We run analyses that used to take two weeks in two minutes. As a result, we consider dozens of alternative concepts and still draft faster and more accurately than ever before. Drier estimates that moving from pencil to CAD improved designers productivity by well over 60 percent. The computer s computational power also is essential to meet new building code requirements that demand different kinds of complex analysis, Drier says. In addition, computers help architects, contractors, and clients share more ideas than ever before.
People recognize that and are starting to work together as an enterprise.
Computers provide the tool that allows everyone to communicate and manage the thousands of drawings and written documents a large construction job demands. As a result, almost all top contractors today have fully computerized operations. Mandatory More and more clients, including federal and state governments, are demanding that all design drawings be submitted digitally, Drier says. The U.S. General Services Administration has proposed that digital drawings be required for all its projects by 2004. Designers and contractors also are moving to the Web as a way to share design files and other information.