Building Information Management Framework – BIMF – People, Process, Technology

While at first perhaps a bit intimidating…  illustrating the life-cycle management within a BIM context is relatively straightforward.

BIM – Life-cycle Management Perspective

 

The purpose of this Framework is to provide  a general guide that your team can quickly customize to your specific requirements.   Like a restaurant menu or a travel guide, you can visualize the resources available and decide on an appropriate strategic configuration of options.

Just begin in the Center and work thru this Action Agenda using, when available and appropriate, tested  processes and templates.   Using these guidelines, set up a BIM Management structure with your stakeholders.

 The Building Information Management Framework (BIMF) illustrates a how people, processes, and technology interact to support the built environment throughout its life-cycle.  Based upon the associated level of detail, an operating model can be developed to more efficiently identify,  prioritize, and meet the current and future needs of built environment stakeholders (Owners, AE’s, Contractors, Occupants, Oversight Groups…)

More specifically, modular, Model View Definitions (MVD), associated exchange specifications and common data architectures [for example: Industry Foundation Class (IFC), OMNICLASS] can  help to integrate multi-discipline Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) “activities”,  “business processes”, “associated competencies” and “supporting technologies”  to meet overall requirements with a goal of continuous improvement.

WORK GROUP FORMATION – Roles and Relationships;

PROCESS MAP – who does what, in which sequence, and why;

EXCHANGE REQUIREMENTS & BASIC BUSINESS RULES – Overall guidelines for information integration

EXCHANGE REQUIREMENT MODELS – Specific information “maps”

GENERIC MODEL VIEW DEFINTION (MVD) – Strategic approach incorporating guidelines for information format, content, and use;

MODEL VIEW DEFINTION & IMPLEMENTATION SPECIFICATIONS   – Specific format, content, and use

PROJECT AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS – LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT (LOD) – Defined “project” deliverables

(Adapted from: IMPROVING THE ROBUSTNESS OF MODEL EXCHANGES USING PRODUCT MODELING ‘CONCEPTS’ FOR IFC SCHEMA -Manu Venugopal, Charles Eastman, Rafael Sacks, and Jochen Teizer – with ongoing assistance/input from NBIMS3.0 Terminology Subcommittee)

Model View Definitions (MVD) and associated exchange specifications, provide the best benefit if they are modular and reusable and developed from Industry Foundation Class (IFC) Product Modeling Concepts.   Model views and overall life-cycle management are similar in this regard.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools serving the Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) span multiple  “activities”,  “business processes”, “associated competencies” and “supporting technologies”, and each may required different internal data model representation to suit each domain.  Data exchange is therefore a critical aspect.   Inter and intra domain standardized data architectures and associated adoption of matching robust processes are really the first step toward successfully managing the built environment.

The Process Side of BIM = Collaboration: People, Process, & Technology

The Business Value of BIM in North America 2007 – 2012

The Emperor is still naked!

Is the trend analysis of the Business Value of BIM in North America from 2007 through 2012  reality, or are many of us walking around with rose colored glasses?

I ask you, do you really believe the following statement ” Now in 2012, 71% of architects, engineers, contractors, and owners report they have become engaged with BIM on their projects …”.    If you define BIM as the life-cycle management of the built environment supported by digital technology, I can tell you that either the survey is flawed… a lot of people don’t know what BIM is… or we have a lot of folks inflating the truth.   There is NO WAY 71% of ANY of the groups are “engaged with BIM on their projects”…period, end of story.

Playing with Statistics?   The 71% average appears to have been calculated by taking a simple average of the “adoption rate” from architects, engineers, and contractors” from three size classes of firms “small, medium, and large”.   If I am correct, this is just plan WRONG.   Most firms in the U.S. are small business, thus a weighted average must be applied.   The “adoption rate” for small firms 50%… a number I also believe to be inaccurate.

I just came back from the NIBS Conference.   This is without question, the most valuable, authoritative meeting relative to BIM in the United States.  How many people were there you might ask?   A few hundred at most.

So, what does any of this matter?   Simple really.   Until our industry stops the hype and focus on important issues relative to BIM, we will continue to be mired in inaction.   The AECOO is the most unproductive business sector and also has the lowest rate of technology adoption.  These are facts….   if one wishes to be interested in facts that is.

Here some thoughts as to where emphasis must be placed:

1. Greater adoption and use of collaborative construction delivery methods:  IPD – Integrated Project Delivery, and JOC – Job Order Contracting.  The later is a form of IPD specifically targeting renovation, repair, sustainability, and minor new construction projects.   Let’s face it, 80% or more of all funding for the built environment will be going in renovation, repair, and sustainability.
2. Emphasis on business process, strategy, and standardized terms, metrics, and data architecture vs. technology.   Technology is NOT the problem, is the lack of clear, robust business strategy and processes, and domain knowledge… largely on the part of Owners that is the primary obstacle to progressive change.   Owners write the checks, they are “where the buck stops”.
3. Focus upon life-cycle costs / total cost of ownership, vs. first costs.
4. A bit more on data standards….   OMNICLASS, UNIFORMAT, MASTERFORMAT, COie, IFC, et al… all have there roll.  Some will survive, some may not.   The point is that unless we have standardized terms, definitions, detailed reference and actual cost information (localized materials, equipment, and labors), physical and functional condition metrics, etc. etc. etc.    …  we can’t collaborate or improve productivity!
5. Participation by all stakeholders – Owners, AE’s, Contractors, SubContractors, Building Users, Oversight Groups, Regulatory Bodies, Building Product Manufacturers, Communities, ….

 

 

 

 

2013-WSP Group

BIG DATA = BIM

3D BIM – An Unfortunate Distraction?

The value of BIM lies in the support of efficient life-cycle facility management processes supported by common terms and digital technology. The 3D visualization aspect of BIM is little more than an unfortunate distraction.

When will BIM become mainstream?  How do you truly prepare for BIM?  How do we educate people for BIM?  The most important requirement for  BIM to succeed is fundamental change in how we view life-cycle facility management and also altered business practices within the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations sector.

The 3D visualization aspect of BIM,  while a valuable component, is little more that a distraction.  Worse yet
“Visual GIGO” (garbage in/garbage out), a term I picked up in a recent BIM conversation, is delaying our ability to better address sustainability and economic issues.  BIM requires a change in the basic foundation of how Owners, AEs, Contractors, Subs, Oversight Groups, Building Product Manufactures, Community, etc. interact relative to construction project delivery. Integrated Project Delivery – IPD and Job Order Contracting – JOC are important to BIM as are other knowledge domains and/or practice areas.

The key to BIM is lies in process and people.  Until the focus of BIM is upon integrating people upfront in all relevant aspects of building life-cycle management and clearly defining terms, roles, responsibilities, within a collaborative, transparent process… BIM will continue to fail.  Cloud computing will play a central role in driving change, whether you are a participant or standing on the sidelines (see this link for how technology/media impacts culture )

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U.K. National BIM Survey Released 2012 – BIM in UK as Confusing as in the US?

“In the long history of humankind… those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”
Charles Darwin

Latest BIM Adoption Figures for the UK

(Reference Source-NBS National NIB Survey)

As annual industry wide survey, carried out by NBS was completed in late 2011 by nearly 1,000 construction professionals representing a range of business sizes and disciplines from across the industry in the UK, including architecture, engineering and surveying. Over 200 RIBA members were among the participants, making sure the views of the membership came across.

Highlights:

BIM Awareness

Organizational Use of CAD

General Responses

Attitudes towards BIM

• 78% agree the BIM is the future of project information, though how that future will look is uncertain, with 4 out of 5 agreeing that the industry is not yet clear enough of what BIM actually is
•  31% of construction professionals are now using BIM – up from 13% in 2010 (to what degree appears uncertain however)
• 75% of those construction professionals currently aware of BIM predict they will be using it on some projects (another indication of uncertain implementation levels)  by the end of 2012, and almost 19 out of 20 people expect to be using it in five years’ time
• 80%+ agreed BIM increases the coordination of construction documents, with 65% of those using the technology saying BIM delivered cost efficiencies.

Survey Notes:

1000 Respondents from a range of business sizes, with a quarter coming from very small organisations (one or two employees) and 14% coming from very large businesses (more than 500 employees). A majority, 52%, of respondents came from organisations with 15 or fewer employees.

Job Description

Use of CAD

CAD Tools Used

Noteworthy quotations-

Unfortunately, the second NBS National BIM Survey provides a potentially worrying picture of a divided UK construction industry in which real progress has been made but where real areas of inertia remain.

it still heresy to say that construction is endemic with waste?

… the term BIM has become universally commonplace (though often misused) in our construction vocabulary; so what do we (the Cabinet Office BIM Task Group) mean by BIM? Well,
expectedly, the clue is in the title: constructing a managed digital information 3D model of an asset (interesting as 3D is NOT in the title), be it a building or an infrastructure project (both new-build or retained estate) that is infused with data. This information model can be used to inform the decision-making process and answer questions throughout the entire project life-cycle.

In order for this process to be effectively implemented, however, it needs to be undertaken in a truly collaborative environment (with iterative feedback loops), and here lies the real challenge. Manifesting BIM beyond the technology and process to a cultural paradigm shift (never easy) is where the real challenge lies. BIM is very much more a verb than a noun.

A large part of BIM success and a potential industry shift will be down to education and training, ensuring that new entrants to the
construction arena have the apposite blend of knowledge and skills: a BIM literacy to fit their function.

Although much has been written about BIM, few have truly considered it from the perspective of the Client.  …the real big value proposition lies in the bandwidth consequent to practical completion where the data (in our case COBie) and model outcomes can be used to ensure optimal asset performance… Modelling for better user outcomes and being able to feed this data back to inform future projects is where the real Client value proposition sits.

In the current commercial environment the ability to do more for less has been a considerable advantage. Being able to offer additional services outside our traditional scope has helped to differentiate us in a difficult market particularly with services like Quantity-Take-Off. We are also confident that the consistency in our output is generating repeat business, not least because mwe have been able to drive efficiencies from project to project as our database of standard components has become richer.

NBS-NationalBIMReport12

BIM Process

BIMF - A BIM FRAMEWORK

BIM – The New Standard of Care for AEC / AECOM . (Architecture, Engineering, ConstruBuilction, Operations, and Maintenance of the built environment)

Much has been said about BIM, and many misunderstand its core definition and purpose.

BIM is the process of  efficent  life-cycle management of  facilties and associated infrastructure, supported by digital technologies.

BIM is not IWMS, CPMS, CMMS, CAFM, BAS, GIS ….. , but the integration of these and other core knowledge domains within a collaborative enviroment… with Owners, Contractors, AEs, facility/infrastructure users, service providers, and oversight groups… sharing information via open, comment defintions, taxonomies, benchmarks, practices and standards.

Technology now allows for the relatively simple task of integrating multiple technologies and knowlege domains and enabling accurate, secure, and rapid access to detailed informations and decision support systems.  However, the REAL ISSUE is that the AEC / AECOM sector must change its “ad hoc” and traditionally unproductive ways of doing business.

The below BIM Framework, BIMF is a represetation of how the process side of BIM can be applied, with appropropriate customization, for any organization.   Expanded details of each component is readily available.    Also, it is important to become familiar with the following, if you are not current tracking these key initiatives/technologies/processes:  Cloud technology, COBIE, IFD, IFC, OMNICLASS, UNIFORMAT, MASTERFORMAT, STEP, reference cost books / guides, JOC / Job Order Contracting, IPD / Integrated Project Delivery, FCI / Facility Condition Index , SCI / System Condition Index …….,

BIM Framework - BIMF

Total Cost of Ownership Framework

46453858-Asset-Lifecyle-Model[1]

Building Product Data – BIM Life-cycle Information / Data

” what we need is open, structured building information that we can share “

SPie Overview

Product Templates

An Example

 

Example (con't)

 

 

Process

 

Source of above -  Bill East, CSI BIM Committee Presentation – July 2011

 

BIMF - A BIM Framework

 

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Bill East, Ph.D., P.E., F. ASCE

US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research & Development Center

 

A BIM Framework – BIM – BIM for FM – Article 2011 – COAA

BIM for FM

4Clicks COAA Article – BIMF – BIM Framework – BIM for FM

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BIM for FM and a “Building Information Management Framework” – BIMF includes a laser sharp focus on integrated functional planning and cost metrics. The framework’s value for stakeholders includes: a) transformational change effected by a capital planning philosophy that emphasizes integration of professional practice; b) delivery models that emphasize lean construction practices; and, c) transparent standardized construction and facility operations data and taxonomies that contain cost by providing access to building information whether stored or linked to a building
model.

3D/4D/5D BIM, IPD, and JOC are powerful tools that drive project collaboration, quality, productivity, and a better return-on-investment. Electronic sharing of standardized “apples-to-apples” information and more formalized consistent business processes respective of all players involved will help to promote communication, transparency, and collaboration.  Standardized model scheme, common data exchange and access protocols,
model server technology, cloud technology, intelligent agent technologies, and user-friendly interfaces all work together to realize BIM implementation.  Adaptation of the overarching “Building Information Management Framework” assures consistent use of business processes to assure accurate, timely information and better decision-making.

Sharing best practices leads to more effective facilities and infrastructure asset management.  4D/5D BIM, integrated with standardized construction delivery methods, such as IPD and JOC, as well as complementary processes/technologies such as CPMS, CAFM, CMMS, GIS (geographic information systems) and BAS (building automation systems), provide tools to capture, store, and share critical building information.

Challenges facing the AEC sector and the planning community at large require behaviors and practices foreign to the professional education
of many practitioners.  Greater emphasis must be placed upon the skills and tools required to quantify and manage operations of the built environment. In general capital planning must be recognized as being of strategic importance and an ongoing process, with continual
reassessment and gap analysis applied. Comprehensive, long-term strategies to acquire, develop, and sustain the built environment and the professional competencies required for sustainment must be adequately defined within various professional curricula.

For professionals, BIMF, 4D/5D BIM, IPD, and JOC offer a basis for capital planning and Scope of Work definition, which lead to more effective organization-wide planning and more efficient facility operations.

A BIM Framework - BIMF

BIM – IPD -JOC – Process, Technology, Productivity, Advancement, Transparency, & Collaboration

BIM, by definition, is facility life-cycle managment enabled by technology.

Multiple knowledge domains must be merged to accomplish “Big BIM” including CPMS (capital planning and management systems), CMMS (computerized maintenance management systems), CAFM (computer-aided facility management - space planning), IPD/JOC (Integrated Project Delivery and Job Order Contracting), and BAS (building automation systems), GIS (geographic information systems).

Owners, Contactors, AEs, Business Product Manufacturers, Oversight Groups, Building Users, and the Community at large all have respective roles relative to BIM.

BIM starts with, and its success relies upon; strategy, and process, standardized terms/definitions/information, and a technology backbone to enable cost effective implementation, scalability,  information reuse, and ongoing decision support.

Integrated Project Delivery, and Job Order Contracting (the latter a form of IPD specifically for facility renovation, repair, and sustainability) are construction devliery methods, processes, that are well suited for integration with BIM in lieu of traditional design-bid-build or design-build.

BIM Framework

IPD - JOC - Collaboration Levels - Integrated Project Delivery - Job Order Contracting

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BIM Standards and Why They Matter! – National BIM Standard

” The construction industry is in the middle of a growing crisis worldwide. With 40% of the world’s raw materials being consumed by buildings, the industry is a key player in global economics and politics.

And, since facilities consume 40% of the world’s energy and 65.2% of total U.S. electrical consumption, the construction industry is a key player in energy conservation, too! With facilities contributing 40% of the carbon emissions to the atmosphere and 20% of material waste to landfills, the industry is a key player in the environmental equation.

Clearly, the construction industry has a responsibility to use the earth’s resources as efficiently as possible.

Construction spending in the United States is estimated to be $1.288 trillion for 2008. The Construction Industry Institute estimates there is up to 57% non-value added effort or waste in our current business models. This means the industry may waste over $600 billion each year.

There is an urgent need for construction industry stakeholders to maximize the portion of services that add value in end-products and to reduce waste.

Another looming national crisis is the inability to provide enough qualified engineers. Some estimate the United States will be short a million engineers by the year 2020. In 2007, the United States was no longer the world’s largest consumer, a condition that will force United States industry to be more competitive in attracting talented professionals. The United States construction industry must take immediate action to become more competitive.

The current approach to industry transformation is largely focused in efforts to optimize design and construction phase activities. While there is much to do in those phases, a lifecycle view is required.

 When sustainability is not adequately incorporated, the waste associated with current design, engineering, and construction practices grows throughout the rest of the facility’s lifecycle.

Products with a short life add to performance failures, waste, recycling costs, energy consumption, and environmental damage. Through cascading effects, these problems negatively affect the economy and national security due to dependence on foreign petroleum, a negative balance of trade, and environmental degradation. To halt current decline and reverse existing effects, the industry has a responsibility to take immediate action.

While only a very small portion of facility lifecycle costs occur during design and construction, those are the phases where our decisions have the greatest impact.

 Most of the costs associated with a facility throughout its lifecycle accrue during a facility’s operations and sustainment.

Carnegie-Mellon University research has indicated that an improvement of just 3.8% in productivity in the functions that occur in a building would totally pay for the facility’s design, construction, operations and sustainment, through increased efficiency. Therefore, as industryfocuses on creating, maintaining, and operating facilities more efficiently, simultaneous action is required to ensure that people and processes supported by facilities are optimized.

BIM stands for new concepts and practices that are so greatly improved by innovative information technologies and business structures that they will dramatically reduce the multiple forms of waste and inefficiency in the building industry.

Whether used to refer to a product – Building Information Model (a structured dataset describing a building), an activity – Building Information Modeling (the act of creating a Building Information Model), or a system – Building Information Management (business structures of work and communication that increase quality and efficiency), BIM is a critical element in reducing industry waste, adding value to industry products, decreasing environmental damage, and increasing the functional performance of occupants.

 

 

.Information Model Standard™ (NBIMS) is a key element to building industry transformation. NBIMS establishes standard definitions for building information exchanges to support critical business contexts using standard semantics and ontologies.

Implemented in software, the Standard will form the basis for the accurate and efficient communication and commerce that are needed by the building industry and essential to industry transformations. Among other benefits, the Standard will help all participants in facilities-related processes achieve more reliable outcomes from commercial agreements.

Thus, there is a critical need to increase the efficiency of the construction process. Today’s inefficiency is a primary cause of non-value added effort, such as re-typing (often with a new set of errors) information at each phase or among participants during the lifecycle of a facility or failing to provide full and accurate information from designer to constructor. With the implementation of this Standard, information interoperability and reliability will improve significantly. Standard development has already begun and implementable results will be available soon. BIM development, education, implementation, adoption, and understanding are intended to form a continuous process ingrained evermore into the industry.

Success, in the form of a new paradigm for the building construction industry, will require that individuals and organizations step up to contribute to and participate in creating and implementing a commonBIM standard.

Each of us has a responsibility to take action now.”

David A. Harris, FAIA President National Institute of Building Sciences

 

©2007 National Institute of Building Sciences. All rights reserved

NBIMSv1_p1

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BIM – Energy Efficiency Tied to Real Estate / Real Property Sales – The Importance of High Performance Buildings vs. ROI

Due diligence relative to the energy efficiency of commercial is not only important relative to building resale and ROI, but is becoming mandated in several states, counties, and cities.   For example, use of the new ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) Standard E-2797-11, Standard Practice for Building Energy Performance Assessment for a Building Involved in a Real Estate Transaction, is required in several states and cities and under consideration in a growing number of others. Federal legislation is sure to follow.

Energy-efficient buildings cost less to operate, have higher net operating income (NOI), better asset value, and are more attractive to tenants.   Property owners and lessors can leverage higher performing buildings to attract and retain tenants that recognize that these buildings  have lower utility and operating costs.  In many cases leanders are provided a Pro Forma with a specific aline item for utilities/energy costs as a component of building operating costs.  Savvy buyers will also consider energy usage when comparing similar properties.

The Role of BIM, JOC, and IPD in Sustainability

Creating a baseline energy audit isalso  a “best practice” relative to enabling better short and longer term planning for facility renovation, repair, and maintenance projects.

It is likely that more and more facility condition assessments (FCAs) will include energy audits are a required, standardized component.

 In summary, standards and best practices relative to energy and condition audits are an important component of BIM ( Building Information Modeling ).  Robust practices for collection, assembly, evaluation, and reporting required information are key to BIM as are efficient renovation and repair contstruction methods such as JOC – Job Order Contracting, and IPD – Integrated Project Delivery.

Consistency and transparency in data collection, project evaluation, costing, and project managemetn are requirements in order to efficiently deliver quality  improvement project on time and on budget. 

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