2024-02-07

Smart Museum - Digital Twin at The Wright Museum

Last year, my team at R.O.I. Consulting Group was fortunate enough to be able to work on a great project with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History as an IoT sensor partner (though I also like to think our experience with digital twin and facilities management issues and platforms came into play as well).

You may have heard about them from Autodesk University 2023, Operationalizing a Smart Museum: An Owner's Journey to Digital Twin. This talk was recorded and the slides and handout are available for download, and you get to learn about how they are creating the next generation Green museum.

We primarily worked with their Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), Leslie Tom, and their Exhibit Designer, Korzell Coe. They have a lot of really interesting initiatives that their model and sensors will be the base for, and a big team behind them making the vision that they expressed become reality.


I have been meaning to share their AU presentation, and unfortunately had not gotten around to that yet... but what more perfect time than today? They've been working with Autodesk on a highlight video of their project and it just went live! 

Having worked in facilities for over 20 years, it is SO important for us to hear from the Owner / Operators of these campuses directly, what they are actually doing, the problems they are solving. Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Consulting firms should not be trying to push technologies that facility engineers and space planners and energy managers do not need. It is a waste of effort on both sides and can lead to a lot of dissatisfaction of unmet expectations. So, really understanding where these owners comes from allows you as a service provider to recommend and provide something useful and wanted that solves the problems the building owner has, and brings them back to you as a trusted adviser and partner.

READ AND WATCH on the Autodesk website

You can also Watch on LinkedIn

This video not only shows their beautiful facility, but explains their goals and some of the documentation issues they've had in the past, and how they moved past that and recreated record drawings for their facilities management and future planning needs, as well as to connect to sensors.

The video is only 4 minutes long, so please watch, BUT also I encourage you to carve out some time to read the article beneath it, as it delves into more of their drivers, the roi, sustainability, environmental and cultural awareness, historical artifact preservation, and much more!



2023-10-11

Reality of BIM in FM - Podcast

This summer, I sat down with Angela Simoes and Jonathan Girroir from TechSoft 3D to discuss Digital Twin, and how that actually plays out in the real world.

While I am currently a consultant, and have been since 2016. Most of my career was on the owner / operator side of the AECO industry. I will never try to convince our clients to use a solution I would not use in their shoes. 

In fact, one of the services that we offer here at R.O.I. Consulting Group is evaluating IWMS and IoT solutions for clients and making an informed recommendation to them, based on our knowledge of the platforms and their needs. So, my leadership and coworkers are of the same mind as me in this regard.

On a high level, we discussed:

1. What does it look like when an ideal model-based handover occurs and is ingested into the operations management system?

vs

2. What does handover actually look like and where does it go wrong?

Topics that were touched upon: 

  • In this discussion, I explain why owners need a single file format for deliverables, and how those (either DWG or RVT) work with our IWMS / CAFM / CPIP systems.
  • How BIM requirements are laid out in materials specs/SOWs.
  • We do not get the deliverables that we spec and pay for, sometimes intentionally, sometimes due to shifting priorities.
  • Collaboration between teams during design and construction is far overstated.
  • There can be multiple points of failure during closeout and handover that results in clients not receiving editable documentation or consistent documentation.
  • Every design team should have at least one programmer who can automate changes across a project. Don't do this manually, come on.
  • Don't make assumptions on Facility Engineering requirements, ask why that spec is there.
  • The IWMS is the single source of truth and touchpoint for most users, not the model.
  • How databases have longevity and portability, ensuring long term maintenance.
  • The model MUST to be editable, for maintenance corrections and future renovations.
  • Keeping models up to date saves vast amounts of money on future projects not requiring surveying and redrawing.
  • The biggest improvement in our segment of the industry is actually SaaS IWMS hosting (regular included updated) vs internal or consultant hosted (years between updates, so many customizations that upgrades are long and expensive).
  • The design team needs to speak to the owner, meaning the operator... not the project manager. If you are involving the occupant, you can involve the FM team, too, include it in that process.
  • See Also: Who is the Owner and how do they use your deliverables? 
  • The technology is there, but the processes and coordination still have a long way to go.
  • Scanning existing conditions is getting easier as devices become cheaper.
  • Monitoring devices, sensors are so much cheaper and easier, you can DIY. For example, the Disruptive sensors that are plug n play
  • Consumer level devices such as these are easier to get past Finance / IT, etc. compared to traditional BAS/BMS and hand surveying which is more complex and expensive.


2023-09-21

Recognition from Verdantix

When I worked on the Owner's side, I remember reading a few Verdantix reports in my day. So, it has been pretty exciting this year, being able to play a small part in my company being included with the impressive service providers listed in their "Green Quadrant: Workplace Systems Integrators 2023" report.


Press release: R.O.I. Consulting Group

Going to the source, I was happy to see the Green Building Quadrant I'm familiar with. Please click through and read for more insights and perspective from Verdantix.

https://www.verdantix.com/insights/blogs/verdantix-green-quadrant-reveals-leading-workplace-systems-integrators-in-a-growing-market-

Green Quadrant - Workplace Systems Integrators 2023: Verdantix

Congratulations to all of my colleagues at R.O.I.! They are an amazingly talented group of people, providing implementation and support services for multiple IWMS / CAFM / CMMS / CPIP platforms, as well as helping building owners evaluate and select what platform is right for them.

Among those platforms we actively support:

  • MRI - Manhattan CenterStone
  • Planon
  • Serraview
  • Tango
  • Archibus
  • Tandem
And we also partner with a few IoT easy-to-use sensor vendors, including: 
  • Disruptive
  • Freespace
  • Vergesense

2023-08-24

OT: What they think I do meme


A few years back, I ran across this IT meme, and made some equivalent memes that apply my own industry. The original: 

Tech Support

  • What my friends think I do
  • What my Mom thinks I do
  • What Society thinks I do
  • What my Boss thinks I do
  • What I think I do
  • What I actually do



CAD Operator

  • What my Mom thinks I do
  • What my Friends think I do
  • What my Boss thinks I do
  • What Society thinks I do
  • What I think I do
  • What I really do



CAD Manager


Facility Manager

2023-07-11

AUGI Survey Reminders

The majority of responses to the AUGI Annual Survey do come as a direct result of our email blasts (if you are an AUGI member, please check your settings to ensure you receive AUGI Bulletins, which is any news from AUGI, separate from ads).

Just for fun, I thought I would post some of the content from the email blasts that we send out. Yes, they are primarily a call to action, but I also try to include information, in the form of charts from last year, or a snapshot of the current year's survey, that our members might find interesting.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2023AUGISurvey

WIB - Women in BIM is also conducting a survey right now, not affiliated with AUGI, but as long as you're in a mood to take surveys, feel free to jump into theirs

The Global Work Survey:  BIM and digital roles across the built environment (surveymonkey.co.uk)

Salary Survey Launch Email

We have the expected questions about pay and benefits, but there is also a chance to share information on what markets your company serves or what specialty services they offer. Our Hot Topic page has questions that might vary from year to year, in order to explore how (and how quickly) our work is changing.

So that this year’s review can provide measurable and meaningful data, it is important that all AUGI members volunteer a couple of minutes of their time and a little bit of information (anonymously, data is not in any way connected to your user account and will only be reported in broad groups), so that everyone can get an idea of the current state of their industry.

Even if you have recently been laid off, furloughed, or have had reduced hours please take the time to participate (with your most recent full time job details), and indicate your change in employment, because we would like to know that, too.


Reminder Email

Below is a chart of industry representation in the survey so far. Is your field well represented? Please share the survey link with your coworkers and other colleagues and urge them to add to the dataset, which will increase the accuracy of the results.

If you are logged in, you can download results of past surveys here: AUGI Salary Survey Archives. In addition to the Survey review from Melanie Stone, the 2022 download also includes advice from Mark Kiker on justifying staffing increases, and KaDe King on how to negotiate pay raises or starting salaries.

Here are the Top 5 Hottest Jobs last year:


And these are the Top 10 Most Appreciated Jobs last year:


Here are the Top 10 highest paying design discipline specialties in 2022:



And, finally, after you have taken this year’s survey, you might want to get ready to request a raise from your employer, so here are some resources to help you in negotiating salary: Find Your Price and Use the Numbers.

Even if you have recently been laid off, furloughed, or have had reduced hours please take the time to participate (with your most recent full time job details), and indicate your change in employment in those respective questions, because we would like to know that, too.

The encouraging news is that, from responses so far, only 1% of the industry is reporting a reduction in hours, furlough or layoff in 2023! That is an improvement over recent years.

For those affected, please remember to network online to get connected with those companies still hiring, the AUGI careers page, the AUGI forums or our LinkedIn group. You can also list yourself on the AUGI Resource Directory.

Final 2023 Survey Reminder

Voice your company’s experiences with business expansion or contraction, or your own gauge of job security and layoffs. Which markets does your company serve and how do those specialties affect wages and job security. Is AI having an impact? How are staffing concerns and remote work adoption?

In closing, the below images provide a look back over past survey results. at the average salary* for Designers (our most popular job title), as well as the industries who reported the largest raises last year.




2023-06-12

AUGI 2023 Annual Survey

It's that time of year again, folks! The running of the AUGI Annual Survey. Where YOU get to reveal how the industry is really faring.

How secure is your job? How busy is your company? Are you using AI? Are you back to office?

Take the Survey 

Open until July 18th!

(5 minutes, anonymous, results in the September issue of AUGIWorld Magazine)

If you have not taken the survey, please feel free to watch this video where I took the survey and you can hear my dulcet tones talking through my thoughts on how I answered some of the questions.


YouTube walkthrough of AUGI Salary Survey


This image is a snapshot from the 2022 survey, showing average page, and highlighting a couple of facts. Feel free to check the salary survey archives to see past surveys in full.


This is a snapshot of our survey results so far in 2023. Civil/Surveying/GIS has a pretty good lead on participation. If you'd like to see more representation of your industry, please share the survey link with your coworkers and colleagues.


Finally, this is a snapshot of the most common markets served (industry served).

2023-05-29

2022 More Results for the IFMA ITC's Digital Twin Survey

IFMA Survey Summary: Expectations and Reality

 

Last year, R.O.I. partnered with IFMA’s ITC and Autodesk to run our first annual survey on the state of electronic documentation for building owners and operators. Autodesk recently published a whitepaper revealing the highlights of that survey, demonstrating current state and desired future state. Please download this document and see what the industry has to say!

 

The 2023 IFMA ITC Annual Digital Twin Survey is running now. The IMFA survey has closed, please keep an eye out for results.

Please take a couple of minutes to chime in with information about your facility.

 

While you’re here, you might want to check out my prior article on the current state of electronic records and BIM requirements.

 

What Makes a Digital Twin?

 

Much like CAFM (Computer Aided Facility Management) and IWMS (Integrated Workplace Management System), what people believe a technology does or should contain is influenced by their respective needs. As a result of this survey, we see that the top component of a Digital Twin is a facility record model.

 


 Which Elements Are In Use Today?

 

The prior chart displays what facilities want from their technology adoption, as an end goal. They also shared what elements are already in use. We look forward to monitoring this during our annual surveys and seeing how the industry progresses.

 


Why Not Digital Twin?

 

For the respondents not yet utilizing a Digital Twin, a variety of obstacles were revealed. There are many replies citing a lack of resources (whether that be skills, funding, leadership support, or current large projects which would benefit), but nearly half of the negative replies indicate they cannot currently justify a business case.

 


Dominant Use Cases

 

For those who shared their expected business case, the most popular is supporting maintenance. Though, visualization for space and workplace management is not far behind. Commissioning a building and execution of jobs are fairly close in popularity as well. Some additional use cases were suggested, strategic portfolio planning, simulation, predictive design, and baseline comparisons.

 

 

Anticipated Business Benefits

 

When we asked, “Does your senior management see value in Digital Twin?”, a resounding 78% affirmed that they have support.

 

When queried, on a scale of 1 to 5, what are the most valuable benefits you expect from a Digital Twin initiative? All of the suggested benefits ranked strongly, indicating the importance for a wide range of functions. Receiving better deliverables and having an easier time keeping record documents up to date post-occupancy were valued most.

 


 

Please keep an eye out on notifications from R.O.I., Autodesk, and the IFMA Information Technology Community (ITC) announcing future results and surveys.




2023-05-24

2022 Results for the IFMA ITC's Digital Twin Survey

IFMA Survey Summary: State of Digital Deliverables

Last year, R.O.I. partnered with IFMA’s ITC and Autodesk to run our first annual survey on the state of electronic documentation for building owners and operators. Autodesk recently published a whitepaper revealing the highlights of that survey, demonstrating current state and desired future state. Please download this document and see what the industry has to say!

The 2023 IFMA ITC Annual Digital Twin Survey is running now. Please take a couple of minutes to chime in with information about your facility. The IMFA survey has closed, please keep an eye out for results.

To prepare you for the next run of that survey, we would like to go over the first year’s questions and results more in-depth:

  • What is your industry?
  • How much of your records are available digitally?
  • Do you require BIM for project deliverables?
  • Why haven’t you adopted Digital Twin yet?
  • What are the essential elements of a Digital Twin?
  • What are the most important use cases you have for Digital Twin?
  • What benefits are you expecting from your Digital Twin adoption?
  • Where are you in the process of digitizing your portfolio and asset records?
  • How are you planning to maintain your Digital Twin?
  • Do you have support from Senior Leadership?
  • Do you believe a single vendor can provide adequate features for your needs? 

Who Participated

The responses to this survey came from a variety of job roles across the industry, however, the majority came from Facilities Management and Corporate Real Estate Professionals. More than twice as many building systems (MEP/FP) AEC Professionals participated compared to Architectural.



To give you an idea of the type of work those roles specialize in, see the chart below.

Industry representation covers a wide variety of market specialties. Financial Services had the highest level of participation (16.8%), but Education (14.3%) and Commercial Real Estate (13.7%) were not far behind.


Current Electronic Records

Whatever goals we set for the future; it is important to assess where we are currently. The chart below illustrates what percentage of respondents reported having 50-100% of their documentation available electronically.


BIM Requirements

If applicable, do you require BIM deliverables for your new construction and/or renovation projects?

The answer is yes!

If you are wondering why BIM might be required on some projects, but not others, within the same facility, there can be a variety of reasons. Some might be budgetary, any projects over X amount will have room for documentation, but smaller ones may not. Renovations that only involve finishes but not MEP or structural components would also be a reasonable exception.


Long Term Digital Twin Management

When assessing whether or not a single software vendor was capable of providing a solution platform, 73% of respondents stated that they think it is possible.

Once a platform is selected, one needs to determine who will be responsible for maintaining their records over the long term. A majority (66%) of Owners intend to manage their Digital Twin in-house, whether than means utilizing an existing resource or expanding a team to hire specifically for those skills. Only 17% of respondents intend to outsource that work to a consultant at this point.

Please come back and read our next article on what facility owners and operators expect from a Digital Twin initiative, and where they currently stand with the various components of their smart buildings.


2022-12-07

Tutorial: Creating a Basic Revit Model for Digital Twin testing

My company, R.O.I. Consulting Group, does Facilities consulting for a few IWMS and workplace management solutions. Not only are we using Autodesk Tandem for ourselves, we will also be coaching our clients through implementations or just Proof of Concept (POC) efforts.

So, let's say you want to try out Tandem without trying to justify expenses and write up RFPs and hire consultants, etc and just do it yourself.

First thought is that, at this point, Tandem will accept .rvt and .ifc formats only. 

If you don't have a Revit model yet, but want to proceed with testing, just download a trial of Revit LT and trace it. Eventually, you will want to have a full version of Revit, but if you need something to show people in order to get funding, this is a perfectly good place to start.


This is the current model of our offices, after I tweaked it and loaded it into Tandem. I'll add MEP components at some later time.

Following are the steps you can take to make a simple Revit model of one of your locations to start with. DISCLAIMER: To any design and construction side folks... we are not building from this, it is already built, please don't come at me for the lack of precision. I'm not showing how to design a project (because that is outside of my skillset). 

Creating a Revit Model for Tandem from a CAD Floorplan:

1.       Open Revit LT and create new project from Commercial – Imperial template

2.       On the Insert Tab, click Link CAD or Import CAD

3.       Navigate to your CAD file and select it.

TIP: Drag a folder from the navigation list to the shortcuts panel on the left, to make it easier to find your way back to this directory next time. (or click the Tools dropdown on the lower left of this dialog box to add this directory to Favorites or the shortcuts panel.) This tip works in AutoCAD and other Autodesk software.

4.       On the Architecture tab, click on the Wall dropdown to select Wall: Structural and trace the exterior walls and any known load-bearing walls in the floor plate.

5.       On the Architecture tab, click on the wall dropdown to select Wall: Architectural and trace the remaining walls on the floor plate.

6.       Add the columns to your model. This can be accessed through the Structure panel of the Structure tab, or the Build panel of the Architecture tab. Though on the structure tab, you are automatically selecting a structural column, on the Architecture tab, you must select between that and architectural columns.

a.       Start with the structural columns, as pictured on the right

b.       Then add Architectural columns where needed, as pictured on the left

 

7.       On the Build panel of the Architecture ribbon tab, click Door and insert doors where appropriate.

8.       On the same panel, click Window to insert windows where appropriate.

TIP: To hide your floorplan and assess the current state of your drawing, go to the Graphics panel of the View tab and click on Visibility / Graphics.

Navigate to the Imported Categories tab of the Visibility/Graphic Overrides for Floor Plan dialog box and uncheck the option ‘Show imported categories for this view’.

You can also control visibility by layer.

Click Apply and OK to save the settings.

Let’s compare the before and after below. You can see we still need to add casework, furniture, plumbing fixtures, and the Room objects… and I missed 3 Architectural columns I should have placed.

9.       We should first add Floor > Floor: Architectural from the Build panel of the Architecture tab. It will prompt you to select the bounding walls of your floor plate and will generate the floor object for you.

10.   For the casework, go to the Insert ribbon tab and the Load from the Library panel and click the Load Family button.


I’m going to keep things simple and choose base cabinets and some countertops. Feel free to check the standard families and replace the generic ones with something that reflects what is actually built out in the space. You might also find a site like BIMObject useful in locating a variety of furniture, fixtures, and other Revit families.

11.   Once your families are loaded, use the Project Browser on the left side of the screen to find your item, expand any available options, then right-click on that option and select Create Instance from the menu.

12.   Add elevators and other building components as needed.

13.   Follow the steps for creating a Room object here. You’ll want to make use of the Room Separator tool, to add bounding lines to any spaces without doors to break them up and to cubicle areas. And then use the Room tool to add the final room object with the remaining space around the cubicles. 

Wondering why I insist on polylining (sic) cubicles? 
I explained the reasons in this article. 

14.   Update the room tags to reflect the type of space and the room numbers being used, by clicking on the tag text.

15.   Under the Room and Area panel of the Architecture tab, click the down arrow to access the Color Schemes function. You can shade the rooms by Name or other parameters.

16.   Once you have your scheme established (it should be generated automatically, but you can adjust colors and hatches if you like), you will need to enable it in the Graphics pane on the left, using the Color Scheme field.

17.   Now it is time to upload our model to Tandem. Open your project from the home page, click the Files button on the left and select Import Model. We should not have any Phases to choose between in the new model we created, so all we do is name the floor in the Label field.


Now you have a basic model. You can go back and tweak things as you notice issues. 

For example, our lobby couches had been moved, and one of the elevators was facing the wrong direction, and some walls are glass instead of drywall. 

It is super easy to replace a model in Tandem once you have modified it. Just click on the name of your model in the Files tab and you'll get the Update Model dialog box. 




Video Tutorials

Get Started with Tandem - https://intandem.autodesk.com/resource/get-started-with-tandem/

Create a site, import model, work with filters to look at elements, add template to help with assets

Capture Asset Data - https://intandem.autodesk.com/resource/capture-asset-data/

Specify a facilities template and map assets, it applies parameters and counts as tagged assets

Capture data – select assets in viewer and assign data in properties panel

Working with the Inventory in tabular format (can export/import data using Excel)

Defining Tagged Assets https://intandem.autodesk.com/resource/defining-tagged-assets/

  • Asset is an object (furniture, equipment, door)
  • Parameters are properties we want to track (installation date, mfr, warranty end date, etc)
  • A group of parameters is called a Parameter Set
  • Classification – way to categorize objects, we can create what we want or use existing (master format, uniformat)
  • Different types of facilities might have different data needed
  • Can apply parameter individually by Element or as a group by Type
  • We create a template and include the classifications and parameters to include

Specify Data Requirements - https://intandem.autodesk.com/resource/specify-data-requirements/

2022-10-17

Digital Twin Webinar October 19th - IFMA

I was fortunate enough this year to be asked to help prepare a survey on Digital Twin with Autodesk and the IFMA Information Technology Community. This will be an annual survey, so please keep an eye on our social medias when we announce the survey run again next spring.

Announcement for webinar, with speaker names and photos

It is a panel discussion, which I will be moderating. We will hear from a variety of viewpoints, because digital twin (much like IWMS) is going to vary based on the needs of each use case and user.

During the Webinar, I'll briefly review some highlights of the 2022 IFMA Survey on Digital Twin, then we have some major topics we will cover. There will also be time at the end for Q&A from the attendees.

The whitepaper detailing the entirety of the survey and key takeaways will be published at a later time, I will share when it becomes available for download.

  • Melanie Stone - Representing Facility Owners and Operators
  • Mark Mergenschroer - Representing Design Software (but a past Owner himself)
  • Erik Jaspers - Representing IWMS Software
  • Chris Lorrain - Representing the Civil Industry and Laser Scanning
  • Brett Spindler - Representing IT/OT (or IoT)

IT/OT convergence is the integration of information technology (IT) systems with operational technology (OT) systems. IT systems are used for data-centric computing; OT systems monitor events, processes and devices, and make adjustments in enterprise and industrial operations.


Register for the Webinar here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-smRy_GpSRaCC_GWZFUTIw

Thank you to IFMA ITC, Autodesk, and R.O.I. Consulting for sponsoring this survey and webinar!