BIM will Improve Buildings

BIM applications have become very popular in the field of architectural and civil engineering over the years. Programs such as Revit can be seen in most major AE firms throughout the world due to the benefits that the program provides. BIM is a digital representation of a building that exceeds any drafting software to date. While this technology is very powerful and has many advantages, there are risks associated. This blog post intends to determine whether BIM improves the quality of building design and functionality, or causes harm to the project.

 The benefits to properly utilizing a BIM application in building design are numerous. BIM software is able to model the properly model a building's geometry that portrays a more clear image. Esther mentions parametric modeling in her post, which is a function that will save engineers and drafters valuable time that can go into building design. Corners will not be cut because it is too difficult and time consuming to change the thickness of a wall during the final stages of design. Also BIM is not restricted to the design phase of a building. BIM is utilized for construction management, cost estimating and facilities management. Being able to perform these functions in one platform will allow more effective buildings to be designed.(Azhar 2008) Michael K. mentioned in his post how BIM can determine energy trends in buildings. These monitored trends will then be used to make the building and futures more energy efficient. Buildings will be able to last longer with constantly monitored health and the data will be easier to access with the information all on one platform.

Utilizing BIM also saves firms thousands of dollars. Table one is a case study from 10 different firms in which BIM has saved a huge amount of money. If the utilization of BIM becomes more mainstream and efficient, the amount of savings will only increase. Money and time can then be diverted to other tasks such as providing a more efficient HVAC or MEP plan.

Table 1: Representation of return on investment of BIM. (Azhar 2008)

The use of BIM does provide some risks however. The biggest and most influential problem with BIM concerns liability and responsibility. Due to BIM integrating all of the project data into one platform, the origination of design errors will be more difficult to place(Thompson 2007). No one will gladly except a lawsuit even if they know it there fault. This "blur" of the lines of responsibility could potentially lead to more carelessness due to those responsible knowing they may get away with it. (Azhar 2008)

While BIM does have challenges that it needs to overcome, it does not diminish the impact it has had on the industry. BIM has greatly improved the efficiency of the design process and improved communication between different firms and consultants.(Thompson 2007) With time, BIM may completely abolish software such as 2-D CAD drafting due to the numerous benefits it provides to building design. Buildings will be designed quicker and overall more efficiently through the use of BIM.



Azhar, Salman, Michael Hein, and Blake Sketo. "Building information modeling (BIM): Benefits, risks and challenges." Proceedings of the 44th ASC National Conference. 2008.

Thompson, D. B., and Ryan G. Miner. "Building information modeling-BIM: Contractual risks are changing with technology." WWW document] URL http://www. aepronet. org/ge/no35. html (2007).