San Francisco’s $4.4-billion Hetch Hetchy Water System Improvement Project has passed a major milestone with the approval of its program environmental impact report. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission began planning for the program, consisting of 85 projects, in 2002 to improve the system’s ability to operate in the aftermath of a major earthquake. The program is funded by a bond issue approved by voters in 2002. Construction of many smaller projects has proceeded while the report was being completed on 17 larger sections valued at $1.8 billion. Construction on many major projects will begin in the next six to
The speaker repeated it twice for effect: “Nothing humans can do in mitigation between now and 2100 will affect the level of sea-level rise between now and 2100.” The rise will be substantial, possibly close to one meter, said Michael K. Orbach, professor of marine affairs and policy at Duke University Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, N.C. “We cannot stop it. All we can do in the next century is adapt to it,” he added. Slide Show With much of the Gulf Coast at low elevations, forecasts of rising sea levels show flooded infrastructure. With much of the Gulf Coast at low
The new Green Building Certification Institutes, sister organization to Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council, is about to launch a total overhaul of the exam system for professionals seeking accreditation to design and build green buildings according to USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, known as LEED. The overhaul, announced at USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, Nov. 19-21 in Boston, creates a tiered-credential and specific tests for different types of buildings. GBCI, formed last month, will take over credentialing and building certification from USGBC in January. Peter Templeton, USGBC’s former vice president of education and research,
The release of the revised report on the original Seven World Trade Center in New York City marks the end of the $16-million investigation into the World Trade Center. The investigation was triggered by the destruction of the complex on Sept. 11, 2001, by terrorists. Based on feedback, Gaithersburg, Md.-based National Institute of Standards and Technology made several changes to the draft final report on the 47-story steel-framed tower, which collapsed on Sept. 11 after burning unattended for some seven hours. The report was released for public comment on Aug. 21. The revisions did not alter the investigation team’s major
Will Ikerd maintains it will take less than 10 years for building information modeling to transform structural engineering. He’s helping that happen as co-chair of the BIM committee, formed last year, of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and the Council of American Structural Related Links: Building Team Views Technological Tools as Best Chance For Change Virtual Collaborative Charrettes Give Glimpse of Future Forum Tackles Teamwork Issues Strong Owner Leadership Can Optimize Project Collaboration Building Information Modeling Snags Don’t Dampen Spirits Lawyers Struggle with Contract Terms Survey of Structural Engineers Says One-Third Are Using BIM Constructors Grapple With Resistance to Change
The Associated General Contractors BIM Forum is a wild success, attracting 1,600members in less than three years fromall areas of building design and construction.There is no cost to join, but that’s not whymembership is increasing daily, at a rate of30% each year. The forum is so popular becauseit is considered the best place for collaborationand collective action to relieve theaches and achieve the potential gains of theparadigm shift to building-information-modeling-enabled design and construction. Related Links: Building Team Views Technological Tools as Best Chance For Change Virtual Collaborative Charrettes Give Glimpse of Future Forum Tackles Teamwork Issues Strong Owner Leadership Can
First comes “lonely” BIM, when a firm begins to tool up for building-information-modeling-enabled projects. Then comes “social” BIM, when a firm collaborates with other firms using BIM. Next comes “intimate” BIM, when the owner, architect and contractor share risk and reward contractually via BIM-enabled integrated project delivery. Finally, when work gets heavenly, there is “cheruBIM.” Slide Show Photo: Onuma, Inc. Related Links: Building Team Views Technological Tools as Best Chance For Change Virtual Collaborative Charrettes Give Glimpse of Future Forum Tackles Teamwork Issues Strong Owner Leadership Can Optimize Project Collaboration Building Information Modeling Snags Don’t Dampen Spirits Lawyers Struggle with
Sub and specialty contractors are at the workplace every day, so many practical benefits that proponents of BIM claim will arise from its use should translate directly into cost and time savings for them, and they do, but not always, and not to the same degree as advertised. One concrete subcontractor who has spent four years and “invested millions” in developing his own system for producing construction BIM for process planning, and then purchased display technology for taking BIM to the jobsite to prep his crews, has decided the exercise hasn’t been worth it. Related Links: Building Team Views Technological
Kimon Onuma keeps whipping up BIMStorms, his Web-based planning charrettes that can involve hundreds of building team members. The next BIMStorm will be live at the AECST Conference in Washington, D.C., from Dec. 8-11. Onuma, who uses the Onuma Planning System software to en-able the charrettes, plans to have a theater on the AECST show floor. There will be live interactions with teams involved in earlier BIMStorms—a word coined in 2007. For all of 2009, Onuma Inc., Pasadena, Calif., is planning an ongoing “low-carbon collaboration” BIMStorm. Photo: Onuma, Inc. Related Links: Building Team Views Technological Tools as Best Chance For
Startup advice to designers about to launch into building information modeling: “Jump in with both feet; halfway measures do not work best. Use BIM on an actual project with a technology-savvy team that won’t be intimidated by the software. Training works best if it is used it right away, so apply it as you go. Set up training sessions that use the actual project for work samples. Get outside help from a knowledgeable and effective trainer, perhaps found through your software vendor. Once started, stick with it. There will be some frustrations at first, but you’ll work through them. Set
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