Building Information Modeling

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a collaborative way for multidisciplinary information storing, sharing, exchanging, and managing throughout the entire building project lifecycle including planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and demolition phase (Eastman et al., 2011;

From: Encyclopedia of Sustainable Technologies , 2017

Building Information Modeling

Sam Kubba Ph.D., LEED AP , in Handbook of Green Building Design and Construction, 2012

5.1 Brief history and overview

What is BIM? Building information modeling (BIM) is one of the more promising developments in the architecture, engineering, and construction fields. It is changing the way contractors and engineers do business, but its application is still relatively new and there is much to learn. One way to learn is from observing how other businesses are using BIM and their trials and tribulations along the way. BIM was introduced over a decade ago mainly to distinguish the information-rich architectural 3D modeling from the traditional 2D drawing. It is being acclaimed by its advocates as a lifesaver for complicated projects because of its ability to correct errors early in the design stage and accurately schedule construction.

Although over recent years, the term "building information modeling" or "BIM" has gained widespread popularity, it has failed to gain a consistent definition. According to Patrick Suermann, PE, a National Building Information Model Standard (NBIMS) testing team leader, "BIM is the virtual representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a facility from inception onward. As such, it serves as a shared information repository for collaboration throughout a facility's life cycle." The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) sees it as "a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility…and a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life cycle, defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition." But generally speaking, BIM technology allows an accurate virtual model of a building to be constructed digitally. Completed computer-generated models contain accurate and well-defined geometry and pertinent data required to facilitate the construction, fabrication, and procurement activities necessary to realize the final building.

BIM consists mainly of 3D modeling concepts in addition to information database technology and interoperable software in a desktop computer environment that architects, engineers, and contractors can use to design a facility and simulate construction. This technology allows members of the project team to generate a virtual model of the structure and all of its systems in 3D and to be able to share that information with each other. Likewise, the drawings, specifications, and construction details are fundamental to the model, which includes attributes such as building geometry, spatial relationships, quantity characteristics of building components, and geographic information. These allow the project team to quickly identify design and construction issues and resolve them in a virtual environment well before the Construction Phase in the real world.

BIM is therefore primarily a process by which you generate and manage building data during a project's life cycle. It typically uses three-dimensional, real-time, dynamic building-modeling software to manage and increase productivity in building design and construction. The process produces the building information model, which encompasses all relevant data relating to building geometry, spatial relationships, geographic information, and quantities and properties of building components. Construction technology for the BIM process is continuing to improve with the passing of time as contractors, architects, engineers, and others continue to find new ways to improve the BIM process. One of the many significant advantages of using modern BIM design tools, as Chuck Eastman, director of Digital Building Laboratory, states, is:

[They now] define objects parametrically. That is, the objects are defined as parameters and relations to other objects, so that if a related object changes, this one will also. Parametric objects automatically re-build themselves according to the rules embedded in them. The rules may be simple, requiring a window to be wholly within a wall, and moving the window with the wall, or complex defining size ranges, and detailing, such as the physical connection between a steel beam and column.

But before one can give a precise definition of BIM, one must resolve the ambiguity over whether it is or is not fundamentally different from CAD or CADD. In the author's opinion, BIM is not CAD, nor is it intended to be. CAD is a replacement for pen and paper, a documentation tool, and CAD files are basic data consisting of elements that are lines, arcs, and circles—and sometimes surfaces and solids—that are purely graphical representations of building components. Moreover, early definitions asserting that BIM is basically a 3D model of a facility are incorrect and do not reflect the truth, nor do they adequately communicate the capabilities and potential of digital, object-based, interoperable building information modeling processes and tools and modern communications techniques.

BIM programs today are design applications in which the documentation flows from and is a derivative of the process, from schematic design to construction to facility management. Furthermore, with BIM technology, an accurate virtual model of a building can be constructed digitally, and when completed, the computer-generated model will contain all the relevant data and accurate geometry needed to support the construction, fabrication, and procurement activities required to execute the project. Ken Stowe, of AEC Division at Autodesk®, reaffirms this and comments:

The construction industry is in the early stages of an historic transformation: from a 2D environment to a model-based environment. The benefits are many and are enjoyed by various members of the project team. Some firms are leading in planning and directing the whole team in BIM participation, implementing best practices, and making a point of measuring those benefits. The savings can be in the millions of dollars. The project durations are being reduced by weeks or months.

It is sometimes difficult to determine who first coined the term "BIM." Some claim Charles M. Eastman at Georgia Tech coined the term, the theory being based on a view that the term is basically the same as "building product model," which Eastman has used extensively in his publications since the late 1970s. Others believe it was first coined by architect and Autodesk building industry strategist Phil Bernstein, FAIA, who reportedly used the actual term "building information modeling," which was later accepted by Bentley Systems and others. (See Figure 5.1.) It is claimed that Graphisoft® produced the original BIM—in the original terminology "virtual building"—software, known as ArchiCAD. But many firms and organizations made contributions to BIM's continuing development.

Figure 5.1. Relationship of BIM to the various stakeholders and project team members. BIM technology continues to manifest itself as the most feasible and reliable option in the building construction industry. It can minimize errors and omissions made by the project team by allowing the use of conflict detection technology, where the computer informs team members whenever parts of the building are in conflict.

 (Source: ADVENSER Engineering Services Private Ltd.)

For example, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is one such pioneering firm that made significant contributions to the development and use of BIM. Early on, SOM created a multipurpose, database-driven, modeling system known as AES, or architecture engineering system, and single-handedly pioneered its development. AES is regarded by some as the precursor to today's BIM tools. As noted at http://som.com/content.cfm/brief_history_4:

In the future, SOM envisions BIM as a vehicle for real-time performative design simulation and environmental analysis, enabled through new visual and tactile feedback systems. This will allow architects to focus on building performance that can truly be validated—obtaining and interpreting data as one simultaneously designs—and will encompass new modes of collaboration. SOM envisions the architect/engineer in a pivotal role in this new virtual design and construction collaborative environment: as the conceiver of ideas and the manager of knowledge.

Dana (Deke) Smith, FAIA, executive director of the buildingSMART alliance™ who has been involved with the development of building information modeling since its inception, says: "One of the basic principles and metrics for BIM implementation is the ability to enter data one time and then use it many times throughout the life of the project." Smith identifies the following 10 principles of BIM:

1.

Coordinate and plan with all parties before you start.

2.

Ensure all parties have a life-cycle view—involve them early and often.

3.

Build the model then build to the model.

4.

Detailed data can be summarized (the reverse is not possible).

5.

Enter data one time, then improve and refine over life.

6.

Build data sustainment into business processes—keep data alive.

7.

Use information assurance and metadata to build trust—know data sources and users.

8.

Contract for data—good contracts make good projects.

9.

Ensure that data are externally accessible yet protected.

10.

Use international standards and cloud storage to ensure long-term accessibility.

Smith believes the following:

We are still all too often slaves to the stovepipes that have been our industry's tradition, where information is collected for a specific instance and then not reused by others. There are currently many reasons for this: perceived intellectual property concerns, perceived liability issues, organizations pushing their own agenda, proprietary approaches, and simply not knowing that someone already entered the information because of poor ability to collaborate.

One group taking this challenge head-on is buildingSMART International. buildingSMART International is a coalition of more than 50 countries worldwide who are focused on implementing an open-standard, BIM approach to interoperability of information for building construction and facility maintenance. The North American chapter of this group is the buildingSMART alliance. While it is our belief that the final goal will be an international, standards-based, information exchange, the primary goal of interoperability remains at the foundation of this effort, using whatever format is universally easiest to use at the time.

Today, we have several organizations with initiatives under way to develop a national BIM standard. In 2007, the first version of this standard (NBIMS Version 1) was passed, but it has failed to take hold in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) community mostly because of its reliance on the IFC (Industry Foundation Class) file format for 3D modeling. After several years, the National Institute of Building Sciences' buildingSMART alliance developed version 2 of the National BIM Standard–United States, which is a significant improvement on version 1. The United Kingdom has also come out with its own AEC (UK) BIM standards.

Multiple federal agencies have implemented BIM initiatives, from the GSA and the Army Corps of Engineers to the U.S. Coast Guard and Sandia National Laboratories. Finith Jernigan, FAIA, president of Design Atlantic, says, "To prosper in today's fast changing and unpredictable markets, you need new ways of doing business more effectively." And although BIM is not a technology, it does require appropriate technology to be effectively implemented.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123851284000056

Sustainable Built Environment & Sustainable Manufacturing

Llewellyn Tang , ... Polina Trofimova , in Encyclopedia of Sustainable Technologies, 2017

Interoperability between BIM-based design and energy simulation tools

BIM software that enables 3D modeling and information management is a significant part of BIM. The commonly used sustainability analysis software involves Autodesk Green Building Studio, Energy 10, HEED, Design Builder, Autodesk Ecotect, eQUEST, Integrated Environmental Solutions, Virtual Environment (IES-VE), and EnergyPlus. However, there is a challenge in the exchange of data between building design tools and sustainability analysis tools. In other words, the sustainability analysis tools lack the compatibility with BIM-based design software.

Interoperability between BIM-based design and energy simulation tools is being researched in recent years. For instance, Jeong et al. (2015) developed an automated framework utilizing BIM application programming interface and Modelica-based BEM which could simulate and visualize energy analysis results back inside the BIM software Revit to obtain a direct feedback. Welle et al. (2011) and Ahn et al. (2014) proposed IFC-based tools for automated thermal simulation with EnergyPlus through input data files containing geometry, thermal space boundaries, and material information from the BIM model, aiming to improve the accuracy and modeling time of the BEM models. Whereas Cemesova et al. (2015) created an IFC-based tool to combine BIM and Passive House Planning Package design tool for energy performance and decision making for PassivHaus certifications.

In a word, the application of BIM in building sustainability analysis may optimize the building performance. Besides, it may improve the efficiency of rating process using the results generated by the BIM tools directly. Meanwhile, studies on the interoperability between BIM-based design and energy simulation tools may assist in further BIM application for optimizing the building performance.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124095489102003

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Sam Kubba PH.D., LEED AP , in Handbook of Green Building Design and Construction (Second Edition), 2017

5.5.2 AIA Document E202

Because BIM is a relatively new technology, there were some legal challenges and other issues that necessitated clarification. To help clear up these legal issues with BIM, the AIA recently released document E202, which lays out standard procedures and responsibilities for BIM models, but most importantly, it serves as a standard contract for projects using BIM. This document also establishes certain rules and regulations such as who owns the model, how it is used, and the party responsible for each model element. Because of the unique nature of each project, Document E202 cannot give a blanket declaration of each; rather it lays out a legally binding frame work of rules and then allows for adaption to each unique project (AIA, 2008, p. 1).

AIA Document E202 has been a huge boon to BIM-based contracts. People all across the building industries recognize AIA and have embraced their efforts in simplifying the complex legal environment around BIM. Because BIM is in many respects still new, many of those dealing in construction law simply do not know how to work with BIM. Document E202 created a standard BIM-based contract that addresses many of the legal issues and challenges faced when using BIM.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128104330000058

Design and Analysis of Complex Structures

Feng Fu , in Design and Analysis of Tall and Complex Structures, 2018

6.5 Building Information Modeling

British Standards Institute gives an accurate definition of BIM, the definition is: "the process of generating and managing information about a building during its entire life. BIM is a suite of technologies and processes that integrate to form the 'system' at the heart of which is a component-based 3D representation of each building element; this supersedes traditional design tools currently in use."

In other words, BIM is a 3D digital modeling method for modeling, controlling a building project. Each design team member creates and maintains its own BIM model as part of a "central model." The BIM models should also have the capacity of clash detection in a central model by different contributors.

Government construction strategy [15] has started to promote the adoption of BIM since 2011. Therefore, BIM will dominant the construction industry development in the next several decades, changing the way of the interaction between different disciplines of the construction industry. In this section, the BIM will be discussed in detail.

6.5.1 Introduction

BIM allows users to build a model using software such as Revit. The model contains all the project information, including drawings and specifications. All different stakeholders have access to the central model made in Revit, enabling project participants from all disciplines such as architects, facility managers, M & E Engineers, and structural engineers to coordinate their work. BIM integrates designs from initial design to construction and until the project finishes. Using a program such as Revit, updates of drawing can be done automatically to reflect each discipline's input, enabling integrated management of information of building components.

The use of the BIM increases the productivity of the design activities, consequently resulting in efficient building designs which, in turn, saves the material cost. It can also result in shorter construction times and a safer construction process. As systems are increasingly digitized, BIM is seen as fundamental to the development of future smarter cities.

6.5.2 Standard Methods and Procedures' Protocols

When using BIM, a standard protocol is important for the whole BIM process. The protocol should consist of document naming, data file naming, and CAD layer naming, origin, scale, orientation of structure model, etc. Standard procedures should also be defined between different disciplines. All of these are required by effective data sharing through a common data environment.

It should make sure to

•

unify layer naming and file naming

•

collect, manage, and disseminate data effectively in the required formats

•

ensures compliance to agreed standards

•

able to aid design managers in the timely delivery of the construction schedule

•

for members of the supply chain not using BIM (such as small contractors) to find a way to integrate them into the process

•

set up the approval process and the design and sign-off processes to improve the project management and documentation control

6.5.3 Design Liability and Legal Issue of BIM

When BIM becomes widely used, some legal issues emerged such as

•

obligations to create/contribute to BIM models in agreed forms and deadlines

•

liability for each team member

•

how to insure the work on BIM models by an insurance company

•

ownership of BIM models and data and licensing for agreed purposes

•

legal status of BIM approach to collaborative working

The construction industry council issued the first edition of "Building Information Modeling (BIM) protocol" [16] in 2013. The protocol covers below the main issues: contract, intellectual property, electronic data exchange, change management, liability for the use of models.

The primary objective of the protocol is to enable the production of BIMs at defined stages of a project. It requires the employer to appoint a party to undertake an information management role such as an "information manager." Another objective is to support the adoption of effective collaborative working practices in project teams, making an explicit contractual requirement under the protocol.

It is worth noting that it is required that all project team members are required to have a BIM protocol appended to their contracts. This will ensure that all parties producing and delivering models adopt any common standards or ways of working described in the protocol and that all parties using the models have a clear right to do so.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978008101018100006X

Design, Construction, and Renovations

James Sinopoli , in Smart Building Systems for Architects, Owners and Builders, 2010

Building Information Model

Building information modeling (BIM) is the future of building design and construction. BIM is a 3-D, object-oriented, CAD approach for architects and engineers. While the number of architects and building designers using BIM is modest the number will continue to increase. One of the most valuable functions of BIM is its ability to improve the coordination between multiple design disciplines, thus reducing errors. BIM has the potential to respond to an owner's need for predictable costs, quality, and on-time delivery. (See Figure 13.4.)

Figure 13.4. Typical building information model.

The American Institute of Architects have called BIM a "model-based technology linked with a database of project information." It can store complete information about a building in a digital format including things like the quantities and properties of building components. It covers geospatial information and relationships regarding a building, and facilitates the digital exchange and interoperability of the data.

BIM uses the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) for exchanging information about a building project among different CAD packages. XML, an Internet language, which allows raw data to be reliably shared over the Web, will also be used in BIM implementations. BIM has the potential to be the vehicle or depository for use by the design team, the contractors, and owner, with each party having the capability to add their own data and information to the model. The National BIM Standard (NBIMS) is being developed and major vendors have endorsed and supported the effort.

BIM has major benefits. One is the capability for BIM tools to detect "collisions," that is, design features that are incompatible and in conflict. For instance, assume that a water pipe designed by the mechanical engineer would be installed in a way that it goes through a steel beam designed by the structural engineer. BIM allows the design and construction teams to identify such collisions electronically rather than discover the collision at the construction site. The result is time savings and reduced construction change orders and related costs.

Probably more important is BIM's capability to provide the location, quantities, and properties of building components in product objects. Included in this information can be all details of components, such as manufacturer, model, warranty, preventive maintenance, and so on. This information is valuable in the operation and maintenance of the building.

BIM is becoming more widely accepted for use in facility management. Starting in 2007, the U.S. General Services Administration (USGSA), under its National 3D-4D-BIM Program, requires spatial program information from BIMs for major projects receiving design funding. Four-dimensional (4D) models, which combine a 3D model with time, support the understanding of project phasing.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is modifying its contract documents to easily allow BIM, which is considered intellectual property, to make transfers from the architect to the facility manager, thus providing the facility manager with better data to manage a building.

The buildingSMART alliance, part of the U.S. National Institute of Building Sciences, provides useful tools to developers and users of BIM software and promotes the use of BIM. There are many important organizations that are a part of the buildingSMART alliance including the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

The use of BIM may soon replace the Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) process for facility managers. Typically the facility manager scans paper floor plans or imports electronic CAD files for use within the CAFM application. The electronic floor plans are then used to create "polylines" to define an area and identify room numbers to name that area.

For a typical commercial building, this process can take weeks. Instead, BIM files can be moved from the BIM creation software to facility management BIM software. The user can import the BIM file into software, which would include the room boundaries, room areas, room numbers, and space descriptions from the BIM. It would then perform the same functions as the typical CAFM software would but without all the lost time from the creation of "polylines."

In the not too distant future design and construction projects will require an information manager. This person or team will set the requirements for data management for the owner's project team, the design team, and construction contractors; manage the "supply chain" of data from design to construction to operations; and manage the integration of the data from the building and building systems into the owner's facility management and business systems. The drivers are economics, technology, increased functionality, and the overall value proposition.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9781856176538000132

Advanced Building Design

Md. Faruque Hossain , in Sustainable Design and Build, 2019

4.4.1.7 Nonproprietary or Open BIM Standards

BIM is frequently linked with Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) and aecXML—data structures for signifying data. For the easy sharing of BIM information among various software applications (some private data structures are created developed by sellers of CAD integrating BIM with their software), buildingSMART (the earlier International Alliance for Interoperability) has created an unbiased, nonprivate, or open IFCs. Poor software exchange has been considered as a barrier to an effective industry in general and particularly to adopting BIM. A report by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, in August 2004, conventionally projected an annual loss of $15.8 billion by the US investment agency industry because of absence of exchange resulting from "the extremely uneven characteristics of the industry, the industry's prolonged printed business exercises, absence of regulation, and unpredictable technology approval among participants." The American Institute of Steel Construction has accepted CIS/2 standard, a nonprivate standard with its base in the UK, which can be considered as a primary instance of a nationally accepted BIM standard.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128167229000045

Methods for Layout, Conception, and Development

Seán Moran , in Process Plant Layout (Second Edition), 2017

6.2.1 Abbreviations

BIM(M) Building Information Modeling (and Management); systems which generate 3D virtual views of buildings. These are becoming a standard feature of architectural design practice. "The effective collection and reuse of project data in order to reduce errors and increase focus on design and value."—AEC (United Kingdom) BIM Standard
LFL Lower Flammability Limit; as defined in ASTM E681-09(2015) Standard Test Method for Concentration Limits of Flammability of Chemicals (Vapors and Gases)
MCC Motor Control Center; a cabinet containing motor starters, instrumentation, power incomer, and possibly a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) which controls motors on a plant
UFL Upper Flammable Limit

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128033555000068

Design of Underground Structures

Bai Yun , in Underground Engineering, 2019

3.1.5.2 Tunnel Information Model

BIM methods address the problems generated by decentralized data management, and use standardized exchange formats such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) to ensure that a coherent data exchange exists between all models and information sources within a project (Building Smart, 2015). BIM models organize data on geometrical and spatial levels and, by modifying IFCs, are able to easily augment a main model with project-specific elements. Such an element typically consists of a visual component that is linked to the main model geometry and an information component that is linked to the element geometry. Information is always accessed through a geometrical model and is intuitively organized. Additionally, BIM concepts are able to address the entire lifecycle of a building model, from planning to operation stages, which is critical for highly process-oriented projects, such as tunneling. Although BIM methods have most often been applied to buildings, they are currently also used for bridge and road projects and have also been applied to tunneling projects. An academic BIM model tailored to fit the needs of a tunneling project has been implemented using data taken from the Wehrhahn-line project in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The TIM includes tunneling-related geometrical models (tunnel, TBM, boreholes, ground and city models), property and city data, and measurements (machine data and settlement). Not only does the TIM provide a data management platform, but it also allows the user to visually interact with and analyze the data through animations or by sequentially time-stepping through processes.

Typically, the results of numerical simulations are not reflected in the construction stages of a TIM model, as often only the final structure is simulated. With respect to tunneling projects, such a methodology is often detrimental as settlements predicted by a simulation change due to deviations from the design during the construction stage. Furthermore, often only certain "problem areas" are subject to inspection through numerical analysis, so a simulation of the entire project domain is almost never performed. Current TIM methods satisfy these unique needs as they present dynamic simulation results.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128127025000037

Building information modeling for construction and demolition waste minimization

Alexander Koutamanis , in Advances in Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling, 2020

7.3.1 Identification

BIM support to the representation and control of material flows starts with identification: knowing the quantities and exact qualities of materials in a building. As materials mostly come in the form of building elements and components, the symbolic structure of BIM has clear advantages. Most elements are indicated by discrete symbols in a model and each symbol has properties that describe the shape, size, and materials of the element: the information required for identifying the presence, quantity, and composition of any material in the building. In symbols representing specific types of elements, for example, a door by a particular manufacturer, the values of the properties are precise. One can even know the provenance of wood used for manufacturing a door. Symbols of more abstract types, for example, a generic interior swing door, obviously lack such specificity with respect to materials but their type and context generally suffice for forming usable expectations. For example, an interior door in a Dutch residential building of the 1950s is almost certainly made of wood rather than metal (Fig. 7.2).

Fig. 7.2

Fig. 7.2. A specific door type (bottom) has more precise properties than a generic door opening (top).

In addition to the built-in properties of BIM symbols, user-defined properties can accommodate further information, such as the findings of building inspections, maintenance data, and other indications of condition and quality. If BIM is used throughout the life cycle of buildings, this can develop into a 4D model that describes the full history of building elements, including purposeful or incidental changes, for example, the addition of an insulation layer to a wall or wear of a floor due to intensive use. Such histories are essential for the identification of CDW, for example, components that could be removed or replaced given the opportunity, such as a renovation of the immediate area. They also entail a learning potential: they allow us to anticipate what takes place in the life of a building and plan for it already in design. Given the scarcity of detailed information on many existing buildings, learning from precedents is a widely applied strategy (Akanbi et al., 2019). With the growing volume of data in BIM, precedent-based reasoning may develop further and replace existing techniques, such as the use of generic waste generation rates in estimation (Lu et al., 2017a), which adulterate the precision and accuracy of BIM data on which they are applied.

Relations between building elements are also important in identification. The interfacing of elements, for example, dry vs wet connections, can impact the quality of materials and the integrity of components in ways that may render deconstruction unfeasible and hence restrict possibilities for reuse or remanufacture. Interfacing is often implicit in the type of BIM symbols but can be inferred from this type and explicit spatial relations. For example, an equalizing layer of concrete is a wet construction that affects what lies underneath. If the equalizing concrete is on top drily assembled prefabricated concrete slabs, the whole floor has probably become a single body, from which the floor slabs cannot be easily extracted for reuse. A model containing the slabs and equalizing layer as separate symbols makes the recognition of such critical interfacing straightforward. If, on the other hand, the whole floor is represented by a single symbol, that is, a generic concrete floor, then the articulation of components in the floor is not evident and cannot be inferred from its geometry. Consequently, one should try to make building components like the above slabs explicit in a model (as one would expect from a model fit for construction) and avoid using abstract building elements beyond early design.

A different kind of relation is that between elements in a building and external entities, for example, the machinery and equipment used in manufacturing, construction, or demolition, such as scaffolding or bracing, or legal rules and regulations. Such relations are often expressed by constraints. Scaffolding, for example, can be represented implicitly as a constraint on the distance between the wall symbol for which scaffolding is required and adjacent elements. This constraint ensures that no other element is placed too closely to the wall, so that there is sufficient room for the scaffolding.

Yet another kind of relation with bearing on CDW concerns that between sensors and building elements or components. With the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), it is becoming increasingly common to have sensors that register and report relevant measurements, such as the humidity of wooden posts or the bending of steel beams (Ness et al., 2015). These measurements contribute to the development of more reliable and transparent histories for the components than proxies like orientation, weather, or usage data, which describe possibilities or probabilities, as opposed to the actual facts captured by the sensors. Data from these sensors can be added to the component symbols as user-defined properties but IoT sensors, actuators, and displays tend to form separate, often autonomous networks. Consequently, each IoT device merits its own symbol in BIM, similar to a luminaire or an electrical socket, which accommodates its own measurements. A sensor symbol can have a hosting relation with the symbol of the component it reports on, similar to the hosting of a door by a wall. From this relation, the sensor symbol knows the component it refers to and, reversely, the component knows from which sensors to draw data.

The identification in BIM automatically also entails localization. In contrast to top-down estimates or vague proxies, which return totals and rough guesses, in BIM one knows precisely which building elements contain certain resources and the exact location and context of these elements. Localization supports higher focus and clearer reasoning, especially concerning the feasibility of component extraction and the avoidance of hibernating stocks. Such detail and precision in CDW management is advantageous in estimation and planning. On site, the products of identification and localization in BIM can produce visualizations, possibly using augmented reality, that allow workers to know the objects of their actions, for example, which components should be disassembled next. These visualizations can also reveal invisible features, for example, hidden fasteners of hibernating stock like copper pipes embedded in a wall.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128190555000073

BIM-Enabled Sustainable Housing Refurbishment—LCA Case Study

Ki Pyung Kim , in Sustainable Construction Technologies, 2019

13.11 Discussions About the Limitation of Building Information Modeling Tools

Through the case study, BIM is proven its relevance and capability to be utilized as an information management platform for housing refurbishment by formulating the LCA and LCC studies, and energy simulations. It is also revealed that BIM can be feasible for housing refurbishment as a decision-supporting tool when relevant housing condition and construction data is provided to construct an information-enriched model. Although BIM can provide various computational and visual aids, there are still challenges existed to fully utilize BIM for housing refurbishment and other construction projects. Two major issues associated with the utilization of BIM are identified: Data Exchange and Interoperability and Unstandardized Specification System Between Different Data Source below described.

Read full chapter

URL:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128117491000195