Week 4 - BIM Makes Engineer's Work Easier vs. Harder

The topic I chose to discuss in this week's blog post is whether BIM tools make the engineer's work easier versus making their work harder. There are several scenarios and thought processes that this topic can inspire and I decided to briefly discuss a few of them using two sources as well as personal experiences.

In order to make the determination of whether BIM tools make an engineer's work easier or harder, we must first understand what BIM is and what its advantages and disadvantages are. The source I’ve used for these comparisons is from Precise Drafting, Inc. In a simplistic manner, they list 4 advantages to BIM and 4 disadvantages.

The advantages are:

• 3D views
• easy changes
• coordinated drawings
• material takeoffs

The disadvantages are:

• requires more input effort but outputs greater quality
• since changes are so easy, clients desire changes often and sometimes late in the design process, resulting in larger costs
• uses extremely large file sizes and also requires higher computing power and hardware to often efficiently
• poor compatibility across software

As many students in this course realize from their use of BIM tools, the advantages list can be even more broadly expanded to all of the great features available. However, it is hard to overlook one of the disadvantages. Like I stated in my previous blog post, it is my personal experience from co-ops that the user input effort required by BIM software such as Revit is astronomical compared with drafting in, say, AutoCAD. From a practicing engineer’s standpoint, they have probably used AutoCAD daily for the majority of their entire career and they are very familiar and comfortable with its functions, shortcuts, and interface. However, with BIM technology advancing and finally being implemented at design firms (during my co-op), many engineers struggled with using these new tools. Most everything about it is vastly different and it requires a potentially long adjustment period. Coupled with poor compatibility across other software, these disadvantages are major and must be considered when deciding whether an engineer’s work becomes easier or harder thanks to BIM.

My other source, a report from Auburn University, describes the recent attention BIM has received from the A/E/C community and its influences. From the business side of engineering, BIM allows for over 9000% ROI per this report's case studies. That means bigger revenues are generated and the opportunities for more work also likely increases as well. In a study that was included in the report, the following two conclusions were drawn:

• “Approximately 70% of the industry participants indicated that they are either using or considering using BIM in their companies. This trend indicates that the BIM utilization in the construction industry is going to increase.”
• “Approximately 75% of survey participants consider employment candidates with BIM skills to have an advantage over candidates who lack BIM knowledge.”

From this, it can be deduced that firms realize the benefits and are mostly all using BIM tools at their companies. These same companies see it as vitally important that employees have BIM skills and experience.

Considering other students’ posts, I looked at Ivan’s post, Teddy's post, and Audrey's post. In these posts, they depict the benefits of BIM including its ability to track changes and even allow for coordinated drawings where those changes are made in more than one facet of the model. This allows for more ease in making adjustments to the design when compared to 2D modeling tools such as AutoCAD. Their posts also discuss the impact of BIM on building designs and how advanced designs are being achieved by utilizing the advantages of BIM tools. Teddy also uses his beliefs and experiences to portray the key differences and defend his conclusion about whether it is easier or harder.

Conclusion:

After considering my two sources, other students’ posts, and my personal experiences, I can conclude that ultimately, an engineer’s work is made easier, but only after the adjustment period to BIM tools is completed. Unless the employees have prior computer skills, this adjustment period is imperative to the rate of work and quality of work by that firm. Once completed, however, it is without question that I can say that the engineer’s work will be made easier, more efficient, and like some of my classmates have stated like Audrey, it will allow for advanced designs.

Comments:

 - On Ivan's post:
Ivan, great post! I really like how you compare and contrast BIM and CAD drafting tools by taking a look at what each does well and what each lacks in. Although a different topic, I too looked into the advantages and disadvantages to BIM. I also really liked in your second paragraph how you discussed how CAD operates in regards to simply mating two objects or lines, etc. Like you say, this leaves out a lot of design in regards to the connections, true spacing, and how everything truly interacts. Revit, on the other hand, is so precise that it requires at least some restrictions and knowledge in this design area, which can be good and bad, depending on the situation.

 - On Audrey's post:
Great work on your post Audrey. I like how you took your topic into how BIM help to make buildings go greener. Sustainability, its awareness, and its design features are a facet of engineering that is growing at a rapid pace and when I read the topic, I did not initially think of it. However, you bring up some excellent points and raised my awareness of BIM benefits in this field.

Feedback for Professor Mitchell:
I strongly feel that using the post and posting the materials and clearly posting what was expected the following week was a great way of dealing with the snow day and loss of class. It was effective and we were still able to continue moving forward with class despite the lost day.

Resources:

1.  Azhar, Salman, Michael Hein, and Blake Sketo. Building Information Modeling (BIM): Benefits, Risks and Challenges. Rep. Auburn University, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.

2.  "What Is BIM?" Precise Drafting, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. <http://www.precisedraftinginc.com/bim.html>.