It’s not uncommon for some projects and tasks to take a long time. This is what Ian Trudeau, Associate, thought when faced with the reality of how long it was taking to develop Tabulate, an in-house program that would help Entuitive’s engineers perform high-rise lateral analyses much quicker and more efficiently.

It may not be uncommon, of course, but that didn’t mean it was fundamental or necessary.

“The Ennovation Committee had done an audit of our structural design workflow and identified the high-rise lateral analysis as a task that could be improved to save valuable time,” says Ian. “One of our senior technologists had been developing Tabulate to solve this challenge, but he had to manage his time between that development and all of his project work, which was a lot. It was ironically a really inefficient way to develop a solution that was supposed to help us be more efficient.”

The status quo clearly wasn’t working. So in a bid to live by Entuitive’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to continually be better tomorrow than we were today, the Ennovation Committee secured approval to transfer him off project work and on to full-time software development.

“Fast forward five years and the results have been impressive,” says Ian. “With the demand for custom solutions ever increasing, we added more full-time developers to our team, creating the Technology Group. We then merged this group with IT to isolate these individuals from billable work, ensuring they’d be able to maintain their focus on development.”

Putting the Advanced in Creative, Collaborative, and Advanced

Today, Entuitive’s Technology Group comprises dedicated computational design specialists, software developers, and data scientists, led by Tony Ringl, Director of Technology.

With a team dedicated to developing advanced engineering solutions, such as our CarbEN process, Entuitive has been able to push the bounds of engineering with computational design and parametric modelling tools as well as with the automation of repetitive tasks to save valuable time.

For our clients, this means our staff are increasingly freed up to the solve complex engineering challenges needed to bring their visions to life, rather than spending hours manually copying information from one software program to another, for example.

Highlights from the Technology Group include:

Data Transfer Tools

These tools create inter-operability between multiple design and analysis software packages, harvesting data to quickly identify and deliver the most optimal engineering solution. They also enable Entuitive to provide accurate and timely engineering solutions with the ability to quickly respond to changes during various phases.

CarbEN

Starting with a massing model, the CarbEN algorithm is able to rapidly generate schematic framing schemes for estimating embodied carbon impact very early on in project planning. By utilizing a single architectural form, we can test a wide variety of building layouts and assess where embodied carbon is distributed in the structure, providing valuable data to inform our clients’ project planning. The tool facilitates rapid comparisons between concrete, steel, and timber structural schemes, as well as various building envelope systems.

CarbEN serves our clients and partners by allowing them to make informed decisions about the design of their project early on. By asking key questions of a building’s design at early stages, we can influence the environmental performance of the completed project in a way that is impossible when simulation is only considered for validating compliance.

Power BI

Entuitive consistently works to uncover trends and patterns in our data to deliver cost effective and efficient solutions for our clients. We leverage our extensive databases for both descriptive and prescriptive analytics to provide a competitive advantage. Descriptive analytics enable us to analyze past projects and identify techniques that contributed most to successful outcomes, allowing us to constantly improve our processes and produce more cost-efficient quotes.

From a prescriptive aspect, we are building a machine learning model to identify building deficiencies during the inspection process. Machine learning, coupled with process automation software, will greatly reduce the time spent during and after inspections, allowing Entuitive to provide more cost-efficient and accurate inspections.

As our databases grow larger, Entuitive will be positioned to analyze and leverage the data using state of the art techniques to better serve our clients.

Advanced Performance Analysis Tools

Our Technology Group has been working with our APA team to develop a suite of computational design tools and integrated workflows specific to sustainable performance and energy modelling. These include scripts to analyze the relationship between the form of a building and the local solar radiation potential, the parametric exploration of different typological building configurations and their changing energy use intensity, and computational design frameworks for building adaptation. These workflows help manage the complexity of systems we design for and situate buildings in their environmental context.

By investing in the time to develop these tools, we can better serve our clients and meet their needs, especially as legislated sustainability mandates become more ambitious.

Entuitive’s Computational Design Training Program

Our computational design training program, known as Project ENhance, is Entuitive’s initiative aimed at improving the quality, efficiency, and value of our design processes company-wide through the cultivation and expansion of our computational design knowledge base and user group. The program provides tutorials on various computational design and parametric modelling software, such as Grasshopper, Rhino, Karamba3D, Geometry Gym, and more.

This program ensures that our clients have access to the most up to date engineering capabilities and solutions needed for their projects.

Our Commitment to Technical Excellence

Entuitive’s Commitment to Technical Excellence, illustrated by the Technology Group, comes down to walking the talk and investing in the resources that will enable Entuitive to continually deliver uncompromising performance to our clients across the full asset lifecycle.

By dedicating resources to our Technology Group, we’re ensuring that our clients can get the most out of their engagement with us.

“The dedicated Technology Group allows us to continually improve and serve our clients in the best ways possible,” says Tony. “The proprietary tools we’re developing mean we can always stay at the forefront of their needs.”

For more information about Entuitive’s Technology Group reach out to Tony Ringl or Ian Trudeau.