Building Information Modeling System Research Articles

V3DM+: BIM interactive collaboration system for facility management

AbstractBackgroundFacility management (FM) is an important phase in the building lifecycle. Although building information modeling (BIM) technology has been widely used in the design and construction phase, efforts to transfer information to the FM phase are still in the nascent stage. A good BIM-to-FM tool should be able to inherit and integrate the building information built in the design and construction phase as well as be able to provide a platform for managers to browse the information, discuss potential problems, and arrange maintenance work.MethodsIn this research, a BIM interactive collaboration system for FM is designed and implemented. Two modules were developed for optimizing the BIM system in the FM phase: the data arrangement module, which has functionalities of data importing and processing, and the data presentation module, which provides functionalities of data revealing and collaboration.ResultFrom the results of an accessibility analysis, we verified that the developed system, V3DM+, can be implemented on real projects. Managers can use V3DM+ to support operation and maintenance of buildings. Moreover, a web-based platform allows users to manage facilities intuitively without investing on professionals or specialized software.ConcludingThe proposed system, V3DM+, provides a data arrangement module to integrate building information constructed by various types of commercial software and present them in a visual manner. The user can find the required information, initiate a discussion on an issue, or arrange operation and maintenance tasks directly on this system.

An Integrated BIM System to Track the Time and Cost of Construction Projects: A Case Study

Many construction projects suffer from poor design and from inconsistent time and cost management. This situation has led to rethinking of the industry’s performance and how it could be improved. Technology is breaking through design and management practices. Earned value management (EVM) enables better management of time and cost constraints. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is recognized to improve the planning and realization of a construction project. The present paper proposes an integrated time and cost management system (ITCMS), where an EVM platform is used in a virtual environment during the planning and construction phases of a project. The ITCMS enables early involvement and project integration plus thorough time and cost management. The system consists of four modules and 13 different processes. The ITCMS is beneficial at the design stage; construction professionals are able to synchronize the building model with time and cost parameters as well as optimize it through a clash detection process that results in budget and schedule compressions early on. The ITCMS is a useful tool for construction and engineering managers that strive to increase projects’ performance. The authors demonstrate in this paper the validity of using the ITCMS through an actual project.

A critical analysis of Building Information Modelling systems used in construction projects

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is now a global digital technology which is widely believed to have the potential to revolutionise the construction industry. This has been mainly a result of worldwide government initiatives promoting BIM uptake to improve efficiency and quality in delivering construction projects. This push has been accompanied by the release of a tremendous amount of BIM software systems which are now available in the market. Although this can be seen as a positive development, one cannot ignore how it has overwhelmed many professionals who cannot easily distinguish between the uses of these software systems. Previous studies about different BIM systems have generally been limited in scope focusing predominantly on operational issues. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive and critical appraisal of a wide range of BIM software systems currently being used in managing construction project information. To achieve this, five main methods are adopted. These include a systematic review of the literature, a structured questionnaire survey, action learning, focus group discussions and email surveys. It has to be noted that, although it is impossible to examine the totality of BIM systems, the study adopts a holistic approach looking at most of the major BIM system categories and 122 application examples which are common in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

Integration of BIM and GIS for formal representation of walkability for safe routes to school programs

Safe Routes To School (SRTS) programs improve safety and health conditions as well as reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emissions by encouraging more children to walk to school. Implementation of the programs requires improved infrastructure to create a safe walking environment to school. To achieve this goal, program participants should comprehensively and consistently evaluate the existing walking environments to prioritize the infrastructure required for improvement. However, in current practice, this evaluation process is challenging due to the lack of formal representation of the existing walking environments. To overcome this limitation, our research team developed an ontology required for the Building Information Model (BIM) to consistently and completely provide information about the existing walkability. The team applied this ontology to an elementary school in the United States and visualized the existing walkability by integrating BIM and Geographical Information System (GIS). Based on the visualization result, the team was able to explicitly describe the existing walkability to program participants. Consequently, we highlight that the ontology supports the participants in more consistently and comprehensively evaluating the existing walkability required for implementation of SRTS programs.

Case-based reasoning and BIM systems for asset management

Purpose – The next generation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) seeks to establish the concept of Building Knowledge Modelling (BKM). The current BIM applications in construction, including those for asset management, have been mainly used to ensure consistent information exchange among the stakeholders. However, BKM needs to utilise knowledge management (KM) techniques into building models to advance the use of these systems. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated system to capture, retrieve, and manage information/knowledge for one of the key operations of asset management: building maintenance (BM). Design/methodology/approach – The proposed system consists of two modules; BIM module to capture relevant information and case-based reasoning (CBR) module to capture the operational knowledge of maintenance activities. The structure of the CBR module was based on analysis of a number of interviews and case studies conducted with professionals working in public BM departments. This paper discusses the development of the CBR module and its integration with the BIM module. The case retaining function of the developed system identifies the information/knowledge relevant to maintenance cases and pursues the related affected building elements by these cases. Findings – The paper concludes that CBR as a tool for KM can improve the performance of BIM models. Originality/value – As the research in BKM is still relatively immature, this research takes an advanced step by incorporating the intelligent functions of knowledge systems into BIM-based systems which helps the transformation from the conventional BIM to BKM.

Extending BIM interoperability to preconstruction operations using geospatial analyses and semantic web services

Since the early 2000s, building information modeling (BIM) has been used through the entire project life cycle to facilitate effective project collaboration and integration of data to support project activities. Despite the successful applications of BIM in the design and construction stages, the use of BIM for preconstruction planning has not gained wide acceptance as in other project phases. The integration of BIM and geospatial analyses can offer substantial benefits to manage the planning process during the design and preconstruction stages. However, this integration suffers from a lack of interoperability across the geospatial and BIM domains. Semantic web technology is used in this study to convey meaning, which is interpretable by both construction project participants as well as BIM and geographic information systems (GIS) applications processing the transferred data. To achieve this, we first translate building's elements and GIS data into a semantic web data format. Then we use a set of standardized ontologies for construction operations to integrate and query the heterogeneous spatial and temporal data. Finally, we use a query language to access and acquire the data in semantic web format. Through two scenario examples, the potential usefulness of the proposed methodology is validated.

A survey of current status of and perceived changes required for BIM adoption in the UK

Purpose– Construction organisations are mandated to use Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Government projects from 2016. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current status of the management aspects of BIM.Design/methodology/approach– Following a telephone sift, a web-based questionnaire was conducted with UK construction BIM experts with 92 responses.Findings– This research demonstrates a paradigm shift in construction as operations were deemed more important than the technical aspects of BIM Adoption. Respondents agree with enforced Level 2 BIM, demonstrating client demand is a significant driver on uptake. BIM use will substantially increase in the next five years. Ranking of the importance of current BIM standards indicated BS1192 was most used but almost a third adopted individual standards producing fragmentation. BIM’s effect on consultant fees indicated the need for structural change.Practical implications– Front end design via BIM models and clash detection outweighed the use for facilities management indicating industry were meeting the target but not exploiting BIM to its full potential. Design and build and framework arrangements were the most common BIM procurement routes. Fragmentation of standards use creates a future interoperability problem between BIM systems.Social implications– Design team structure changes are supported with the adoption of a separate BIM manager being popular. Analysis of industry-wide model hosting characteristics indicated individual disciplines managed their own models meaning without an additional target for Level 3 BIM the single model environment is unlikely to be widely adopted.Originality/value– BIM fee structure and procurement are investigated for the first time

The challenges and potentials of utilizing building information modelling in facility management: the case of the Center for Properties and Facilities of the University of Helsinki

Despite the promise of using building information modelling (BIM) during the whole life cycle of a building, there are only few studies of the actual uses of BIM and other information systems in facility management. We contribute to the discussion by analysing the Center for Properties and Facilities of the University of Helsinki. We ask (1) what kind of information tools for facility management the maintenance personnel use; (2) how the design data was handed over in the University’s central library project; and (3) how designers and facility managers find the possibilities of integrating BIM models and maintenance information systems. In the library project, the data was handed over and archived for potential later use. The information for the maintenance manual, however, was collected separately by an outside consultant. The designers thought that models should be simplified to meet the needs of the maintenance. The representatives of the Center did not see that uses of BIM models would provide a significant added value in relation to the potential provided by the maintenance information systems already in use. They found as a possible next step the transfer of some information from BIM models to their facility management and maintenance systems. A partial, stepwise integration of the systems seems to be a realistic way forward.

五軸加工機によるプレカット生産を前提としたツーバイフォー構法のBIMシステムに関する研究

In this paper, we describe a building information modeling (BIM) system implemented to design a two-by-four construction system. In a BIM system, a machining method for processing lumber parts is described using a computer programming language, and the parts’ data are managed by a relational database management system.We examined parts processing using a five-axis CNC machine designed by us; furthermore, we confirmed that the BIM system can control the operation of a five-axis CNC machine with high accuracy.

A Feasibility Study on Occupants' Behaviour and Energy Usage Patterns and Its Potential Integration with Building Information Modelling

Understanding how occupants manage their energy use in homes and how their behaviour influence household energy consumption in domestic environments has been challenging. There seems to be several major factors contributing towards achieving optimal performance in designing, constructing and maintaining a sustainable home using Building Information Modelling (BIM) based approaches. This study focuses on investigating the relationship between user behaviour and energy consumption through the in-depth analysis of energy usage patterns collected from a selected affordable terraced house in Prestwick, Scotland, as an initial attempt towards the future integration with BIM systems. For the purpose of this feasibility study, indoor temperature, relative humidity and CO2 sensors, as well as a gas-electricity-water utility monitor were installed in the selected home occupied by a working class nuclear household. The study encompasses the analyses of energy usage patterns in their daily life. It is confirmed that domestic energy consumption is affected by the occupants' presence and behaviour. Moreover, this paper discusses a possibility that the energy prediction approach taken in this study could work alongside BIM systems applied for housing suppliers' design decision-making on the delivery of energy efficient homes of the future.

토목분야 BIM 적용 사례 분석을 통한 발주자 관점에서의 BIM 발전 전략

Owing to the increase in large and complex construction projects, the design paradigm of architecture and civil engineering projects has changed from 2D CAD to 3D CAD. For this reason, to meet the strong requirements of project contractors, various efforts have been made to adopt a Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology for effective construction management. On the other hand, compared to architectural projects, only a few civil engineering project cases have been conducted in the perspective of public contractors. This is because the characteristics of civil project contractors and the negative pursuit of adopting BIM technology due to the lack of a current BIM system and technologies. Recently, positive changes in adopting BIM technology for public projects were anticipated by public owners, such as the Public Procurement Service and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. In this regard, this study analyzed the current BIM technology status of public owners in Korea to adopt the BIM policies and guidelines of the Korean government. Strategies for adopting BIM technologies for Korean public owners are also discussed based on an analysis of civil engineering BIM project cases.

ICT BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTING BIM IN THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Advances in Information Communication Technology (ICT) have led to the development of more advanced computer management systems in the Australian construction industry, including Building Information Modelling (BIM). BIM is an ICT-enabled approach involving digital representations of building elements and information related to different phases of the building lifecycle, and is used to provide shared information and to form a reliable basis for decision making. Pilot projects and research papers have verified many claims about BIM, and prove a viable economic case, yet uptake of the technology still remains low. A literature review revealed three key productivity gains experienced by BIM use on a construction project: accuracy, communication and time/performance. Four ICT barriers to its implementation were identified as interoperability, funding and resource cost, cultural barriers and perceived risk, and security and protection. Findings on research done on these barriers in Australia reveal that many companies see the benefits for BIM, but believe other disciplines and the client should implement the model. Construction professionals usually work within their field of expertise, with limited interaction with other disciplines, even though many issues on work sites require collaboration from multiple disciplines. A common medium of communication, provided by BIM systems, will achieve this integrated building approach. This paper finds that ICT barriers prevent the Australian construction industry from taking full advantage of potential productivity gains proven in BIM.

Smart-BIM virtual prototype implementation

Abstract Most BIM (Building Information Modelling) systems serve designers well up until now but will have to evolve toward a more user-centered design, focusing on interactive spaces rather than focusing on digital representation. They are lack of information needed in order to create a virtual environment which can interact with users. Such problems will become more prominent in the case of smart spaces where the environment reacts to users' activity. There are no sufficient tools to design and represent real usage of smart space. Achieving this aim, the paper presents Smart-BIM consisting of smart objects which can react to user activities. The created virtual space with Smart-BIM is different from conventional 3D space. Since the resulted space embodies smart objects with the capability of doing certain functions and reacting toward users interaction according to the property sets of objects. A task-based interaction is proposed to apply Smart BIM in a design process. Smart Design systems help end users to experience their daily activity in a virtual environment and understand the space reactions. It can be used as a toolset to improve communications among users and designers in design processes especially in the design of smart environments. Eventually, it is expected that Smart-BIM will lead to match smart technology usability with users' demands. To facilitate further developments of Smart Design systems, a prototyping experiment was done. The prototype application utilizes three typical domestic tasks and several real-time interactions. Scripting the tasks, using smart object managers and using smart home objects make the real-time interactions and system reactions possible. Hence, the prototype gives the opportunity of evaluating users' attitude and expressions toward an interactive and responsive BIM. The results from the first evaluations reveal a positive attitude of users toward the prototype. They also show that when the users can directly execute a task in the virtual model, they can deliver a better comprehension of how smart technologies can be utilized.

Development of a schedule-workspace interference management system simultaneously considering the overlap level of parallel schedules and workspaces

Schedule-workspace interference is generated when workspaces that share parallel schedules and are physically adjacent to one another exist simultaneously. When workspace interference is generated, securing work performance safety is difficult and constructability can deteriorate due to increased collision risk between resources. The objective of this study is to realize an active simulation system based on building information modeling (BIM) after constructing a genetic algorithm (GA) process for an alternative schedule that minimizes the simultaneous interference level of the schedule-workspace. To accomplish this task, the impact factor of workspace interference, which simultaneously considers schedule overlap and adjacency, was analyzed. From the impact factor, an optimized algorithm based on a location-constraint GA that can minimize workspace interference is suggested. The GA visually simulates the optimization level of the execution schedule compared to the initial plan through interlock with four-dimensional (4D) computer-aided design (CAD). A 4D CAD system that can analyze workspace interference by a GA was developed, and for the developed algorithm and system, a case verification was attempted for a railroad construction project. The results show how a simple visualization-oriented BIM system can be extended to an active schedule management system equipped with decision-making functions of workspace analysis.

Interoperability Building Information Modeling and acoustical analysis software—A demonstration of a performance hall design process

By sharing and managing the database for a building model, Building Information Modeling (BIM) facilitates the design process at less cost. Some of BIM software has capabilities for acoustical analysis, but it is limited to noise level demonstration of MEP system in a building. Sophisticated acoustical analysis programs, such as EASE and CATT, provide the useful parameters to determine the sound quality of a space with graphs, A/V systems, material database, and auralization. This research explores how BIM with discipline-specific data reinforced with acoustical information will be beneficial to both architects and acousticians, by allowing them to communicate efficiently. The design process for a performance hall is used to demonstrate how to interoperate between BIM system and acoustical analysis programs. Revit Architecture and EASE program are used as design and analysis tools for for the project. A model is developed to improve the process of embedding acoustic information in BIM and sharing knowledge in an integrated delivery process.

Functional Suitability of BIM Tools in Pre-Construction, Construction and Post-Construction Phases of a Building Project

Managing building projects and communication of information between the stakeholders of the projects is getting collaborative and faster, with the availability of Building Information Modelling (BIM) software system. Numerous BIM systems are offered by various software developers. Each one of these systems provides pre-construction, construction, post construction functionalities or all of them. Some are suitable for architects, contractors, engineers, clients or all of them. Therefore there is a need to develop a systematic approach to evaluate the functional suitability of these systems and guidelines to help the project stakeholders to evaluate the BIM software for their need. This paper presents a study of commonly used BIM systems for their functional suitability for Pre-construction, Construction and Post-construction phases of the Building Project. Various functionalities of these three phases are derived. The relevant functional areas in Pre-construction, Construction and Post-construction are identified. A scoring methodology is presented to rate the BIM systems based on these functionalities. This methodology forms the basic guideline for architects/engineers, general contractor, sub-contractors and facility managers to evaluate functional suitability of BIM systems for their respective functions.

BIM-based Computer-Aided Architectural Design

AbstractComputer-aided architectural design is evolving from CAD(Computer-aided drafting) to BIM(building information modeling), which represents a progression from assisting designers to produce construction drawings to facilitating design plan decision- making and integration of AEC industry teams, which involves the key aspects of information processing and exchange during the design stage. Information processing and exchange during the design stage can be accomplished using a building information model, which can yield the benefits of (1) comprehensive information, no omissions, and inclusion of all information needed for operations; (2) no redundant information; and (3) no mutual contradictions plus effective search and analysis functions. This study analyzes and compares the information processing and integration methods of CAD and BIM systems from the perspective of computer-aided architectural design (CAAD), and proposes that BIM-based CAD can boost the horizontal integration efficiency of coopera...

Knowledge Sharing Strategies for Large Complex Building Projects

Knowledge Sharing Strategies for Large Complex Building Projects

Knowledge Sharing Strategies for Large Complex Building Projects.

Knowledge Sharing Strategies for Large Complex Building Projects.

Knowledge Sharing Strategies for Large Complex Building Projects.

Knowledge Sharing Strategies for Large Complex Building Projects.