BIM forces a break with status quo

Change is in the wind. Software and information technology forces a break with the past.

For generations, we engineers depended on drawings. The desktop PC, and software, such as Autocad, changed our dependence into a 2-d CAD.

Stephen Roth wrote in the recent issue of Consulting Specifying Engineers magazine.

HVAC cooling and heating load analysis for buildings currently is performed by using widely available software tools. For the past 25 years, this method has become the status quo for HVAC design engineers, and it has proven to be an effective way to accurately calculate building cooling and heating losses….

His point is that the status quo is entrenched.

The energy crisis in the 1970s was a wake-up call for HVAC engineers to more accurately calculate the cooling and heating loads for a building. The 1980s saw the advent of software that could be used by both small and large engineering firms to accurately calculate the building cooling and heating loads. This was a big change in the way HVAC engineers performed their building analysis, and it provided more accurate results than previous methods.

I came into this business as this software came onto the scene. And I have been doing energy modeling with spreadsheets ever since they became available in 1981 or so.

HVAC analysis software is quite complex, and its use often requires a solid engineering background and extensive training. This leaves architects at the mercy of HVAC engineers when doing this type of analysis at early stages of design

I feel I should apologize to all those architects who I have intimidated over the years.

Later in the article Roth says:

There are some disadvantages to using 3-D BIM versus tabular input methods for load calculation purposes including:

Learning to use 3-D modeling tools requires in-depth training and a new way of thinking about mechanical design. Many engineers simply may be too entrenched in their ways to accept such a shift in thinking. In addition, the cost of the software licenses and training may be prohibitive for many engineering firms. Complex 3-D modeling software often requires at least a week of formalized training and many months of on-the-job learning…

read the entire article here

I agree completely.

Tags: BIM, Green Design, HVAC, Software