BIM Reading - 2

The assigned reading was the remaining part of Chapter 2 from BIM Handbook. The first section discussed different capabilities within BIM tools such as user interface, drawing generation, ease of developing custom parametric objects, scalability, interoperability, extensibility, complex curved surface modeling, and multi-user environment. It describes each property by defining them and explaining what kind of abilities they offer. The reading also compares different BIM tools like Revit, Bentley Systems, ArchiCAD, Digital Project, AutoCAD - based Applications, Tekla Structures, and DProfiler by their history, capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. It is very informative in terms of learning about different BIM tools used today and which one has what kind of advantage over another. 

The first article I read "BIM at Its Best" looks at BIM tools from the perspective of contractors. According to an McGraw-Hill Construction survey of  Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) to see returns on investment from using BIM, a third of members using BIM to track returns on investment reported more than 100% return. The author reports that with returns like that the technology is gaining more use and now contractors are getting serious benefits when compared to a few years earlier. He gives some examples from members of AGC who have been using BIM tools in their projects and the benefits look great. In one project, Gilbane Building Co. says they received nearly 1,500% return on BIM investment. They made nearly $1.09 million in savings and spent $69,000 in BIM-related expense, detected 1,445 clashes before going to the field. The anticipated amount of requests for information went down by 43% and the field hours were reduced by 15%. The author shows another reward of BIM for contractors as the ease of data sharing between different firms in a project which saves on time, budget, and the number of people. I think the article is important in terms of seeing specific examples of contractors using BIM, making big savings and seeing the returns on investments from using BIM in their projects.

The second article I read "Pushing the Technology Envelope" gives a brief definition of BIM, how it works and how it helps. The author emphasizes the clash detection ability of BIM which detects possible conflicts during placement, scheduling, etc. and makes it possible to avoid them before starting the construction. He also mentions that BIM helps owners about making investments by allowing them to calculate and see short- and long-term cost and value analysis. The author generally focuses on the reasons holding back the majority of the concrete contractors from using BIM tools. He reports that only 10% to 20% of concrete contractors have  used BIM software. The reasons according to him and a contractor are BIM having been developed and marketed more generally designing purposes for architects and engineers than contractors. Additionally, the third dimension is not that important for concrete layout. Other reasons are the lack of allowable tolerances available for concrete, and too many number of variables in concrete design. The contractor also states that despite these factors, within 5 years BIM will differentiate the contractors. The article also talks about one new and one experienced users and gives their experiences with BIM. It was a good reading to learn about mainly concrete contractors part of the field. I didn't know nearly anything about BIM before the class and after reading other articles and lectures I was thinking BIM has really started ruling the field but it appears there are and will be some parts who  are behind the technology.