Exploring the Confluence of BIM and Building Performance

On Oct 26, the AIA Center for Building Science and Performance organized a one-day Symposium in Washington D.C. to explore and further the use of BIM (building information modeling) technology for designing energy efficient and high performing buildings. One of the most significant aspects of BIM is its ability to capture the description of a building in a semantically intelligent format that can be analyzed to study different aspects of its performance, and with the growing emphasis on green buildings, energy analysis certainly ranks as one of the top-ranked criteria that needs to be studied. AECbytes starts off by capturing the highlights of the presentations made at the Symposium and some of the main issues that emerged in the discussions in this month's Building the Future article, AIA CBSP Symposium on BIM for Building Envelope Design and Performance.

This month's Viewpoint features a contribution from Rich Nitzsche, Principal and Chief Information Officer at Perkins+Will, an integrated architecture, interiors, and planning practice recognized as the preeminent sustainable design firm in the US, with the highest number of LEED Accredited Professionals. Rich provides his reflections and lessons learnt from the recent 2006 Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) National Conference, which he attended as part of the Interoperability/Innovative Project Delivery task group of the AIA CIO Large Firm Roundtable with the intent to connect with owners and constructors, as architects sort out how to manage projects and project data in a post-CAD world.

The Tips and Tricks section this month features tutorials on how to create complex wall profiles in Archicad 10 and how to switch AutoCAD Tool Palettes dynamically. And last but not the least, AECbytes reviews the latest version of the popular 3D modeling and visualization application, form•Z. The key new features in this release are the introduction of object animation and support for 3D printing with color and textures, along with a number of modeling enhancements including skinned lofting, controlled deformations, and morphing.

Thank you!

Lachmi Khemlani

Editorials > November 2006