Design tools for the architecture, engineering and construction industry

Autodesk’s Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Collection was developed to provide specialists with a set of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools and a cloud-based data environment on a single package.

The company explains that its AEC Collection enables the creation of high-quality building and infrastructure designs with conceptual and detailed design tools. It enables designers and engineers to optimise projects with integrated analysis, generative design, and visualisation and simulation tools. These aim to improve predictability in the field as a result of enhanced project coordination and team collaboration.

The tool allows users to access solutions across infrastructure, building and construction. “The solution is continuously developed, with new releases available every quarter and major updates and releases annually. It enables interoperability, ideal for professionals seeking a platform to share and use data across the various project phases,” says WorldsView Infrastructure Applications engineer and BIM specialist Elijah Ochieng. “Work completed in the concept phase can easily be migrated into the next stage, and the user can go back and access the design content as it was in the previous project phase’s version, if necessary.”

The AEC Collection also aims to enable operational efficiency. “You design with the end in mind, bringing in Facilities Operation and Maintenance (O&M) teams to comment right at the start. This ensures that you don’t only have a successful project delivery phase, but even a seamless and effective O&M,” explains Ochieng.

Ochieng describes how in infrastructure projects, the Autodesk Docs in the AEC Collection enable document management and version control of all the design elements files, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3D). The AEC Collection also has BIM-enabled tools that allow designers to work in 3D, while incorporating four-dimensional and five-dimensional designs, that include project schedules and project costing.

“The Collection gives the user more tools to improve on efficiency and cost effectiveness, to deliver the project in time. This ensures their team is made available to bid on or move on to other projects,” explains Ochieng. “We have found that success rates are higher for users of the AEC Collection than for its competitors.”

The AEC Collection is also said to be one of the industry-leading solutions that incorporates sustainability design tools. Autodesk Insight, for example, performs energy analysis requirements for a building, and tracks the carbon footprint of a project, as well as enabling planning for sustainable operational efficiency and management.

In addition, the solution is more cost-effective, as it offers all the functionalities and benefits of the other products in a single solution.

The AEC Collection is available from WorldsView, a value-added distributor of Autodesk solutions across Africa and from more than 300 channel partners across the continent.