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
| Mar 11, 2011
Community sports center in Nashville features NCAA-grade training facility
A multisport community facility in Nashville featuring a training facility that will meet NCAA Division I standards is being constructed by St. Louis-based Clayco and Chicago-based Pinnacle.
| Mar 11, 2011
Slam dunk for the University of Nebraska’s basketball arena
The University of Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball programs will have a new home beginning in 2013. Designed by the DLR Group, the $344 million West Haymarket Civic Arena in Lincoln, Neb., will have 16,000 seats, suites, club amenities, loge, dedicated locker rooms, training rooms, and support space for game operations.
| Mar 10, 2011
Steel Joists Clean Up a Car Wash’s Carbon Footprint
Open-web bowstring trusses and steel joists give a Utah car wash architectural interest, reduce its construction costs, and help green a building type with a reputation for being wasteful.
| Mar 10, 2011
How AEC Professionals Are Using Social Media
You like LinkedIn. You’re not too sure about blogs. For many AEC professionals, it’s still wait-and-see when it comes to social media.
| Mar 9, 2011
Hoping to win over a community, Facebook scraps its fortress architecture
Facebook is moving from its tony Palo Alto, Calif., locale to blue-collar Belle Haven, and the social network want to woo residents with community-oriented design.
| Mar 9, 2011
Winners of the 2011 eVolo Skyscraper Competition
Winners of the eVolo 2011 Skyscraper Competition include a high-rise recycling center in New Delhi, India, a dome-like horizontal skyscraper in France that harvests solar energy and collects rainwater, and the Hoover Dam reimagined as an inhabitable skyscraper.
| Mar 9, 2011
Igor Krnajski, SVP with Denihan Hospitality Group, on hotel construction and understanding the industry
Igor Krnajski, SVP for Design and Construction with Denihan Hospitality Group, New York, N.Y., on the state of hotel construction, understanding the hotel operators’ mindset, and where the work is.
| Mar 3, 2011
HDR acquires healthcare design-build firm Cooper Medical
HDR, a global architecture, engineering and consulting firm, acquired Cooper Medical, a firm providing integrated design and construction services for healthcare facilities throughout the U.S. The new alliance, HDR Cooper Medical, will provide a full service design and construction delivery model to healthcare clients.
| Mar 2, 2011
Design professionals grow leery of green promises
Legal claims over sustainability promises vs. performance of certified green buildings are beginning to mount—and so are warnings to A/E/P and environmental consulting firms, according to a ZweigWhite report.
| Mar 2, 2011
Cities of the sky
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Silk Road of the future—from Dubai to Chongqing to Honduras—is taking shape in urban developments based on airport hubs. Welcome to the world of the 'aerotropolis.'
