One of the biggest challenges in the design process is managing design production. Whether you are an Architect, Engineer, General Contractor or Owner, you have experienced the 6-8 week delays in design progress due to the linear process of design, documentation, estimating, value engineering and redesign. With Assemble, insight into the model information can give you frequent feedback as to how your design is trending against the budget expectations. Tracking progress can be weekly or as frequent as daily if you are in full design production. This insight can significantly impact the design review cycle by giving team members greater awareness of how various design decisions impact the budget parallel to production, giving the design team greater control and the owner a better product.
So how does this process work? See the recipe below for details:
1 Part 3D Design model
1 Part Assemble
1 Part Excel Template
Instructions:
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Publish 3D Model to Assemble
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Blend Historical Cost Database with 3D Model in Assemble for 30 seconds
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Export to Excel for Reporting to team
Voila!
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For more detailed instruction, keep reading…
1. After publishing a model to Assemble, it is important to set up views based on the information you would like to track. You may want to start out with cost per square foot trending on a week to week basis. If so, create a view of the room information and add your square foot cost for each room type in the property editing window.
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2. Export the information into an Excel spreadsheet. There you can use a template for weekly reports and trend graphs, illustrating the overall impact to design changes.
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3. After publishing the model each week, check for new rooms that may have been added that do not have cost associated. Add the values in Assemble, export to an Excel file, and then copy and paste into your template.
As the project develops, track major assemblies in more detail. Simply set up views for each system, such as Exterior Curtain Wall, Interior Partitions, Structural Framing, etc., and upload a historical cost database using an Excel file.
Setting up your model for tracking trends during design can save you countless hours in redesign, value engineering and lost time while waiting for estimates. For even more details on how this workflow can greatly increase timely decision making on your project, contact us for a demonstration catered to your needs.
Nancy Brown is a Sales Manager for Assemble Systems when she isn’t traveling, skiing, or spending time on a boat with her family in the lovely Pacific Northwest.
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