Description
To meet global demand for affordable and sustainable housing, the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry must streamline the design-to-construction process. Modular builders—like Factory_OS—are doing just that by productizing their building systems to generate customizable buildings from a catalog of construction-ready unit types. With Factory_OS, Autodesk Research has developed new design methods that connect their building unit catalog with AI-powered generative design to create multiple design options. This case study demonstrates how new procedural design systems enabled rapid, no-code design exploration while balancing trade-offs between cost, carbon, and habitability. The study also showcases how the prototype made it onto Autodesk Forma using the developer extension model to deliver customized novel design functionality and metrics. Going beyond existing capabilities, Autodesk Research and Autodesk Forma enabled Factory_OS to rapidly and intuitively evaluate new development projects in a data-informed manner.
Key Learnings
- Learn how volumetric building and productized building systems deliver sustainable buildings faster.
- Learn how catalog-based generative design can be used with volumetric building systems.
- Learn how low-code/no-code generative methods make design automation more accessible.
- Learn about how Autodesk Forma extensions enable customizable design experiences.