There has been a lot of discussion at Tocci in recent days about the scope of work defined in contracts and how advanced AECO professionals are expanding that scope without changing their contracts. Simply put, they are raising the standard of care they provide. Instead of talking about ourselves all the time we thought we would illustrate this point with a case study on DPR construction.

Building Information Model of the Sutter Health project

DPR Construction, frequently ranked in the top 50 general contractors in the country, is currently building a 130-bed, $320 million hospital project for Sutter Health in Castro Valley, CA. On this project, DPR, along with other project stakeholders (architect, engineers and key subcontractors) are working to meet specific shared project goals: 30% reduced design and construction schedule and $320M target cost to name a few.

The team is using many techniques to reduce waste and increase collaboration, and many of these techniques cross the lines of standard contracts. These techniques include the use of a “Big Room”, full team Value Stream Mapping and Direct Digital Exchange.

The team set up a “Big Room”, large enough for all key team members to collaborate face-to-face. Representatives from the 11 key stakeholder companies would travel from all over the country every two weeks to collocate for 3 days. They review design, assess the schedule, map the workflow and update the budget. When all parties are brought together, work not only gets done much faster and eliminates extra levels of red tape and hierarchy, but the team is incentivized to streamline workflow, to make the most of the face time by working solely toward the goals of the project, and not individual company concerns.

Value Stream Mapping was used to optimize the team’s compressed schedule. Similar to Lean Construction pull-scheduling, Value Stream Mapping looks at downstream tasks to determine what needs to occur upstream. Because the entire team is present for all phases as Value Stream Mapping, non-value add tasks are easily identified and eliminated from the schedule. Rather than trying to preserve scope, team members focus on optimizing the overall project.

The design team and subcontractors set up what they called ‘Direct Digital Exchange’ to maximize the use of 3D geometry and data and minimize the creation of 2D drawings. This was most profound for mechanical and plumbing. The team worked out technical protocols to enable the design team to do early routing and calculations while the detailers focused on fabrication layout and details. The detailers’ work was incorporated into the final design drawings. The early success of this collaboration prompted the team to find other areas to utilize ‘Direct Digital Exchange’; one other example is the shared responsibility for drywall and exterior detailing between the architectural design team and subcontractors.

Last week one of Tocci’s VDC Modelers, Jeremy Garczynski,  was at the McGraw Hill Green BIM Conference in Boston. Among many things he was fascinated by a presentation from Zahner, a BIM-enabled wall panelizer specializing in metal surfaces. Head on over to Laura Handler’s blog to read a full report.

And while you are at it, check out the report she wrote from the Bentley Conference in Philadelphia. There are some really cool new ideas floating around in the BIM world!

Tocci Building Companies is proud to announce that John Tocci, CEO, will be the recipient of the 2009-2010 Distinguished Achievement Award by the Construction Institute, University of Hartford.

The Distinguished Achievement Award honors individuals who are recognized for their exceptional level of professional achievement in service to the design and construction communities. Recipients are chosen for unique achievement and for the noteworthy impact they have had on the AEC community in the Connecticut region, and for their contributions to the community at large.

Tocci was chosen to received the award along with Scott Simpson, FAIA, LEED AP of KlingStubbins and Phil Bernstein, FAIA, LEED AP of Autodesk, Inc. for their outstanding leadership on the first IPD project in New England and the subsequent work they have done together to help lead the industry toward greater collaboration and more efficiency through IPD, VDC and BIM.

“Tocci, Simpson and Bernstein have helped to define a new national imperative for change and inspire those in our community to pick up your vision and apply it in daily practice with increasing frequency. The ideas that you have articulated are impacting each and every one of us. With your critical input the design and construction professions now have the means and methods to practice more effectively, efficiently and fruitfully. You have earned the greatest respect among your colleagues and peers in the private and public sectors, both locally and nationally.” –  William H. Cianci, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Construction Institute

The Award will be presented at the Institute’s 35th Annual Membership Meeting and Awards Dinner on June 23, 2010 in Plantsville, CT.

The Construction Institute, a division of the University of Hartford, is a non-profit, non-partisan association of diverse professionals working to advance the construction industry by improving the process of construction by promoting the sharing of experiences and knowledge among all parties to the process, advancing relationships and developing business leaders.

John Tocci, Scott Simpson and Phil Bernstein present together at Autodesk University last year.

Last week for our architectural training we had a special guest lecturer: Phil Bernstein, FAIA, a Vice President at Autodesk, he also teaches professional practice at the Yale School of Design. Mr. Bernstein gave us the history of architectural practice from Ancient Egypt, to the present day and into the future. It was a concise look at the development of what it means to be an architect and the history of the business.

Touching on major milestones and figures such as Euclid, Brunelleschi, Rafael, Palladio, Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, Benjamin Latrobe, Beaux Arts, Frank Lloyd Wright, Skidmore Owens and Merrill, The Architect’s collaborative and Frank Gehry, Mr. Bernstein explained how architects have come to be what they are: highly trained, designers, not builders, and how the practice is in need of some serious reconfiguring, just like the building practice.

He spoke eloquently about how it has taken us 1,500 years to get away from the days of a Master Builder – one who understood building means and methods and yet also had a clear artistic vision – and how he believes it will only take us 15-20 years, with the help of VDC and IPD, to return to that ideal.

It was an honor to have someone of Mr. Bernstein’s caliber as our teacher for a few hours.