It seems as though the majority of my classmates who have posted on the blog so far this week have chosen the same topic as me. Ted Bruder strongly feels as though BIM is a helpful application for engineers. Matt Morimoto did an excellent job at highlighting both the positive and negative aspects that BIM has on engineers' work and their wallets. Stephen Bartal touched on the cons of using BIM but decided that the pros far outweighed them.
I decided to focus my post on the cons rather than the pros.
The major issues with engineer's utilizing Building Information Modeling are as follows:
- BIM programs require significant computing power to operate smoothly and to maximize the number of functions they're capable of performing.
- The file sizes are often very large and can be difficult to share with others due to size restrictions and upload times for email and cloud based services. Organizations that use BIM programs often have to purchase a lot of extra hard drive space.
- The learning curve for existing BIM programs is large. Simple projects (like the ones we complete in class) are easy to complete but realistic, full length projects require years of experience using the program to be successful.
- The programs themselves are expensive.
- Models are often delicate. If someone tries to make changes to a complex model and they are inexperienced or incorrect they can severely alter the model and its outputs.
Engineering, Architecture, and Construction firms rely heavily on one major concept: making money. When a firm cannot make money, the firm will cease to exist. For many companies, especially smaller companies with less projects and less employees, investing in BIM software could cripple their firm. The initial investment is large enough in itself; multiple computers capable of running the software at an efficient speed, external hardrives or a large server for storing files, and multiple licenses of the program itself. Autodesk Revit costs $5,775.00 for a single license! [1] After the cost of equipment comes the cost of time. All engineers expected to use the program on a regular basis need to be trained. The time spent training employees is time lost working on money making projects. While large contractors or engineering firms may be able to handle training programs with ease, the thousands of smaller companies who can't afford to lose money and time could actually be hurt by an increased use of BIM in larger firms.
A study conducted at Illinois State University showed that projects that utilize BIM have varying success based on the modeling experience of the team working them. [2] While many of the aspects of projects with design teams that had 5-10 years of BIM experience scored very well, all of the projects worked on design teams with less than two years of experience suffered.
The study reinforces the notion that successful projects that utilize BIM are the result of experience of the design team and that with inexperience, BIM can hurt a project more than help it. Until prices of the software and the computers required to run them decrease significantly, the majority of smaller design and construction firms that attempt to utilize BIM run a large risk of failure by adopting these programs.
Comments on other's posts:
Ted Bruder's Post - (http://ae-510-ay13-14.blogspot.com/2014/01/week-4-blog-post-edward-bruder.html?showComment=1390943873903#c1307551764480024605)
"I like your enthusiasm! The fact that you didn't really touch on the negatives of BIM inspired me to write my post as an antithesis to yours. It was tough. The points you mention in this post really show how beneficial BIM is for engineers. I like how you mentioned BIM's recent transition into 4D modeling, and how a lot of the programs are capable of evaluating aspects of the building life cycle over time."
Ryan Donahue's Post - (http://ae-510-ay13-14.blogspot.com/2014/01/week-4-bim-makes-engineers-work-easier.html?showComment=1390944985505#c5586812948847869318)
Your post is amazing. My favorite part is when you discuss the frustration that comes along with the "adjustment period," when new software is incorporated into the design process of a firm. Many of the older engineers can be resistant to change, and they feel that the introduction to such a new way of doing things is a waste of time. However, you totally hit the nail on the head when you said that after the initial adjustments, BIM can make an engineers job much easier!
Your post is amazing. My favorite part is when you discuss the frustration that comes along with the "adjustment period," when new software is incorporated into the design process of a firm. Many of the older engineers can be resistant to change, and they feel that the introduction to such a new way of doing things is a waste of time. However, you totally hit the nail on the head when you said that after the initial adjustments, BIM can make an engineers job much easier!
References:
[1] Autodesk Store. http://www.autodesk.com/store/revit-architecture?mktvar002=knc_wwm_amer_us_nc_gglpf__revitarchitecture2014__
[2] Eisenmann, Sydney. "Building Information Modeling's Impact on Team Performance." Associated Schools of Construction. 2012. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. <http://ascpro0.ascweb.org/archives/cd/2012/paper/CPRT150002012.pdf>
I thought it was a brilliant idea to explore the cons instead of the pros. I too posted on BIM making the Engineer's Work Easier vs making it harder and found it simple to discuss the positives of BIM compared to the negatives of BIM. It also surprises me that the files are as difficult as you say they are to share between disciplines. I've recently been researching something called revit server that automatically pushes any changes to the project to all disciplines. This would solve the problem of the file size but might slow the computer that the server is installed on.
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