Vectorworks University

Climate change and sustainable design are at the forefront of today's conversation. When doing sustainable and energy-efficient design, integrated design tools can help you be more efficient and make quicker decisions during design phases. In this webinar, attendees will learn how to assess the energy performance of a building very early on in an integrated design process — this gives architects the power to make informed design decisions, as well as the ability to back those decisions up.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Discover the benefits of integrating energy performance evaluation into architectural design workflows
2. Explore how a building's form and shape affect its energy performance
3. Learn how various shading percentages and different types of shading can guide your design decision based on expected building performance
4. Evaluate energy performance changes based on building elements, boundary conditions, and U-values

Architects need to produce drawings that are both graphically accurate and full of information, which means that everyday documentation processes need to be adjusted to meet these requirements while saving time and money. In this presentation, you’ll learn how rendering tools and feature sets can be used to enhance the graphic quality of your designs, letting you not only impress your client, but also more accurately communicate your design intent with contractors and project stakeholders. Attendees will explore these rendering best practices through sample workflows that showcase cutting-edge technologies in the architecture industry.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define basic rendering techniques for creating typical architectural views (i.e. plans, sections, elevations).
2. Evaluate the uses of surface hatches as material textures applied to external building surfaces with hidden line renders in everyday workflows.
3. Examine the applications of foreground renders versus background renders in viewports.
4. Explore the additional features available in rendering software (i.e. gradients, transparencies, Image Effects, etc.).

The process of integrating exterior and interior features often begins with a desire to both physically enhance the occupant experience inside the built environment while also addressing energy efficiency and sustainability goals. Integrating a building into the landscape allows architects to design for the environment and lowers a building’s ecological footprint. Architects and landscape architects, building owners, occupants, and building visitors can all benefit from creative, aesthetic, and sustainable designs that merge seamlessly with the environment of the site location.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define how architecture and landscape architecture practices can be merged.
2. List the energy efficiency and sustainability benefits of melding site and architectural design.
3. Explain the importance of early planning and coordination with all members of the design and build teams for successful integration of interior and exterior design and features.
4. Describe the benefits to the designer, builder, and occupant of merging indoor and outdoor architectural design strategies and features.

There is an increasing need for structure, display, enclosure, or interactive space that can be temporary, flexible, and adaptable for different people, uses, or times. This temporary architecture, sometimes referred to as "pop-up architecture," allows for great creativity and potential time and cost savings during the construction process. This webinar will look at some ways pop-up architecture has been developed, used, and admired around the world.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Discover the history and motivation behind creating temporary architecture for habitable and non-habitable spaces.
2. Explore the design challenges of innovative approaches to material usage, experimentation, and progressive design solutions.
3. Recognize the positive environmental implications of temporary architecture, including disassembling, reuse, and recycling.
4. Identify the ways pop-up architecture concepts are being integrated into permanent and semi-permanent structures in code-compliant manners.

Join Luis M. Ruiz, Int. Assoc. AIA and explore how to get the most out of Vectorworks Architect for the retail interior design industry. This webinar will focus on inspiring interior designers to make use of all the obvious, and hidden, benefits of Vectorworks. You will learn how to move from working in 2D to 3D, employ best-practice techniques and workflows, make use of renderings tips, create the documentation you need, apply data to objects in your design, report finish take-offs, and take advantage of our Vectorworks Cloud Services features.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Learn how to organize a file.
2. Understand how some 3D tools are more effective than others.
3. Comprehend how to implement rendering into their workflow.
4. Learn multiple ways of extracting documentation from a 3D project.

Building Information Modeling continues to become the industry standard, with many projects now requiring the delivery of BIM files. However, considering the implications of a BIM workflow only after starting said projects can lead to serious issues, which is why this presentation will expand upon the planning processes needed to adopt BIM in your firm. Attendees will also examine what a successful BIM transition looks like in practice through example case studies, exploring both why and how firms are already growing their businesses with BIM.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define the benefits of implementing a BIM workflow.
2. Assess how to create a set achievable goals and create actionable strategies regarding BIM adoption.
3. Determine how BIM best practices can be applied to your firm’s specific workflows.
4. Explore case studies demonstrating successful BIM transitions.

Adopting a 3D process is undeniably profitable in terms of your workflow and the success of your business. However, the path from buying software to realizing a ROI can be steep. Join us and discover how firms are flattening the BIM learning curve as they transition from 2D drafting to 3D design. We will explore how misconceptions about the 3D environment can lead to challenges in adopting BIM, and how to more effectively connect design workflows, streamline project delivery, and win more work.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Understand current 2D workflows and where inefficiencies can be identified.
2. Compare and contrast 2D drafting and 3D modeling workflows and benefits of each.
3. Understand how a transition plan can help adopt new BIM workflows.
4. Discuss various techniques and best practices used in developing 3D BIM models as well as how to derive 2D drawings from BIM that are graphically rich and full of information.

The architectural design process can be very complex, involving iterative and branching ideas. That's why it's important that they methods used to explore design concepts are efficient and capable of adapting to communicate your ideas effectively - a process that can involve various methods from hand sketches to 3D models and renderings.

In this webinar, from Luc Lefebvre, OAQ, LEED AP, and Sarah Barrett, Assoc. AIA, will show attendees how to go from initial concept to detailed model with examples of integrated workflows that bring multiple design methods together within one interface.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Analyze the benefits of using 3D modeling tools to create conceptual models.
2. Differentiate between the various workflows that can contribute to an iterative process.
3. Discover how to incorporate explorative design options directly into a final BIM model.
4. Recognize the benefits of using a single design interface to combine conceptual 3D modeling and BIM.

The architectural design process can be very complex, as it involves iterative and branching ideas. That's why it's important that the methods used to explore design concepts are efficient and easily adaptable, so you can communicate your ideas effectively. This process can involve various methods, from hand sketches and space planning to 3D models and renderings.

In Part 2 of this webinar series, Luc Lefebvre, OAQ, LEED AP, and Sarah Barrett, Assoc. AIA., will demonstrate how to organize multiple iterations of a design for presentation and how to move a schematic model to a full Building Information Model.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explore different design methods for creating conceptual models.
2. Differentiate between the various workflows that can contribute to an iterative design process.
3. Recognize the benefits of using a single design interface to develop a conceptual 3D model into a Building Information Model.
4. Discover how to communicate and present different design iterations within a single file.

Creating models or prototypes is not a novel concept in the building design world, but technological advances have taken this idea to new levels and created a surge of potential new opportunities. Influenced by other industries such as automotive and machinery design, architects now engage in the process of rapid prototyping their designs. By using a digital model as the basis for creating a physical model, either scaled or full size, these physical models can be made using a variety of materials. In this webinar, attendees will look at the link between digital and physical prototyping by exploring specific examples of architects who are using both to achieve their goals.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Discover the ways that prototyping can be applied to architecture, engineering, and construction for structural and space analysis.
2. Identify the benefits of creating digital and actual prototypes throughout the design process, including those related to building safety and code compliance.
3. Recognize how digital and actual prototypes can aid with land-use and site analysis, integration of building systems, and sustainability.
4. Explore how algorithmic modeling can create rapid prototypes that can help increase design efficiency.

Today's design workflows demand tools that help you expand your capabilities. Moving away from AutoCAD's limited workflows and toward more powerful alternatives can seem like a daunting task. This webinar will show you how easy that learning curve can be.

In this webinar, attendees will explore Vectorworks Architect, a comprehensive tool set that helps you design and document with flexibility, versatility, and complete accuracy. Attendees will also hear from Dylan Chappell, California-based architect, and learn how Vectorworks helped him win more work and become more efficient.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Explore differences and similarities between AutoCAD and Vectorworks workflows.
2. Learn how to organize files and maintain greater control over critical information.
3. Discover how to quickly navigate between 2D and 3D views within Vectorworks software.
4. Learn how a California-based design firm successfully transitioned from AutoCAD to Vectorworks and is winning more work.

Project delivery is still dominated by the production, exchange, and use of documents to describe the scope and elements of a building's construction. PDF is now at the heart of that mode of delivery in the larger BIM process. By pairing Vectorworks and Bluebeam, architects and their collaborators are able to leverage the best features of both platforms to provide more complete, clear, and relevant information to project stakeholders, in a format many are already familiar with. Join industry experts from Vectorworks and Bluebeam as they showcase the latest PDF features of Vectorworks Architect, the new workflow integration with Bluebeam Studio, and collaborative project workflows leveraging Bluebeam Revu.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Understand the project delivery process in a BIM workflow.
2. Discover how PDF plays a role in the larger BIM collaborative process.
3. Describe the advantages of using PDF in the collaborative process and why it is the preferred method of communication with specific project stakeholders.
4. Understand how to utilize PDFs throughout different phases of a project.