Mass Timber Frame Estimator

These days, many tall buildings such as residences and offices are built with mass timber structures. This tool is designed for architects and manufacturers who want to suggest mass timber structures to clients. By using this tool, you can estimate the total cost of the structural frame and find the optimal solution easily. This tool chooses the optimal mass timber member sizes based on the grid span you input and returns the total cost based on the unit cost of Revit family data. This tool also returns cost/SF, cost/volume and cost/weight so that you can find the best solution that meets the client's budget.

Fig 2 shows the interface of my tool. You can input floor height, Grid span, Number of grids, and number of floors. Based on your input, it returns total weight of the structure, total cost, cost per SF, and cost per CF.

recorded video demo

Additional Explanation

Choosing Beam Member Sizes

As Fig 3 illustrates, the mass timber member changes depending on the grid span length. This tool reflects the size of the structure based on the grid span that users input. Fig 4 shows the example of the codes that select the proper beam family type. For instance, if you input 23’ for grid span, 6-3/4”x30” beam will be adopted.

Cost Calculation

In this Revit model, I used original family models for mass timber columns and beams. When you want to use different family models, it is necessary to have cost data. For example, I used 1500 USD per linear foot for the column. I set that the standard length is 10 feet, which means the component cost increases quadratically as the length becomes longer as Fig 6 shows.