Check out GRAPHISOFT BIM Engine blog for more:
http://blog.graphisoftus.com/archicad-user/archicad-donation-empowers-colorado-charitys-mission-of-hope

Engineering Ministries International (EMI), a nonprofit Christian development organization based in Colorado Springs, Colo., is providing life saving design and construction services to developing countries and communities in need. Through a donation of ArchiCAD building information modeling (BIM) software from Graphisoft, EMI has been able to continue designing hospitals, housing and sustainable communities as it has for the past 30 years. The organization has successfully created some 900 projects in 88 countries to date.

Staff architect and project leader Rex Barber, a ten year veteran of the EMI organization and his team are using ArchiCAD because of its efficiency and ease of use.

“Our clients have a hard time reading 2D plans, but if we take their napkin sketch and transform it into a sophisticated 3D design with all the systems, equipment and site details laid out, they are blown away. Although AutoCAD was too primitive to let us do this, ArchiCAD is perfect: it’s the quickest BIM software we’ve seen.”

Speed may indeed be the driving factor behind Barber’s 13-year alignment with ArchiCAD. EMI routinely faces turbo-charged deadlines, taking on the herculean task of completing all design, engineering and master planning work in just a week. The tight turnaround demands speed, which Barber says ArchiCAD delivers. Drawing a door – a six step process in AutoCAD – is a drag-and-drop proposition in ArchiCAD, according to Barber.

“It’s all about speed,” he said. “That’s our challenge. ArchiCAD is so much faster than anything else our architects have tried. We can design on the fly under adverse conditions and get buy-in before we leave the building site.”

“We cram it into a few days and need to get it right,” Barber said. “We get one chance only at the face-to-face work. It’s a big challenge. Cutting edge software makes our job so much easier. ArchiCAD is exactly what we need. ”

ArchiCAD also makes it possible for Barber’s team, which is spread across five continents to take advantage of unique team-based collaboration capabilities, driven by the GRAPHISOFT BIM Server. The BIM Server streamlines work with clients and architects around the world.

EMI is currently using ArchiCAD to design a hospital in Thailand. The hospital will consist of a surgical center, clinical lab and meeting room. The surgical center will feature a “hyperbolic-paraboloid” thin-shelled latex-concrete roof that can be fabricated on site and mounted on a structure of earthbags, an inexpensive and natural building technique. The team hopes this design will become a model for low-cost relief housing around the world, providing simple, affordable, solid shelter.

To learn more about projects EMI ‘s projects, click here http://www.emiworld.org/zone_portfolio.php