Company: PAE Consulting Engineers, Inc.

Software on Board: PAE relies on Autodesk® Revit® MEP, AutoCAD® MEP, Autodesk® Ecotect™ Analysis and Autodesk® Green Building Studio, Autodesk® Simulation CFD, Autodesk® Project Vasari, Autodesk® Navisworks.® Additional analytical software includes eQuest,® Trane Trace,™ Bentley® Tas and AGI.

Company: PAE Consulting Engineers, Inc. PAE Consulting Engineers, Inc. is a 65-person firm providing an array of services in mechanical and electrical engineering, technology services, and architectural lighting design. With offices in Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California, PAE serves public and private sector clients throughout the western United States and beyond. Founded in 1967, the firm now specifies more than $1 billion in total construction costs each year.

SummaryLeading edge technology has had a significant role in the development of sustainable design. For PAE, with its focus on sustainability in the built environment, riding the leading edge of technology has been solitary, exhilarating and rewarding. Sustainable design has been a long-standing PAE focus. Since the

launch of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), PAE has provided design or commissioning expertise for more than 85 LEED rated or registered projects. Moving beyond LEED, dozens of PAE projects have either achieved or are pursuing Living Building, Architecture 2030, Carbon Neutral, and Net Zero Energy/Net Zero Water status.

In 1986 PAE’s mix of projects spanned clean rooms and hi-tech research facilities, commercial high-rises, government buildings, healthcare facilities, and college and university projects. The 1990s brought large scale projects including the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, a 16-story, $107 million project in the heart of downtown Portland. The same decade also brought profound changes to the architecture, engineering and con-struction (AEC) industry. Early in the decade, emerging design technolo-gies were “intelligent” or “green.” At decade’s close they were “high per-formance,” “sustainable,” and “LEED.” But demands for ever better energy-efficiencies were severely testing the limits of 2D design technologies.

As innovators and early adopters, PAE embraced 3D design technology. Ideate, Inc. pro-vided PAE with a broad and deep solution for adopting Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Autodesk® Revit® MEP.

PAE Consulting Engineers Creates Built Environments that Give Back

Studies in Success

IMAGE COURTESY SERA ARCHITECTS.

The Challenge: Adopt and Implement Revit MEPInitially, deploying Revit MEP made the PAE team aware that the transition would take time and technical expertise on several fronts. As PAE Principal Steve Reidy acknowl-edged in 2009, “We desperately needed to get this software program operational for us.”

Scott Bevan, Electrical Engineer, Senior Associate at PAE, explains in more detail the initial impetus to adopt and implement Revit MEP by saying, “Part of the motivation – even before cool projects started coming in – was our clients. They had made the transition to BIM. They needed us to use Revit.”

“Before that,” offers Chris Morgan, PAE Mechanical Designer and LEED AP, “There was a stepping stone we called hybrid projects.

“People are always hesitant to pick up a new tool. Then they reach a point where it becomes more painful or time consuming or difficult to use the old tool. That’s when they overcome inertia and reach for the new technology. It’s like the transition from hand drawing to AutoCAD® must have been. Once users are in it, they become more comfortable. The outcome of our attempt at hybrid projects was that it got everybody into Revit.”

PAE’s current approach to building information modeling is to fully commit to utilizing the latest BIM tools in house for design, coordination and analysis. PAE is at the forefront of BIM for MEP design, coordination and building modeling. This includes development of envelope models to be utilized in any number of analytical programs all sharing the same base geometry, as well as BIM construction coordination or clash detection efforts to help eliminate waste of both materials and construction cost.

Ideate Helps PAE “Get Operational”Ideate first began working with PAE in 2008 and has continually provided support for Revit MEP and other advanced software solutions.

Training“It was probably in 2009 that I started attending the Ideate three-day trainings and Lunch and Learns,” says Justin Stenkamp, PAE Mechanical Engineer, LEED AP BD+C. “In that first class at Ideate, I think

there were about 10 of us from PAE who took the Revit MEP training.”

Ideate also provided Revit MEP training specifically for the PAE project man-agers and engineers, with training focused on their needs to be able to open a Revit model properly, navigate around the model, examine it, print sheets, and close the project without disturbing the designer’s workflow.

After the initial trainings, more groups of PAE staff members came in to Ideate for trainings from fundamentals through advanced.

Lunch and LearnsIdeate also arranged Lunch and Learn sessions with PAE on specific topics. One early Lunch and Learn was for everyone at PAE who was going to use Revit. Many users expressed plenty of questions and concerns. The Ideate technical specialist devoted time helping attendees understand what was causing their frustration and showing them how to avoid common pitfalls.

At another Lunch and Learn, the Ideate tech demonstrated how to use the newly developed template and demonstrated how their previous workflow was about to change and improve. At still another session, the Ideate Revit MEP specialist demonstrated how Revit MEP could assist with take-offs and ball park costing.

The Lunch and Learns have become a tradition. PAE team members look forward to one each year when Ideate brings them up to date on new prod-ucts and features, and implementation of some of the latest-breaking, most powerful solutions.

2 n Studies in Success PAE Engineers Create Built Environments that Give Back – continued

“ People are always hesitant to pick up a new tool. It’s like the transition from hand drawing to AutoCAD must have been.”

—Chris Morgan, Mechanical Designer and LEED AP, PAE

“ We desperately needed to get this software program operational for us.”

— Steve Reidy, Principal, PAE

“ Our clients had made the transition to BIM. They needed us to use Revit.”

— Scott Bevan, Electrical Engineer, Senior Associate, PAE

Studies in Success n 3PAE Engineers Create Built Environments that Give Back – continued

Consulting ServicesEarly on in the Revit MEP implementation period, Ideate provided PAE with some consult-ing services, including content creation, writing documentation for best practices, phasing and helping to streamline PAE standards and practices in house. It was the internal set up Ideate provided to PAE that made the difference. As Chris Morgan says, “Template creation combined with training got the ball rolling.”

Scott Bevan adds, “We have had follow up since then. But when projects started coming in, we really took off.”

PAE Scope of Revit MEP Use A sampling of PAE Engineers projects – either completed or in progress between 2009 and 2012 – provides examples of unique design challenges and successful use of Revit MEP.

Bullitt Center – Headquarters for the Bullitt Foundation, Seattle, Washington

Pursuing: Living Building Status, Net Zero Energy, Net Zero Water, Architecture 2030

Size: 51,000 sf, anticipated to be the largest commercial Living Building in the U.S.

According to project engineer Justin Stenkamp, “The Bullitt Center is a full Revit MEP project. We created the geometry using Revit and were able to export it to really streamline our process. We imported that same geometry into eQuest® for energy modeling, into Trane TraceTM for HVAC load calculations, into Tas for airflow analysis, and for light accurate modeling using AGI software.

“Using Revit not only facilitated detailed analysis, it had the added effect of helping us collaborate. The electrical and mechanical rooms would customarily be windowless, but for the Bullitt Center they were to have windows, enabling public visitors to ‘see in’ and learn. PAE traded models with The Miller Hull Partnership (the project architect) for the modeling of these important educational components.”

Among the Bullitt Center’s many sustainable features are a 245 KW PV system, composting/micro-flush toilets, a closed loop vertical geothermal heating and cooling system, and grey and rain water reclamation. Stenkamp says, “We used Revit to model composting toilets on all six floors, and we used Revit to model grey water system that pipes to wetlands.”

“ Template creation combined with training got the ball rolling.”

—Chris Morgan

“ When projects started coming in, we really took off.”

—Scott Bevan

IMAGE COURTESY THE MILLER HULL

PARTNERSHIP, LLP.

“ We created the geometry using Revit and were able to export it to really stream-line our process. It had the added effect of helping us collaborate.”

— Justin Stenkamp, PAE Mechanical Engineer, LEED AP BD+C

4 n Studies in Success PAE Engineers Create Built Environments that Give Back – continued

PGE Park Stadium Conversion and Addition, Portland, Oregon; now Jeld-Wen Field

Awarded: USGBC LEED Silver

Size: 19,000 seats

New: Providence Sport Medicine Facility, 15,000 sf; Restaurant, Kitchen, and support spaces, 15,000 sf; Concessions, 3,500 sf

Renovated: Team Store, 850 sf; Locker Rooms and Training Spaces, 18,000 sf; Press Box, 3,300 sf

The mechanical and electrical design for the conversion of a uniquely-shaped, early 1900s AAA baseball stadium into a new soccer stadium for the Portland Timbers posed a number of challenges

to PAE. Chris Morgan describes the conversion and addition as a full Revit MEP project. Morgan says, “Revit was a great tool. The project entailed a large addition, the Providence sports medicine facility, a canopy, restaurant with concession stands and so forth. The stadium was this huge bowl of a structure, an odd shaped building. We needed to provide entirely new systems. We were also on a deadline. We only had a brief window to complete the renovations, from the end of the last season of AAA baseball to the opening day of soccer season.”

Morgan adds, “The old and the new components were modeled in Revit for accuracy. We could not have met that deadline without Revit.”

Portland State University (University Pointe at College Station) Housing, Portland, Oregon

Pursuing: USGBC LEED Gold

Size: 375,000 sf

The PSU College Station housing project by American Campus Communities is designed to contain 982 residential apartments on 15 floors, with retail, office and classroom spaces occupying the first level. The project presented an unprec-edented opportunity for PAE specific to its model-ing of the project’s HVAC system.

The student rooms will have ductwork exposed. For the architect to make certain that the develop-er understood and bought off on the implications of the design, the team needed to create layouts that could be rendered to illustrate aesthetics.

PAE employed Revit MEP, and the Revit model was exported and used for energy modeling within eQuest.

“PSU College Station was also an excellent project for Revit MEP because of the sheer scale,” says Chris Morgan. “Revit was a great tool for the student housing area. We could fully detail each student area or room and multiply as we needed – a dozen – or hundreds of times.”

Pursuing LEED Gold, College Station’s HVAC system will include a variable refrigerant flow system with the ability to share energy between heating and cooling zones, and low flow plumbing fixtures. Ultimately, these features will provide the college with 30 percent energy and water savings as compared to a code building of the same type.

“ We could not have met that deadline without Revit.”

—Chris Morgan

“ We could fully detail each student area or room and multiply as we needed – a dozen – or hundreds of times.”

—Chris Morgan

IMAGE COURTESY SERA ARCHITECTS.

Studies in Success n 5PAE Engineers Create Built Environments that Give Back – continued

Trillium Creek Elementary School, West Linn Wilsonville School District, West Linn, Oregon

Pursuing: USGBC LEED Gold

Size: 72,000 sf

While the Trillium Creek Elementary School project is a first-of-its-kind, it is not to be an only one of its kind. The design is to be replicated at a different site to create another elementary school, and because of this, design accuracy is of paramount importance.

Among the building’s sustainable features are rainwater reclama-tion, passive cooling, occupancy sensors, daylighting, a wind turbine, and photovoltaic panels. As Chris Morgan explains, “PAE contributions to this project help give students and staff the opportunity to implement green systems and to discover ways to contribute to energy and water conservation within their school.”

PAE is providing mechanical and electrical systems design for this project. In service of its role, PAE has held Navisworks® clash detection meetings where project partners identify construction issues and discover means to save costs and time. The Revit model was exported and used for energy modeling with in eQuest as well.

Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Office Building Renovation, Portland, Oregon

Pursuing: USGBC LEED Platinum

Size: 516,000 sf, 18 stories plus a mechanical penthouse

This federal office building renovation, underway since about September 2010, represents a first for PAE in the realm of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). It is also a first as a pilot project for the new U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) initiative focused on streamlining projects and improving building efficiency.

PAE is providing full electrical design services including power, telecommunications, security, lighting design support and on-site renewable energy system design for this major renovation. Vacant of tenants and with all major non-structural infrastructure removed, the rebuild proceeds from the inside out. As of spring 2012, tenant improvements to the interior are in progress.

Sustainable features include a rooftop photovoltaic system able to harvest solar energy sufficient for about 10 percent of the building’s energy demand. Additionally, the visually striking, sloping PV canopy is anticipated to help to collect rainwater for use within the building.

“The IPD team uses co-location, a remote on site building with about 20 work stations set up,” notes Scott Bevan, project manager. On this project, another Ideate customer, SERA Architects, is the architect. Bevan adds, “Each design discipline has a collaborative partner. We, PAE, are partnered with the electrical contractor. The entire project team – all disciplines – shares responsibility. We have held weekly Navisworks clash detection meetings with design team. The IPD process really works. I have not seen a single RFI.”

“ I have not seen a single RFI.”

—Scott Bevan

IMAGE COURTESY DOWA-IBI GROUP.

6 n Studies in Success PAE Engineers Create Built Environments that Give Back – continued

About Ideate, Inc.Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk solutions provider, offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting as well as 3D printing services to AEC professionals. Established in 1992 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ideate is recognized as a Gold Partner for Architecture, Engineering and Construction, one of Autodesk’s highest levels of authorization. Ideate, Inc. operates five Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATC): San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose, California; Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. Ideate facilities are Autodesk Authorized Certification Centers, providing globally recognized certification courses for professionals who sell, service and support Autodesk products and solutions. For more information visit www.ideateinc.com

Ideate, Inc. is also an Autodesk Authorized Developer with 25+ years experience in software development and specific focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM). Ideate BIMLink lets users pull data from a Revit file into user-friendly Microsoft Excel and push Excel data into Revit with equal ease. www.ideatebimlink.com

Ideate Explorer for Revit is a simple, powerful Revit add-on to explore, quantify and manage the 10,000+ building elements in your Revit model. www.ideateexplorer.com

Autodesk, Revit, AutoCAD, Ecotect and Navisworks are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.

eQuest USDOE-2 software is developed by James J. Hirsch & Associates (JJH) in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Trane Trace is from Trane, a business of Ingersoll Rand. Bentley Tas is from Bentley Systems, Incorporated. AGI is from Analytical Graphics, Inc.

Ideate, Inc.Corporate Headquarters: 44 Montgomery Street Suite 1000 San Francisco, California 94104888.662.7238sales@ideateinc.comideateinc.com©2012 Ideate, Inc.

ConclusionScott Bevan says of Revit MEP workflow, “I like having the ability to see our designs day-to-day naturally realized in 3D.”

Chris Morgan assesses the benefit of Revit implementation when he acknowledges, “We all like to design, but we have to do it profitably. Revit has changed the way we deliver what we have deliv-ered for decades. We overcame the hurdle. Now we are moving forward and we are not looking back.”

Justin Stenkamp takes a mentoring perspective when he says of Revit MEP, “Young engineers get a better understanding of how systems fit together. It certainly helped me.”

“ Young engineers get a better understanding of how systems fit together.”

—Justin Stenkamp

Ideate, Inc. and PAE Consulting Engineers, Inc. acknowledge the legacy of nine year PAE

veteran electrical drafter and designer Aaron Baker, a driving force behind implementation of Revit MEP and

a champion of parametric modeling.

Aaron Duane Baker August 26, 1975 – November 27, 2011