AVAproject 2024 Now Available!

AVAware is proud to announce the release of AVAproject for 2024.

The following is a partial list of the new features available in AVAproject. A complete list can be found in the 'Release Notes', available on the AVAware website or in the software itself.

The 2024 edition of AVAproject is now available for download on the AVAware website. Update notifications will roll out to users through the month of June, but those anxious to get the new version immediately are certainly welcome to do so.

ASSA ABLOY ACCENTRA Begins Re-Branding Catalogs from Yale Commercial and Residential

ASSA ABLOY ACCENTRA has begun rebranding their various hardware product lines under the new name.

In response to the proposed acquisition of the Hardware and Home Improvement (HHI) business from Spectrum Brands on September 8, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit which alleged that the merger would eliminate head-to-head competition between ASSA ABLOY and Spectrum, two of the largest producers of residential door hardware in the U.S.

The Department of Justice later announced that it had reached a settlement in its litigation on May 5, 2023, with the terms of the agreement aimed at lowering prices, maintaining or improving product quality, promoting innovation, and delivering excellent service for the benefit of consumers.

The conditions of the agreement required ASSA ABLOY to divest assets in order to finalize the transaction, with a rebrand of the former 'Yale Commercial' and 'Yale Residential' line of products forming part of the settlement.

The 'Yale Commercial' portfolio will be rebranded as 'ASSA ABLOY ACCENTRA', while the 'Yale Residential' portfolio will become 'ASSA ABLOY ACCENTRA Residential Mechanical'. While the name of the products will change, the designs, manufacturing facilities, and fulfillment operations all remain the same.

'Yale Commercial' and 'Yale Residential' orders will continue to be processed as usual and product shipping will be branded Yale through May 19, 2024. All specifications, quotes, and orders will be delivered using the 'ASSA ABLOY ACCENTRA' and 'ASSA ABLOY ACCENTRA Residential' brands respectively as of May 20, 2024.

AVAware has begun transitioning existing catalogs to the new naming convention, as they are updated by the manufacturer. As the latest release of the price book occurred before the name change, the Yale catalogs are still available for download under the old name with updating 2024 pricing to ease transition and maintain support for existing projects containing Yale-branded hardware. Yale-branded catalog cuts are also still available with the new and updated cuts set to be attached as they are made available by the manufacturer.

For more information on 'ASSA ABLOY ACCENTRA' catalogs and the name change transition, please contact AVAware customer service or visit the resource landing page of ASSA ABLOY where important details will be added regularly: www.accentra-assaabloy.com/en/Today

ASSA ABLOY Canada Has Rolled back Prices

ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions Canada recently announced that it is postponing the price increase for Electromechanical Solutions Group (EMS) brands that was scheduled to go into effect on May 20, 2024. This includes the pricing for the 'HES', 'Securitron', and 'Adams Rite' brands.

ASSA ABLOY has stated that the price increase that was initially scheduled for May 20, 2024 will instead be implemented on October 1, 2024. They will continue to honor the April 17, 2023 until it then.

On May 17, 2024, AVAware published price books that were to come into effect on May 20, 2024, and made them available to subscribers. AVAproject users who have already downloaded and installed those catalog updates will be met with the following dialog box upon opening the program.

The revision date for each respective catalog has been changed to the announcement date (May 23, 2024) which allows AVAproject users to override the previous update and revert back to the April 17, 2023 pricing for the time being.

All orders received for the affected brands will be maintained on April 17, 2023 price books until further notice from ASSA ABLOY. AVAproject users subscribing to the AVAware D8 Hardware Catalogs will be automatically notified when the new pricing does come into effect.

For quoting new projects and additional information on the rollback, please contact your local ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions Canada sales representative.

'Unique Architectural Products' Catalog
Re-Released in French and English Versions

This latest release of the 'Unique Architectural Products' catalog marks the return of a popular Canadian architectural product manufacturer to AVAware's growing catalog library.

AVAware is pleased to announce the return of the dual language versions of 'Unique Architectural Products' / 'Produits Architecturaux Unique' to the continuously growing catalog library.

The French version ('Produits Architecturaux Unique') was originally released in May 2015 while the English version ('Unique Architectural Products') later followed in the spring of 2017 in response to popular demand from AVAproject users in English-speaking parts of the country. It's that same level of demand which sparked their return.

Unique Architectural Products has manufactured high quality, architectural hardware products for over 40 years in their Quebec, Canada's facility. They have, and continue to, encourage local industry by using aluminum that is manufactured and extruded in Canada in the production of their exceptional range of products.

Unique specializes in the production of door hardware products specifically designed to resolve a number of infiltration problems. Their competitive pricing, short delivery times, and responsive customer service make them one of the leading manufacturers in the country.

The re-release of the English and French versions furthers our efforts to make AVAproject a truly bilingual experience and offer a variety of manufacturer catalogs in two interchangeable language versions.

For years, AVAware has given AVAproject users the ability to seamlessly switch text within the application to languages other than English. Through the use of optional language modules (currently offered in Canadian French and Spanish) the AVAproject user interface can easily switch between languages.

Both catalogs are now available to AVAproject users subscribing to the D8 Architectural Hardware package. The current versions are up to date as of January 15, 2024.

For additional information on Unique, please visit their website at: uniqueap.com

DHI ConNextions coming to Las Vegas in October

The architectural openings industry's preeminent annual event - DHI ConNextions is coming to Las Vegas, Nevada on October 9-10, 2024 and AVAware will be there!

As the time draws nearer, industry insiders eagerly anticipate the architectural openings industry's preeminent annual event - DHI ConNextions, hosted by IRONMARKETS in partnership with the Door and Hardware Institute.

Once a year, the biggest names and players in architecture converge in a single U.S. city for this very important event. This serves as a premier event for the North American industry and it often draws attendees from many other parts of the World. For many, it represents the sole opportunity to meet with colleagues and experience first-hand some of the industry's newest product offerings.

This year, the event will be held at the Caesars Forum Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada from October 9 through 10.

As always, the show features a number of engaging seminars, informative education sessions and a bustling show floor consisting of dozens of industry vendors and service providers eager to forge invaluable face-to-face connections with clients and peers alike.

Once again, AVAware is proud to be participating in the trade show and will have a booth on the show floor for the first time since the COVID-19 shutdown. For AVAware, ConNextions is the one event that gives us the opportunity to meet many of our valued clients in person while also establishing new relationships across the industry. Those attending this exciting event are invited to visit us at booth number 641. We look forward to re-connecting this year more than ever.

For more information about the DHI ConNextions event, visit their website at: www.dhiconnextions.com.
To learn more about DHI, visit them at: dhi.org

AVAproject Multifamily Module

Multifamily construction has become the single fastest growing segment of the architectural industry in recent years. Driven primarily by rising market prices, increased construction of multifamily housing is a trend that looks to continue well into the future.

In response to this growing demand, AVAware has created the AVAproject Multifamily Module - an optional add-on package for AVAproject that provides a powerful set of tools and features specifically designed to ease and assist in the detailing, estimating and management of multifamily construction projects.

The AVAproject Multifamily Module utilizes the same user interface model with which AVAproject users are already familiar. Openings Lists are handled much the same way as Hardware Lists, and the use of Openings Groups should be extremely intuitive to users already experienced in the use of AVAproject Hardware Groups. In fact, the entire module represents an extension of the existing functionality along with the introduction of several powerful new tools.

Part One - The Openings List

Just as the division 8 'Hardware List' and division 10 'Accessory' and 'Partition' lists allow users to maintain lists of products that are used repeatedly throughout a project, the 'Openings List' allows users to do the same for standard opening types that are referenced throughout a given project. Standard openings can be established based on the architects' definitions or by the estimator to facilitate the repetitive entry of common opening types.

The 'Openings List' utilizes the same column library as the AVAproject Openings Schedule and even allows the use of Openings Schedule view styles.

A new 'Opening Short Code' column is displayed in the first position of the table. This column functions identically to the 'Short Code' column in the Hardware List, providing a means to unique identify each opening in the table. As is the case with hardware list items, changes made to items in the Openings List are instantly reflected throughout the project where those items are used.

Part Two - The Openings Groups or "Suites"

As the name suggests, Openings Groups are groups of the openings that can be reused throughout a project. Most commonly, these "groups" are used to define standard "suite" or "unit" configurations within a multifamily project.

Once again, the layout of the 'Openings Groups' is similar to that of the Openings Schedule. In fact, it's nearly identical with only a few minor adjustments.

An 'Openings Group' is essentially a small Openings Schedule in its own right. Openings can be assigned opening numbers or quantities, just as they can on the Openings Schedule proper. Since these groups of the openings are designed to be reused throughout the project, the opening numbers assigned in the groups will eventually be combined with those defined in the schedule; more on this later.

The 'Opening Short Code' column in the Opening Groups allows openings that have been predefined in the Openings List to be used in the creation of the groups - just as one would by referencing hardware items defined in the Hardware List, in the creation of Hardware Groups.

Part Three - The Openings Schedule

The AVAproject Openings Schedule features several important additions to its column library in respect of the multifamily module, the most notable of which are the 'Openings Short Code' and 'Openings Group' columns.

As one might expect, they provide access to standard openings appearing in the Openings List, as well as the predefined Openings Groups. Either one can be used on a given line of the Openings Schedule.

When an 'Openings Group' name is selected in the corresponding column, it indicates that all the openings in that group are to be added to the Openings Schedule at that position. In the Openings Schedule, these rows are identified by highlighting them with a light purple background color.

Since all of the opening details are taken from the group, the only other columns that can be populated are the 'Qty' and 'Opening Number' columns. Most often, the opening number will correspond to the suite number or the installation.

By default the opening groups are shown on the Openings Schedule in a "collapsed" state, meaning that a single line of the schedule is used to indicate the use of the entire group of openings. The result is essential a "Suite Schedule" listing all the suite numbers with a project along with their corresponding Opening Group definition.

With a single click, however, the group references can be "expanded" to show each and every individual opening - right inside the Openings Schedule.

Note: The 'Opening Number' defined in the Opening Schedule for the entire suite is automatically combined with the opening numbers defined for each individual opening with the Openings Group. This results in a unique opening number for each opening within the project.

"Mirror" or "Reverse" Suite Configurations

It is quite common to see "mirror" versions of suite configurations occurring in multifamily projects. The layout is essentially identical to an existing configuration, just backwards.

AVAproject is able to handle the definition of mirror versions of Openings Group automatically. Users need to provide an alternate name for a given Openings Group to identify its mirror.

AVAproject does the rest, automatically reversing the handing of each individual opening within the group.

These powerful new features along with a variety of enhanced reporting and exporting tools make the AVAproject Multifamily Module an essential add-on for any distributor servicing the multifamily construction segment.

For additional information on the AVAproject Multifamily Module, please contact your AVAware support representative, or visit the AVAware website at: www.AVAware.com

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