The value of BIM also extends beyond design and construction and into the asset’s lifecycle management, delivering information that the owner/operator can use for facilities management, operations, maintenance, refurbishment or eventual demolition etc. As an indivisible part of the built asset, digital data will be something that is also liable for modification and expansion as updates, repairs or redevelopments of the physical asset take place. If this is likened to a car’s service history, the owner will keep the manual up-to-date, and, if the modified car is sold, will be able to provide the new owner with a model that remains as detailed and accurate as it was when the original vehicle was purchased. Moreover,
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the data about the physical asset will potentially be augmented by additional information about its in-service performance. Just as Formula One racing cars now generate huge amounts of data from every test-drive or race, so data can be routinely collected from, say, an office building showing its energy use, temperature, humidity, heating, lighting, equipment use, etc, over time. Such real-time data will provide constantly updated information for post- occupancy evaluation; BIM can thus be used by the owner-operator to model and evaluate energy efficiency, monitor the building’s life cycle costs and optimize its cost efficiency. As such BIM could also be invaluable to ‘repeat clients’ in informing future design, construction and operation of similar facilities. Similarly, it will provide designers with actual data about the performance of the built asset, rather than them having to make assumptions and undertake model simulations.
With a focus on a reduced transaction cost and less opportunity for error in delivering construction projects in the UK, organisations with a full 3D collaborative working capabilities work on a shared platform. However, construction is generally lagging behind in comparison to other industries in adoption of the full potentials offered by digital technology (Cabinet Office, 2011). A lack of compatible systems, standards and protocols, consistent varied project requirements from both clients and lead designers, have inhibited widespread adoption of technology with the capacity to ensure that all team members are working from the same data and that:
The implications of alternative design proposals can be evaluated with comparative ease;
Projects are modelled in three dimensional (eliminating coordination errors and subsequent expensive change orders)
Design data can be fed direct to machine tools, creating a link between design and manufacture and eliminating unnecessary intermediaries and;
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There is a proper basis for asset management subsequent to construction (Cabinet Office, 2011).
Figure 2.3: Communication, collaboration and visualization with BIM model (Source: NIBS, 2008)
The Cabinet Office has been given the responsibility to co-ordinate Government’s drive to the development of BIM standards, systems, and protocols to ensure all members of the supply chain will work collaboratively through Building Information Modelling (BIM). The year 2016 has seen the UK Government require fully collaborative 3D BIM (with all project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic) as a minimum (Cabinet Office, 2011) - (Figure 2.2). BIM ensures best value at every stage of the project life-cycle. Government Construction Strategy promotes integrated supply chain as well, has approach to asset creation, maintenance and operation. Extends to all capabilities and markets, from infrastructure and professional services to construction and asset management and provides
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client with wealth of new information regarding the building or infrastructure that is built and managed (Cabinet Office, 2012).
Early definitions which assert that Building Information Modelling (BIM) is simply a 3D model of a facility are far from the truth and do not adequately communicate the potential of digital, object-based, interoperable building information modelling processes and tools and modern communications methods (NBIMS, 2010). The increased interest in BIM reflecting the UK Government Construction Strategy to deliver all capital public projects with BIM has resulted in various papers, discussions and conferences on the BIM subject and although some opinions on certain aspect are converging, there are wider range set of views on myriad aspects. The difficulty in stating clearly what BIM actually is for those seeking strategic overview of the subject and to consider how the construction industry might embrace BIM working methods in their practices cannot be over-emphasized. Conflicts in defining relative terminologies create further confusion for anyone researching on BIM subject for the very first time. However, as defined in the original National Building Information Modelling Standards (NBIMS) document "BIM is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. As such it serves as a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its lifecycle from inception (earliest conception) to demolition." Eastman (2008) defines BIM as a modelling technology and associated set of processes to produce, communicate and analyse building models. GSA (General Services Administration) defines BIM as the development and use of multi-faceted computer software data model to not only document a building design but to simulate the construction and operation of a new capital facility or a recapitalised (modernised) facility. The resulting Building Information Model is a data-rich, object based, intelligent and parametric digital representation of the facility, from which views appropriate to various user’s needs can be extracted and analysed to generate feedback and improvement of the facility design. In other words GSA states that BIM is a process (eg modelling) and a product (eg a model) used throughout the facility lifecycle. Many have a
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dimensional perspective of BIM as a 3-dimensional representation of the built environment, primarily for use during the design and construction phases. This narrow focus is inconsistent of BIM. Building Information modelling is the process of generating and managing information about a building during its entire life cycle. The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS, 2007) notes the following about BIM. “The scope of Building Information Modelling (BIM) directly or indirectly affects all stakeholders supporting the capital facilities industry. BIM is a fundamentally different way of creating, using, and sharing building lifecycle data.” BIM is a digital software system and an open standards-based collaborative business process targeting lifecycle facility management. It includes: 3D (visualisation); 4D (time-schedule/lifecycle analysis); and 5D (cost-estimating/capital planning) which serve as a common, centralised repository/portal for all lifecycle building related information, from concept through deconstruction. If implemented, nearly every piece of information that an owner needs about a facility throughout its life can be made available electronically.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a new approach to design, construction, project scheduling and facility management in which a digital representation of the building process is used to facilitate the exchange and interoperability of information in digital format (Vozzola et al, 2009). With BIM technology, an accurate virtual model of a building is constructed digitally. It can be considered a process for developing design and construction documentation by virtually constructing the building or the infrastructure on the computer screen before actually building it (Bloomberg, 2012). When completed the computer- generated model contains precise geometry and relevant data needed to support the construction, fabrication, and procurement activities needed to realize the building. It is an important computer application that came after CAD technology in the built and construction industry. It is a multidimensional model {3D, 4D (time) and 5D (cost)} in which a virtually unlimited range of visual and non-visual project and building
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related information is tagged or attached to each model element as a collection of attributes (Bloomberg, 2012).
BIM also is defined as an open standards based information repository for the facility lifecycle (Qing et al, 2011). It is also a tool for visualizing and coordinating Architecture, Engineering and Construction work to avoid errors and omissions. BIM can be described in two ways; modelling and application. From modelling perspective: BIM means Building Information Modelling based on the three-dimensional digital technology, integrate the construction project and related information of engineering graphic models and also contains the engineering physical properties and functional properties and its related project cycle information such as digital model. From the application standpoint, BIM means Building Information Modelling, building information model is fully digital, support various operations of construction projects. It is dynamic and can add all kinds of project information in project life cycle freely, to meet each kind of demands. (Qing et al, 2011). From ICT perspective Arayici and Aouad (2010) defined BIM as the use ICT technologies to streamline the building lifecycle processes to provide a safer and more productive environment for its occupants, to assert the least possible environment impact from its existence, and to be more operational efficient for its owners throughout the building lifecycle. BIM in most simple terms is the utilization of a database infrastructure to encapsulate built facilities with specific viewpoints of stakeholders. It is a methodology to integrate digital descriptions of all the building objects and their relationships to others in a precise manner, so that stakeholders can query, simulate, and estimate activities and their effects on the building process as a lifecycle entry (Coates et al, 2012). Therefore, BIM can help with providing the required value judgments for creating a more sustainable infrastructure, which satisfy their owners and occupants.
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