APRIL'S FEATURED APP
The Firestone BP iPad app offers building owners, facility managers, contractors, architects, and consultants multiple views of building products and solutions, product specs, as well as green building product offerings and full-service opportunities. Click here to download the FREE Firestone app. Keep an eye out for other Featured Apps in future issues of BD+C.
DESIGN + CONSTRUCTION
Architect’s Formulator This program contains more than 400 formulas helpful to architects and construction industry professionals, such as electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and concrete and excavation contractors. iOS $9.99
Dropbox This free service lets you transport all your photos and documents anywhere. After you install Dropbox, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, mobile devices, and the Dropbox website. iOS, Android, BlackBerry Free
I.D. Wood Identify different species of wood from around the world in seconds with this handy app. The tool provides high-definition screen samples and information on nearly 160 species. It also includes dimensional lumber conversions, hardness scale, and other tools. iOS $4.99
iBlueprint Designed expressly for home builders, contractors, architects, and real estate agents, iBlueprint allows users to create and export custom floor plans. It also provides contractors with quick access to blueprints on the job site. iOS Free
iHandy Translator Translate any sentence or phrase into any destination language with this iPad app. Features include history tracking, search, and integrated Twitter/Facebook/SMS/e-mail support. The ad-free Pro version includes a text-to-speech function. iOS Free/$0.99
MagicPlan allows users to measure, draw, and publish interactive floor plans on the Web, just by taking pictures. Create a floor plan in minutes without the need to measure, draw, or move furniture. Later import photos or other images to enhance the visualization. iOS Free
Structural Wood Design Calculator A tool for engineers, architects, and builders to design wood beams for strength in bending, shear, deflection, and bearing. Beam design is calculated by inputting a few design parameters, such as beam length, width, and load. iOS $0.99
BIM/IT
Adobe Ideas This digital sketchbook comes with a set of simple vector-based drawing tools that allow users to easily mark up existing plans, documents, and photos, making it great for communicating field changes, construction errors, and other job site questions. iOS $5.99
AutoCAD WS This app allows users to quickly view, edit, and share DWG files. Accurately annotate and revise drawings while in the field, in meetings, or out of the office. View edits to drawings in real time, and collaborate with others on the same file simultaneously. iOS, Android Free
cadTouch R2 This app enables you to draw floor plans, land surfaces, façades, mechanical and structural parts, diagrams, and field notes. You can then send drawings instantly via email or FTP. iOS $14.99
iRhino 3D This tool allows users to view native Rhino 3DM files on their iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Users can pan, zoom, and rotate using typical commands. 3D models can be loaded from websites, Google Docs, email attachments, or iTunes. iOS $3.99
REVITKeys Handy for BIM users on the go, this app is a simple reference guide for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010. It includes 260 keyboard combinations separated into 14 categories. iOS $0.99
SketchBook Mobile Autodesk SketchBook Mobile offers the power of the company’s popular digital sketchpad program for Apple- and Android-supported mobile devices. Comes with multi-touch navigation (with 2500% zoom) and a host of easy-to-use drawing tools. iOS, Android $4.99
SmartBidNet A companion tool to SmartBidNet construction bid management software, this app allows users to access their private network of subcontractors and view them organized by the services they provide. iOS Free (with a SmartBidNet subscription)
TurboViewer This DWG viewer supports both 2D and 3D CAD DWG files for the iOS platform. Quickly distribute and view files by sending an email with DWG or DXF attachment. Files can also be viewed via Web download, FTP, Dropbox, and WebDAV systems. iOS Free
LEED
Green Pro This app is essentially an interactive version of the USGBC LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations worksheet, allowing users to evaluate and track the number of LEED credits achieved on projects. iOS $3.99
LEED AP Building Design + Construction Offers a set of flashcards to help building and design professionals study for the LEED AP BD+C exam. Also includes a 100-question practice exam with reference notes that can be completed over multiple session. iOS $19.99
LEED Standards This tool brings the most relevant and popular standards used in the LEED rating system to your iPad. Quickly decipher and understand more than 30 commonly used and referenced standards in LEED, including ASHRAE, ASTM, EPA, and FEMA. iOS $0.99 BD+C
GOT A GREAT DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION APP?
Send it to Tim Gregorski, Senior Editor: tgregorski@sgcmail.com. If we use it, we’ll credit you. Thanks!
Related Stories
AEC Tech Innovation | Apr 27, 2023
Does your firm use ChatGPT?
Is your firm having success utilizing ChatGPT (or other AI chat tools) on your building projects or as part of your business operations? If so, we want to hear from you.
Concrete Technology | Apr 24, 2023
A housing complex outside Paris is touted as the world’s first fully recycled concrete building
Outside Paris, Holcim, a Swiss-based provider of innovative and sustainable building solutions, and Seqens, a social housing provider in France, are partnering to build Recygénie—a 220-unit housing complex, including 70 social housing units. Holcim is calling the project the world’s first fully recycled concrete building.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 21, 2023
Arlington County, Va., eliminates single-family-only zoning
Arlington County, a Washington, D.C., community that took shape in the 1950s, when single-family homes were the rule in suburbia, recently became one of the first locations on the East Coast to eliminate single-family-only zoning.
Architects | Apr 21, 2023
Architecture billings improve slightly in March
Architecture firms reported a modest increase in March billings. This positive news was tempered by a slight decrease in new design contracts according to a new report released today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA). March was the first time since last September in which billings improved.
Green | Apr 21, 2023
Top 10 green building projects for 2023
The Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex in Boston and the Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis are among the AIA COTE Top Ten Awards honorees for 2023.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 19, 2023
Austin’s historic Rainey Street welcomes a new neighbor: a 48-story mixed-used residential tower
Austin’s historic Rainey Street is welcoming a new neighbor. The Paseo, a 48-story mixed-used residential tower, will bring 557 apartments and two levels of retail to the popular Austin entertainment district, known for houses that have been converted into bungalow bars and restaurants.
Design Innovation Report | Apr 19, 2023
Reinforced concrete walls and fins stiffen and shade the National Bank of Kuwait skyscraper
When the National Bank of Kuwait first conceived its new headquarters more than a decade ago, it wanted to make a statement about passive design with a soaring tower that could withstand the extreme heat of Kuwait City, the country’s desert capital.
Design Innovation Report | Apr 19, 2023
HDR uses artificial intelligence tools to help design a vital health clinic in India
Architects from HDR worked pro bono with iKure, a technology-centric healthcare provider, to build a healthcare clinic in rural India.
Design Innovation Report | Apr 19, 2023
Meet The Hithe: A demountable building for transient startups
The Hithe, near London, is designed to be demountable and reusable. The 2,153-sf building provides 12 units of business incubator workspace for startups.
Metals | Apr 19, 2023
Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings releases new color forecast for architectural metal coatings
The Coil Coatings division of Sherwin-Williams has released its latest color forecast, FUSE, for architectural metal coatings. The report aims to inspire architects, product manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the coil and extrusion market over the next 3-5 years and beyond.