Dune Almere

Beautiful projects are no longer beautiful just because they look good or provide a special view in an unexpected place. While this is all true for the Dune project in Almere, beautiful projects now require a shorter turnaround time, reduction of failure costs, lean processes and an integrated approach. Kremer Installatietechniek uses the tools provided by Stabicad in order to meet these BIM requirement specifications and to achieve the project's sustainability goals.

Project Dune is an inspiring housing project in Almere. About 150-200 houses will be built in four phases. The project is being realized by Reinbouw BV in Dieren, and the design of all electrical installations is being done by Kremer in 's Heerenberg. We are talking with Guido Pas, head draftsman and planner, and Steven Giessen, draftsman and planner. Guido discusses the Dune project: "When the project began, we still drew with Stabicad for AutoCAD. From phase two, we have also made the transition to Stabicad for Revit. The switch to Revit was easy thanks to the Stabicad Exchange function. This feature allows you to quickly and easily move from an AutoCAD project to a Revit project. After the start of phase two, we designed everything for this project in Revit, which has provided us with many benefits."

Change adds value
Working with BIM really does pay off for Kremer. Steven says that there has been a big change in recent years when it comes to BIM. "Four years ago we did not do any BIM projects. In 2012, we started a few projects in BIM. In subsequent years, we've seen major growth in the number of requests for BIM projects. We can no longer ignore BIM, and we currently do almost all projects in Revit. We also notice that the move to BIM in other companies is made increasingly faster and more often because they see competitors doing it too."

Lean processes
Guido: "There have been a number of changes in the industry since the advent of BIM. First of all, the processes have changed. Previously, there was a clear separation between calculation, drawing, planning, and the actual project. Now the preparation is increasingly an integrated whole, because the collaboration has intensified and design is done integrally. The modeler provides a good 3D model so that fewer errors are made on the building. Together we keep to a lean schedule. Eventually, we thus reduce the turnaround time of the project."

Roles change
Because the way of preparation changes, the work of the modeler increasingly includes the complete planning. Besides modeling, the modeler is also busy with, among other things, product selection and calculation. He therefore needs more time to completely prepare the project in Revit, which results in him getting fewer emails and questions from technicians during the project. Steven: "Technicians can now do much more on the construction themselves because we try to unburden them beforehand. By working with Stabicad for Revit, we achieve a higher return because we significantly reduce the failure costs. At Kremer, we work on projects in a more structured way through modeling with Revit, there is better preparation, and we thereby ultimately finish our projects earlier."

Benefits of Stabicad
Kremer uses Stabicad to work in Revit quickly and properly. Working with Stabicad for Revit provides many advantages. Guido: "Working with the Palette Container makes working in Revit much more efficient because you have all the useful tools at hand. One of the convenient features is the node resolver. This saves us a lot of time because the software thinks with you and only offers solutions that are possible for that installation and in that situation for connecting multiple lines simultaneously. In a subsequent project, we also want to start using the tag tool because it makes it much easier to insert tags and determine tag positions."

Steven adds that content is also a reason for using Stabicad for Revit. "Content was still a problem a few years ago; there was almost nothing to find. Now everything is available, and I can get content from MEPcontent and Stabicad for Revit. Another advantage of working with Stabicad is the link between Stabicad and Syntess Atrium, which we have used since this year. Through this link, the modeler gets a bigger role in the calculation process, and we order just enough instead of too much."