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<img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/61d0ceef-f5e6-476c-99ba-639f5cd60ebc.png" alt="" width="1080">
The client loves the scheme, then asks what the facade looks like in brick instead of stone, and the meeting stalls because the only honest answer is "let me render that and get back to you." Every architect knows that stall.&nbsp;
At AEC+Tech, we've watched the AEC tools we cover get very good at making the picture look real. What's changing now is where that picture sits in the process, moving from documentation into the decision itself.&nbsp;
For most of the last decade, progress in architectural visualization has been measured in image quality. Physically accurate lighting, richer material systems, and real-time ray tracing have closed much of the gap between a render and a photograph. What used to count as exceptional is now the baseline clients expect.
Rendering has improved fast. One part of the workflow has barely moved.
Design reviews still lean on static images, pre-rendered animations, and fixed camera paths. Those outputs record decisions well enough, but they sit outside the conversation. The moment a meeting turns toward a different material, a new lighting condition, or an alternate scheme, the presentation stalls while someone prepares fresh visuals elsewhere.
That gap matters more as practice becomes more collaborative. Clients, consultants, engineers, and developers now weigh in across the whole design process, not only at the end. Meetings have turned into working sessions where decisions take shape in the room. The way architecture gets presented has to keep up with that.
So visualization is starting to play a different part. Beyond the final picture, it is becoming a medium for discussion, comparison, and decisions made on the spot. The next step forward may be interaction as much as realism.
Every architect knows the moment a client asks to see it another way and the room goes quiet waiting on new visuals. D5 says 3.1 closes that gap, and will <a href="https://www.d5render.com/webinars/whats-new-in-d5-3-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prove it live on July 21</a>
<h2 dir="ltr">Answer "Can We See It Another Way?" On the Spot&nbsp;</h2>
This is the thinking behind <a href="https://bit.ly/d5-3-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">D5 3.1.</a>
Plenty of tools compete on how convincing the picture looks. Fewer ask what happens to it once a room full of stakeholders starts pushing back.&nbsp;
The release starts from a practical question: how does visualization stay useful once the meeting starts?
D5's answer is Interactive Presentation, a workflow that lets architects organize a review like a slide deck while keeping the live project open behind it.
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/764404fa-3db9-4d3c-b9ec-9e36afea816e.png" alt="Interactive Presentation enables real-time scene switching with slides and 3D triggers." width="1080">
<figcaption>Interactive Presentation enables real-time scene switching with slides and 3D triggers.</figcaption>
</figure>
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<div>
Instead of preparing several image sets or separate animations ahead of time, teams can move between design schemes, materials, lighting, weather, viewpoints, and object visibility inside a single presentation. A question that used to interrupt the review can be explored right away. Real-time scene switching runs through slides and 3D triggers, so the flow of the meeting holds together.
The presentation becomes a working space for the design, one the team can steer as the discussion moves.
<h2 dir="ltr">Let Clients Walk the Space Before It Exists&nbsp;</h2>
Interactive Presentation sits inside a wider set of tools aimed at making review more interactive and easier to adapt to the room.
Stereoscopic Panorama brings depth-aware panoramic views to VR, which helps clients and project teams read scale, materials, and how spaces relate to one another. Better VR navigation and controller handling make VR walkthroughs steady enough for everyday reviews rather than occasional demos.
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Spatial Tour has moved along too, with faster scene generation, smoother transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces, and dollhouse views that make it simpler to move through a complicated project.
These tools sit alongside still renders and animations and widen the options, so a team can pick the right way to explore a design based on the audience, the project stage, and what the review needs to settle.
<h2 dir="ltr">Start Seeing the Design the Moment You Model It&nbsp;</h2>
The quality of any review depends on everything that happens before it.
As visualization gets pulled deeper into design work, architects increasingly want to test ideas while those ideas are still moving, instead of waiting for documentation to finish. In that sense, presentation begins earlier than the slide deck. It begins when a team first tries out form, light, material, atmosphere, and how a space feels to move through.
In practice, the visual thinking usually happens long before anyone opens presentation software, and tools have been slow to meet designers there.&nbsp;
That continuity reaches past D5 Render itself. After its earlier <a href="https://www.aecplustech.com/tools/sketchup">SketchUp</a> release, D5 Lite now works inside Rhino and <a href="https://www.aecplustech.com/tools/revit">Revit</a>, bringing real-time visualization into more of the tools architects already use. Designers can preview materials, lighting, and visual direction without leaving the modeling environment, which supports quicker exploration during concept work, massing studies, facade development, and iterative testing.
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/faae324a-8c58-4578-aac2-06f9faac39b1.png" alt="D5 Lite: Visualize projects directly inside Rhino, Revit and Sketchup" width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-724231" data-gramm="false">
Start in D5 Lite, finish in D5 Render, without switching tools
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<div>
D5 Lite is built for that early work, making design decisions more visual from the start. When a project needs higher-end imagery, animation, or an interactive presentation, the work carries on into D5 Render. Paired with Cloud Collaboration, distributed teams can review and share work with less reliance on manual file swaps or local hardware, which keeps things continuous from concept through client review.
<h2 dir="ltr">Photoreal That Holds Up When Clients Look Closely&nbsp;</h2>
As presentations get more interactive, the visuals behind them matter even more. A live scene only works if it holds up when someone leans in.
D5 Render 3.1 adds a set of production-focused improvements that strengthen realism while keeping real-time response.&nbsp;
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/84679fde-46df-4239-985d-65e93278fb1f.png" alt="ACEScg Color Space preserves richer HDR color detail and supports professional ACES workflows" width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-926652" data-gramm="false">ACEScg Color Space preserves richer HDR color detail and supports professional ACES workflows</figcaption>
</figure>
The move to an ACEScg working color space brings in a production-grade color pipeline, the kind used in film and visual effects, which improves color consistency across visualization and post-production. HeightField Tracing gives displacement materials richer surface relief without adding geometric weight, so brick, stone, and timber keep convincing physical depth even in large scenes.
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/196052f2-45b2-4577-a1c1-32e97aa7bc83.png" alt="Seasonal Vegetation lets foliage and branch structure change by date, previewing all seasons in one scene" width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-626429" data-gramm="false">Seasonal Vegetation lets foliage and branch structure change by date, previewing all seasons in one scene</figcaption>
</figure>
Landscape work gains more nuance through Seasonal Vegetation, which lets foliage and branch structure change by date and previews a full year of a planting scheme in one scene. A run of smaller refinements rounds it out, including Custom Pivot, MeasureLine, improved City Generator controls, smarter Auto Exposure, and wider Gaussian Splatting support. Each one trims repetitive adjustments and keeps production moving.
It adds up to one point. An interactive presentation is only as good as the rendering underneath it, and that rendering has to hold both fidelity and speed at once.
<h2 dir="ltr">From Better Images to Better Decisions&nbsp;</h2>
Architectural visualization has spent years chasing realism. That work continues, though realism on its own no longer defines the field.
As projects get more collaborative, the ability to move between options, respond to feedback, and explain a design in context is becoming just as important. Presentations are becoming part of the design process itself.
<blockquote>
"The tools we end up writing about at AEC+Tech are rarely the ones with the longest feature list. They're the ones that change how a decision gets made."&nbsp; &mdash; Niknaz Aftahi&nbsp;
</blockquote>
D5 3.1 reflects that direction. It builds presentation into the design work, making visualization a place where ideas can be explored, compared, and refined with the people in the room.
Whether this turns out to be the next phase of the discipline is still an open question. The goal is clearly shifting, from producing better images toward better conversations about the work.
The biggest change in D5 3.1 sits outside the render itself. Visualization now stays in play through the whole conversation, long after the image is done.
<h2 dir="ltr">See it live&nbsp;</h2>
D5 will demonstrate the 3.1 workflow in a live webinar on Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC, hosted by Jeff Espinoza, D5's Director of Customer Success and Services. The session covers D5 Lite for Rhino and Revit, Interactive Presentation, VR review, Stereoscopic Panorama, ACEScg, HeightField Tracing, and Seasonal Vegetation.
You can register using&nbsp;<a href="https://www.d5render.com/webinars/whats-new-in-d5-3-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this webinar page</a>, and anyone who registers but cannot attend will receive access to the recording.
To learn more about D5 Render, visit their <a href="../../../tools/d5-render" target="_blank" rel="noopener">page on aec+tech&nbsp;</a>or explore the latest features on the official <a class="_ymio1r31 _ypr0glyw _zcxs1o36 _mizu194a _1ah3dkaa _ra3xnqa1 _128mdkaa _1cvmnqa1 _4davt94y _4bfu18uv _1hms8stv _ajmmnqa1 _vchhusvi _kqswh2mm _ect4ttxp _syaz13af _1a3b18uv _4fpr8stv _5goinqa1 _f8pj13af _9oik18uv _1bnxglyw _jf4cnqa1 _30l313af _1nrm18uv _c2waglyw _1iohnqa1 _9h8h12zz _10531ra0 _1ien1ra0 _n0fx1ra0 _1vhv17z1" title="https://www.d5render.com/" href="https://www.d5render.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-renderer-mark="true" data-is-router-link="false" data-testid="link-with-safety">D5 Render website</a>.
<hr>
<img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/b02023eb-2713-4ea3-a35f-e0c2bb302c00.png" alt="" width="160" height="160">
Niknaz Aftahi is the founder of AEC+Tech. This article was produced with materials from D5 as part of a partnership, and independently edited for the AEC+Tech community.
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D5 Render 3.1 turns design reviews into live sessions. Interactive Presentation switches schemes, materials, and lighting on the spot; D5 Lite reaches Rhino and Revit. 

D5 3.1 Wants to End the "We'll Render It Tomorrow" Moment

<div><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/5741b41d-2b98-40f9-9a96-00550e6d0a57.png" alt="InspectMind AI" width="1080"></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Most conversations about AI in construction start with speed.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>&ldquo;How many hours did we save?&rdquo;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>&ldquo;How many pages could we review in minutes?"&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>But a recent aec+tech conversation on AI-driven plan review made a more useful point: the tools save time, but the real reason to adopt them is risk.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0nEGFxC7as">This conversation</a> brought together Colton Johnson, Principal Engineer at Flint Engineering Company; Aakash Prasad, Co-founder and CEO of InspectMind AI; and Simon G. Solorio, President of Solorio Inc. Much of the discussion centered on InspectMind AI's plan-checking tool, though the takeaways apply to any firm weighing this kind of software.&nbsp;
In this article you&rsquo;ll see where AI plan review helps, where it falls short, and why a firm with weak internal processes will not get much out of it no matter how good the software gets.
<h2 dir="ltr">Reading a Pictorial Language</h2>
Plan review is not just about reading text. Construction documents carry meaning through symbols, callouts, line weights, and schedules that change from one project type to the next. An industrial set does not look like a large residential set. Every new hire has to learn how to read that visual system before they can review anything in it.
<blockquote>
"Construction documents are a language, and on top of that they're a pictorial language. You're relying on graphic and visual cues to display the information, translating heavy analysis and code requirements into those pictures."
&mdash; Colton Johnson, Principal Engineer, Flint Engineering Company
</blockquote>
Solorio described the second half of the problem: volume.&nbsp;
Even with tools like <a href="https://www.aecplustech.com/tools/revit">Revit</a> and virtual walk-throughs on Meta Quest headsets, engineers still check ever-changing building codes by hand and coordinate across disciplines. Holding hundreds of pages of drawings against dense architectural, structural, mechanical, and civil specifications is a cognitive load that does not scale. There is only so much one person can keep straight at once, and plan sets keep getting bigger.
That is the gap AI steps into. Not the design work or the engineering judgment, but the slow, repetitive cross-checking that wears people down and still lets errors slip through.
A Third-Party Reviewer That Works Through Lunch
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/bb52d8a0-3272-45e5-b6a9-e96e1717194f.png" alt="Errors missed in review surface on site, where fixes cost most." width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-8150" data-gramm="false">Fig 2) Errors missed in review surface on site, where fixes cost most.&nbsp;</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>
AI is a third-party reviewer. It&rsquo;s not a replacement for the engineer or the plan checker, but an extra set of eyes that never gets tired and never skips a page.
Prasad said InspectMind AI can typically review a 100- to 200-page project in one to two hours. In that window it catches discrepancies between drawings and specs, flags cross-discipline coordination issues, and checks against selected/applicable codes and references. It surfaces a prioritized set of findings while the team continues other work.&nbsp;
InspectMind AI has flagged a water main running straight into a 12-inch concrete pipe. It has caught a storm sewer drawn with no slope, which means it would never drain. These are the errors that hide on page 140 of a set and get expensive once they reach the field.&nbsp;
<blockquote>
"This isn't replacing your own diligence or your own quality of work. It's a useful automated review tool that helps you reduce risk and liability and improve quality overall."
&mdash; Aakash Prasad, Co-founder and CEO, InspectMind AI&nbsp;
</blockquote>
The discussion was honest about the limits, too. AI still struggles to read the purely graphical parts of a drawing when there are no words or numbers to anchor it. That should improve over the next few years, but for now InspectMind AI is strongest where drawings, specs, and code references can be grounded and cited. Purely graphical meaning, where the intent lives only in the picture, is still an area where human review matters.
<h2 dir="ltr">From Months of Back-and-Forth to Days&nbsp;</h2>
<div>
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/c6175af5-f771-4066-a384-2d4991e7ce06.png" alt="InspectMind AI tags each finding by severity, discipline, and code." width="1080">
<figcaption>Fig 3) InspectMind AI tags each finding by severity, discipline, and code.&nbsp;</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
A minor discrepancy on a drawing is not just a quality problem. It is a liability problem. Prasad pointed to ADA compliance as an example. A ramp drawn with a 2.2 percent slope instead of the required 2 percent maximum is a small number on a sheet and a frequent target for litigation. Catching it before construction starts is worth far more than the hour it saved.
The same logic runs downstream. Errors that survive review become Requests for Information (RFIs) and change orders once contractors are on site. Each one costs time and money and strains the client relationship. The financial case lives in catching those errors early.&nbsp;
A church project in California shows how that plays out. The design firm ran its full drawing set (architecture, civil, structural, and specs) through InspectMind AI before submitting to the city. The AI flagged around 300 issues. The team fixed them first. When the city's review came back, the comments were mostly minor, and the firm closed them out in days rather than the weeks or months a project like this can take.
That is the payoff that matters. Not the hours saved running the review, but the weeks of back-and-forth with the jurisdiction that never happened, and the rework that never reached the field.
Garbage In, Garbage Out Still Applies
<figure class="image"><img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/88271371-af97-4945-8f3f-0a5ee2295ce9.png" alt="AI only reflects the inputs it gets." width="1080">
<figcaption spellcheck="false" data-qb-tmp-id="lt-415377" data-gramm="false">Fig 4) AI only reflects the inputs it gets.</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>
The strongest warning has always been against leaning on the tools too hard. The old 'garbage in, garbage out' rule still stands.
The software is powerful, but it sits on top of a firm's inputs, its standards, and the judgment of the people running it.
Solorio made the case for foundational knowledge. Junior engineers still need to learn the basics through hand calculations and free-body diagrams so they understand how loads travel and what a structural member is actually doing. Without that, an engineer cannot tell when the AI is wrong.
<blockquote>
"If you put in garbage, you're going to get out garbage, and that's still true with these new programs. If you put in something wrong, it gives you something wrong. You have to know the basics to know when it's giving you wrong information."
&mdash; Simon G. Solorio, President, Solorio Inc.
</blockquote>
Johnson framed the same idea as a sequence. He sees a working AI workflow as a three-tier system.&nbsp;
A firm establishes good internal processes first. Then it introduces standard automations. Only then does it put AI at what he called the tip of the spear. Skip the first two steps and there is nothing solid for the AI to stand on. When a firm's drawing standards and inputs are inconsistent, there is no realistic way to scale an AI workflow on top of them.
<h2 dir="ltr">Own the Output</h2>
Accountability is the other side of this. When an engineer signs off on a design, they own it, whatever tools helped produce it.
<blockquote>
"The motto we live by with AI is own the output. Just because you have a cool tool doesn't mean you get to say that the tool is the reason something was wrong. You own the output."
&mdash; Colton Johnson, Principal Engineer, Flint Engineering Company
</blockquote>
That has a practical edge. Johnson raised data security, pointing out that client information needs to stay protected under NDAs when a firm runs it through a third-party AI platform. Owning the output means owning the data path, too. Before uploading project documents, firms should evaluate the data path and the platform's NDA and security requirements. That is a question to settle before the first project goes up, not after.&nbsp;
<h2 dir="ltr">Built by the People Who Use It</h2>
The panel closed on what actually makes these tools better, and the answer was feedback from the field rather than anything happening in a lab. Solorio and Johnson both pointed to the value of a simple thumbs up or thumbs down on each flagged issue. That input teaches the model the difference between a real problem and an irrelevant false positive, which is the difference between a tool engineers trust and one they learn to ignore.
Because AEC technology moves quickly, the tools that respond to this feedback can change almost daily. Johnson offered an example from a job site. He floated the idea of having the plan checker automatically generate a targeted field observation checklist based on the specific materials and structural elements it found in the drawings. Within hours, the development team had piloted a connection between the plan checker and a site inspection app.
That speed of iteration is the point underneath the whole conversation.
The AI plan review tools that earn a place in AEC workflows will be the ones built and shaped by the people doing the work, not the ones that promise to do the thinking for them. The engineers on this panel were not looking for software to replace their judgment. They were looking for a reviewer that helps them protect it. That is a smaller promise than replacing an engineer, and a far more useful one.
&nbsp;
To learn more about InspectMind AI, visit InspectMind AI's <a href="../../../tools/inspectmind-ai" target="_blank" rel="noopener">page on aec+tech </a>or explore the latest features and request access on the InspectMind AI's <a class="_ymio1r31 _ypr0glyw _zcxs1o36 _mizu194a _1ah3dkaa _ra3xnqa1 _128mdkaa _1cvmnqa1 _4davt94y _4bfu18uv _1hms8stv _ajmmnqa1 _vchhusvi _kqswh2mm _ect4ttxp _syaz13af _1a3b18uv _4fpr8stv _5goinqa1 _f8pj13af _9oik18uv _1bnxglyw _jf4cnqa1 _30l313af _1nrm18uv _c2waglyw _1iohnqa1 _9h8h12zz _10531ra0 _1ien1ra0 _n0fx1ra0 _1vhv17z1" title="https://www.inspectmind.ai/" href="https://www.inspectmind.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-renderer-mark="true" data-is-router-link="false" data-testid="link-with-safety">website</a>.
<hr>
&nbsp;
Editor's Note
<img src="https://aecplustech-files.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/c3806924-0521-483d-b74d-a01f09ed330e.png" alt="Niknaz Aftahi" width="160" height="160">
This article was independently reviewed and edited by Niknaz Aftahi, Founder of AEC+Tech, drawing on InspectMind AI's product documentation, direct conversation with the panel participants, and hands-on knowledge of plan review and QA/QC workflows. Figures drawn from the panel rather than published material were checked before publishing.
&mdash; Niknaz Aftahi, Founder, AEC+Tech
&nbsp;
</div>

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Civix

Civix are a technology forward civil engineering consultancy in New Zealand and Australia. They specialize in large scale land development projects such as master planned communities, commercial sites and underground infrastructure.

Solibri CheckPoint is a browser-based BIM model checking platform that helps architecture, engineering, and construction teams improve model quality, coordination, and compliance&mdash;without heavy installs or steep training. Open a browser, review Revit and IFC models side by side, run standardized QA/QC checks (clash detection, data/property rules, clearances), and manage issues in one collaborative workspace that fits your existing CDE and project tools.
<h2 data-start="758" data-end="783">Why Solibri CheckPoint</h2>
<ul data-start="784" data-end="1370">
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="784" data-end="888">Zero install, fast adoption: Web-based model checking reduces IT overhead and speeds onboarding.</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="889" data-end="985">Native Revit &amp; IFC support: Review the same source data&mdash;no exports or lossy conversions.</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="986" data-end="1090">Standardized QA/QC: Enforce modeling standards with reusable rule sets, filters, and data views.</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1091" data-end="1208">Collaborative issue management: Assign, track, and resolve clashes/data issues with transparent audit trails.</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1209" data-end="1370">CDE-friendly: Practical integrations with Autodesk Construction Cloud and Procore keep models and issues in sync via direct connections or BCF.</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-start="1372" data-end="1391">Key Capabilities</h2>
<ul data-start="1392" data-end="1804">
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1392" data-end="1460">Clash detection &amp; constructability checks across disciplines</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1461" data-end="1541">Property/data validation to enforce BIM standards and naming conventions</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1542" data-end="1611">Clearance/free-space rules for safety, access, and operations</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1612" data-end="1702">Data Viewer to inspect quantities, attributes, and patterns alongside the 3D model</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1703" data-end="1804">Project Library to publish shared, repeatable templates (rules, filters, views) across projects</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-start="1806" data-end="1832">Integrations &amp; Workflow</h2>
<ul data-start="1833" data-end="2138">
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1833" data-end="1939">Sync models and issues with Autodesk Construction Cloud and Procore (reduce duplicate uploads)</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="1940" data-end="2021">Export/import issues via BCF to keep coordination moving across platforms</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="2022" data-end="2138">Fit lightweight checks into more milestones&mdash;from schematic coordination to preconstruction and punch-list closeout</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-start="2140" data-end="2155">Who It&rsquo;s For</h2>
<ul data-start="2156" data-end="2394">
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="2156" data-end="2237">Architects &amp; BIM Managers standardizing QA/QC and modeling best practices</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="2238" data-end="2319">General Contractors &amp; VDC Teams driving constructability and coordination</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="2320" data-end="2394">Owners/Consultants requiring transparent, auditable BIM deliverables</li>
</ul>
<h2 data-start="2396" data-end="2407">Benefits</h2>
<ul data-start="2408" data-end="2682">
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="2408" data-end="2474">Higher BIM quality with consistent templates and rule sets</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="2475" data-end="2544">Fewer rework loops thanks to faster clash and data validation</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="2545" data-end="2608">Lower overhead via web-based access and simpler rollout</li>
<li style="font-size: 15px;" data-start="2609" data-end="2682">Better traceability with centralized issue records and auditability</li>
</ul>
Learn more: <a href="https://www.solibri.com/checkpoint?utm_campaign=3706145-Solibri%20CheckPoint&amp;utm_source=AEC%20Tech">www.solibri.com</a>

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Solibri CheckPoint & the Future of AEC Model-Checking 

Revit professionals keep their models clean and accurate with the Ideate Explorer Revit add-on software. When using this model browser, as opposed to a project browser, users decrease the time they spend on model management, increase the accuracy of their models, and reduce file space by: Finding and deleting incorrect, obsolete, and hidden problem items, including DWGs Finding, refining, and revising elements, even those excluded from the project browser Getting a full view of any Revit model and understanding all elements in the model Easily complying with standards Auditing and removing Revit warnings The following components included with the Autodesk Revit add-in, Ideate Explorer, provide additional ways to ensure model accuracy: Warnings Manager - Easily review and manage Revit warnings Navigate - Navigate through view-based elements within Revit&mdash;legends, schedules, sheets, and views&mdash;and quickly customize the browsing experience Query - Search on parameters, such as elements assigned a certain size or modeled as in-place families, sheets based on Issuance numbers, and dimensions that have been overridden Boost the Power of Ideate Explorer with Ideate Automation Ideate AutomationFree your staff to do more meaningful work by adding Ideate Automation to your subscription*. This scripting solution runs time-intensive tasks in the background, so staff can continue using the computers to perform higher value tasks. Not only does task automation free staff for higher level engineering and design work, but automation also has the benefit of ensuring that your task outcomes are highly predictable and standardized. The scripts can be run manually or scheduled to run at specific times, including at night. Example: Exporting Model Health Data With Ideate Automation, staff no longer needs to stop what they are doing so their computer can export critical information about the Revit project. Instead, the script will run in the background and deliver actionable data that can be used to increase project health. *Ideate Automation is included in the cost of an Ideate Software Enterprise subscription. Others can purchase it as a separate subscription. View subscription options or contact your account manager for more information. Attend FREE online training courses on all of our products. Visit our Events Page for details. &ldquo;Switching from an office with [Ideate] Explorer to without is a jarring experience. This app puts the filter tool in Revit to absolute shame - it is simply THE tool for finding elements in Revit models.&rdquo; ~Gavin Crump, BIM Guru

Precisely Manage Revit Models | Introduction to Ideate Explorer 

Ideate Query and its Value to All Revit Users

Ideate Explorer

Ideate Explorer and IdeateApps: Safely Moving Revit Content to Another Level 

MeltBid by MeltPlan is an AI bid leveling software built for general contractors in preconstruction. The traditional bid leveling process takes estimators hours of manual work &mdash; pulling numbers from PDFs, building spreadsheets by hand, hunting for buried exclusions, and hoping nothing slips through before you award. MeltBid compresses all of that into minutes.
The workflow is straightforward: upload your subcontractor proposals and MeltBid automatically structures them into a leveled comparison inside your own Excel template or a provided one. It works both in the browser and natively inside Excel via MeltPlan's Microsoft marketplace add-in, so estimators don't have to change how they work.
The value, though, goes well beyond speed. MeltBid surfaces five core capabilities:
Bid leveling in minutes. Upload multiple proposals &mdash; PDFs from each sub &mdash; and get a fully populated line-by-line comparison in your template in under 5 minutes. Bring your own format or start from MeltBid's.
Scope gap detection. Automatically identifies line items that one sub priced and others excluded or missed entirely. These gaps are the silent killers in preconstruction &mdash; they show up as change orders in the field, well after you've already awarded the contract.
Exclusions and qualifications flagging. Highlights non-obvious exclusions and qualifications buried deep in bid packages &mdash; things like "fire alarm devices excluded," "roof penetrations not included," or "price valid 30 days only, subject to material escalation." The cheapest number on paper becomes the most expensive one post-award when these get missed.
Full traceability. Every number in the leveled output links directly back to the source line in the original proposal. No black box &mdash; estimators can click any cell and see exactly which clause in which sub's PDF drove that value, with a "Mark as Reviewed" workflow to systematically work through the output.
Natural-language AI Q&amp;A. Ask plain-English questions directly against your leveled bids: "Who is the lowest bidder and by how much?" "What did Summit exclude?" "Where's the biggest spread across bidders on mechanical?" MeltBid answers in context, scoped to the exact run you're reviewing.
It's built for the way estimators actually work &mdash; in the browser or right inside Excel &mdash; and is aimed squarely at GCs who are tired of the bid leveling process eating their preconstruction capacity.

Melt Bid

ARES Touch is a full-featured mobile CAD app that provides a complete set of 2D drafting and annotation commands. It's the perfect companion to quickly review a drawing shared in the cloud or received by email while on the go.

Team members at the jobsite can collaborate efficiently with colleagues back at the office

ARES Touch helps users work more effectively while on the jobsite or  in the field

ARES Touch works on Android and iOS tablets and smartphones

The ARES Trinity of CAD Software: Create and Modify DWG Files with Modern Collaboration Tools

ARES CAD Software: Top 10 Trinity Features Outperforming AutoCAD | Expert Review by Architosh

DWG Editing on Mobile: ARES Touch Makes it Quick & Easy!

ARES Touch: Mobile CAD for Android and iOS to View, Create and Annotate DWG

ARES Touch

Work productively on mobile devices with tools tailored to smaller screens

We lead the construction industry in quality control. No more stumbling blocks. Constructing flawless buildings is now easier than ever. Solibri Office imports building models from all major BIM software using the standardized IFC interface. It identifies potential problems early, preventing issues during construction and beyond, ensuring smooth project execution and long-term building performance. Solibri offers the most advanced and comprehensive library of customizable rule templates to tackle the most demanding quality assurance tasks. Choose from over 70+ predefined rule templates or customize your own to ensure no stone is left unturned. Go beyond clash detection and take your BIM quality to the next level. Solibri offers a wider range of checking capabilities than any other tool in the market: geometry, clearance, accessibility, information &amp; property checking, building code compliance, model revision, fire safety and more. Solibri understands your role and offers you a set of rules, classifications, and reporting templates that you can customize to match your company, project, local, or national needs. Use organizational tools like classifications and filters to streamline model checking, to takeoff quantities and data, or to visualize the BIM data/components in the model. Information takeoff allows you to extract quantities based on different criteria more easily. Share the information using your own customized Excel templates. Information takeoff allows you to extract quantities based on different criteria more easily. Share the information using your own customized Excel templates. Share project information and collaborate seamlessly and reliably through Solibri&rsquo;s integrations, BCF Live Connector and API. Automate tasks, such as running checks, exporting the identified issues as BCF files and creating presentations, and run them at a convenient time with Solibri Autorun. Easily integrate with your workflows: Solibri is founded on openBIM standards to foster interoperability and enable transparent, open cooperation among all project participants. This allows model authors and collaborators to connect Solibri's quality assurance capabilities with the tools of their choice.

Solibri Office

Eight categories reveal how AEC technology evolved on aec+tech.

Building Better with BIM QA: 2025 Interview with Solibri

Checking Revit Models in the Cloud with Solibri

Melt Takeoff is built for estimators who need takeoffs that are not just fast, but truly bid-ready and reliable. Unlike fully automated takeoff software that only measures what&rsquo;s drawn, Melt Takeoff is designed around a simple truth: winning bids requires accounting for what&rsquo;s missing from plans &mdash; the scope gaps, incomplete details, coordination conflicts, and implied work that experienced estimators catch through judgment.
Melt Takeoff combines AI vision with expert estimator validation to deliver takeoffs with both speed and accuracy. The workflow is simple: upload plans, the AI measures and identifies scope, flags drawing/spec conflicts, adds allowances, and then senior estimators validate everything before delivery. This hybrid model is what makes Melt Takeoff dependable &mdash; AI accelerates measurement, but real estimators ensure completeness and constructability.
Key capabilities include:
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AI Vision measurement detecting 800+ building elements with counts, lengths, perimeters, areas, and volumes
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Automated scope recognition across architectural, structural, and MEP drawings
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Detailed allowances for scope not shown, added as itemized ROMs based on code requirements and real project benchmarks
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Drawing&ndash;spec conflict detection, with estimator-led resolution before it hits your bid
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Estimator-verified outputs, reviewed by onshore senior estimators with 20+ years of field experience, including delivery of multi-million to billion-dollar projects
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Flexible classification standards, supporting MasterFormat&reg;, UniFormat&reg;, or custom structures, so takeoffs drop directly into your estimating workflow
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Interactive takeoff output, with side-by-side plan review, traceable quantities, and clean Excel exports ready for pricing and bidding
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</ul>
Melt Takeoff is designed for speed without sacrificing trust. Quantities aren&rsquo;t just dumped into a spreadsheet &mdash; they&rsquo;re delivered in a structured, reviewable format so teams can validate quickly, collaborate internally, and confidently move into bid submission. The output stays fully in your control: review, adjust, and export clean files without messy reformatting.
Melt Takeoff delivers a takeoff process that is 40% more accurate, 20% faster, and 10% cheaper, with turnaround times ranging from 2&ndash;3 days for small projects to 7&ndash;8 days for extra-large projects. The result is fewer missed scope items, stronger bid coverage, reduced risk of underbidding, and significantly more confidence in your numbers &mdash; so estimators can bid faster and win more work.

Melt Takeoff

The Context
Despite decades of investment in BIM, architectural documentation remains heavily manual. Teams continue to spend significant time on repetitive production tasks, manual QA/QC, and enforcing standards across drawings, views, and schedules.
At scale, this creates inefficiency, late-stage rework, and coordination risk, while contributing to burnout across documentation teams. Existing automation is often fragmented or difficult to apply consistently within live project models, limiting its effectiveness in everyday production work.
SketchPro is being actively deployed at top architecture firms to address this gap by embedding AI directly into architectural documentation workflows.
The Question
How can AI support architectural documentation&ndash; QA/QC, standards alignment, and repetitive production work&ndash; while keeping architects in control, preserving authorship, and respecting firm-specific standards and workflows?
The Approach
SketchPro is an AI documentation copilot embedded directly within Revit, designed to operate on live project models, views, schedules, and sheets. The system is developed around three core principles:
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No workflow disruption Al actions occur inside the same Revit environment already used by project teams for documentation. No exporting, syncing, or parallel tools required.
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Architect-in-the-loop control All actions are previewed, reviewable, and reversible, ensuring professional judgment remains central to decision-making.
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Firm-specific intelligence Rather than applying generic rules, the system adapts to project standards, naming conventions, and documentation logic defined by each practice with an &ldquo;AI Knowledge Base&rdquo; set up by admins from each firm.
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The Collaboration Model
SketchPro is being deployed in collaboration with architecture firms working across a range of scales, typologies, and geographic locations, including educational, multifamily, and commercial projects. Ongoing collaboration ensures the platform addresses real documentation pain points such as QA/QC consistency, annotation cleanup, and standards alignment within live projects.
The Results
Across partner firms, teams report:
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Standardized preferences across projects with AI
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30% reduction in documentation time across major tasks like sheet creation, dimensioning, schedules, and QA/QC
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20% more capacity to do more projects with their current team
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AI is experienced as a support system rather than a replacement. Junior staff report increased confidence and productivity, while senior staff retain full control over technical decisions.
Key Takeaways
Successful AI adoption in architecture depends less on automation alone and more on customization, transparency, and trust in the technology.
By embedding AI directly into documentation workflows and aligning it with the realities of architectural practice, SketchPro illustrates how AI can strengthen existing processes rather than disrupt them, supporting efficiency, quality, and professional judgment.

SketchPro allows you to go from a hand-drawn sketch to a fully rendered design

Firm-specific intelligence based on a custom, internal knowledge base

Mentor mode provides model-specific guidance

QAQC Audit using your firm's standards and checklists

SketchPro.ai

D5 Render is a leading real-time rendering solution that revolutionizes the architectural and design workflows. Powered by AI-driven and cutting-edge technologies, D5 empowers architects, designers, and visualization artists to work more efficiently and collaboratively, accelerating creation while ensuring consistently accurate and photorealistic results. -Best balance between speed and quality -Seamless integration with your favorite design workflow -User-friendly for designers, architects, visualizers, and archviz animation professionals alike -Free access and a cost-effective teams subscription option D5 Render is transforming the world of architectural visualization by bringing real-time rendering into everyday workflows&mdash;without sacrificing quality. Designed with architects, designers, and visual storytellers in mind, D5 combines high-speed GPU processing with an intuitive interface, allowing users to create photorealistic renderings, animations, and walkthroughs almost instantly. Unlike traditional rendering engines that require long wait times and technical know-how, D5 simplifies the process through real-time preview and rendering capabilities. Users can drag and drop assets, make lighting and material adjustments on the fly, and see results in seconds&mdash;all while working within a seamless, responsive environment. It also supports live sync with popular modeling tools like SketchUp, Rhino, Revit, and Archicad, streamlining the design-to-render workflow. What sets D5 apart is not just its speed, but also its ability to handle large, complex scenes with remarkable performance. Its AI-powered denoising engine and built-in library of assets&mdash;including vegetation, lighting, and materials&mdash;help elevate visualization without external plugins or post-production tools. Architects and design firms using D5 report significant time savings, improved client communication, and enhanced design decision-making. By eliminating the barrier between modeling and rendering, D5 allows teams to visualize concepts earlier and with greater clarity&mdash;ultimately leading to better outcomes. For firms working on tight deadlines or aiming to elevate their presentations, D5 offers a powerful solution that redefines what&rsquo;s possible in real-time rendering. It&rsquo;s not just a tool&mdash;it&rsquo;s becoming a core part of the modern architectural tech stack. Check out our latest article: https://www.aecplustech.com/blog/rendering-redefined-d5-real-time-revolution-architects-design-firms

D5 Render

Featuring D5 Render at the AEC Innovate Conference

Rendering Redefined: D5’s Real-Time Revolution

Tools Leading the Way in the AEC+Tech Community

Why Every Designer Needs Collaborative Rendering (Webinar)

Why Every Designer Needs Collaborative Rendering

Case Study: 5 Five-Story Mixed-Use Apartment & Commercial Buildings

Background
A developer had completed designs for five mixed-use buildings using traditional steel frame and concrete construction. With plans to build 65 more similar buildings over the next decade, the release of upcoming New Zealand decarbonisation legislation posed a serious risk to project viability. Compliance uncertainty threatened cost overruns, feasibility issues, and the overall deliverability of the remaining developments. To mitigate these risks, the developer turned to V-Quest to assess and optimize their design strategy.

Results
Within 48 hours of using V-Quest, the developer uncovered significant design optimisation opportunities:
✅ 3,750 tonnes of carbon emissions eliminated through smarter material selection.
✅ 1,000 tonnes of weight reduction, removing the need for expensive piling—saving $750,000.
✅ Structural efficiency gains enabled two additional floors, increasing project yield and profitability.

The outcome? Higher returns, cost savings, and a future-proofed portfolio against incoming legislation—Win, Win, Win.

How V-Quest Delivers Value
V-Quest integrates real-time, data-driven analytics into the design workflow, allowing architects and engineers to rapidly identify and implement optimisation opportunities. Unlike conventional design processes constrained by tight timelines, competitive tendering, and misconceptions about decarbonisation, V-Quest automates deep carbon, cost, and mass analysis without disrupting the workflow.

This enables fast, comparative analysis of materials and construction methods, ensuring every project is cost-efficient, regulation-ready, and environmentally responsible.

ww.vquest.io

High Street Apartments

nezo embeds Cost, Carbon and Weight analytics directly into your design workflow.
Design teams are under pressure to reduce embodied carbon, control budgets and meet compliance targets. Yet the data sits in spreadsheets, PDFs and disconnected tools. Carbon LCA is done too late. Cost surprises cause redesign. Material data is hard to manage.
nezo removes that friction.
Inside your existing software, it automatically quantifies materials and shows the live impact of your decisions on cost, carbon and structural weight. You can compare materials and methodologies early, before changes become expensive.
nezo automates full carbon LCA and compliance reporting, including NABERS-aligned outputs. Compliance becomes a real-time design input, not a post-design burden.
Our Ops Console lets you build and manage your own material database, including supplier rates, EPD data and custom assemblies. Your team gains control, consistency and scalable internal intelligence.
AI works in the background to clean data, map units and reduce noise, without taking control of the design.
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<h3 data-start="1140" data-end="1160">Why Choose nezo?</h3>
+ USE YOUR OWN WORKFLOW Live cost, carbon and weight data as you design inside Revit, ArchiCad and SketchUp
+ SAVE TIME Automated quantification, instant LCA and compliance-ready reporting.
+ CONTROL YOUR DATA Build and manage your own material library or leverage our existing library.
+ MAKE BETTER DECISIONS EARLY Compare options with clear performance insight from concept to delivery.
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<h3 data-start="1492" data-end="1512">Who is nezo for?</h3>
ARCHITECTS Manage cost and carbon from concept to compliance within your model.
ENGINEERS Compare structural systems and understand mass, cost and carbon impacts instantly.
DESIGN &amp; BUILD CONTRACTORS Reduce redesign, replicate efficient outcomes and protect margin.

nezo

Client: Aedifice
Local Engineer: Civix
Project Name: Selo
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Project Size: 11 acres
Road Network: 5 miles
Tech Solution: Allsite.ai - Service AI 1.0

Project Overview
Aedifice, a leading property development firm, sought to develop the Selo project, a 11-acre residential community in Eden Terrace, Auckland, New Zealand. The project encompassed 243 buildings across 210 lots, with an extensive utility infrastructure involving over 5 miles of sanitary sewer, wastewater, and water supply pipes. To address the complexity of this large-scale development, Aedifice partnered with local engineers Civix who leveraged the innovative Allsite.ai platform, specifically Service AI 1.0, to optimize the design and construction process.


The Challenge
The Selo project faced several challenges due to its size and scope, including the need to design a highly efficient underground pipe network. The requirements were substantial:

555 (2.7 miles) storm drain pipes

385 (1.7 miles) sanitary sewer pipes

536 (2.6 miles) water supply pipes

The intricate design had to meet stringent engineering rules, including proper pipe cover, minimum clearance between pipes, and minimum grades. Additionally, the design needed to be cost-effective, balancing both capital (CAPEX) and operational (OPEX) expenses while minimizing risks of structural conflicts like pipes too close to retaining walls. Flood resilience was also a critical concern, as the area was prone to flooding.


Technology in Action: Allsite.ai's Service AI 1.0
To overcome these challenges, Civix utilized Allsite.ai's Service AI 1.0, an intelligent tool designed to automate and optimize engineering designs. Service AI 1.0 provided a comprehensive solution for the pipe network by:

Setting all pipe invert levels to ensure compliance with engineering rules.
Automatically designing the pipe network to minimize CAPEX and OPEX costs.
Implementing built-in QA checking to detect potential design conflicts, such as pipes near retaining walls.
Automatically sizing pipes based on specified catchments and performing a full flow analysis to ensure optimal performance.
Generating detailed pipe long sections, capacity tables, and plan views that adhered to Auckland City Council standards, eliminating the need for manual drafting.
Calculating trench volumes and setting excavation methods (shoring or benching), improving communication between developers and construction teams.

In addition, semi-automated flood modelling was conducted using the Tuflow flood engine, ensuring the design was resilient against future flood events.



Client Feedback

According to the projects Professional Engineer from Civix, “Using Service AI 1.0 and Allsite.ai, iterations of servicing design took less than an hour. Every pipe invert was designed with no overrides. I was blown away by how accurate it was, creating a design better than a human could—the design had lower construction and operational costs, giving a great result for the client.”



Selo Residential Development

You can book a demo of our technology at https://allsite.ai we then will run a pilot project with you to demonstrate how the tools can integrate into your workflows. Level AI is a grading optimizer that can perfectly balance large sites whilst designing levels such that roading complies with local rules and all lots can be services with careful consideration of flooding. The inputs to Level AI are a 2d site plan, topographical survey, local rules are pulled from the closest previous project run. The Allsite.ai platform runs on massive GPU clusters in the cloud running billions of iterations to ensure the site perfectly balances. Service AI 1.0 automatically designs the servicing network in 3D given a 2d network, sizing pipes and avoiding clashes whilst meeting local clearance requirements. Service AI 2.0 (ready early 2025) will automatically lay out the servicing network in 3d placing pipes in an optimal routing. Level AI has demonstrated 100x speed-ups on large scale projects, this speed-up allows more layouts to be explored and better outcomes for clients. Case studies in the US have demonstrated the power of the tool, generating over $1 million in earthworks savings on one project alone. Changes to the design are easy, even after construction has started as the site can be rebalanced within hours and a new servicing network designed.

Allsite.ai

New Zealand

Sensori is revolutionizing reality capture technology by providing a cost-effective and highly automated photogrammetry solution specifically designed for capturing and monitoring construction sites. Our innovative platform has democratized 3D modeling by enabling anyone with a standard 360 camera to generate accurate, professional-grade models for milestone scans, as-built documentation, and MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) projects.
The compact and user-friendly nature of 360 cameras makes them ideal for construction environments, particularly in challenging spaces like ceiling voids, cramped mechanical rooms, and confined areas where traditional scanning equipment struggles to operate effectively. Unlike conventional solutions that require specialized personnel and expensive equipment, Sensori empowers construction teams, project managers, and field workers to capture comprehensive site data independently.
While the industry has traditionally relied on dedicated LiDAR hardware and complex, fragmented post-processing workflows that often require significant technical expertise and substantial investment, Sensori delivers exceptional value through a fundamentally different approach. Our technology harnesses the power of advanced photogrammetry algorithms to achieve high-accuracy 3D reconstruction using nothing more than standard 360 imagery or video footage.
This breakthrough creates unprecedented opportunities that competitors have yet to explore. Users can now generate rich, measurable 3D data directly from affordable consumer-grade cameras, eliminating the barriers that have historically limited reality capture to specialized teams and high-budget projects. The result is accurate, detailed 3D models that provide the same level of precision as traditional methods but with dramatically reduced complexity and cost.
Sensori isn't about replacing existing methods entirely; it's about unlocking new potential and making professional-grade reality capture accessible to everyone. By transforming how 3D reconstruction is approached, we're enabling construction professionals to document, analyze, and monitor their projects with unprecedented ease and affordability, opening doors to applications that were previously impractical or economically unfeasible.&nbsp;
Our mission is to transform how construction teams see, measure, and manage their projects by turning everyday video into precision point clouds that drive better decisions and outcomes.
&nbsp;

Result for “New Zealand”

Companies "1 result"

Civix