USG Announces Interior Design and Specification Portal

Interactive Design Studio helps architects specify building materials and systems.

Available on the company's Web site, USG Design Studio provides architects and designers with resources needed to design, compare, change, select, and specify products and systems for interiors. It integrates existing and new online design and specification tools, including BIM (building information modeling) tools and data. The tools incorporate comprehensive system and product specification data, as well as the ability to compare products from other manufacturers. According to USG, the Design Studio is built with an intuitive interface that is easy to navigate, easy to understand, and incorporates the most extensive wall and ceiling CAD library and drawing tools in the industry. For firms using BIM design software, specifically Autodesk Revit, USG has incorporated design templates for Revit-specific system files to be used in creating, defining, and manipulating interior designs.

USG states its architectural specification modules help users to customize specifications for project requirements, with Microsoft Word templates that allow users to incorporate these product specifications directly into building submittal sheets. Performance-rated system and product selectors allow users to search for systems, products, and assemblies that match the designers' specific performance criteria.

According to USG, this online tool also connects design and specification functionalities, allowing users to make changes, review the changes instantly, then automatically document the results throughout the system. "The new USG Design Studio portal dramatically improves the building process by giving users the ability to efficiently and accurately specify the most effective products and assemblies," said Robert Grupe, director of USG Architectural & Technical Solutions. "The site allows users with different requirements to arrive at the right solutions with literally a few clicks of a mouse."