Which types of structural framing systems and materials are most commonly used in the US for residences? For office buildings?
Wood framing systems are more commonly used for residences in the US. Steel and Concrete framing systems are more commonly used for office buildings because they can withstand more loads associated with the high occupancy of office buildings.
How do you think design coordination was done before we started using digital models?
Design coordination was likely done with the structural and architectural models being design sequentially and separately on pencil and paper and brought together after the completion of both. A disadvantage of this is that elements of the designs may compete with each other and require design reworks that may extend the design process time. The advantage of digital models is that small changes to models do not require immense lengths of time.
At what point in the project development process should design coordination start?
Design coordination should start at the beginning of the project development process. This ensures that the different elements associated with a design, both structural and architectural components, work properly together.