DELAND, Fla. — Kingspan North America has launched KINetic^™, a new social media platform that frees design and construction professionals from the unwanted aspects of other outlets. Conceived by Kingspan, KINetic has been tested extensively to hone its usefulness for the creative community.

Through regular interaction with architects, Kingspan realized they wanted a better way to work in partnership with other design specialists on ideas and projects. The result is a social media platform specifically created for architects, specifiers and contractors. One of the primary benefits of KINetic is the simple yet innovative way it facilitates the open collaboration of ideas during a project’s design phase and continues as a valuable tool during the project management phase.

According to the company, with KINetic the design community now has a truly efficient platform to communicate, share and even generate ideas with colleagues in a way never before possible. “Architects have continually been looking for resources to enhance their collective capabilities,” said Business Development Manager Keith Spurlin. “KINetic offers that in ways not found in any other social media site.”

After logging onto KINetic, users form clusters for projects. The cluster is then labeled with a title, description and privacy level. Those designated “public” can be viewed by all using KINetic. If labeled “private,” only those invited by the cluster creator can see it.

Each cluster contains “spheres” that serve as building blocks of ideas. A user arranges a group of spheres around a cluster. This generates a brainstorming site as the spheres hold ideas, drawings, technical information, questions and other design components. A project's progress can be followed from conception to construction and right through to completion. As more users add ideas and comments, the cluster becomes graphically enlarged to show which ideas have generated the most interest in the KINetic community.

KINetic is connected to Kingspan’s resources, where materials such as data sheets, product information and other knowledge can be accessed. Users gain insight to a wealth of intelligence related to energy-efficient design. Kingspan will expand this as needed by the cooperative activities of KINetic users.

“Kingspan’s community is the commercial building community and includes design professionals, building owners, installers, construction managers and others who are stakeholders in commercial building projects,” said Director of Marketing Andrea Peters. “There has been a need for more and better teamwork among these parties, and KINetic fills that need.”

Peters also noted that the design and construction industry is becoming more complex with new material technologies, stringent building codes and intense competition among manufacturers. Thus relationships need to become more sophisticated and comprehensive. According to the company, KINetic provides leadership in developing the ability to create structures that perform at the highest possible level.

According to the company, conventional social media does offer many useful purposes but isn’t designed in a way that facilitates collective endeavors necessary to imaginative design specialists. “While KINetic will allow creative relationships to strengthen, it also keeps the focus on getting things done,” said Peters. “This will result in design decisions that create functionally superior projects due to more effective project management decisions.”

Users of KINetic can also take advantage of the way it facilitates visual inspiration by giving the design community better use of technical information during both the conception phase and design phases.

 For more information, visit www.kingspanpanels.us/kinetic.