The worldwide architectural design firm HKS has been doing some impressive large-scale scan to BIM projects. The subject of a presentation at the SPAR Conference was 50 United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, a 360,000 s.f. federal building that was scanned and modeled in three weeks for retrofit preparation for a large federal client.

This detailed scan of a building on the historic register required some interesting feature manipulations in order to capture a suitable level of detail in a building with many detailed historical architectural elements. The size and detail of the building didn’t allow for full scan and representation of each element give file size limitations, so the model made use of some “jedi mind tricks” of visualization in order to aptly represent the building for the desired purpose of the model.

In all of the Scan to BIM sessions at the event, there’s a great degree of discussion about format and software manipulations. In a similar GSA project in Chicago, the team used no fewer than 14 different software packages and discussed a format workflow that includes COBIE, gbXML, IFC, DGN, DWG, etc.

HKS assigns one person as a controller of this complex process to facilitate and manage the manipulations of files and formats to develop a central integrated file. This person aptly holds the title of Data Wrangler.

Given the complexity of the tasks and the limitations of the software to capture and quickly render the level of details in such large models, it’s only a matter of time before more interoperability and performance are brought to bear on the problem. Until these issues are ironed out, any firm conducting such work should be prepared for data wrangling pains.

Upon hearing the news some months ago that each federal agency has been mandated to create an open portal to their data, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the sites from several key agencies with strong geospatial and sustainability ties. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now among the list to have a portal, and it can be accessed at http://epa.gov/open/ (news lead found via Twitter @druidsmith).

One data set that is now freely downloadable from the site is the  Emission & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID). The eGRID data includes environmental characteristics of electric power generation, with air emission and resource mix information for thousands of power plants and generating companies. eGRID allows direct comparison of the environmental attributes of electricity from different plants, companies, States, or regions of the power grid.

Among the mapping-oriented features of this site is the EPA’s mapping tool for enforcement cases that allows you to view facilities in the United States where EPA has conducted environmental enforcement actions.

This new site has a wealth of data, and the public is encouraged to provide feedback and help the agency develop their Open Government Plan.

Give the wealth of available online data, one can’t help but think about the possible applications that citizens will be able to create with this information. In light of the decreasing investigative power of the press due to the economic pressures on that medium, these open data initiatives can serve to act as a watchdog for environmental and economic justice issues.

There’s a great promotional feature on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website that touts the value of GIS for business. The focus here is for a proactive approach that enhances both community and business resiliency in the face of adverse conditions.

“Collecting information, analyzing vulnerabilities, developing mitigation strategies, and managing risk preparedness can be daunting. GIS has proven its value during emergencies, enabling users to share information and improve incident response decision-making. The same benefit can be gained by using GIS before a crisis to identify high-risk areas and evaluate damage mitigation and recovery plans.”

Read the full feature here.

The plight of the land developer is tough right now, given the housing bubble and the long-lasting impact of available credit due to the global recession. This downturn has had it’s Darwinian moments though, because the developers that took a more irresponsible tact with cheaper and more homes as fast as they could be built have taken the hardest hits, and in many cases are no longer in business.

The demand for new housing will not go away anytime soon. However, new development plans are under increasing scrutiny regarding the value that they bring to communities, and the impacts that they’ll have on quality of life. This growing sentiment of more reasoned development plays neatly into the hands of evolving design and planning approaches as well as supporting geospatial technologies.

Cumulative Intelligence About the Land

There are a broad number of disciplines that are involved in the design of new developments. These steps are currently very disjointed, with such foundational elements as the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being delivered in static reports that are only done because they’re mandated, and are immediately filed away, having met the requirement. The coming evolution of this work will use the EIS and its knowledge of the land as a template for development, and a base map for an intelligent land model, much the same way that topology is a foundational feature about the land.

The idea of intelligence within the land model means that each subsequent discipline adds to the intelligence, with more details about the land, the web of infrastructure that connects each structure, the details about each structure and property, and key operational and maintenance tasks for ongoing work after the last structure is built.

The amount of intelligence that’s encapsulated in the model will depend upon the complexity of the site. The development of new land won’t require the same sort of details that will be contained in a complex urban environment where land is being redeveloped. But all models should live on for the lifecycle of the site.

Collective Field Work

The idea of land design on site in a collaborative manner with a team of diverse professionals was on display recently at the GeoDesign Summit through the work of Dennis Williams with the Civil Design Team. William uses CAD and ArcPad to take his design out into the field for on-site design sessions with planners, the land owner and other stakeholders. The site work is a collaborative endeavor where multiple participants are walking the land and visualizing its future, along with a collection of inputs and measurements that form the baseline for the discussion.

The interactive, real-time and collaborative approach has proved to be greatly efficient in the work that William has done planning 1,000 to 5,000-acre developments in South and North Carolina. The in-context questions help resolve issues before they become problems, and the collaborative work approach means that all concerns are addressed and resolved early in the process, alleviating costly changes that tend to happen later in the design and planning process.

Consensus Planning

The advent of crowd-sourced and Internet-enabled planning methodologies, along with a movement to greater government transparency, has given rise to more citizen involvement in the planning process. An inclusive approach is aided by technology to gather opinions and drive consensus in a much quicker timeline than previous approaches.

While the developer can expect much greater feedback and scrutiny in the design and planning process, the end result is an engaged and satisfied customer base that will be ready and willing to support it. With each well-planned development that takes into account the community and the environment, we make our collective home a better place.

Vancouver will be on center stage next month for the 2010 Olympics, and the level of urban density with its mix of parks, public transportation and walkability will let the world know what’s possible. Over the past 20 years the city has dramatically changed, with development pressures being guided by strict rules and a strong vision. The physical constraints of this island city have largely led to this unique transformation, along with the inhabitants respect and reverence for the beauty of the city’s surroundings.

The approach that Vancouver has taken is outlined in an excellent article that appeared today in the Los Angeles Times. The level of integrated design with strong mandates and public input seems to align nicely with the concept of GeoDesign. The following quote embodies the spirit of this new approach to urban planning:

“Vancouverism has got nothing to do with built form,” said Bing Thom a Vancouver architect. “It’s much deeper than that. Vancouverism is a spirit of thinking about the future, and by that I mean thinking: Whatever you do, look twice. Listen twice. Speak once.”

California has begun a statewide growth scenario plan, with aims to devise detailed growth scenarios with an eye toward reducing carbon emissions. The planning project has been awarded to Berkeley-based Calthorpe Associates with a budget of $2.5 million and will be overseen by the Strategic Growth Council.

The work begins by bringing together existing regional plans. From there various scenario plans will be run to come up with a preferred scenario. To date no statewide scenario planning has occurred, and the passage of the high speed rail system has spurred the interest in low-impact planning.

This in an 18-month project with three phases. Th first step is compiling data and defining standards. The second phase involves scenario building with alternative growth scenarios tested . The final phase is to share the preferred vision with local governments and other stakeholders.

Read more about the project in this SF Gate article.

The idea of agriburbia is to bring agriculture back to suburban life. Mathew “Quint” Redmond is the founder of this movement and owner of Golden-based real estate design company The TSR Group. He and his wife both grew up on farms and the idea came as gas prices started to increase. While there’s a lot of talk about denser housing as a means of limiting impacts, Redmond believes that the suburban model with intensive local agriculture will let us live more lightly on the land, while reaping financial and culinary benefits. The plan for profit involves using the produce for both sustenance and to sell to local restaurants.

The agriburbia concept is now trademarked, and Redmond is busy developing a 994-unit development in Milliken, Colorado on a 618-acre site, with several other projects in development. The Milliken project is called Platte River Village, and it plans to keep 50 percent of the tilled land in production with much of that devoted to grapes with the idea of producing wine.

Of interest to geospatial professionals, the TSR Group provides GIS support for a number of clients, including Denver Water, Elbert County, Colo. and Salt Lake City. They have developed a concept called the Geographic Design Library to manage all elements of their projects.

China is on track for a 75 percent urban population by 2050. This rapid urbanization holds challenges for achieving sustainable development goals because currently cities hold 50 percent of the world’s population but emit 75 percent of greenhouse gases. To address this disparity, China is looking at an ec0-city development concept that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move toward 30 percent renewable energy in the next 20 years.

The Low Carbon Eco-city Strategy was launched by the Chinese Society for Urban Studies in a report to policy makers that will eventually be distributed to officials in 600 Chinese cities. The report outlines a move toward integrated public transport systems, green building, clean energy technology and cleaner manufacturing. The report also recommends that local government should receive financial support to enact these recommendations.

This approach is a positive step for the world given the scale of China’s urbanization movement, and it’s current status as the number one polluter.

The project to transform Union Station in downtown Denver in a multi-modal transportation hub will begin construction this week, and there’s a new website to mark this progress. Currently the station houses Amtrak rail service, with the redesign making the station a hub for four new commuter rail lines that are part of the FasTracks project. The redevelopment work on the station is a $500 Million project that is expected to be complete by 2013. The new website has renderings, floor plans, history, public space plans, and real estate details.

While it may be a bit premature to pronounce the recovery of the global economy, it’s not too early to start thinking about the technologies that will benefit once things start looking up. 3D laser scanning is one of the brightest spots in the geospatial technology arena, because it’s a relatively new technology without a great deal of installed base, it  introduces some impressive efficiencies in the surveying process, and it addresses sectors that stand to rebound as things look up.

There an increasing interest in 3D visualization, with new software and system capabilities to deal with this data type, and improved hardware to speed its use. 3D brings a lot to the table for quicker communication and improved insight, and it has the potential to dramatically streamline and improve the planning process.

Improved Data Collection

These tools of quick precision can be harnessed to provide a wealth of new details about infrastructure in a relatively short time and at an affordable cost. 3D laser scanners have the promise of largely replacing traditional optical surveying instruments, particularly in urban areas where capturing detailed environments can benefit greatly from the laser point cloud approach.

Laser scanning is a technology that will quickly revolutionize surveying. The ability to take a terrestrial laser scanner to a site to capture the entire area with accurate survey points frees up the surveyor to visit a site once for a specific project, and to take some subsequent measurements from the office, rather than having to know each and every point that will need collecting ahead of time. This provides a huge productivity gain to cut down on repeated visits to the same site. It also improves the safety of the surveyor for they can set up scanner once in a hazardous area rather than having to cover that area on foot several times in the traditional approach.

Digital Planning

The economic stimulus package has placed an emphasis on infrastructure, but the majority of those projects have gone to maintenance rather than new construction. When the intent is quick action, it’s understandable to pick paving projects, but the impact on sustainability is negligible in terms of improving road safety or easing traffic congestion. Planning for new projects is cumbersome and time consuming. What is needed is a whole new digital design process, and 3D scanning is a critical component in all phases of digital project management.

It’s mind boggling that infrastructure planning is largely still a paper-based workflow. Starting each project with a detailed 3D laser scan, and the creation of a 3D collaborative design space makes a great deal of sense to improve project efficiency. Having the designer, engineers and inspectors all working from the same true-to-life  3D environment would greatly streamline the collaborative process. Repeated scans as the work progresses would ensure that the project is progressing as planned, and that it moves forward on time and on budget. Detailed scans of the finished project would be used for ongoing maintenance and as a basis for any future projects in the area.

There’s an increasing need for planning reform in light of the tools and technology that could greatly speed and improve the construction process. If such tools were in place prior to the influx of spending on infrastructure projects, we’d see much greater impact from infrastructure investments. Instead of just a smooth new road surface, we might see the removal of poorly designed road bottlenecks, a direct impact on the efficiency of our transportation networks, and improved lives.

Work Without Workers?

The worldwide construction industry has been  hard hit by the economic downturn, and the resulting fall-off of projects has meant industry layoffs and business consolidation. When construction was booming there was a shortage of available surveyors to meet the demand. Although there are presently fewer jobs available because of the economic climate, when things start to pick up the shortage will not have disappeared and will put greater pressure on surveyors to improve the efficiency of their operations.

The average age of a land surveyor in the United States is mid-fifties, which means that dramatic changes will need to take place in this profession over the next ten years in order to fill the gap as these practitioners retire. The training of new surveyors will be critical, but laser scanning can also have a dramatic impact on efficiency, driving down the time that a surveyor has to be on any one project site, and allowing one surveyor to do the work of an entire crew.

The future of 3D laser scanning stands to improve steadily, with the potential for dramatic gains once construction starts increase. A movement toward a more digital construction process and 4D construction management will spur on the growth of this sector as will the movement to create highly detailed 3D digital city models for the better management of our urban centers. If you’re contemplating business opportunities or a career change within the geospatial space, 3D laser scanning is an area that you must explore.