Digital Vision Blog

Reactive vs Proactive Approach for 5D Models

2009-10-19T20:41:22+00:00

While the use of Building Information Models is getting more and more popular, it seems that the full advantage of using the model-based approach for informed decision making when it comes to cost planning and scheduling has yet to be experienced. In my opinion, the reason for this is that many building models are created with a “hit-and-run” approach: Building Information Models are created for projects without considering what the desired output should be.

The models that are created this way can be great for visualization and maybe even for coordination. But, because there is no defined set of requirements before the modeling work takes off, may be useless for estimating and scheduling…

Why is that?

It all comes down to quantities. It’s the construction-caliber quantities that drive the estimate and the (integrated) estimate and schedule and when some of the quantities that are needed are not available, the “5D Mission” fails: only some of the quantities extracted from the model are useful. Some quantities are too detailed for the stage of the project, other quantities are simply missing. The only use for the model for estimating purposes in this case is to find opportunities to find model-based quantities that happen to be useful. I call this the “reactive approach:” trying to find some good use for the model that was created when it’s done.

There’s a simple remedy for missing the opportunity to extract quantities from models that do match the requirements at a certain stage in your project. At Vico, we call that remedy the Content Plan. The Content Plan is nothing else than a document that captures the information needs of all of the members of the project team for the deliverable at a certain stage in the project. (Think of it as a model progression specification for only one stage of the project.) When the project team gets together to define these goals before the model gets built, it is much easier to build something that fits and really turns into a tool that helps your team make those important decisions.

BIM, 5D

Attitude and Perception: Key Factors in Successful BIM Transitioning

2009-09-29T23:23:00+00:00

As Director of Technology at an Architecture and Planning firm, I was responsible for developing and maintaining office processes. Initially I was hired as a contractor to help complete one specific project in ArchiCAD. The firm deserves recognition for jumping in feet first! They did what most firms do… buy and go through the 3-day basic training package. They then considered themselves ready to tackle a billable project on their own; quite impressive.

I have seen several firms take the transition as far as training and then ultimately decide that they are not ready to do a project in BIM and so it collects dust in their programs folder. The purpose of this post is to call attention to the response that I noticed from the employees and how their attitudes affected the transition. As a result of walking into a transition mid-way through, losing the majority of the staff associated with the initial transition and then having to start all over with new staff, I have noticed a couple things that might help the next firm transition.

1) Create office standards and processes for BIM and then test them for efficiency BEFORE they are implemented into the general project processes. A majority of these standards should be identified prior to starting the first project. When people are learning something new, frustration comes easy and to give them a broken process only elevates the frustration.

2) Document the processes and create a way for everyone to have access to it. Encouraging staff to use these tutorials is as simple as responding to their ‘how do I…?’ question with ‘What does the office manual say to do?’ This document is a dynamic book and the correct expectation needs to be set in order to limit negativity in the form of comments such as ‘everything is always changing, how do you expect us to accomplish anything?’.

3) Set up a way to have weekly training sessions. Sometimes it is appropriate to have a general Q&A session. This training time CANNOT be sacrificed. Not just because your staff is learning but because this creates the perception on behalf of the staff that senior staff supports them in this effort and wants to help them succeed. No meetings, no clients, not anything should conflict with this reoccurring session.

4) Establish bench marks for your staff to meet and reward them when set benchmarks are met. The most crucial part of a learning process is the student recognizing they are learning or have learned something new. Rewarding them accomplishes this. This eliminates the feeling of ‘spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere’ because the employee has been recognized and awarded for getting somewhere.

5) Finally, seamless communication is necessary from the top down. Create a unified front and a go-to person for this process so that employees aren’t finding themselves getting different direction from different people and becoming frustrated by the question ‘whose advice do we follow?’

The key to a successful transition lies in the attitudes of the staff that are making the transition. It is all about their perception; and if efforts are taken prior to the start of the transition to ensure that their perception is positive then the office will transition quicker and more effectively.

BIM

BIM is a Process

2009-09-22T21:38:47+00:00

In the last couple years of the BIM transition, I have come across several interesting misconceptions among the general AEC population about the abilities and potential of the BIM process. One misconception in particular is that a software, one tool, is a full BIM solution. It is as though the AEC industry wants to ‘get rich quick’ and avoid the effort and thought behind developing their own process. In the last year several platforms have noticed a weak point in regards to the BIM process and have tried to prove that they have the solution. This one weak point is that of Lifecycle Management. Software vendors have begun to tout that their platform can manage the lifecycle of the building effectively, simplistically, and of course better than any other platform. Asset management and other aspects of facility management is easy! They call attention to their IFC and XML format capabilities and claim that therein lies the secret and that is all you need. What has been even more interesting is that Architects, Engineers and Contractors that have not taken the time to become as familiar with BIM as they need to be, believe this claim. So here they are, seasoned professionals, and when I say seasoned I mean they have executed the design and build PROCESSES almost an infinite amount of times and have had to adjust their processes continuously to arrive at a more efficient PROCESS, are believing, for the first time in their professional careers, that a tool, one tool, would be their solution, as opposed to a process that specifically meets their needs by relying on multiple tools. When this doesn’t work out for them they decide that this new idea of BIM must not be fully developed yet and not ready for the mainstream AEC industry.

Any software with parametric capabilities has the POTENTIAL to offer a start at lifecycle management. Any software with parametric capabilities has the POTENTIAL to offer a BIM solution; but any one platform by itself is not going to get the job done alone and only costs more of a firms resources than if they would have purchased the right pieces to begin with and then obtained assistance in helping them develop their own office processes.

BIM

BIM Has Arrived

2009-09-01T19:14:33+00:00

BIM has arrived? Hasn’t BIM been around for a long time?

It is true that BIM ‘authoring tools’ have been around a long time. In fact ArchiCAD has been in use world-wide for 26 years, Autodesk Revit for 10 years and Bentley’s solution has been with us a while too. I have been saying for years that BIM, in a word, means ‘Collaboration’. Historically, BIM collaboration has been based on a multitude of models and most projects have relied on several BIM models that are ‘federated’ or consolidated into one 3D environment using programs like Autodesk Navisworks or Solibri Model Checker…better than flat CAD and light tables, but still not efficient workflow.

In an open letter to the AEC vendor community, published in March 2004, the AIA Large Firm Roundtable CIO Group requested the following capabilities for “next generation” BIM technology: give project team members the capabilities of editing data simultaneously, facilitate the prevention of conflicting errors, and let changes to the project be available to users immediately. Graphisoft is the first vendor in the world to meet this challenge by bringing Next Generation BIM Technology to the marketplace.

The optimum in collaboration would be a form of real-time workflow between all project team members working IN the same model. For years, this has been the Holy Grail of BIM. With Graphisoft’s new patent pending Delta Server technology, announced as part of ArchiCAD 13, the Holy Grail of BIM – the real-time BIM Collaboration Server – has arrived.

Graphisoft has created an industry-first active server database management solution that maintains and updates the central project by passing to and from the user’s machines only the ‘delta’ or changes the users make, and in so doing, effectively achieves a real-time dynamic workflow between all members of the project team.

This execution of next generation BIM technology not only has the potential to transform how BIM projects are created and delivered, but WILL transform the way architects practice their craft. The benefits of real-time BIM Server technology can streamline the workflow of any practice, from the sole practitioner, boutique, mid-sized, or mega-firm.

Anyone on the project team can now work in real-time on a project from anywhere in the world. Team members in a remote office can work as if they were in the next cubicle. It is easy and natural to collaborate with consultants, since everyone works in the same model contributing their discipline’s building system into the model in parallel. The need for backgrounds and worries about whether you have the latest file versions disappear. FTP sites acting as ‘file depositories’ can be reduced or eliminated; any computer on the internet can now be a BIM server.

It is easy to work at home by simply logging onto the project on the office project server. There will be no need to transfer files from a desktop or file server to a laptop to work outside the office. Memory sticks and CDs are no longer needed. One can work off-line, on a plane for example and log on from one’s destination to send and receive changes. One can be in a meeting or a presentation and have access to any project, any time, via the Internet. Non-CAD users can participate directly on a project by working on the clerical sides of production like inputting project info, general notes, and other text-intensive information.

For contractors and owners, the benefits are huge. On design/build projects or Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), contractors can participate early on constructability issues. Estimating can happen on the fly. MEP and Structural Coordination can happen in real-time, starting during late schematic design and the need to do costly MEP Coordination during pre-construction by the contractor can be eliminated. Owners can participate by watching the project evolve virtually in real time via the 3D viewing capabilities built into the software. It will be easier to provide an accurate as-built BIM model during construction to hand over to the owner for operation and facilities management, since the contractor has been participating from the beginning.

A BIM Server solution the Industry has been waiting for has finally arrived from the industry veteran Graphisoft, purpose-built for real-time BIM collaboration.

BIM, Collaboration, IPD

BIM Basics

2009-08-14T22:38:37+00:00

I am still finding many people with little or no basic knowledge as to what BIM truly is… Transitioning to BIM is much more than 3D software; it is a process. Recently I came across a well-written basic overview on the evolution from hand drawing to CAD, and now, to BIM. Check it out here.

BIM