Marthe Brøndbo
We are excited to introduce a new game-changing addition to the Forma extension library! The “3D Envelope by Zoneomics” brings a whole new approach to incorporating zoning restrictions directly into the generative design process, significantly enhancing efficiency and accuracy. Currently available for cities in the US and Canada, this partnership empowers architects and planners to create zoning-compliant building envelopes effortlessly, streamlining project planning workflows like never before.
In this blog post, we are thrilled to have Matthew Player, CEO of Zoneomics, share the vision behind this extension and the journey of its development. Zoneomics has been at the forefront of AI-driven zoning data solutions since 2018, and we are so excited to announce that their expertise is now seamlessly integrated into Autodesk Forma, enabling real-time responsiveness to zoning restrictions.
All opinions in the blog post are those of the contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Autodesk.
AI is driving change across numerous sectors, and the building and design industry is no different. Data is the building block and catalyst for any AI-based innovation, dictating the complexity and accuracy of AI-generated responses or visualizations. Data and AI have the combined power to bring Zoning Restrictions into generative design considerations in real-time. We are thrilled to partner with Autodesk to integrate our data-driven AI solutions into the Autodesk Forma app, enabling real-time responsiveness to zoning restrictions specific to each property. This powerful combination of data and AI enhances the accuracy and efficiency of generative design, allowing architects and planners to incorporate zoning considerations into their workflows seamlessly.
Since 2018 Zoneomics has been building comprehensive data and AI-powered technology to streamline zoning-related workflows. The Zoneomics Team has activated this data through various products including Automated Zoning Reports, Zoning Data APIs, and a Web App. The next natural evolution in the application of our zoning data and insights is the development of Generative Design Enabled (GDE) data APIs. With generative design, users can create zoning restriction-responsive building envelopes. Building Controls, or Development Standards, are the substantive portion of zoning codes that ensure a building is developed according to city regulations. These pertain to physical modifications of the property including the size and location of structures concerning the lot, the maximum height of structures, setbacks, lot coverage, and maximum floor area. Unlike any technology before, with generative design, Zoning Data and Building Controls users are empowered to build envelopes and models responsive to zoning restrictions. This enables users to visualize a property swiftly, customize layouts by editing zoning control information, and ultimately plan for a project. This is all made possible through Zoneomic’s AI-enabled technology that can collect, process, and prepare comprehensive zoning data.
Why does a Building Envelope matter?
Over the past year, we got overwhelming feedback from our partners in the Prop-Tech and the Real Estate industry about the need for zoning-responsive generative design tools for 3D Building Massing models. These tools would play a significant role in optimizing project planning workflows. After researching market requirements, we found that populating a city block with zoning-responsive building models would take hours at best, and a typical feasibility study for such a project would last 2 to 3 weeks. Working closely with the team at Autodesk Forma, a cloud software with easy-to-use AI-powered tools for concept design and schematic design, we developed a 3D Building Envelope extension that would significantly expedite model generation by utilizing zoning data sets and cutting-edge technology.
The 3D Building Envelope extension
We are excited to launch the Zoning Responsive 3D Building Envelope Extension on the Forma platform, which is purpose-built for the Forma platform and empowers users to generate and edit zoning-responsive Envelope Models. Getting started involves:
- Install the Zoneomics Building Envelope Generator Extension within the Forma application
- Select a property through address search or by drawing a polygon
- Pull in and view all the relevant Building Controls information in the side panel
- Generate a building envelope to conduct a massing feasibility study
- Edit and visualize Building Controls data attributes directly in the side panel
- Save Building Envelopes to your account library and revisit projects
Example of Zoning Responsive 3D Envelopes generated on the Forma Platform using the Zoneomics extension
In the past, a typical feasibility study for such a project would last up to 3 weeks but now it can be expedited in a fraction of the time. With the easy-to-use features of the plugin, automated data connections, and the customizability of data inputs, we have introduced flexibility and expediency to the feasibility workflow. It is a level of automation, responsiveness, and granularity that is rarely found in the Prop-Tech sector.
With this innovation, users can gain deeper insight by conducting envelope design analysis, Streamlining workflows to make them more efficient, enhancing project data continuity, and ultimately improving building performance by optimizing the building envelope using Zoneomics data. This can tangibly impact building operability, energy efficiency, and sustainability of the structure, which ultimately leads to reduced operational costs and environmental impact, and streamlined permitting.
The right team for the job
Zoneomics is built by a team of urban planners, designers, GIS specialists, Data scientists, and Technology Experts who recognize the pitfalls of traditional zoning workflows. The complexity and variability of zoning codes necessitate technological intervention to save time, and cost and to spark more ingenious applications turning data into insight. The Zoneomics team recognized long ago that real estate is the single largest asset class in the United States that is however the slowest to adopt technological innovation. With that in mind, the team has developed a variety of AI-powered tools that solve day-to-day challenges and create long-term opportunities across different verticals. The Zoning Responsive 3D building envelope generator extension for Autodesk’s Forma is the latest groundbreaking innovation.
About author Matthew Player, CEO of Zoneomics
Zoneomics CEO and Founder Matthew Player spent over a decade as a practicing urban planner, advising some of the world’s largest real estate developers on zoning matters. Following this, in 2014, he collaborated with real estate data giant CoreLogic to provide zoning data solutions to Australian real estate and finance professionals. He founded Florida-based Zoneomics in 2018 with Co-Founder and CTO Asim Mushtaq, leveraging artificial intelligence and big data to streamline zoning workflows for the real estate and AEC industries. Zoneomics has pioneered bringing zoning insights and considerations to the forefront of the real estate search process through collaborations with leading real estate search platforms. Now, with this exciting new collaboration with Autodesk and the power of AI, design professionals, and investors will be able to incorporate zoning from real estate search to preliminary design at the click of a button.