The role of LGS design software
Three functions in one model
Section titled “Three functions in one model”Layout
Section titled “Layout”Building the frame: studs, tracks, joists, trusses, openings, bracing. The software knows the logic of a framed structure, so laying it out is not drawing member by member.
Checking
Section titled “Checking”Member-by-member verification from the actions. This is valuable because layout and checking are not two separate phases: move a stud and the designer sees the consequence immediately.
Manufacturing output
Section titled “Manufacturing output”Panel schedules, member lists, material take-offs and the program that goes to the machine.
Why this makes the technology economic
Section titled “Why this makes the technology economic”Because without connecting the three steps optimising would not pay: sizing and ordering every member separately would be too much manual work.
With the connection, however, designing member by member pays — and that is what brings most on the material cost of the structure. Auto-gauging.
Where the software stops
Section titled “Where the software stops”It is not a building modeller
Section titled “It is not a building modeller”It does not design the build-up, the services or the building-element junctions.
It is not a global structural model
Section titled “It is not a global structural model”For a larger or more complex structure the general structural model and the member-by-member checking complement each other.
It does not replace the designer’s judgement
Section titled “It does not replace the designer’s judgement”The software calculates; setting the restraint conditions, the correctness of the model and the assessment of the result are human tasks.
Which software comes into it
Section titled “Which software comes into it”There are several LGS design systems on the market and their logic is similar: layout, checking and manufacturing output in one model.
- Vertex BD — a general LGS design system with CSV-based machine output.
- FRAMECAD software — tied to its own machine range, with the RFY format. The FRAMECAD system.
- Revit-based add-ins — for practices working in a BIM environment, building on the existing model.
The choice rests on two things: which machine the program has to go to, and what environment the practice works in. The design logic is the same in all of them — the difference is in the output format and the BIM link.
The link to the machine
Section titled “The link to the machine”The output is machine-specific: the format and the machine’s parameters have to be known. Hence the need for a machine-specific template. Machine-specific templates.
The link to BIM
Section titled “The link to BIM”The frame model can be brought into coordination too, generally through IFC or a direct link. The system and the BIM environment.
The point
Section titled “The point”LGS design software is valuable because there is no translation step between design and manufacture. That is what makes optimising worth doing.