In Palm Beach County, Fla., the city of Riviera Beach is a growing harbor city with a population of 35,000. The city’s Department of Community Development, which is responsible for planning and zoning, building and engineering, has worked for several years to perform annual roadway restoration or reconstruction projects in an economically depressed part of town, aiming to improve property values and develop a new sense of community for the residents. The department has undertaken these roadway projects with the help of funds from federal Community Development Block Grants, and until recently, it has been forced to outsource much of the design work to consultants. But in 2007, the city adopted AutoCAD Civil 3D software, which has allowed it to take the work in-house, cutting costs and allocating internal resources more effectively.

By Nancy Mann Jackson The U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy need highly interactive 3D tools to deliver complex animated virtual training and simulation environments for helicopter pilots, crane operators and other professionals. To respond to this need, government contractor Rich3D, uses a variety of 3D design tools from Autodesk, and a surprising to develop and deploy the interactive training environments they need. What’s surprising about this solution is that it was accomplished using a ubiquitous tool in the U.S. government, an Adobe Acrobat document.

With eco-friendly practices being a preference all around the world in every industry - state, local, and federal government should be setting the example to achieve energy cost-saving tactics in their facilities, communities, and environment. According to epa.gov, “Energy used by commercial and industrial buildings in the United States is responsible for nearly 50 percent of our national emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to global climate change.”

This is the third in a series of blogs that shares the extraordinary and sometimes life-changing stories and experiences of a group of CAD, AEC, GIS and BIM experts who have chosen to share their knowledge with under-served communities and nations. These volunteers work hand-in-hand with KnowledgeWell, a non-profit organization whose goal is to transform the barriers faced by under-resourced nations into opportunities for successful business enterprise and public sector programs. From Moscow to Micronesia and beyond, KnowledgeWell helps these communities to become more self-sufficient, increase their visibility in the global marketplace and create awareness of sustainable, environmentally friendly business practices.

Whether you use Google Maps to help you get where you need to go or to deliver up-to-date geospatial data quickly to agency employees, it’s a great resource. However, we tend to not take advantage of its full capabilities. What are some other ways you can utilize this great tool? Here are some useful Google Maps power tips:

By Joe Porostosky This blog is part six in a series that discusses the challenges and process involved in implementing BIM at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, a project which saw the team win the 2011 [acronym] Magazine Public Sector CAD Award. In my last post, Brian and I discussed the benefits we both experienced from implementing BIM at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. In this post, I will discuss some of the additional benefits we are expecting to see from our adoption of BIM along with some of our future plans for expansion.

Want to learn what’s new in AutoCAD 2013? The AutoCAD team is hosting a Facecast today at 8.30 AM PT (11.30 AM ET) on the AutoCAD Facebook page.

This blog is part five in a series that discusses the challenges and process involved in implementing BIM at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, a project which saw the team win the 2011 [acronym] Magazine Public Sector CAD Award. As our BIM Implementation Project progressed both Joe and I found this process to be mutually beneficial in many different ways. While there were both extremely positive and some unexpected outcomes, this effort allowed us to capture knowledge and insight that we weren’t initially expecting. In addition, we’ve both been excited to see the industry’s response to the project.

By Joe Porostosky This blog is part four in a series that discusses the challenges and process involved in implementing BIM at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, a project which saw the team win the 2011 [acronym] Magazine Public Sector CAD Award. Phase 1: Big Bang Implementation Following the all important completion of Phase 0, we were ready to kick off the actual work of developing Revit-based building information models from our AutoCAD floor plans. In June of 2011, the implementation process started with two undergraduate architecture students and two graduate architecture students from the Knowlton School of Architecture, along with one undergraduate civil engineering student, all from The Ohio State University. While their first week included on-site orientation, team building and a project overview, the students quickly became acclimated with the technology they would become expert at during a focused three day training session on Revit Architecture.

By Kristina Bollin, Technical Specialist, U.S. CAD About this Blog Series: This is the second in a series of blogs that shares the extraordinary and sometimes life-changing stories and experiences of a group of CAD, AEC, GIS and BIM experts who have chosen to share their knowledge with under-served communities and nations. These volunteers work hand-in-hand with KnowledgeWell, a non-profit organization whose goal is to transform the barriers faced by under-resourced nations into opportunities for successful business enterprise and public sector programs. From Guam to Palau and beyond, KnowledgeWell helps these communities to become more self-sufficient, increase their visibility in the global marketplace and create awareness of sustainable, environmentally friendly business practices.