Willmott Dixon will work with Oxford City Council on a £10.9m project to reduce carbon emissions from public leisure centres.

The programme will see water and air source heat pumps installed at four leisure centres around the city.

The work is part of the council’s aim to become a Zero Carbon Council across its own estate and operations by 2030, with leisure centres responsible for around 40% of current building carbon emissions.

Richard Poulter, Managing Director from Willmott Dixon’s Central South region said: “We are proud to be working alongside Oxford City Council on this exciting carbon reduction project, which will deliver a step change in the mitigation of fossil fuels in the local community.

“The programme is close to our heart and through our own 2030 ‘Now or Never’ Sustainability strategy, we have committed to achieving net zero operational carbon on all our new buildings and major refurbishments within the next decade.

“Working in tandem alongside the council, Fusion Lifestyle and the local community, we will deliver the works as swiftly as possible while ensuring the highest standards are met, ensuring the leisure centres provide the best possible facilities once the works are complete.”

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.cmcconstruction.net/?p=1004

Construction Keynote highlights from AU 2021

For many years, construction was among the least-digitized industries. Now, technology on site is a given. There’s an app for everything including bid management, estimation, quantity take-off, RFIs, submittals, monitoring cost, etc. The question remains, how do you use all that technology to your advantage? And more importantly, how does it help you focus on achieving the outcomes you want?

The Construction Keynote at Autodesk University this year revealed the answers—pointing out three key factors that show Autodesk’s commitment to customer success. We’ve distilled the highlights below.

 

Top 3 Highlights from Construction Keynote at Autodesk University 2021

1. Autodesk is connecting your data

Project data has doubled in the last three years. According to Jim Lynch, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Autodesk Construction Solutions, “If your data isn’t connected, you’ll only be able to see a fraction of what your business is capable of.” In other words, how you connect data is fundamental to successful project decisions and outcomes. Getting there requires all team members to work from a single source of truth.

Acknowledging the challenges of disconnected data, Lynch continues, “I spoke with a customer who had thousands of separate systems in play across their enterprise. Now, I’m sure each tool serves a purpose. It just isn’t sustainable because the real value that technology brings to your business is the ability to learn from each piece of data.”

This is true of any project, and good decision-making relies on good, connected data. 

“If your data isn’t connected, you’ll only be able to see a fraction of what your business is capable of.” —Jim Lynch, SVP & GM

Lynch elaborates, “As your business transforms with an ever-changing industry, these disparate solutions won’t make your job easier, they’ll slow you down.”

A quick customer story came out of the Construction Keynote as well. Lynch shares, “Consolidating data was what ultimately drove one of our customers, The Boldt Company, to rethink their project management technologies.

“Prior to deploying Autodesk Build, [Boldt had] been using five different project management platforms. With business goals of accelerating time to value, reducing safety incidents, and improving quality, they needed one platform that connected all their data. And they wanted that data accessible not only to their team, but to the owners and subs on each project, who accounted for two thirds of their users.”

So, Boldt turned to Autodesk as a partner in this transition to a unified data platform.

Lynch continues, “Autodesk Construction Cloud’s ability to connect all project stakeholders with the data they needed when they needed it was exactly what the Boldt team was looking for to propel their business forward. In fact, the access to their data inside Autodesk Construction Cloud was unlike anything their team had ever seen before.”

Autodesk Construction Cloud stats:

• Over one million construction professionals in our Builder’s Network
• Over two million projects to date supported
• Five million bid invites every month
• Nearly 250 product innovations and enhancements this year
• Customers in over 140 countries

 

Showing his optimism in support of Autodesk customers, Lynch reveals, “What excites me about what our team is working on now is how the data flows within your ecosystems, across teams, across geographies, and across owners. The information you rely on, available when you need it. It brings your project teams together, from design to turnover, to collaborate securely from a single source of truth. It is a level of resiliency that we’ve never seen before in the construction industry, and I know it’s going to be a game-changer.”

In short, Autodesk is committed to connecting your construction data so you can focus on reaching your business and project goals with minimal risk and greater profitability. Autodesk Construction Cloud supports every phase of construction, from planning to building by connecting every part of a model and its relevant dependencies, like schedule and cost, to a single source of truth.

 

2. Autodesk enables collaboration at every phase of construction

Sameer Merchant, VP and Global Head of Product Development for Autodesk Construction Solutions says, “Construction is a relationship business, and as my wife always reminds me, the foundation of every good relationship is communication. For everyone in the building lifecycle, from the architect to the owner, to contractors and suppliers, it’s our job to strengthen your relationships with better collaboration.”

Autodesk recognizes that behind every piece of data is a person, and that’s why Merchant says, “We’re not just making construction software, we are building tools for people—a VDC manager refining models, a project manager orchestrating schedules, a contractor sending in submittals.”

VDC managers, for example, can now offer specific stakeholders a view of parts of a design rather than the entire building model, to help resolve design issues.

Last year, in pursuit of significant collaboration improvements, Autodesk focused on the launch of Autodesk Build, Takeoff, and BIM Collaborate. Out of that came Autodesk Docs, a common data environment (CDE), bridging data across these best-in-class solutions.

“This year, we are expanding on this success with more customization, more integration, more data collaboration,” says Merchant. “We know how to engineer new capabilities and integrate existing tools to deliver a robust, seamless experience that serves all parts of construction, not just one phase.”

Just this week, we made a major announcement revealing we have over 200 partners that have built powerful integrations connecting your data from otherwise disconnected sources. Each integration works seamlessly with our applications via APIs and Partner Cards. The solutions support every phase of construction, including cost and scheduling tools, to progress tracking and more.

“We’re not just making construction software, we are building tools for people.” —Sameer Merchant, VP & Global Head of Product Development

Now, with Autodesk Bridge, collaboration between general contractors and specialty contractors has become more robust. It offers a significantly better experience for specialty contractors, empowering them to own whatever they’ve contributed to the project through sheets without fearing they’ll lose that hard work. ​This can happen by sharing just the data, not the full project. Data that should stay within one firm’s walls never gets shared, but critical information like drawings, issues and documents are immediately available ​across all linked projects, ensuring that critical documentation isn’t disconnected and ​fragmented.​

Collaboration is fundamental to our now tech-forward industry and building resilient products to support customer success is a mantra baked into Autodesk’s ethos. “A construction solution built for just one stakeholder, one center of gravity, is brittle,” says Merchant. 

“At Autodesk, we build resilient systems—anti-brittle systems that are engineered from the ground up,” he continues. “Systems that allow all stakeholders to access, manage, and own exactly the parts they need to get the job done. Resiliency means the right people are getting the right information at the right time, and the feedback loop is traceable, and resiliency is a key priority in our roadmap. It’s how we’re executing on our promise to meet everyone’s data needs, from the office to the field and back.

 

3. Autodesk is a technology partner, not just a technology provider

Having the right technology is no longer enough. It’s about having the right technology partner. A partner that works with you to solve challenges and improve the processes needed today, while continuing to support your long-term goals.

The truth is we can’t solve all the problems. Especially those which we can’t control like a crushing labor shortage or volatile supply chains. But, we’re really good at helping customers find solutions to the problems we can address.

Brandon LaCourciere, Director of Customer Success for Autodesk Construction Solutions, makes that sentiment clear by saying, “No matter your company’s size, your role, or where you’re located in the world, we’re here. We’re here to ensure you’re focusing on the outcomes you want to achieve, while our team sorts through the products and workflows that help achieve them.”

“A streamlined technology experience brings all your data together so you can use it in a meaningful way,” says LaCourciere. “So you can discern and apply learnings to your business.”

But that’s not enough. He continues, “Point solutions have taken analog processes and put them on an iPad, and that’s great, but if you stop there, you have missed an opportunity. The data collected in your RFIs, issues, and change orders tell a much bigger story than each incident on its own.” Your technology needs to paint “a complete picture about [the] business.”

This is where Autodesk’s commitment to customer success shines.

“We can look at all your solutions and help simplify, working with you to create processes that are easy for your teams to both adopt and execute.” —Brandon LaCourciere, Director of Customer Success

An important thing to understand is that there is no one-size-fits-all construction software solution. Every project is unique and will have its own set of technology needs. That’s why Autodesk gives access to advanced APIs, allowing partners and customers to develop the exact solution required to connect their workflows, data and teams. 

In our commitment as a technology partner to your success, “We can look at all your solutions and help simplify, working with you to create processes that are easy for your teams to both adopt and execute.”

There is a lot of noise in construction today—with so many new tools and technology, it’s hard to keep track and understand what’s right for you. This is where you have to look beyond the technology offered, as the real value is the partnership that comes with it. 

“You need solutions that work today and grow with you into the future,” according to LaCourciere. “We build technology partnerships that help overcome the problems we can control. You don’t have to tackle your challenges alone. Over the past year, we’ve worked with almost 20,000 customers around the globe to help streamline, discern, and enable a new path, and we have seen incredible results. Together, we’re not waiting for progress, we’re making it.”

 

Wrapping up

It seemed that one major theme was clear from this year’s Construction Keynote, and that’s that Autodesk’s goal is to help you focus on the outcomes you want to achieve. By connecting your data, enabling strong collaboration, and empowering successful teams, you will no longer wait for progress. You’ll make it. 

If you’d like to watch the Construction Keynote in full, it’s available throughout the month of October here.  

If you’d like to request a demo of Autodesk Construction Cloud, or any of our products, please contact us. We’d be happy to show you around.

The post Construction Keynote: Autodesk Backs Customers as Solid Technology Partner [AU 2021] appeared first on Digital Builder.

Ellis Air Conditioning is an Australian company with a reputation for excellence in the air-conditioning and mechanical services sector of the commercial building industry. Established in 1964, Ellis Air has a long history of successfully completing a wide range of projects including multi-story apartments, offices, sporting facilities, education facilities, hospitals and clean room facilities.

Ellis Air works with developers, general contractors and building operators to design, fabricate, install and maintain mechanical services. Notable projects include $100M mechanical HVAC installations at Brisbane’s Queens Wharf, Collins Arch @ 447 Collins Street Melbourne, University of Queensland’s ANL building, an 11-storey mixed-use teaching and chemical engineering research facility, and Australia 108 in Melbourne’s – the first “Super Tower” in Australia.

 

A holistic approach was the way forward

The in-house design team offers tailor-made heating, ventilation and air conditioning solutions to suit the requirements of each individual project and generally work in a D&C environment, which means they are constantly updating modelled information. This calls for specialised software that can meet ever-changing demands of each and every project.

Accordingly, in 2017, the team turned to Autodesk to transition to full Revit modelled workflows. Ellis Air took a ground-up, holistic approach to embracing BIM-led strategies and today they use AEC Collection 2022; BIM Collaborate Pro (BIM360 Design), Docs, Build, Coordinate and Field; Assemble; and Navisworks Manage with BIM 360 integration across every stage of their planning, designing, constructing and maintaining process.

This strategic partnership with Autodesk allows Ellis Air to tackle a variety of projects and challenges, not least of which is building a pathway to BIM Level 3 maturity and LOD 500.

They can now go from full design to install using Revit design parts throughout the whole process to protect the lifecycle of the model. Their cross-team collaboration and spatial coordination has improved thanks to BIM Collaborate Pro (BIM360 Design), by eliminating isolated documentation and data, and maintaining a single source of truth.

Additionally, they have been able to implement connected workflows across departments internally and externally allowing collaboration with suppliers and other contractors via BIM 360 Docs and Assemble Systems. In this way there are connected workflows with estimation and programming using the early design models to increase accuracy and efficiency thanks to Assemble Systems with Excel integration.

They have also enhanced their data management, with Revit Scheduling now managing equipment, field-to-model and procurement scheduling, to maintain a central database for the whole supply chain.

Autodesk allowed the Ellis Air team to introduce mobile devices that let them access essential information in the field and, as a bonus, means they no longer print anything – reducing information risk and environmental footprint.

The benefits of a connected solution

Ian Pearse, Ellis Air’s National Digital Services Manager, cites several features in particular that are pivotal to the team’s workflow, including the cloud worksharing and the CDE collaboration, which allow the team to work seamlessly despite being spread out in many locations and this is highly valued.

“Revit Scheduling with included metadata is “a revelation”, leading the team to the realisation that they no longer create drawings, they build databases. Having all the information for the constructed assets in one place means that the days of keeping different documents aligned are over.” – Ian Pearse, Ellis Air’s National Digital Services Manager,

He also appreciates the bi-directional data via Assemble Systems Revit Link, saying it “removes a vast amount of double handling, and dealing with emails and spreadsheets,” and the ability to produce construction-ready sections for work areas as needed.

“As we keep the design model alive throughout the lifecycle, from PIM to AIM, we needed a way to produce construction-ready sections for work areas,” Pearse says. “Keeping this as a ‘just in time’ activity means we can allow for design changes right up until the critical path, reducing rework and waste.”

Pearse is also impressed by the way that implementing connected workflows using Autodesk has reduced risk across the entire project.

“Many people talk about cost and efficiency benefits in isolation, but what we have learnt is that the biggest contributing factor to this in construction is risk mitigation,” he says.

“Mistakes cost time and money. Double handling of information, poor timing and inaccuracy of data, or broken workflows increase risk substantially. If the choice of solutions, and their use, are built around reducing risk in the business, everything else becomes a beneficial by-product.”

Ellis Air’s General Manager (Qld), Ashley Robinson, feels that the relationship with Autodesk has exceeded all expectations.

“Autodesk has been a partner rather than a supplier; this is the key difference in how the level of relationship and trust has been built to enable evolution of solutions,” he says.

“Being involved in new product testing has allowed us to feel like we have a voice in the inception of new products and updates.”

The post How a Leading Australian HVAC Contractor Met the Ever-Changing Demands of Tailor-Made Solutions appeared first on Digital Builder.

New Schedule tool in Autodesk Build and an expanded partner ecosystem supercharge project management across construction teams 

San Francisco, Calif., October 5, 2021 – Autodesk University – Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) has announced powerful new capabilities across Autodesk Construction Cloud and an expansion of its partner ecosystem, delivering new ways for construction teams to connect their workflows on one platform. Advancements to Autodesk Build, including a new Schedule management tool, further connect office and field teams and data across the construction lifecycle. Project teams can now also integrate construction data from over 200 partners on Autodesk Construction Cloud to streamline construction management in one centralized location.  

“In today’s increasingly digitized construction industry, connecting project stakeholders and data is critical for the collaboration and insights teams need for their competitive edge,” said Sameer Merchant, vice president of product development, Autodesk Construction Solutions. “Consolidating data from various project workflows into a common data environment gives team members access to the information they need when they need it and empowers project leaders to make informed decisions. Since we launched Autodesk Construction Cloud, we have been focused on connecting office and field teams and enabling easier collaboration from a single source of truth; we have introduced nearly 250 product innovations just this year. Our newest developments are another milestone for connected construction.” 

New Schedule tool in Autodesk Build bolsters project management  

A new Schedule tool in Autodesk Build empowers teams to centralize schedule management and work from the most up-to-date activities and milestones to keep their projects on track. Office and field teams can instantly share digital schedules, collaborate on updates as they happen and link documents, sheets, photos, issues, assets, RFIs and submittals to their communications for reference. Teams can also filter and search their schedules and view them in calendar or chart formats to see activity status in real time. Additionally, Schedule integrates with the Cost tool in Autodesk Build to simplify budgeting and planning for schedule-related expenses including general conditions such as material handling and clean-up. The Schedule and Cost integration delivers project-level data analyses, enabling teams to accurately forecast cash flow.  

“Distributing schedules across the team and ensuring everyone is on the same page is often time-consuming,” said Bryan Nuckolls, project manager, Boldt. “Traditional and siloed schedule management requires updating spreadsheets, publishing them as PDFs and emailing them around to the team. By automating schedule communication in Autodesk Build, we save valuable project time and keep our team updated on the latest, while remaining in the same solution that houses our other critical project information.”  

Additional recent updates to Autodesk Build include: 

• Sheet sharing across accounts – Customers can now connect data across their entire project teams. Linking sheets across different accounts gives teams the ability to share the latest sheets with other external team members including owners and other contractors who need access but may not be part of the main project account.   
• Pype AutoSpecs integration – Pype AutoSpecs automatically generates submittal logs to deliver efficiency, automation and accuracy to the submittal process. Its integration with Autodesk Build enables teams to transfer draft submittals and entire logs directly and seamlessly into their project management base for simplified submittal management.  
• Microsoft Teams in Meetings – Customers can now set up Teams meetings directly in Autodesk Build, without having to switch between other applications. 
• Data extraction & analysis – Support for sheets, transmittals and design review data extractions using Data Connector, plus new Power BI templates, lets teams analyze and optimize document management workflows for improved design review processes.  
• As-Builts – Teams can easily filter, find and export all relevant as-built information such as Sheets, RFIs and Submittals, and carry over links to other related documents like files or photos from within Autodesk Build.  

To continue Autodesk Construction Cloud’s momentum, additional capabilities coming to Autodesk Build include: 

• Progress Tracking – Teams can track the percentage of work completed on their projects and quantify the materials installed to update plans accordingly; 
• Work Plan – A new collaborative space, based on BIM 360 Plan, where teams can build their roadmaps, track commitments, manage constraints and view progress towards key performance metrics; 
• Closeout – Automation of handover document collection and review workflows, supporting project lifecycle data management in Autodesk Construction Cloud;
• Bridge – New collaboration capability that lets teams share key project data between firms without having to share an entire project, and gives each team agency over their own project data archive. 

Expanded integration partner ecosystem streamlines data across workflows 

Autodesk Construction Cloud now features over 200 partners leveraging Partner Cards and APIs, including Forge APIs, to deliver strong and meaningful integrations for customers who want to simplify data management and boost their ability to make more informed project decisions. With the expanded partner ecosystem, customers can integrate data from their safety, mixed reality, analytics and reality capture solutions, for example, to Autodesk Construction Cloud and maintain a centralized view of their project information to make decisions with more context. Among the latest integrations are Build.Works, Cupix, eFiler, NTI and RealWear, as well as hh2’s integration between Autodesk Construction Cloud and Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate. 

“Financial accounting in ‘real time’ is critical to providing project teams with accurate cost information,” said Dennis Stejskal, director, construction and real estate, Sage. “We are excited to come together with hh2 and Autodesk to deliver an industry-leading integration between accounting and operations. Our partnership can help construction teams increase collaboration and data visibility between field-facing teams and accounting so project managers can make timely informed cost decisions.” 

New integrations also include 3D Repo, Aespada, Airtable, ArcGIS GeoBIM, Arkio, BIM HoloView, DAQS, Embneusys, Geometrid, GoFormz, Google Workspace, Join, Novade, Oculo, OpticVyu, ProNovos, Safe Site Check In, Shepherd, SiteKick, Stevenson Systems, StructShare, Tomorrow.io, UpKeep, vGIS, viAct and WakeCap. 

The App Gallery is also now available, making it easy for account administrators to connect Autodesk Construction Cloud platform products with third party partner applications such as augmented reality solutions and jobsite cameras. Teams can explore a range of direct integrations that leverage the Forge open platform and quickly activate integrations to further simplify data management with automated and seamless data flow.   

Additionally, Autodesk Construction Cloud Connect now supports Autodesk Takeoff, so customers can customize integrations to export information including quantities, property definitions, model mappings and classifications into a variety of software applications such as Smartsheet, Airtable, QuickBase and Microsoft Excel. 

To learn more: 

• Join us for Autodesk University 2021, a global, digital conference with no cost to attend 
• Watch the Construction Keynote on October 6th at 10:15am PT / 1:15pm ET 
• Read the Digital Builder blog for more on how Autodesk Build keeps projects on track.  

About Autodesk 

Autodesk is changing how the world is designed and made. Our technology spans architecture, engineering, construction, product design, manufacturing, media and entertainment, empowering innovators everywhere to solve challenges big and small. From greener buildings to smarter products to more mesmerizing blockbusters, Autodesk software helps our customers to design and make a better world for all. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow @autodesk. 

Safe Harbor Statement 

We may make statements regarding planned or future development efforts for our existing or new products and services. These statements are not intended to be a promise or guarantee of future delivery of products, services or features but merely reflect our current plans, which may change. Purchasing decisions should not be made based upon reliance on these statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist or change after the date on which they were made. 

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, Autodesk Construction Cloud, are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2021 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. 

Media Contact 

Niyati Desai 
Autodesk 
[email protected]   
 

 

The post Powerful New Advancements Strengthen Autodesk Construction Cloud appeared first on Digital Builder.

Covid-19 has changed the way we live and work across the globe. For the construction sector in Europe, the pandemic has brought about a big shift in attitudes towards digital innovation and traditional ways of working. In this series, we explore how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the industry in Europe and what this means for the outcomes delivered.

It’s clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted – and continues to impact – each country in unique ways. As well as contending with different waves of the disease, every government has set their own regulations for construction industry activities.

For example, in Ireland non-essential construction sites remained closed throughout much of early 2021; by contrast, sites have been allowed to open in the UK, but due to self-isolation measures, some projects are now being delayed by staff shortages.

In the Nordics, construction industries have been less severely impacted by the pandemic than some other European countries. Although some people have worked remotely at times, there have been a smaller number of lockdown closures.

As a result, between February and April 2021, construction activity in Denmark and Sweden actually increased. Despite a year of challenges, by April Finnish companies had returned to pre-crisis activity levels.

In fact, construction in the Nordics is now growing rapidly, to the point of becoming overheated. Construction professionals in both Denmark and Sweden say the single biggest risk on their projects is time constraints and the need to make urgent decisions[ET1] .

Beyond the pandemic, there is change ahead. Each country has committed to taking a leading role in the global green recovery. There will be pressure to work more efficiently and deliver greener builds, prompting changes for businesses.

In such a fast-moving industry, how can Nordic construction companies improve their operations, while preparing for further changes ahead?

Winning business

Winning new business is of course a core part of construction success. But organisations in the Nordics are missing out on a key means of creating competitive advantage and winning more business – and that’s effective data management.

In most businesses, each project team decides on the processes and tools based on their specific needs. After the project, the data is rarely re-examined to gain insights and knowledge. In other words, businesses don’t have a strong learning loop – and can be liable to make the same mistakes again and again.

Implementing a common data environment and using business intelligence (BI) modules can enable organisations to gain a more holistic view of their data, in a way that’s effective and sustainable. By not only capturing, but really using, past data, organisations can find opportunities to improve, gain a competitive advantage and ultimately win more business.

Maintaining quality

Delivering quality in a construction project comes down to three things: people, processes and tools. Unfortunately, it’s clear that some employees in the Nordics need a mindset shift. In the past, it was accepted wisdom that in construction you learned by getting things wrong – and many professionals acquired their skillset in this way.

These people can be reluctant to change and act as a blocker to adopting technology. For example, 40% of Norwegian construction firms say the reason they don’t have a data strategy is a lack of support from the leadership team and wider organisation[ET2] . Changing attitudes will be key for many businesses.

Once the right people are on board, organisations must take a holistic approach to their processes and examine how they can be improved with technology. Many businesses have tended to focus on optimising individual tasks – for example, finding the best tool to support quality inspections.

But in fact, we’re now realising the value of linking all the phases of a project from ideas and design through to construction and handover. Collaborating more closely, from design to operations, will mitigate errors and improve quality – and of course, that depends on having the right digital tools.

To maintain quality, it’s vital that information can be shared and accessed in real-time, enabling teams to avoid errors and make the best decisions. Equally, it’s important to ensure that tools aren’t siloed – or the data will be too.

Finally, remember slowing down can be faster. It can be difficult given the frenetic pace of construction right now. Nonetheless, taking the time to follow quality control processes in full will save issues down the line, and there are digital tools to help teams do this more efficiently.

Managing costs

When it comes to finishing on budget, preparation is 80% of the work. However, when time is tight, organisations often rush to get underway before all the decisions and planning are complete. This is not an effective way to mitigate risk and manage costs; decisions made in earlier phases will have a long-lasting impact, and the later changes are made, the bigger the costs will be.

For example, think of Storebæltsbroen, a Danish bridge constructed using concrete and steel elements in the 1990s. The original design team estimated lifespans for each concrete element based on the predicted level of bridge traffic.

But ultimately, the bridge proved much more popular than predicted, lowering the lifespan of the concrete. By failing to consider operations, the team had missed the opportunity to design elements that could be easily replaced, which could have saved millions in future maintenance costs. Giving every stakeholder enough time to plan will significantly improve the process – and reduce costs for everyone involved.

Owners especially need to take a holistic view of their assets. As they will be responsible for managing the building long after the handover, owners should take responsibility for project data from the beginning of the project. This will lead to cost-savings over many years.

Optimising schedules

Given the very high levels of demand in Nordic construction right now, finishing on schedule – and working as efficiently as possible – is essential. Again, this starts with good planning. During the preconstruction phase, organisations should focus on the critical components that will make up most of the build and consider all the constraints that will apply.

Once the project is underway, the schedule should be updated in real time. Currently some organisations work on a weekly basis – but by the time changes are made, you might already be four days behind.

This is an even bigger issue if data related to the plan is split across multiple locations: for example, the schedule in MS Project, the budget in an Excel spreadsheet and the contractors in a resource management tool. Simply keeping everyone up to date with accurate information will take significant resource – and it will be easy to make errors.

Digital tools can enable teams to integrate their processes and data. Project managers can then visualise the impact of any changes across the whole project, making adjustments and sharing updates instantly. This can help Nordic construction firms to optimise their schedules in a very busy period.

Health, safety and the environment

Health and safety have formed a mandatory part of projects for many years – and new regulations are constantly being introduced to set higher standards. However, there is a tendency in construction firms to view these requirements as an inconvenient time-drain, particularly when schedules are tight. People filling in checklists on-site might question the value of these activities or rush to complete them.

We need to reconsider our approach to health and safety, to instead view these activities as a worthy time investment. By completing checks upfront, organisations can ensure the proper protections are in place – avoiding incidents, injuries and of course the counterproductive time delays that will result on the project. Likewise, these processes can capture errors that would otherwise cause issues and costs later in the project.

Importantly, digital tools can help checks to be completed more efficiently, as well as supporting collaboration – as the faster the communication between the relevant parties, the faster the error can be rectified.

All of this can contribute to a real mindset shift in construction. People who feel safe about where they work will be more engaged and productive. Altogether, we should consider health and safety as a means of being more efficient and effective in Nordic construction.

Looking ahead to greater integration

As Nordic construction businesses look to the future, getting the right people, processes and tools in place – not only within your organisation, but together with your collaborators – will be crucial. Organisations have been forward-thinking in their adoption of digital tools, but approaches have often been siloed and limited to a single function.

Relying on standalone solutions will prevent firms from winning business in the future. It’s only by using integrated platforms, that automate processes and fully leverage data, that organisations will be able to save time and money, capture errors before they occur and ultimately gain the competitive edge they need.

Now, it’s time to create integrated processes that will improve your business and support your project partners. This will enable you to make decisions based on real-time information and learn from past data. And remember, if digital technologies are used correctly, it isn’t a cost – it’s a means of enabling everyone in the industry to improve.

Learn more about connecting workflows, teams and data at every stage of the construction processes with Autodesk Construction Cloud here, or reach out to me directly.

Click here to read the European version of the FMI report.

The post The Changing Face of Construction in the Nordics appeared first on Digital Builder.

At the core of successful construction projects, you’ll find clear communication and continuous collaboration. Yet from 2012 to 2015, just 25% of projects came within 10% of their original deadlines. It isn’t uncommon to encounter bottlenecks as a BIM manager, especially during the preconstruction phase. This is especially true when issue identification, assignment, and tracking are managed by a single person. 

In order to accelerate the design and coordination phases, architects, engineers, BIM managers, and trades must have the ability to identify and track issue resolution. Best case, this is all in the same solution when they review designs or create packages. 

Likewise, upfront issue detection is essential to construction project success. Issues that occur during the design and preconstruction phase may only cost a few thousand dollars to resolve, while those discovered in the field can cost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to mitigate.  

With that in mind, Autodesk Construction Cloud now has Design Issues in Autodesk BIM Collaborate’s Design Collaboration Module. Issues in design collaboration can be tailored to suit your team during the WIP phase or when sharing packages with other disciplines. These issues are accessible across teams, phases, and desktop applications through a common data environment (CDE) to extend the lifecycle of an issue beyond just WIP. 

 

Resolve design discrepancies faster with new Design Issues feature 

• Find and assign issues in the design collaboration phase 
• Accelerate content creation 
• Understand an issue and its history in full context 
• Identify an issue, assign who is responsible for its resolution, mark its location, and note the deadline for resolution 
• Resolve issues in a common data environment 
• Access, review, and resolve issues in other connected applications 

 

Key benefits: Design Issues feature 

 

Save time with up-front issue identification 

Instead of having to wait for a coordination meeting, or for a BIM manager to identify issues, project teams can identify and resolve issues as they design. Doing so will save time, as WSP Canada found. The engineering consulting firm used a check-as-you-go method in Revit Cloud Worksharing, which is a part of BIM Collaborate Pro. This saved the BIM manager 20-30% (conservatively) of the time it took to find and assign issues. They have since moved to using this method on over 15 projects. 

In the context of an aggregated model, as you evaluate your team’s designs in a WIP folder, cloud-based issue resolution accelerates the design phase and provides better visibility into the constructability of a model across disciplines. Here’s what you can expect from Design Issues: 

• The ability to clearly detail what the issue is, who needs to resolve it, where the issue is, and when it needs to be completed
• Comment capabilities on issues to gain clarity and see the history of that issue for greater context
• 2D Markup tools to pin issues to a model in 3D or 2D sheet
• Discipline colorization to more easily identify the responsible teams
• Discovery of new issues through first-person interaction with the aggregated model
• Quick resolution in the authoring tool with the free Revit Add-in, connected to the CDE

Avoid time wasting file transfers with a common data environment 

Conducting file transfers from authoring tools to collaboration or coordination tools and back takes up plenty of time and slows down productivity. Some firms use third-party applications to deal with this non-optimal task. However, these applications don’t natively resolve issues and add more cost while the data gets stuck without the use of a CDE.  

That’s why it’s key to be able to resolve issues with a common data environment inherent to the whole eco-system. When issues arise, firms can address them in the tools they already know—like Navisworks and Revit. They also have a running record of issue occurrences and resolution status across disciplines. When an issue gets resolved, the decision details are stored to better predict future builds or provide greater context for field teams. 

By resolving issues in a common data environment, Morgan Sindall Construction found a 78% reduction in synchronization of uploading and downloading models. The firm also generated a 67% reduction in design team meetings by addressing issues in the 3D model. 

With Design Issues in Autodesk BIM Collaborate, you can recapture time spent chasing documents and drafting follow-up emails.  

Speed up resolution with Revit, Navisworks, and Model Coordination 

Consider that 66% of general contractors carry added costs from overtime or second shifts on at least 75% of their projects due to schedule slippage. 50% of these contractors need to extend the project end date as a result.  

When multiple teams can create, assign, review, and resolve issues all in the same place, work is completed faster. With Design Issues, the same issue created in the design phase can be accessed, contextualized, and resolved in other connected applications.  

You can resolve issues in Revit, take a closer look with Navisworks, or use simple automations in Model Coordination to check changes to the model. By surfacing the very same issues in Autodesk Build, a multi-directional link is created between design, coordination and field issues. This makes RFI creation easier and more detail rich.  

Here’s an example of how this plays out:  

An architect creates an issue in design collaboration. While performing a visual inspection of their design against a structural model, they’re unsure whether the issue will have an actual effect on the constructability of a design, so they assign it to the BIM manager.  

The BIM manager then runs a sophisticated clash test in Navisworks and provides a solution.  

The architect then jumps back into Revit to make the adjustment and double check their work using an easy-to-use, automatic clash detection tool in Model Coordination. They resolve the issue.  

Now, the general contracting firm and its manager can review the closed-out issues using a dashboard and better predict schedule improvements.  

The project manager can now look up the history of the issue and see why certain changes were made to the design and follow the thread of communications.  

 

Want to see the Design Issues feature in action? 

No two projects are ever the same. Some adhere to traditional ways of working while others look to different delivery models. According to FMI, 58% of owners have used or plan to use design-build, moving away from traditional design-bid-build. As the design-build trend continues, the importance of strengthening your relationships with project partners will continue to grow.  

Communication, accountability, and trust are essential to building upon those relationships. These three qualities are made easier with end-to-end collaboration tools. Case in point: 43% of high trust construction companies make collaboration central to how they work. The new Design Issues feature will help to clearly define problems and provide for better communication to achieve timely resolution. These issues may be as simple as identifying an unintended design element between teammates, or address recurring issues across the organization. In either case, up-front communication has a cascading effect on downstream workflows to prevent risk and consistently deliver quality models. 

You can explore our newest feature and Autodesk BIM Collaborate with a free trial.

Reach out for a demo today. 

The post Faster Resolution of Design Issues with New Feature in Autodesk BIM Collaborate appeared first on Digital Builder.

Today, construction companies have more choice than ever before when it comes to technology. Not only are software solutions proliferating construction businesses, but innovative hardware is becoming prevalent on the jobsite.  

Twenty years ago, technology-forward companies were setting up infrastructure to have laptops and internet at jobsites. Ten years later, we saw smart phones and tablets becoming an industry standard. Now, wearables and extended reality (XR) devices are becoming increasingly common on jobsites.   

One company providing these wearables is RealWear, delivering ruggedized wearable, hands-free assisted reality devices (on the XR spectrum, but closer to physical world) to improve safety and efficiency. And Permasteelisa Group, is one of those innovative companies driving technology forward. Permasteelisa Group is a global leader in the engineering, project management, manufacturing, installation and after-sales service of advanced building facades, architectural envelopes, and interiors.  

Part of Permasteelisa’s promise to its clients is to leverage integrated and digitized processes that help ensure high quality and safety while improving management of the large amount of information that characterizes modern curtain wall projects. Permasteelisa has used Autodesk Construction Cloud products for many years to connect design and field teams to solve challenges posed by “free-form” projects such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or the Olympic Fish in Barcelona.  

Permasteelisa Group specializes in curtain wall projects, where there are multiple control activities that must be carried out on exposed areas, or in some cases, on the floor edge at considerable heights and in confined spaces, where handling a tablet can be dangerous. The need to access information and capture notes is still present on projects like this, but it is also crucial to maximize the safety of workers on site.  

In a recent press release, RealWear announced a new and exciting integration with Autodesk® BIM 360, built in collaboration with Permasteelisa, to solve exactly that challenge. The result was a connected, multimedia device that allows repetitive control operations to be carried out onsite using voice commands, keeping the operator’s hands free for the work. The integration with BIM 360 has helped them optimize time spent in high-risk spaces on the jobsite, reduce the risk of errors, and improve collaboration between all different stakeholders.  

“Running BIM 360 on a RealWear device will be a gamechanger, keeping us on the cutting edge of technology and innovation,” said Gordon Earle, Group Operations Executive, Permasteelisa Group. “We are excited to deploy the devices to empower and retain our best workers by outfitting them with a full solution that will make them safer and more productive, delivered by two of the leading technology players in the field.” 

The primary reason Permasteelesa approached RealWear to develop the integration was to enable the execution of hands-free checklists. With this seamless integration, the team can inspect the quality of a curtain wall project while at great heights and maintain employee safety, helping to ensure safe quality deliveries for their clients.  

With this integration, teams can now also hands-free videoconferencing and live sharing of high-resolution images or videos. The project’s field team can bring their colleagues from the other side of the world with them to the construction site for a virtual general inspection or to observe a specific detail. 

“Delivering BIM 360 on the RealWear HMT-1 hands-free assisted reality device means that worker safety is enhanced,” says Gordon Earle. “During the pandemic, this has also helped us limit travel as much as possible, which has been crucial to mitigate the virus and keeping our teams safe.”  

Looking to the future, leaders at Permasteelisa also see this as a great way to avoid international travels for simple, half-day meetings on site that can now be executed virtually with a wearable.  

The advantages, in terms of collaboration and efficiency gains from an integration like this, are evident. For example, the Senior Designer of a project can check the construction site as soon as a potential issue emerges, in real time—resolving field issues remotely from the office. Travel times have been significantly reduced, keeping projects moving forward more efficiently. The video conferencing also allows a seasoned manager to scale across multiple projects and teams, by avoiding in-person meetings. Teams located in different countries can work in real time, favouring collaboration across the different time zones. Thanks to the integration of BIM 360, RealWear HMT-1 and Permasteelisa’s internal systems, the information captured by the field team is immediately available to colleagues, regardless of location. 

If you’d like to learn more about the RealWear and Autodesk BIM 360 integration, you can check out their RealWear’s press release here.

The post How Permasteelisa Deploys Hands-free Construction Management appeared first on Digital Builder.

Two of the major themes that will be governing U.S. construction activity as the coronavirus-caused downturn recedes into legend will be electrification and decarbonization. In most ways, they are two sides of the same coin, with the former seen by many in public governance, with environmental think tanks, and even among the general populace, as the best way to achieve the latter.   

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The Crown Commercial Service has started the tender race for its ProCure23 and major project framework for public spending departments.

The fourth-generation ProCure23 element for the NHS will be split into three lots, while two other lots in the bundled tender will cover MoD airfield works and major construction projects valued at more than £80m.

The final major projects lot will account for the majority of total forecast spend over the 56-month lifetime of the frameworks at £20bn.

These last two lots are effectively a partial refresh and expansion of the Government’s Construction Works and Associated Services framework to provide extra market capacity and usher in principles in the Construction Playbook.

A webinar is planned for 4 October to launch the contest.

Building on past iterations, P23 is hoped to bring the latest best practice in construction methods to the NHS and focuses on delivering greener facilities, reducing carbon emissions and promoting social value.

The present P22 arrangement is shared by six firms: BAM, Galliford Try, Graham, Tilbury Douglas, Kier and Vinci/Sir Robert McAlpine joint venture IHP.

In its 19 year history, the ProCure framework has successfully delivered more than 1,200 projects across England, with a cumulative spend of £9.7bn, and ProCure23 will build this heritage into a third decade.

For more information click here.

Those interested in attending the webinar session please express your interest by emailing [email protected]

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Learn about the latest releases for Autodesk Build

When we launched Autodesk Build earlier this year, we set out to give construction teams a powerful set of tools for seamless collaboration between field and office. Autodesk Build is now a centerpiece for managers on thousands of projects worldwide.

In the last few months, our team has been working hard to release over 20 new updates, features, and enhancements—all geared towards helping you better connect your teams, data and processes. So, whether you’re looking to ensure schedule detail is always visible no matter where you are, or need to make your RFI process a much smoother one, check out the latest Autodesk Build releases below.

Jump to details by type:

• Highlighted Releases
  • Schedule Tool
• Document Management Releases  
  • Custom Attributes enhancements *
  • Holding Area update
  • Hypermodel viewing and alignment
  • Search Reviews and Transmittals by name  
• Cost Releases
  • Cost Management
    • Connection to locations **
    • Cost payment applications custom approval workflows **
• Project Management Releases
  • Meetings | Microsoft Teams integration ***
  • RFIs
    • Email mechanism for project team members
    • Enhanced references ***
    • View and edit custom fields on mobile ***
    • Quick List action / Three dot menu
  • Submittals | View linked markups on mobile
• Field Collaboration Releases
  • Photos | Locations **
  • Forms | Forms tab UI revamp on mobile
  • Templates | Adding Form templates from Account Library
• Data and Intelligence Releases
  • Dashboards | Additional Partner cards
  • Data Connector
    • Forms data & Power BI template
    • Updates to Document Management and Assets Power BI templates *
• Admin Releases
  • Administration
    • Limit project and template creation to Account Admins 
    • Product Display list in project Admin and Member pages
    • UI updates to Project List page
  • API | App Gallery

* = features on both Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform and BIM 360
** = features in both Autodesk Build and BIM 360
*** = features in Autodesk Build, Autodesk BIM Collaborate and BIM 360

 

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Highlighted Releases

Schedule Tool 

Autodesk Build’s Schedule Tool is now available for all Autodesk Build users! Schedules uploaded from Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, and ASTA Powerproject can be imported to a Build project and displayed in a Gantt chart or calendar view.  

Create custom views that display desired schedule items with the filter function, allowing users to look three weeks ahead or behind the current schedule. Share the schedule with field teams so they can comment on specific activities and link references to each activity item. References include photos, files, sheets, assets, and issues. Users can also integrate Schedule with Cost in Autodesk Build to improve budgeting and planning for schedule-related costs. 

Get all the details on the new Schedule Tool in this blog post [coming soon].

 

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Document Management Releases

Document Management | Custom Attributes Enhancements * 

You now have better document control with custom attribute enhancements. For example, Custom Attributes with text fields now have character type and character limit constraints. In addition, Admins have the ability to edit custom attributes that already have data associated with them. 

Document Management | Holding Area update 

Previously, files in the Holding Area were split into batches based on upload group with a time/date stamp. The Holding Area will now show all files in a single list and will be sortable by columns so Admins can easily review, edit, and approve. 

Document Management | Hypermodel Viewing and Alignment 

Users will now get a better understanding, and visualization, of their 2D drawings and 3D Models with hypermodel viewing and alignment. Users can choose 2D drawings to position on top of a sectioned 3D model to align and seamlessly navigate between. 

Document Management | Search Review by Name 

You now have access to a new search bar at the top of the Reviews page. By inputting a keyword in the search bar, users will be able to search through all Review Names to quickly find the Review they’re looking for. 

 

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Cost Releases

Cost Management | Connection to Locations ** 

Autodesk Build and BIM 360 Cost Management users can now connect a location to budget and change order items. This feature allows teams to see how much money is allocated to specific areas in the building, and have a location-based view of changes. This provides a powerful way to track patterns to mitigate risk and potential cost overruns. 

Cost Management | Cost Payment Applications Custom Approval Workflows **

Autodesk Build and BIM 360 Cost Management users can now utilize the decision-based workflow engine to create custom workflows to automate the internal review and approval process of cost payment applications. 

 

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Project Management Releases

Meetings | Microsoft Teams Integration *** 

Autodesk Build and BIM Collaborate users will now be able to add a Microsoft Teams meeting link directly from the meeting. This helps to enable more collaboration between project teams as users can now choose between Zoom and a Microsoft Teams collaboration toolsets.

RFIs | Email mechanism for project team members

Coming early October. Project team members can now reply to RFIs directly from the email notification, without logging into the platform. If a team member has a ball-in-court, their response will be noted as the official response and the RFI will automatically move to the next step in the process. This increases collaboration, streamlines the process, and helps improve the response time for RFIs.  

RFIs | Enhanced References

Autodesk Build users can add additional references including submittals, forms, assets, and schedule items. When referencing RFIs in other tools, such as Issues, users will be able to search and filter across all RFIs, making it easy to connect workflows within Build. 

RFIs | Quick List Action / Three dot menu 

Autodesk Build users can now perform quick RFI actions from the RFI menu within the RFI log. These actions include: duplicate RFI, sending a reminder email to the RFI ball-in-court, and exporting the RFI.

RFIs | View and edit custom fields on mobile

Autodesk Build users can now view and edit custom fields, within RFIs, directly from their mobile devices. 

Submittals | View linked markups on mobile 

Autodesk Build users can now view linked submittals directly from markups on their iOS and Android advice. This ensures that all team members, especially those in the field, have access to important project documents. 

 

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Field Collaboration Releases

Photos | Locations  

Users will have the ability to add a location to a photo. Linking jobsite photos to predefined project locations will help teams further standardize the way they collect and organize their data.

Forms | Forms Tab UI revamp on mobile

Coming soon. The Forms tab UI will be revamped to offer a more convenient experience to mobile users. With this improvement, finding and quickly editing form drafts becomes easier for the field team. The update includes a new “At a glance” view and searching and filtering options. 

Templates | Adding Form Templates from Account Library 

Account Admins will now see the ability to add a form template directly to a project template. This can be created within the account level library. This expands on the standardization capabilities ensuring that teams are always inputting the right data via the most up-to-date templates. 

 

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Data & Intelligence Releases

Dashboards | Additional Partner Cards 

Both Autodesk Construction Cloud Unified Platform and BIM 360 users will now see new partner cards for Google,  Airtable, Join.BUILG , Stevenson Systems, Embneusys, Field Control Analytics, Lambertsson, OpticVyu, ProgressCenter, ProNovos, Quickbase, Safe Site Check In, SignOnSite, StructShare, TopBuilder, and WakeCap.

Data Connector | Forms Data & Power BI Template

Coming early October. Autodesk Build users can now extract Forms data using the Data Connector as well as leverage a new Power BI Template. This will help improve visibility into how teams are using forms, an overview of the status of forms, and highlight any issues that need to be addressed. 

Data Connector | Updates to Document Management & Assets Power BI Templates ** 

There is now a new Document Management Power BI Template that includes formats for both csv and compatibility with the Power BI Connector tool. Additionally, there is a new Asset Power BI Template that is compatible with the Power BI Connector tool. These templates help teams start to create custom dashboards that align more to their company KPI’s while using easy out-of-the-box options.  

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Admin Releases

Administration | Limit Project & Template Creation to Account Admins 

Autodesk Construction Cloud Unified Platform users can now limit the creation of new projects and new project templates to only Account Admins. This restriction creates more control, improves standardization, and ensures the unnecessary creation of duplicate projects or project templates. 

Administration | Product Display List in Project Admin & Members Pages

Project Admins will now only see the products they have purchased as options to assign to members. This will avoid potential confusion of which products or licenses are available to use. Additionally, Account Admins will have the option from this screen to purchase or add additional products. 

Administration | UI Updates to Project List Page

Users can now see additional links to other Autodesk Construction Cloud products in the top of the project list page. The addition of these links will help teams save time with the ability to easily access other Autodesk Construction Cloud products like BuildingConnected and TradeTapp.

API | App Gallery 

The App Gallery allows Account Admins to easily connect Autodesk Construction Cloud platform products with third-party apps such as augmented reality tools, jobsite cameras or scheduling applications. The App Gallery allows users to explore and discover a range of integration solutions that leverage the Forge open platform for seamless data flow. 

To see the full list of our latest updates across all Autodesk Construction Cloud, please check out this blog post.

 

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The post Autodesk Build Gets 20+ Product Updates, Features, and Enhancements appeared first on Digital Builder.

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