Diverse Uses for BIM

Diverse Uses for BIM

One of the benefits of using BIM is improved communication and collaboration between extended design teams. This is true whether BIM is being used to design healthcare facilities, schools, or energy efficient office buildings.  The suitability of BIM across various industries has been proven.

BIM can be used to detect design problems early in the process, preventing costly mistakes further into the building project.  It helps in displaying exhaustive lists of operational and conceptual ingredients that are involved in the setting and functioning of complex industrial settings.

Understanding the way in which BIM solutions function in an integrated manner and provide comprehensive solutions for building designing, maintenance, and operability, can streamline construction costs and operational procedures along with improving building performance.

Why is BIM so effective?

BIM acts as a single-information resource for the entire project and supports all personnel who can access the BIM applications. This integration of information is made possible through involving 3-D models of the building plans, the ’as-built facility,’ as well as data related to subsequent building upgrades or for conceptualizing ways of solving problems that may be encountered once the building is put to use.  Therefore, BIM becomes a way to virtualize construction, design, and management of a building throughout the life cycle of the building. A standard BIM database would include:

• Detailed drawings, including 3D presentations

• Spreadsheets containing cost information

• Descriptions and visualizations of structural components

• Building maintenance information and safety checks

• Department layouts and Information

• Management updates

• Compatibility issues for proposed alterations in the building design

While BIM is primarily considered as a design/build solution, as a software application it can be used as a powerful building management tool.  This is particularly important in industries that may not readily share information across various departments. By involving not only construction but building management staff and day to day administrators of building care, the BIM modeling process becomes more comprehensive. BIM’s collaborative platform is remarkably effective in resolving issues that can directly affect a building’s performance, as possible inconsistencies can be easily pointed out.  In this way, BIM can often be used as an affordable and effective resource to improve business operations through effective building management.

Example of Uses for BIM

BIM and Energy Analysis – While the architects and engineers work on the conceptual design of the building, the energy model will be created as a separate

model. Because the architectural/engineering models will be continuously changing and becoming more complex as the design advances, the energy model cannot be made directly from the architectural design model and needs to be kept separate.

The energy model is built for analysis which requires “airtight” spaces. The methods of modeling the energy model may result in a model that does not visually look like the actual design but provides the correct information for the analysis to be done. For example, energy analysis programs can have difficulty with curved surfaces; a curved shading device may have to be split up into multiple small rectangular pieces

BIM and Health Facility Design – Many design-related issues enter into the design of a healthcare facility.  These may include the amount of natural light entering the interior space, temperature regulation, airflow and other design elements that are critical when the occupants of the facility are patients battling with health disorders. Every hospital, medical research center, and private clinic presents a plethora of designing issues that are hard to solve using conventional designing methodologies. The need for every building component performing to its efficient best rises significantly among healthcare establishments, since providing medical care often means directly influencing an individual’s chances of survival.  BIM models provided virtualized models that can be easily changed in the design stage to maximize the efficiency of the design and minimize costly building errors.

These are just two examples of the effectiveness of BIM services in building design, construction, and management.