While mass timber and off-site construction remain in the foreground, the associated digital technologies for architects have had a quieter evolution. Aiming to bring these issues to the architectural forefront, QWEB (Quebec Wood Export Bureau) is now expanding its Offsite Wood BIM initiative by joining the non-profit BC Wood Specialties Association.
Why is this east/west alliance great news for AEC professionals? BC Wood will share its range of timber systems with the Offsite Wood BIM platform, improving the representation of timber in the BIM market, as is currently the case with other structural materials. Because the wood industry is closely linked to specific geographic regions, this collaboration will quadruple the number of wood types available on the platform by 2024. By including detailed digital descriptions of these systems in the Revit modeling environment, industry professionals will be able to work with wood more effectively and efficiently in their projects.
Going far beyond just Revit, the original Offsite Wood plug-in will be available for only one final year on the Autodesk App Store. Current and future development is focused on offsitewood.org, which will offer, both in the Revit environment and also on other BIM platforms, a series of ArchiCad and Tekla Warehouse templates, as well as further Revit support files such as material textures and templates for carbon estimation.
Although architects' tools are complex, there is a simple common thread, according to Eli Gould, QWEB project leader:
Embodied carbon is the new indicator. Architects are adding this directly into their design workflow, just like they did years ago with energy efficiency. BIM models start with architects, and wood is more than just a material, it's often part of an assembly with requirements that cover structural, acoustic, thermal, and fire resistance. So regardless of the BIM software, the wood industry needs to provide more of that « I », the information in the Building Information Model. That's what our work this year is about, while we engage with other open-sourced tools in the transparency arena and improve our data quality.
Nonprofit associations can actively engage with the architectural community, especially in the US where voluntary commitments are often the agents of change. The Offsite Wood team can support internal details of that work, helping to improve the quantity takeoffs that BIM can offer for comparisons, and develop carefully constructed regional building assemblies with specific ingredients that connect to the transparency movement’s databases of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). On the manufacturer side, the project is also working internally on a benchmarking exercise to quantify the carbon use intensity of value-added manufacturing.
A benefit of Western engagement is that British Columbia’s policies on embodied carbon in buildings are moving quickly to combine with their strong stretch codes. This spring, high-performance wall systems will be a specific area of development, like those developed in regional references by bchousing.org. Floor systems will also be refined to include a larger range of eastern regional specialties like finger-jointed and plated floor trusses.
The QWEB initiative was branded as Offsite Wood to remind us that it’s not just materiality, but the process of optimization for offsite manufacturing. Templates contain digital guidance that educates us about the manufacturing parameters of mass timber, panelized, and (coming soon), modular.
All existing content from the plug-in, plus more, has been migrated to the website. An improved Fabricator Selector is being migrated to the web as well. This database of producer profiles allows manufacturers to specify their delivery regions, scopes of work packages, and specialties. As a standalone web app, the information will be more available to builders who are challenged to understand the scope and range of the industry.
Open to listening to suggestions and interests from beta users, the Offsite Wood team has opened a communication channel through the offsitewood.org portal. Access and leave your comment for follow-up.
