Chapter 4: BIM for Owners and Facility Managers
After reading through the chapter and researching online on Building Information Modelling, my understanding of BIM is that it is a process for managing and creating a construction project through its entire lifecycle. It serves as an aid for builders to update the construction's status in certain key stages of a project, allowing them to optimize their work. It is sort of a mix of CAD drawings, 3D renderings, cost analysis, and building processes , all put together for a better understanding and better work flow through the building stages. Like the National BIM Library expresses it: "Information Builds the Model".
Chapter 4 explains a series of benefits of using BIM for the owners, and how it can change the way we address a building from the start. In my opinion, one of the most important uses of BIM is the simulation function for facility operations. I say this because besides all cost, energy and quality improvements, safety, in my opinion, is the most important thing when building a structure, and by using simulations, we can predict how our building is going to perform under different circumstances such as earthquakes, big crowds, fires, etc. Other important benefits of using BIM for owners include: shorter project schedule, cost savings, increase in the building's performance, accurate performance and cost information and better program compliance.
I would like to share this video that gives a clear example of how BIM works for a project, in this case, a restaurant.
https://youtu.be/_beeFtrgQJE
Source:
National BIM Library
Comments
Luciana Tangari:
Hi Lucy, I agree with your comments, I think you have a very good understanding on how BIM can benefit owners in the construction process. In my opinion, the best benefit of using BIM for an owner is the ability to predetermine and avoid design flaws that could bring a lot of problems and change orders during the process or even affect the safety of the people in the building. I agree with your conclusion, using BIM is definitely a way to save money and time, which are two very valuable things in a construction.
Andrew Maita:
Andrew, I agree with you statements, you clearly state that interoperability is a key component to any system. I also think it is key for any process, all the departments must work separately and together at the same time to ensure that the project completion is being done in a timely manner and with the correct use of the resources. It is clear that working together for different teams in a construction process can lead to a lot of time and cost savings at the end of the process.
Allison Abad:
Allison, I agree with your comments on BIM applications for owners and managers, it is certainly a tool to be used to improve many aspects of a construction process. I like that you used an image or diagram to explain how BIM benefits owners. I also would like to mention that providing examples of your past experiences in coop is a great way to make us readers understand how to relate what we are learning to real world scenarios. Good job!
I watched the video and it helped me gain a better understanding of how BIM works for a project. The chapter I read this week was on interoperability and I see where the advantages are with having multiple programs that are able to access the same data and build a concise model like the one in the video. Here it seems that all the components in the restaurant are stored in a central BIM library so adding them to the model seems easy. A problem may arise when a client wants to use a certain door or window that isn’t already loaded into the BIM library. It may just be as simple as adding the specs for the door to the library and having someone who runs the BIM library review and approve it to be used again on later projects. With all this data going into a single model it is also important for developers to focus on interoperability to allow the various programs being used to create it to talk to each other easily.
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