Which types of structural framing systems and materials are most commonly used in the US for residences? For office buildings?
What factors determine why these are the most used materials?
I think the most popular material used in the US residences is wood. The framing system used in the US residences is platform framing using light wood. Because (1) the building industry is most familiar with wood system and (2) wood construction is easier and (3) the elements of constructions such as studs and panels, are small and easy to transport.
For small office building I think the answer is same as US residences.
For large office building, I think the most popular material used is concrete and the framing system is concrete frame structure. I think the reason is concrete has high strength, durability, reflectivity, and versatility.
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?
Different designers usually prefer to create and maintain their discipline-specific models separately, so that others cannot change their own work. Using link and share tools helps them do this. We cannot consider every place in architectural/structural/other designs and find all the problems of design during design process. The link and sharing can help us solve this problem. But if the designers don't create the model in a file, there might be some coordination problems (clashes) which are required to fix during design process.
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?
By seeing others design views, such as plan views. Also, they can talk with others about their design details in a small meeting room to conduct design coordination. Using digital coordination, we can see the clashes faster and easier. Sometimes, we cannot find all the coordination problems using our imagination and thinking. The digital combination model can find almost all the design clashes.
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?