The AD Blog

a stream of all things Acoustic Dimensions

Craig Janssen talks re-engineering, technology and processes for a new world.

In our industry, delivering great design solutions is the ticket for entry to join the ranks of the big firms. Anything less and you won’t be invited to work on the significant projects—at least not more than once anyway.

The differentiation comes in how those design solutions are delivered.

We live in a world where technology is fueling collaboration at higher speeds than ever before possible. Hierarchical structures (“command and control” as Thomas Friedman aptly put it) are giving way to “connect and collaborate” structures. The goal is no longer wrapping expertise in reports. No one has time to read them.  Instead solutions have to be developed in groups—the only way to get them to the point of action rather than having them languish on a shelf.

Many designers will tell you (off the record) that one of the biggest death-knolls for a project is circular decision making by the client. Design fees that should go to brighter and brighter innovation instead get wasted visiting and revisiting the same decisions over-and-over. And while in some industry circles you will hear people grousing about the clients, in actuality it is our—the designer’s—fault.  Current industry processes don’t allow for real-time design decisions, and engineers rarely develop the people skills needed to lead groups in identifying which decisions are important to make. 

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In 2012, Acoustic Dimensions is investing heavily in structure to allow clients to make informed decisions rapidly.  Note that this isn’t about rushing or short cuts, but about re-engineering--cutting out wasteful and repetitive processes, tooling our offices for participatory design and increasing our team’s skill in group dynamics.  This efficiency is being passed onto our clients and is resulting in a work flow that is radically more effective and engaging.  As we mount our industry revolution, we want to invite feedback from the design teams and clients with whom we work.  What is the impact? How can we be better? We invite you to send your feedback to your project manager or to the leadership of any of our offices, because the best part of the revolution is that it creates a dialogue. 

Good "industry future" reading

At AD we—like many of you—spend time grappling with the future of our industry.  There is a Chinese proverb that says, “Dig the well before you are thirsty.” We believe that is good advice for both ourselves and our clients, so we make it a practice to spend time engaging with people who are leading the conversations so that we stay focused on what is ahead.

Our participation in organizations such as Mindshift, the Global Design Alliance, ASHRAE and Infocomm continues to spark our passion for future thinking, so we wanted to share resources from some of the catalytic people we have met who are shaping the design and construction industry. 

Online reading on new methods of project delivery

Books on Industry Change and the People Factors that Improve Process

Future_follows

Acoustic Dimensions is hosting meetings of the Global Design Alliance in Dallas this week

Acoustic Dimensions is hosting meetings of the Global Design Alliance this week.  The topic and focus for this session is enabling collaboration through metrics, systems and business processes.  Conversations have explored technology infrastructure, new approaches to project delivery and enabling the “people” side of collaboration.

This week at AD | Crossoffice brainstorming and a bit of kaizen

Kaizen is Japanese for  “change for the better.”  Primarily the term is used with regard to continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, and  supporting business processes.  If you are serious about being part of the revolution going on in the AEC industry, you know there is no magic bullet.  Changing methodologies is a process.

Jeff Miller of our San Diego office and David W. Robb of our New York office were in Dallas this week for a cross-office brainstorming session to look at how data flows in the AEC industry and the relationships between data in Acoustic Dimensions’ offices.

David Weinberger, author of Everything is Miscellaneous, says that “Metadata is what you already know and data is what you want to find out.”   And while the digital world provides a wealth of information and tools to manage both, we find the we are still refining our methodologies for seeing relationships within data.  We remain firm believers that there is untapped power just beneath the surface and it is a company passion to unlock it.

Mobility, the next digital age

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Mobile phones have become ‘The Next Big Thing’.  Everyone wants a smartphone and everyone wants to be connected all the time.  At Acoustic Dimensions, with Twitter, Texting, and Buzz we feel out of touch if we aren’t connected 24/7.  And as “The IT Guy” at Acoustic Dimensions, the percentage of my work week related to handhelds is evidence enough that we have truly entered the Mobile digital age.  The impending explosion of tablet devices such as Apple’s iPad and the coming torrent of Android Tabs will only exacerbate this trend as mobile access is moved to a platform with a better user interface experience (read Larger Screen).  The Hardware, Data infrastructure and software industries will be hard pressed to keep up with demand. 

There are limitations though.  Currently, phones and tablets are really data consumption devices.  They are great at allowing users to access data quickly from anywhere.  But try creating a sophisticated document or spreadsheet on one of these and you soon reach maximum frustration.  Users who need to create data are still chained to a laptop at minimum, and high end users who require raw processing power (engineers, designers, et al) are chained to a desktop.

I predict that this will change.  And sooner than you think.  Raw processor power and data storage is getting smaller, less power hungry, and affordable.  Moore’s law is still in effect.  And data networks are evolving to be more robust, higher bandwidth, and accessible.  Granted there are still holes and reliability issues, but those will be resolved with time and money.

What is really needed is a new interface paradigm.  The QWERTY keyboard has finally outlived its usefulness.  As ubiquitous as it is, it really is too limiting for the Mobile age.  Just look at the coming Acer Iconia dual screen tablet.  No keyboard.  Instead you have a touchscreen that can serve up a keyboard, navigation ring, or any other interface you can desire. 

Have you ever tried to touch type on a touchscreen keyboard?  Oh, you can’t touch type?  You thumb type or do advanced hunt and peck? Then why would you want a qwerty keyboard?  They aren’t designed for that.

And just look at Kinect.  Wave your hands and interface with your device ala Minority Report or Iron Man.  Why have to touch a device at all.

The time has come for a new interface for using our devices.  Only then will we be able to achieve a truly Mobile digital age and use them as creation tools instead of just consumption tools. 

So come on all of you Geniuses.  With all of our millennia of knowledge about human thought, language, and psychology surely someone can design the ‘killer app’ for this one.

Acoustic Dimensions is engaged in conversations on how BIM is changing the industry

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Acoustic Dimensions believes that we have the opportunity to be in the forefront of developing an open source international industry standard for BIM in AVL and Acoustics.  So, Thursday consultants from our Dallas, San Diego and New York offices—along with some of the major contractors in our industry—connected to discuss how BIM is changing the way we do business and the potential going forward for our trade as a whole.

Casey Sherred—part of InfoComm’s BIM Task Force—led the discussions which explored changes in existing processes and the promise that building information modeling offers for integrated design.

Integrated Project Delivery: Three Reasons Why the AV Industry Should Pay Attention #IPD

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Craig Janssen was interviewed in InfoComm’s Special Report released this week on Integrated Project Delivery .  IPD has been the focus of conversation for multiple groups in which Craig is actively engaged in leadership including the Global Design Alliance, Mindshift, and InfoComm. 

The article presents an overview of IPD, outlines that the construction delivery model is changing and highlights the role that BIM plays.

Janssen believes that this shift presents opportunity for the AV industry. “We’re good at picking up technology quickly. Our strength is that we can learn fast,” he says. “We’re moving towards an open-source world, but we don’t yet know the power of Wiki thinking.”

In late 2010, the BIM Task Force—on which Casey Sherred of Acoustic Dimensions serves—will be releasing a comprehensive 30-page report explaining BIM and the role it can play in the AV industry.  In addition, InfoComm will begin taking steps to automate certain AV functions in BIM software, so that products will appear in a drop-down menu.

Acoustic Dimensions Takes the LEED

LEED Accreditation is the talk of the town in the world of architecture and engineering. With the passing of the test by our most recent “Leedie”, David Kahn, all of our principal consultants are now LEED accredited. We at Acoustic Dimensions take this very seriously and would like to achieve 100% LEED in our firm. We are happy to say that we are nearly 50% LEED in our New York office and over 75% stateside.

Big News at WFX

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Acoustic Dimensions is at WFX in Long Beach this week celebrating their new SAN DIEGO OFFICE!

Whenever you go to a trade show where people know both of the companies in a merger, it is a bit like announcing you've eloped. Nothing is said until all is official, then you receive surprise, congratulations, and many well wishes for a new life together.

It's been fun to roll up our sleeves and work side by side with the team we've been friendly competitors with since 1995. I think the biggest surprise for all of us is how many times we ask each other, "well how do you handle _______?" And the answer winds up being the same on both sides.

We couldn't have asked for better timing and the response has been tremendous. If you are curious to read the full story, click here and check our main site for the details on how it all came to be.

Chasing LEED

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For the past two months almost all of the members of our team have been pursuing LEED AP, the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional designation. So, since mid-November much of our conversation has centered around energy usage, daylighting strategies and FSC Certified Wood.

One of the great things about our whole team pursuing this at once is that we've done a lot of studying together at lunch and have been able to share information, quiz each other and develop study techniques back and forth. And the fact that we are all doing it together has caused a great deal of ownership and celebration when someone passes.

The whole-systems thinking required to pursue LEED certification plays well to the way our team approaches projects. And in a "being before doing" theme, it has certainly raised the level of consciousness in our offices about sustainable practice and has impacted our day-to-day processes.