Customer Showcase

The Challenge
The building’s design challenges included a complex radial geometry, an innovative steel-frame exoskeleton, and numerous eco-friendly features, such as geothermal wells, natural ventilation, high-performance wastewater treatment, and a photovoltaic roof, which will provide 30 percent of the building’s power. The facility, which will house administrative and research groups, will also feature an adaptive building control system and a flexible, open floor plan. "Our ultimate goal was to create a self-sustaining building that produces virtually all of the energy it consumes on-site," says June Grant, the project manager for AECOM.

Budgetary restrictions forced NASA Ames to accelerate the project timeline or risk loss of funding. "We needed a common platform that would enable us to produce the project in a very quick time frame," says Grant. "In particular, it was crucial that the structural engineers and architects be in constant communication."

On this project, AECOM team members were based in San Francisco, Moffett Field, and Orange County, California; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Phoenix, Arizona. To connect the geographically dispersed team, AECOM relied upon Autodesk building information modeling (BIM) solutions, including Autodesk® Revit® Architecture software and Autodesk® Revit® Structure software, complemented by Autodesk® Navisworks® Manage software, Autodesk® Ecotect® Analysis software, and tools based on the AutoCAD® platform, such as AutoCAD® MEP software. "These powerful tools helped provide the rapid responses we needed on this complex, fast-track project," says Tom Horan, vice president at AECOM and AECOM’s site director at NASA Ames. NASA’s support for using BIM on this project is in alignment with its mandate requiring BIM use on all projects exceeding $10 million that are initiated after October 2010.

Link the Disciplines
One of the most visible aspects of the new facility was its innovative steel-frame exoskeleton, which required close coordination between the architects and structural engineers, who were using Revit Structure software. "A common BIM software platform enabled the architects to avoid duplicating the engineers’ work," says Horan. "They could more quickly see how structural changes impacted the architecture."

This level of connectivity helped increase design accuracy. For example, when the structural engineer adjusted a piece of steel, Revit Architecture automatically flagged the change, informing the project manager that the connections no longer worked. For added design accuracy, the team conducted weekly clash detection with Navisworks Manage. "Navisworks was crucial to better understanding how architecture and structure aligned," says Grant.

The exoskeleton was an essential component of another design goal: an open—but narrow—column-free floor plan that will encourage flexibility and collaboration among the building’s end users. "By putting the lateral resisting system on the outside of the building, we were able to free up the entire floor plan," says Horan. The exoskeleton also increased structural performance during seismic events and served as an armature for modular shading devices.

Attain the Highest Efficiency Standards
"Our client’s goal was never simply to get to LEED Platinum," says Horan. "That was understood as a baseline." Right from the start, AECOM examined local climatic conditions and how the sun moved across the sky throughout the year, searching for ways to take advantage of passive solar lighting in the building. To help meet the project’s exacting sustainability standards, AECOM exported data from the model to a variety of analysis software applications, including Ecotect Analysis. AECOM used these tools to compare the performance of the lighting layout against the team’s goals, designing, fine tuning, and analyzing in a constant loop.

"Traditional office spaces hide behind high walls," says Grant. To encourage collaboration, AECOM wanted to introduce a new culture of lower walls and open spaces. With data from the Revit Architecture model, AECOM used Ecotect Analysis to investigate how far sunlight would extend into the building’s open workspaces. "That helped us determine the impact that lower partition walls would have on energy consumption and gave us valuable feedback about the design."

WM+P also utilized information from the Revit Architecture model, using Ecotect Analysis to better understand the cost impacts of its design decisions, particularly around floor-to-ceiling heights and integration of daylight into the design. "We were able to optimize the daylighting, making sure that what we created worked for the benefit of the building from both an engineering and cost standpoint," says Reilly. "Ecotect Analysis helped us study the impact of potential design changes faster, more effectively, and earlier in the design process."

As the design developed, AECOM exported the Revit model to a third-party application for energy analysis by the team’s high-performance building engineers, who supplied feedback on window sizes and locations, helping the team validate the design direction. "We were able to fine-tune the design within a very short time frame," says Grant. "Typically, on a project like this, you would not have a chance to do that much benchmark testing to make sure you are performing according to your targets. Revit Architecture software and its ability to talk to other applications helped make the process relatively easy."

The Result
Construction on the project is scheduled for completion in early 2011. "Using Autodesk BIM solutions, we completed the drawings and design in about nine months—half the time originally scheduled for this project," says Grant.

"Autodesk BIM solutions were a crucial component in both the production of the design documents and in the analysis required to evaluate our recommendations," says Grant. "They were the tools of choice for communication because they help facilitate dialogue and coordination within the design team. We were very impressed."

WM+P shared Grant’s viewpoint. "Although geographically quite dispersed, the team was integrated through the BIM process and the model," says Reilly. "We were very happy with the results."