3-D BIM Files Available on Autodesk Seek

3A Composites USA announces that Alucobond Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) 3-D Building Information Modeling (BIM) files—as well as 2-D Alucobond drawings and product specifications—now are available on Autodesk Seek.

3A Composites USA is collaborating with Autodesk to provide Alucobond 3-D BIM files to the architectural/engineering/construction (AEC) community to enhance the Alucobond product selection process as well as to facilitate active design sessions in which Alucobond has been specified as contemporary building cladding.

Adoption of BIM—a process based on 3-D models for building and construction—has grown from 17 to 70 percent in North America based on multi-year trend analyses and user ratings from 2007-12, according to a McGraw Hill Construction report.

“As manufacturers of Alucobond—the original aluminum composite material selected worldwide as cladding for modern building designs—we also wanted to be out front in providing architects, designers, engineers and their construction partners in the Americas with a simple access point to download Alucobond 3-D BIM files via Autodesk Seek,” says Ben Branham, architectural marketing manager, 3A Composites USA. “We want to make it easy for design professionals to gain a 3-D perspective of how our wide range of Alucobond colors and finishes will look when installed as cladding on their building designs. Once specified, Alucobond BIM files can serve as a key component in facilitating architectural, structural and operational design reviews and analyses by the entire building design and construction team.”

Alucobond ACM—which consists of 0.020-inch aluminum thermobonded to a plastic core—provides extraordinary flatness and rigidity, excellent formability, low weight and outstanding weather resistance when installed as building cladding.

3A Composites USA has listed all stocked Alucobond aluminum composite materials—including both Alucobond PE and Alucobond Plus—in the company’s Alucobond Classic, Contemporary, naturAL and Spectra color palettes as BIM files on Seek. Additionally, Alucobond 2-D drawings, product data sheets, LEED contribution information and installation instructions utilizing rainscreen, wet-seal and dry-seal systems are posted on Seek.

“Autodesk Seek offers easy access to a consolidated library of Alucobond BIM files, 2-D files and traditional drawing files as well as all Alucobond product and technical documents,” says Christina Saunders, applications engineer, 3A Composites USA. “This sustainable system can serve the AEC community, as well as building owners throughout a building’s lifecycle—from the project’s onset through design and construction and later during building maintenance. Alucobond is well-known for the customer service it provides before, during and after building design and construction. The Autodesk Seek site is a value-added extension of that service.”

Architects, engineers, contractors, fabricators and installers can access these Alucobond BIM files on Seek during all building design, review and construction phases with no downtime. Autodesk Seek is integrated into Autodesk Revit, AutoCAD and Autodesk Design Review software platforms.

“Autodesk is pleased to add 3A Composites USA and the company’s well-known Alucobond aluminum composite material to Autodesk Seek for those AEC professionals involved in cladding innovative building designs,” says Patrick Aragon, product line manager, Autodesk. “By featuring Alucobond on the only BIM product library native to Autodesk Revit, 3A Composites USA has solidified its reputation as a leader in the building design and construction industry.”