Web-enabled model-based CAD for design

Increasingly innovative ways of exploiting the Internet is giving rise to potentially new ways of designing and managing constructed facilities. The ability to source design components from different locations on the web and incorporate them in developing a design solution is an evolving technology that would have major implications for the way design and construction are carried out. Many CAD applications have developed user interfaces and connectivity supports that enable the incorporation of online information and web applications in a convenient manner. Building information modeling is another promising technology that facilitates knowledge management and collaboration among stakeholders throughout the design, construction, and maintenance operations. In a building information model, each component has its properties, information, and semantics. Application programming interfaces (APIs) in CAD software can be used to facilitate the management and exchange of building information. Therefore, a CAD application can become a service hub for acquiring and capturing design and project information. This paper describes an effort in applying web-enabled technologies using both software Autodesk Architectural Desktop (ADT) and Google Sketchup. Three scenarios will be illustrated to show the potential of web-enabled model-based CAD in the design and construction processes. The first scenario demonstrates the usage of CAD programs to perform configuration design by directly interacting with the web and online information through web browsers and a CAD software plug-in namely SpecifiCAD. The second scenario illustrates the evaluation of design alternatives according to energy and carbon emission simulation and analysis results, provided by using a Sketchup plug-in that links to the Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) software. The third scenario shows the utilization of the entity information from CAD models to facilitate project planning and control with suppliers.