As engineers, we solve problems by evaluating inputs, outputs, and boundary conditions. Engineers have attempted to solve problems surrounding the effects of global poverty since it has existed, but often neglect important historical and political inputs. Neglecting these inputs has resulted in growing global inequalities in terms of wealth, human rights, and livelihood. One factor leading to these disparities is how we go about measuring progress toward a more equitable world. How can engineering help effectively measure global inequalities and give justice to vulnerable people who have been and continue to be excluded and exploited, all while bearing the brunt of the ecological impact of climate change? In this class, we will discuss better ways of measuring inequalities, designing for environmental justice, and bringing the industry’s attention to these systemic and historical realities which are often ignored by practitioners.

Although the structure of any design is its backbone, it is also one of the top areas in construction that adversely impacts the environment. But with the technology available today, we can reduce this environmental impact. Whether it’s eliminating wastage or minimizing embodied carbon, we have the means to reduce both short- and long-term environmental impacts and make structural design and engineering sustainable for our planet. This class will focus on the technologies available to structural designers and engineers today to work on connected and collaborative workflows and reduce waste, optimize material use, and make decisions to minimize embodied carbon. This class will also look at one of the top examples of using alternate structural materials in a commercial building, heavily reducing the environmental footprint of production and manufacturing.

We are in a climate emergency. The built environment is responsible for roughly half of all greenhouse gas emissions, and, with the predicted construction growth in upcoming years, the problem can seem overwhelming and unmanageable. However, as designers we are poised with the opportunity to make the biggest impact by adapting our professional practice. Our lecture will break down a traditional lifecycle analysis, shed light on how to calculate embodied carbon at each design stage, and explain how to draw conclusions from the results. We will also present MASS Design Group’s integrated approach to reducing its environmental footprint and dive into the challenges faced in the firm’s applications across the United States and various African nations. Addressing the climate crisis will require a rigorous inquiry into traditional design methodology across all disciplines; however, the tools and resources we will share are directly applicable to architects and structural engineers.

In this class, we will present multiple case studies on how petroleum refineries have implemented AutoCAD P&ID software as part of environmental compliance projects to achieve a reduction in actual and reported VOC and HAP emissions. We will cover a stepwise workflow process for owner-operators and engineering, procurement, and construction firms to follow, engaging various plant disciplines, including CAD, engineering, and environmental and safety, that are favorably affected by this workflow. Specifically, the case study will share a process for using data-driven drawings to achieve improved compliance with environmental and safety regulations. We will also supply you with the questions to ask at your plant, as well as the tools to begin driving your operating plants towards environmental and safety excellence (and reduced emissions).

Want to stay ahead of the curve when designing and marketing your sustainable infrastructure services? Generative design will help you move the needle faster with your customers toward cleaner, safer, more reliable sources of energy. We’ll dive into platforms, concepts, and workflows that will help civil and environmental engineers design faster, optimize outcomes earlier to reduce project costs and schedules, deliver more value to their customers, and ultimately make a greater environmental impact. Discover how to rapidly optioneer and optimize to reduce overall design time and rework, as well as manage the complexity of large data sets associated with solar and wind projects. We’ll cover workflows integrating Civil 3D software, InfraWorks software, Dynamo, and Generative Design in Revit software. We’ll familiarize you with geometric concepts for faster graphical and computational power. And we’ll demonstrate how Autodesk Consulting is funneling innovation into practice with various prototypes for sustainable design projects.

While talking about BIM (Building Information Modeling) and geographic information system (GIS) integration, it is clear that these are two systems with their specific purposes and use cases: GIS, with its mapping features and geographical database, and BIM as an object-based information model, tailored for built assets. The connection between the two platforms is advancing and gaining credibility, especially in large complex projects. Architectural and civil projects tend to use BIM technologies, while environmental projects are traditionally carried out using GIS systems. In this class, we will look beyond the standard use of 2D maps, GIS layers, and shapefile sets. We will go through all the benefits, challenges, and differences between using GIS and BIM technologies. The adoption of 3D and BIM processes and technologies will largely benefit the environment and remediation industries. It will open the door for more-inclusive stakeholder engagement, better design quality, and data-driven decision making.

By standardizing data, methodologies, and output, the triple bottom line (TBL) can augment BIM (Building Information Modeling) (6D = 3D + cost + schedule + TBL). Automation of triple-bottom-line cost-benefit analysis (TBL-CBA) means that TBL-augmented BIM can bring high-performance building design, resiliency, and sustainability to smaller and smaller design decisions. Computational design needs a guiding algorithm that aligns with owners, infrastructure users, community, and environmental values. Civil engineers must understand stakeholders’ expectations to keep projects on schedule. We will provide examples of how cities have used TBL-CBA to prioritize infrastructure projects. For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Bottom_Line_Cost_Benefit_Analysis.

Architects and engineers must increasingly consider building performance during the design process, and Insight offers them a beautiful, intuitive platform with centralized access to its building-energy and environmental-performance data and advanced-analysis engines. Through robust bidirectional BIM (Building Information Modeling) integration, direct access to leading analysis tools, and guidance and recommendations from industry benchmarks such as Architecture 2030 and ASHRAE 90.1, designers can pursue better performance outcomes throughout the building lifecycle. In this session, we will explore Insight through FormIt Pro and Revit software. We will explore the automatic analytical model-creation features, take advantage of cloud computing to consider millions of potential outcomes at once, and share these insights with the team, all in the name of achieving better outcomes continuously and consistently, from early targeting and feasibility all the way through to operation.

The new Atlanta Falcons stadium is a large, complex project that strives to push sustainability forward in the realm of sports design and construction. The Design Team—led by 360 Architecture, with structural engineer BuroHappold Engineering also responsible for sustainability strategy and exterior lighting design—wanted to include Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) as a part of the decision-making process for the new stadium. Core Sustainability Team members identified the Revit software Tally application as a tool that would provide effective and quick LCA feedback during design. With the project making extensive use of Revit software for effective design coordination, members integrated Tally into the project workflow. This lecture will share lessons learned about the benefits and challenges of using Tally on large-scale projects, and we'll cover the most effective way to use Revit software to generate LCAs in order to reduce the project's environmental impact and raise its public profile with regard to sustainability.

Participants will learn how to use Revit software as a powerful and rapid geometry creation tool. As energy analysts and mechanical engineers, we often require multiple energy analysis programs to produce energy performance models, compliance models for Title 24 and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), load calculation models, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. We can save significant time and money by using Revit software to create a single analytical model that we can export to various programs, including Simulation CFD software, eQUEST, energyPRO software, Trane's TRACE software, Integrated Environmental Solutions Ltd.'s Virtual Environment software, and California's new CBECC-Com software. This class will provide a detailed workflow for creating the geometry and exporting to the various programs, and you will discover tips and tricks to help troubleshoot and control the quality of your mechanical, electrical, and plumbing designs.

Congestion and greenhouse gas from private vehicles is a serious cause of worry, and many cities are turning to public transit to make sure citizens have safe, reliable, and regular access to their cities. Join us for this lab to learn how to use the InfraWorks software API (application programming interface) to create functionality that enables the planning and analysis of public-transit changes in a conceptual design environment. You will also learn how the InfraWorks software API can help determine the walkability of a neighborhood, the access to amenities, and the environmental impact of a route.

The engineer's model in Autodesk Revit Structure software is quite valuable when used in construction. This class explores the avenues for using Revit Structure—from traditional architecture and engineering projects to process plant application. We will provide tips and tricks for working with Revit tools that enable construction, including parts, assemblies, rebar, tilt-up, embeds, structural supports, beam pockets, lift drawings, location, cast-in-place, logistics, bracing, and component connections. We will discuss the value of the engineering model and the potential for contractors to use it in planning, sequencing, animation, location, detailed shop drawings, fabrication, and estimation. Discover how construction engineers can take full advantage of the analysis data to assist in temporary load calculations and how engineering and construction firms can partner with each other for mutual benefit.

The emerging IoT space holds enormous potential for positive social, environmental, and financial impact if it is built with the most important node at its center: people. In order for the next wave of innovation around connected devices to happen, people must be able to understand the technology, relate it to their lives, and envision and prototype solutions to real-world problems, even when these problems are relevant only for the few. This, in turn, will only happen when the Internet becomes a material that is accessible to non-engineers and non-experts who can grasp and deploy interactions with the Internet in the physical world as easily as they can with physical materials.

Design AI Systems (DAISY) is the first timber design software powered by artificial intelligence (AI). DAISY produces optimal, code-compliant designs in less than 10 minutes, saving engineers two to three hours a day, and reducing up to 80% of timber waste. Kratos is an Autodesk Research project using AI methods to rapidly evaluate many structural designs in multiple materials, including concrete. Solutions can optimize for monetary cost, carbon cost, or other objectives. DAISY and Kratos collaborated by using Kratos to calculate load-bearing walls in a timber structure, which Daisy can use as input to produce detailed floor plans. This leads to less concrete used in foundations, hence, cheaper and more sustainable designs. Sharing of algorithms was not feasible, so a “black box” approach was taken instead with only data formats shared. The result was that in the summer of 2021, DAISY and Kratos designed a timber floor in a house that was subsequently built in the United Kingdom. We will illustrate this in the session.

"Sustainability" means many different things to different manufacturers. In some cases designers and engineers strive to make a product perform with greater energy efficiency. In other cases they focus on making the product easy to recycle at the end of its life or they design out restricted substances with advanced material selections. Regardless of the focus, the design and detailed-engineering phases hold many opportunities to decrease the environmental impact of a product. During this hour attendees will learn about current trends in sustainable product design and compliance, and we'll explore which are relevant to their products or product lines. Attendees will also learn how to easily apply Autodesk, Inc., tools at key points in design and engineering workflows to aid in the exploration of more sustainable design alternatives.