titled, CBE (Center for the Built Environment) at UCAL Berkeley.
Revit Standards : ANZRS has them : Good on ya
Posted by Jim Foster in BIM, Revit, Standards on August 8, 2011
For everyone who has asked the question about standards from CAD to Revit and beyond and wondered why everyone has their own, and the wasted time documenting it, translating it between companies, etc. well thank ANZRS for taking on this monumental task, and also for those of us standardizing on Revit, thank you for those folks in the Southern Hemisphere, in general for what they are doing in the Revit Head Space.
So is switching or adopting a new or different standard worth the effort? Is it worth documenting and teaching your standards to every single employee that walks through the door when you have a board of smart people documenting and keeping it current if for you? Certainly you need to check it out for yourselves but seems like a no brainer. Thanks ANZRS, good on ya.
Deerfield Academy gets Nailed : PKNail captures existing buildings directly in Revit : BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in As Builts, BIM, Built Environment, Existing Conditions on July 27, 2011
So we have been working on PKNail for close to forever. Its intent is to capture existing conditions in Revit quicker, easier, better, faster etc. In theory, simple idea. In practice, much tougher. The product was born from my Architectural Services firm, Interioreview and from the need in creating a product/process that creates repeatable results. Have the knowledge in the software rather than with ‘Bob’. PKNail aids someone on the ground capture key data and tie out the model/dimensions on site rather than having to collect data and then sit in front of a computer off site hoping the whole thing goes together right. Using Interioreview as a skunk works to continue testing PKNail in the field to go against real world situations, fine tune features and in general try to break it so it will be rock solid when it hits the field. We have been persistent in our goal. I read somewhere recently that the first 90% takes 75% of the time, the last 10% takes the other 75%: It would not be unfair to put us squarely in the this math challenged adage.
Until recently when using PKNail in the field we also used products/techniques side by side to capture the same information. This was so we can compare results and make certain we never get hung up. However, I am proud to say we started and completed a complex project using only PKNail in the field to capture the majority of structure, walls (exterior/interior partioning/etc.) windows, doors, etc. PKNail allows a user to communicate/drive Revit wirelessly through a bluetooth enabled range finder. That is, press a button to measure a wall, take measurement, press another button and the wall gets built in Revit, add a window, door same things, move room to room, floor to floor. Can it help you put in complex gutter or roof sweeps? No. Can it it help you knock out structure and jump start your project, you bet.
The Deerfield Academy Arts Center is a series of interconnected building design/built over the past century. Incorporated into the strucutre is an Art Gallery, Theatre, Studios, Auditorium, Architecture Studio, etc. PKNail was used to capture the shell/exterior of the building and then used to move inside the structure to capture all the wall partioning, doors, etc. The exterior detail was modeled back in our office from field data, like stone work, exact window profiles and roofs.
Get me that new computer…I need to BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in BIM on July 26, 2011
Excellent series by Robert Green at Cadalyst about BIM adoption, hurdles and implementation. Part IV talks bout using a hamster wheel while trying to model, or in more specific terms, a 3-4 year old 32-bit XP or god help you Vista box. How often in a day are you watching that spinning wheel, what’s it add up to? A reader quoted in the article gives us this shot of sanity.
“Right now, we’re paying our architectural designers a lot of money to work on a machine that can’t run our BIM software without locking up. If each architect costs us $50/hour (in wages, benefits, and overhead) and loses two hours per week due to computer problems, then it costs us $4,800 per year ($50/hr x 2 hr/wk x 48 wk/yr) to have him or her work on an old workstation because we ‘can’t afford’ to spend $2,700 on a capable machine.”
So what do you say to that management. Give the people what they want, and what they want, is at least a “Xeon dual quad-core machines equipped with 12 GB of RAM and a mid-level graphics accelerator” and you know what, popping over to Dell for a quick configure with the following stats:
Dual Quad Core Intel® Xeon® Processor E5606, 2.13GHz, 8M L3, 4.8GT
12GB, DDR3 RDIMM Memory, 1333MHz, ECC (6 DIMMS)
1GB ATI FirePro V5800, Triple MON, 2 DP & 1 DVI
Comes in at $2839, if you bought the RAM from Tiger Direct or similar vendor you could chop the price down, and maybe video card as well, however, upgrade to 2GB Quaddro Card will add $500, regardless you are still coming in under the labor replacement, and you can write off this capital investment and, not to mention the increased productivity. Go get the people what they want. Tell Dell I sent you, maybe they’ll give me a t-shirt.
Leica 3D Disto : You want answers? I got answers.
Posted by Jim Foster in 3D, As Builts, BIM on July 20, 2011
So if you wonder if this social media stuff works, if blogging is worth it, well my recent post on the Leica 3D Disto wound up on the Leica shore and John Anderson from Leica GeoSytems was kind enough to answer some of the questions I posed. So those of you who were sitting on the edge of your seat. Here ya go.
Why not include bluetooth as almost every laptop, netbook and the new iPad comes with it and seems a glaring omission.
Leica– The interface between the hand held control unit and the 3D DISTO is via WiFi on a dedicated IP address. (You can not tie into the local network and use it that way) The user can select between various channels if there is a conflict with an existing one in the work space and multiple units can be used on the job site together. WiFi was selected for its stability, range, and bandwidth. The software is Leica proprietary and only runs on our hardware however, we can provide the GSI interface to software partners wanting to incorporate the hardware into their specific applications.
How about if it came with an ‘app’ for iPad and Android instead that could drive instead of its own proprietary piece of hardware.
Leica– The 3D only operates on Leica supplied hardware and software. It controls movement, laser, camera, and all software functions including calibration and tilt sensor controls. The wide scope of functionality provided by the proprietary interface was multiple man years work, and it comes with proven Leica quality and stability.
I wonder if you can move it around in the same room because most rooms I know of are not completely open with shots available to every point you needs, and how you would coordinate points for integrated output?
Leica-Yes, most definitely. We include a function called “Secure Location” where the user measures 3-5 points that are visible from the current and proposed position. You can then pick up and move the unit or continue the job tomorrow or next week provided your Secure Points have not moved. A picture is captured of the secure points at time of measurement so that they are easy to reference later on. Additionally, if you want to confirm the unit has not been bumped or moved, there is a “Check Location” feature where you select the image of the secure point and then the 3D will put the laser on the target. If the laser is off target then you know it’s been moved and you can run the Relocation program to correct for the new position.
There is some software available called ‘Room Scan’ but have not seen enough of it to know.
Leica- Room Scan is the primary drawing interface. You can scan horizontal or vertical points plus measure single points using the laser and view screen. When completed, you can export a DXF and view a 3D rendering in most viewers or cad types of programs. There is a great demo of the scanning aspect of this at http://ptd.leica-geosystems.com/en/Leica-3D-Disto_94606.htm Then click Videos tab and 3D room scan. Remember, the 3D Disto is primarily for measuring, recording, and projecting data points. Leica is providing the tools to gather data and export in a universal dxf, csv, txt file formats to the customers choice of application software. How the user manipulates the data after that point is totally up to them.
Okay, but what remains to be seen is this the fill in product between range finders and laser scanners that has found a niche? I now have another question? Can it provide a Room Outline at the specified cut plan? Inquiring Minds. Because that would be a super feature.
Work Smarter not Harder? Graphics Standards? Objects? BIM? Building OS
Posted by Jim Foster in architects, BIM, CAD, Standards on July 19, 2011
In a recent article for the IBTimes, David Fano, Practice 2.0: Work Smarter Not Harder, brings up a good point about working together and developing open source systems and standards. He uses creating a national CAD graphics standard as a jumping off point.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, architects held about 141,200 jobs in 2008 (source). Hypothetically, if each architect in the U.S. spends 30 minutes a year on average working on standards, as a profession we spend 70,600 hours on standards every year. Just for reference there are 2,080 hours per year in a standard full-time work week (52 weeks x 40 hours). That’s like a firm of 34 full time architects working on nothing but standards every year.
This same thing is happening on a larger scale with BIM. Each camp developing its own standards, objects and regardless of IFC, are not really good at speaking to each other. Even within a BIM platform, such as Revit, you have modelers who will build window families different from each other, now I’m all for artisans, but this seems to be going a bit far. Now if we want to get to a liquid marketplace where each contractor can bid on a building, or component of a building for construction, fabrication or service we need an open platform that everyone can tie into. What we have are ‘readers’ or ‘compilers’ like Navisworks or now BIM Sight from Tekla/Trimble which can suck in disparate information and display it, good, that’s a good step, but you then don’t do ‘something’ in these products and are they added back to the model, it’s another step to update the model with work that might be done, in stead of giving specific permission to a ‘contractor’ to update the model with the work that was done. Perhaps, will have a ton of translators doing the work of minions, but for now there is still a ton of customization, which is good, but without a common standard, a lot of re-work and cross entry and translation (which is bad).
But the short answer to John’s query about an open source approach to the industry, “yeah, right on!”
PointKnown cited in Autodesk Energy Modeling White Paper : BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in 3D, BIM, Built Environment, disto on June 29, 2011
Autodesk has been concentrating on incorporating their energy modeling tools into their workflow, so much so, they are now calling it Rapid Energy Modeling and have outlined a variety of ways to capture a building’s geometry digitally so you can run it through their energy modeling engines. They outlined the following techniques/methods as the most cost effective for capturing exisitng conditions. Full paper available here: rem_white_paper_2011
Digital photographs
These are photographs of your building taken specifically for rapid energy modeling.
Aerial images
You can download oblique aerial images from Internet sites such as Google Earth or Microsoft®Bing™ mapping services. Alternatively, you can use images from commercial providers of geo-referenced aerial and oblique image libraries such as Pictometry.
Satellite images
Like aerial images, you can download orthogonal images of your building from sites such as Google Earth. RAPID ENERGY MODELING FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS
Laser distance meters
These low-cost laser meters are common surveying tools, and you can also use them onsite to capture key measurements of your building.
PointKnown was cited as the software to use when utilzing laser range finders and capturing a building in revit.
If you plan to capture existing conditions using a laser distance meter, you can use PKNail software from PointKnown (www.pointknown.com) to process those measurements and create a Revit model of your building. By inputting a few simple field measurements PKNail will build a Revit model of the existing structure, in the field, in real time.
This approach involves trained survey personnel that walk around the perimeter of a building and measure key points on the building. The PKNail software utilizes Bluetooth®-enabled laser distance meters to capture dimensional data in the field and send it directly to a laptop loaded with the Revit Architecture or Revit MEP. By capturing data in a specific sequence, the PKNail software creates a Revit model representing the skin of your building as it is being measured.
While we wait for the ‘magic wand’ that digitizes existing buildings while you walk through it, and when I mean digitize, I mean scaled, architectural objects that can be scheduled, processed, etc. more and more technologies are being developed to speed the ‘realty capture’ of buildings. The argument for using PKNail is that the exterior model you build is natively in Revit Architecture and if you want to move inside for interior wall partitioning, etc. for adaptive reuse, etc. you can do that all by utilizing the key pad interface and the laser meter.
Not changing the world just making your day to day a little easier, increase productivity, get more accurate, teeing it up so you can knock it out of the park.
Leica 3D Disto : Capture 3D Points for As Builts and Layouts : BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in 3D, As Builts, BIM, Professional Building Surveyors on June 3, 2011
I cannot pronounce much more than it exists as I have not had my hands on one, and the video included below seems to use it mostly for layouts, not for data capture. NAFTA Leica_3D_Disto_Word-Flyer1.0 . However, when Pointclouds seem excessive from a data and price perspective, and one needs to determine points on inaccessible or complex geometry, this could be the aspirin (does anyone take aspirin anymore) to that headache, or for that matter doing complex ceiling systems or even reflected ceiling.
So what’s on board besides the laser? Camera with 8x Zoom so you can see far off points and DXF input and output and while there is some more stuff that seems to be the most important and data transfer to anything else is via USB stick. Why not include bluetooth as almost every laptop, netbook and the new iPad comes with it and seems a glaring omission. How about if it came with an ‘app’ for iPad and Android instead that could drive instead of its own proprietary piece of hardware.
I wonder if you can move it around in the same room because most rooms I know of are not completely open with shots available to every point you needs, and how you would coordinate points for integrated output? There is some software available called ‘Room Scan’ but have not seen enough of it to know.
MSRP is set at $7995 so up to surveyors, etc to think if it is worth the price tag.
Turner does it. Skanska does it. What about you? Pre Fab Gaining Momentum McGraw Hill Report Shows : Lean BIM
Posted by Jim Foster in BIM on May 16, 2011
One of the latest MCGraw Hill Reports is out, and its got the easy to read melodic title of “Pre-Fabrication and Modularization: Increasing Productivity in the Construction Industry” Now there is a lot of data out there showing that productivity in the Construction Industry has flatlined over the past decades where other industries have seen 200%+ growth. Why? Well I’m no economist but when there was no incentive to change, no economic shock and banks were handing out money to anyone with a pulse, well, why change? Also during this time and still to a degree when you talk about introducing productivity tools/technology to the AEC Industry, in between people laughing at you they’ll say “good luck.” Times are changing though and the report goes on to state that the two main drivers that were driving the increase in PreFab were “increased productivity” and “competitive advantage”, so generally “money” and “close more deals” or in other words, “money”.
So what is this acronymical jargon stew of BIM, Lean, PreFab mean? How about this, spatial coordination/clash detection of “items” built off site to fit together on site like a model (remember attach Part A to Part B) to reduce waste. And waste means everything, time, materials, etc. Turner Construction reported a metal waste average of 15-25% of total recyclable materials with onsite fabrication but with pre fab that dropped to 5-10%. So let’s call that a 50% reduction. 50%, and that’s just in one category.
So is it no wonder that Pre Fab is shown in a glimmering light in this report when one of the sponsors is the Modular Building Institute, well ummn no, but just like if the Milk Board sponsored a study showing that calcium is good for you is that not true? I blogged earlier about Skanska knocking it out of the park using pre-fab on the Miami Hospital so is it no wonder that it is being adopted more rapidly by the rest of the industry. The report also mentions Turner using it because it makes good business sense and when I say that, I mean that from an economic/dollars perspective, less site waste, less time with your crew on site, quicker installs, less wasted time. And what helps enable all this, to make sure it fits the way it is supposed to? BIM, that is Building Information Modeling. So understand there are all flavors of BIM from clash detection, to spatial coordination, etc. it is whatever it is to help you out.
One of the more dramatic benefits of an integrated Lean/ BIM project mindset is that the scales drop from the eyes and we begin to see the waste that is avoided in all its hidden forms: defects, motion, inventory, transportation, overproduction, processing and waiting. By embracing a Lean mindset we are able to deliver efficient, high quality, cost-effective healthcare facilities by capitalizing on the greatest tool we have: human talent. – James P. Barrett | Turner Construction Company | National Director BIM & Lean Building
Hit it hard somewhere.
