Navetta Design Adds Full Revit® Capabilities

Navetta Design has introduced Revit content files for use with its Symmetra and Symmetra Plus products lines of lecture hall seating. Navetta's design and construction partners can take full advantage of Revit's advanced design and utility for lecture hall or auditorium projects.

Revit building design software is specifically built for Building Information Modeling (BIM), empowering design and construction professionals to bring ideas from concept to construction with an industry-leading, model-based approach. Revit includes features for architectural design, MEP and structural engineering, and construction. Navetta's Revit content makes lecture hall and auditorium planning easier and more precise than ever.

With a few clicks, Revit's full functionality is available:

• Parametric components – Use intelligent building components to improve design accuracy.
• Bidirectional associativity – Any change in your design is automatically reflected throughout your model.
• Worksharing – Multiple users can simultaneously work on the same intelligent building model.
• Construction modeling – Better insight into constructability of building elements.

Navetta's free Revit content allows virtually unlimited options in sophisticated design for lecture halls and auditoriums and is available at NavettaDesign.com/Revit-downloads.

Built from a 40-year heritage of innovative products for schools, Navetta Design offers innovative fixed lecture hall and auditorium seating, ergonomic chairs, and other furniture products for higher education.

The Need to Lead on Water companies & BIM

The need for more leadership and engagement in BIM from water companies was highlighted at the recent British Water BIM Conference says MWH engineering director Andrew Cowell.

This month the second British Water BIM conference in association with MWH brought together over 100 delegates from across the water industry to hear presentations on the theme of 'BIM Today, ALIM Tomorrow, Delivering a TOTEX Future'. Among the important messages to come from the conference was the headine that BIM is changing the construction and infrastructure industries and the water sector needs to engage otherwise the framework for the digital future will be set by rail, energy and highways.

Furthermore water company leadership is required to define the employer’s information requirements (EIRs) and consider standardisation opportunities across water and sewerage companies (WaSCs). The conference highlighted that the supply community is stepping up to deliver BIM and is ready to collaborate with WaSCs in changing the way we work. It was also noted that the regulator can play a part in encouraging the adoption of BIM practices.

Bob Stear, head of research and development at Severn Trent Water, recognised the potential for BIM and encouraged the development of an industry change plan, generating a sense of urgency, creating a vision and identifying implementation steps.

Eddie Launhardt, integrated operations and maintenance business specialise from Scottish Power presented a compelling case study showing how a strong client vision and leadership can deliver value through improved asset information management. Greg Bentley, chief executive of Bentley Systems illustrated how technology is developing to support the total expenditure concept (TOTEX), integrating design and operations data.

BIM can contribute to our TOTEX future of efficiency and improved customer service, however we need to invest in laying the BIM foundations today, which is information and how we manage it. We need to understand what information is required by our water companies. Clear leadership to set strategy and define EIRs is called for. The supply community is gearing up and ready to work with water companies in defining and delivering better information. BIM4Water is also stepping up and has task groups with active participants from across the water sector looking at case studies, standard libraries and guidance.

BIM is a top table issue. UK Government BIM Strategy, Construction 2025 and Digital Built Britain all recognise the urgency of adopting BIM practice in the UK and the value it can give at home and in the export market. Competition in the wrong areas can hinder BIM progress. Examples given included; difficulties for water companies to collaborate to standardise on asset data required; a focus on competitive tendering and 'buying the cheapest of 3' rather than developing long term supplier relationships and standard products. New commercial models are required to incentivise collaborative behaviour and the regulator should consider whether the regulatory environment supports this. There is light at the end of the tunnel, the conference concluded that by working together as an industry we can deliver a BIM enabled TOTEX future.

 Insight from delegate workshops

1. Are we getting engagement and leadership in BIM from Water Companies in order to deliver value to the customer and long term resilience?

• Variable client leadership - some good, some disengaged.

• Employers information requirements and common data environment are required.

• Little evidence of industry level collaboration by clients to standardise.

• More regulator influence on BIM may focus client attention.

2. What is the impact of BIM to the supply community?

• Confusion about what is required by clients, supply chain feels saturated.

• BIM demands early engagement by the supply community, engagement is currently variable.

• Early sight of asset standards and specifications is required.

• Lessons can be learnt and applied from other industries that have been through this already.

• Level of definition needs to be understood by the supply chain. BIM4Water Standard Libraries task group is addressing this issue.

• Knowledge and use of the common data environment for data storage and access is required.

• Understanding of data exchange standards is required.

• Some SMEs are learning quickly and gaining more business.

• BIM supplier assessment form feedback will provide the current supply chain awareness

and capability which will start the process of support, training and improvement.

3. Does BIM help to bring innovation into the water industry integrating asset management,

capital delivery and operations?

• Operations engagement needs to be encouraged.

• BIM is not in competition with asset management, BIM can enhance this with better data.

• BIM brings innovation in existing asset capture, enriching that data.

• BIM is an opportunity to bring various siloed systems together.

• Concern existing owner operators data is poor and gets lost through the lifecycle.

4. Do we need to rethink our commercial and delivery processes to realise the full value of BIM?

• Are engineers scared of standardisation which changes the way we think about design?

• Common standards are required. These standards must allow safe innovation. BIM4Water

should facilitate development of common standards.

• Can software vendors help the process of using neutral data formats?

• Open model carries a risk of ownership and responsibility.

• In some instances procurement is focused on unit cost not long term value and TOTEX, need

to stimulate collaboration, procurement based on ‘cheapest of 3 prices’ is not best value.

5. Does the introduction of BIM align the long term interests of the consumers and the interests of shareholders?

• Standardisation of products, standards and asset data requirements across WaSCs is an efficiency opportunity.

• BIM4Water can help to deliver case studies at an industry level to demonstrate BIM value.

• Change management is required to develop long term thinking.

£50m bid race starts for London hospital BIM project

The £50m redevelopment will be the first health project to achieve BIM maturity level 3, and Sweett Group is playing an active role in developing BIM protocols.

BIM will be used to fully design and tender the scheme, which will then go on to be the first building managed by The Trust using BIM.

A new 100,000 sq ft facility, which will be arranged over 8 floors, will provide flexible diagnostic and day treatments for outpatients.

RCPM have been appointed to act as project managers on the project, which will be built on the former UCL student union site located on Huntley Street, currently occupied by a four storey plus one basement level brick building.

Steffian Bradley Architects have designed the phase 5 project, which is expected to get underway next February and last two years.

Worldwide Adoption of BIM – Popularity in UK, Middle East and Australia

Associate Director of Hi-Tech Outsourcing Services, Bhushan Avsatthi discusses the expanding role of Building Information Modeling in the global commercial building landscape. He compares the uptake of BIM across the UK, the Middle East and Australia, and ties the respective government policy from each of these regions to the speed of this uptake.

He concludes by suggesting that while Australia is behind the UK and Middle East in the world of BIM, and is currently at a plateau in its adoption, the drive from Australian construction companies and architects will eventually see its widespread adoption in the country.  

Building Information Modelling (BIM) can be defined as a set of structured information that associates with corresponding geometry. Using BIM building construction details and project information can be accessed in a highly visual format.

At the core of 3D BIM - Modelling lies a computer generated 3D replica of the building - its design, construction and operation information embedded into it.

BIM has time and again proven its prowess introducing several benefits and efficiencies to a construction project. This has made this technology expedited process, popular across the world. Its adoption and implementation has become the norm, in several large and multi-story building projects, specifically in countries of US, UK and UAE.

Building Information Modelling - A Global Phenomenon

The UK has proposed a mandate for implementing level 2 BIM on all government projects by 2016. The UK government’s BIM program known as BIM level 2 has in fact managed to achieve 20 per cent cost savings for the government procured construction projects. The amount of benefits in terms of higher productivity, better efficiency, improved project control via collaboration and the cost and time efficiencies, that BIM provides, has placed it, at the heart of the construction sector in UK.

The Middle East region at present, poses as the most lucrative landscape for BIM. While Dubai has made BIM mandatory for huge buildings, skyscrapers, mega structures and infrastructure development projects, other regions like Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia are also increasingly adopting and implementing BIM.

In the Middle East there is over $50 billion worth of BIM enabled rail expansion projects proposed. Projects like King Abdullah economic city are also in the pipeline and these are truly mega projects. The King Abdullah project will see a whole new city of two million people  gradually rising from a huge expanse of sandy desert. 

The construction industry in Australia, is still mulling over the decision on whether to mandate BIM or not, while the region showed great progress in adapting to the digital revolution, it is somehow come to a standstill. However, here there lies huge potential for BIM.

The Australian construction industry has a clear understanding of BIM and its benefits for both government and non-government construction projects. We are likely to see a surge in the demand for BIM across the construction industry in Australia.

While we look at the three prime regions in world where BIM has or has the potential to drive development, this is only the tip of the iceberg that is visible. Like we mentioned, BIM has created a place in the heart of the construction industry and its effect will be seen worldwide. As construction companies and architectural firms drive for change, we can expect the adoption and implementation of BIM across every project.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the Malaysian Architecture Industry

For the past quarter century, the architecture profession have seen tremendousdevelopments in skills level, work processes and professional culture with the adoption of digitaltechnologies. Investment in technology has always been to improve effectiveness in practice andincrease performance in the design/build process that yields a return of investment at the end of theday. Today, more and more digital technologies have been developed and created to accommodate thehigh demands of the market over the years, including Building Information Modelling (BIM). Thisresearch paper aims to look into the insight of how architect firms in Malaysia are coping up with theintroduction of BIM in the country. The main approach is by conducting a nationwide survey on allthe architectural firms in Malaysia and the findings will be used as a foundation for further researchon the matter. High quality research is needed to help justify the usage of this new technology withinthe country.

10 Reasons to BIM

1. Better outcomes through collaboration

All project partners – different design disciplines, the customer, contractor, specialists and suppliers – use a single, shared 3D model, cultivating collaborative working relationships. This ensures everyone is focused on achieving best value, from project inception to eventual decommissioning.

2. Enhanced performance

BIM makes possible swift and accurate comparison of different design options, enabling development of more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable solutions.

3. Optimised solutions

Through deployment of new generative modelling technologies, solutions can be cost-effectively optimised against agreed parameters.

4. Greater predictability

Projects can be visualised at an early stage, giving owners and operators a clear idea of design intent and allowing them to modify the design to achieve the outcomes they want. In advance of construction, BIM also enables the project team to ‘build’ the project in a virtual environment, rehearsing complex procedures, optimising temporary works designs and planning procurement of materials, equipment and manpower.

5. Faster project delivery

Time savings, up to 50%, can be achieved by agreeing the design concept early in project development to eliminate late stage design changes; using standard design elements when practicable; resolving complex construction details before the project goes on site; avoiding clashes; taking advantage of intelligence and automation within the model to check design integrity and estimate quantities; producing fabrication and construction drawings from the model; and using data to control construction equipment.

6. Reduced safety risk

Crowd behaviour and fire modelling capability enable designs to be optimised for public safety. Asset managers can use the 3D model to enhance operational safety. Contractors can minimise construction risks by reviewing complex details or procedures before going on site.

7. Fits first time

Integrating multidisciplinary design inputs using a single 3D model allows interface issues to be identified and resolved in advance of construction, eliminating the cost and time impacts of redesign. The model also enables new and existing assets to be integrated seamlessly.

8. Reduced waste

Exact quantity take-offs mean that materials are not over-ordered. Precise programme scheduling enables just-in-time delivery of materials and equipment, reducing potential for damage. Use of BIM for automated fabrication of equipment and components enables more efficient materials handling and waste recovery.

9. Whole life asset management

BIM models contain product information that assists with commissioning, operation and maintenance activities – for example sequences for start-up and shut-down, interactive 3D diagrams showing how to take apart and reassemble equipment items and specifications allowing replacement parts to be ordered.

10. Continual improvement

Members of the project team can feed back information about the performance of processes and items of equipment, driving improvements on subsequent projects

Demand of BIM for Quantity Surveyors on Rise in Middle East

The job of a quantity surveyor is integral to the construction project. A quantity surveyor is partly a legal expert, partly an engineer and partly an architect. The demand for quantity surveyors is on rise in the Middle East.

Consequently the demand of BIM - for quantity surveyors is also on rise. This is because there are several, infrastructural facility development, skyscrapers and high rises development and other such mega projects announced across Middle East. To fulfill the demands and challenges of these projects, it is important to have expert QS professionals on Board.

BIM adoption is gaining immense traction for large projects in UAE, and quantity surveyors are also increasingly depending on BIM. The reason why BIM for quantity surveyors is so popular is because, it makes quantity surveyors job efficient.  

BIM for Quantity Surveyors

While BIM does not alter the basics of traditional quantity survey majorly, it definitely adds efficiency to the quantity survey processes. Efficient and expedited process frees up the quantity surveyor’s time and allows these professionals to concentrate more on adding value to the financial and contractual management of projects across the pre construction, construction and post construction stages.

One of the integral parts of a quantity surveyor’s job is – to prepare scheme designs with detailed specifications and costing and to organize documents for tenders. BIM makes this job responsibility easy and efficient.

• Bills of quantities, is one of the most important aspect of cost management that comes under the job profile of a QS. BIM expedites the production of bills of materials by automating this process. The automation of this activity eliminates traditional takeoffs and reduces human errors.
• BIM 5D also allows extraction of the most accurate quantities that are to be used for cost estimation. As the relationships between costs and quantities – for specific locations and spaces, are identified and communicated, it contributes towards accurate estimation of the total cost of the project. When cost estimators understand the determinants that contribute to the costs thoroughly it enhances their efficiency and competence and hence translates into highly accurate 5D BIM cost estimations.
• BIM model is a digital representation of every aspect of a construction project. When any change is made to the design, it immediately reflects across all aspects and disciplines of the project. It also automatically updates the material quantities and hence the corresponding costs, thus making work of a quantity surveyor easy.

Now as quantity takes offs and consequently the cost estimations are accurate, it helps surveyors formulate competitive bids and tenders. Hence, aided with BIM capabilities quantity surveyors produce work of higher and accurate standards and this translates into desirable project outcomes.

High Demand for New Solutions at BIM World 2015 in Paris

In Paris, March 25-26, BIM World 2015 showcased a global vision of the life cycle, equipment, buildings, urban infrastructure, users, and services. This year’s theme was “Redesigning the Innovation Code.”

The sold-out event attracted broad attendance from architects, designers and contractors, to those from government, other industries, and the general public. Following the 2014 European Directive on the use of digital processes in building information modeling (BIM), there was intense interest at BIM World 2015 in the new technologies being shown and the solutions available.

BIM World 2015 from Dassault Systemes

Many within the AEC industry in France recognize they are late adopting BIM industrialization compared to other countries. Attendees at BIM World in Paris showed high interest in these BIM solutions, driven by the current French housing and economic environment and a need to reduce building costs and increase efficiencies of construction projects.

French Minister Sylvia Pinel

Underscoring the importance of these endeavors, Sylvia Pinel, Minister of Housing, Equality Territories and Rural Affairs opened the roundtable, titled “The French Roadmap for the Digital Transition of Construction,” on Wednesday, 25 March. A digital revolution is taking place in the building industry, and “the term revolution is no exaggeration,” said Pinel.

Popular Discussions

The many sessions and discussions held centered on BIM. It is clear that the building and construction industry in France is ready to adopt this technology. Attendees were actively exploring how to implement BIM and wanted to get into the specifics, such as:

• Return on investment with BIM
• How companies have successfully implemented BIM into their life cycles
• When companies can expect to realize benefits after implementing BIM
• New building efficiency through BIM
• BIM for infrastructure
• BIM as a marketing vehicle for construction and building projects

Solutions for BIM Showcased

Dassault Systèmes was well-positioned at the event. The company brings more than 30 years of knowledge, experience, and outstanding technology solutions from its work around the world and in other industries, such as aerospace, automotive, shipbuilding, and others.

The demonstrations presented at BIM World supported Dassault Systèmes’ reputation for expertise and excellence. Attendees were very excited to see these solutions. There was high demand and interest in how these solutions can help companies become more efficient to accelerate innovation.

Highlighted solutions included:

• Lean Construction Industry Solution Experience –The solution provides a collaboration-based project backbone that enables centralized project and data management, construction simulation for better planning and execution, and the right information to be available to the right people at the right time.
• Façade Design for Fabrication Industry Solution Experience – The solution connects your design data from concept through fabrication for collaborative, industrialized construction.
• Building Energy Efficiency Solution, so called “Smart Building Experience” leveraging Dymola for simulation and Modelica for modeling – This experience showed the 3DS Campus building temperature changing as the sun moves east to west during the day.

“France is now pushing its adoption of BIM, and that came through at this year’s BIM World,” said Marty Doscher, Vice President, AEC Industry, Dassault Systèmes. “The excitement at the event was electric, and the discussions demonstrated a high level of understanding with BIM. We expect to see many more exciting projects in the years ahead!”

Related resources:

Collaborative and Industrialized Construction Solutions

Best Practice White Paper: End-To-End Collaboration Enabled by BIM Level 3

Is BIM Increasing Your ROI? Here Are 4 Ways to Help You Find Out

Anyone familiar with BIM will tell you that moving to an intelligent 3D-modeling workflow requires an investment. But how do you know if you’re getting your money’s worth?

Business-minded people like to calculate return on investment, or ROI. In its simplest form, ROI = (G-C)/C, where G is the gain from your investment and C is the cost you’ve put into it. If the ratio is greater than 1, your investment has turned a profit. If not, it might be time to head back to the drawing board.

It’s not always easy to calculate costs and gains for BIM workflows because there’s more to it than simple spending and fees. You may not be able to come up with a definitive percentage, but with a little analysis, you can start to identify trends. Here are four ways to help determine whether your BIM modeling strategies are paying off.

1. Compare Similar Projects. The most straightforward ROI calculation can be done with projects that share relevant characteristics: square footage, structural system, architectural scheme, even project team members. If you can eliminate or reduce the effect of those variables, then determining your improvement in efficiency can be as simple as comparing the hours spent designing one project in CAD to the hours spent designing essentially the “same” project in BIM.

2. Compare Drafting vs. Design Hours. If your firm has a more eclectic portfolio, you may not have “similar” projects to compare to each other. Instead, you can take a look at your division of labor. On a typical CAD project, what percentage of hours is billed to the engineers/architects/designers, and what percentage goes to the drafters? How does that change when you look at a BIM project? Maybe your modeling time goes up (sometimes way up), but does it save the designers any time? Or maybe your “documentation” time has gone down, because your engineers and architects are able to model more of the project before they turn it over to the drafters. Either way, it could provide valuable insights into your firm’s BIM workflow.

3. Compare Phase Efforts. Almost any BIM sales pitch you’ll hear will claim that it saves money and time during construction. And if it’s done well, that can be true, thanks to the improved documentation and coordination. The flip side of this can be that the design or Construction Documents (CD) phase gets front-loaded with effort that’s normally expended in the Construction Administration (CA) phase. If it looks like your projects are going over budget in CD, take a look at your CA costs. Do you have fewer change orders on your BIM projects? How many RFIs (Requests for Information) are you getting on BIM projects compared to CAD ones? Are you issuing fewer addenda or bulletins for your CD sets? Any reductions to your CA costs, in time or money, can get added to the positive side of your BIM ROI.

4. Go to the Source. Part of your BIM ROI investigation will probably involve projects that went over budget. When that happens, it’s easy to blame BIM—it often involves expensive, complicated software that can cause trouble if it’s not used wisely. But of course, construction projects were going over budget long before even 2D design software. When you analyze your projects, look for factors beyond the software. Were there unforeseen existing conditions that required major design changes? Did the client keep changing the requirements? Was your scope increased without a sufficient change in fee? Were there miscommunications between team members that affected your efficiency? Any of these factors could affect CAD projects too (or hand-drawn ones!), and while they’re important for the overall success of a project, you may need to set them aside to focus on the BIM-specific efficiencies.

BIM can provide plenty of data for you to use to evaluate its effectiveness. Not all ROI calculations will yield a positive number. But by focusing on specific aspects of BIM workflows and eliminating unnecessary information (not by fudging your numbers!), you can find where your efficiencies are and where you have room to improve your return on your BIM investment.

Manifesto BIM Barcelona: 1st BIM Task Group in Spain

From the Manifesto BIM Barcelona that BIM Academy has co-led with CAATEEB, now we start the BIM Working Group.

To this end the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council have decided to set up a BIM Working Group to help implement the culture, values, work methods and digital and electronic technologies needed to train industry, government, research centres, professional groups and academia. The BIM Working Group will take action on:
– What has already been built: the country’s property assets, their functional upgrading, and material and energy intervention
– What is to be built: the processes and requirements to understand, ask for, contract and carry out works in this new building cycle
– And the city: by understanding industrialised construction’s potential to create smart buildings that make up a city and generate a smart geographic area which can be managed efficiently and effectively.

BIM adds value to Wrightington Hospital scheme

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is being applied to the £18m Phase 1 of the redevelopment of Wrightington Hospital by ProCure21+ PSCP Integrated Healthcare Partnership (IHP). The provision of what the PSCP calls “collaborative BIM” will enable the launch of estate and asset management systems capable of handling the complexity of the hospital’s operational requirements.

The provision of BIM on the Wrightington Hospital scheme is part of IHP’s structured programme from design concept to post-completion, supported by Constructing Excellence – the construction industry organisation whose brief is to improve industry performance to produce a better built environment. The project is included in the four-year Cabinet Office programme to reduce capital cost and carbon burden from the construction and operation of the portfolio of Government building projects.

The PSCP is to build upon Constructing Excellence’s Avanti process of collaborative working, and sharing and re-using building information models. In parallel with the design works at Wrightington, IHP analysed the capabilities of the design team and Trust, and established the documentation and protocols in the form of BIM Execution plans. These plans define the uses of BIM on the project, and provide a detailed methodology for executing BIM throughout the project lifecycle. A common documentation numbering convention and collaborative intranet has been established, and this will be adopted across the Trust’s estates, facilitating cross-site planned maintenance programmes.

The BIM plans include electronic project and asset information, documentation and data, and will assist the Trust in its operations for the Wrightington Hospital. IHP’s BIM team manager David Kerr said the Trust will see “improved delivery of the project against cost, time and quality metrics; a focus on value as well as cost efficiency; identification and recording of areas of good practice, and quantification of value for money benefits.” Benefits will be recorded by both the PSCP and Constructing Excellence with the aim of maximising the value added via BIM on future phases of the ProCure21+ scheme.

BIM in Nuclear Decommissioning

When Dutch firm Arcadis acquired Hyder Consulting in October last year, the two companies quickly realised that they needed to have a common building information modelling (BIM) strategy.

Arcadis European BIM business development manager Bram Mommers suggests the ink was barely dry on the deal before he got together with representatives from Hyder - and fellow Arcadis group companies EC Harris and RTKL - to form a European BIM group.

“One week after the acquisition we had our first phone call and right from the start we were collaborating,” says Mommers. “I was afraid that we would have differing opinions and we’d disagree about all kinds of academic stuff, but it hasn’t been a struggle at all and we have found a way to collaborate and make sure we have a common approach to BIM.”

Mommers says the company worked on translating the “very abstract” story about what BIM means for everybody - both for internal teams within the company and for clients further down the line - into something more concrete that could be applied to projects - the Arcadis BIM White Paper. Drawing on some of the definitions of BIM published in Pennsylvania State University’s widely referenced BIM study, the company set about publishing a list of 18 BIM uses to aid implementation.

“We refer to it as our BIM menu,” he says. “It defines the what of BIM. The how is defined in the Arcadis BIM White Paper. To extend the metaphor, our kitchen delivers these dishes using standards like BS1192.”If, for example, you laser scan a structure or building, that is defined as “capturing” on our menu and if we use that information to size the design, we are “sizing”. Those are two of the 18 BIM uses we might use in a project.”

Mommers says the firm is in the process of creating a BIM poster to communicate the 18 uses to its staff and is working on changing its marketing and HR messaging to aid the transition to BIM in the company. It has also set a target to have worked to BIM level 2 on projects right across Europe, transferring the UK mandate and sharing it with all of Arcadis’ global offices.

Hyder principal engineer and BIM manager Ben Harries says: “Like many companies in Europe and the UK, we have some people already at level 2 and we have others who are at level 1. Therefore for us, it’s more about sharing the knowledge rather than teaching from scratch and for that reason it’s more than achievable.”

Mommers adds that Arcadis also wants to have 25% of all projects at level 2 by the end of the year.

“That’s a huge ambition,” he says. “I’m not afraid that we can perform to level 2 BIM, but to deliver 25% of our projects that way is a real ambition.”

Further down the line, of course, there is BIM Level 3 to worry about.

But as the firm moves towards this, it is also finding new applications for BIM. A good example is the way it is “retrofitting” BIM into existing buildings and exploring a niche for the methodology in nuclear decommissioning.

Nuclear decommissioning project manager Jon Dolphin engaged Arcadis to apply BIM to help decommission redundant nuclear facilities and support their ongoing care and maintenance.

His company, Magnox, is responsible for 12 nuclear sites across the UK including Hunterston A in North Ayrshire pictured above. He recently wrote a paper about the potential for the technology in this respect.

“We could talk all day about nuclear generation and using BIM in the design, construction and operation of new build power stations. That’s where a lot of people’s interest will be,” he says. “But nuclear decommissioning is a £3bn part of the industry, which could also benefit from BIM.”

Benefits of BIM for Interior Design

BIM can bring in a host of benefits to interior designers by allowing design visualization loaded with structured information that associates with the corresponding geometry.  It also allows designers, the ability to coordinate, automatically adjust to the document information and make design iterations during the work process irrespective of the scale of a project.

Additionally, BIM can have a vast and voracious array of components, premade parts and libraries of features that can be used by interior designers to build and support their creative efforts.

Besides, designers can also benefit from BIM not only for actual design work but also to store and manage non graphic data. Design documentation plays a critical role in expediting the process of interior design.

Feeding interior design information into BIM can also allow effective cost estimation, asset management, spatial management, placement of furniture and other such aspects pertaining particularly to the interior design activities.

BIM enables better coordination amongst designers and various stakeholders. Besides as it extends higher levels of visualization and virtual design capabilities, interior design process can be started soon after the building structure and architecture is designed and planned. 
Interior designers can also be apprised of any changes in the architectural design and hence immediately make apt changes in their designs and plans to suit the architectural requirements.

Hence Building information modeling and virtual designing actually transforms the process of interior design, especially for large scale projects.

Sustainable BIM paves path for green healthcare facilities

A wave of green building design and sustainability has swept across the construction industry, and it is now becoming more aware of the fact that their contribution will prove to be significant in shaping the future of energy worldwide. The thing about green buildings is that they will help you recover your investments faster than you think. And these benefits will be more visible in complex structures like hospitals and health care facilities where energy consumption is high.

Green hospital building designs across the world:

The Med Health Centre, Dubai - First Green Hospital in UAE

The healthcare facilities star feature is a solar powered hot water system that can heat up 1000 liters per day. The system also collects condensation from AC’s and uses it for irrigation. Besides, nearly 30 percent of the materials for construction were locally produced and 14% recycled content was used.  

Florida Hospital Waterman

The Florida hospital is one of its kinds, and is built - rather interweaved into the rich landscapes that provide a natural habitat to several endangered species of birds. This is the place that redefines holistic healing. The most remarkable feature of this building is that, after a complete bird flight investigation, non-reflective glass has been used to build the exteriors. Hence here man and nature beautifully coexist. The birds can fly their natural helicopter route pattern freely without any hindrance.

Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital

This is a LEED certified Hospital design. The sprawling property across 160 acres of land uses natural light for heating and cooling purposes. The facility also promotes rainwater harvesting and makes the best use of this resource. The 191 bed hospital building is apt for a holistic approach towards healing and houses all the modern facilities for patient care.

The concept of a green hospital design thus, extends beyond just energy and water savings. This is because; today hospitals and healthcare facilities have a more holistic approach towards healing. BIM plays a pivotal role in helping architects and contractors build health care facility that fits into this sustainability philosophy.

Realizing the future of green building design for healthcare facilities via BIM capabilities:

• Lean construction

Lean and BIM are a synergic fit, and BIM directly contributes towards achieving Lean goals, where wastage of time, talent, resources, etc. is curbed. How? By making the construction processes extremely efficient and providing contractors higher control over the workflows. The emphasis lies on performance measurement and performance optimization. Besides, when we talk of lean construction for healthcare facility, streamlining supply chain of materials, reducing overall waste, and delivery cost and time efficiency via efficient design and development is important.

• Building energy analysis

BIM is a great way to understand and analyze energy requirements and its utilization within a facility. A health care facility is occupied by several occupants such as doctors, nurses, backend staff, patients, relatives of patients and volunteers. It also houses several sophisticated equipments that are critical for diagnosis, treatment and healing. Hence the energy requirements of healthcare facility are more critical and higher than any other building.  BIM allows experts to inspect and analyze the building energy consumption and seek opportunities to optimize the building design to reduce the energy requirement. 

• NZEB wave

Energy resources are dwindling fast and the entire world is experiencing energy crunch. In such a scenario, it is very important to shift to renewable resources and fulfill energy requirements from them. Architects and engineers are increasingly focusing on developing buildings that are self-reliant for their energy needs. The concept of NZEB germinated from this idea. NZEB i.ee net zero energy building is the one that produces as much energy as it utilizes. BIM supports this concept and aids in designing buildings that are greener and take the concept of sustainability to a higher level.

• Energy certifications

Hospital buildings are more complex; they require more energy and generate more waste than any average commercial or residential building. These buildings need several approvals and certifications to be deemed fit for healthcare and to be deemed as green buildings. BIM plays a significant role here. BIM provides a complete documentation of the energy requirements, energy consumption, waste management etc. and hence imparts higher level of transparency for the regulatory body. This integrated project delivery model is allows regulatory agencies to gain all information about energy utilization in a building and also helps in verification of building energy codes.

Skanska: The benefits of BIM

Skanska is an industry-leader in using building information modelling (BIM). Our award winning approach has been recognised throughout the sector. We have a range of renowned experts, who can help clients to get the most out of BIM on projects.

BIM is a game changer. It’s about more than just 3D models. It can help make projects be more efficient, reduce faults and enables everyone – including the client – to work more collaboratively. It’s also about data, and using that information to make it easier to construct and maintain buildings and infrastructure.

We’re produced a short video, which shows some of the benefits of using BIM.

Building Mega Structures across UAE Skyline – New Era of BIM Efficacy

Building information modeling is no more the wonder word that the construction industry raved about. Today BIM has become vernacular of professionals working on building design and construction projects for large buildings and complex structures.

The question that construction firms are asking is not about whether to implement BIM or not, now it is all about how it will be executed. The industry has now accepted – rather BIM has time and again proven, that it is the most efficient technology expedited process that helps manage the full lifecycle of a building in the most efficient manner.

The Fall and Rise of Construction Industry in UAE                                                       

The real estate and construction industry in UAE nosedived during the global financial crisis period in 2009. The industry however, is now past that struggle period and is advancing towards a new era of building design and construction.

The UAE construction market is predicted to return to near full capacity with full-fledged adoption of BIM. In Dubai alone, megaprojects worth billions are estimated to be delivered by 2020.

Some of the Most Dynamic Mega Projects in UAE like the Abu Dhabi International Airport’s Midfield terminal building, the Doha Metro and Jeddah’s 1Km tall Kingdom tower; have adopted BIM.

Extracting full benefits of BIM

BIM adoption and its implementation, however is not easily done as said. There are several challenges that may hamper its effective implementation and hence impede the extraction of full benefits from BIM.

Hiring BIM experts can help firms implement BIM across their project lifecycle for construction design and planning, time scheduling, cost estimation, sustainability and facility management, hence extract the full range of benefits BIM offers.

Employers Information Requirements and BIM projects

There is less than one year to go until the 2016 UK government mandate, requiring all centrally procured construction projects to be delivered using BIM (building information modelling). Architects, engineers, contractors and suppliers to this sector are having to rapidly upskill, in order to deliver projects to the required standard PAS1192-2:2013 (specification for information management for the capital/delivery phase of construction projects).

But even if you do not work in the UK public sector, both public and private clients here in Ireland are also beginning to make BIM a requirement under this standard. To remain competitive and relevant, companies have to understand their role in a BIM process.

It is important not to see BIM as something extra that you simply add on to a traditional design-management process, but rather as an alternative methodology – a far better and more sophisticated way to produce, manage and exchange project information. BIM is a process carried out within a digital 3D object-based modelling environment, where each object in the virtual building assembled in software represents a real-life building component, and these objects act as the primary placeholder for vital information about that component.

Multiple traditional drawing and schedule documents can be derived/output from these models, but the usefulness of BIM, as an approach, is that all the information is captured in one place – and, if a change is required, all the information is managed in one place, so that all documents can be kept coordinated and up to date. This brings about enormous efficiencies in creating, managing and exchanging information and avoids the duplication of effort associated with the traditional exchange of paper-based information.

Extended BIM and why employers want it

The ability to view, navigate and explore all the project information in this data-rich 3D building model, gives every stakeholder a much better understanding of what is being proposed, and how it will fit and work together, facilitating far better communication, decision making and sign-off, for a much more efficient and effective design coordination process. The ability to analyse these digital models, with software for structural performance, energy performance, quantity take-off, clash detection and programme sequencing, gives the team the ability to optimise design solutions, reduce uncertainty and risk, and help better inform the client and other stakeholders.

Lastly, the process of gathering and managing vital information about the building assets in this digital environment, for both design and construction process, ensures that this information will be available to the facilities management team at handover, in a useful format to bring into their operational systems.

One of the main reasons the UK government, as a client, is demanding BIM is to gain significant benefits of cost, value and building performance, and improve the way projects are procured. It is about government clients becoming better informed – and better at procuring both the physical infrastructure and the information that facilitates its development and ongoing operations. It is no wonder, therefore, that a key component of the PAS1192-2 process is the Employers Information Requirements (EIR), a document that should clearly define the information about the built asset being procured and the process for information development, management and delivery during the project work stages.

This is something new for construction clients, who may be used to describing the physical functions and features of the building they want, but not being experts in information management, may find it difficult to describe their information requirements. This was less of an issue in the traditional paper-based environment in which the construction industry is used to working. Clients trusted their design and construction teams to produce and deliver the information required to build and operate their facility as printed drawings, specifications, schedules, reports etc. As long as the printed documents conveyed the right information, it did not really matter what method or standard was used in the background to create that information. As long as they could print it and read it, that was fine.

BIM Set To Transform UAE Real Estate Landscapes

The introduction of BIM is widely transforming the construction practices and project management in UAE and Middle East. UAE specifically leads in the adoption of BIM software as a design tool and construction management software. It boasts of and has unique and ever innovative buildings. One of the most populous and a metropolitan city in UAE is DUBAI.

DUBAI authorities have made the use of BIM (building information modeling) mandatory for all large-scale building design and construction projects. The decision is welcomed by contractors and developers, and will prove to be critical in improving the quality of buildings across the city.

Dubai is the fastest growing city in the world. From a land of desserts, it has today, emerged into a glittering city of buildings with maximum number of skyscrapers lined across the horizon.  The city now dreams of delivering multi-billion mega projects by 2020.

It is estimated that the contracts to build airports, roads, seaports and other such infrastructural facilities in Dubai, may exceed the mark of $30 billion while the construction segment will grow at the rate of 5.1% annually, until 2016.

However, the main factor hampering realization of these dreams was - the lax project management regulations. This not only led to delays and budget overspends but also led to construction of substandard buildings. As a result; in order to ensure that all construction projects are well managed and completed on time, in November 2013 - Dubai authorities, announced that the use of Building information modeling software as mandatory for all large scale projects.

As BIM technology for architecture and MEP works became mandatory for all buildings that are 40 storey or more, and those that are larger than 300,000 square feet, (this includes all types of residential and commercial properties, hospitals, universities and other specialized buildings) it seems that this has marked the new age of high tech construction and technology expedited construction process and planning.

Dubai has whole heartedly embraced BIM and is bracing up to the new era of building design and construction. This was marked by the fourth BIM breakfast event that took place on 17th of February this year.

Fourth BIM breakfast Held in Dubai

The Fourth BIM breakfast event was held at JW Marriot Marquis Hotel in Dubai and was attended by more than 100 professionals from the AEC industry.

The main topic of discussion was ‘practical applications of 3D design technology’. It was also discussed How BIM has ceased to be just about modeling and it more about management and mobility. The members discussed how today BIM is not just for the design team, it has paved way for extensive collaboration possibilities.