flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Meet Tally – the Revit app that calculates the environmental impact of building materials

Meet Tally – the Revit app that calculates the environmental impact of building materials

Tally provides AEC professionals with insight into how materials-related decisions made during design influence a building’s overall ecological footprint.


By KieranTimberlake | March 10, 2014

Architecture firm KieranTimberlake, in conjunction with PE International and Autodesk Sustainability Solutions, announce the commercial availability of Tally, a software application for Revit that calculates the environmental impact of building materials.

It is the only application to be fully integrated into Revit, providing architects, engineers, and building professionals with insight into how materials-related decisions made during design influence a building’s overall ecological footprint.

Backed by the rigor and credibility of GaBi data from PE International, the application enables life cycle assessment (LCA) on demand, documenting information across eight life cycle impact categories that align with LEED v4 and other rating systems.

The commercial release follows a three-month public beta, in which nearly 500 users tested Tally and provided feedback on a broad range of design scenarios. 

Bringing Life Cycle Data to the Design Process 

While working in a Revit model, Tally users correlate modeled elements to a custom LCA database built on GaBi, the largest environmental dataset for LCA used by leading corporations worldwide for both internal and critically-reviewed published studies. The database combines material attributes, assembly details, engineering and architectural specifications with environmental impact data, including branded information from manufacturer environmental product declarations (EPDs).

“Tally empowers design professionals to evaluate product impacts early in the design phase, enabling smarter material selection, and ultimately the construction of better, high-performance buildings,” states Heather Gadonniex, director of strategic business development for PE International. 

“Tally addresses a range of questions, whether comparing a whole building to a benchmark, exploring variations in building massing or construction type, or selecting finishes,” explains Roderick Bates, Tally development team leader at KieranTimberlake. “It can show where the largest environmental impacts reside within a design, and ways in which they compare across material options.”

Complete Bill of Materials 

Buildings are composed of thousands of parts, each with their own origins and manufacturing flows, not all of which are accounted for in a Revit model. Tally helps paint a comprehensive portrait of a building and the products that go into it.

The specific quantities of materials like paint, sealants, fasteners, or grout not modeled in Revit are essential to a life cycle assessment. Tally lets users assign materials and quantities, then leverage the tool to perform material takeoffs and provide a complete bill of goods for a building. Currently, no other environmental assessment tool provides this function.

New enhancements and features have been released in the commercial version: 

  •     Data can now be added to a Revit template to save time and promote firm-wide consistency.
  •     Elements from linked models can be filtered by phase and workset.
  •     New assemblies have been added, including a wide array of cladding panels, complete with hardware and finishes.
  •     New materials have been added, including actual GaBi life cycle data from product manufacturer EPDs.

Pricing and Information 

Tally is available immediately as a 30-day free trial through Autodesk Exchange or http://www.choosetally.com, where video tutorials are also available. After 30 days, a license must be purchased to continue use. The cost per floating license is $1,200 USD annually. Educational licenses for non-commercial use are available by request to support@choosetally.com.

Related Stories

| Sep 19, 2012

HGA Architects & Engineers moves offices in San Francisco

HGA’s San Francisco office has grown by nearly 25% in the past two years, adding shared expertise to the 120-person California practice, which includes the Sacramento and Los Angeles offices.

| Sep 19, 2012

Sasaki opens office in Shanghai

Office supports firm’s present and future work in China, throughout Asia.

| Sep 18, 2012

MBMA partners with ORNL for whole building energy efficiency study

The results are intended to advance energy efficiency solutions for new and retrofit applications.

| Sep 18, 2012

MKK opens office in North Dakota

MKK is currently working on seven projects in North Dakota, including a hotel, restaurant, truck stop, office building, and apartment complex.

| Sep 18, 2012

Firestone Building Products launches new website

Deep product information and innovative customer support tools are highlights.

| Sep 13, 2012

Leo A Daly Company promotes Kraskiewicz to senior vice president

Kraskiewicz, who most recently served as chief operations officer for the Leo A Daly division, will guide brand management, business development, operations and financial performance for 18 offices worldwide.

| Sep 13, 2012

Acentech adds audiovisual expertise to Trevose, Penn. office

Artese focuses on advising, overseeing, and maintaining the client’s vision for the project from the initial kick-off meeting to the final commissioning of the completed systems.

| Sep 13, 2012

Margulies Perruzzi Architects completes office design for Pioneer Investments

MPA updated the office design and additional support space consisting of five floors at Pioneer’s Boston office located at 60 State Street.

| Sep 12, 2012

Harvesting new ways to eliminate waste at the USDA

After installing 20 high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryers in restrooms throughout the USDA headquarters; the USDA reports seeing an immediate 50% reduction in the use of paper towels.

| Sep 11, 2012

RTKL appoints Lance Hosey as Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President

Author and authority on green design to spearhead RTKL Performance-driven DesignSM initiative.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021