I should re-tract some of my statements about the assigned reading, concerning its general tone and lack of information of the different BIM platform. This week’s reading assignment covered all of the shortcomings I listed last week, making BIM Handbook, Chapter 2 an excellent introductory source in the world of BIM. What I read might be slightly different from the rest of the students, because I am reading 2nd edition of BIM Handbook, instead of the 1st edition, which is referenced in the assigned reading. 2nd edition references more recent releases of each BIM platform, such as Revit 2011, and ArchiCAD 14. I especially appreciate author’s extensive research and listing of the compatibility concerns between different platforms, including the list of compatibility formats (IFC, Dir, PDF, DXF, etc.). Before completing this assignment, I believed I knew of majority BIM platforms. After reading this chapter, I realized how ignorant I really was. There are many more BIM platforms worthy investigating, such as Tekla Structures, which seems to be compatible with the most of other formats available, or DProfiler, which is linked with RS Means database for cost estimating. In the most common BIM platform, Revit, which I know pretty well, there is an option to manually associate cost with objects in the models, but it would be nice if those values would default to RS Means based values, with an ability to be overwritten, if needed. Another valid point brought up by the article was scalability of the model. I did not realize that there was a difference in terms of “in-memory system” (like Revit) versus “file-based system” (like Bentley). Of course, all such the advantages come at cost – primarily learning curve cost. I believe it will take a lot more time for easy to learn programs, like Revit, to evolve and encompass all of the positive benefits other platforms can offer.
This new technology raises some questions, in particular, which direction will education as well as AEC industry will take with emerging BIM capabilities and adaptation. The two articles I chose address these concerns:
The first article is a fairly recent one (published in July, 2011), and it discusses the current status of BIM within AEC industry, and concludes with some future challenges. Based on several surveys, it seems that BIM adaptation is a much slower process than anticipated, but at the same time it is understandable for several reasons. There are not enough publications and studies spelling out the financial benefit of BIM, therefore major stakeholders are reluctant in investing in BIM at a premium cost. This article presents a number of case studies indicating an actual financial benefit in BIM modeling in all stages of the project. Another concern is the lack of qualified BIM users to support the transition. The primary future challenge outlined in the article is the same concern that last week’s presenter in class stated – legal responsibility of the model and information within the model. The article suggests, that legal responsibilities should be outlined in the contract documents before any work is started.
The second article deals with the lack of qualified BIM experts. It conducted several surveys in two separate groups – industry professional and college students. The primary goal was to establish most relevant research topic to gear up academia and future industry professional with the right knowledge and skill sets. It was interesting to read that there were different priorities in research topics between the two groups. For example, AEC professional believe the most important aspect of BIM is “Building Information and Technology”, while AEC Students believe that it is “BIM for Sustainable Design/ Construction”. This article identified several important research areas relating BIM and AEC industry, based on the input from both groups. It was concluded, that for the AEC industry to continue to move forward and become increasingly more efficient, both BIM and sustainable design education has to be emphasized in early undergraduate courses for Architecture, engineering, and construction management majors.
I agree with you about being ignorant to how many BIM platforms there are. Before reading this week’s assigned reading I had no idea that there were as many as there were and what each one's different capabilities were. I also find the information that you found about the lack of qualified BIM experts to be interesting. One thing that I read said that the newer people entering the field would be much more in-tune with the technology aspect of the design processes, but due to lack of experience would not be as efficient in creating buildings and models. This is an interesting idea and it seemed to me to relate to your article about the lack of BIM experts.
ReplyDeleteMany of the articles I have read expressed the same point you noted in the first article you read, that there are not enough publications detailing how owners and stakeholders can benefit financially from BIM and that the up front cost seems to steep an investment to make. On of the articles I read also provided case studies to prove that it is financially a smart move for a building owner to make. I think it is going to take a lot of convincing to get building owners to invest in BIM and for that to happen the engineering/construction industry needs to provide more examples in reports and publications that explain the financial aspects of BIM, rather than just the technical properties.
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