We built Konstru to solve for several issues within the construction engineering space:

• all popular BIM analysis and modeling software packages should be interoperable
• we needed a method of storing and cataloging model updates from various software packages
• engineers need to compare different models, and be able to revert back to a previous model if necessary
• there should be a way for architects, engineers, and contractors to collaborate on structural models in the cloud

We created Konstru to do all these things, but we also built Konstru to be different.

How is Konstru different?

By “different”, we mean different from a long history of BIM software applications. Most of these applications work only on the user’s desktop, not in the cloud. Konstru is 100% in the cloud. Most BIM software packages are not interoperable. Konstru enables users to share their BIM data across eight (and counting) different BIM software packages. Finally, most BIM software is not collaborative, meaning one person in one model at a time. We made Konstru for teams to update, share, and collaborate on their structural models. Those are high level examples of how Konstru is different from other model servers on a strategic level. However, there are many things that make Konstru different on a detailed engineering level.

Native Geometry

Here’s one thing that makes Konstru different: native geometry.

What does “native geometry” mean? When you upload your model from Revit, Tekla, ETABS, Grasshopper or any other supported software, Konstru does not store only meshes. Konstru stores the initial driving geometry of each element. For example, if you download a beam into Revit from Konstru via another program, the beam does not become an in place mass.

If you’re not familiar with what “in place mass” means, it refers to how imported elements are handled by various software programs. Rather than being a ‘native, real’ Revit element, the element only looks like a real Revit element from the viewer, but is no longer editable as such. Instead, when you use Konstru, that element becomes a family instance using Revit family types.

Also, Konstru can create new families for beams and columns, and not just as extrusions with in place masses in there. Konstru translates native geometry: Your elements will be exactly like someone would have modeled them.

We built Konstru like this so you can focus on engineering, rather than how software works.