Lessons in BIM Adoption: How Integrated Project Delivery Can Work

I wanted to make you aware of a free webinar this week you might find interesting.  Reed Construction Data is broadcasting a webinar titled “Lessons in BIM Adoption: How Integrated Project Delivery Can Work” featuring the following speakers:

• Robert Leicht, PhD – BIM Manager for DPR Construction
• Scott Simpson, FAIA, LEED AP – Senior Director of Kling-Stubbins
• Markku Allison – Resource Architect for AIA National

When:  Thursday Feb 25 at 2:00 PM Eastern

Visit Reed Construction to register for the event.

Sincerely,

Robert Mencarini, AIA

Free Continuing Eduction Credits

At a recent AIA Newark Suburban board meeting we were discussing ways to increase the benefits to the membership.  One board member said that one of the most common email and phone call questions he gets is about where to find low cost continuing education (CE) credits. Especially at this time of odd numbered years when NJ architect licenses are set for renewal by August 1st.

As most members know, membership includes monthly general meetings.  At these meetings we usually have a CE event.  This is also the case at the other local components throughout AIA NJ.  These are a great source of knowledge and CE credit.

Another great source of CE material is online. Much of it at no cost. I frequently read the articles found at McGraw Hill Construction (http://continuingeducation.construction.com/), publishers of Architectural Record, ENR, Green Source, and Sweets. After reading the articles, either online or in print form, I usually take the online test.  The system notifies me that I have passed and forwards the passing grade to the AIA’s group that keeps track of the records.  I also print out (usually to PDF file) a copy of the certificate for my records.  All at no cost.  You can’t beat that.  For a $10 fee the test can be taken on paper (either from the tear-out in the printed publications or printed from the online version) and mailed in to be graded and recorded.

Most of the articles are usually of very high quality technical knowledge and take a little more than an hour including the ten question test.  Many articles are labeled for HSW and the new SD (sustainable design) credits. I generally find the ones not written by representatives of product manufacturers and service companies to be of the greatest value, but I’ll leave that judgment up to you.

Each licensing jurisdiction may have different requirements on the number of CE credits that can be accepted in this format. I believe NJ accepts up to 7 credits per cycle. Check each jurisdiction to make sure you are in compliance.

Here are the links to a few of many hundreds of excellent no cost online CE articles.  Enjoy.

Robert Mencarini, AIA

AIA Newark Suburban Architects, Trustee 2007-2009

BIM Promotes Sustainability http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=5&C=516

Best Practices in Integrated Project Delivery http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=115&C=408

Energy Modeling for Sustainability http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=5&C=399

Some Other Useful BIM & IPD Information Sources…

I’ve been working with BIM, mostly Revit, for 10 years now.  In the beginning there wasn’t much published on the subject. It wasn’t even called BIM.  Back then the terms were more like Object Modeling and virtual building.  Now, not only do we have numerous printed books, we also have scores of software & service companies, websites, blogs and wiki’s devoted to all sorts of BIM tools and processes.
Ten years ago, blogs and wiki’s didn’t even exist.  Now they are one of the greatest just-in-time learning tools available.  And the best part is the information is completely free.

Every day I spend at least a few minutes glancing at what others have posted.  Almost every day there is something of value.  Here I’ll share with you a few of the ways to find these great sources of information.

The first tool in my BIM knowledge toolbelt is Google Alerts.  Google Alerts are a free web news clipping service.  You sign up for any topic you are interested in, not limited to BIM, and every day or week Google Alerts will email you the new or revised links regarding that topic.  It’s as if someone is reading every single online reference to a particular subject and clipping out the link, writing a synopsis, and emailing them to you.  Google Alerts automatically keeps track of what it has sent you in the past and only sends the updates.  I have a few Google Alerts set up to subjects such as Revit, Bentley Architecture, Archicad, various IPD topics and tools, Autodesk, etc.  I have them set to email once per day.  I could also set it to send as it finds them, which is too frequent for me, or once per week.  Once every day I get an email that tells me about any web-news article, any blog, or wiki regarding BIM or Revit or what ever the Alert is set to. This keeps me very informed about the subject.

The first step to setting up a Google Alert is to create a free Google Account (https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount).  This account give you access to all of the free Google tools.  Some people call this the Google OS.  It includes email, Contact Manager, Calendar, Google Docs (Writer, Spreadsheet, Slide Presentation, etc.) I’ll write more on these very useful tools in a future post.  Once your Google account is set up you go to: http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en to set up a Google Alert. Enter the Search Terms, the type of places to search, how often to send it to you, and to what email address or RSS feed to send it to.  That’s it.  All for free.  I highly recommend this free tool.

The are many blogs that I look at least every few days.  I’ll list them out in no particular order.  There are many more available.  Do a search and see what helps you the most:

paulfaubin.blogspot.com by Paul Aubin, author of Mastering Revit Architecture book

revitoped.blogspot.com by Steve Stafford

allthingsbim.blogspot.com by James Vandezande, SOM colleague

www.caduzer.com by Scott Rosenbloom, SOM colleague

www.designreform.net by David Fano

The list could go on.  I have over fifty in my Google (blog) Reader.  I suggest you do a search, see what you find and share the really good ones by posting a comment to this post.

Robert

Welcome to the AIA NJ Technology In Practice Blog!

The purpose of the AIA NJ Technology In Practice blog is to share knowledge about the use of technology in the professional lives of our members and their firms.
The goal is to expand the knowledge, flatten the learning curve, and decrease the time it takes to implement and benefit from the tools and technologies that allow Architects to be more efficient, more productive, & more profitable.

A decade ago, having been involved with the use of technology in residential and large and small scale commercial / institutional architecture since the mid 1980’s I jumped at the chance to join a small startup software company in Massachusetts called Charles River Software. The goal of this company and it’s founders was to deliver on the promise of what technology can offer the AEC industry. This company, later known as Revit Technology Corporation became part of Autodesk, Inc. in 2002 where my role was working with firms around the United States and beyond implementing these new tools. I left Autodesk in 2005 to form my own BIM consulting and architecture firm. Eventually, after many years of working with firms on the early implementation stages of BIM tools, I joined Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, LLP in NYC as a Senior Manager of Virtual Design + Construction, for the opportunity to apply this knowledge on very large buildings with teams that are beyond the early adopter phases of Building Information Modeling.

We’ll start the blog with two main areas, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD).

In this context the term technology means more than the many electronic hardware and software tools available to architects. It also means processes and procedures that can help us achieve our goals. The tools and processes that we use interconnect to form a fabric that runs throughout our business. I have a long list of topics and links to related and helpful information to start this knowledge share and ensuing discussions.

I suspect, as I’ve seen in other related ventures, the interconnections from BIM to IPD to Sustainable Design is very much intertwined. The implementation of one informs the needs and uses of the others.

As the Editor and Contributor of the AIA NJ Technology in Practice blog I will share with you my knowledge in these areas and invite others, from within the AIA NJ community and beyond, to share their knowledge as well.

I look forward to this opportunity to share my experiences and knowledge with the AIA NJ community.

Robert Mencarini, AIA

AIA Newark Suburban Architects, Trustee 2007-2009