A
t the heart of any project is a fixed
2 business elite canada H JANUARY 2014
or loss of future tenders, which is why the AEC
deadline, and in an industry where
decisions are routinely changed, the
security of this deadline is never assured. For
the Architecture, Engineering and Construc-
tion (AEC) industry, shifting deadlines are
compounded by the number of associated
businesses and contractors that may be in-
volved, along with the time delays and asso-
ciated costs. Schedule changes may occur in
order to accommodate both the owner and op-
erator. Risks associated with miscommunica-
tion around any and all project changes include
missed deadlines, financial penalties, re-work,
community is attempting to be vigilant in how
they approach such project details.
The potential impact of miscommunication
within the fields of AEC is massive – the in-
dustry in Western Europe alone represents
10.7% of GDP. So maneuvering through a
global dilemma of miscommunication requires
technologies and new approaches in order to
breathe life into one-way communications.
Construction productivity has steadily gone
downhill as compared to other industries. Be-
JANUARY 2014 H business elite canada 3

fore IPD (integrated project
delivery), the construction in-
dustry lagged behind the rest
and decreased in productivity
every year since 1964 through
2004, and held an 80% pro-
duction ratio, whereas other
industries exceeded to up to
200%. (Paul Teicholz, Ph.D.
Professor (Research) Emeri-
tus, Dept. of Civil and En-
vironmental Engineering,
Stanford University.) VIEW
ARTICLE.
Stanford University docu-
4 business elite canada H JANUARY 2014
ments productivity in the form
of monetary value for con-
struction and design compa-
nies’ operations. The research
concludes that there is a $3
million cost reduction for gen-
eral contractors, and a roaring
$300, 000.00 of savings for
design companies. Statistics
conclude that through the use
of BIM (building information
modeling) and collaboration
technology there has been a
dramatic increase in produc-
tivity within the AEC field of
up to 20%. (User Maturity and
Communication is the cornerstone
of any great project
The single biggest threat to any AEC project is miscommunication.
It can lead to mistakes, rescheduling and inflated costs. SMART solutions
can dramatically improve communication, helping you to deliver projects
on time and on budget.
smarttech.com/designreview
Benefits Achieved Through
the Use of SMART Board Col-
laboration Technology in Col-
laboration Sessions, Goldar-
cena, J., and J. Kunz, 05/2013.)
VIEW ARTICLE.
With new innovations and
a change in the way people
within the construction in-
dustry interact and communi-
cate, the currently unrealized
reduction of costs, shortened
project schedules and maxi-
mized efficiencies will surely
be welcomed by everyone.
JANUARY 2014 H business elite canada 5
Gone are the days when pen
and paper or hard copy proj-
ect plans were the sole ele-
ments of communicating and
capturing ideas and changes
that may have been discussed.
Today, nothing compares to
a device that allows visual
communication to stand at
the forefront. Enter SMART
Technologies’ enabled BIM
Room Solution: a revolution-
ary technology that integrates
interactive touch technology
and 3D building with struc-
ture design software, and the
sharing of information for all
project stakeholders through
an easy interface.

For companies whose pri-

mary goal is to deliver an
on-time, on-budget project,
miscommunication errors
can reach into the millions.
The AEC field is not immune
project teams. The solution
includes in-room and remote
collaboration software along
with interactive touch displays
that are integrated with in-
time by all parties participat-
ing in the discussion. Because
it is virtual and broadcasted
using SMART remote confer-
encing software, participants
Communication is the cornerstone
of any great project
Miscommunication can lead to added costs for AEC projects.
Improve your communication with SMART solutions
and deliver projects on time and on budget.

to miscommunication, espe-
cially when having to coor-
dinate between the project
site, various office locations
where architects and engi-
neers may be working, along
with bringing subcontractors
and trades into the discus-
sions. SMART’s BIM Room
Solution offers the best-in-
class technology for effective
communication within AEC
6 business elite canada H JANUARY 2014
dustry leading AEC software
from Tekla® Adobe® and
Autodesk®. These industry-
leading companies have cre-
ated a series of applications
for architects, engineers and
contractors to design and
collaborate on buildings and
structures in 3D. SMART’s
BIM Room allows for a vir-
tual working space to be cre-
ated and this is seen in real
can use interactive displays, To learn more, visit
smarttech.com/designreview
laptops and tablets, virtually
anywhere. No longer is there
the need to fit 20 people in a
room and the associated time
and travel costs that requires.
The SMART Solution offers a
seamless communication plat-
form for all parties to view,
edit and alter as required.
At the end of these working
sessions, the digital files can
JANUARY 2014 H business elite canada 7

be saved and immediately
emailed to all participants. No
longer does someone need to
painstakingly attempt to de-
cipher discussion notes and
transcribe mark-ups in order
to share such details.
IBSECAD, a UK based 3D De-
sign Company runs a series of
workshops on various com-
puter aided model (CAD) ap-
plications including Autodesk
Navisworks. Here is how Rich-
ard Baglow, Regional Director
8 business elite canada H JANUARY 2014
of IBSECAD, describes the
benefits of using SMART’s
BIM Room. “This is a big step
forward from looking at paper
drawings and makes it easi-
er for the clients to visualise
their projects. However, the
challenge lies in how we work
with those models, record the
collaborative process and cap-
ture changes to the plans. We
were limited to using screen
grabs of images and marking
them up by hand, using Pho-
toshop packages or the com-
mentary tool on Autodesk
Navisworks, but it was a rel-
atively slow process.” The
combination of hardware and
software support ensures bet-
ter coordination and commu-
nication during any phase of
project delivery from concept
to construction to close-out.
AEC project team members
now have the ability to col-
laborate, communicate and
coordinate with other project
members using SMART’s re-
mote collaboration capability.
This keeps the right people
connected throughout the
project– whether they are in
the same room or remote -
making miscommunication a
thing of the past.
“The solution facilitates the
ability to bring in a wide vari-
ety of visual content – every-
thing from a simple sketch in
early project stage to high res-
olution images and 3D models
– and to be able to bring all
that content into a discussion
where people can freely col-
laborate, mark up or capture
and it doesn’t matter if they’re
physically located together or
geographically separated. Ul-
timately this will shorten cycle
times, produce better results
and reduce costs,” says Rick
Kennedy, SMART’s Business
Development Manager spe-
cializing in the AEC market.
Kennedy has been intimately
involved in the evolution of
SMART Solutions for busi-
ness users for the past seven
JANUARY 2014 H business elite canada 9
Rick Kennedy
Business Development Manager
years. During that time he has
worked with hundreds of cus-
tomers and helped shape the
design and user experience of
AEC solutions.
Having all parties interact us-
ing visual communication will
inevitably improve project pro-
ficiency. “To have visual con-
tent available like a 3D model,
we can all pick up a pen and
visually describe exactly what
we’re talking about… This
encourages engagement from
everyone, which ultimately
delivers both faster and better
results,” adds Rick.
The development of SMART’s
BIM Room Solution is sig-
nificantly influenced by the
people who use them. In es-
sence, SMART consults with
customers to help define
their products. For example,
SMART turned to two of the
largest construction organiza-
tions in the United States –
Turner Construction and DPR
Construction - to help create
the requirements for the inte-
grations with industry leading
AEC software applications.
“When everyone sees the im-
pact that changing something
in one spot has on other ar-
eas – it gives everyone an
appreciation for what each
person is bringing to the proj-
ect,” says Atul Khanzode,
DPR Construction’s Director
of Virtual Building. “This op-
portunity to explore and re-
solve pain points in a virtual
environment ahead of time
will have a direct impact on
how smoothly construction
will go.” Echoing these senti-
ments, Dan Gramer of Turner
Construction asserts, “It has
changed our meetings. We’re
10 business elite canada H JANUARY 2014
able to get on topic, pull up
a 3D model, show the prob-
lem and quickly get others on
board.”
SMART has worked with Stan-
ford University’s Centre for In-
tegrated Facility Engineering
(CIFE) and its clients for close
to a decade. As a premier aca-
demic research center for Vir-
tual Design and AEC industry
projects, CIFE supports ex-
ceptionally reliable engineer-
ing and management practices
to plan, design, construct and
JANUARY 2014 H business elite canada 11
operate sustainable facilities.
The world-renowned Univer-
sity has closely assessed the
application and released a re-
search paper on the economic
impact of adopting SMART
Solutions into organizations
that have implemented build-
ing information modeling.
Their findings conclude that
these companies can real-
ize a return of investment in
as little as one week and im-
prove on-time performance.
John Kunz, Executive Direc-
tor of CIFE, relays that, “the
result of an economic analy-
sis of these benefits and as-
sociated costs suggest a very
strong business case for this
collaboration technology for
a broad spectrum of design
and construction organiza-
tions.” The study confirms
that shorter project meetings,
improved safety and a bet-
ter understanding of client
requirements are a result of
implementing SMART’s hard-
ware and software solution.
RFI’s (request for informa-
tion) are required when the
parties involved in the proj-
ect need additional informa-
tion or clarity, either at the bid
phase or construction phase.
Improving the collaboration
and communication between
project stakeholders can re-
sult in significant reduction
in the number of RFI’s and ul-
timately deliver better quality
projects – faster.

To visually review project

plans in a group environment
will allow for faster under-
standing, and thereby reduce
the number of RFI submis-
sions. “The research conduct-
ed by Stanford shows there
is a significant reduction in
RFI’s as a result of improved
collaboration,” says Kenne-
dy. “It’s not just the time to
do the work but the time to
respond, because when you
submit an RFI you’re not get-
ting an immediate response,
but when you visually look at
content and have everyone on
the same page it can signifi-
cantly reduce the time.”

The solution for AEC proj-

ect teams has applications
at every stage of the project
from a simple sketch in the
early project stage or ‘fat pen’
stage, to the ability to work-
ing directly in industry lead-
ing AEC applications ranging
from Autodesk Navisworks,
Revit, AutoCAD to Tekla BIM-
sight during the design phase
12 business elite canada H JANUARY 2014
and construction phases.
“We have achieved a signifi-
cant return on investment
from the implementation of
SMART Board interactive
whiteboards and SMART
Bridgit conferencing soft-
ware,” says Ken Cartier, Part-
ner and Lead Architect of
GEC Architecture. “SMART
collaboration solutions en-
able staff and clients to easily
view highly-detailed architec-
tural drawings and experience
greater collaboration which
has resulted in meetings that
are quicker and more produc-
tive. Our entire investment in
the solution was easily paid
for with one architectural
project.”
Integrated Project Delivery
(IPD) is the process where all
stakeholders are rewarded or
penalized based on the overall
success of the project. They all
share accountability and risk
throughout each phase which
greatly influences the need to
work collaboratively.
“In order to do that more effec-
tively they need the tools and
will benefit the entire indus-
JANUARY 2014 H business elite canada 13
try,” Kennedy says. Because
of this shared accountability
of risk and success along with
everyone having equal access
to the pie, it is no wonder why
the IPD process is growing in
its popularity.
One of the challenges the AEC

industry faces is reluctance
to adopt new technology un-
less they are highly motivated
and is easy to use. “When we
have students arrive or new
hires join, at first they can
be a bit hesitant to use it. But
once they do, there’s just no
going back. You just keep us-
ing it and finding new ways
to use it, as well,” says Peter
14 business elite canada H JANUARY 2014
Osborne, Partner at GEC Ar-
chitecture. “There’s always a
challenge in terms of people
having to work differently
with a change of technology,”
says Kennedy. “Our consult-
ing and adoption services
were created to try to under-
stand how the technology is
to be used and how organi-
zations will work differently
given the new capability. We
go in and work with custom-
ers and show them how they
can take full advantage of the
technology to enhance their
workflows. We have a vested
interest in people’s success.”
“With the SMART solution,
we can very easily demon-
strate what works in a design
and what doesn’t. The evolu-
tion of a plan can take place
right there, when normally it
would take three meetings,”
explains Helma Gansen,
President of Gansen Lindsay
Design Consultants. “The
SMART Board is a tool that
is very relevant to the way we
communicate and work to-
day.”
A critical success factor also
proves to be that industry
leaders, such as Trimble, have
worked closely with SMART
to improve the software –
which is constantly evolving
and improving -- and help
provide specific solutions.
“If I were to describe some-
thing in words and voice only,
JANUARY 2014 H business elite canada 15
there would be miscommu-
nications and clarifications
required, but if I show you
visually and draw out how it
works it’ll be clearer and re-
quire less time,” Kennedy ad-
vocates. It is because of these
significant results and savings
reaching into the millions that
the members of the AEC in-
dustry have dubbed SMART
Solutions for AEC Project
Teams as “game-changing.”
SMART Technologies Inc. -
the mastermind behind this
imperative product - is a lead-
ing provider of technology so-
lutions that enable inspired
collaboration in schools and
workplaces around the world,
by turning group work into a
highly interactive, engaging
and productive experience.
SMART delivers integrated
solutions of hardware, soft-
ware and services, designed
for superior performance and
ease of use, and retains its
place as a frontrunner in in-
teractive displays.
For more information on The
SMART BIM Room and other
solutions, visit:
www.smarttech.com
 AsAS
seen inIN
SEEN JANUARY issue
APRIL 2013 2014
ISSUE OFof

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16 business elite canada H JANUARY 2014