Following the Leaders

Innovative firms perfect the use of BIM and green building

By Joe Florkowski

Architects in California say factors such as building information modeling, green building and industry consolidation are changing the way they do business.

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Design firms are finding they will need to offer more service, experience and increase in size to thrive in California. That service and experience may come either through hiring LEED-accredited professionals for green projects or by dipping a toe in the still uncharted waters of BIM.

For instance, Irvine-based Ware Malcomb has placed a big emphasis on having its project management teams become LEED-accredited, says CEO Larry Armstrong. At the same time, Ware Malcomb is preparing its staff to do BIM projects later this year, he adds.

“(BIM) is a freight train and it’s coming,” Armstrong says.

Peter Devereaux, president of Los Angeles-based Harley Ellis Devereaux, calls BIM “the wave of the future and it will transform our industry.”

BIM will first be done by large firms and eventually will force the industry to consolidate, he says.

Because of the investment required in BIM, design firms will need to merge to bring together the architecture, engineering and expertise to deliver such projects.

Ed Darden, principal with Fresno-based Darden Architects, agrees that the increased use of tools like BIM will make it harder for the little guy to be a factor in design. “It’s sad there isn’t room for the little guy, but it’s better in the long run for the profession,” Darden says.

BIM also means that design firms will be looking for more experienced, licensed architects and that will mean less opportunities for the drafters and novice architects, Darden adds.

“Everywhere you will see people trying to hire licensed experienced architects,” Darden says. “With BIM, there is no room at the bottom.”

Finding experienced and qualified architects is a concern for Kit Ratcliff, president of Emeryville-based Ratcliff.

There has been a 50% falloff in the last 10 years in U.S. licensed architects, Ratcliff says. “We are running out of architects,” he adds.

And the architect shortage is coming at a time when architects need more experience to design using tools such as BIM, he says.

“Who is going to design these high-performance buildings?” Ratcliff adds.

Experience is also going to be a factor in how firms design buildings,  Devereaux says.

Architects will need to start designing buildings that go beyond simply the interior and exterior, he adds. He says that experience-based design means architects will need to design a retail store as if they were a retailer or design a hospital as if they were a patient in the hospital.

Devereaux says that in the past design was often driven by cost, to give the owner the most space for the least amount of cost.

Now designers need to start thinking like their clients and designing with a clients’ need in mind, he adds.

“We have to provide an environment for the end user that exceeds their expectations,” says Devereaux.

And designers are finding that in order to meet their clients’ requirements, they must design more green projects.

Green building is not only on the mind of designers and builders, but now has reached the owners, says Ware Malcomb’s Armstrong.

“We appear to have reached a tipping point in corporate America,” he adds.

In the Bay Area, a majority of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill’s clients are pursuing sustainability, says Carrie Byles, managing partner in the San Francisco office.

One of the benefits of pursuing gold LEED certification in San Francisco is that you can move through the permit process faster, she says.

However, because so many projects are seeking gold LEED certification, it may ultimately end up not being that much faster than going through the regular permit process, she adds.

What will be interesting is how buildings will be built using a combination of BIM and green building techniques, she says.

“These tools are helping us create sustainable buildings,” Byles says. “When you are trying to prove your building is green, you can back it up with BIM.”

Now that green building is here and everyone is aware of it, those firms who can provide sustainable services will gain a competitive advantage, says Devereaux.

“Sustainable design will be one more added incentive for firms to come together as full service,” he adds.

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