Saving even hundreds of thousands of euros within a single construction project is possible through optimised structural calculations using specialised software, as engineering consultancy AB Clausen Latvia Ltd. has discovered. The company’s Chairman of the Board, Artūrs Veiss, explains how digitalisation has also helped improve both the quality of engineers’ work and the construction projects they deliver.
AB Clausen Latvia, a structural engineering design company, was established eight years ago as the Latvian branch of a Danish company. Artūrs Veiss founded it together with a Danish university colleague. Over the years, experience gained from Scandinavian clients has enabled the company to assess how Danish project practices could be implemented in the local market. Today, the company has grown into a team of 11 structural engineers specialising in load-bearing structure design, technical inspections, and detailed technical investigations to assess structural load capacity and determine the investments required for continued use.
Thanks to co-financing from the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility, AB Clausen Latvia has enhanced its daily operations with more advanced digital software for structural analysis, design, and Building Information Modelling (BIM). The company implemented IDEA StatiCa, designed for structural connection calculations, and RFEM by Dlubal, a BIM software solution for structural calculations and 3D modelling.
Hand Calculations Are No Longer Enough
The company’s greatest strength lies in its employees’ expertise. Specialisations are divided among team members – some focus exclusively on timber structures, others on steel and reinforced concrete, while some specialise in reconstructions and inspections.
“This allows us to become experts in narrower fields and provide clients with the best possible results,” explains Artūrs Veiss.
As demand for structural engineering projects continues to grow, specialists must also find ways to make processes faster and more efficient.
Digitalisation has never been unfamiliar to the company. Veiss recalls creating his first 3D models as a structural engineer back in 2009, so digital development has been part of the company’s thinking from day one. Today, advanced software enables engineers to design, generate, and verify calculations more effectively, replacing a significant amount of manual work. Nevertheless, engineers still review software-generated calculations, as structural safety remains the top priority.
With IDEA StatiCa, engineers can calculate structural connections more accurately and analyse how materials withstand various loads and load combinations. For example, when solar panels are installed on a roof, existing steel trusses with lattice elements may require reinforcement using specially designed braces.
“With simple hand calculations on paper, this is practically impossible to do,” says Veiss.
“By using IDEA StatiCa, we can participate in much more complex projects and provide more optimal solutions within our existing projects.”
Artūrs Veiss, Chairman of the Board and Structural Engineer, AB Clausen Latvia
RFEM, which is becoming increasingly common in the structural engineering sector, enables the company’s engineers to perform detailed calculations for columns, beams, slabs, and other structural elements.
“The software allows highly detailed analyses, including seismic calculations. We can size structural elements more precisely according to the building concept and provide more comprehensive calculation reports for expert review,” explains Veiss.
This capability has already been applied in a project requiring earthquake load calculations for a building planned in the United Arab Emirates.
Saving Engineers’ Time and Clients’ Money
In structural engineering, most time is not spent on developing the initial design but on making later modifications and revisions. This was one of the main reasons why AB Clausen Latvia decided to take advantage of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency’s (LIAA) digitalisation support programme funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
The new software makes it significantly easier to modify projects and recalculate structures if, for example, a column must be relocated. Tasks that previously required weeks of calculations can now be completed much faster.
Several months of preparation, submitting an application to LIAA, and receiving co-financing also enabled the company to increase its capacity. Software licences represent a significant cost, but support for implementing modern solutions has been highly beneficial for the company’s development. Once the funding was approved, installing the software and assigning licences to employees took only a single day.
The digitalisation support programme has also delivered substantial benefits to the company’s clients. More accurate calculations enable optimisation of construction material use, reducing waste while lowering the overall carbon footprint of projects.
Structural materials typically account for 30–40% of construction costs. By changing the design approach and structural scheme, optimisation in multi-million-euro projects can generate savings reaching hundreds of thousands of euros.
“We had a project where the initial estimate for a supermarket’s steel structure was 100–110 tonnes. When the client expressed concerns about the cost, we proposed optimisation and repositioned support columns. This reduced the steel requirement to 60 tonnes. Considering that steel costs between €2,000 and €3,000 per tonne, the savings were substantial. Without optimisation, the client would simply have overpaid.”
Artūrs Veiss, Chairman of the Board and Structural Engineer, AB Clausen Latvia
The company now offers design optimisation as a separate service.
“Yes, the design process may become slightly more expensive, but we can spend more time and effort on optimisation and reduce steel consumption by 20–30%,” says Veiss.
Accurate calculations based on the principle of “measure 27 times before cutting” also help projects proceed more smoothly, reducing the need for recalculations during construction.
Digitalisation Clearly Supports Growth
Veiss has already seen how digitalisation and process automation can drive growth through his experience with the company’s former Danish parent organisation, where the engineering team expanded from 30 to nearly 150 employees within seven years.
This experience gives him confidence about growing both his own team and turnover.
“By continuously investing, we can improve our competitiveness,” he concludes.
The company has no intention of stopping there. A programmer has already been hired to help develop new calculation tools.
“Our goal is to automate as many routine tasks and processes as possible, ensuring they are organised rather than chaotic. Time is the only thing we can truly gain or lose. We do not want to waste resources on unnecessary tasks, inefficient processes, or checking something three times after a fourth person has already verified it.”
Artūrs Veiss, Chairman of the Board and Structural Engineer, AB Clausen Latvia
Latvian businesses have access to a wide range of state and European Union-funded support measures for business development, available through the national business portal. Companies can find information on programmes ranging from innovation funding and new product development to export promotion, international cooperation opportunities, grants for digitalisation, technology adoption, and productivity improvements.
The project is co-financed by the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility (NextGenerationEU) and the Cohesion Policy Programme 2021–2027. The article was produced with support from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.
