Using CFD to Optimise Green Building Design

 

As global warming spreads its tentacles, governments and industries are striving to get things under control again. For the construction industry, the design and creation of green buildings is a major weapon. These buildings need innovative MEP design engineering and a range of proper calculations involving wind analysis and sustainable MEP design to move towards making sustainable building design a widespread reality. Computational fluid dynamics, or CFD, has an integral part to play in the greening of buildings.

 

How do we define sustainable building design? 

Building design that epitomises sustainability aims to reduce the need for and use of non-renewable resources, minimise waste of resources and create healthy environments. Sustainability in construction also includes the creation or development of net-zero buildings, or buildings that produce as much energy as they consume, and natural ventilation methods to optimise air quality while eliminating or reducing the use of energy-inefficient HVAC systems.

 

As CFD is a mix of fluid dynamics, mathematical calculations and computer science, it offers architects a way to optimise sustainable building design. Prime areas targeted by CFD are: 

§  Exhaust system effects on the environment

§  Fire and smoke risks

§  Indoor environment quality

§  Natural ventilation systems

§  Load calculations for heating/cooling

§  Exterior wind loading

 

For HVAC system issues, CFD proves useful in analysing: 

§  Occupants’ thermal comfort

§  Wind loading analysis on a building

§  Acoustic path analysis

§  Airflow equipment

 

There are a number of benefits to using CFD analyses for green building design. However, before gathering data for calculations, it’s important to consider: 

§  Room depth

§  Natural ventilation and open spaces for the wind to deflect

§  Creation of alleys and patios to analyse room thermal pressure

§  Staggered layouts, which can become seasonal calm zones

§  Building envelopes at the entrances for proper indoor airflow

 

Once these factors are carefully considered and data is collated, CFD analysis can provide: 

§  Proper, reliable and affordable representation of fluid dynamics, such as ventilation, wind and smoke

§  Simulation options without physical testing

§  Accurate temperature, pressure, velocity data

§  Easier prediction of fluid movement in advance

§  Determination and improvement on the efficiency of the HVAC system and indoor air quality

§  Optimisation of ventilation to maintain a proper temperature

 

Maintaining a proper thermal flow and ventilation by designing an effective HVAC system is a fundamental goal in creating a green building.

 

As sustainable design gains credibility in global construction milieus, regulatory bodies are laying down guidelines, which may require the adoption of new tools. These tools will show policy compliance and solve energy-efficient design challenges. Using cloud-based simulation lets architects, engineers and other design professionals collaborate efficiently and quickly to make early design decisions.

 

Collaborating with cloud-based simulation and CFD simulation can help achieve sustainable design. How does this happen?

 

§  Building simulation software provides an accurate understanding of the critical relationship between energy needs, policy and a changing climate.

§  CFD simulates and analyses fluid motion through a series of calculations, enabling designers and engineers to model basic heat transfer methods and study the flow of air and water.

§  CFD can be used to test and validate design options so building design professionals can determine the right design to help reduce carbon emissions.

 

Analysis derived from CFD calculations can contribute to optimising thermal comfort, air quality and the conditions of the microclimate in a building, all leading towards the goal of sustainable design.

 

Thermal Comfort

Various complex factors must be considered by building designers to assess a building’s thermal comfort. Variables may include physical aspects and the effects of climate during different conditions, occupancy rate, air velocity and humidity, all of which directly influence the energy demands of the building and its environmental performance. It can be considerably beneficial to use CFD to determine thermal comfort and measure energy consumption. 

Air Quality

Simulation analyses and results can indicate and maintain healthy levels of indoor air quality and ventilation efficiency, while reducing energy consumption. 

Microclimate

The microclimate describes a set of atmospheric conditions that buildings must deal with, such as the effects of wind, sun, other buildings and potential severe weather. The microclimate can have a significant impact on building sustainability. Modelling of the microclimate and wind analysis can help design buildings to ensure occupants’ safety and comfort. 

It is even possible to use CFD to accurately model and evaluate the on-site impact of vegetation. 

As the importance of sustainable building design can only increase in the future, it is vital to find efficient and value-added sustainable MEP design, CFD analysis services and CFD simulation services sourced from reliable CFD consulting services.  

XS CAD has valuable experience providing CFD consulting services, sustainable MEP design, CFD analysis services, CFD simulation services and wind analysis for general contractors.  Our range of services for consultants and manufacturers across the world include HVAC design services.  We create these models and drawings using Revit, AutoCAD and BIM Collaborate Pro for cloud collaboration. 

Plumbing Design Challenges in the UK

 

In the United Kingdom, as in many parts of the world, plumbing or public health design has seen changes, advances and new requirements. Creating plumbing and piping plans can be difficult, as a building’s plumbing system typically consists of a complex network of water supply pipes, drainpipes, vent pipes, etc. Effective public health design can be complicated, and if not developed correctly, it can be one of the most expensive systems to repair. Understanding plumbing system design, both commercial plumbing design and residential plumbing design layouts, is one of the challenges of effective public health design.. 

Any system that enables the movement of fluids, involving pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks and other such equipment is called plumbing, or public health services. These systems have a variety of functions, such as: 

•   Heating and cooling water
•   Wastewater removal
•  Potable cold and hot water supply
•  Water recovery and treatment
•  Rainwater, surface and sub-surface water drainage 

One of the challenges for M&E engineers is to have access to precise design information to facilitate the effective planning of M&E systems layout. This is important in case of complex systems, especially in congested areas, which can be challenging to plan during the design stage. 

As Building Information Modelling (BIM) is increasingly used in construction, M&E engineers can have access to critical design information while being part of an efficient building workflow, ultimately resulting in fewer on-site errors and optimum systems design. 

Due to the different types of topography in the UK, the source of water depends on the area where it is required. Types of water sources are: 

• Upland catchment (reservoir)
• Ground water (borehole/artisan)
• River extraction

 These sources provide water of differing bacterial and physical qualities, such as: 

•  Hardness
• Bacteria count
•  Minerals

 To a great degree, these qualities are dependent on the environment, and with the effects of climate change and other looming environmental factors in play, households are hoping that technology will lead the way to greater efficiency in building services. 

Typically defined as the careful management and preservation of natural resources and the environment, environmental conservation takes into account climate change, ozone layer destruction and environmental pollution. These factors now have a considerable impact on building design. Regulations have been put in place to help space heating and hot and cold water services design. There is official support for all initiatives to reduce energy use and increasingly rely on renewable energy sources. Plumbing professionals in the UK are more than up for the challenge of deploying new technological advances to fulfil these requirements. 

Advances in technology have helped public health design in a number of ways, from smart pipes to water heaters without tanks. Plumbing professionals can now connect drain rods and pipe cutters to Wifi-enabled tablets and waterproof cameras. Some of the innovations that plumbing professionals are incorporating into public health services design are: 

Smart Pipe Systems: 

• Smart pipe systems, or brain pipes, are part of an increasingly popular home automation system. They help negotiate one of the biggest challenges in plumbing - detecting a leak early enough to prevent a large loss of water.
• Smart pipes monitor water pressure and identify the exact location of leaks, helping to repair the system while preventing significant damage. Thus, consumers avoid expensive repair and mould abatement. 

Hands-Free Faucets & Fixtures: 

• Mainly seen in airports and luxury hotels, motion sensor faucets are common in public restrooms for being more sanitary and reducing wastage of water.
• Now, homeowners are installing hands-free faucets.
• Also popular are no-touch toilets. More consumers want ultra-hygienic toilets that allow hands-free usem, resulting in efficient water use (fewer excess flushes). 

Tankless Water Heater Systems: 

Tankless water heater systems are so efficient that they can supposedly save more than 25% on annual water bills. 

Smart Shower Heads:  

• Today’s shower heads do more than give you decent water pressure.
• Advanced shower heads are Bluetooth-enabled to play music, creating a whole new generation of bathroom singers.
• High-tech shower heads have LED lights for displays of light and sound. 

Recycling Dishwasher Water: 

• Plumbing is changing how dishwashers use water.
• Dishwashers save significant amounts of water, and the latest dishwasher technology offers an option that recycles rinse water, reducing water usage by nearly 700 gallons annually.

 Greywater Recycling: 

• Greywater recycling technology recycles waste water from the shower and kitchen sink and uses it for gardening.
• Installing greywater systems can also reduce water bills and leave a smaller environmental footprint.

Smart Irrigation Systems: 

• These smart irrigation systems track the weather forecast and not water the lawn if rain is expected.
• Smart sprinklers turn off automatically during rain, conserving water.
• Smart irrigation systems factor in the type of plants, soil conditions and other environmental data to function effectively.
• Smart irrigation systems can connect to a mobile app for easy access to the data. 

The systems mentioned above can be cloud-based and can be connected through 3G and 4G wireless networks for precision and reliability. Challenges for plumbing professionals lie in delivering accurate, error-free and efficient design drawings and models to ensure a smooth installation process. 

Challenges to Standard Bathroom Plumbing Layouts

Plumbing, or public health, design would be somewhat incomplete without discussing bathrooms, the scenes for most design challenges. When redesigning, repairing or renovating existing bathrooms, one of the most challenging situations in the UK involve small spaces. In addition there are a few other common challenges, such as: 

Challenge:

Small bathrooms give professionals little room to work and to fit in the fittings required. 

Solutions:

•  Plastic fittings mean flexible pipes can be threaded through joists and around corners, without needing joints, making retrofit easier.
•  Copper or plastic adaptors can be used to extend existing systems.
•  Plastic components can be installed faster, leading to reduced labour costs.

 

Challenge:

Problems due to waste pipe fall are messing up the new layout design.

 

Solutions:

• Install waste pipes that slope down to ensure the right path for water, such as 10mm fall for every 4m of pipe.
• The floor level can be raised to create a void.
•  Run the wastewater between and below joists, boxing it in at the ceiling level of the room below.
•  Construct a plinth to raise the bath or shower above floor level and place the pipework below.

 

Challenge:

• Bathroom remodelling is affected by plumbing in awkward spaces, such as adding a basement bathroom or a bathroom that is far from the main drain.

 

Solution:

 Typically, bathrooms are connected to a 100mm soil pipe. When this is difficult to do, bathrooms can be installed in awkward spaces with a flexible small-bore waste pipe and a pump with a macerator.

 

Challenge:

A power shower’s water is not draining properly, resulting in standing water in the shower tray.

 

Solutions:

• §  First, check the waste pipe width, which should be big enough for the increased amount of water generated by a powerful shower.
• §  Use a 50mm waste pipe to handle the high flow rate in a large shower head or a power shower.

 

Challenge:

A shower has low water pressure, resulting in a weak, disappointing shower.

 

Solutions:

• §  Check the pressure on the hot and cold supply – most shower and tap mixers need 3-bar or more.
• §  Consider a special shower head or a high-pressure electric shower for low water pressure systems.
• §  Install a pump to boost the mains water pressure from a gravity-fed system.
• §  For mixer showers, the combi-boiler must be able to deliver a sufficient hot water flow.

 

Challenge:

It takes too long for hot water to reach the faucet, as the bathroom is at the end of a long plumbing run.

 

Solution:

 Connect a hot water cylinder to the end of the run and instal a bronze pump on the loop, with a timer, so hot water keeps circulating and faucets will provide instant hot water. 

Most of the challenges mentioned above for bathrooms can be solved by adding value to standard bathroom plumbing layouts through the support of high-quality, accurate plumbing design services and plumbing design drawings services. When these services become difficult to source in the UK, many firms are looking for offshore plumbing system design support, both for residential plumbing design layouts and commercial plumbing design. 

XS CAD has valuable experience providing design for plumbing system design and plumbing design drawings services for general contractors and design consultants.  Our range of services for building design firms across the world and specifically in the UK include standard bathroom plumbing layouts, residential plumbing design layouts, commercial plumbing design and other plumbing design services.  We create these models and drawings by using Revit, AutoCAD and BIM Collaborate Pro for cloud collaboration.   

How Crucial is Interior Design for Supermarkets?

Shopping for groceries may constitute retail therapy sometimes, for some people, but generally, it’s a chore. It’s a chore that involves spending valuable time at supermarkets that know how to work on human psychology to induce people to buy items they don’t really need. Interior design in supermarkets is geared towards optimising this social reality. Retailers understand that the layout of supermarkets and the placement of different items can impact consumer spending considerably. For store design & planning team, outsourcing technical services, such as architectural CAD drafting services and BIM consulting services to offshore partners has proven to be an efficient and cost-effective solution to developing supermarket interior design that can set the supermarket’s tone and increase profits.

The designing of a supermarket’s layout requires insight into basic human psychology. Designers spend time and effort to create a supermarket layout that will influence customer spending. The flow, merchandise placement and ambience of the store layout will affect the behaviour of customers. Retailers can assess their proposed revenue by looking at these layouts, resulting in informed decisions regarding the pros and cons of their mix of merchandise and where to place them. 

Some of the proven features of customer behaviour and how they can be used to determine layout plans are as follows: 

• Longer stay in a store results in a higher chance that something will be bought. So, retailers try to delay the customer’s exit.
• Store traffic will be affected by the placement of escalators, fixtures and department placement.
• Necessities, such as milk and eggs, are frequently located in the back of the supermarket, so that customers must pass the maximum number of other merchandises to get to them, thus potentially enticing an impulse buy. 

Other interior design features retailers use to provoke additional sales include the following: 

• Grouping

Merchandise is grouped in categories, so that when customers are looking to buy a specific product, they will discover other related products, which they may or may not require. Salsa and chips, breads and sandwich spreads and detergents and rubber gloves are placed adjacent to each other.

This also involves placing similar brands close together to ensure that customers who are loyal to a brand are able to find the one they want, resulting in additional cross-category or cross-brand sales. 

• Layouts for Theft Prevention

Displays or sections with small items that can be easily stolen are typically placed near security support, such as near the exit, before the check-out counter – somewhere that has extra security personnel or that involves a barrier for an extra physical movement, so that it is not easy to flee from the premises. 

• Displays that Encourage Positive Vibes

When customers are feeling good and comfortable, they feel good about their purchases. Layout design can set the mood through merchandise placement, aisle space and colours of fixtures and walls. 

• Shelf Height

Fixtures that are so tall that they block visibility has been known to cause anxiety, since shoppers must travel through every aisle. When the layout is open, anxiety is reduced, inducing shoppers to linger and make more purchases.

Why is shelf positioning so important to retail interior design?

Supermarket sales are dictated by positioning, the importance of which determines ‘shelf rent’ (cost of certain shelf positions for each product) in many cases. This is because customers need to easily view a product to buy it. A product which is hidden behind other products or on lower/higher shelves than the range of space that is easy on the eye may not sell as much.

Factors that influence where products sit on the shelf include the following: 

• Increasing Profits

A product’s ‘selling’ potential influences its shelf position. Eye-level on a shelf is considered prime real estate in a supermarket.  High-demand items, such as food staples, with high sales potential will be placed at eye level to ensure that as many units as possible are sold. Branded products are often placed on lower shelves to make way for in-store brands and special offers on eye-level shelves. 

• Targeting Customers

Understanding the target customers of different products is important. The maximum focus is on products at eye level, but some target consumers are of a different height. Children will notice, crave and insist on buying products at their eye and hand level, which means that toys, stuffed animals, most junk food and fizzy drinks may sell better from lower shelves. Products that appeal to adults will find space on higher shelves.

The supermarket has slowly evolved into the market square of old. Open plans, open ceilings and clear store graphics contribute to an open market feel.

How does a supermarket’s floor layout affect sales? 

• When customers are directed by a layout plan to walk to the back of the supermarket, they will inevitably see many other items on the way. At some point on their walk, they will be enticed to pick up certain products they had not planned for or were not aware of, increasing sales for the supermarket.
• Clever supermarket owners will consciously position high-volume products, such as milk and bread, at opposite sides of the supermarket floor, so as to maximise the consumer’s exposure to merchandise placed between them. In-store bakeries will be placed in a central position, since the aroma of freshly baked items will encourage impulse buying by hungry customers.
• Putting fresh produce, such as fruits and vegetables, near entrances gives rise to a few simple benefits. During the day, the natural light that falls on fruits and vegetables makes them look better and naturally fresh. As they are seen first, this produce will be picked up quickly and by a larger percentage of visitors, ensuring that most of such perishable items are not left behind. Since supermarket owners are cognisant of how people want healthy food, a spacious produce area will encourage customers to linger and spend more on fruits and vegetables. 
• Flowers also brighten up and beautify the entrance. Seeing something beautiful and smelling the floral aromas enhances the feeling of freshness. Placing them close to the fruit and vegetable section increases the freshness quotient of both.  
• Cooking ingredients and canned goods along with other general merchandise are usually placed in the central aisles to lure customers deeper inside the supermarket, so that they are exposed to nonessential goods while getting there. 
• Eggs, meat and dairy products are ideally lined up on the back wall of the supermarket space to make sure people see a variety of products that may facilitate ‘impulse buys’. Traditional ‘impulse buys’, such as magazines, mints and chocolate bars are placed at the checkout counter, which makes waiting in line a perfect opportunity for that ‘final sell’. 
• Sampling stations, special live display counters and cooking demonstrations typically line one of the outside walls to slow customers down while they are exposed to other products.

Increasingly, supermarkets are contributing to initiating and sustaining social connections. Parisian supermarkets are introducing areas where patrons can enjoy wine and warm food with friends. American supermarkets are trying to incorporate sections where customers can sip cocktails. Delicatessens and cafés should ideally be located at one of the front corners, so that people have the option of eating first, relaxing and then shopping, making it more likely that they will buy more items.

Enabling the development of 3D design in décor manufacturing, lighting and interior design involves the use of 3D modelling software, lighting test labs and a design resource library. Lighting tests can help predict the effects of bright, fluorescent lights or soft mood lighting on triggering a need to buy in customers. Such 3D previews help visualise the supermarket and its effect on the shoppers inside.

Many firms in Western countries are moving towards outsourcing architectural drafting services, including the delivery of retail construction drawings. High-quality retail design drawings and architectural BIM services can help develop designs with detailed dimensional accuracy, that can be digitised and modelled, so that revisions and changes can be made quickly and easily. Offshore companies provide architectural CAD drafting services that are precise, cost-effective and that enable the 3D visualisation of a supermarket space, plan, layout or strategy, which ultimately helps supermarkets increase their profits.

 

Why CFD Is a Key Factor for Fire Protection Design

Fires are scary, a chemical reaction that can strangely assume lifelike qualities and can easily get out of control. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some way to predict or calculate potential high-risk areas in building spaces where fires may start and how they would spread? Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is an analytical tool to calculate fluid flows, with or without solid interaction. It is vital that fire design service providers use CFD and CAD modelling services to help design an effective fire protection system.

Understanding how CFD analysis works may seem a little bit like a physics lesson, but it’s actually worth considering.

Fluids flow according to their physical properties, such as pressure, velocity, temperature, density and viscosity. This is what happens in a CFD analysis in simple terms: 

• To analyse fluid flow, a model of the physical case and a numerical method is created digitally.
• The model can vary according to changes in the values of heat transfer, mass transfer, phase change, chemical reaction, etc.
• Depending on the software (typically Autodesk CFD, AnsysCFD, OpenFOAM, etc.), the amount of physical prototypes can be reduced and a product development process can be generated for fire protection design.

What does fire protection design for a building entail? 

Buildings may have different fire protection needs, eg, the fire protection needs for warehouses or storage facilities differ from those of office buildings. The design for any building involves an integrated approach, such as follows: 

• System designers analyse building components.
• Building function, occupancy, installed systems and footprint are considered.
• Building owners, management, architects, engineers, consultants and contractors and their input are inherent in the design process and design data.
• Fire protection design must adhere to the fire codes of the concerned region.

The main goals of fire protection systems are: 

• To save lives
• To save property
• To preserve business continuity

How does it fulfil those goals? The basic strategy for fire protection systems involve: 

• Detection
• Alarms and notification
• Suppression

Fire protection engineers can design systems to detect, contain, control or extinguish a fire, in its early stages, as follows: 

Detection Systems

• Smoke detectors sense smoke and trigger alarms.
• Smart detectors can sense different alarm thresholds.
• Heat detectors can trigger alarms before smoke detectors.

Alarms and Notification Systems

• Two types of alarms – 1. To alert building occupants, 2. To alert emergency responders
• Fire alarms can direct fire responders to where the alarm is. Through AutoCAD floor plan integration, an AutoCAD screen with building management or building security can show which floor the alarm was activated on and can print a floor plan of that spot, which is then handed to emergency responders.
• Speakers provide alerts in addition to bell alarms, instructing occupants where to go or whether to stay in their space.
• Alert systems may be designed to close designated doors, turn off elevators and interface with suppression systems, such as sprinklers.
• Alert systems may connect to ventilation components, smoke-management systems or stairwell pressure systems.

Suppression Systems

• Sprinklers, which can reduce the chances of death and property loss due to fire by 50-65 percent compared to occupied spaces without sprinklers
• Sprinkler heads activated individually by fire, each one with a heat-sensitive element within which activates the sprinkler head during high temperatures
• Gaseous or chemical suppression used where water may damage equipment

With all these systems in place, how does CFD help?

The CFD software works by creating a separate model, although a replica, of the original project, created from building plans, that can graphically and numerically represent and follow the spread of fire, including its heat and smoke. Then, this data is used to create a fire strategy that is efficient, integrates the fire detection, alarms and suppression systems and follows the fire safety regulations of the region.

As CFD calculates fluid flows, using mathematical formulae and analysis, it can be successfully applied in HVAC, hydraulic systems and water systems. A 3D model is created, from CFD data and the data from building plans, with an imaginary fire inside. The building and the fire inside it are separated, or broken down, into extremely small blocks (running into millions) or simple shapes where the mathematical formulae used in CFD can be applied on individual blocks and combinations of blocks.

One of the several results of the calculations that are part of CFD is that it can help create a fire suppression model, which works something like this: 

• The ratio between fluid mixing time scale and the flame chemical time scale is used to create a suppression model. 
• When the fluid mixing time scale is short compared to the chemical time scale for combustion, the fire can be extinguished.
• Suppressants are introduced to increase the chemical time required for combustion.
• The effectiveness of suppression models in stressed and obstructed flows are analysed by using validation data.
• CFD analyses how changes in geometry can change the distribution of suppression.
• Design can determine the most ideal fire protection with minimal suppressant system mass and cost.

Other benefits of using CFD include the following: 

• Cloud-based CFD simulation can help optimise HVAC systems for fire safety and smoke management.
• CFD simulations can monitor CO levels under normal conditions.
• CFD simulation results can help plot the magnitude, velocity and direction of air flows, helping to predict how fires can spread from any given space.
• CFD simulations can help decide how to lower CO concentration levels in enclosed spaces, such as underground parking lots. This can help plan where to place jet fans to generate air flow. The CFD simulation can be run again with the fans to plot the new air flow velocity and check the effect on CO concentration levels.
• CFD simulations can calculate the quantities of required supply and exhaust air to provide a smoke control system that is code compliant.
• CFD modelling helps design public spaces with easy and safe egress, in case of fire or other emergencies.
• CFD simulations can show the effects of sprinklers on fires.

Computational fluid dynamics makes predictive models of fire protection applications more accurate, making it a key factor in fire protection design. The capacity and means of egress have requirements imposed by building codes, which can be accurately calculated using CFD. The CFD simulations can also help fire design service providers view the performance of smoke management and general visibility in case of fire. These providers depend on the high quality and accuracy of their CAD modelling services and 2D CAD services, which is increasingly being sourced from offshore firms with CFD project experience.

XS CAD has valuable experience providing CFD modelling and CFD simulations, 2D CAD drawings, BIM modelling services, MEP engineering design and drafting services for global building engineering firms. Our range of services for fire protection design engineers across the world include fire protection design, HVAC design services, MEP drafting, public health system drafting and building services coordination using various tools such as Revit, Navisworks, AutoCAD, BIM 360 Design, etc. 

Maintaining As-built Drawings & Models for Large Retail Chains

 Large retail chains with a global presence strive for consistency across their outlets and using as-built drawings can help them achieve that goal. Using retail design drawings and 3D architectural visualisation services along with the as-built drawings can help retailers represent their brand convincingly and consistently. 

Just what are as-built drawings?

A vital part of construction projects, as-built drawings are the final revised set of drawings submitted by a contractor when the project is concluded. These set of drawings show great detail, including dimensions, geometry and the placements of all structural, architectural and MEP (M&E) components, such as walls, doors, windows and building engineering components, in the project. 

As-built drawings typically consist of the following features: 

• Modifications and their explanations (why and how they were made) 
• Dates in the corner of all as-built drawing sheets
• If hand-written, the handwriting must be clear and brief 
• Using the same scale as the original drawings or recreating them on different sheets
• Using primary colours to code items that are added, deleted or modified

Why do we need as-built drawings?

As-built drawings are used to replicate the project the way the contractor built it, identifying any and every change or modification made during construction. The final sets generally include shop drawing changes, field changes, design changes, approved and impromptu changes made. While recording as-built drawings, the changes made can be visualised and may even affect the rest of the project. 

It is vital that every project site has a minimum of one set of completed as-built drawings. While recording changes, the following must be ensured: 

• Changes recorded should have the exact details or additions, along with the original information, such as sizes, dimensions, materials, installation details, etc.
• If changes are changed, they should also be included in the as-built drawings or as-built documentation and clearly demarcated.

Every project has its complications, as they involve the orchestration of a range of components, processes and functions. Each part must align according to the design, and this may not be possible in every instance due to external factors, human error, unavailability or shortage of specific components, etc. Skilled contractors will adapt, adjust and modify to any deviations from the original design that may crop up.  

As-built drawings, also known as record drawings, are part of the concluding process of construction management. This is useful for the future, as they can be used to ensure a successful project lifecycle, following the initial construction phase. 

Each project stakeholder benefits from as-built drawings in a different way. 

• Contractors are able to clearly visualise the future steps, when as-built drawings record modifications made during the initial construction stages, making it easier to be aware of complications created by the modifications and solve any challenges that may arise.
• Clients and retail building owners benefit when the owner decided to make any changes to the building or if any damages or issues arise sometime in the future, as records of all installations and components are clearly recorded.
• Future buyers of the property can have a detailed record of what they are buying and can use it for future development, reconstruction, renovation or modification.

In the current scenario, software does not only take care of the modifications previously noted by hand, but it can perform project management functions, such as version tracking, document monitoring and the validation of permissions.

So, why do large retail chains need as-built drawings and models?

The one-word answer would be ‘consistency’. Retail chains need to maintain consistency in brand design, including the general floor layout, wherever possible. Regardless of the country, certain global brands (for example, a well-known burger or coffee retail chain comes to mind) present a uniform look and feel in terms of colours, layouts and general ambience. This consistency can be maintained, improved or modified by using as-built drawings from the first country-specific project, so that all further outlets in the country can learn from and adjust their design accordingly. It can also be used as a basis for design in other countries.

Consistent branding, with images, messages, in-store shelving and layouts, etc., can be maintained with the right software tools used to create retail layout designs. Using Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology has proved to be useful in this regard, especially with the Revit platform. Retail chains can benefit significantly from the use of 3D BIM modelling with Revit BIM to visualise, design and modify their retail layout designs. During construction, any changes to the original design can be updated easily.  

To communicate a retail chain’s experience online, high definition imagery and videos can be created. Any changes to design in the future can be reflected using up-to-date as-built drawings and models.

As-built drawings for large retail chains typically include: 

• Floor Plans
• Exterior Elevations
• Roof Plans
• MEP Systems
• Electrical Plans
• Reflected Ceiling Plans (RCP)
• Interior Elevations
• Sections
• Inventory and Merchandise Mapping
• Furniture, Fixture & Equipment (FF&E)
• 360 Degree Photos
• Virtual Walk-throughs

Ultimately, using as-built drawings is a win-win situation for all concerned. It only remains for retail chains to find the right BIM services partner to provide reliable retail building design services that can easily be updated to include changes and then be maintained as as-built drawings. When BIM modelling services become unaffordable and difficult to find locally, many Western firms look overseas for their BIM outsourcing needs.

XS CAD has valuable experience providing retail store building design services, BIM modelling services and 3D architectural visualisation services for global firms.  Our range of services for retail store planners or mixed-use building planners include architectural BIM, generating construction drawings, as-built drawings, MEP BIM, 3D rendering services (CGIs) and walk-throughs.  

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