It's a BIM New World

Building Information Modeling is changing the way buildings are built

By Joe Florkowski

BIM works.

Architects and builders who use building information modeling rave about the technology and how it can save money, time and labor when building. But BIM isn't yet widely used by the building industry.

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At Boeing outside Seattle, the 777 was built using a BIM digital model, says Ken Sanders, chief information officer for Gensler.

"How come Boeing and GM and Toyota build this way but we don't?" Sanders asked at a recent conference in Long Beach co-hosted by McGraw-Hill Construction and the law firm of Zetlin & De Chiara. "If I were an owner, I'd be asking us to figure out a better way."

The benefits of using BIM are numerous, says Robert Shaffer, a partner with Zetlin & De Chiara, who also spoke at the event.

"People who use BIM have less conflict, better coordination," Shaffer says.

"The broader collaborative effort actually reduces risk on these projects."

A number of factors limit BIM's use, from the way builders build now to the ability of different software programs to communicate with one another.

The most difficult thing, though, may be to get builders, architects, subcontractors and owners to buy into BIM, says Robert J. Hartung, DBIA, president of Alternative Delivery Solutions, LLC, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm.

"The first thing that is needed is integration," Hartung says. "The teams that are designing and building a project need to come together early."

Builders who are
unfamiliar with BIM may not understand the process or think that it is simply a 3D model, he says. BIM projects are much more than a 3D model or a 4D model or even a 5D model.

BIM focuses on the lifespan of the building and allow more information to be added during the building's performance.

Even if builders and subcontractors and architects and owners can work together and learn how to do BIM, there are external forces that may delay its use.

The regulatory element of doing business with BIM is going to lag behind, Sanders says. Governments will still want a stack of documents for projects, he says.

Speaking at the same conference, Louis Dennis, of counsel with Zetlin & De Chiara, said there are few legal developments regarding BIM.

"We don't have statutes that govern this," Dennis says. "We don't have cases."

The hope within the building industry is that by using BIM, there won't need to be statutes or case law or lawsuits, or at the very least, such litigation will be minimized.

Owners want to use BIM, says Hartung, a former construction manager who works with owners.

"Owners are tired of the lawsuits, complaints and focusing on problems," Hartung says.

One of the major factors that is holding up the wide development of BIM is the interoperability of BIM programs.

Simply put, the building industry needs to develop a way to get all of the software programs that use BIM to speak to each other using the same language.

There are organizations working toward developing standards for BIM, such as the International Alliance for Interoperability and National Building Information Model Standard project.

While there are still many legal issues and questions surrounding the use of BIM that remain unanswered, BIM is something builders should look into for its benefits far outweigh the costs, says Shaffer with Zetlin & De Chiara.

"BIM should reduce the risk for all project participants," Shaffer says.

Using BIM may never be fully embraced by the building community, especially those that rely on low-bid contracting, Hartung says. For now, BIM is being mostly used by progressive architects and builders who realize what it can do for them, Hartung says.

"There are visionary firms that can see the benefits," Hartung says.

Sidebar

What IS BIM?

BIM is the logical successor to CAD, moving design from 2D drawing into the 3D world and offering a virtual look at future buildings and structures. Rather than just lines on a screen, objects are "intelligent," backed by a database of information about their physical and functional characteristics.

As it is still a nascent technology, design and construction firms are approaching the pool of current BIM technology with differing levels of caution as some dipping there toes in, others dive head first and a majority sit along the edge and observe. Current solutions range from extensive software packages, such as Autodesk Revit and Bentley Architecture, to simpler options like Google SketchUp for basic 3D modeling. And committing to BIM can cost firms well over $10,000 plus time for training.

As more users begin to adopt BIM, its uses are evolving. At its base level, BIM creates 3D images that can create innumerable study images of a project, including detailed system diagrams. By combining information from every aspect of a project - such as structural, mechanical, electrical, fire and others - designers can identify clashes early in the process.

BIM is also used to analyze the performance of a building, such as ventilation, smoke detection, pedestrian movement, structural performance, acoustics, lighting, energy use and site lines.

Armed with this powerful database, teams have the potential to fully analyze designs, do quantity takeoffs, create schedules, source materials and ultimately hand over pertinent facilities management information to owners.

As adopters of BIM look to expand these databases to include information that affect everyone from building product manufacturers to owners, workflow is requiring levels of collaboration and integration rarely seen in the construction industry. Rather than the traditional linear process where work is handed from one team member to the next, BIM reaps its greatest rewards when information from all parties is shared early and often.

"It's not so much a technology question as it is a cultural change," says Robert Mauck, vice president of advanced technologies at A/E firm Ghafari in Dearborn, Mich.

Ghafari has worked with large owners and developers such as General Motors and Marriott to design projects using BIM in the hopes of generating accelerated, higher-quality, safer and lower-cost projects.

So far, Ghafari's clients claim the system works, realizing 10 percent to 20 percent accelerations in schedules, Mauck says. The savings range from fewer change orders to faster steel mill deliveries.

"[Steel mill] orders that took eight to 10 weeks can take us less than three weeks now," he adds. "Direct digital exchange from the design model to the fabricator can do that."

BIM advocates say those kinds of results are likely to get the attention of owners groups - and once the owners demand it, the industry will need to comply. According to the Cincinnati-based owners group Construction Users Roundtable, BIM projects provide a 7 percent improvement in labor productivity compared to traditional delivery methods.

-- Bruce Buckley

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