Change Master

Intelligent software makes it cost-effective for builders to offer flexible designs.

Courtesy of Lars Erik Guy, CAD Drafting Systems, Inc.

Many builders consider floor-plan changes - such as making the bath a little bigger to offer two sinks rather than one - too much trouble to offer, because each change requires the builder to update the cost estimate. This can often be a lengthy process. But software now makes the job relatively easy.

Today, intelligent design programs, such as Graphisoft's ArchiCAD®, Autodesk's AutoCAD® and Bentley Systems' MicroStation®, will automatically revise the pricing and job schedule for any plan change. Leading-edge builders are already taking advantage of these features, and the rest of the industry is starting to follow.

On the edge
One leading-edge builder is Wally Greer, president of Graymare Associates, a Ventura, Calif.-based home builder that sells 50 to 70 homes a year in Southern California and Phoenix, Ariz. Graymare's staff has used ArchiCAD as a comprehensive design and construction-management tool for more than four years, but has only recently learned to harness its full power.

Courtesy of Lars Erik Guy, CAD Drafting Systems, Inc.

When asked to illustrate this power, Greer recalls a customer who asked him to add a bump-out dining nook to an already-priced kitchen plan. Because Greer had programmed all material and labor costs into his ArchiCAD design software, when he revised the 3D model he had created of the kitchen, a full set of new design, construction and administrative costs was automatically associated - along with a new image. Being able to quickly show the client how the change would look and what it would cost made the job an easy sell.

"We had to go through a learning curve to learn to harness the software's power, but now we have the advantage of being able to price designs on the fly," says Greer.

Instant design
Corolla, N.C., home builder Matt Dixon has reaped similar benefits from ArchiCAD. "We can render clients' ideas before their eyes and let them make decisions immediately," he explains. "As we do working drawings, ArchiCAD is compiling a detailed material takeoff."

Greer, who is also an architect, has worked as a general contractor and developer, and has even managed a successful panelized-housing company. He says his experience has taught him the value of any system that makes estimating more efficient. He is so sold on ArchiCAD that he convinced his major contractors to adopt it, which of course makes it easy for him to update prices. "I saw how technology could float across [company] lines to resolve a lack of information coordination," Greer says.

Greer says that there are some obstacles in getting contractors to buy into the system. A basic intelligent design program, adequate equipment and training will usually cost around $10,000 in most locations. However, he has been able to demonstrate the financial advantages, and most of his contractors now use ArchiCAD, he says.

Now more mainstream builders are seeing the value of this technology and looking for help implementing it. Greer, who has maintained a consulting business throughout his career, is helping one of the country's top 10 home builders evaluate a comprehensive software system that will let it achieve what Greer has done, "but at much different level," he adds.