Databases in Design Offices

In the USA, design firms offering geotechnical services are typically given the responsibility to perform an investigation and afterward produce a report based on the findings. This single company approach is different from the way the same services are performed in the UK. The technical information gathered by firms in the USA can be contained in databases developed by each company, as the report is the only documentation that must be understood by more than one party. In the UK, the geotechnical services are often performed by multiple companies, signifying the need for a universal input format to allow information be interpreted by multiple players. This need was met with the implementation of the “AGS” format, which offers the highest level of acceptance into other programs and databases. The information can be accessed in text editors and then imported into each companies chosen form in order to produce bore logs, graphs, table and cross section figures. Design firms are known to use the information from soil borings early in the process to establish the extent and schedule of the tests that must be performed by themselves or an investigative contractor.

In the office, architects and engineers use databases that contain discrete information of objects in the BIM process. Software systems such as Bently’s Microstation and Autodesk’s Revit allow the user to create tags and assign them to elements different elements in the modeling environment. This feature allows the designers to export the information to useful platforms such as Excel or a database program to sort and record in relation to other parameters. Designers at manufacturing companies are using databases to store information of each of the products that they carry. Portions of these databases are then shared with designers to allow the smooth exchange of specifications and other project specific details. An example of this is in Brian's post, where he described creating families using objects to organize information of each component in the building. These objects contain information that is taken, sometimes from other sources and linked to the BIM. This allows designers to pull information about the object to include in schedules, charts and other analysis procedures.

I have experiences with databases as a user and developer were those that included cost information of each construction trade for completed projects. Project information was accessed using a search query that included the type of building, number of levels, construction materials and function. Once the reference building was selected, the user could duplicate the project and then change various parameters, such as the current year, location and indexes of material costs. Jalpesh's post mentions that design firms can archive the information used for a design so that the firm can access the information for future projects. This archiving process is valuable because designers can re-use portions of the design that they know already work. This has been happening in design long before databases but was known as "rules of thumb". Similar to design, after the project is selected it could then be modified by omitting certain trades based off of the building the user was attempting to model. The database contained information for adjustments due to location and time and would output a project file that included costs for each trade involved. The information was utilized in a design-build project team to deliver accurate costs at the conceptual level of design. I believe that at a point in the future, with the progression towards integrated design with multidisciplinary teams, specialty contractors will begin to share more database information with the designers in order to expedite project completion and minimize errors.

Companies can utilize databases for estimating material and labor costs for structural steel. The database of each type and size of steel members were linked to respective information such as weight, area, required bolts, crane lifts and various other metrics for the piece. Information could then be derived from the job summary such as labor hours for painting and assembly, crew productivity rates as well as weight for the galvanization process.

1.      Chadwick, Neil C. "Data Transfer and the Practical Application of Geotechnical Databases." Data Interchange for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

Team 12

Talking about buildings being “Green” people mainly think about using green energy such as solar panels or wind turbines and it is mostly put in prospect to commercial buildings being able to gain the most from it. But going green can also mean using less energy and can also be put in prospect to residential real-estate having a great impact to going green. So my group and I plan on designing a database and prototype suggestions for integrating common systems in residential buildings to save energy. We plan on basing our design and prototypes based off the research and technology which was used to create a successful product out in the market called Nest. For people who are unfamiliar with Nest, it is an innovated new “smart thermostat” out on the market which can learn its owners tasks based on patterns and also wirelessly connect to the web to acquire outdoor conditions and integrate it with indoor conditions to run the HVAC system in the building efficiently. It has an easy plug and play installation with a very simple to use interface which can be learned quickly by an average person. Its Wi-Fi connection to the web able its user to have wide range of accessibility which is a key feature for better options for integration. Additionally the Nest is compatible to a wide range of units in its field and offered for an affordable cost for any average family in the United States with return on investment of rest than two years.

For our project, just as Nest operates for the HVAC system of the residential buildings, we will research how a very similar concept can be incorporated with other important systems in the residential building such as lighting system, electric system, curtain system and etc. we will also look into how the interface which is provided by Nest with its products can be expanded to link these additional systems without affecting the simplicity and very low learning curve of the Nest interface and controls. Key factors that will play the main goals of the research and design will be simplicity, accessibility, wide range of compatibility, affordability, and options of integration. As a team we have a growing interest in the key factors mentioned in the previous sentence in addition to electronic gadgets which also relates to the topic of integration being explored in class that has lead us to this project. None of the team members have every worked with creating a database which we believe will be the biggest challenge when completing this project.          

  

Sources:

http://www.nest.com/blog/category/technology/

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/429449/new-nest-thermostat-the-bigger-deal-is-the-software/

Mike Sawin Introduction

My name is Mike Sawin; I am a junior at Drexel doing the BS/MS program. I have a decent amount of experience using Revit; however I have only used it for basic design so I’m sure there are many things to still learn. In this class I expect to learn not just BIM but how the whole process of making a building intelligently works. My definition of intelligent building design is a design that uses integrated building design techniques. This approach leads to a building that feels much more whole instead of a building that feels like a shell designed by an architect, with a structure designed by an engineering, and HVAC trying to squeeze in between the beam where it can.