He calls this BIM 3.0.
But that's where he stopped! He didn't take the interesting and logical next step. Once you have this model - you can reuse it. In a similar manner to the digital revolution in other media... 3D/4D/5D building models can be broken apart and reused in other buildings. Doors, windows and wiring systems in this building are 'plug-and-play' bits for the next building. But what happens when you want to say... copy the entire south wing and attach a new east wing to fit a new site. It's this ability and re-useability that will define the popular and dare I say it, wealthy designers & model owners of the next century. If you need another high-rise; you copy the core components from one you already have and add a new skin to give it a new look. You've just cut *months* of hard design work out of the loop. The cost of your new buildings drops which allows for better margins, cheaper re-sales and a distinct competitive advantage for the builders.
Then combine that re-use with the ability for these bigger models to be broken into manufacturable parts and you again save tons of money.
I call this BIM++.
Posts
I think the goal is to get the architectural and engineering communities all on the same page first.
ReplyDeleteThere are still alot of firms out there, even here in the Austin area that are still using the old line work method. One of our big problems is sharing BIM models with those antiquated firms. There software can't read our information and so we have to convert it all from smart objects to dumb line work. In the process we lose stuff, things disappear and objects change appearance.
BIM in the order of things... including revit, MEP, and Civil 3D, while extremely detailed is not as detailed as door, windows and wiring systems per say. You can size them properly, even make them look the same, you can even designate the brand/model number within the plan, but modeling the wiring/calculate electric load of said devices is just not there yet.
The MEP modeling I would say mainly focuses on HVAC, as ducting and its sizing seems to be the main advantage and at the same time is the cause of most construction problems in the field.
For Civil the biggest benefit of BIM seems to be water modeling and its calculations. As we continue to shy away from big urban sprawl Civil engineering will be in less demand and the MEP engineering will become more vital.
I would say for Architectural the benefit slides more over to the speed at which you can throw a large size project together. Like you said copying individual plans/units to multiple floors/buildings without having to redraw it all. The old fashion way was to draw it by hand and then copy the drawing itself into multiple drawings. With BIM modeling its much more "explorer" based. I used that word loosely. Instead of thinking of it as a drawing you think of it as a piece of a model. In essence you are designing a building by entering text which I might add for a CAD person is a completely new way of doing things.
Autodesk in their new 2010 series of releases has really worked on cross communication between the trades really in my opinion for the first time. We can now insert entire revit models onto surfaces and even publish them onto google earth. In the same manner MEP can now very easily work from the architects' revit models.
One last item that I think is possibly the coolest thing about BIM, is as our structures get larger the tools we use to build them (cranes ect.) have to be revolutionized and also built up with the buildings. I don't know of many cases but there was a building where they had to design the crane as part of the building and the designers had to create a time based model. I think this is the future being able to build a model of a building and have the software know enough about the components where it will tear it down to the ground and walk the builder through its construction step by step.
I would say both of you are correct though, BIM is evolving and at the same time revolutionizing the way we design this world.
I just came across this blog/project and while it differs somewhat from what you're trying to do (he's building his own independent living space off the grid, as opposed to a large community, but still trying to do so using alternative energy and being self-sufficient and self-sustainable), I thought you'd find it pretty interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thefieldlab.org/Home_Page.php
http://thefieldlab.blogspot.com/