Denver, CO. April 01, 2008 -- The CAD Society, the industry association for CAD users, today announced Carl Bass, president and CEO of Autodesk as the winner of its 2008 Leadership Award. The CAD Society recognized Bass for his efforts to promote sustainable product design and eco-friendly construction.
As head of the company that supplies the majority of the world’s design software for architects, engineers, product designers and manufacturers, Bass has used this position to influen
ce the entire industry into higher awareness of the need, and the potential for environmentally friendly design in all aspects of life. Bass not only pushed for progressive policies within Autodesk, but has brought awareness of energy and material consumption into the software tools it sells.
Revit, an Autodesk product that combines 3D visualization with database information to manage large building projects, includes tools to calculate expected energy needs for a proposed structure. Revit allows architects to see how design changes in fenestration, materials, mechanical systems, and technology use affects the building’s operating costs. Autodesk Inventor has recently been expanded to include information on the carbon footprint of a product under design, and to allow better materials choices by the designers. The company is also anticipating more advanced tools to assist in environmentally conscious product decisions across the coming year.
“Only three years ago, environmental decisions as part of the product design process were not even part of the discussion for projects, partly because designers did not have any easy metrics to measure energy usage, material choices, or the carbon footprints,” says CAD Society President Michael McGrath. “Carl has been instrumental in taking a small trend of sustainable design and making it into a mainstream consideration for engineers of all kinds.”
The CAD Society Award for Leadership is awarded to an