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BIM Goes Residential (AEC Insight Column)
1 Jul, 2008 By: Jerry LaiserinDesign and production software give homebuilders all the advantages of BIM.
For the past six years, building information modeling (BIM) has been hailed by designers and constructors of commercial and institutional buildings as a revolution in the construction business. Ironically, the world of stick-built, single-family detached dwellings on the U.S. market has long enjoyed many of the same benefits without all the hoopla. A large chunk of this market is served by local and regional homebuilders operating as integrated design–build organizations and turning out a few dozen homes or fewer per year.
 Figure 1. Third-party providers, such as CG Visions, offer homebuilders comprehensive modeling and plan services based on sophisticated and integrated software technology that might otherwise be beyond the reach of a residential builder. (Image courtesy of CG Visions) |
These builders require software that includes many of the capabilities demanded by architects for design and modeling, plus the ability to easily produce plan sets for filing with building officials and coordination with subcontractors (such as plumbers and electricians). They also require that their tools provide unique capabilities for generation of framing plans, bills of material (BOMs), cut lists for lumber yard orders, and so on. Furthermore, homebuilders increasingly rely on slick renderings and animations to help them sell their as-yet unbuilt designs to prospective homeowners. The latest BIM-like capabilities extend to pricing and ordering materials and components — such as windows, doors, plumbing fixtures, and the like — and closing the loop from the digital model back to the onsite work for greater accuracy of construction and assembly. In fact, there are so many builder-focused design and production tools on the market that it would be impossible to do justice to all of them in a single column. My apologies in advance if I've overlooked one of your favorites.
Sticks and Stones
BuildersCAD and the related Intelli-Framer product — sold by the same company as ARRIS, a pioneering general-purpose architectural design program — encompasses wood-framing and material-takeoff functionality not needed by architects who don't also build. This extends to ordering key homebuilding components, such as doors and windows. Sigma Design also markets its eZ series of viewing, mark-up, and online collaboration tools that can be especially valuable on smaller projects (such as residential construction) that may not justify the expense and system overhead of a full-blown project collaboration network (see "Share and Share Alike," Cadalyst, December 2007, www.cadalyst.com/1207AECInsight).
Considered by many to work similarly to ArchiCAD, a leading BIM model-authoring tool, SoftPlan ranks among the leaders in all aspects of product needs for homebuilders, from design to estimating, framing, permitting, and so on. SoftPlan includes visualization capabilities to help homebuilders sell their designs, and the company provides excellent support, training, and educational materials to make its products easy to use.
Envisioneer, from Cadsoft, is another highly capable, full-function software package for homebuilders that is offered at a competitive price point. As with many programs aimed at homebuilders, Envisioneer encompasses everything from interior design within the home to landscaping design that surrounds the home. With all of Envisioneer's functionality so tightly integrated, Cadsoft touts the speed and efficiency afforded by its approach.
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Hail to the Chief
Rated by many observers as the benchmark product in this sector, Chief Architect (from the company of the same name) provides one of the most comprehensive and full-featured product offerings for homebuilders, remodelers, designers/architects, and drafters. As with most of the homebuilder software competition, Chief Architect generates framing plans, BOMs, and cut lists. Chief Architect's drafting tools are comprehensive enough to produce even the most exacting drawing sets for permitting and field use.
Chief Architect also offers home design software in conjunction with Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and this software is targeted at the home-enthusiast market — consumers contemplating their own dream home.
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About the Author: Jerry Laiserin
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