Every morning, the PCL Construction team that’s building the 11-acre, 516-room JW Marriott Bonnet Creek hotel in Orlando, Florida, starts with the same routine: reviewing a high-resolution map of the site (captured by one of the firm’s daily drone flights) to effectively plan and coordinate the day’s work. A couple of years ago, using up-to-date drone maps for daily site and logistics planning was unheard of. Now, PCL project teams can’t live without them. This use case is part of a larger trend: drone data, once confined to the VDC team, has become a “must have” resource for entire project teams, owners, and more. In fact, on this JW Marriott project alone, there are more than 50 stakeholders regularly viewing their drone maps and models. In this session, PCL’s JW Marriott project team—Matthew Dodge, project manager; and Kevin Johnson, construction modeling specialist—will share the impact that drone data has had on this project and how other contractors can do the same.

More than simply a technical paradigm, cloud computing offers fundamentally new directions for connecting people, projects, and information. Coupled with Building Information Modeling (BIM) data, cloud-based project information management has the potential to broadly affect both ad hoc and contractually-defined project communications, workflows, and deliverables. This class discusses advances in cloud-based project data management and collaboration with a focus on the impact on project organization, data organization, and contracting. It will offer examples of cloud-based project information management technologies, as well as case studies of the use of these systems to demonstrate the affect of BIM-centric cloud computing on project delivery. This class will discuss the use of online project collaboration to articulate the value this has on project deliveyr success.

For years, Saudi Binladin Group (SBG)- a construction industry leader in Saudi Arabia where most government contracts are 2D-drawing based- did an in-depth study of the loss of time and the aborted works, ending with the determination that Building Information Modeling (BIM) represents both an enhanced technology and a process change. In this class, SBG will share how it builds its own formula of conversion from a self-execution engineering 2D firm to a construction engineering management BIM model firm. SBG innovation setup changed in year 2012. It is imperative that efficiency in project delivery is maximized and the commitment is to safe and sustainable construction. Traditional methods have been replaced by more efficient, transparent processes and technologies that require different project planning and different data exchange platforms. SBG has chosen Autodesk BIM solutions release 2013/2017 as the foundation of building a dedicated BIM platform for SBG megaprojects and developing a BIM Execution Plan (BIM charter).

This class will examine a case study on how Truescan3D combined the use of drones, laser scanning, and InfraWorks software to assist in gaining community support for a one-mile trail project, the Mill Creek Trail in Cincinnati, Ohio. With the local community lacking the funding for the full project survey and engineering drawings needed, Truescan3D performed a combination of drone imagery and laser scanning on the proposed project site. This process provided the design team with a detailed map of the site in a fraction of the time required when using traditional methods. This information was given to the civil engineer to create a trail design. Once the preliminary design was complete, Truescan3D used InfraWorks to develop a model and fly-through to gain design support. The presentation team will discuss the process of field reality capture, creation of the design model using InfraWorks, and how the community benefitted from the use of technology on this project.

The traditional railroad industry is lagging behind the building industry in terms of innovative technology. One reason could be that there's a lack of good Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools. This presentation will take you on a journey through the design process in large railroad projects to show what we're doing and how we're pushing things further with the help of InfraWorks software and Unreal Engine. We will cover collaboration and live feed, involving the information flow and efficient collaboration between hundreds of people per project. We'll also cover concurrent engineering and model utilization to the full extent with virtual reality (VR) enabled by Unreal Engine. This is project delivery reinvented. What if we turned things upside down and delivered a game instead of a model? We'll remove the "gimmick" factor from VR and focus on real value. Join our session and you will be blown away.

In order to meet construction demand, the industry needs more people devoted to technology. How do you become the person in your company who challenges processes, researches new tools, and pushes innovation? Perspectives provided by an industry association, a trade contractor, and a union training center are working together to address this issue.

A good model is important in a Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflow, and equally important is generating a good set of construction documents, complete with detail drawings. After mastering basic modeling in Revit software, many users hit the wall and struggle with this vital aspect of project delivery. This class will teach you how to bridge the gap between modeling and detailing, taking full advantage of the 3D model and adding 2D embellishments combined with display modification to create your construction details. This session features Revit Architecture. AIA Approved

A good model is important in a Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflow, and equally important is generating a good set of construction documents, complete with detail drawings. After mastering basic modeling in Revit software, many users hit the wall and struggle with this vital aspect of project delivery. This class will teach you how to bridge the gap between modeling and detailing, taking full advantage of the 3D model and adding 2D embellishments combined with display modification to create your construction details. This session will feature Revit Architecture software.

A good model is important in a BIM (Building Information Modeling) workflow. Equally important is generating a good set of construction documents, complete with detail drawings. After mastering basic modeling in Revit software, many users hit the wall and struggle with this vital aspect of project delivery. This class will teach you how to bridge the gap between modeling and detailing, taking full advantage of the 3D model and adding 2D embellishments combined with display modification to create your construction details. This session features Revit Architecture software.

In this panel discussion, we’ll describe a future of construction that no author can assuredly predict. In our earnest effort, we’ll examine the current state of the industry; observe the trajectories of technical, methodological, and cultural changes over the last several years; and attempt to describe the fruitful environments for innovations that will shape Construction 4.0. We’ll address the market, technology, opportunity, impacts, culture, and emotions, with a global perspective, and relate them to trends in other industries. We’ll present a strategic pathway for leaders of Project Delivery Networks to inspire and guide their stakeholders to achieve success through integration of technology, market savvy, cultural identity, and principled purpose. Along the path, the culture experiences “small wins” that sustain the commitment to long-term transformation to analytical excellence, growth, new services, and an inviting and innovative environment.

Project management for construction can be very challenging. It involves intensive coordination among teams and stakeholders throughout all project phases, from design review to project delivery. Efficient management of construction documents, such as drawings, designs, issues, RFIs, change orders, etc., is the key for project success. Research has shown that more than 50% of RFIs have a root cause in design issues and documentation error that could be solved by improving design review. In this session, we look at how a data driven approach can help project teams including VDC managers, project engineers, superintendents and project managers stay on top of critical high risk items and take action. We explore how technologies such as Construction IQ can leverage knowledge and past experience gained through mining tons of data and apply that to prioritize issues and RFIs, and group them into actionable categories for faster and more focused processing, with the ultimate goal of mitigating project risks and bettering project performance. Hear from AECOM and Danis Construction how they are connecting design to construction and their use of Construction IQ, and how it turns plain text into insights about project risk and makes the constructability review process and project management easier.

Will Plato, VDC manager at Hensel Phelps, will introduce and discuss his innovative use of construction technologies and the co-development of reality capture, computer vision, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Hensel Phelps has partnered with HoloBuilder to further develop their 360-degree photo-documentation platform and solve immediate needs on projects throughout the Southwest region. Mr. Plato’s presentation will outline how Hensel Phelps has used technology to secure ROI and gain a competitive advantage; show how to successfully involve key members of the team in software development projects; and demonstrate the next-generation AI reality analytics tools that Hensel Phelps is piloting with HoloBuilder. After an initial MVP dashboard, analytics based on computer vision and machine learning were added to supplement the HoloBuilder projects. Comparing project progress ratios has helped Mr. Plato and his team apply learnings from one project to the next, and help Hensel Phelps become an even better builder.

BIM (Building Information Modeling) for infrastructure has rapidly emerged to transform the way transportation and civil infrastructure agencies, organizations, consultants, and contractors plan, design, and construct their projects, and maintain, operate, and manage their assets. BIM and CAD are effective tools for project delivery and they’re even more valuable when integrated with geographic information system (GIS) to provide asset management. This class will provide value-based deployment strategies, best practices, challenges, and case studies of successful BIM-CAD-GIS projects.

This class is a concentrate of technology and automation to speed up the process of creating models ready for the detail design phase. We’ll start from a simple alignment in Civil 3D software, and connect these data to Revit software using the COM application programming interfaces. You’ll learn how to keep the project consistent between the 2 platforms without reworks. You’ll see how to use Dynamo and intelligent adaptive components to dress your model, create automatic cross sections, and place basic reinforcement with a few mouse clicks. Finally, learn how to send your models to InfraWorks 360 software or 3ds Max Interactive software for a brilliant presentation. Don't you think it’s time to hire a software developer to be ready for the next generation of project deliveries?

Skilled trades people are in demand, with many sectors of the construction industry experiencing a shortage of workers. While there are ongoing efforts to work towards solving this challenge, such as workforce diversification and better access to apprenticeship programs, it is important to remember that skilled project management personnel are in short supply as well, and that shortage is continuing to grow. Historically, the industry has tackled this challenge through on-the-job training and elevating tradespeople to management positions, leveraging their firsthand knowledge of the work done at the job site. These mentorships, whether formal or informal, continue to be of great importance, but may fall short in today's rapidly changing construction industry. With the adoption of new technologies such as software based project management tools, digital drawings that include 3D and BIM data, and evolving methods of collaboration such as Lean thinking, its important to adopt more formalized methods of continued education and to find ways to make this available to our skilled trades people. This panel discussion will explore the importance of access to information and training, the value of self-paced learning, and the benefits professional development can bring to organizations and the industry as a whole.

Is it possible to disrupt traditional workflow standards and have fun at the same time? The Construction Progress Coalition (CPC) is a nonprofit organization uniting architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals, technology solution providers (TSPs), and their governing organizations (GOs) around a shared language to define project interoperability standards. This common data exchange (CDX) language is not a standard per se, but a framework for stakeholders to collaboratively decide the process and data standards where they intersect with company and project requirements. To communicate effectively in the digital age, we need standards. However, those standards must be flexible enough to accommodate the unique aspects of each project. Together with our panel of industry and technology experts, we’ll discuss how to define and implement project delivery standards in more-engaging and enjoyable ways with the help of a CDX playbook.

This panel discussion will explore opportunities to manage construction execution by creating a performance-based strategy to align project performance with anticipated outcomes, thus creating the high-performing building. Using principles such as the simple framework as found in Integrating Project Delivery (Fischer, Ashcraft, Reed, Khanzode), production planning methods, lean principles, and integrated design, the discussion will explain strategy, practice, and the vision of future state. The panel will provide insight into the theory and opportunities for improving performance. Once the framework has been agreed upon, teams can operate a performance management system by defining the performance criteria and validating performance through data collection for specific and measurable metrics. There will be system alignment throughout the project lifecycle in a collaborative environment to provide transparent and powerful information to the team for optimized performance.

The lean construction movement continues. Leading owners, general contractors, and trade partners are adopting production-planning practices at a growing rate. Come and find out what's behind this important shift in construction project delivery. Our panel of customers will share their experiences with lean planning techniques like the Last Planner System. They will also discuss how tools, like BIM 360 Plan web service, can help support your roll out of lean practices. If you are already using production planning on your jobs, come and compare notes with your peers. If you are new to lean, this is a great opportunity to learn about the benefits of lean construction and how to make it work for your company.

This class will go over all aspects of an integrated project delivery (IPD) / Building Information Modeling (BIM) project for health care or science projects. We'll review different methods of project delivery and effective implementation plans. During the class, we'll cover fundamentals of laser scanning for IPD/BIM projects and we'll show examples. We'll review and discuss owner agreements and lean practices that are used on the IPD projects. In regards to legal aspects, we'll discuss some information for different project scenarios.

What would you say if you could take a more-simplified concept model useful for quickly and accurately quoting jobs and then utilize that same model to jump start your detailed engineering design process? Sounds like a pretty great deal, right? If that's what you're thinking, then this will be a great class for you! We'll explore using the Factory Design Utilities software to quickly build concept models for the quoting and customer-presentation process. Specifically utilizing the Factory Design Utilities Connector technologies lets us easily "snap build" models together and transfer parameter values to maximize conceptual design efficiency. From there, we'll talk specific structure, utilizing virtual components within the concept model to drive BOM creation from real components, both standard library (non-changing) as well as custom-engineered parts with their associated drawings. This lets us save time engineering the model and integrate with data management systems, like Vault software.