In The Trenches with BIM

The AEC industry has been served its notice. Larry Rocha's recent AECbytes Viewpoint clearly illustrates the need for change and, more importantly, change management. He states that CAD automated the drafting process in the same way the automobile automated the process of traveling from points A to B. Now consider a hovercraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells analogous to today's BIM tools. Using either vehicle in the current state of the industry, the destination will most likely remain as point B—that is until industry change determines a new destination. A vastly superior vehicle will allow us to explore different ways of getting to the destination and new tasks we can accomplish along the way. As many of us are just beginning to learn how to start and operate our hovercrafts, how can we learn from our existing driving skills?

BIM Before BIM

"Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival." -W. Edwards Deming

I will first submit the fact that it is no longer a matter of "should we BIM," but when and where we start. Make no mistake, the industry as a whole is not completely ready for coordinated, interoperable virtual building projects, but that should not prevent us from exploring the vast possibilities from within the walls of our own firms right now. There are a variety of software tools to pilot and evaluate—Revit, Archicad, Bentley, GreenBuildingStudio, NavisWorks, etc. Also of interest are developing ideas around collaboration services far beyond Buzzsaw Professional or Constructware which would harness the power of an IFC model server. I must caution those interested not to expect the technology to deliver the process—the evolution must stem from your firm's objectives and processes, at which time the proper tools will present (or re-present) themselves.

In the meantime, there are some measures we can employ to familiarize ourselves with the basic theories of building information modeling prior to adopting a new toolset:

• Explore routines to automatically scan your distributed 2D CAD files for commonly used symbology like doors or furniture. Whether we know it or not, there is the potential for extreme data mining within our existing drafting packages. Recognizing this potential is one of the keys to understanding the fundamental concepts of BIM.
  
• Make sure you understand the value of data reuse (references, blocks, cells, etc.). A colleague of mine uses the mantra, "build once, reuse often" to describe yet another important principle of data efficiency.
  
• Take a course in database software such as Microsoft Access. It will help you better understand the concept of the virtual building as a data source and will surely provide some benefit in more mundane daily tasks.
  
• Discuss and promote the "BIM" concept with the decision makers in your firm. It's been suggested that "BIM" is the logical evolution of CAD and doesn't require another acronym. While it is definitely not a new concept, the terminology is precise enough to form an effective label yet broad enough for individual interpretation. In an effort to manage internal change and garnish support for training and education, I consider "BIM" as a marketing asset. By virtue of its sheer ubiquity, "BIM" is fast becoming a broad catchall, similar to how "CAD" came to represent any technology succeeding pen & paper.

Setting Goals

We must understand what we expect as output before we can modify our methods of input. With CAD we understood that the input was merely a digital emulation of an analog process—a means (representation) to an end (physical building). With BIM, we are essentially defining the end (virtual building), of which the means (representation) are a by-product. One common misconception has been for team members to expect the same output from a BIM platform as they would from CAD or manual drafting. I find that stepping back and rethinking the traditional methods of representation usually yields surprising results. Don't focus on making your virtual building reproduce the same vague "design intent only" types of drawings we have been so accustomed to delivering.

While it is difficult to predict the full potential of the virtual building model, it is beneficial to outline some basic and sequential milestones.

• Increase Internal Productivity: It is completely acceptable to utilize a BIM approach primarily for self improvement in the early years of adoption. Find the technology tools that suit your needs and deliver your drawings and specifications faster, better and cheaper than your competition.
  
• Collaborate More Effectively: As you become more comfortable with BIM technology and concepts, you will witness software and interoperability schemas evolve. This will be the time to start exploring concepts such as cross-platform interference detection, cost impact simulation and extended parametrics such as fire ratings, design loads and thermal performance data.
  
• Complete the Circuit: Once contractual and legal hurdles are lowered, we will be poised to directly transform the virtual building into reality. Computerized fabrication of a wider variety of building components, robotic assembly, and augmented reality displays will be directly empowered by the data generated throughout the design process.

Effecting Change

"We cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are." -Max DePree

As a team leader of perhaps the most important construction project in the United States, I felt an overwhelming responsibility to ensure our firm uses this opportunity to endorse the concept of building information modeling. As such, a massive effort has been launched by SOM to achieve this higher level of cooperation throughout the extended Freedom Tower team. Under the guidance of Carl Galioto, FAIA, we have established a remarkable collaboration that unites architect, engineer, owner, builder and programmer in the pursuit of a new way of conducting the business of building lifecycle management. Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake promote the idea of Architects returning to the role of "master controllers" rather than "master builders;" however, I feel that "master coordinator" fits best in the BIM domain. We see building information modeling as an overall approach to the design and construction of this monumental project, not just the use of the latest software.

To achieve such a transformation in process, it is paramount to overcome the inertia of 2D computer aided design. Fresh approaches and ideas must be embraced to influence the proper growth of these new technologies. According to Nicholas Negroponte, "the best way to guarantee a steady stream of new ideas is to make sure that each person in your organization is as different as possible from the others." Following this theory, my speculation has proven true that a brand new technology paradigm (treated as an important team member, of course) will be different enough to compel users to think about design problems and their solutions in a new manner. Using next generation software, our team members must learn the most efficient way to create their intended digital design, thus generating a natural pause in which to discuss or evaluate the design criteria. This phenomenon tends to purge bad habits by virtue of the learning curve. By comparison, everyone knows the workarounds in their familiar tools to quickly disguise, hide or ignore design conflicts. Of course most members of the pilot project teams will become well versed in the subtleties and quirks of the respective 3D BIM applications, but the inherent nature of the virtual building model makes it difficult to "fake" a design through representation.

Implementing a building information modeling paradigm has allowed our pilot teams to focus almost entirely on the development of buildings, not on CAD-related issues. The technology is finally becoming transparent enough to permit the "users" to become "designers" once again—and they truly relish this transformation. Ironically, the senior team members with less computer experience, but greater knowledge of design and constructability seem to fare better with these tools than some of the younger designers. Our architects and designers are no longer talking about plot styles and layers, null blocks and empty text. Instead we speak of walls and stairs, foundations and framing. In the resounding words of one of the team leaders, "We're having fun." The teams have finally begun to harvest the full potential of skills they pain-stakingly acquired with years of patience, perseverance and practical experience.

About the Author

James is a practicing architect and Associate at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He has been the CAD Manager for SOM's Eastern US offices since 2001 and has lead the development of CAD standards, customization programming, training and education, and is a member of a firm wide committee evaluating future technologies. He received a Bachelor of Architecture cum laude from the New York Institute of Technology. James can be reached at james.vandezande@som.com.

Note: The views expressed in Viewpoint articles are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of AECbytes. Also, no advertising or sponsorship is accepted for Viewpoint articles.