4D CAD - Construction Industry Perspective

摘要

Today, there have been a variety of partial uses of 4D CAD in the construction industry. The most prominent use is in the Marketing/Preconstruction phases where it is used as a visualization tool to help best plan a construction project. In addition, there have been a few experimental facilities that have used 4D CAD during the actual construction process. An example of such a facility is the San Matea County Health Center currently being constructed. This facility includes over 300,000 SF of both new and renovated space. The Center for Integrated Facility Engineering at Stanford University is the sponsor of this research project. Other than a few selected experimental uses on projects like this, there are very few examples of 4D CAD actually in use during the construction process. There are numerous illustrations of where 4D CAD has been used as a presentation tool and in many cases with great success. In the early 1990's, Bovis used one of the first examples of 4D CAD as a presentation tool for the Lynchburg General Hospital in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was used to show the sequencing of the construction work that was going to occur for a renovation and addition to the facility. Today, there are a variety of tools in the marketplace for preparing 4D CAD visualizations. Two of the more prominent ones are PlantSpace Space Simulator by Jacobus, a Bentley strategic affiliate, and 3D Studio Max by Autodesk. Their use is gaining wider acceptance throughout the construction industry.