One significant trend in facility management over the past few years has been the demand for digitizing as-built construction information. Most large facilities have document storage areas where decades of hard-copy records are managed for generations of buildings and renovations. Maintaining paper archives is labor-intensive and difficult. In addition, storing hard copies presents the risk of loss from fire, flood and mismanagement.

Much of the critical data on these hard-copy records is in color, which was likely added to the document in pen or pencil as changes were made over time. Capturing these color coded data additions is critical to the digitalization process. Fortunately, wide format color scanners provide a solution for easily digitizing as-built construction archives.

In a recent white paper on the topic of color construction documents, Lyra Research stated, "Project owners benefit from ... reduced operation and maintenance cost due to more accurate and detailed as-built drawings." This resulting cost reduction is one of the benefits of using color construction documents.

FacilityONE Interactive is an online service for managing drawings and facility information. Prototype drawings shown on the FacilityONE website all include color information. Color wide format printers and plotters would be a natural extension of this service because the drawings gain value from the use of color.

Though there are numerous document management solutions available, in the past, it was cost-prohibitive to scan and print sheets in color. However, facility managers are now placing more value on color data and at the same time, the amount of color data being stored and retrieved is increasing dramatically.

As-built information is also being digitized through the use of a new solution from Autodesk Labs called Project Photofly. It is a technology preview that allows you to generate a 3D model by taking numerous photographs around an object with your digital camera and using a Web service to convert the images into a "photo scene." Designers and architects can then import this model data into design applications such as Autodesk Revit. To see Project Photofly at work, view a customer-generated YouTube video that shows how a model of Chicago's Wrigley Field was generated. To learn the basics of using Project Photofly, view the tutorial developed by Autodesk.

The possible applications seem endless, but it is clear that as-built document data must employ color. Keep an eye on these new technologies to see how they get applied in the field.

Resource Center Home Printing Construction Documents in Color