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?
Residences typically use wood framing while office buildings tend to use concrete and steel as structural materials. Factors that determine what materials are used include the size of the building, strength of the materials, ease of construction, and overall cost. For small residences, wood offers affordable and quick construction that can withstand the design loads. Office buildings experience much larger loads and require longer spans. This makes steel and concrete more suitable structural materials.
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 think that design coordination in the past involved many meetings where teams would manually compare 2D drawings for each discipline to identify clashes. This was likely a time-consuming process with a lot of room for missed conflicts. Digital coordination offers several advantages over previous methods by allowing teams to work with the same model. This allows each team to prepare their designs with the most current information, reducing the need for redesign. Linking models also speeds up the process of detecting clashes, and their resolution can be tracked via a digital paper trail. This reduces miscommunication and prevents issues from remaining unresolved.
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?
Besides sharing models digitally, design teams can avoid clashes prior to the start of construction by agreeing upon project goals, standards, and workflows. The teams can plan when each phase of design should begin and establish a clear priority for each discipline. In this manner, each team knows when their design should be finalized and who is responsible for addressing design conflicts.
At what point in the project development process should design coordination start?
Is it ever too early?