CEU
Continuing
Education
Unit
The BIM Revolution
WHETHER IT’S CLASH
DETECTION, AN EXPEDITED
PROJECT DELIVERY PROCESS,
FEWER CHANGE ORDERS,
INCREASED COLLABORATION
OR OPTIMIZED MEP
SYSTEMS DESIGN, BUILDING
INFORMATION MODELING
CONTINUES TO PROVE
ITS WORTH.
ED+C is a registered provider with The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems. To earn 1.0 AIA-
HSW-SD learning unit, attendees must read this article in its entirety and take the 10-question quiz at the end of the
article or online at www.edcmag.com/CEU and pass with a score of 80 percent or better.
ED+C is also a USGBC Education Provider; this course is approved by USGBC for 1 GBCI CE Hour toward LEED
EDUCATION Professional credentialing maintenance. LEED Professionals may submit their hours to Green Building Certification
PROVIDER Institute (GBCI) under the “Professional Development/Continuing Education” activity type in “My credentials” at
www.gbci.org. For those who pass the quiz with a score of 80 percent, a certificate of completion will be emailed to you.
By Barbara Horwitz-Bennett
See the quiz page
J
ust like any new technol-
ogy, building informa-
tion modeling — even
with its plethora of
design, efficiency and
collaboration benefits
— is steadily progressing through
the timely process of fuller market
penetration. However, experts see
the 3D modeling software as hav-
ing recently reached a key stage
in its global implementation.
“We’re really at the tipping
point in seeing BIM being
adopted by architectural firms,
and downstream by engineering
and contracting firms as well,”
observes Sarah Hodges, senior
industry marketing manager, Au-
todesk, Waltham, Mass. “Further-
more, BIM mandates are emerg-
ing everywhere as an approach to
reducing energy consumption. It’s
really transforming the industry.”
Not only are several federal
agencies now requiring BIM on
building projects — including the
U.S. General Services Administra-
tion, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
and Department of Veteran
Affairs — but a number of states,
institutions and larger corpora-
tions are now adopting such
standards. And although it’s a bit
dated, McGraw-Hill reported that
half the building and construction
industry had already transitioned
to BIM by 2009, marking a 75 per-
cent jump in usage from 2007.
“The capability of the com-
puter hardware, the power of
the software and the Internet’s ca-
pabilities have all reached critical
mass, and we can now model the
largest building projects in the
world,” states Huw Roberts, global
marketing director, building and
structural, Bentley, Exton, Penn.
“The interest has been there since
people recognized that it could
Sponsored by
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this article, you should be able to:
■ Explain how building information modeling has become more
appealing to engineers and how it enhances their ability to
design and deliver more optimized MEP systems.
■ Understand the benefits and limitations of different energy modeling
software packages and their compatibility issues with BIM.
■ Learn how architectural and engineering firms are creating and
managing BIM content, and supporting a BIM workflow through
training and infrastructure investment.
■ Be informed of the latest technological updates to MEP BIM
software and visualization programs.
be possible, and now that it is, test fitting the design,” explains Ger-
everyone is getting on board as ald Hartford, PE, LEED AP, managing
fast as they can.” director, vice president, Syska Hen-
Others see the current global nessy Group, San Diego, an early
economic state as another driver BIM adopter. “It’s a forced collabora-
as Monte Chapin, business pro- tion as we’re constantly checking
cess leader, North America, based and making sure that everything is
out of Graphisoft’s Newton, Mass., working together. It makes design-
office, points out, “owners, busi- ers think about the other disciplines
nesses, investors and developers the whole way along.”
looking for qualitative ways to get While BIM isn’t necessarily
the most value for their money. a magic pill for creating great
With tighter construction budgets buildings, it significantly improves
and tougher lending require- project delivery, better enabling
ments, they are realizing that BIM building teams to deliver smarter,
provides a way to coordinate the more energy-efficient solutions,
work more effectively.” which is particularly key in today’s
Of course, BIM’s benefits over market where sustainable build-
conventional, two-dimensional ing has essentially become the
CAD drawings are well estab- rule, as opposed to the exception.
lished — be it optimized designs, Essentially, BIM’s impact has
shortened construction schedules been so significant that Kevin
or reduced change orders. And with McCormick, a senior associate,
3D visualization, owners can easily architecture group, Stantec, But-
toggle through a number of aes- ler, Penn., claims, “After you have
thetic design options to choose the been through a successful BIM
most appealing look. Meanwhile, project, no team member really
building teams are using these wants to go back to the old way.”
same visualization capabilities to Furthermore, early BIM adopt-
detect clashes, refine design param- ers believe that BIM has given
eters and ensure constructability. them a competitive advantage
“We can find and resolve such since the process of designing and
conflicts as we go along, as op- building a facility, and professional
posed to the traditional way of productivity levels, have been so
designing it, drafting it and then enhanced by the software.
www.EDCmag.com 35
 CEU
Continuing
Education
Unit
GRAPHISOFT’S ARCHICAD 15 MEP MODELER ENABLES THE BUILDING TEAM TO EASILY VIEW MEP EQUIPMENT PLACEMENT FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES AND
PERSPECTIVES. IMAGE COURTESY OF GRAPHISOFT.
BIM as a Mechanical
Design Tool
While MEP firms have traditionally
lagged behind architectural firms
in the adoption of BIM, more and
more engineering groups are
coming on board, particularly as
MEP versions of BIM software are
catching up with their architec-
tural and structural counterparts.
And while architects more
naturally think and design in 3D,
McCormick explains that this is
not necessarily the case with en-
gineers. Consequently, their learn-
ing curve is taking more time.
At the same time, mechanical en-
gineers are quickly discovering how
BIM is making it easier to design
energy-efficient, clash-free mechani-
cal systems. For example, some MEP
BIM software now features auto-
matic sizing and system layout tolls
to aid in the initial creation of the
model. Then, once a basic system
is designed, the software shows
different duct and pipe routing solu-
tions, as well as critical flow paths.
Presented with these options, engi-
neers can work various possibilities
through the process of optimizing
and refining these designs.
36 ed+c A P RI L 12
Taking a step back, McCormick
points out that a project’s initial
schematic design phase typically
presents a limited budget for
the MEP design, so BIM has been
incredibly useful in its ability to
extract information from the
architectural model for early
calculations. Whether it’s room,
wall or glass areas, or volumes, it
now takes only minutes to pull
this data as opposed to the tradi-
tional, time-consuming process
of manual building take-offs from
the 2D CAD drawings.
As mentioned, another signifi-
cant mechanical system design
benefit is clash detection, which
has become more relevant as
reduced construction budgets
are minimizing floor-to-floor
heights, while architectural
design trends are pushing for
higher ceilings, the upshot being
less room for mechanical piping,
ducts and equipment.
With the traditional 2D work-
flow, the process of reviewing
section drawings for conflicts
is extremely tedious and time
consuming. And for those that
are missed, managing those
conflicts on the jobsite is a
much more costly proposition.
On the other hand, “3D view
allows our designers to zoom
through the model to determine
where systems can fit and then
provide feedback to other team
members on potential conflicts
so that they can be addressed
as soon as possible, in real time,”
explains McCormick. “This way
the routing of ductwork, piping,
conduit and other services are
well coordinated during the
design phase.”
Stantec’s designers also rely
on BIM for its automated quality
control checks to ensure that
all the notes embedded in the
drawings are also displayed in the
legend, and vice versa, before the
drawings are sent out.
Downstream, mechanical
contractors are embracing BIM’s
ability — albeit not yet seamless
— to send out fabrication orders
directly from the model.
“In the 2D world we never saw
shop drawings which show the
ductwork and sheet metal. But
now the contractors are sending
us such models, so we can see
that our design models and their
fabrication models are identical,”
relates Hartford.
Similarly, James Barrett, na-
tional director, integrated build-
ing solutions, Turner Construc-
tion Company, New York, points
out this direct-to-fabrication
capability is helping reduce waste
materials, rework and inefficient
use of field labor.
While BIM manufacturers
openly admit that this function
isn’t fully up to speed just yet, it is
an R&D priority.
“It’s clearly one of our objec-
tives to enable this, but differ-
ent fabricators use different
equipment and systems and
there’re different standards in
different parts of the world; it’s
a pretty complex issue,” explains
Bentley’s Roberts.
Similarly, the energy modeling
software industry is struggling
both with compatibility issues
and developing one solution that
does it all.
“We have to create a heating/
cooling load model, we have to
create an energy code compli-
ance model and we have to
create the energy model itself.
There isn’t one suite of software
that does all of those three things
well,” laments Hartford.
And while the importing and
exporting of data between an in-
dividual manufacturer’s software
solutions is pretty much seamless,
the process often doesn’t run as
smoothly when interfacing with
outside products.
“One shouldn’t assume that
any model can be imported into
an analysis software and automat-
ically and immediately be used
for analysis,” confirms Barrett.
Similarly, McCormick sees
interoperability with energy
modeling software — and the
actual functionality of these pro-
grams — as falling short of their
marketing hype.
“The process does work fairly
well for simple building types
with straightforward systems,
but those types of buildings are
rare in high-performance build-
ing design that involves energy
modeling,” he notes. “Fortunately, there has
been a lot of development in the last year,
and soon the process should become a lot
closer to what is needed from a design pro-
fessional perspective.”
In the meantime, the Stantec designer does
acknowledge that BIM improves workflow,
even if data extracted from the models needs
to be entered manually into third-party energy
modeling programs.
Essentially, there’s a handful of energy
modelers to choose from, each with its own
strengths, so engineers tend to mix and match
based upon a project’s needs. For example,
Turner takes a “software agnostic” approach, so
one project may call for Autodesk’s Ecotect and
Green Building Studio, while another could
be a good beta project for Autodesk’s Project
Vasari, which is an integrated conceptual mod-
eling and energy analysis software currently
under development in Autodesk Labs.
At the same time, Barrett admits that his
team is partial to Integrated Environmental
Solutions’ suite of products based upon its
ability to flush out more detail for the MEP
equipment and components, as opposed to a
more conceptual representation. “The specific
performance of individual building systems is
important to incorporate into one’s analysis as
there is wide variability in the operation of indi-
vidual elements. The result of this more detailed
analysis is a better reflection of actual future
performance of the MEP systems,” he explains.
Another firm, the Chicago-based M/E outfit,
Environmental Systems Design, builds its own
thermal model — incorporating materials,
thermal construction data and internal load
parameters — and then inputs the model into
different analysis tools to perform environmen-
tal studies, HVAC load calculations, HVAC dia-
gramming, energy analysis and CFD analysis.
“The difficulty in doing this is that some of
the software requires quite a bit of tinkering
in order to transfer the data correctly,” admits
David P. Callan, PE, LEED AP, CEM, HBDP, ESD
senior vice president. “However, once you’ve
figured out your workflow, it is much easier to
repeat in the future.”
Beyond Autodesk and IES offerings, eQUEST
is based on the U.S. Department of Energy’s
original DOE-2 energy simulation program
and, according to Callan, is a time-tested and
relatively intuitive program for the experienced
engineer. Meanwhile, EnergyPlus, another DOE
program, is a sophisticated calculation engine
which utilizes a heat balance-based solution to
crunch out HVAC loads and energy analysis.
A couple of additional tools include Graphi-
soft’s EcoDesigner and Bentley’s AECOsim Energy
Simulator. While the programs work best with
each company’s own products, they do support
standard exchange file formats, most notably
gbXML, considered to be the most robust stan-
dard for data transfer for BIM energy modeling.
According to Graphisoft’s Chapin, “EcoDe-
signer performs energy-use results on early
assumptive design data such as location, build-
ing occupancy use, climate, building envelope
and energy systems, and it provides an early
broad view of how changes in design elements
impact the energy cost.”
By presenting different “what if” scenarios,
the software helps engineers make tweak de-
signs early in the project when the vast major-
ity of sustainability decisions are being made.
With Bentley’s latest offering, based upon
EnergyPlus, the company is aiming to provide
a robust simulator for more rigorous engineer-
ing analysis, explains Drew Crawley, director for
building performance products, Bentley, Wash-
ington, D.C. “With AECOsim Energy Simulator,
engineers can do the energy analysis, energy
cost calculations, equipment sizing, loads and
LEED compliance simulations all in one tool.”
While modeling products have come a long
way and will continue to develop, Callan points
out that there are simply too many educated
assumptions to be made when simulating
the performance of every energy-consuming
system in a building, so the idea of a “press
one button” solution to predict the energy
performance of a building with any confidence
is simply not realistic.
Managing the BIM Workflow
While a number of issues surround infrastructure,
hardware, software, training and other resources
required to optimally support BIM projects,
perhaps one of the more time-consuming ones is
making up for the lack of BIM object data current-
ly available for MEP systems and components.
On the one hand, there are a few databases
of resources out there. For example, Autodesk’s
SEEK (http://seek.autodesk.com) provides
easy access to content from building product
manufacturers, RevitCity is a similar tool (www.
revitcity.com); McGraw-Hill Construction
Sweets Network (http://construction.com/
BIM/) and Reed Construction Data (http://
smartbim.reedconstructiondata.com/) also
offer databases; and Arcat (http://www.arcat.
com/bim/divs04/bim_objects.shtml) has a free
library of BIM objects.
However, with literally hundreds of thou-
sands of building product companies attempt-
ing to put out BIM data, combined with vary-
ing levels of standardization, it’s pretty much
hit-and-miss when architects and engineers
are seeking a certain quality of BIM content to
populate their models.
THE CLOUD
One of the bigger buzzes in the A/E/C world of
late as been the “cloud,” but just how beneficial
can cloud computing/infrastructure-as-a-service
capabilities be for BIM users?
On the one hand, because cloud-based pro-
grams and applications don’t need to be installed
and configured on one’s desktop, they are much
easier to access and don’t take up valuable storage
space. In addition, users can access these programs
remotely and aren’t limited to their workstations.
“If we can off-load some of this software peo-
ple’s computers to the cloud, it can be beneficial
as some of these applications do take time and
memory to run,” explains Drew Crawley, direc-
tor for building performance products, Bentley,
Washington, D.C.
One Bentley program that works particularly
well in the cloud is its ProjectWise project informa-
tion service, which is widely used in the industry.
Similarly, a number of Autodesk applications
can now be accessed from the cloud — such as Re-
vit Conceptual Energy Analysis and Green Building
Studio with 30GB of storage space — so they don’t
have to divert processing power which can disrupt
the BIM workflow.
At the same time, Crawley’s colleague, Huw
Roberts, global marketing director, building and
structural, Bentley, Exton, Penn., points out that
all of the company’s BIM cloud offerings are still
available as desktop software because the cloud
isn’t always ideal for everyone, in every case.
Gerald Hartford, PE, LEED AP, managing director,
vice president, Syska Hennessy Group, San Diego,
agrees and points out that such mobile applica-
tions are still limited by the hardware usually
required to effectively operate some BIM programs.
“Right now if you want it done right, you
need to do it yourself,” states Callan. “Addition-
ally, each engineer needs to decide which pa-
rameters will be included in their workflow and
populate their shared parameters accordingly.”
Similarly, Hartford prefers to develop BIM
content in-house to better reflect Syska’s design
approach and expertise. While there are third-
party BIM object content creators out there, in
addition to the manufacturers, Hartford points
out that they are rarely engineers and often
don’t possess a true technical understanding of
the equipment and systems they are modeling.
“We have a dedicated team in place to
create certain content, as necessary. We have
never purchased content as we can do it better
and cheaper internally,” he explains.
In a similar vein, Turner stores its 300+ global
BIM projects on a central server, from which
folks working on current projects can capture
3D geometry and data for MEP systems at both
fabrication and as-built levels. “These models
www.EDCmag.com 37
 CEU
Continuing
Education
Unit
AFTER KLH ENGINEERS OPTIMIZED THE MECHANICAL DESIGN FOR A RENOVATION OF HEBREW UNION COLLEGE KLAU LIBRARY IN
CINCINNATI, REALISTIC RENDERINGS OF THE SPACE AIDED IN THE VISUALIZATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE UPDATED LIBRARY.
IMAGES COURTESY OF AUTODESK/KLH ENGINEERS.
typically include a high level of detail down to
specific equipment, valves, and even hangers
and support steel. This vast library represents
a wealth of knowledge that is a competitive
advantage and allows us to dramatically increase
the value we can add to a project,” relates Barrett.
While HOK also generates some of its
own BIM object data, the fact that the firm
is so large and diverse has made the task of
managing such a library a bit too much to
handle in house. Consequently, the firm often
contracts with external consultants to create
content according to HOK’s standards and
specifications, says James Vandezande, AIA,
principal, director, firm-wide BIM, HOK, New
York. More recently, HOK has started engag-
ing firms such as Allied Technical Services, a
technical plumbing specification information
service, to build high quality content based
on manufacturers’ products.
Meanwhile, Stantec has come up with its own
approach, sometimes accessing its in-house
created “building block families” of content, and
in other cases, when more unique objects are
required, building upon manufacturer’s content.
At the same time, McCormick has found that
manufacturer-provided content can slow down
its models if the file size is too big, or it may not
present well on drawings if it wasn’t built in a
way to work with Stantec’s standard template.
Likewise, the global engineering and design
consultancy, Atkins, is having the same experi-
ence with manufacturer-provided content,
often finding it much too detailed to incorpo-
rate directly into their models. “We try to utilize
manufactured supplied content, but we put
it through a quality control process where we
tend to simplify the geometry,” explains Patrick
H. Davis, assoc. AIA, manager of virtual design
and construction, buildings, based in Atkin’s
Tampa, Fla. office. “We don’t need to see items
38 ed+c A P RI L 12
such as cooling fins, bolt heads, grills, etc. How-
ever, we do require metadata since more and
more of our projects have some kind of O&M
deliverable, so it seems like we spend more time
making sure this is correct over the geometry.”
Moving on to infrastructure issues, while
the manufacturers will claim that the hardware
required to run their software is not significant,
most design firms beg to differ.
“The IT infrastructure and computer
requirements are huge, and you have to con-
vince your corporate and IT people that more
is required than what the software box says,”
reports Hartford.
Syska’s current computer set-up includes a
Xeon core processor, 16 gigaRAM, 64-bit op-
erating systems, Windows 7 Professional and
280 gigabytes of hardrive with high-quality
graphic cards.
Similarly, HOK has invested quite a bit in its
IT infrastructure to fully connect all its offices
with the latest workstations. In addition, the
firm is beginning to implement Citrix XenApp,
which is a virtualization platform enabling
both staff and internal consultants to work on
large datasets from any location.
As firms try and figure out the extent to
which their infrastructure and workstations
need to be upgraded to optimally support a
BIM workflow, Callan points out that a great
deal has been written and shared by design
and construction professionals and hardware
vendors, so newer BIM adopters can definitely
benefit from others’ experience.
Recognizing the economic crunch that
most design firms are dealing with — particu-
larly smaller ones, Graphisoft offers BIM Server
technology, which comes with its ArchiCAD
15 software, to leverage a lower total cost of
ownership and better ROI. But perhaps most
significant is the advanced technology which
the server utilizes to enable more streamlined
project communication and network flow.
“Unlike file-based sharing solutions that be-
have like an FTP — with significant hardware,
bandwidth and IT investment and manage-
ment — the BIM Server with Delta-Server
technology simply manages changes between
the central file and local cache, representing
and thousand-fold decrease in network traffic
and allowing members of a collaborative team
to come together and work on a single project
in real time,” says Chapin.
Of course, another significant issue is provid-
ing staff with technical support and establishing
proper workflows to competently work in BIM.
“After many years of leading the industry in
the use of BIM, we have found that the key to
its success has less to do with the specific soft-
ware than establishing pre-defined workflows
and processes and standards around the qual-
ity of the deliverables,” explains Barrett.
In addition to developing its own standard
project templates, Turner also assigns a BIM
engineer to each project to manage the BIM
process. Yet still the individual level, much
training and support is also required.
“Training is the first and most often ne-
glected piece of the BIM support program,” ac-
knowledges Davis. “Many people believe that
an experienced designer or CAD Technician
who has been using AutoCAD can ‘pick-it-up’ as
they go. And while that might be true for learn-
ing how to utilize commands, staff needs to be
taught the BIM process, which is different from
CAD, particularly when working in a multidisci-
pline collaborative environment.”
In order to deal with this reality, Stantec has
created detailed training courses, specific to
the firm’s workflow, in order to bring designers
up to speed on software as well as the thought
process behind the BIM workflow.
Meanwhile, HOK uses a combination of dedi-
cated training consultants, Web-based video
training, best practice documentation and
internal specialty training. Furthermore, some
of the firm’s offices are using a skills assessment
program to better target training needs.
Atkins has also found skills evaluation to be a
useful tool. In particular, the firm uses Knowledge
Smart to test individuals and teams and then
output performance metrics. “This allows us to
develop skill metrics and enables more targeted
skills-based training as well as evaluating the ef-
fectiveness of the training provided,” says Davis.
BIM in Action
Taking a look at some specific instances
where BIM significantly impacted engineering
designs, and most importantly — the bottom
line, HOK’s use of BIM for the design of the
new 351,000-square-foot Consolidated Forensic Lab in Washington,
D.C., effectively shortened the project schedule by a half a year, reduced
project costs by 19 percent and achieved a project energy reduction of 26
percent below ASHRAE 90.1, reports Vandezande.
Similarly, an interior fit-out for HOK’s new office in Bryant Park, which
involved fitting a complex MEP design into a somewhat limited ceiling space,
took advantage of laser scanning the existing conditions into the BIM model.
Working with this accurate and visual information, HOK and the engineer,
WSP Flack + Kurtz successfully executed the design and installation ahead of
schedule, with only six RFIs and zero change orders, and a LEED-CI Platinum
certification to boot.
Getting into some more details, a recent ESD renovation project for a ma-
jor Chicago institution involved the detailed modeling of existing conduit,
ductwork and lighting equipment. With the ability to go into the model and
see all conduit location, heights and bends, for example, bidding contrac-
tors were able to determine which equipment could be reused, thereby
enabling them to come in with lower bids within a short time frame. “The
project manager was more than satisfied with this result, knowing that the
plans and model were a clear representation of the scope of work. As a tes-
tament to be value of sharing information accurately and early, there were
no RFIs or change order requests for this project,” relates Callan.
In another BIM success story, ESD was able to run some very precise
and calibrated energy model models for five buildings and a central
plant on a campus in suburban Chicago. As opposed to the traditional
approach where engineers develop their energy models in silos, ESD
employed a parallel path strategy and collected valuable data and input
while surveying and meeting with building engineers.
“With this approach, we were able to vastly improve the schedule and
enable our engineers to focus more time on engineering,” recalls Callan.
“More than $1 million dollars in annual energy savings were identified
and recommended. As a result of this project, not only were strategies
identified to help reduce the energy use on this campus, but a signifi-
cantly better holistic understanding of the campus was developed by
engineers and managers.”
Another case of squeezing new MEP systems into close quarters was
facilitated by BIM during the renovation of the Hebrew Union College Klau
library in Cincinnati. According to KLH Engineers, Revit enabled the team to
quickly and accurately route its systems into tight spaces above the book
stacks and avoid clashes which could have led to costly schedule delays.
To protect the library’s vast collection of rare books, precise humidity and
temperature control had to be achieved with energy efficiency in mind.
Thanks to Revit MEP, the engineers were able to conduct energy analyses
which enabled them to optimize the mechanical design, resulting in a 40
percent reduction in operating costs.
Software Update
Checking in with the industry’s latest MEP-related BIM offerings —
whether it’s Autodesk’s Revit MEP 2012 software, Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD
15 MEP Modeler or Bentley’s AECOsim building designer — engineers are
finding increasing functionality and ease of use with these ever-improv-
ing programs.
For example, with Revit’s latest update, MEP engineers can take advan-
tage of an enhanced sloped piping tool, and a check duct and pipe systems
commands which alert the user if a model has open-ended ducts or pipes.
As for high-quality renderings, Autodesk’s 3ds Max Design 2012 brings new
rendering toolsets, better iterative workflows and an accelerated graphics
core. Integrating more directly with the BIM model is Autodesk’s Showcase
2012, a real-time rendering/presentation tool, which cuts out the render-
ing enhancement and fine-tuning work of 3ds Max by quickly enabling the
building team to view their models as 3D visualizations.
Meanwhile, Graphisoft MEP enhancements include a new
renovation palette, 64-bit support for the Mac OS and paramet-
ric object library improvements. Otherwise, engineers can find
straight segments of HVAC ducts and pipes in the software’s MEP
toolbox, as well as transitions, junctions and in-line elements to
connect MEP components, and equipment and terminals for intake
and output connections.
Graphisoft has also come out with a free BIMx Viewer application,
which allows users to view 3D models on their iPad or iPhone without
professional authoring software, which can come in handy when refer-
encing or presenting models to clients and building owners onsite.
Perhaps most noteworthy in terms of Bentley’s latest offerings is the
way in which the AECOsim family of products work together to provide
seamless BIM design, energy simulation and LEED compliance assistance.
For example, with the Compliance Manager, this Web-based service
keeps track of LEED points and enables building teams to electronically
transmit LEED data to the U.S. Green Building Council, which is attracting
some industry attention.
The Future of BIM
There is no doubt that BIM’s future is bright as more and more design and
building professionals experience its benefits, first-hand.
“The process of being able to simulate your design before you have to
build it gives you so much more understanding about what that design
in going to achieve whether its in energy use, constructability, cost, main-
tenance or comfort. Everyone seems to get this instantly; it’s not a secret,”
confirms Roberts.
But the way in which BIM is enhancing project collaboration is really
quite remarkable.
“Communication is key to the success of any venture and in the
building industry, and visual sketches or images are the best form of
communication,” explains Vandezande. “Giving a building owner or
user, who isn’t necessarily an expert in reading plan drawings, a 3D
view of a room or a part of the building is allowing for much better
feedback and ultimate satisfaction with the final product.”
BARBARA HORWITZ-BENNETT IS A SEASONED TRADE JOURNALIST, WHO ACTIVELY COVERS THE ARCHITEC-
TURAL AND BUILDING INDUSTRY, AND CONTRIBUTES REGULARLY TO SEVERAL INDUSTRY PUBLICATIONS. SHE
CAN BE REACHED AT BBENNETT@BEZEQINT.NET OR VISIT WWW.BHBENNETT.COM.
Gain greater agility, differentiation
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GRAPHISOFT’s “Get There Faster with ArchiCAD”
whitepaper examines key issues to explore
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It examines these issues through the eyes of six
design leaders as they share how the simplicity,
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Download your whitepaper at fasterbim.com.
Reader Service No. 104 www.EDCmag.com/webcard
www.EDCmag.com 39
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