BIM technology can boost productivity in design and construction

With the advent of Building Information Modeling, each discipline in the design and construction process can gain production advantages.

BIM 3-D software, such as AutoDesk's Revit Architecture, Revit Structural, SolidWorks and Bentley Systems are vying for shares of the design software market as architects and engineers gradually adopt their platforms.

The newest forms of Revit and Bentley can support all phases of design, construction documentation and fabrication.

BIM software enables users to design at a level beyond two- dimensional computer drafting using AutoCAD, which has been the dominant system for architects and engineers since the early 1980s.

BIM allows designers, in essence, to build electronically from the ground up, according to Edwin Dean, a principal at Nishkian Dean, a Portland structural engineering firm. "BIM offers industry and society a way to improve productivity and increase the speed by which we can design and construct buildings," Dean said. For each building design, Dean said BIM can store information related to all the components of the building. A simple click of a computer's mouse on a structural column in Revit can reveal the size of the column "BIM is maturing to where we can take our concept on paper and build electronically and load the model with all the information and parameters."

Many architects still begin designing with a drawing or with the use of Google's Sketchup - a free program downloadable from the Web that allows designers to work in a 3-D environment. Sketchup is an easy-to-learn program that does not have the capability of storing intricate building data, but is enough to convey basic principles for a building's design.

Architectural firms sometimes create whole building designs with Sketchup and import those FTP files to structural engineers who then design the structural systems. In other cases, the architect transfers a file using BIM software such as Revit or Bentley, and the engineers integrate their structural information into that model. BIM software allows architects and engineers to make changes on designs and transfer the changes within files in a much more efficient system than ever before, Dean said.

When a design by an architect or engineer has a potential fault, a new product owned by AutoDesk called NavisWorks employs what the company calls "clash detection capabilities." Clash detection reviews project components for possible structural and mechanical conflicts such as identifying plumbing and electrical system designs that are trying to occupy the same space.

NavisWorks also can coordinate files from Autodesk Revit and Bentley, two competing software systems, and integrate them into one file.

"We can integrate any format into our 3-D format," said Dean. BIM allows architects, engineers and contractors to estimate not only costs of building products, from timber to bolts, but also construction scheduling.

"The thing that's different about BIM is that it is inherently able to track data and make changes to data," said Dean. "It gives better quality control and quality assurance."

Traditionally, some conflicts in designs were discovered once construction began, prompting general contractors to write requests for information (RFIs) to designers. But once problems are identified at the construction site, time and money are already lost, he said. BIM gives all disciplines early digital coordination by giving them a chance to collaborate on the same model, modify it and catch miscalculations early in design.

Copyright 2008 Dolan Media Newswires
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