Today, we released new versions of Design Master HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing that are compatible with AutoCAD 2014.

See the Installing an Update page for information on installing the new version.

HVAC classes are on September 10 and 11, 2013.

Electrical classes are on September 12 and 13, 2013.

Visit the conference page to learn more or to register.

Both Design Master Electrical and Revit MEP calculate feeder and branch circuit wire lengths in order to calculate voltage drop. In Design Master Electrical, we also use this for fault current calculations, though mentioning Revit MEP can’t do that isn’t the purpose of this post.

Rather, we wanted to mention the difference in how we calculate the wire lengths.

In Revit MEP, the wire length is the sum of the distances along the X, Y, and Z axes. That’s great when you are calculating a length inside a building, but what about underground wires? There’s no option to calculate straight-line distances.

In Design Master Electrical, we give you the choice for how to calculate the wire length. You can calculate it based upon the distances along the X, Y, and Z axes, but you can also calculate it based upon the straight-line distance. The calculation method can be specified for each circuit, allowing you to control how your calculations are performed.

Request a Free Demonstration and 30 Day Trial

Request a free demonstration of Design Master Electrical to learn more about our software.

Both Design Master HVAC and Revit MEP can calculate building cooling loads based upon the definition of the building.

Revit limits your calculations to April through November. Design Master HVAC allows you to calculate building loads for all 12 months of the year, from January all the way to December.

For most buildings, April through November is good enough. But if you have a building in California or Texas with a lot of southern facing glass, you might have a peak load in December or January.

Design Master HVAC will find that peak for you. Revit MEP won’t.

Request a Free Demonstration and 30 Day Trial

Request a free demonstration of Design Master HVAC and learn more about our building load calculations.

Both Design Master Electrical and Revit MEP can calculate voltage drop on feeders and branch circuit conductors. That’s to be expected in a modern electrical BIM program.

However, according to the Revit MEP Help, “For the purposes of Voltage Drop calculations, Revit MEP always assumes Copper conductors.” (Click the “Wire Impedance Factors” link on this page for where this is documented.)

In Design Master Electrical, you are not limited to calculating voltage drop on copper conductors. We can calculate voltage drop on aluminum conductors, too.

Request a Free Demonstration and 30 Day Trial

Request a free demonstration of Design Master Electrical to learn more about our exhausting electrical calculations.

The survey was conducted online. A link to the survey was included in our monthly newsletter, on various LinkedIn groups, on Autodesk’s AutoCAD MEP forum, on AUGI’s Revit MEP forum, and at the bottom of our MEP Ninja comic pages.

Results from the survey in 2010 and 2011 are available online. Comparing this year’s results with those two years, we continue to see two significant trends in the industry:

• The number of projects modeled in 3D for collision detection has not changed in the last two years.
• When a project is modeled in 3D, the number of systems included in the 3D model is increasing.

Demographics

This year, 74 people responded to the survey, 67 of whom were located in the United States or Canada. Like last year, most of the respondents worked at consulting companies and at large companies.

We asked which BIM programs the respondents use. Two-thirds of the respondents in the survey use Revit MEP, half use AutoCAD MEP, and less than half use Design Master (DM) HVAC, Electrical, or Plumbing. There was significant overlap between the three programs, with many respondents using a combination of two or three of the programs. Six respondents did not use any of these three programs. Due to the fact that we sponsored the survey and advertised it in our monthly newsletter, the number of DM users relative to the industry as a whole is probably overstated.

Types of BIM Used

BIM and 3D are not the same thing. You can use BIM for many other purposes, such as automated design, material takeoffs, and green design. We wanted to know how the various types of BIM were being used on projects, not just 3D collision detection (3D-BIM).

We found that 72% of respondents are using 3D-BIM on some of their projects. Only 20% of respondents said that they do not use BIM. Comparing the results from last year with this year, there was an increase in use of BIM for automated design and for material takeoffs. The use of BIM for 3D collision detection and green design did not change.

Large firms continue to use BIM more frequently than small firms, though the difference is smaller this year than last year. Large firms use 3D-BIM much more frequently than small firms. Large and small firms continue to use BIM for automated design at the same rate. Large firms use BIM more frequently for material takeoffs, though the use of BIM at small firms for this purpose increased significantly this year. Large firms continue to use BIM more frequently for green design.

Current Projects Using 3D-BIM

We asked what percentage of current projects use 3D-BIM. For the last two years, 24% of respondents did not use 3D-BIM on any projects. This year, that number decreased to 18%. Similar to last year, 56% of respondents use 3D-BIM on less than half their projects (compared to 62% last year).

Comparing large firms with small firms again, large firms use 3D-BIM on more of their projects than small firms.

Creating a 3D model and coordinating it with other disciplines is a time-consuming process. We asked whether firms are able to charge for the additional time required on projects that use 3D-BIM. This number continues to bounce around 50% each year. In 2010 it was 40%, in 2011 it was 56%, and this year it is 49%.

When projects are modeled in 3D, most disciplines are included. Electrical and plumbing models are only slightly less frequently modeled than architectural, structural, and mechanical systems.

The frequency with which each discipline is modeled in 3D continued to increase compared to last year. In 2010, there were lots of projects modeled in 3D where multiple pieces were not included. In 2011, this increased to include more projects, and in 2012, it increased again to include even more projects. This is where the growth in 3D-BIM is happening. The number of projects that require a 3D model is fairly consistent from year to year. But when a 3D model is called for in a project, everyone is getting on board (whether they want to or not!) to produce one.

Future Projects Using 3D-BIM

We also asked what percentage of projects in three years would be designed using 3D-BIM. The expectation the last two years was for projects using 3D-BIM to increase, and that expectation is repeated this year. For all three years, 75% of respondents expect to be using 3D-BIM on half or more of their projects in three years, and 30% of respondents expect to be using 3D-BIM on all of their projects in three years.

Comparing large firms and small firms again, large firms expect to use 3D-BIM on more projects in 3 years than small firms do. Only 20% of small firms expect all of their work to use 3D-BIM, while 40% of large firms expect that to happen.

Like the last two years, the expectation is that all disciplines will be modeled in 3D more frequently in the future.

Trends in 3D-BIM

Our original purpose for the survey was to be able to compare trends between years. We now have three years of data and can compare the reported use of 3D-BIM in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and the predicted use of 3D-BIM in 2013, 2014, and 2015. The reported use this year is also one year from the predicted use in the first year of the survey. Has the industry moved toward or away from the predictions for the future use of 3D-BIM?

The current use of 3D-BIM changed very little between 2010, 2011, and 2012. There are differences, but nothing significant compared to the margin of error in the data. The predicted use of 3D-BIM three years in the future also changed very little. The expectations for 2013 in 2010, for 2014 in 2011, and for 2015 in 2012 are basically the same.

Comparing the current use of 3D-BIM in 2012 and the predicted use of 3D-BIM in 2013, there’s either going to be a huge jump in projects requiring 3D-BIM in the next year, or expectations were wrong. Our hypothesis, which we can finally test next year, is that expectations will prove to be wrong. Widespread use of 3D-BIM will continue to be something that is continually three years away.

The two trends we identified last year continue to hold true this year.

Most projects will not be modeled in 3D. The number of projects using 3D-BIM will slowly increase, but it will not be as dramatic as our respondents expect. High profile projects featured in case studies, such as stadiums, hospitals, and towering skyscrapers, will continue to feature 3D collision detection. Routine buildings that do not benefit from 3D-BIM, such as strip mall remodels, banks, chain restaurants, and veterinarian offices, will not use it. These routine projects that do not require 3D-BIM will outnumber complicated projects that do.

Some projects will be modeled in 3D, and all disciplines will be required to produce a 3D model when this happens. Different parts of the industry have transitioned at different speeds to 3D-BIM. In the next year or two, when a project calls for a 3D model, it will be for the whole project. It will be increasingly unacceptable to have some disciplines not participate in this process.

This article looks at the three things we observed in the data that were most interesting. The observations are related to projects that are using BIM for 3D collision detection and coordination (3D-BIM).

You can read a more detailed description of all the information we collected in the MEP 3D-BIM Survey 2012 Results article. In particular, the more detailed article looks at how BIM is being used for purposes other than 3D collision detection.

Observation #1: The number of projects using 3D-BIM is not changing.

This graph compares the percentage of projects that include 3D-BIM from the last three years. The lines for each year look pretty much the same.

Observation #2: 3D-BIM is continually just three years away from becoming required on every project.

This graph compares the percentage of projects that respondents anticipate will use 3D-BIM three years in the future. Again, the line for each year looks pretty much the same.

Taken together, these two observations highlight a serious disconnect in the industry. Some projects are currently using 3D-BIM, but that number is not changing. Everyone expects that three years from now, most projects will be using 3D-BIM. But that future has not yet drawn any closer and is always three years away.

If the number of projects that involve 3D-BIM is not changing, why does everyone in the industry feel such pressure to transition to it, and why does everyone constantly anticipate it will be the standard in three years? We believe our next observation is the answer.

Observation #3: When a project uses 3D-BIM, the number of systems that are modeled is increasing.

The next graph displays how often a model of each system is provide when the project involves 3D-BIM. The blue portion of each bar represents the percentage of companies that see the specific system modeled 100% of the time. For all systems, it has consistently increased each year.

In the past, it was possible for a project involving 3D-BIM to not include all the systems in the building. For example, in 2010, over 20% of respondents never saw a 3D electrical model. Today, that number is less than 10%.

The transition that is happening in the industry is not that more projects are requiring 3D-BIM. That is staying the same.

Instead, the transition that is happening is that when a project requires 3D-BIM, everyone is being required to provide a model. Previously, certain systems were given a pass and not included. The focus was on the large systems that were the cause of most conflicts. Modeling just the structural and mechanical systems provided a lot of benefit even if the other systems were missing. Now that 3D models of those systems is standard, there is pressure and incentive to model the other systems, too.

The two conclusions we put forth based upon last year’s data both continue to be true:

Most projects will not be modeled in 3D. The number of projects using 3D-BIM will slowly increase, but it will not be as dramatic as our respondents expect. High profile projects featured in case studies, such as stadiums, hospitals, and towering skyscrapers, will continue to feature 3D collision detection. Routine buildings that do not benefit from 3D-BIM, such as strip mall remodels, banks, chain restaurants, and veterinarian offices, will not use it. These routine projects that do not require 3D-BIM will outnumber complicated projects that do.

Some projects will be modeled in 3D, and all disciplines will be required to produce a 3D model when this happens. Different parts of the industry have transitioned at different speeds to 3D-BIM. In the next year or two, when a project calls for a 3D model, it will be for the whole project. It will be increasingly unacceptable to have some disciplines not participate in this process.

Further Reading

This article describes just the highlights of the survey. Read the MEP 3D-BIM Survey 2012 Results article for a complete discussion of all the results.

The result: Once again, the new version of AutoCAD starts slower than previous versions.

Here is a table of the tests that I performed this year:

These tests were run on a different computer from last year. I omitted some of the previous versions of AutoCAD to save time. You can see the slow increase of startup times with each new version.

Interestingly, on this computer AutoCAD 2012 does load faster than AutoCAD 2011. The main difference between this computer and last year’s is that it has an SSD hard drive. So, if you are running Windows 7 and have an SSD hard drive, AutoCAD 2012 is faster to start than AutoCAD 2011. But, AutoCAD 2013 is slower than both of them.

Last year’s results, including the testing method, are available at this post.

We released new versions of Design Master HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing that are compatible with AutoCAD 2013. They also restore support for AutoCAD 2004, 2005, and 2006, which we dropped last summer.

See the Installing an Update page for information on installing the new version.

If you want to install it on AutoCAD 2013, you will need to contact us for a new license file.

If you want to install it on AutoCAD 2004, 2005, or 2006, your current license file will work.

HVAC classes are on September 18 and 19, 2012.

Electrical classes are on September 20 and 21, 2012.

Visit the conference page to learn more or to register.