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A recent McGraw-Hill construction report cited some startling news: nearly half of North America’s building industry is now using Building Information Modeling (BIM). That jump includes a 75 percent increase over the past two years alone.
There appears to be little debate, then, that BIM is increasingly gaining the attention of organizations involved in architecture, engineering and construction.
But what does is mean for facility managers? Apparently, quite a bit.
BIM is a relatively new technology, entering the industry some 10 to 15 years ago. According to one industry leader, “BIM is the virtual representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a facility from inception onward. As such, it serves as a shared information repository for collaboration throughout a facility's lifecycle."
With BIM, gone are construction drawings laden with layers and layers of colors, hard on the eyes and often very complicated and confusing. Through BIM, three-dimensional drawings can be moved and manipulated, so that anyone accessing the software can look into the construction and view real life, data-rich models.
Nearly two-dozen members of the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter turned out Feb. 17 during a morning program at Confluence Park Restaurant to not only hear about the benefits of BIM, but what it means to facility managers.
“Now, through the use of BIM, we’re able to use a 3-D model with everything pulled together,” said Jim McIntosh, a planning department manager with Limbach Company, Inc., a Gold level sponsor of the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter. “In this model, we can navigate around and see everything in space. Every piece and part (in the model) has data attached to it. So by having that intelligence, you as facility managers are better able to develop a more efficient service plan.”
All information using BIM is handled through 3-D, intelligent objects, said McIntosh. Until about five years ago, the technology was still slow in acceptance. But that was because different systems didn’t “talk” to each other, making the use of multiple platforms inoperable.
Since 2005, that has changed, allowing the technology to take off in the industry where its users tout its benefits.
McIntosh sites benefits in scheduling and sequencing, allowing users to determine future collisions long before construction. There are also benefits on the fabrication and installation side, said McIntosh,
But what interested most IFMA members were the benefits to the maintenance side of the house.
“By building in all the information to the equipment, you can generate a list that tells you all the different equipment you have,” explained McIntosh. “That, combined with manuals, can provide you a data base that minimizes the amount of time and effort that’s put into maintenance acquisition handling for your maintenance programs.”
McIntosh went on to exhibit BIM’s advantages by demonstrating a case study Limbach conducted at a local correctional facility where energy consumption was extremely high. Upon investigation, Limbach found that the facility’s use of steam to heat the facility was old and out-dated. Boilers were long beyond their service life, and the piping was old and in poor condition.
But this particular project had its own set of challenges. Going in and out of a high-security correctional facility required quite a bit of time since all personnel and equipment needed to be checked over thoroughly each time an employee entered or exited the facility.
So Limbach proposed fabricating a number of boiler plants off-site, then locating them outside the institution’s fencing. The new location would eliminate the time needed to check in and out of the facility each day, plus would provide easier maintenance in the future.
Limbach used BIM technology during the project, said McIntosh, which he demonstrated for IFMA members at the February program. “We used BIM so the customer could really see what they were buying,” he said. He demonstrated a short “tour” through the outside boilers, along with simulating a possible collision – then corrected it.
Once a project is completed, McIntosh said the model can then be handed over to the customer for future use with maintenance. BIM allows facility managers to locate specific problems, i.d. all equipment involved (right down to the model numbers), and help solve them using BIM first, thus reducing any time and attention spent on ripping out ceiling tiles, for example, looking for the problem.
While McIntosh admits that the software can be expensive (anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000), its benefits far outweigh the expense.
“The technology provides for increased accuracy,” said McIntosh.
“And the man-hour decrease in the field more than makes up for the cost.”