Which types of structural framing systems and materials are most commonly used in the US for residences? For office buildings?
In the US, houses are almost always built on a wood frame, largely because wood is abundant and easy to work with. Houses rarely reach a height where more sturdy materials would be required. Office buildings, on the other hand, often reach a large enough size that building them out of wood would nnot be structurally sound. Instead, they are often built with steel and concrete.
Why do different teams of designers and subcontractors link and share their models during the design process?
What are the advantages of linking models?
Are there any disadvantages to linking models?
How do you think design coordination was done before we started using digital models?
What advantages does doing this coordination digitally have over previous methods?
I would guess that tracing paper was frequently used in the days before digital models. Then structural components and architectural components could be stacked and overlaid to demonstrate how they came together.
What strategies can design teams use to find and avoid clashes prior to the start of construction?
What can be done besides sharing the models digitally?
At what point in the project development process should design coordination start?
Is it ever too early?
Design coordination should start fairly early. Dealing with specific beams and columns would be impractical in initial ideation, and shaping, but once the general layout of the building is decided upon, structural coordination should begin. Doing this sooner rather than later allows any major structural problems to be found sooner, so changes can be made if necessary.