Floth Sustainable Building Consultants recently beat an international field of companies to take out the coveted Model of the Year 2011 for their modeling work on the new Queensland Children’s Hospital Energy Plant.

The award was presented at the annual users’ conference for 3D/Building Information Modeling (BIM) software providers to the construction industry TSI software, held in Las Vegas.

Floth partner Mark Bowes was on hand to receive the award.

“The 2011 user conference in Las Vegas brought together TSI software users from all over the world to share experiences and learn more about the capabilities of the software,” Mr Bowes said.

“As a part of this meeting, the users that attend the conference submit their best building services models to see who is leading the field.

“The submissions are reviewed by TSI company representatives and narrowed down to the three (3) best models prior to the conference, with the winner selected from these during the conference.

“Standing up in front of 500 of your competitors was daunting but nothing compared to the buzz of showing them our hard work and accepting first prize. Feedback was also great as many comments indicated that it was fantastic to see such good work so early on in the project (something which was not happening much in America or Europe).”

“Floth Sustainable Building Consultants was compared alongside some of the best engineering design consultants and contractors in the world, and has proven itself to be the leader in the field.

“Our detailed services model for the Queensland Children’s Hospital Energy Plant reflects months of design and coordination with the project team,” Mr Bowes said.

“We use the 3D modeling software as a part of our design process to provide a 3D visual representation of the building’s services, which includes the ductwork and pipework needed for the building’s electrical and plumbing needs.

“But a model like this one is used for more than the design and coordination with the project team.

“This modeling is used across all phases of the project, from the design, to the pricing and construction phase. This allows far more accurate manufacturing and cost estimates, which helps to keep costs on track throughout the life of the project.

Our modeling software now allows exporting and importing of models with Revit. This aids in providing more practical BIM information in the final Revit model while allowing faster model creation using the TSI software.”