B3: Group C - Mridul Chulet

Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a powerful set of design management’s tool has been highlighted by the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. BIM has significant advantages over the entire building lifecycle, particularly design but also construction and facility management. The possible future advantages of BIM (building information modeling) are as follows [1]:

1.      Integrated project delivery (IPD), a highly collaborative method that often includes design-build or design-assist contracting approaches, benefits greatly from using BIM. IPD spreads risk evenly among project team members, works out feasibility issues early in the process, and leads to high-value, cost-effective building solutions.

2.      Virtual design & construction (VDC), will be relied on in coming years for constructability analyses, cost estimating and project scheduling. BIM supports VDC very well, providing dimensionally accurate 3-D models to eliminate conflicts among the trades using the process known as clash detection and to identify significant discrepancies in modeled and even non-modeled data.

3.      Sustainability and green building: Many firms use BIM to guide the LEED certification process, and it can be integrated into energy modeling, airflow analysis, and daylighting studies. BIM also contributes directly to improved “cradle-to-cradle” project analysis as well as “lean construction” methods, which are both meant to reduce construction related waste and embodied energy. Just in time delivery and industrialized prefabrication are also enabled through dimensionally accurate, information-rich parametric building models.

Many software developers have been entering the building information market as a result, though only a few companies offer comprehensive software suites that can be considered platforms for BIM. Autodesk Revit has the largest market share, which is causing some in the industry to use the terms Revit and BIM interchangeably. It is important to note, however, that Autodesk does have significant competition, primarily from software makers Graphisoft, based in Budapest and Newton, Mass., as well as Bentley Systems, Inc. based in Exton, Pa. [2] and while Autodesk may dominate, all three platforms are notable for their relative maturity. Google Sketchup may be another future BIM player.

References:

1)      https://www.wbdg.org/pdfs/1103_dell_bdc_whitepaper.pdf

2)      https://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/ETD/Available/etd-042011-135239/unrestricted/MHergunsel_Thesis_BIM.pdf

Comments:

Hamad Al-Hajri,
I really enjoyed reading your post. All the statements you wrote are correct and make sense. Some of the other advantages of using Revit is that it stores an entire model in a single database with all elements interrelated. The significance of this is that when you make any changes in one location all affected elements will dynamically update. Also, Revit makes work sharing easy. This means that you can work on the same project and synchronize information to a central file located on the server while everyone is separately working on their own computers.

Yasmina Shields,
Great post. I completely agree with your opinion on problems with BIM. The other problems associated with BIM are: Training and Software Costs. The use of BIM requires significant training and as with any software program there are costs associated with the software such as purchasing, licensing and training. Also, BIM requires more effort at the beginning of a project. When BIM is used, it is insufficient for a contractor to simply submit plans for its own work and then begin construction. The contractor must first sit down with the designer and other prime contractors and create the model.