Comment
The right information a Without well-organised, comprehensive and connected content the opportunities available with BIM will not be achieved, writes Ian Chapman
T
the many parties involved in hrough Building designing, constructing, using Information Modelling and maintaining a built asset is (BIM) the construction vast and more often than not it industry is undergoing is created in different ways its very own digital revolution. using a variety of methods. Tools are developing rapidly, To achieve data integration, processes are changing and this Ian industry needs a common will all lead to better value for Chapman approach to information and money and better buildings. Director of The the necessary protocols and Software technology will take National BIM Library standards put in place. While care of itself but effort needs to be at NBS and also a collecting data is necessary, it is placed on the all-important ‘I’ in Director of buildingSMART UK&I also important to avoid inforBIM. Without well organised, Email: mation overload by developing comprehensive and connected ian.chapman@ methods that allow individuals content the opportunities availthenbs.com to focus on providing, accessing able with BIM will not be Twitter: and using information that achieved. @ianchapmannbs really matters at any given The need for construction inforpoint in time. mation is not new; it has been preThe Government’s BIM Task Group labs pared, shared and used for centuries. What is new is the opportunity to: area website (bimtaskgroup.org/task-grouplabs-portal) is full of help as to the way for• build upon information throughout ward in this regard. There is the digital the workflow in a more efficient way plan of work; its stages 0-7 are discipline • collect information in a standardised independent and encompass the whole project life cycle. Guidance describes the manner • use technology in analysing that digital plan of work as the “articulation of the project delivery stages and the level of information more thoroughly. detail/definition that needs to be delivered Other industries are busy collecting infor- by each supplier/discipline to the employer mation in far greater frequencies and vol- at any point in time”. This, essentially, umes than ever before; with information defines the information that needs to be collection comes analysis that can result created and supplied throughout life of a in vastly improved intelligence and more built asset. Why is this important? Well, informed decision-making. Just look at the answer can be found in the data hierarthe plethora of apps now available for chy section of the labs area. The Ministry of Justice created a set of mobile devices. You can track every step, every mile, “plain language questions” that, as a client, every heartbeat, every calorie and every they intend to answer at each stage of a unit of alcohol consumed. Collecting health construction project. Key decisions such as information regularly and on a large scale whether to proceed to the next work stage has proven to help identify problems or not will be made based upon the before the patient experiences any symp- answers to these questions. A series of properties can be collected at toms. The same can be said for the ‘health’ of construction projects and the resulting each stage for objects such as ceiling sysbuilt asset. By analysing the data, issues tems, structural elements and products, can be spotted before they become a prob- and recorded in the demand matrix section lem. Preventative measures can then be of the labs area. Project information is implemented, which will inevitably result added to the demand matrix at each stage in better buildings from both value for so that it can be reviewed, and this is where the COBie testing tools come in. money and user experience perspectives. The amount of information produced by Information collected in a common format 16
September / October 2013
p16_17_AEC_SEPTOCT2013_NBS.indd 16
can be readily compared with previous stages and analysed. If the ceiling budget changed from stage 3 to stage 4, it can be automatically reviewed. The tools on the BIM Task Group labs area give us a glimpse of some simple automated checks that can be achieved with applications such as Microsoft Excel. NBS is a member of the BIM Technology Alliance which supports the government’s BIM objectives. Together with other members of the alliance, we are developing software solutions that will enable sophisticated information checking and analysis. The electronic co-ordination of information between disciplines as part of the design process, that has been a regular activity since the introduction of CAD, is rapidly being surpassed by the need to integrate information. Project teams embracing integration are standing out from the crowd and winning business. NBS BIM content supports this integration. BIM is all about supporting the workflow and the role BIM content plays in achieving this is central. Most built assets start with the site arrangement, masses and forms, and evolve at each project stages with increasing levels of geometry and technical detail. Developments such as shopping centres and university campuses are combinations of buildings, roads, pavements, bridges and external spaces. As the project progresses, buildings become combinations of activities and spaces which, in turn, are defined by elements such as roofs, walls and floors. With further design work the elements become combinations of systems, such as blockwork walling, plastering and painting systems. Finally, once product selection decisions have been made, these systems become combinations of products. At any point these objects can be described in generic or proprietary terms — roofs for example. Also, at any level or project stage, these objects can be described in performance terms — thermal performance for wall elements and acoustic performance for ceiling systems for example. The availability of BIM content to supwww.AECmag.com
8/9/13 18:35:26
