Resources.
VDC vs BIM vs CIM
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All things built can be modeled virtually. A digital footprint can begin with project design and carry through to project completion. This virtual information can be translated directly to material production, such as sheet metal fabrication data. Somehow this data needs to be communicated. It could be a rendering for an owner/client, fabrication drawings, or 2D plans design and construction eventually becomes tangible but it begins virtually today. The craft in VDC is a skill and knowledge base in its own right, while the virtual information can be simple shapes to complex and interconnected data.
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Buildings do not hold information. Virtual models can hold data. This is the foundation of BIM. All digital models of a building – a pipe, wall, column, or duct – hold information. That information could be as simple as dimensions, that’s little BIM.
A building model with information conveying sizes, dimensions, or maybe material. All of that data can be communicated in a sketch with pencil and paper. BIM is always present in the work we do. A virtually modeled building element cannot exist without some basic information to create its geometry, its shape.
BIM uses that basic virtual model to receive and communicate more complicated information, such as a part’s relationship to other building elements, a system flow rate, labor time and costs, material costs, manufacturer data. The information will be useful for you and your team, but other information can be embedded or input for a construction manager or building owner. The success of BIM relies on communication between you and your team and us as content creators.
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Coming soon!
There are a lot of big words and ideas that get thrown around the construction industry these days. Not much different than the advent of the internet or the crypto boom, a new word comes up and people throw it around to generally describe what they mean without knowing exactly what it implies. So here you go… Our attempt to demystify and oversimplify three very similar terms in the construction industry…
Featured posts.
Publications.
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BIM: Trends, Benefits, Risks and Challenges for the AEC Industry (July 2011)
SALMAN AZHAR, PH.D., A.M.ASCE
ABSTRACT: Building information modeling (BIM) is one of the most promising recent developments in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. With BIM technology, an accurate virtual model of a building is digitally constructed. This model, known as a building information model, can be used for planning, design, con- struction, and operation of the facility. It helps architects, engineers, and constructors visualize what is to be built in a simulated environment to identify any potential design, construction, or operational issues. BIM represents a new paradigm within AEC, one that encourages integration of the roles of all stakeholders on a project. In this paper, current trends, benefits, possible risks, and future challenges of BIM for the AEC industry are discussed. The findings of this study provide useful information for AEC industry practitioners considering implementing BIM technology in their projects.
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Use of BIM and Prefabrication to Reduce Construction Waste (2017)
SHEN-HUA WU, Master of Science in
Construction Management Candidate, University of Washington.ABSTRACT: It is estimated that the US generated on average 12 million tons construction waste per year between 1996 and 2014. The literature showed that prefabrication can use the material more efficiently, thus reduce the waste. And Building Information Modeling is necessary to provide the precise building product dimension and location information for prefabrication. Interview results showed that operational savings are more than material savings. Five case studies were evaluated, one showed that with use of prefabrication, BIM and careful construction sequence planning, on-site waste generation rate is between 15% to 45% lower than EPA study result of an average of 4.34 lb/ft2. However, the other four case studies seemed to be much higher than EPA’s average rate, suggesting a need for more sampling.
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How To Measure the Benefits of BIM - A Case Study Approach (August 2011)
KRISTEN BARLISH, Master of Science, Arizona State University.
ABSTRACT: As a term and method that is rapidly gaining popularity, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is under the scrutiny of many building professionals questioning its potential benefits on their projects. A relevant and accepted calculation methodology and baseline to properly evaluate BIM's benefits have not been established, thus there are mixed perspectives and opinions of the benefits of BIM, creating a general misunderstanding of the expected outcomes. The purpose of this thesis was to develop a more complete methodology to analyze the benefits of BIM, apply recent projects to this methodology to quantify outcomes, resulting in a more a holistic framework of BIM and its impacts on project efficiency. From the literature, a framework calculation model to determine the value of BIM is developed and presented. The developed model is applied via case studies within a large industrial setting where similar projects are evaluated, some implementing BIM and some with traditional non-BIM approaches. Cost or investment metrics were considered along with benefit or return metrics. The return metrics were: requests for information, change orders, and duration improvements. The investment metrics were: design and construction costs. The methodology was tested against three separate cases and results on the returns and investments are presented. The findings indicate that in the tool installation department of semiconductor manufacturing, there is a high potential for BIM benefits to be realized. The evidence also suggests that actual returns and investments will vary with each project.
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Analyzing the Impact of BIM on Labor Productivity (May 2015)
Ghosh Arundhati_ASU
ABSTRACT: Economic and environmental concerns necessitate the preference for retrofits over new
construction in manufacturing facilities for incorporating modern technology, expanding production, becoming more energy-efficient and improving operational efficiency. Despite the technical and functional challenges in retrofits, the expectation from the project team is to; reduce costs, ensure the time to market and maintain a high standard for quality and safety. Thus, the construction supply chain faces increasing pressure to improve performance by ensuring better labor productivity, among other factors, for efficiency gain. Building Information Modeling (BIM) & off-site prefabrication are determined as effective management & production methods to meet these goals. However, there are limited studies assessing their impact on labor productivity within the constraints of a retrofit environment. This study fills the gap by exploring the impact of BIM on labor productivity (metric) in retrofits (context).
BIM use for process tool installation at a semiconductor manufacturing facility serves as an ideal environment for practical observations. Direct site observations indicate a positive correlation between disruptions in the workflow attributed to an immature use of BIM, waste due to rework and high non-value added time at the labor work face. Root-cause analysis traces the origins of the said disruptions to decision-factors that are critical for the planning, management and implementation of BIM. Analysis shows that stakeholders involved in decision-making during BIM planning, management and implementation identify BIM-value based on their immediate utility for BIM-use instead of the utility for the customers of the process. This differing value- system manifests in the form of unreliable and inaccurate information at the labor work face.
Grounding the analysis in theory and observations, the author hypothesizes that stakeholders of a construction project value BIM and BIM-aspects (i.e. geometrical information, descriptive information and workflows) differently and the accuracy of geometrical information is critical for improving labor productivity when using prefabrication in retrofit construction. In conclusion, this research presents a BIM-value framework, associating stakeholders with their relative value for BIM, the decision-factors for the planning, management and implementation of
BIM and the potential impact of those decisions on labor productivity.
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Building Information Modeling (BIM): Benefits, Risks and Challenges (2008)
Salman Azhar, Michael Hein and Blake Sketo McWhorter School of Building Science Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.
Building Information Modeling (BIM) has recently attained widespread attention in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. BIM represents the development and use of computer-generated n-dimensional (n-D) models to simulate the planning, design, construction and operation of a facility. It helps architects, engineers and constructors to visualize what is to be built in simulated environment and to identify potential design, construction or operational problems. In this paper, the benefits and possible risks of BIM and future challenges for the construction industry are discussed. First presented is the main concept of BIM with its advantages and possible applications in construction. Then the role of BIM in the construction industry and academia is discussed based on the results of three recent questionnaire surveys. After that, a case study of Hilton Aquarium project in Atlanta is presented to quantitatively illustrate the cost and time savings realized by developing and using a building information model. It is followed by data from 10 construction projects to determine the net BIM savings and BIM return on investment. At the end, BIM risks and future challenges for the construction industry are discussed.
This screenshot is from a recent project of one of our team members. The underground utilities were undermining the integrity of the foundation, and we took steps to fix this prior to installation.