01 · TAKEOFF
Takeoff
PDF takeoff for mechanical sheets. Count diffusers, VAVs, grilles, and fittings. Measure duct runs by size, shape, and gauge. Addenda comparison highlights what moved between bid sets.
More on takeoff →First time on our website? So is everyone else. We launched it last week after three years of heads-down work. → About us
PLENUM · DRAFT · VANE · SQUALL
Estimating software for the air side. Built by people who bid it for 22 years.
Takeoff, duct sizing, equipment selection, and bid management for sheet metal contractors. Ductwork only - no piping, no plumbing, no electrical. One tool, bid set through award.
M-401 · BID SET v2
$4.2B
in bid volume processed through designwinds in 2025
31%
more bids per quarter, average across customers surveyed in Q4 2025
50+
sheet metal contractors actively using the product today
6 weeks
implementation with a dedicated CSM, not a PDF and a link
WHAT IT DOES
Three things, done the way estimators actually think about them.
02 · ESTIMATING
Estimating
Assembly-based, with SMACNA labor factors preloaded and every unit overridable. Trade Service pricing, equipment schedule import, prefab vs. field splits, crew modeling, clean recap sheets.
More on estimating →03 · BID MANAGEMENT
Bid Management
Bid calendar synced with iSqFt and BuildingConnected. RFI log during the bid period. Sub and vendor quote leveling. Bid day mode for the last four hours. Post-bid hit-rate analysis afterward.
More on bid management →FOUNDER NOTE
Why we built this.
For most of my career I estimated sheet metal work out of Excel, Bluebeam, and a whiteboard. The tools you can buy are either built for GCs - project management dressed up as estimating - or piping-first mechanical software with ductwork bolted on the side. Neither one matched the way an air-side team actually works.
We started designwinds because we wanted one place to run the takeoff, keep the recap, and watch the bid calendar. No re-keying. No spreadsheets with tabs named final_v3_REAL. No surprises at 11pm when the leveling sheet and the proposal don't agree.
Three years in, we think we got the shape right. The product feels like something an estimator would build - because it was. We're a small team and we plan to stay that way.
WHAT CUSTOMERS TELL US
Said in quieter words than we would have chosen.
We went from three estimators sharing one cracked dongle on a Windows 7 machine to the whole team working in the same file at the same time. Our bid count is up and nobody works Saturdays on bid week anymore.
VP of Preconstruction/$65M sheet metal contractor/Texas
The addenda comparison has paid for the whole subscription twice. Caught a changed RTU schedule on a hospital job that would have cost us $180K. I printed it and put it on the wall.
Chief Estimator/$40M sheet metal contractor/Ohio
NEXT STEP
Want to see it? We do walkthroughs on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Forty-five minutes. Your drawings, your pricing, your workflow. Someone from the team - not a sales rep reading a script.