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?
Typical structural framing systems for US residences are wooden materials such as wood studs. For office buildings, structural framing systems consist of steel/concrete beams, girders, columns. This is due to the load capacity required for each building to safely house its occupants.
Why do different teams of designers and subcontractors link and share their models during the design process?
Advantages of linking models are being able to have the subcontractors work with the most up to date design. Linked models also allow for any clashes of building elements to be detected. This can save the project money and time down the line if spotted and corrected promptly.
Disadvantages of linking models are linking to an outdated model or an inaccurate one.
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?
Before digital models, design coordination was probably done by distributing physical plans to each of the trades. There’s also the possibility that it wasn’t done in some cases, resulting in large change orders to the project which would impact the schedule and budget.