As part of the 2004 development of the Washtenaw County comprehensive plan, the County hired Creative Educational Solutions (a local non-profit) to develop a high school curriculum module about land use, public policy and regional sustainability. The result was reviewed in the August 2009 issue of “Planning and Zoning News”. The module grew into “Our Town: Sustainable Places, Green Spaces” and has been adapted for elementary through adult education classes. The intent is to “revitalize communities and invigorate learning through interdisciplinary place-based programs on land use, brownfield redevelopment and sustainable communities. Support equity with content that teaches it.” Per PZN, the intended result is to “develop a new generation of informed citizens while introducing students to academic and career pathways related to community revitalization and the ‘new’ Michigan economy.”
Taking the “Program Tours” on the website shows how “sustainability” is being integrated into education at all levels.
http://www.creativechange.net/programs/our_town
Their website includes on of the clearest definitions of “sustainability” I’ve found, and is as follows:
What Is Sustainability?
There is growing acknowledgement that forces such as population growth, consumption, and inappropriate “development” are combining to weaken the ecological systems on which all life depends. Although environmental fluctuations have occurred throughout history, changes generated by human activity may be altering ecological systems in ways that will be irreversible. An alternative future is “sustainable”, defined as lasting environmental health, economic prosperity, and social equity for current and future generations.
In a sustainable society, the regenerative capacity of the environment is maintained.
All people have the opportunity to live a fulfilling life within the earth’s capacity.
Democracy and justice are core values guiding people and institutions.
People live, work and communicate successfully in multiple cultural contexts.
Conflicts are resolved without violence.
Beauty and wonder are celebrated.
Achieving sustainability requires rethinking economic systems and cultural beliefs that equate “more” with “better”.
Creative Educational Solutions has some sustainability street credibility of its own as described in the section that describes their office practices which include a gray water recovery system, rain barrels and even an office worm bin to compost food scraps.
Along the Lake Michigan shore of Leland, Michigan lays historic Fishtown made up of numerous weathered fishing shanties, smokehouses, souvenir shops, restaurants, and more. Nearly half of the “town” rests on stilts and a boardwalk, along with its docks standing at the edge of the Leland River. Once the heart of a commercial fishing village, the structures and docks are real places where people can walk through, see, and feel a connection to the areas’ great fishing heritage. The aura is incredibly unique and is something the local citizens are determined to preserve.
Working with Hopkins Burns Design Studio, JJR, and the Fishtown Preservation Society, Midwestern Consulting provided HDS service to document the locations of the entire Fishtown for future maintenance and preservation purposes.
Many of the buildings were originally planned with great haste. Rarely do buildings lie perpendicular, plumb, or parallel to one another. This presented the architects with a nearly impossible task of measuring and locating the buildings in their exact, existing conditions.
3D Wireframe - Fishtown
Midwestern Consulting provided our client with an accurate 3D wireframe of all the buildings from which the architects performed massing studies. Often performed by architects, massing studies explore present and future spatial relationships. For instance, Hopkins Burns found that one of shops was originally facing south, but now faced east. If the building is rotated back to its original position, a massing study will reveal the spatial impact.
As the project developed, the 3D wireframes were imported into Google Sketchup to generate 3D solid masses and the photo images were overlaid that will put Fishtown into Google Earth. In addition, a topographic survey of the entire area was also needed. This was easily created directly from our 50-million point 3D data point cloud. No total station needed.
3D Building Information Modeling systems (BIM) are quickly becoming the productive tool many of us in the construction industry thought they would be. In a building renovation project, BIM allows the design team, the construction team, and the building owner to add-to and reference all information acquired during the development of the BIM model – including existing conditions measurements.
3D Model
How does point cloud data collected by the 3D laser scanner fit with BIM systems? Once 3D scanning is completed and the data has been post-processed, the 3D data can be imported into Civil 3D CAD, Revit or NavisWorks. This data import process allows you to manage existing conditions data in these systems.
This can be much easier and more efficient than doing hand-measurements yourself. Here are a few of the reasons:
- The laser scanner captures all of the existing conditions measurements – not just those objects you spend time measuring.
- If you need to re-check a measurement all of that point data is available to you eliminating the need to go back out to the site.
- In your CAD program you can create precise 2D or 3D drawings at anytime you want.
Midwestern Consulting completed a very interesting project where accuracy of our laser scanner helped identify a structural deficiency.
Our task was to scan a large, multi-story facility and create a registered point cloud from which 2D drawings were rendered. During the process, an exterior wall was identified to have a greater than 3″ curvature. The drawings were then compared to the as-builts to verify the discrepancy. The problem was identified as rust-jacking. A traditional architectural measurement or survey may not have uncovered this issue.
As a project manager, you may have run into similar situations where you need more accurate information. Midwestern’s laser scanning service will do that for you.
Accuracy counts!
To compliment our 2D and 3D drawings, Midwestern Consulting now has another deliverable for you. And it’s free!
Leica’s new software allows you to view your building’s existing conditions from your own desktop.
Using the free Leica TruView “panoramic” point cloud viewer you can view, zoom in, or pan over point clouds naturally and intuitively.
Using a simple panoramic approach, you see 3D point clouds on the computer screen just as if you were standing right where the laser scanner captured the scan data.
Easy 3D Measuring and Markups at Your Desk!
In TruView, users can extract real 3D coordinates and accurately measure distances. Results appear right on the point cloud image.
Markups are also easy to create, save, print, email, and share with your peers, contractors, CMs, or with clients for more effective communications. Simple controls let you rotate the view just as if you were turning, raising, or lowering your head.
Below is a sample TruView point cloud with some markups.
TruView Point Cloud