by Susan Smith

In his main-stage presentation at Autodesk University 2007, Autodesk CEO Carl Bass cited several key trends in the world of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC): increased digitization, increased globalization, a boom in global building and infrastructure, the rising cost of energy, and climate change. He made the case that technology is required for more efficient and more sustainable design, building, and maintenance of that new infrastructure worldwide.

Las Vegas's Venetian Hotel, complete with canals and a lake carved out of the desert, might seem an incongruous place for discussions about sustainability. Yet that was the setting for the Autodesk event, where the use of building information modeling (BIM) to facilitate sustainable design took center stage.

The conference featured many live demonstrations of products. One demo showed the use of BIM in subway station design in Hong Kong, demonstrating several "what-if" analyses of train frequency, traffic, seating, and other features. Another demo covered Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid's use of Autodesk® Maya® as a design tool.

Autodesk also introduced new software features, including the ability to do freeform conceptual design in Revit® Architecture, and a tool called Newport that facilitates better visualization of buildings in relation to their sites.

BIM and Sustainable Design

Phil Bernstein, vice president of industry strategy and relations for Autodesk's AEC Solutions division, presented a movie called Project Chicago, a long-term vision of what sustainable design might look like in the future.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE A central theme of Autodesk University 2007 was design collaboration using Building Information Modeling (BIM)-compliant software. Photo: Susan Smith Autodesk CEO Carl Bass delivered the keynote speech at Autodesk University 2007. Photo: Shaan Hurley   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.