News and Announcements

What's New in Revit Architecture 2010 Webcast
Autodesk Imagine Virtual Event – May 19
Autodesk Imagine Tour – June 4, San Jose

Revit User Groups
Bend, OR: May 12; 11:30am-1:00pm PT Register
What’s New in Revit Architecture 2010?
Sacramento: May 14; 11:00am-1:15pm PT Register
Revit Detailing Show and Tell
East Bay: May 19; 11:30am-1:30pm PT Register
Revit Detailing Show and Tell
Redwood Empire: May 19; 11:30am-1:00pm PT Register
Revit and Reality
San Francisco: May 20; 11:30am-1:30pm PT Register
Scoping Your Project in Revit

Ideate Presents
Seattle: May 13; 11:00am-1:15pm PT Register
What’s New in Revit Architecture 2010 and Revit MEP 2010?
Portland: May 14; 9:00-11:00am and 3:00-5:00pm PT (2 sessions)
What’s New in Revit Architecture 2010 and Revit MEP 2010? Register

Studies in Success
Ideate is pleased to present a series of case studies, highlighting best practices by industry leaders.

Cary Kopczynski & Company, Structural Engineers
Washington-based structural engineering firm and Ideate customer CKC is fulfilling the promise of Building Information Modeling (BIM) with its adoption of Autodesk® Revit® Structure, the BIM application for structural engineering built on the Revit platform that allows architects and engineers to work in a truly integrated manner.

Click here to download the CKC Study in Success

Leong Architects - 3.1 Phillip Lim Fashion Gallery
Ideate, Inc. client Leong Architects, Inc. was architect of record for an unconventional renovation project on an extremely fast track: the flagship 3.1 Phillip Lim fashion boutique in West Hollywood, California. The team dedicated to the project used Revit to model the curved pyramid wall textures, construction documents and actual field layout. They would not have been able to design, revise and manage this project in the short timeframe without using Revit.

Click here to download the Leong Architects Study in Success

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Robot Extensions for Structural Engineering and MEP
The latest Robot™ Extensions unite the power of Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010 software and Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis 2010 software. Structural engineers can now perform analysis and design calculations of composite steel beams to help meet US design codes and load takedown simulations to help calculate the flow of forces through a structure resulting from applied loads all within a Revit Structure 2010 design model. Watch this video to see the Robot Extensions in action.

Revit Extensions for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and Revit MEP:

Revit® Extensions are a series of easy-to-use applications that extend the capabilities of the Revit platform products.
For Revit Architecture and Revit MEP the extensions provide enhancements in the areas of modeling, coordination, and documentation.

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Autodesk® Ecotect™ Analysis 2010
Ideate is pleased to carry Autodesk® Ecotect™ Analysis 2010 software, a whole-building performance analysis tool, This new product and online resource provide architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms with tools that help simplify and enable sustainable design decisions.

Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010 provides architects and engineers with a wide range of simulation and analysis functionality, which helps users to better understand earlier in the design process how environmental factors--such as solar, thermal, shading, lighting and airflow--will affect building performance. Design firms can use the newest version of the product within extended building design teams using Autodesk applications for building information modeling (BIM), applying all the tools necessary for building performance analyses that help enable energy-efficient and sustainable designs.
With the rich information inherent in the BIM process, design data can be imported using the gbXML file format from software such as Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 and Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2010 into Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010, helping to provide more accurate simulation and analysis at any phase in the design process.

Autodesk Ecotect Analysis subscription members now have access to the Autodesk® Green Building Studio® web-based service, allowing for whole-building energy analysis to help determine estimated total energy costs, carbon emissions based on local electric grid data and net-zero energy potential with the application of renewable energy sources. In addition, customers can run several simulation and analysis studies, such as calculating solar availability, determining heating/cooling loads, calculating daylight factors and determining potential ENERGY STAR scoring.

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Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design
The Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design is a new free online resource for designers that illustrates sustainable design principles, decisions and technologies for every phase of the building project lifecycle.  

The Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design is another tool that helps project teams, including owner, architect, engineer and contractor, address sustainable design decisions earlier in the project lifecycle. This online resource can help users first decide what the sustainability goals of the project should be, which decisions are crucial, and what tools to use and steps to take to create and deliver more sustainable designs from start to finish.

The guide assists users in selecting their building paths and in viewing the consequences of their design choices on the efficient use of water, energy, materials and land. Users can see the potential they have to influence the sustainable use of these resources at every phase of the process, with scales that increase or decrease depending on where you are in the design-build phase; the higher the scale, the greater the effect of design decisions made at that phase on the sustainability potential of the finished project.

InterSpec Releases e-SPECS® Version 4.2 
InterSpec Releases e-SPECS® Version 4.2 with Building Product Manufacturer's Content, More Revit Integration Bindings "Out of the Box" and Extended Parametric Support. Everyone developing Revit BIM content can assured of accurate and coordinated construction specifications using e-SPECS v4.2.

Reed Construction Data Releases e-SPECS® Compliant BIM Library
The release of SBL v3.2 offers new features and enhancements including the drag-and-drop family publisher, allowing users to automatically publish and load Revit families into SmartBIM Library from a user’s file system, Autodesk® Revit project files or Autodesk® Seek.

Additional functionality allows users to attach files, including text documents, spreadsheets and images, to SmartBIM Objects using the drag-and-drop feature, and to view them from the attachment pane.

SBL 3.2 is also now an e-SPECS® Compliant BIM Library to assist users in automating the specification process.

Read the entire press release here.

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Ideate Training Lab Rental
Ideate training facilities are unmatched in the industry, and now available for rental. Your profession entails precision, superior quality and a well-defined aesthetic sense. Ideate training centers demonstrate Ideate’s respect for the work you perform and offer you a place to work and learn that is conducive to your productivity.

Each Ideate Training Lab is located in the heart of its downtown area for your convenience: San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Portland and Seattle. Each is equipped with the fastest hardware and most up-to-date software. The result is that you now have the option rent a comfortable learning environment at an affordable rate.

Get all the details here.

BIM + IPD: Three Success Stories
As design and construction budgets shrink and clients demands for quicker, more efficient design and delivery continue to escalate, many architecture and construction firms are embracing integrated project delivery, an approach that integrates people, systems, business structures, and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of all participants to reduce waste and optimize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication, and construction.

IPD is often referred to as a process that unlocks the power of building information modeling by using a 3D BIM model instead of 2D construction documents to coalesce the entire team early in the design process.

For three innovative BIM and IPD projects, it was necessary for the respective Building Teams and project owners to make the leap from traditional contracts that protected one member of the Building Team over the others. "We're no longer in our own little zone," said Laura Handler, director of virtual construction at Tocci Building Company, Boston, the general contractor on the Autodesk job. "What we learned quickly on this project is that we, as an industry, have to get out of our little zones."

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Ideate Assistance Program
Ideate is participating in the Autodesk Assistance Program for displaced workers, providing education, support and tools to its customers. Today’s economic challenges have impacted Ideate, Inc.’s customers significantly and the Autodesk Assistance Program will help people to enhance, maintain and improve their 3D design technology skills to remain competitive in the marketplace. 
                        
Ideate, Inc. will be offering a variety of services and education programs to its design and engineering customers.  Qualifying individuals will be eligible for any 13-month term student license of AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk Inventor and/or Autodesk Revit Architecture software.  Free on-demand training will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week provided online through vBooks - powered by Retrieve Technologies, Inc. (internet access required).  Applicants should register on the Autodesk Assistance Program portal (www.autodesk.com/assistance), email a Training Request to assist@ideateinc.com and then they will have the opportunity to fill open seats in one of the following Ideate classes: AutoCAD Fundamentals, AutoCAD Civil 3D Fundamentals, Revit Architecture Fundamentals, Revit MEP Fundamentals or Revit Structure Fundamentals.  The training fee of $249 will cover courseware costs and contribute to program management expense.  Attendees taking advantage of this nominal fee enjoy a savings of $1300 to $1700 over non-Ideate Assistance registration fees. 

“Ideate’s participation in the Autodesk Assistance Program is a great way we can help our AEC community,” says Ideate, Inc. President Bob Palioca. “Our industry is making giant innovative leaps forward in the midst of a staggering economic downturn. Talented people find themselves without work while skills and expertise in BIM/IPD are in demand. By offering free and very low-cost access to sophisticated BIM/IPD-focused products and training, and combining these with relevant networking opportunities, we can help unemployed industry professionals improve their employability in this competitive job market.” 

Click here to read the entire Ideate Press Release

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