Posted by Holly Allison on Fri, Mar 05, 2010 @ 11:41 AM
Let's use the McGraw-Hill BIM SmartMarket Report's definition of BIM: The process of creating and using digital models for design, construction and/or operations of projects.
So the question to you becomes, "What do you want to do with the model when you create it, share it, or inherit it? How far do you want to go with it?"
In the first part of this article, we'll go to the line of demarcation we've set between Planning and then taking that model out to the site for Planning and Production.
3D Model Visualization is perhaps the first benefit that comes to mind when talking about BIM. For the first time, everyone around the table sees the same building come to life. Laypeople can read the model as quickly as a subcontractor and understand the project.
Some GCs (and Owners for that matter) think BIM starts at ends here. A pretty model for the pursuit presentation. But, the true value of BIM lies in being able to use the same business development model (with all the updates) throughout the lifecycle of the project. And so we move to...
Clash Detection and Coordination. Where does the model make sense and where is there a problem with the geometry? We can take multiple models (structural, MEP, curtain wall) and combine them to see where systems have interference. This is low-hanging fruit of BIM ROI because we can quickly calculate cost avoidance: 100 clashes at an estimated cost of $4,000 per clash = $400,000. Not to mention counting the field delays, lost work, materials, etc.
We do believe there is an optimal methodology for running coordination meetings, including accountability with the constructability report, and tracking clashes from RFI to resolution. For more info, please refer to the archived BIM 201 webinar and the Coordination Strategies in a Hard Bid webinar.
This coordination is so important because without it you can't climb any higher on the ladder. You need a coordinated model from which to derive the quantities. We believe Construction-Caliber Quantities are the linchpin for more accurate schedules and estimates. As a builder, you need access to all of the element properties required to produce detailed cost estimates and derive task durations. For example, Vico Office Takeoff Manager calculates ten specific properties for Walls and thirteen properties for Slabs. This ensures that you have the property and quantity fidelity required for Walls, Slabs, Beams, Columns, Rooms/Spaces, Windows/Doors/Openings.
The next step up the ladder is to quantify your Quantities By Location. The location-breakdown structure is a logical subdivision of the project using horizontal and vertical splits that define the scheduling and cost planning units of a project. The LBS can start with a floor or story of the building and then be further delineated into zones and then even further dissected into options; there can also be different location breakdown structures for the same floor, too. The LBS can even start with Phases, such as Laboratory, Surgical Rooms, and Patient areas, as a hospital example.
By organizing the project locations with these options, an optimal sequencing logic can be applied and these options can then be analyzed in terms of both cost and time.
This 4D Sequence Simulation is another great visualization tool, but it needs to be much more than movie. To quote from Olli Seppanen's blog, "Owners should not be content with pretty movies but should pay special attention to the intelligence behind the schedule - quantities, resources, means and methods. This information content is a better predictor of whether or not a General Contractor can deliver rather than the ability of the General Contractor to create a snapshot simulation movie. "
This doesn't negate the power of properly planning and sequencing a job. Special projects need to orchestrate excavation and backfill, cranes, delivery and exit routes, pick order, etc. In many cases, the only way to figure out a proper sequence is to see the animation on the screen and see where a logic error occurs.
One more step and we're into the meat and muscle of BIM: deriving schedules and estimates. We'll address these rungs next week. But in the meantime, take a serious evaluation of where your firm is on the ladder. Are you just getting started or are you ready to take another functional step up?
Take a look at The BIM Checklist and see where you'd like your team to be. And tune in next week for the steps to get to the top!
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Great Resources to Get Half-Way Up the Ladder
Selecting a BIM-authoring tool. It is up to you and your team to determine the best modeling platform for the type of work that you do. As a BIM-neutral environment, Vico Office works with ArchiCAD, Revit, and Tekla. With the next release, we will offer an IFC import tool to support Bentley models. We will also help more Subs by providing a CAD-Duct import tool.
What do you do if the Owner is asking for BIM in the presentations? Our Professional Services Team can work with you to deliver a Business Development model that can be updated as the project evolves. We also allow you to extend the services engagement when you win the deal (and this will take you to the top of the ladder).
What is the difference between design quantities and construction-caliber quantities? To start, simple area and volume calculations are not enough. But we've produced a mini-whitepaper to explain the difference.
How do we create locations in the model so we can have quantities per location, especially when we're under pressure with a hard bid? The Scheduling Strategies Webinar does a good job explaining how to slice and dice the model. But you'll also want to take a look at these blog posts:
Hard Bids - Back to the Future Construction-Style
Reduce Project Risk with Location-Based Schedules
Location-Based Scheduling from the Owner's Point of View
How do we extend the 4D Sequencing to true model-based scheduling? Perhaps the best example we have of an intelligent simulation, derived from the quantities of the BIM and then married with resources and productivity rates, is the comparison presented at the end of the Hensel Phelps Denver Justice Center webinar. This shows the schedule simulation on one half of the screen compared with actual camera footage from the jobsite.
Posted by Holly Allison on Fri, Feb 26, 2010 @ 01:55 PM
Did you know that Vico was the first virtual construction software to create an integration with Trimble? Now many BIM-authoring tools like Tekla and Revit also have integrations with the Trimble LM 80 and robotic Total Station. It's become an essential way to share data from the preconstruction team with the trailer. This means that you can transfer points from your BIM directly into the handheld device and shoot the points out on the jobsite. This integration streamlines the field placement of structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering systems.
Precision Midwest, a Trimble dealer in the midwest, is organizing the first annual BIM Expo in Chicago on March 18th. The goal of the event is to make Chicago-area GCs aware of the many ways to incorporate BIM technologies and methodologies into their firms.
Precision placement of hangers and bracings is critical for safety and off-site material fabrication. This is a key component of successfully extending BIM to subcontractors and field crews. We've seen first-hand how successful the integration is at St. Joseph's Mission Hospital in Southern California. With this integration, there is less time wasted on inefficient layout of the building plan and less waste of materials due to re-work and overages.
Here's a summary of the integration with Trimble:
The build to design and design to build processes ensure that the information captured in the building model make it to the construction site and back. The design to build process requires the design team, contractor and subcontractor collaborate early using a 3D model with the right amount of detail. The model helps the project team design structures based on accurate construction information.
The second step of the process is the build to design phase. The contractor and subcontractors can use the as-built measurements to verify the quality of construction and check acceptable tolerances using the building model. When as-built conditions are combined and overlaid with the model, the contractor can make sure that all structures are built according to specification. The B2D and D2B processes reduce field rework and allow subcontractors to prefabricate more off-site. The result is reduced field labor hours, therefore reduced cost of the project and savings for all project stakeholders.
At the BIM Expo or in a web demonstration, we can show your team how to simplify the placement of structural, concrete, and MEP systems:
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After placing site survey points into the 5D BIM model, users can download critical formwork and steel locations (x, y, z) automatically to their Trimble Total Station; |
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Download centerlines and edge lines of piping and ductwork to assist subs in properly placing equipment; |
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Automatically generate hanger and insert locations, as well as seismic bracings after positioning the hangers in the model; |
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Download locations for hangers and bracing inserts into slab formwork and sleeve locations for floor penetrations to improve structural concrete systems. |
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Verify that key elements are installed within acceptable tolerance ranges and resolve any downstream conflicts |
This workflow integration provides a significant opportunity for contractors to improve productivity. If these guidelines are followed correctly, it's possible to prefab far more than is typical for one-off designs and to complete the project with no field work.
We hope you can get to the event if you live in the area. But if distance is a barrier, here are some electronic resources for your team:
Learn more about Precision Midwest and their services to GCs, Subs, and Owners in the greater Chicago area.
To learn more about the BIM Expo, please email Nick DiBitetto or call him at (630) 836-1000.
Posted by Holly Allison on Fri, Feb 19, 2010 @ 08:55 AM
Our Guest Blogger series allows us to introduce the Vico Community to the thought leaders in the industry, to peers who are making a difference in the market, and to new ideas that are being debated.
We're pleased to introduce John Stebbins, Associate AIA, as the next voice in our Guest Blogger Series. John is the founder of Digital Vision Auotmation, a 3D technology provider and software trainer in Southern California. John has been on the front lines for the last 21 years transitioning the building industry from 2D drafting to 3D BIM.
John has been kind enough to pen some of his thoughts and perspectives on BIM and its adoption in the AEC industry for our readers. To see more ideas from this firm, bookmark their blog, All Roads Lead to BIM.
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BIM is a process, not a thing and not software, even though certain BIM software vendors would like you to think that their products ARE the only true way to BIM. The term is Building Information Modeling, not Building Information MODEL. It is a verb -- Modeling for Building Information.
Therefore, if an architect uses the BIM process to derive faster, more accurate, complete and integrated CDs, then he is leveraging the BIM process by creating a "virtual building model" to deliver his part of the design/build/operate process - and in most cases that is paper drawings.
But more and more owners and contractors want the virtual building model from which the CDs are derived. And yes, one day I believe we will be submitting BIMs to building departments to get approval; it will happen. The process of electronic code checking and BIM quality validation is already possible today, with software like Solibri. For now, we need paper...but my point is, architects can at least get to paper information better and faster via the BIM process.
Contractors want the virtual building model from the BIM process primarily for MEP Coordination and if they don't get it from the architects, they will often pay thousands of dollars to a third party to create a "constructability" model from 2D drawings, since MEP Coordination in 2D using light tables is a HUGE headache (meaning it wastes time and money) for contractors. Contractors are also beginning to use the constructability model for construction sequencing (4D building "dress rehearsals" e.g practicing building the building and doing virtual "what ifs") and project management, making them flawless when it comes time to really build the building. Extracting accurate estimates from the virtual building model follows as third priority in the contractor's use of BIM.
At this stage in the Building Industry transformation, I suggest we focus on how any or all stakeholders can leverage models from the BIM process however they can. Even though there are many models now, one day we will reach the Holy Grail of one integrated Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) model that travels downstream and picks up the necessary level of detail (LOD) as it chugs down the design/build/operate track. Then, we will not need to talk about BIM anymore, because we will all be doing it!
Right now, all stakeholders are doing the best they can to leverage a virtual building in any way they can, and as we progress it will all become even more integrated, as IPD and design/build becomes the norm.
Until that time, BIM continues to be a verb, and it is progressing!
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Leave your comments and questions for John here on the boards. We love to get a good discussion going!
If this is a topic on which you'd like to learn more and see more opinions, hop over to these posts:
I Rest My Case! 200 Models?!?!
One vs Multiple Models - or - "Should We Poly-Model-Doodle-All-the-Day?"
Posted by Holly Allison on Fri, Feb 05, 2010 @ 11:47 AM
We recently gathered at the AGC BIM Forum in Phoenix to learn best practices with virtual construction. Bill Klorman, President and CEO of Klorman Construction in California, took the time to explain flowline theory and model-based scheduling utilizing locations, resources, and productivity rates to the audience. Bill was kind enough to share the presentation with our larger Vico Community audience.
Let's look at some monitoring, forecasting, and control of the construction process. This is going to be based on location-based management systems (LBMS). This is an actual project; it is for Amtrak and is a progressive maintenance facility in Los Angeles, California. We're going to show how we can take the model information, move it into our scheduling process, and control and forecast the building.
We'll go ahead and start off with a little fly through. This is a 910 foot long structure. The point here is that structures are built by location. They are not built lineally all the time and it's not by happenstance. So, we'll do a little simulation for you and you can see here the yellow is the work in progress.
We have two different drill rigs putting in these friction piles. We can see there are two different crews putting in the concrete work in the deep pits. We have the grey beams starting to work out to both ends. We have the suspended rail slabs being cast. As we zoom in you can see a little more of the detail. You can see the mat slabs going in. You can see the cast in place wall with the integral piers that will support the steel structures.
But notice the different colors other than the yellow. These are all separate locations where very specific tasks need to be performed in a specific sequence in order for us to complete the project on time and predictably so we control or reduce risk in missing this schedule or having interruptions. You can see the steel structure started in the middle then the cranes moved to the outside and moved inward.
So, there must be more than a plan. You must be able to monitor, forecast, and control. It must come from your BIM and it must optimize your resources. Now everybody has seen a Gantt chart whether you're using P3, P6, Microsoft Project or any of the other scheduling tools that produce Gantt charts. We can summarize them and we can increase the level of detail. To some extent we can organize them by location. But it's still managing by exception and it's limited to very difficult views. You can see here as we drill down on the detail, you can't see everything on one page. I'm sure you've all experienced this. As we continue to drill down, although we can see the critical path and the logic lines, it becomes very difficult to be able to understand the schedule.
But if we use a flowline or line of balance base you can see not only the entire project on one screen but we can see the layout of the locations in the building. We have the overall project, we have the zone or areas... in this case it's a train project so we have inbound and outbound. Train people like to talk about spots so we have spots for the areas. And then, as opposed to floors (because the building has so many elevation changes in each spot), we elected to use our fourth level of hierarchy elevations. We can see how it's optimized and we can also see there are areas of wide space which may need to be considered for accelerating some of the work. Or where it's getting close... is this a possible interruption? Do we need to reconsider buffers or lags to reduce any risk and ensure the schedule can be delivered?
Let's drill in on a little more detail. And granted, when you look at this, it looks like chaos or somebody threw a bunch of spaghetti on the screen. But as we drill in you'll see that there's a huge amount of information in this. Unlike a typical CPM or Gantt schedule, we not only know the location but on the specific day what trades are working in what area on the job.
Now here we see what could be a conflict or interruption but when we look at it closer we see that it's forming walls and the rebar for walls. We made a conscious decision to model them as two items instead of three which would have been first, side, rebar and then close. So let's go ahead and see how we got this information. This information comes from our target bill of quantities. Now, these quantities are all pulled directly from the model and not only do we know our total footage and our unit of measure, but very importantly we know our consumption rate and we know our resources. In this case: carpenters, laborers, cement masons, and equipment. And we can see where this occurs in each area of the project. As you can see in the picture in the right hand corner you can see the amount of elevation control in this building.
So let's go back to our flowline schedule and look at one particular set of activities. We're going to look at the cast in place walls. Now let's go ahead and drill into a little more detail. As we do, we notice there's a potential interruption. As we look into this I don't think we want this pouring to go on at this time. You'll notice the little numbers here. That represents the crew; in this case we've assigned one crew in order to get this production rate. Now if we decide to go faster we can only either change the production factor, the gang (which in this case to go from one to six) or the consumption. It's kind of hard to imagine that we could increase the consumption from what we figured one crew could do to abut six times that amount in order to get the work to be completed from six days to two and a half days. So the odds are we'll go back and add more crews to this as opposed to just changing the consumption rate. And you can see the logic lines and critical path lines. But let's look at something else that's extremely advantageous in this type of scheduling process.
Let's move from our planning phase to our control phase. I'll explain the red dot's to you in a minute... they're called alarms. But let's drill back down to where we've been in the schedule. Now you can see things that you don't get to see in typical CPM schedules. You noticed the little dotted lines, that is our actually progress. The solid lines are our planned progress (what we expected to do). But because we have some history on the job now we can see that up here we fell off. And as of this day, if we continue at this pace, we can see just how much the forecast is going to push us out. Now that's what makes these alarms very interesting. So from today, knowing exactly what area and what location, we can see that there's an alarm. And these alarms, if you notice, are almost six full weeks in advance. We're being notified that because of a predecessor's late start we have a problem. Now we go back and research it and find that the drill rig broke and that's what the problem is.
Now we can do a few things... We can go and go in and we can edit the control plan (mind you this is different than a planning mode or a detail task) and we can do one of four things. We can either change consumption or change the crew size or make some work go faster or go slower to optimize it. But again as we drill back out you can see the entire project both actual plan and forecast all on one page.
So it's important to understand that your BIM needs to drive quantity and resources and using a location-based schedule with five-layered logic makes it predictable and controllable.
To learn more about this subject, please utilize the following resources:
~ Olli Seppanen's blog on flowline theory, location-based management systems, and model-based scheduling
~ BIM 401: Model-Based Scheduling
~ Scheduling Strategies in a Hard Bid
~ A 30-day evaluation of Vico Control
Posted by Holly Allison on Mon, Jan 04, 2010 @ 11:53 AM
With so many great thinkers and innovative companies all around us, Vico decided to turn the microphone over to them! In this first installment of the series, please allow us to introduce you to Clifton Cole, Project Engineer at Penta Building Group in Las Vegas! He has a special topic to discuss: BIM for Owners...
Q: Why do you feel owners need to learn more about BIM?
A: Owners are a very important part of the BIM process. We're seeing more owners request BIM on RFP's and we want to make sure the owners are getting the full benefit of the collaborative BIM process. This really starts with the architect, engineer and contractor working together to exchange information and promote better projects.
Q: What's the greatest misconception in today's market about BIM for owners?
A: I think the biggest misconception is that BIM is just a tool. BIM is a collaborative process that involves communication and the exchange of information from design to construction to operation and maintenance. This helps to reduce rework and eliminate cost issues in the field or once the building is turned over.
Q: And why is Penta leading the educational charge for owners?
A: Here at Penta we feel it's very important to educate the owner on what to expect when using BIM on their projects and the capabilities that the architect, engineers and contractors have with BIM.
Q: Can you describe some of the benefits you've seen on the projects.
A: The biggest benefit we've seen is the ability to do clash detection from a contractors standpoint. Where we're able to implement all the sub trades and do clash detection and coordination in a controlled environment. We are also seeing benefits with scheduling and sequencing where we are able to show the owners, in 3D, the way we propose to build their projects. It's really a big benefit to be able to visualize the project to understand how it's coming together. It allows the architect to get their design intent across and allows the owner and contractor to understand the architects and engineer's design intent.
Q: Any closing thoughts?
A: I just want to tell everybody we're holding a BIM presentation here in Las Vegas on January 12th. If you are interested and want more information feel free to contact me at ccole@pentabldggroup.com
Event Information:
BIM For Owners Seminar
January 12th 2010, 8:30AM
Doubletree Club Hotel
7250 Pollack Drive, Las Vegas Airport
Las Vegas, NV
Here are some BIM deliverables that all Owners should request on their projects:
During the Conceptual Phase
Cost Variance
Fast Model Representation
Documentation for all phases
High-quality project renderings
Constructability
Constructability report
Complete review of 2D drawings and schedules
Seismic bracing design (pre-approved for OSHPD)
Coordination
3D modeling capability for all major systems
2D, 3D, and 4D clash detection
Coordinated hanger placement
Change Management
Electronic comparison of drawing packages
Automatic detection of changes
Virtual light table view of changes
Clouding and RFI assignment, tracking, reporting
Quantities
Model-based quantity takeoff
CSI and Uniformat Masterformat support
Specialized BIM objects for construction quantities
Estimating
Knowledge Base of cost and time elements
Support for condition methoding
Cost variaces
Bid packages
Scheduling
Automated creation of the baseline schedule
Line of balance schedule for crews
Monte Carlo risk analysis
Production control and forecasting
Schedule analysis and optimization
4D simulation to illustrate the schedule
Design-pull schedule
Layouting
Total Station export for seismic bracing
Auotmated site grid layout
Build to design and design to build support
Integration with the Trimble Total Station/LM80
Sub-Contractors
Construction 3D model with sub-contractor input
Continuous workflow support
Advance coordination management service
Look-ahead movie by date and trade
Model Viewer
Quantity and cost support
Earned value analysis and cash flow
Walk-throughs, sequencing, other AVIs
BIM is such a valuable process for your next project. Please be sure to post your questions and comments for Clifton, or email him directly at
ccole@pentabldggroup.com.