The purpose of this article is to explain the reasons that can help us making the decision to bet or not for changing, for evolution, for using the new technologies also in the construction’s world. There is too much literature trying to explain the change from CAD to BIM, but sometimes we put the focus too much on the technology side, in the software, in the functionality, or simply in the “how” question, but forgetting to think about the actual arguments that can justify this decision.
1 INTRODUCTIONSurely the most part of the people who is reading this article have heard many times about BIM and the different definitions or explanations: “it will be the future of architecture”, “if you want to work, you need to know BIM”, “it will change the paradigm of construction”, or lots of similar phrases trying to justify the change of methodology moving from CAD to BIM, but from my point of view this is a much easier argument to explain, and it can be summarized in three questions: Why?, What?, and the most important: Who?. So I am going to try, and you will tell me if I do, answering the 3 questions
2 WHY DO I HAVE TO USE BIM?Well, let's say that this point should be the easiest to answer, and even a question that should not have to respond. Considering the time in which we live, with so much technology at our disposal (computers, tablets, smartphones, apps, augmented reality, BIDI codes, QR codes, ...), the question that I make is: Why are we carrying on continue designing buildings with a technology of the twentieth century? Yes, I mean the CAD, you guessed it ... Do we really have access to computers with 32 GB of RAM, hard disks of hundreds of gigabytes, specialized 3D graphics cards and 64-bit operating systems to continue producing 2D CAD files and printing on paper? Only taking the easiest part of the BIM technology, which is to create parametric and intelligent objects (that allow to be modified through its attributes and expand the change to the related elements), or to create documentation 2D from 3D model (updated automatically when the 3D model is modified), should be enough reasons to make us decide to stop drawing in CAD and start modeling in BIM.
3 WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF BIM?But make no mistake, in fact the main target of the BIM methodology is not to save time in the modeling phase. The real target of changing to BIM is to stop producing paper documents (either physical paper or digital paper, such as PDF) to produce an intelligent 3D model, which is known as VCM (Virtual Construction Model,) a model that faithfully reproduces the model that will be built and we can access before they was actually built. A model that allows us to know, before coming to work, if there are conflicts in the design, and allows us to resolve these conflicts in the virtual model before to go to the real world. Obviously, there are many benefits of using a VCM than finding conflicts or errors in the model, as this virtual model is also used to simulate the process of construction, to review at work, to generate an accurate estimate of costs, to know where to put the cranes and optimize the use of them, to plan the project, to quantify materials, etc ... in short, the use of BIM allows us to make a virtual construction of our project before making the actual construction, with all the benefits that can bring us to improve and optimize the actual construction.
Using a VCM (Virtual Construction Model) on a tablet.
4 WHO SHOULD USE BIM FOR?In other words: Who benefits that BIM is used? Yes, here comes the big question: Who earns (or save) money if BIM is used?If we analyze the life cycle of a building, which can be more or less 1 year to model it, a couple of years to build, but 50, 75 or 100 to utilize it, the answer seems clear, right?. The main beneficiary is the building (or the infrastructure) owner, which is whoever can use the BIM model for longer and for a greater number of usages. The virtual model (or VCM, as I said before) is your virtual copy of the building, which can be used for maintenance (knowing exactly where pipes and other elements of installations are), which can be used to manage spaces to simulate evacuations or to make energy calculations at any moment. Yes, the model can be used to plan a refurbishment, and it can be updated with the changes made during the refurbish, having a virtual building updated and not a set of unreliable and obsoletes drawing papers.
BIM Level 3, in which the maximum benefit from the use of VCM is achieved.
5 CONCLUSIONIn short, the benefit of using the BIM model increases as time go through in the project, being higher during construction than during modeling, and being higher in the use phase and operation than during the construction . That's why, in the projects that the BIM methodology is used in an effective way, the decision to use BIM never comes from the architect or engineers, even from the construction company, but a decision taken from ownership of the building or the final infrastructure.When the owner / operator of the building is convinced about the benefits to have a virtual model exactly like the real (that is his property), then the change is unstoppable and there is no possibility to stay on the sidelines. Welcome all to the twenty-first century!!
Author: Eduardo Cortés (@_EduardoCortes)