Virtual Design and Construction (VDC)

Introducing Virtual Design and Construction (VDC)

2D is no longer the norm. With all the new emerging technologies rolling around, it could be hard to keep track which ones are here to stay and those that will only come as a passing trend. But for those who make it through the fad, these revolutionary processes are continuously disrupting what was once considered the traditional workflow in the industry.

Name BIM and VDC. From buzzwords to powerhouse, these two disruptive processes successfully made the transition to innovation in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. In a layperson’s eyes, these two terms could be interchangeable. However, as world-class engineering experts leading the forefront in innovation, we give you the difference between BIM and VDC in the next section.

BIM, or Building Information Modeling, is an intelligent 3D-modeling based informational process representing physical and functional characteristics which could be used collaboratively by all project stakeholders such as architects, engineers, construction managers, contractors and facility managers from the start to the completion of your building project.

VDC, or Virtual Design and Construction utilizes multi-disciplinary 3D models to represent your building project on a virtual world even before it is built. Put simply, VDC makes use of BIM to simulate the visualizations of your building project in the design, construction and operation phase. In a nutshell, BIM is integrated into VDC.

At New York Engineers, our innovative engineers utilize VDC and its subservice 4D BIM to produce fast and quality results for your building project. When dealing with large-scale complex projects, building facilities require rigorous collaboration from all different trades.

VDC and 4D BIM comes in handy for your building project as this gives us the arsenal to be efficient in our core functionalities in the field, namely:

• Build sequence
• Project scheduling and planning
• Interfacing matrix with construction trades
• Gantt chart
• Critical path management

It’s complicated enough to keep track of all the construction trades coming in without a coherent build sequence. In a linear build process, no problem would ever resurface when it comes to the build sequence of the interfacing trade matrix.

However, this proposition is not entirely feasible as it could drag not only your schedule, but also your quality and cost constraint to the extremes. Fast track or not, parallel build sequence where construction trades enter your building project concurrently would produce you faster and economical results.

As our client, VDC with 4D BIM lessens all the complications that you can encounter with different trades and gives you the walkthrough on the planned dates versus the actual dates of the design-construction-operation phase of your building project.

On the general contractor’s side, hiring us to be on your design consultant team would ensure you that your subcontractors can efficiently start on site following the project timeline proactively.

For project and construction managers, you can err on the side of caution as VDC with 4D BIM can help you simulate site logistics and safety planning, further eliminating the occupational hazards for your workers.

Even before your project is built, this is what we can assure you with VDC and 4D BIM: our engineers will help you track your building progress each step of the way—resulting in superior quality, faster handover and increased savings for you down the road.

Add another dimension to 4D BIM, and you’ve got cost optimization on your side. 5D BIM, made possible through VDC, can help you realize where you need to cut losses and when to invest on assets during the duration of your building project.

In an agile and fast-paced construction, cash flow can lean on the negative side if your project team lack the expertise to handle cost constraints properly. On the other hand, this can also give you a clue on the dearth of technical resources to complement the proficiency of your team. At New York Engineers, we foresee this two scenarios, that’s why we utilize 5D BIM in our VDC process to deliver cost-effective solutions for you.

Here are some of the features that we can automate so we can free up more of our time and labor to help you make critical budget decisions on your building project:

• Quantity take-offs
• Bill of materials
• Construction cost estimation
• Bid management

In a typical building construction, wastage occurs almost instantly when actual prices do not concur with cost estimates. When fluctuating variables such as inflation, scarce laborers or rush orders are not factored in, this can use up all your contingency fund or worse, lead to hold orders and bankruptcy.

Here’s what we can do for you especially when fast-track construction calls for our expertise: our skilled MEP engineers can handle all the workload simultaneously on a financial standpoint from design, to procurement, down to construction.

We can work expertly on a parallel workflow—designing the building services components, and procuring the urgent and long-lead items for assembly and site installation all while considering your project budget from conception to completion. This way, we can negate costly accelerated claims from all stakeholders. All these are made possible through VDC and 5D BIM.

Simulations and Visualizations in Virtual Design and Construction

Back from paper and pen sketches to 2D precision drawings, the AEC industry has come a long way. Now, 3D models pop up on the design studio, with BIM workflow becoming the norm for small-scale to large-scale architectural, engineering and construction management firms.

Even more so, VDC won’t stop soon anytime at all on its tracks, as these disruptive features are now evidently changing the way AEC industry specialists think and act:

• Client walkthrough
• Marketing presentations
• Energy modelling
• Clash detection
• Virtual reality (VR)
• Augmented reality (AR)

Winning over your potential clients before usually involves a manual walkthrough on your design blueprints and hand sketches. But now, that’s not the case anymore. Not only is the traditional workflow inefficient, innovative competitors can outperform your firm and take over your prospective deals instead with VDC. At New York Engineers, being ahead of the game is what we are good at.

Using VDC for your visualizations, your clients can now enter the building project realm on a three-dimensional scale through VR and AR. This marketing presentation can help you land more jobs for your firm, leading to higher profit margins. On the technical side, VDC helps our expert MEP engineers in identifying collisions on the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems—effectively reducing rework on the field.

Since climate change is on the rise, our engineers also aim for green design on all our building services, and energy modelling integrated into our VDC process provides the right solutions. Designing your HVAC aerodynamics with the sun-path orientation and wind turbines to funnel maximum airflow is now an easy engineering feat. At New York Engineers, we make the inconceivable happen.

Thanks to VDC, technology has changed the way we operate. Capturing data in the real world used to be a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, but with VDC in place, we can yield maximum reality capture results for your building project in the plan-build-manage phases.

Our innovative engineers drill you in on why you should take the jump from conventional to unconventional with these functionalities:

• Virtual constructability review
• Laser scanning
• Cloud computing
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)

In this digital age, data is the present and the future. More specifically, Big Data is. No wonder why our team of engineers usually design the building services of data centers, as these complex facilities serve the need of just how beneficial data can be on an individual to business scale. All that means is, Big Data is here to stay, and our engineers readily welcome this innovation.

Our goal as leading-edge engineers is to make VDC mainstream, so you can reap the multi-layered benefits when we utilize Big Data in VDC. For starters, Internet of Things (IoT) is already in the works, and this could mean interrelated job networks on-site.

This makes collaboration and management easier in all sensor-equipped aspects from the building project team, construction workers, equipment, machines, construction vehicles and drones (UAV). This could reduce safety hazards and rework on-site, as well as increase your profit margins.

Here’s another key advantage of VDC: you can use laser scans and unmanned aerial vehicles to recreate your as-built facility or aerial images in 3D models. Retrofitting or renovating has never been more exciting, as you can interact directly with your real-life models. The future of Big Data in the AEC industry is bright, and New York Engineers is here to shape your future.

The good thing about VDC is that when you invest on it upfront during the design-construction phase, maximal returns in ripple effect will come as your repercussions in the operational stage. In a building life cycle, design and construction phases are the critical starting points, but in the end, the returns you will yield will all boil down to you as a building owner.

As your trusted advisors in the engineering realm, here are the sub-disciplines where VDC can greatly contribute:

• Operations and maintenance (O&M)
• Facilities management
• Future-proofing

All project constraints such as cost and quality do not stop in function once your building facility is handed over to you. Rather, these two aspects are greatly emphasized when your building facility enters the operations and maintenance phase. It all comes down to how you use the building management system tools and VDC, per se, to maintain higher value propositions for your business.

For commercial projects where profitability is a priority, quality is directly proportional to cost. Recouping maximum returns on your capital investment is possible if your building’s well-maintained. Same goes for residential facilities where your home’s market value and resale value can increase or decrease based on its deteriorating functionalities.

When you know the ins-and-outs of your building facility, this can give you the power to calibrate your building envelope and engineering systems for your safety, comfort, function and sustainability for future demands.

In short, VDC gives you the insight patterns at the forefront so you can utilize in real-time all the data analytics for your building’s performance optimization. And that’s the exact reason why New York Engineers urges you to take the jump in VDC.