R4 - BIM

This week, we further explored the topic of BIM by finishing up chapter 2 of the BIM handbook. This section compared the different BIM software suites and how they operate. In this section, the author(s) stress the importance of the user interface. The user interface changes from system to system. A comfortable Revit user will have to reacquaint themselves with the interfaces used in other systems such as ArchiCAD. It is apparent that each system offers different benefits, and that some may not be suitable for all. For example, Bentley Architecture has a steeper learning curve. The section also explains how BIM is a much better option than standard CAD in the AEC industry. For the other 2 articles, I first looked at ‘An Industry View – The true benefits of Revit Architecture’. I also looked at an article about introducing BIM into education titled ‘New Wave of BIM Modeling - Education pushes the paradigm into practice’.

The first article explains why switching over to Revit, from traditional practices, is worth the initial trouble. It is somewhat of an extension to the information in the BIM handbook about Revit. The author believes that Autodesk’s Revit software will “improve your efficiency and turnover”. To support this argument, a couple important aspects of Revit are looked at further: scheduling and drawing/sheet set-ups. Revit removes the margin for error in the scheduling process. Traditionally, a professional would have to trust their own counts for a specific object, but, with Revit, this process is removed. The schedules are almost automatically fully generated, with some user input, and take the information from the actual model. Not only can the user format the schedules to their liking, but counts are automatically updated if objects are added or removed. Another added benefit of Revit is how drawings & sheets are set-up. Before BIM, the process to create a section or elevation could take days with the traditional 2D CAD software; whereas, this process is shortened in Revit.

The second article looks at how BIM is being brought into education. There have been a number of universities that collaborated on the topic, such as California Polytechnic State University, University of Oklahoma (OU), and Auburn University. Representatives from the universities shared insight, at the EcoBuild conference, on their BIM curriculums and examined how beneficial the use of BIM in education actually is. The panel of educators found that, generally, a few challenges arose. These challenges specifically dealt with the communication between team members and between different software applications. In dealing with BIM curriculums, the panel also found that organizational behavior of student teams was “critical to achieving project success”. In other words, to fully integrate BIM into curriculums, students must properly collaborate on projects. The article also explores the idea of BIM’s affect on professionals in the future, suggesting that the current “adversarial culture” will transform into a “collaborative culture”. I find it interesting that the introduction of BIM will change the way professionals interact.

I learned a great deal about BIM in the reading this week such as the differences between software suites. I thought that the most interesting topic was the article on introducing BIM into education. We can relate to it here at Drexel, because many of the courses are beginning to utilize BIM to the extent that the article describes.