Week 4: BIM Will Improve Buildings

          Within recent decades, engineers have abandoned the old ways of using paper drawings, limited by their two-dimensional illustrations, for building design and construction. The new storm sweeping the industry is that of BIM modeling. BIM stands for building information modeling, and they are most effective for the design of advanced, technological buildings. BIM allows designers, from architects to engineers and everyone else involved, to create a full, conceptual model of what the proposed structure will not only look like, but simulate how it will function on a grandiose scale.

          As civilization has progressed and become more advanced, so too have our buildings. Even since the dawn of the skyscraper just about a century ago, our buildings are evolving exponentially with each new level of technology. In this day and age, it is absolutely necessary to facilitate the development of these complex buildings in an organized fashion. BIM allows for that facilitation and organization.

          Terence Alcorn writes in his article,

BIM is a platform that can provide a comprehensive and interactive assembly of the components in a building to create a new type of energy model. As more information is added to BIM for each individual part of the building, BIM becomes increasingly closer to matching the real world building itself.

Here, Alcorn stresses the necessity for creating an accurate ‘preview’ of how the building will operate – not just structurally, but including all of its systems working in unison – interoperability.

          Alcorn continues to make another point later in the article, something I feel like in the past no designers have really put too much emphasis on. He explains how in the past, most designers don’t care about the performance of the buildings past one or two years, they are just designing for the now, and the owners are left abandoned with the maintenance on their own. BIM modeling gives the owner a tangible reference to consult with his maintenance crew and future designers of the buildings that can even outlive the designers, owners, or anyone who worked at the building at the start for 50 to 100 years. BIM is necessary to prolong these highly technological buildings and increase their longevity and efficiency – something that designers have heavily neglected in the past.

Alcorn, Terence. "How BIM Can Improve Building Efficiency." Facilitiesnet. n. page. Print. <http://www.facilitiesnet.com/green/article/How-BIM-Can-Improve-Building-Efficiency--14297

Comments:

Audrey Ryan - Great post Audrey! I really agree that BIM will undoubtedly make buildings more efficient. It's definitely necessary, as you said, for the BIM model to transcend the "ladder of ownership" if you will. Once the designers finish their part, the owner should have something to show future engineers and designers for his building. 

Michael Kilgallon - Well written Mike. I to agree that BIM helps significantly with regards to building efficiency. The ability to model the organization of the systems of a building is vital to maximizing its effectiveness and efficiency. Very good point about different patterns and trends within the building as well. I did not consider that you could gather more future information from BIM.