B3 - Advantages of Revit

While not perfect, BIM is bringing the building industry into the 21st century by doing what makes sense, giving meaning to drawings though metadata.  By changing the idea of drafting from a 2D drawing with multiple layers, to a 3D drawing with components, we have officially brought drafting into the "iron age" (if you consider Blueprints as the stone age and 2D software as the bronze age).  What Revit does really well is the integration of the different disciplines of the design phase.  Every discipline can work in one file, rather than every body working from scratch in the same file and because of this, it will help the industry in embracing IPD (Integrated Project Development) as the standard form of design.  What Revit is also good at is presenting a rendering of the design, making the engineers job of explaining work to an owner or zoning board easier.  Lastly, the major benefit of BIM is clash detection.  Because of all the different disciplines working in the same file, each company can see where there design falls in space, and the software can determine if the (for example) HVAC system goes through a concrete column... I think BIM shows great promise for the future, but there is so much more room to grow.