Innovation through software applications

Software Engineering

The AEC industry is changing. An industry plagued by waste is now benefiting from the use of alternative software applications, alternative delivery methods and modified workflows. 

In 2016, KLH altered its corporate culture and service offerings moving forward by creating a software engineering department. By embedding software programmers and engineers into the firm’s daily workflow, KLH is creating industry specific software for industry users. The “doer-programmer” model puts the development of industry tools in the hands of those practitioners who understand common pain points and how to leverage innovation to achieve greater outcomes. 

Today, KLH provides software engineering expertise in the following areas:

Custom Autodesk Revit Add-Ins

Autodesk Revit is the industry standard application used by AEC professionals for building design. KLH has the experience and expertise necessary to take Revit to the next level. KLH has created numerous tools and discipline-specific process workflows to streamline data flow, model management, and engineering across the company. As an Authorized Autodesk Developer, KLH can help you customize your Revit applications to help maximize the program for your company.

Project Management Applications

• From the project management perspective there are schedules, budgets, correspondence, RFIs and submittals that need to be tracked and managed. As a building owner, a typical set of construction documents and specifications contains thousands of calculations, datasets and information that will need to be accessed as part of your ability to manage the building.
• Manage the flow of information in a centralized project management database. KLH can develop a system that can monitor project schedules, design hours and budgets, labor resources, RFI/Submittal correspondence, project accounting, forecasting and related management needs.

Design Databases / Database Architecture

• Keeping up with the information flow and the data about the building requires a storing house where data can be accessed with a high level of accuracy.
• Computational design helps AEC professionals use key data metrics to guide design decisions, modify workflows and deliver a high level of value to the owner. Developing a design database can help your team perform common design calculations in one location, store historic building information from multiple Revit files, push and pull information from Revit models, and develop reports about the building for design, cost estimating, construction and asset management purposes. Design databases can also store your company’s design standards, specifications and other proprietary data and improve your work proficiency.

Asset Management Applications 

• In the era of big data, no longer should building owners hunt for critical information about their facilities. Whether housed in an advanced 3D model or stored in a web-based asset management database, information on any new build in today’s AEC industry can be readily accessible. KLH can develop custom asset management processes and programs or work within an existing system of choice to maximize the owner’s ability to manage their buildings.

Machine Learning / Generative Design

• Optimized processes and engineering designs require decades of historical data and many iterative calculations. KLH has embedded and utilizes machine learning technologies daily and continues to create new practical use cases. Combing machine learning, historical data, and iterative design calculations is key in the future of the AEC industry.

Web Applications

• The web is a universal platform, from desktops to mobile devices, which allows for power and mobility. KLH believes web applications and web APIs can keep AEC teams well connected and informed.

Below is one of our customized tools that was showcased at Autodesk University Las Vegas 2019.

AutoCAD to Revit Layer Name Translator

KLH receives many projects in AutoCAD without standardized layers. We used to manually map them to our standards for conversion to Revit. We leveraged this historical data to train a machine learning model that predicts layer mapping output and alerts users of low-confidence translations. The standardized layers allow for extrusion to a Revit model.