Chapter 2
In This Chapter
Introducing the “B” in BIM
Recognizing the types of projects BIM is suitable for
Exploring the use of BIM for infrastructure
Delving into BIM as a process
BIM can seem like a bit of a strange term, and part of the reason it can be so difficult to explain what BIM means is that the letters don’t always help you out. This chapter, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 take each of the letters of BIM in turn and look at what they mean. This chapter focuses on the B in BIM.
As we discuss in Chapter 1, the B in BIM stands for building, which is true of most definitions of BIM. To avoid any misconceptions, this chapter makes sure the B in BIM doesn’t restrict your view of what BIM is capable of.
What do you think of when you hear the word building? You may think of a physical building like an office, school, stadium, hospital, or house. In that case, BIM refers to information modeling for a single building, including all of the geometry and data for architectural and structural design, mechanical and electrical engineering, and so on.
Actually, building can mean a lot more than just that. The following sections explain that building is a misunderstood word and that BIM can actually be used in many varied industries and projects. If you think of building as a verb, not a noun, you can see that Building Information Modeling is a process, not just a final product.
What makes understanding the building part of BIM difficult is that the word building isn’t clear: it can mean different things to different people.
Try to describe what a building is. Doing so isn’t easy. You can say that buildings are manmade structures, but what separates a building from a statue or monument? You can say they’re permanent constructions with walls and roofs, but you’ll be able to think of temporary buildings you’ve seen and also tunnels that have walls and roofs. In fact, one of the best ways to describe a building involves describing things that aren’t buildings, and even that’s confusing. Is a bridge a building? Is the Eiffel Tower a building?
The term building originally comes from ancient words for house. That’s why people can think of buildings just as spaces they use for living or working or leisure.
If you think of building as a verb, meaning the same as construction or the process of putting things together, then that begins to expand what BIM can apply to. Then BIM isn’t just suitable for buildings, it’s the act of building things, such as the following:
You can also imagine how it’s suitable for other built environment sectors like
In the same way that describing one building that sums up all the buildings in the world is really difficult, summing up BIM using just one example of how it’s been applied is impossible. You can use BIM for every kind of construction project, from giant bridges to manmade islands and even rollercoasters! BIM is a term that has become popular gradually, but it could have just as easily been Construction Information Modeling or Project Information Modeling.
The built environment is very varied and broad in its scope and includes lots of structures that aren’t buildings. When you’re talking about BIM, make sure that you’re not just talking about architecture and the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. A lot of the diagrams and visualizations you see in BIM presentations are of shiny skyscrapers or complex building forms, but people are using BIM workflows elsewhere in the built environment in other ways:
www.crossrail.co.uk
) is the largest construction project in Europe and, among many projects, involves the tunneling of 26 miles of brand new underground subway lines. Every aspect of the project, from tunnel engineering to new underground station designs, has used innovative BIM processes for data management and lifecycle operation.Whatever type of project you’re working on, you can apply the methods and processes of BIM to generate new efficiencies. Don’t forget that you’ll be building a digital representation of every aspect of the project. Some of the data is drawn, much of it in the form of information embedding.
Chapter 3 looks at information modeling and Chapter 4 at geometric, 3D-CAD modeling, and you may be thinking already that BIM sounds complicated, but you’re familiar with a lot of the concepts already. This chapter demonstrates how making BIM processes second nature on your projects can benefit your work flow and the wider industry. The following sections look at some of the key incentives for using BIM processes and help you to make a decision about whether BIM is suitable for your project.
BIM can have numerous varied impacts on the work flow of a project. Here’s a list of just a few of them:
The design phases of a project are one of the areas where the greatest reductions in wasted effort and rework can be made with BIM. From initial concept sketches based on client briefings to technical decision-making and product selection, design can be made easier.
Design efficiency increases through the use of pre-authored objects with embedded properties and relationships, including master template information for costs, carbon information, vendor manufacturing data, and performance specification values. Chapter 10 provides more detail on the development of BIM objects, and Chapter 17 takes a look at how the design team fits into a BIM project lifecycle.
The digital building provides a single source of data, which simplifies managing all of the information, figures, and dimensions on a project. BIM makes it simple to coordinate drawn and nongraphical content. Chapter 10 describes this concept, including terms like federated model, which means that you can understand the impact of your design and construction decisions on everyone else involved in the project.
One of the major drivers of BIM, in all applications but especially infrastructure adoption, is improving safety. This means site safety and awareness of potential issues, but also refers to making decisions as early as possible with health and safety in mind and to designing out risk and modeling safe construction and maintenance scenarios. Chapter 16 shows you how BIM collaboration can make a really positive difference in project health and safety.
Busy buildings and modern construction infrastructure cost a lot to run, especially with rising gas and electricity prices. You can achieve one of the biggest cost savings for a built asset not by shaving off dollars from design fees or construction costs, but during use of the asset and its operational lifecycle. The largest cost is energy usage, so being able to model the carbon, thermal, and environmental strategy of a built asset and experiment with various options is hugely beneficial. Refer to Chapter 15 for more information.
Another way to think of building the information model is that you need to embed all the information in the digital representation of the physical asset so that it can be managed and maintained in the long term. Focus on outcomes and what information you need later in the project’s life. No longer will a building come with 40 boxes of paper drawings and spares; it should have a digital model embedded with data and clear procurement information. In Chapter 17, you can find out about making BIM work for facility management (FM).
You still may not be sure whether BIM is right for your infrastructure project. Perhaps your project isn’t a traditional built asset, or it’s something on a gigantic macro-scale, or else it’s going to involve only a few teams working on just the early stage of concept design.
You need to ask yourself if BIM is going to work for your projects and if the potential efficiencies or savings are worth the investment and related change that will be required. Figure out how you would approach the project using traditional methods and compare this to using only digital data and coordinated BIM tools and platforms. The answer may come down to the size of the project, but even the smallest constructions can be made more efficient.
For example, if you’re developing a house extension, you may not implement full-scale BIM, but you can still improve your information exchanges with other team members. Don’t forget that in some projects BIM usage may be an actual requirement for involvement in the team.
Here are some examples of building and civil projects where BIM is still hardly off the ground:
BIM adoption has been slower among infrastructure and civil engineering professionals. Here’s a list of potential reasons:
Information standards are rare and not enforced in the majority of projects: A stalemate results, where teams just continue with existing processes and no overall management of the entire built asset exists. In simple terms, you need to ensure that the trains will fit in the stations.
You can use this train example to explain the need for communication and coordination. In 2014, France’s national rail operator SNCF invested millions in new trains for regional travel. However, the survey of station dimensions was left incomplete, so the trains were designed too wide. This resulted in 1,300 stations needing to be “shaved” in order to fit the new, wider trains. The French government used the unfortunate story as an incentive to encourage information sharing across public-sector organizations and operators.
BIM isn’t just technology and it’s definitely not just software. BIM is a best-practice process and therefore can impact project management and procurement just like some methodology, such as PRINCE2 or Agile, may completely restructure the delivery of a computing project.
BIM has the potential to make the design process easier and more efficient. Basic benefits of digital modeling include the ability to check if one designer’s work clashes with another, being able to try lots of iterative designs out and fully understanding their impact, and better energy modeling and analysis.
BIM has many benefits during the construction phase of built projects. BIM can be used to schedule and plan out the construction process, including the movement of vehicles and plant machinery. The design decisions made in the model and increased precision of measurement should result in less wastage and higher accuracy during installation, along with the ability to explain difficult construction details.
Using the model as a communication method improves project teams’ ability to collaborate and coordinate the work being done on-site. The model can also be used to calculate and manage the cost and time constraints of the project. In the long term, BIM will move toward automating the process of code approvals and building regulations too.
BIM can reduce costs during the operation phase of buildings, because the model forms an as-built record of all the systems constructed and installed. If the model is kept up to date, then BIM becomes an ongoing process to track maintenance, issues, and changes through the life of an asset. You can alert operational teams when systems are about to fail, pass their warranty date, or when they require maintenance or replacement according to a pre-written schedule.
As built assets become more automated and require more advanced building management systems, the BIM process will become fully integrated with these systems. You’ll be able to optimize heating, ventilation, and lighting systems based on the real-time use of spaces.
BIM can dramatically change many industries, and it needs a combination of people, processes, and platforms with data at the centre. Instead of the traditional industry resulting in one built asset, BIM will provide two, a physical and a digital one. Make sure that both are well designed and constructed securely using best practices, and that they’re easy to understand and maintain during their use.
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