Blog 2, Group C: BIM for Owners and Facility Managers

Anthony Yau
Blog 2 - BIM for Owners and Facility Managers

January 19 2015

Building owners and facility managers can utilize building information modeling (BIM) to reduce project timelines,  increase building performance through energy analysis, provide accurate cost analysis through automatic references in the model to materials and labor costs, and provide information about the building during the operation and maintenance of the building. By combining the administrative aspects of design and construction with the capabilities of 3D CAD software, information remains consistent when changes in design occur. This reduces the amount of work for everyone who has a part in the design and construction of the building: architects, engineers, contractors, and stakeholders.

With BIM, the problems that typically afflict proper cost estimating such as not enough time to prepare the estimates, lack of communication, and poor consistency between documentation and drawings, are avoided since owners can do a quantity take off in the BIM model.

The time from the beginning of planning a building to its completion can greatly affect the return on investment of the building. Through parametric modeling, changes to the BIM model harmonize with existing infrastructure in order to reduce construction delays and deliver on time milestones.

With the 3D BIM model, building owners can easily determine how the MEP systems interact with the telecommunications equipment and distribution lines before construction. This allows for actual simulation of maintenance methods that will be used when the building is in operation. Also, BIM software has integrated code verification that checks if the design of the building complies with IBC and other established laws that keep the public safe.

In terms of sustainable design, BIM allows the owner to determine the reduction in cost of operations and carbon emissions of green systems through energy analysis and energy conservation software. Owners can also determine how glazing, which allows daylight into spaces,  affects the heating and cooling loads and see the variations in building performance as a result.

While the advantages of BIM are clear, there are some issues with the process that need to be considered. Before fully integrating BIM into his/her design process,  owners should test the software to design a small scale project with a short time period to learn the functions of the many tools it offers. With a qualified design team and a set goal for the project, a small project can easily be a success and lead to larger, more complex projects in the future.

References

Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook a Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Contractors, 2nd ed. Chapter 4. Hoboken, N.J. John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

Response to Jonathan Potkin

I found it sad (having been an intern for 3 years like the most of us at Drexel) that BIM has eliminated so many intern architects in place for more project managers and architects. While I know that the quality of the work done by a project architect is most likely better than that of an intern, it is important to teach students early on what the future of  project design will look like when they graduate and enter the industry of their field. I contemplate whether this will also affect the type of facility workers building managers will hire (will facility workers need to have experience with BIM at all?).

Response to Abdulghani Albaloushi

I have looked at how everyone is saying that BIM is the new industry standard for AEC firms and that it streamlines design by combining intelligent objects with 3 dimensional visual construction, but I have yet to see any architect or engineering firm use it in practice. I have worked with a few firms on co-op for a number of years now and all the drawings I've seen are in 2D form. Only interior designers that I've worked with seem to have implemented some sort of intelligent 3D drafting software to help our project managers visualize the interior spaces of our proposed buildings.

Response to Ami Amegan

After reading your post Ami, I found the answer to my concerns posted in my response to Abdulghani. The reason why I have not personally encountered a firm that uses BIM to design buildings is that the market is not ready and cost of training BIM specialists is high. However, as the BIM Handbook stated, first and recurring costs can be reduced greatly through 4D simulation, prefabrication, and energy analysis and outweigh the upfront costs of hiring BIM specialists and purchasing software.