APRIL'S FEATURED APP
The Firestone BP iPad app offers building owners, facility managers, contractors, architects, and consultants multiple views of building products and solutions, product specs, as well as green building product offerings and full-service opportunities. Click here to download the FREE Firestone app. Keep an eye out for other Featured Apps in future issues of BD+C.
DESIGN + CONSTRUCTION
Architect’s Formulator This program contains more than 400 formulas helpful to architects and construction industry professionals, such as electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and concrete and excavation contractors. iOS $9.99
Dropbox This free service lets you transport all your photos and documents anywhere. After you install Dropbox, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, mobile devices, and the Dropbox website. iOS, Android, BlackBerry Free
I.D. Wood Identify different species of wood from around the world in seconds with this handy app. The tool provides high-definition screen samples and information on nearly 160 species. It also includes dimensional lumber conversions, hardness scale, and other tools. iOS $4.99
iBlueprint Designed expressly for home builders, contractors, architects, and real estate agents, iBlueprint allows users to create and export custom floor plans. It also provides contractors with quick access to blueprints on the job site. iOS Free
iHandy Translator Translate any sentence or phrase into any destination language with this iPad app. Features include history tracking, search, and integrated Twitter/Facebook/SMS/e-mail support. The ad-free Pro version includes a text-to-speech function. iOS Free/$0.99
MagicPlan allows users to measure, draw, and publish interactive floor plans on the Web, just by taking pictures. Create a floor plan in minutes without the need to measure, draw, or move furniture. Later import photos or other images to enhance the visualization. iOS Free
Structural Wood Design Calculator A tool for engineers, architects, and builders to design wood beams for strength in bending, shear, deflection, and bearing. Beam design is calculated by inputting a few design parameters, such as beam length, width, and load. iOS $0.99
BIM/IT
Adobe Ideas This digital sketchbook comes with a set of simple vector-based drawing tools that allow users to easily mark up existing plans, documents, and photos, making it great for communicating field changes, construction errors, and other job site questions. iOS $5.99
AutoCAD WS This app allows users to quickly view, edit, and share DWG files. Accurately annotate and revise drawings while in the field, in meetings, or out of the office. View edits to drawings in real time, and collaborate with others on the same file simultaneously. iOS, Android Free
cadTouch R2 This app enables you to draw floor plans, land surfaces, façades, mechanical and structural parts, diagrams, and field notes. You can then send drawings instantly via email or FTP. iOS $14.99
iRhino 3D This tool allows users to view native Rhino 3DM files on their iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Users can pan, zoom, and rotate using typical commands. 3D models can be loaded from websites, Google Docs, email attachments, or iTunes. iOS $3.99
REVITKeys Handy for BIM users on the go, this app is a simple reference guide for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010. It includes 260 keyboard combinations separated into 14 categories. iOS $0.99
SketchBook Mobile Autodesk SketchBook Mobile offers the power of the company’s popular digital sketchpad program for Apple- and Android-supported mobile devices. Comes with multi-touch navigation (with 2500% zoom) and a host of easy-to-use drawing tools. iOS, Android $4.99
SmartBidNet A companion tool to SmartBidNet construction bid management software, this app allows users to access their private network of subcontractors and view them organized by the services they provide. iOS Free (with a SmartBidNet subscription)
TurboViewer This DWG viewer supports both 2D and 3D CAD DWG files for the iOS platform. Quickly distribute and view files by sending an email with DWG or DXF attachment. Files can also be viewed via Web download, FTP, Dropbox, and WebDAV systems. iOS Free
LEED
Green Pro This app is essentially an interactive version of the USGBC LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations worksheet, allowing users to evaluate and track the number of LEED credits achieved on projects. iOS $3.99
LEED AP Building Design + Construction Offers a set of flashcards to help building and design professionals study for the LEED AP BD+C exam. Also includes a 100-question practice exam with reference notes that can be completed over multiple session. iOS $19.99
LEED Standards This tool brings the most relevant and popular standards used in the LEED rating system to your iPad. Quickly decipher and understand more than 30 commonly used and referenced standards in LEED, including ASHRAE, ASTM, EPA, and FEMA. iOS $0.99 BD+C
GOT A GREAT DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION APP?
Send it to Tim Gregorski, Senior Editor: tgregorski@sgcmail.com. If we use it, we’ll credit you. Thanks!
Related Stories
Office Buildings | Mar 1, 2015
Google unveils dramatic tent-like, modular-focused plan for corporate HQ
The master plan by Bjarke Ingels and Thomas Heatherwick will wrap highly flexible office blocks in soaring translucent canopies.
Industrial Facilities | Feb 27, 2015
Massive windmill will double as mixed-use entertainment tower in Rotterdam
The 571-foot structure will house apartments, a hotel, restaurants, even a roller coaster.
Architects | Feb 27, 2015
5 finalists announced for 2015 Mies van der Rohe Award
Bjarke Ingels' Danish Maritime Museum and the Ravensburg Art Museum by Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei are among the five projects vying for the award.
Office Buildings | Feb 26, 2015
Using active design techniques to strengthen the corporate workplace and enhance employee wellness
The new Lentz Public Health Center in Nashville, Tenn., serves as a model of how those progressive and healthy changes can be made.
K-12 Schools | Feb 26, 2015
Should your next school project include a safe room?
Many school districts continue to resist mandating the inclusion of safe rooms or storm shelters in new and existing buildings. But that may be changing.
K-12 Schools | Feb 26, 2015
Construction funding still scarce for many school districts
Many districts are struggling to have new construction and renovation keep pace with student population growth.
K-12 Schools | Feb 26, 2015
D.C.'s Dunbar High School is world's highest-scoring LEED school, earns 91% of base credits
The 280,000-sf school achieved 91 points, out of 100 base points possible for LEED, making it the highest-scoring school in the world certified under USGBC’s LEED for Schools-New Construction system.
K-12 Schools | Feb 25, 2015
Polish architect designs modular ‘kids city’ kindergarten using shipping container frames
Forget the retrofit of a shipping container into a building for one moment. Designboom showcases the plans of Polish architect Adam Wiercinski to use just the recycled frames of containers to construct a “kids city.”
Cultural Facilities | Feb 25, 2015
Bjarke Ingels designs geodesic dome for energy production, community use
A new building in Uppsala, Sweden, will serve as a power plant during the winter and a venue for shows, festivals, and music events during the warm months.
Cultural Facilities | Feb 25, 2015
Edmonton considering 'freezeway' to embrace winter
If the new Edmonton Freezeway is constructed, residents will have an 11-km course that winds through the city and allows them to skate to work, school, and other city activities.