A multitude of advantages for an industry

The technology of building information modeling (BIM) is going to transform the construction industry and affect the jobs of every discipline involved in creating and sustaining the built environment—including structural engineers.

Earlier this year, more than 1,000 members of the building design community gathered in Las Vegas to hear Frank Gehry deliver the keynote address at the 50th Annual CSI Show & Convention, produced by the Construction Specifications Institute.

He mesmerized the audience as he expounded on one of his favorite topics— BIM—and described how the technology will change forever the way that we design, engineer, construct, maintain, and ultimately demolish commercial structures.

As Gehry suggested, the coming BIM revolution is particularly relevant for structural engineers because it’s going to connect them with other disciplines more closely and in different ways than ever before. The revolution will come, he said, only with "the architect, engineer, and everyone working together." A virtual catalog of all project information BIM is a computerized model linked to databases that store project information in a variety of forms: object properties, object-oriented graphic components, database entries, specifications, and drawings, as well as schedules, contracts, warranties, and other documents.

It provides a one-stop, "virtual building" catalog that allows engineers, architects, specifiers, contractors, owners, managers, and everyone else to access all conceivable project information.

The concept of modeling buildings is not new. The building design community has been using computer-aided design (CAD) systems to generate 2-D and 3-D building models for years.

CAD drawings are very useful, and they clearly have contributed a great deal in terms of efficiency, process, and scope.

Yet when you get right down to it, they represent little more than electronic applications of the age-old pencil-andpaper system that architects, specifiers, engineers, and others have been using for centuries.

With the addition of some information to better define the object models that make up current CAD designs, and links to related project information, these current systems could serve as a basis for 3-D BIM programs. For example, with object-oriented design as it will be used in true BIM, a new glazing system entered into the system behaves like an actual glazing system does in relationship to other building components.

Change the glazing system, and relationships to affected objects adjust in real time. Because they can access the central database, all participants in the project can see the change at the same time and act accordingly. Additionally, BIM provides a powerful tool to generate work schedules, coordinate documents, and—since everyone is working on the same model—update all information universally as new design data is added or work is performed.

What will make BIM truly revolutionary is the addition of the fourth dimension of time to the management of object- and process-oriented systems.

With this addition, everyone on a project team will have access to up-to-the minute schedules, reports, drawings, and visualizations—from design and construction to operation and maintenance.

If an architect changes a glazing system, going back to the previous example, the engineer and contractor will have instant access to information on how that change will affect the building’s loads, cost, and schedule. Fourdimensional BIM will even provide managers and owners with access to the maintenance requirements of that new glazing system, and when and how it will ultimately have to be removed and disposed of when the time comes.

Advantages for engineers Like those in other disciplines, structural engineers in the construction industry require the best information they can gather to integrate the elements and systems of a project. BIM’s most important advantage may be that engineers and engineering consultants will have access to better information than ever before. As they conduct their analyses, engineers will receive continuously and progressively updated information in real time. By providing more accurate information and interactive building elements, BIM offers engineers and consultants a better way to validate design assumptions against alternatives in a virtual environment—one that is much more efficient than field tests.

And for everyone involved in creating and sustaining the built environment, BIM will offer the following advantages:

Fewer coordination errors. Many of the problems that plague building construction flow from the fact that various disciplines have trouble communicating with one another—particularly regarding changes in materials, approach, and scope. At its core, BIM facilitates the sharing of information among these disciplines and reduces the number of errors that flow from insufficient communication.

More efficient scheduling and reduced construction time. This improved communication will allow project managers to establish and adjust schedules more accurately and precisely and to shave precious time from work schedules.

Better cost estimates and, ultimately, cost savings. With fewer errors and reduced schedules comes lower costs. This is no doubt the most compelling advantage of BIM for project owners and developers. And, the real-time and interactive nature of BIM will allow owners, developers, and those they employ to assess costs more accurately over the full lifecycle of a building.

Enhanced quality of deliverables. With greater quality control of the service, a higher quality product will be realized, and this will result in a positive experience for the stakeholders.

Naturally, these benefits will accrue most on large, complex projects. For example, the technology is being used by the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on the Freedom Tower project, located at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City. In fact, Skidmore,Owings & Merrill made it clear to potential subcontractors that one contract requirement will be that they are BIMcapable and proficient.

The revolution is now In a May 2005 survey, CSI asked respondents if they believed that BIM would revolutionize the construction industry. Three out of every four respondents said "Yes." The survey represented a cross-section of the commercial construction industry, including engineers, architects, specifiers, owners, managers, product representatives, and others.

Some market segments, design firms, and project owners are moving more quickly than others, of course; see "Early BIM-enabled projects."

Some design-build firms have adopted BIM early since it can be such a powerful tool for integrating the designing and building functions. Some larger owners and developers, particularly federal agencies such as the General Services Administration and the Department of Defense, will soon require the use of BIM on their projects.

I believe that, ultimately, the transition to BIM will be much quicker than the adoption of CAD systems—which took about 20 years to become fully integrated. Put simply, disciplines in the commercial construction business will have no choice.

This conviction places a premium on getting up to speed on BIM now, even as the transition process unfolds. Engineers and engineering firms need to watch the issue closely, and carefully consider their business models as they contemplate a switch to BIM. The investment in time, energy, and money will be significant, and engineers who move too quickly may find that the technology they choose has become obsolete. Those who wait too long could find themselves at a significant competitive disadvantage.

While the path that the BIM revolution will travel may not be entirely apparent, the destination is clear, and design professionals can be sure that the technology will revolutionize our industry in a very short period of time.We all need to understand how BIM will affect how we do business, and learning about BIM now is a good first step to take.

H. Michael Hill, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP, serves on the Construction Specifications Institute’s Board of Directors and is Director of Quality Assurance at Torti Gallas and Partners in Silver Spring, Md. Contact the Construction Specifications Institute at 800-689-2900, or via e-mail at csi@csinet.org.

As crucial members of the building design community, structural engineers should educate themselves now on the promises of BIM. Fortunately, many sources of information exist, including the following resources:

• The American Society of Civil Engineers’ Structural Engineering Institute (ASCE/SEI)—The ASCE/SEI website (www.seinstitute.org) has some information about BIM, and its publications cover the issue fairly regularly.
• The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS)—In order to avoid complications that would arise from multiple technologies, NIBS is leading an effort to develop a National BIM Standard. The NIBS website (www.nibs.org) contains a great deal of helpful information on where that process stands, as well as general information on BIM and what it means.
• The Construction Specifications Institute—Because of its historic role as a provider of building-oriented information, CSI is heavily involved in the development of the National BIM Standard and BIM education in general. (www.csinet.org)
• Industry trade publications—Many trade magazines, such as Structural Engineer (www.gostructural.com), as well as newsletters and journals, follow the BIM issue closely. Those devoted to computer-aided design (CAD) systems pay special attention because BIM marks the next step in the evolution of CAD.

Although the full BIM revolution has not yet occurred, several high-profile projects around the world either have used or will use early versions of 4-D, object-oriented BIM.

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. Designed by architect Frank Gehry in the early 1990s, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world, providing both visual and aural intimacy for an unparalleled musical experience.

According to the website, the historymaking design of Walt Disney Concert Hall mandated extraordinary state-ofthe- art construction techniques. Because no architectural software or blueprint program existed to convey Frank Gehry’s fluid shapes, he used a French computer program called CATIA that was developed for the aerospace and automotive industries. The Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application allowed Gehry’s team to extract the data and survey it in the field. Not surprisingly, precision is incredibly important—a joint even half an inch off in one place causes a ripple effect that could defeat the entire construction process. The construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2003. A donation from Lillian Disney of the Disney family, along with other individual and corporate donors, made the architectural wonder possible.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain. According to the museum’s official website, this unique museum, built on a 32,500- square-meter site in the center of Bilbao, represents an amazing construction feat. On one side it runs down to the waterside of the Nervión River, 16 meters below the level of the rest of the city of Bilbao.

One end is pierced through by the huge Puente de La Salve, one of the main access routes into the city. Frank Gehry was the lead architect on the project and unveiled the design in 1993. Owing to their mathematical complexity, the sinuous stone, glass, and titanium curves were designed with the aid of computer design, specifically CATIA. The team used early iterations of BIM in both the design and construction process. The project was completed in 1997.

Freedom Tower, New York. The Tower will stand on the northwest corner of the World Trade Center site. The building will have 2.6 million square feet of office space, plus tenant amenity spaces, observation decks, and world-class restaurants. According to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the project’s lead architect, the Tower will be built according to World Trade Center Sustainable Design Guidelines that are "unprecedented in their scope and depth." Currently under design, SOM is requiring its subcontractors to be BIM ready and capable.