Using VR model reveals problem, suggests solution.

At the College of the Atlantic, in Bar Harbor, Maine, Coldham & Hartman Architects has designed six units of Student Housing, currently under construction. Designed to wring the maximum utility out of the most efficient footprint, the units include mechanical rooms that are unusually compact. The 3D exercise began as a way to visualize and streamline mechanical and electrical installations.

Combining 3D model parts and mechanical plans from Petersen Engineering, Coldham & Hartman plotted the virtual pathways of air and water in and out of the mechanical room and throughout the rest of the three story buildings.

Once laid out for all three floors, the duct routing revealed issues that could have cost hours to fix on site, and that would certainly have led to greater heat losses than previously calculated. With the model in hand, Coldham & Hartman Architects was able to find an adequate solution to the potential problem.

Click the image above to see the full VR layout.

Though this may now be a "dead end" exercise—no fabricator will work from the 3D model, no installer will stand with laptop in hand trying to find the appropriate place for a pipe or a duct—the changes inspired by the VR will allow smoother workflow on site, allow for more efficient framing, prevent potential duct-related energy penalties, and save the project from what might have been long delays on site.

For a project with multiple iterations of the same design, such savings in time, energy, and money can be significant. As the power of 3D modeling grows, so does the opportunity to anticipate and eliminate complex problems.