In 2008 Mark Siever, AIA, was presented with the "Visionary Award" by the Bluegrass Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute. This award was in recognition of his early pioneering efforts in the utilization of Building Information Modeling and as the BIM instructor at the University of Kentucky's College of Design, Department of Architecture. While he was honored to accept the award, he remains aware that being a "visionary" carries the responsibility of always pressing forward, often into unknown territory, always asking,  "what's next?", and "how can this be improved?" It means never being satisfied that this is the best that we can do. These are not uncommon questions and concerns among architects, but Mark feels he owes the CSI his continuing gratitude for the award and can best demonstrate it with his perpetual pursuit of answers to these questions.

While there are many means in which the human condition may be improved, our method of choice has served us well thus far. We seek to leverage technology in the hands of well trained architects and architect interns to solve both immediate issues of architectural concern and larger issues of global concern. After satisfying client desires and needs, we also focus our attention on environmental impact. There are some tasks that can be best resolved computationally by computer in the hands of a well trained user. We are confident that we are among the most qualified in the region to accomplish these tasks.

Building Information Modeling completely replaced cadd in our office long ago. In fact, while we own cadd software, it has not been used within our office since 2005. BIM is the foundation of the products and services we provide our clients, whether those clients seek the usual services of an architect or whether these are services we provide to other architects.

In answering those questions, "what's next?" and "how can this be improved?" we have come to understand that BIM, or BIM as we know it is only the beginning. Few fully grasp all the ramifications of BIM, and how it differs from 3-d cadd modeling. A Building Information Model not only contains 3-d and material information, but how those materials may interact with light, sound, and air currents. It may include cost information, R or U values, and a host of other real world conditions. This information may be used in conjunction with databases made available by the Department of Energy and the National Weather Service to provide life cycle energy use and cost forecasting.

We have observed that even the most basic use of BIM remains a significant obstacle for many architects and architecture firms, let alone the incorporation of these additional and often complex abilities it offers. Additionally, while these capabilities are often eluded to in the marketing material for BIM products such as AutoDESK Revit and Bentley Architecture, separate and additional software is required to accomplish many of these tasks.

Below is a listing of new service offerings: