Understanding BIM

BIM is not a word, at least not yet. As far as the dictionary goes, we seem to be “misunderestimating” the value of an abbreviation which has become an acronym and perhaps, will in fact become a word in its own right. B.I.M. stands for Building Information Modeling. And Building Information Modeling is a new paradigm, a design process in the AEC industry for projects of all scope and size.

The GSA describes BIM as “a data rich digital representation cataloging the physical and functional characteristics of design and construction. Its purpose is to make the design information explicit, so that the design intent and program can be immediately understood and automatically evaluated.” The GSA goes on to say further that, “In the future, BIM will empower design and construction professionals to work collaboratively throughout the project delivery process, focusing their energy on higher order functions such as creativity and problem solving, while computers do the tedious tasks of counting and checking. “

What is B.I.M. to the AEC industry and how are we using it? The only way it can be accurately described (in one sentence no less), is that we are building a model of the project in a virtual (computer) environment before it is physically built in the real world. This allows the entire design team to see what will be built before it is built.

To further elaborate this process, all of the views of a project are part of a single database that is continuously coordinated and always as up-to-date as the last person working on the project. The views being discussed are graphic and informational: plans, sections, elevations, 3D perspectives, window schedules, door schedules, finish schedules, panel schedules, etc… It is information that is critical not just to the building of the project but to the entire lifecycle of the project. We will cover this in more detail a bit later.

To answer the question of how this helps the AEC industry, B.I.M. tools (such as Revit, Navisworks, Archicad, Triforma, etc.) allow designers to leverage their ability to conceptualize all design aspects of a project earlier on in the process and get more out of their design. The most straightforward comparison that can be provided – walls. Traditionally, in CAD software packages, when a user drew walls in the software, it was done as lines that represent walls and done in the 2nd dimension, i.e. as flat lines. In B.I.M. software, when a wall is drawn, it truly is a wall. It is given a height, it is room bounding (unless told otherwise), it has material properties assigned to it and it knows that as a wall, it plays host to other elements such as doors and windows. Most importantly, when switching from a plan view to an elevation view, the user is able to see what they have done because the wall is truly three-dimensional and not just represented by lines.

But wait…there is more. Take these walls and doors, windows and floors and imagine trying to keep track of all the design information as it used to be done. Personally, the author of this article remembers countless hours of misery trying to coordinate door and window schedules, reconciling what was listed with what actually shows up in the project. With B.I.M. software, that coordination is really not an issue any more. Because the project components have intelligence, they know what door numbers they are, how much square footage they have, where they exist in relation to the project levels and how they should be scheduled. If it exists in the project, it can be scheduled. If it is non-existant (a stray door in the door schedule of old CAD perhaps), then it cannot be scheduled. An even better example of this is a floor plan view being put on a sheet – everywhere that the view is referenced, be it call out details, sections, elevations or enlarged plans, the software automagically (a new technical term coined in the industry) knows what detail number and sheet it needs to fill in for reference and cross-reference within the sheet set.

With all of this capability built into the B.I.M. tools, it is easy to get confused by what B.I.M. is or is not. But notice, only the tools have been truly been described, not the process itself.

The idea behind B.I.M. is something that is age-old and traditional, a thought process that has been in place ever since mankind has been building. It is the idea of collaborating with all of the disciplines involved in the project in order to accomplish the task of building the project with a minimum amount of discordance to anyone. Michelangelo did it. So did Leonardo, Brunelleschi, Alberti, Palladio, Frank Lloyd Wright, the unknown and un-named temple builders of ancient times, the builders of the pyramids and countless other architects, engineers, contractors, Master Builders. The idea behind B.I.M. remains the same – everyone working toward a common purpose on a project, working together, sharing the data and sharing the risks and rewards. It is only the tools used to accomplish this task that have changed with the times. These tools will continue to evolve and get better. And Building Information Modeling will continue.