Test an industrial site faster by starting from a project that already knows how warehouses, truck courts, and parking work. The Industrial template loads US-focused layers, industrial usages, dock and parking flows, and a proforma. This article covers the imperial version of the Industrial template. A metric version is also available. Draw a building footprint, pick a flow, and see the yield, costs, and returns update in Analytics.
Start a project with the Industrial template
Pick the Industrial template from the Home screen or the new project flow. Giraffe copies the template's layers, usages, flows, analytics, property definitions, apps, and layout into the new project. The template does not copy geometries or scenarios, so the project starts with an empty map.
To start from the Home screen, click Industrial under Start with a template.
OR
To start from the new project flow:
Open the menu and choose New > New Project.
Click Industrial in the list of templates.
Learn more about starting from a template in Apply a template.
Layers in the Industrial template
The Industrial template adds three layer groups to the Layers panel: Open Infrastructure Layer Pack, USA Environmental Layer Pack, and Base Map. Every group is turned on when the project opens.
Open Infrastructure Layer Pack
The Open Infrastructure Layer Pack shows the power, pipeline, and telecom infrastructure near your site, so you can check utility access before committing to a layout. It holds ten layers from Open Infrastructure Map.
Power Substations (as points)
Petroleum Pipelines
Water Pipelines
Telecoms Datacenters and Exchanges
Power Substation Boundaries
Power Lines
Telecom Lines
Power Plants
Solar Heatmap
Power Towers
Base Map
The Base Map group gives the Industrial template its street, imagery, and building context. It holds six layers.
Map Labels
Transit Labels
Trees
3D Buildings. This layer hides any building inside your project boundary and fades in as you zoom closer.
Landmark Buildings
Satellite Imagery, at 50% opacity
USA Environmental Layer Pack
The USA Environmental Layer Pack flags site constraints like flood zones, wetlands, and fault lines early in a feasibility study. It holds four layers.
USA Earthquake Faults
Elevation Contours USA 3DEP
FWS Wetlands Inventory, at 75% opacity
FEMA Flood Hazard Zones FIRMette 2024, at 75% opacity
The USA Environmental Layer Pack is only in the imperial version of the Industrial template. The metric version does not include it.
Usages in the Industrial template
The Industrial template includes 24 usages. A usage sets shared properties, like color and height, for every geometry assigned to it. All values below are the template's starting values. Change any of them in the Usage Editor.
The costs and rents in the Industrial template usages are placeholder values. Check and adjust every cost and rent to match your project's location and local market before you rely on the results.
Learn how usages work in Usages Overview.
Industrial building usages
The Industrial template has five Building usages. Parking Required is bays per 1,000 ft².
Usage | Levels | Floor to floor | Efficiency | Sell efficiency | Parking Required |
Warehouse | 1 | 29.5 ft | 95% | 85% | 4.0 |
Cold Storage | 1 | 29.5 ft | 95% | 85% | 4.0 |
Industrial | 1 | 29.5 ft | 95% | 85% | 0.93 |
Data Center | 1 | 29.5 ft | 95% | 85% | 0.93 |
Commercial | 4 | 12.5 ft | 90% | 85% | 4.0 |
Parking and paving usages
The Industrial template has three Paved Area usages. Parking Provided is bays per 1,000 ft² of paved area.
Carpark - On Grade: car parking. Parking Provided 2.65.
Carpark - Truck: truck parking. Parking Provided 0.88.
Plaza: light gray paving, used for truck courts.
Roads and paths
The Industrial template has two Road/Path usages for drawing access lines.
Road: 45 ft wide with 75 ft filleted corners.
Path: a 6 ft pavement with 15 ft filleted corners.
Landscape usages
The Industrial template has three Landscape usages.
Landscape - Simple: green planting.
Tree - Deciduous: a 3D deciduous tree model.
Detention Basin: a light blue stormwater basin.
3D massing usages
The Industrial template has four 3D usages for context and building parts.
Context: light gray massing for neighboring buildings. New geometries start at 3 levels with a 10.2 ft floor to floor.
Generic 3D: plain massing. New geometries start 13.1 ft tall.
Roof: a white roof slab, 1.6 ft thick, that stacks on top of the building below it.
Racks: 0.5 ft tall rack footprints that stack inside a building. The Cold Storage flow draws these.
Reference and generic usages
The Industrial template has seven usages for annotation and general drawing.
Parcel: a red dashed outline with a light red fill for property lines.
Region: a gray dashed outline for marking areas.
Pin: a labeled point.
Leader: a dashed line with an arrow for callouts.
Generic Point, Generic Line, and Generic Polygon: plain geometries with no preset behavior.
Flows in the Industrial template
The Industrial template includes seven flows. A flow turns one polygon into a full site layout, like a warehouse with its truck court, dock doors, and parking. To use one, select a polygon, open Flow Controls in the Properties panel, and pick the flow. Its inputs appear under the flow picker.
Learn how flows work in Flow Overview.
Cross Dock flow
The Cross Dock flow turns a polygon into a single-level Warehouse with dock doors, a truck court, truck bays, car parking, and a roof. Find its inputs under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Include Truck Bays?: on by default. Turn it off to remove truck parking.
Include Side Car Bays: on by default. Turn it off to remove car parking on the sides.
Toggle to change truck bay end: generates truck bays on the long side or the short side of the building.
Truck Bay Lenth: 50 ft.
Truck Court Depth: 150 ft.
Bump Out Size: 60 ft. Sets the size of the square rear bump outs.
Door Spacing: 9 ft doors with 4 ft between them, starting 10 ft from each corner.
Rear Dock flow
The Rear Dock flow turns a polygon into a single-level Warehouse with dock doors and a truck court along one side, plus truck bays, car parking, and a roof. Find its inputs under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Include Truck Bays?: on by default. Turn it off to remove truck parking.
Include Side Car Bays: off by default. Turn it on to add car parking on the sides.
Toggle to change truck bay end: off by default. Generates truck bays on the long side or the short side of the building.
Truck Bay Lenth: 50 ft.
Truck Court Depth: 150 ft.
Bump Out Size: 60 ft. Sets the size of the square rear bump outs.
Door Spacing: 9 ft doors with 4 ft between them, starting 10 ft from each corner.
Front Load flow
The Front Load flow turns a polygon into a single-level Warehouse with dock doors on the front, a road-surface truck court, truck bays, car parking, and a roof. Find its inputs under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Bump Out Size: 60 ft.
Truck Bay Length: 55 ft.
Parking Area Depth: 80 ft. Sets how far car parking sits from the truck court. The minimum is 40 ft.
Turning Radius: 70 ft. Rounds the corners of the truck court.
Door Spacing: 9 ft doors with 4 ft between them, starting 10 ft from each corner.
Cold Storage flow
The Cold Storage flow turns a polygon into a single-level Cold Storage building with a cold dock, rack layout, dock doors, a truck court, truck bays, car parking, and a roof. The cold dock uses the Warehouse usage, and the rear bump outs become two-level Commercial space. Find its inputs under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Show Racks: on by default. Shows or hides the rack layout. Racks run in rows 12 ft apart.
Cold Storage Clear: 50 ft. Sets the clear height of the cold storage area.
Cold Dock Clear: 28 ft. Sets the clear height of the cold dock.
Include Truck Bays?: on by default. Turn it off to remove truck parking.
Include Side Car Bays: off by default. Turn it on to add car parking on the sides.
Toggle to change truck bay end: off by default. Generates truck bays on the long side or the short side of the building.
Truck Bay Lenth: 56 ft.
Truck Court Depth: 150 ft.
Bump Out Size: 60 ft.
Standard Parking Bays flow
The Standard USA Parking Bays flow fills a polygon with 18 ft by 9 ft car parking bays and 19 ft drive aisles, using the Carpark - On Grade usage. Adjust the parking layout under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Truck Parking Bays flow
The Truck Parking Bays flow fills a polygon with 55 ft by 15 ft truck bays and 70 ft drive aisles, using the Carpark - Truck usage. Adjust the parking layout under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Park with Trees flow
The Park with Trees flow turns a polygon into Landscape - Simple planting and scatters 20 Tree - Deciduous trees across it at random, with sizes that vary by up to 20%. Change the tree count and spread under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Analytics in the Industrial template
The Industrial template adds a Proforma tab to Analytics. It runs from site yield through to residual land value, so you can see whether a layout pencils as you draw. Bold values are assumptions you can edit. Everything else calculates from your geometries.
The rates, fees, and costs in the Industrial proforma are placeholder values. Check and adjust every cost, rate, and assumption to match your project's location and local market before you rely on the results.
Yield
The Yield category in the Industrial proforma measures how much building the layout produces.
GBA: the gross building area of every building.
Rack Count: the number of geometries with the Racks usage.
Site Works
The Site Works category in the Industrial proforma estimates the cost to prepare the site.
Site Area: the project boundary area in acres.
Site Prep: $300,000 for the first acre, plus $100,000 for each additional acre.
Import/Export (Cubic Yards): the net cut and fill volume in cubic yards. Turn on terrain and add a building pad to calculate it.
Import/Export Rate / CY: $2 per cubic yard.
Total Import/Export Cost: the cut and fill volume times the rate.
Costs
The Costs category in the Industrial proforma builds up the estimated construction cost.
Hard cost: each geometry's gross area times its Hard Cost.
Soft cost: 20% of hard cost, for design, permits, and legal.
Site works: the total from the Site Works category.
Contingency: 10% of hard cost, soft cost, and site works.
Estimated Construction Cost: hard cost, soft cost, site works, and contingency added together.
Fees
The Fees category in the Industrial proforma covers developer and lump sum fees.
Developer Fee Rate: 15%.
Estimated Developer Fee: the Developer Fee Rate times the Estimated Construction Cost.
Lump Sum Fees: $0. Enter any fixed fees here.
Income
The Income category in the Industrial proforma estimates annual rent.
Max potential rent: each geometry's saleable area times its Net Rent, times 12. Enter Net Rent as a monthly rate per square foot.
Vacancy rate: 5%.
Forecasted Income: max potential rent after vacancy.
Operating Expenses
The Operating Expenses category in the Industrial proforma estimates yearly running costs.
Opex Rate: 20%.
Estimated OpEx: the Opex Rate times max potential rent.
Feasibility
The Feasibility category in the Industrial proforma shows whether the project works.
Total Costs: Estimated Construction Cost plus Estimated Developer Fee.
Total Project Cost: Total Costs plus the total from the Fees category.
NOI: Forecasted Income minus operating expenses.
Target Cap rate: 6.5%.
Terminal value: NOI divided by the Target Cap rate.
Return on Cost: NOI divided by Total Project Cost.
RLV: residual land value. Terminal value minus Estimated Construction Cost.
The Industrial template also adds custom units for acres, cubic yards, $/CY, racks, bays, trees, jobs, persons, and dwellings, so new measures can report in those terms.