During the past decade, I have been focused on virtual design and construction (VDC), or as I like to refer to it, virtual installation on the digital jobsite. Although I worked in the fire protection industry for many years, I really didn’t understand everything that went into training someone to become a designer — or as the fire sprinkler industry refers to it, a layout technician.
Let’s start at the beginning of my journey to incorporate VDC training into fire protection. In 2015, I attended my first Autodesk University (AU) session. This was an eye-opening experience for me, as there was so much for me to learn in this space. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I was fortunate to know several United Association (UA) members who were in that space and they helped educate me. We also had a great partnership with Get the Point (GTP) and Todd Leibe. Leibe introduced me to so many people at this event — the connections he had were remarkable and very beneficial. I don’t remember every conversation I had, but there were a few that really stood out. The one I will mention here drove me forward every day. A contractor asked me, “When will the UA train their members on design?” My response was that we were — although I knew we needed to advance our training and that was part of the reason I was at AU. The next words I heard became a driving force in my head: “It’s easier to teach a computer to a tradesperson than to teach a computer person the trade.” I have heard this statement in my head every day since. When I first heard this, it took me back to the days working for a contractor, St. Louis Automatic Sprinkler Co. When we were discussing blueprints and design, this contractor said, “If we could put a designer (layout technician) out in the field for a couple of years, they would be a great designer!”
During the rest of my first year at AU, I met several UA members working full time in VDC who said they had no training from their local training center. Again, this told me we needed to up our game on training!
This was my first year as a training specialist for the UA Education and Training Department, and I was handed the keys to VDC along with the overseeing fire protection training. I knew I needed to bring VDC training to the fire protection industry. When I attended AU over the next couple of years, I continued to meet more UA members and more manufacturers and software venders we could partner with to add to our VDC training. One of these partners was a gentleman named Eric Luftig, who worked for Victaulic and oversaw VDC. We discussed my goal of adding VDC training on fire protection, and he introduced me to a man named Alan Johnston with Hydratec. It just so happened that Johnston was presenting at AU, and I sat in on his presentation about Hydratec for Revit. During the hourlong presentation, he bragged that he could design a system three different ways in less than 60 minutes. Johnston was more than 30 minutes in before he completed his first design in a virtual warehouse building — a basic tree system made up of a main and branch lines. Over the next 15 minutes, he turned this system into a grid system, which consisted of two mains and branch lines, and lastly, he then turned that into a looped main system. I sat there amazed that he was able to convert those last two systems so quickly. I knew I needed to speak to Johnston after the presentation, so I patiently waited for him to answer everyone else’s questions before approaching him last. We talked for more than an hour. I explained what the UA is, how our training works, and what my job entails. I talked about our apprentice contest, how we were incorporating iPads into the contest, and how I thought it would be great to have him involved. When we parted ways, I knew he wanted to take part in the 2017 UA Apprentice Contest, but I wasn’t so sure he was interested in our training programs. I did believe that if he participated in the apprentice contest, I would have a chance to set the hook for training! After the contest finished at our Instructor Training Program (ITP) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Johnston met with me on campus at Washtenaw Community College (WCC). I received a phone call as we sat down. As I was on my call, I watched Johnston thumb through a training brochure I had given him. Once he found what he was looking for, he flipped the brochure over and pressed down the middle so it would stay open to that page. Once I finished my call, he flipped the brochure over, spun it around, and pointed to where he believed he and Hydratec would fit into our training.
He and I began working on next steps to setup training for sprinkler fitters on Revit. We involved many others over the years, including his fellow instructor, Ryan Rickert from UA Sprinkler Fitters Local 281 in Chicago. Over the next several years, we introduced the following Revit training classes for Fire Protection:
- Developing Fire Protection Curriculum Using 3D Technology
- Revit for Fire Protection I
- Revit for Fire Protection II
- Revit for Fire Protection III
The first course is a little deceiving, as it is a beginner course that teaches students to create a piping project or create a system on which to train. The students know what they want to pipe; they just don’t know how to use the virtual installation tools to create a 3D model. The next two classes teach students how to create systems in a virtual building. Revit for Fire Protection 1 includes installing a wet system and a dry system. This helps teach sloped piping and gets students more familiar with the virtual installation tools, including system calculations. In Revit for Fire Protection II, students find a coordination issue that must be addressed in the wet system, requiring them to check the jobsite specs from the Revit for Fire Protection 1 class. They end up converting the tree system into a grid system, recalculating the system and creating a list of materials for fabrication. Fire Protection III is based on a virtual medical facility jobsite and incorporates various other crafts to increase the coordination learning process. This is an online course that spans 12 weeks, keeping students engaged in design for a longer period and allowing for a greater success rate.
Like everything we do, we always believe we can do better. Over the past couple of years, we have sent instructors to a couple of noteworthy classes — one from the Sprinkler Academy and the other is from the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA).
SPRINKLER ACADEMY: 12-WEEK DESIGN COURSE
This program is completely online. Lectures and lab time are conducted live for four to five hours a day, five days a week.
NFSA LAYOUT TECHNICIAN
- Fundamentals (LTF): A series of on-demand training modules with instructor office hours, intervention, and support.
- Application (LTA) – An instructor-led course offered at locations across the U.S., with virtual options available.
One reason to have instructors take these classes is to gauge where we were on training. Although we certainly learn things from these classes, we also learn if we are in line with other training.
Our training partner, Hydratec, also provides training. There is a basic class that uses a Butler-style warehouse to install a couple of sprinkler systems, and an intermediate class that uses a medical facility. The process begins with a simple AutoCAD background of one floor of the SMF project. Subsequently, a set of linked Revit project files is used to set up a complete multi-story fire protection project. This allows the student to immediately start using Revit to create sprinkler plans. In addition to a review of the basic design functions of modeling, calculating, and listing a project, emphasis is placed on coordinating that FP project with the other trades using clash detection inside Revit and in conjunction with Navisworks. This coordination process also highlights an advanced understanding of the pipe configuration changes available through the Hydratec for Revit tools.
As you might have noticed, Hydratec and the UA-ITF classes are similar in the buildings we install in and the training provided. I believe the biggest difference is the fact that Hydratec is teaching computer people the trade and we are training tradespersons to use the computer. For more information, please reach out to Ken Schneider at kens@uanet.org.
