Autodesk, Inc. (Autodesk), a US-based design software and services company, has announced the availability of major updates for the Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design for Architecture, Engineering and Construction. The updated site now extends through the entire building lifecycle with new features and tools targeting green building retrofit and renovation projects, and an expanded focus on relevant issues of interest to building owners and energy service companies.
Launched earlier in 2009 at the American Institute of Architects conference, the free online guide helps architecture, engineering and construction professionals make better informed decisions to achieve building performance goals.
“The growing number of building regulations and new stimulus funding is creating rapid growth in the green retrofit market – a market that McGraw-Hill projects will reach $10 to $15 billion by 2014,” said Phil Bernstein, FAIA, vice president of industry strategy and relations for Autodesk’s Architecture, Engineering and Construction solutions arm. “We enhanced and expanded the Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design to provide existing building owners, and AEC professionals, with practical tools and information to help them achieve optimum energy efficiency and minimal environmental impact for their renovation projects.”
New Features Promote Energy-Efficient Building Practices:
The updated Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design site now features a new graphical user interface that presents the user with two options, New Construction or Renovation, each customized to the visitor’s profession or industry selection. The guide offers detailed virtual walk-throughs for all phases of a new design or renovation project, allowing visitors to view key decision points at each stage of a building’s lifecycle: energy efficiency, water efficiency and carbon emissions. Along the way, users can learn how to effectively use building information modeling (BIM) process supported by tools for green analysis, visualization and simulation, to foster multidisciplinary collaboration from the earliest stages of a project and throughout the building lifecycle.
Other key enhancements include: Decision Grid tool to help evaluate and make sound decisions at each step of the process, and to understand how Autodesk tools can be used to achieve green retrofit goals; Tools to show how to more quickly generate a 3D Autodesk Revit Architecture digital information model from 2D photos of an existing building to more rapidly conduct whole-building energy analysis and evaluate renewable energy potential; and white papers, podcasts and videos to demonstrate how to more quickly and accurately achieve energy-efficiency and environmental goals for a green retrofit project.
BIM is an integrated process for exploring a project’s key physical and functional characteristics digitally before it is built. Coordinated, consistent information is used throughout the process to design new projects and conduct analysis from the earliest stages, better visualize and simulate real-world appearance, performance and cost, and deliver projects faster and more economically, while minimizing environmental impact.