ACELAB, a startup of building materials and products with $ 13 million in funding has launched HUB materials, an artificial deposit powered by intelligence that allows architects and designers to discover, evaluate and specify construction materials. Launched on March 3, the platform uses and, together with the institutional knowledge of a company, through its product and libraries of internal materials, to help meet the challenges of the selection of materials in modern architecture.
HUB materials has information such as the detail of the connection to its recommendations.
Screen Capture Courtesy of Acelab
Matters
Many technology companies and service providers have sought to address the selection and specification of materials with software platforms as a service since the 3D building information modeling more than 20 years ago. But Acelab also adds his own BIM knowledge, with more than 10,000 building materials and more than 900 product certifications to HUB database. There are more than 1,000 manufacturers represented on the Acelab platform, with more than 50,000 specific products in 25 categories such as windows, doors, coating, roof and insulation.
“The world of architecture is at a critical moment where material options have never been more important,” said Dave Lemont, executive chairman of Acelab and ex -CEO of the Revit Software Provider before his acquisition of 2002 by Autodesk, in a statement. “Combining the search fueled by and with collaborative tools and the history of a company’s project, we have created a platform that will change the world of material selection. This is exactly what the industry needs to move forward and create a more sustainable built environment. “”
Acelab captures and digitizes the library of materials from a company, which can be celebrated on project -based calculation sheets or even physical samples. Specifiers can ask the AI questions in the materials center such as “show the slides-resistant tiles for freezing conditions” and receive accurate answers. HUB materials has data of more than 100,000 building materials and can work with specific architectural terminology.
Acelab is also ready to work with architects to customize the materials center for their uses and product libraries. “Something that really intrigued the platform was that we need to have an open specification for all our projects,” said Lena Reiff, a Ross Barney Architects designer in Chicago, the work of public buildings often requires presenting a customer with various options. “We must have at least three products that can do relatively the same. It is actually very complicated,” he said. “We cannot simply specify one thing and therefore we began to use -for this reason and we could find various materials that had similarities between them.”
Reiff said that the use of a AI for material research offers a significant time saving for higher value design work. “This shows the good that is a resource [AI] can be. She is able to help you in research and do not make the decisions for you. “
In the design firm, Kierantimberlake, in Philadelphia, the associate and technical director, Steven Johns, said that Acelab worked with the firm to digitize his material database and set up a permit structure to manage it. “A lot of research is stuck in a project, an email somewhere or in a PowerPoint presentation to a client,” Johns said. “This information tends to forget as the project … It fades in history books.”
Johns added that, however, his team decided to select a particular material, or why they chose to convey it, it is functionally as important as the closure of the project in terms of what Kierantimberlake wants to capture in its material core.
