This is where BIM steps in and saves the day. All parties now have the liberty of virtually walking through the building before ground has even broken thanks to the 3D nature of BIM technology. Yet many people think this is where the benefits of BIM end, when in fact BIMs scope is much wider than that and has the potential to benefit the entire lifecycle of a building not just the design and construction.
BIM models are incredibly data rich, meaning the information that is stored and embedded within these models can be used not only to tell us measurements, it can also tell us when it needs say-its next scheduled maintenance. This may seem like a small feat, however as 80% of a buildings lifecycle costs are incurred post construction, making this data available to building owners/maintenance staff has the potential to dramatically increase the overall building health while reducing cost.
A Closer Look
To give an example of the various post-construction uses that BIM may play a hand in I will refer now to healthcare facilities. In the US, Hospital are required to report on the size of their departments to provide a reflection of how many people are being served and therefore, how much Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement they will receive. BIM can provide the buildings as-built record, including accurate and true measurements of all spaces and holistic layout, including any alterations that may have been made during the construction phase. BIM makes the job painless for all those involved, dramatically reducing time spent on this task as well as increasing accuracy. BIM is also widely used to track exit capacities, smoke compartments, suites, and fire ratings as Healthcare facilities must also work to a high standard of precautionary safety measures.
Healthcare facilities are not the only ones benefiting from BIM post-construction, so too are industrial buildings, which employ BIM for space allocation, asset management and maintenance. Equipment used within the facility can be accurately recorded, including age, dimensions and when it is to receive its next scheduled maintenance. Having an accurate record of all equipment within the building, owners and operators are able to better anticipate issues as well as plan their budgets in advance to account for repairs or replacements.
So as you can see there are extending benefits of BIM throughout the lifecycle of a building. But what if the building was constructed before BIM technologies were being implemented? Well the good news is its never too late to implement. Using either the existing CAD drawings or even earlier, blueprints, the BIM team is able to model the existing facilities adding geometry and additional details over time as renovations and changes are made to the structure. The necessary data is extrapolated from blueprints using a 3D laser scanner, which creates a base model that building intelligence is added to later.
The common thread across both new design and existing builds when it comes to BIM however is that the goals of BIM must be clear and defined in advance. This is to ensure problems are isolated, monitored and solved in a systematic and automated way. BIM can be very effective and a great asset when used correctly, yet without having defined goals its potential may remain untapped and its full benefit lost, not too mention you have just wasted money on technology youre not making the most of. No one wants that.
