Vertical Access LLC
AIA CES Presentations

Using Technology to Document Historic Buildings
1 AIA Learning Unit

Description
Preservation architects, engineers and others involved in the renovation of historic buildings agree on the importance of an efficient discovery phase. A significant part of that effort is the organized collection of building information and accurate documentation of existing conditions. Even though these discovery tasks are such a significant part of a project, the development and incorporation of tools to improve the process on site and process the resulting information has been slow. This presentation examines the components of a successful discovery phase and reviews the available technological tools that can help to improve the collection and management of information from building surveys.

Learning Objectives

• Review the important aspects of the discovery phase and how to avoid common pitfalls that lead to inefficiency.


• Learn about the available hardware tools including tablet computers and cameras available for documenting existing buildings.


• Learn about existing software packages and how the process can integrate with existing work flows.


• Learn how to design an appropriate conditions library that allows for ease of fault diagnoses and repair design..