With 10X More Imagery Than ManualCapture, OpenSpace Improves Job
Site Documentation for Lee Kennedy
Midsize Construction Firm Also Reduced Travel Costs and Improved
Collaboration with Subs and Owners

Goal: Improve Workflow for Capturing
Job Sites

After drywall was installed, issues arose with theAs Director of Virtual Design & Construction at Lee Kennedy

photo documentation, Lee Kennedy could have quickly

Co., a mid-size construction firm based in Massachusetts,

identified where those joints were located, which would

Chris O’Neil is responsible for evaluating and rolling out new

have drastically reduced the cost to cut, patch and painttechnologies such as BIM, laser scanning and drones.

all the extra holes.

As a rule of thumb, he’s looking for solutions that are easy

Strategy: Use OpenSpace for Complete
Documentation in a Fraction of the Time

to use and don’t make workflows more complex than theyplumbing systems that required exploratory work tofind the joints along the piping. With more complete

already are. He was interested in technology that would
help field teams capture more complete documentation andLee Kennedy launched pilots with OpenSpace for two

make it easy to locate specific images when change orders,separate clients, and has since become an enterpriseissues and RFIs arise.

customer with 16 active projects. The teams that haveused it so far are capturing much richer documentation

The need for this type of solution came up during a project

because of how easy it is to use.

to build 475 units across two buildings in Boston. The fieldteam had a 360 camera, but they only captured one image“Now people are walking their sites weekly, and it’s niceper unit and had to write the unit number on the wall in orderbecause you can go in and see an up-to-date status of

to document what they were capturing. Next they had towhere things are, and if you need to get some historicalmanually organize the images. With such a tedious process,information, it’s all right there,” O’Neil said.

the team was unable to fully document the project and findimages in a timely manner later on.

In the past, a project like the one in Boston with 475 units
would have taken hours to walk and take a picture of eachunit. Then it would take significant time to download theimages and sort them into relevant folders—a process sotime-consuming that most people wouldn’t bother, he said.
Since the images weren’t organized, they were difficult tolocate or refer back to, limiting their value.

Results: 5X Faster Site Capture;
Reductions on Rework and Travel Costs
Lee Kennedy continues to enjoy the benefits ofOpenSpace, including:

You can take 100 photos of every
room manually, and I guaranteethat the one photo you need won’t be
there. That’s where OpenSpace is great.
It captures sites thoroughly and fast,organizes imagery without any effort,
and makes it searchable later when youneed it.”
Chris O’Neil
Director of VDC, Lee Kennedy Company•

Time savings: Documentation with OpenSpace is atleast 5X faster than manual capture. “It’s simple,” hesaid. “You go out, open up the app, tell it what floor
you’re on, and you go.”•More complete documentation: With zero extra
effort, OpenSpace enables field teams to capturesites far more thoroughly. “Just by walking, you’recapturing a heck of a lot more than you would bytaking traditional photos,” O’Neil said.

•Compare to BIM: Lee Kennedy’s input helped informthe development of OpenSpace’s BIM Viewer,
which makes it simple to compare images withthe model side-by-side and identify any issues or“You can take 100 photos of every room manually, andI guarantee that the one photo you need won’t be there,”inconsistencies.
•Reduced rework costs: Using OpenSpace, Lee

he said. “That’s where OpenSpace is great. It captures sites

Kennedy is better positioned to hold subs accountable

thoroughly and fast, organizes imagery without any effort,

when issues arise. “We’re able to get people to takeand makes it searchable later when you need it.”responsibility for rework when appropriate, reducing
our costs,” O’Neil said.

OpenSpace fit within Lee Kennedy’s workflow, providing•

Reducedtravelcosts:

OpenSpace’s

virtualvalue right away, whereas other tools required manual con-walkthroughs have cut back on the need for site

figuration or upfront work before they could provide utility.

visits, both for Lee Kennedy’s clients and its own
executives. For one project, the owner was spared
three visits to Boston from California, since she
could monitor progress remotely from her desktop

MORE THAN

5X FASTER
10X MORE COMPLETE
30% REDUCTION

and mobile devices. Virtual walkthroughs also provide
insight to people who don’t always get to visit sites

THAN MANUAL CAPTURE

DOCUMENTATIONIN TRAVEL COSTS

in person, but benefit from seeing the site progress,
such as estimators and schedulers.
•Better collaboration: OpenSpace enables bettercollaboration with various stakeholders, from subs
to owners. Specifically, virtual walkthroughs enabled
participants in OAC (Owner-Architect-Contractor)
meetings to be on the same page on the current
state of the project.