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?
For single family resident houses in the US, the most commonly used structural framing system is wood framing due to its cost effectiveness and the ease of construction, particularly in low-rise housing with light structural bearing loads. For multi-family resident housing, we are seeing the use of stronger and more durable materials such as steel and concrete to ensure the capability to carry more loads and the consideration of fire resistance. For high-rise office buildings, steel-concrete systems are the popular choice as their cost effectiveness in carrying more loads will be the most conducive for stakeholders.
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?
Designers from different disciplines link and share their models during the design process to ensure the consistency of design and to enable the clash detection feature between models to quickly pinpoint where the problem is and resolve it without carrying it into the actual construction phase. This is especially helpful in large and complex projects where different disciplines (architectural, structural, and MEP) need to work closely to ensure the accuracy of the model. One disadvantage I can think of for linking the model is that if a specific team forgets to relinquish all the elements after they are done, the next team of designers could do nothing about it if they would like to make adjustments to that specific part of the model, and this will increase the downtime for internal communication and potentially delay the project.
At what point in the project development process should design coordination start?
Is it ever too early?
No, it is never too early to initiate the design coordination. Ideally, they should start early in the schematic design phase to ensure all stakeholders such as architects, structural and MEP engineers, and clients are aligned on the project’s vision, requirements, and constraints. By starting the design coordination early, parties are able to identify their potential clashes and restrictions in a large scope before detailing into the sophisticated design phase. If a problem can be identified in the early phase of the project, it could save tens of hundreds of hours to fix it if it had been discovered in the later phase of the project.