It might seem daunting, time consuming & prohibitive for smaller practices, to implement BIM. Not with Driving Vision!
This article is part of a blog series on how to build sustainable constructions, introducing adequate processes and best practices to design, build, and operate your assets.
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a technology dramatically impacting the planet for architects, engineers, and contractors to design and construct environmentally responsible structures.
Sustainability responsibly uses resources to avoid harming or compromising the planet’s environmental degradation or damaging natural resources.
In the construction industry, sustainability means designing, building, and operating constructions without adversely impacting the environment and delivering social and economic benefits to the community.
Building a sustainable construction means that materials and methodologies will significantly reduce pollution, save energy and water, and minimize waste.
For example, durable materials can be reused and recycled when they are not in use anymore.
Sustainable constructions offer a comfortable, healthy, and safe environment to their users. They are better built to save the planet.
To enhance sustainability in construction BIM can help to find solutions to use efficient and clean energy. For example, identifying the position of the building towards the sun, or using materials that store, absorb, and release heat can reduce energy consumption.
BIM analysis can also optimize daylight in the building by simulating various placements of windows enhancing natural light.
To minimize transportation and avoid global warming impact Bim can help select local, environmentally friendly materials.
To reduce the ecological footprint BIM can analyze, simulate, and choose the best renewable energy system to use in the construction, like solar or wind turbines.
When the construction is in use, BIM tools can help monitor and verify the sustainability of the building operation, tracking energy consumption, water usage, and waste generation.
6D BIM incorporates sustainability data into the model. All stakeholders make decisions about environmental, economic, and social sustainability from a sole source.
The World’s smartest and most sustainable building. BIM modeling helped the project team to analyze data, optimize energy usage, select materials, and reduce lifecycle costs to get the building a top BREEAM sustainability rating.
Key achievements from the design team:
A LEED Gold certified project, 640,000 SF, a 192-bed hospital built in Augusta, Maine. The project was completed 10 months ahead of schedule and saved $20 Million compared to budget. The total construction cost was $215 Million.
ENGworks and YouBIM® were selected to get the job done.
The project team wanted to take BIM to the next level by:
The team results:
They integrated all BIM models from the various design and subcontracting team members during the construction phase.
They enabled multiple platforms of BIM authoring software, and data sources into a single 3D model.
They populated the model with rich BIM data to get facility management features into IBM Maximo the Maine General Medical Center facilities management system.
Maine General Medical Center expects to save between $185,000 & $225,000 a year in operating costs versus the traditional manual paper workflow.
Now the staff gets real-time information about issues in the hospital, like the location, product specifications, warranties, maintenance procedures, and design data.
BIM was used for sustainability in the Crossrail at Tottenham Court Road project in London, UK.
The use of BIM helped the team to make a sustainable design for the railway line.
The sustainable objectives of the project by using BIM were to :
As construction is a large contributor to the world's energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, using BIM is crucial to reduce them.
A digital model of a physical construction stores information about the sustainability of the materials and products included in the project and how they interfere.
Let us see how BIM improves sustainability.
BIM identifies areas of sustainability improvements, in the construction phase or in existing buildings, through simulations and analysis, to unveil energy wastage and potential efficiency enhancements.
BIM sustainability improvements are crucial in various ways to identify opportunities for daylight and solar energy in construction and choose the right material to reduce carbon emissions and reduce the impact on the environment.
Other improvements BIM simulations may bring are managing waste, improving water resources, recycling, and material reuse through the in-use and demolition phases.
Reducing the carbon footprint through the life cycle of the construction with BIM will ease maintenance and repair planning by anticipating issues area.
BIM helps select the right equipment on construction sites to minimize environmental impact and track the energy performance of construction when in use to react promptly to solve sustainable potential issues.
BIM and sustainability start at an early stage of the design through the construction, operation, and demolition phases. Design is a crucial phase of the project where BIM benefits have a high impact on the sustainable performance of the life cycle of the building explored below.
As we already mentioned, construction projects are an important source of gas emissions and waste. BIM can reduce the environmental impact by allowing project managers to analyze and simulate the environmental and composition impact of varied materials in a project, optimizing cost and performing the best possible procurement.
BIM using immersive technologies to visualize a non-existing building within its surroundings allows all project stakeholders to evaluate its interactions with the environment by answering the following questions about the future construction:
BIM can analyze the impact on the virtual environment, the structure may have, during the future operational phase.
The design may influence how the building is positioned toward the sun path and where to install solar panels to provide the required renewable energy.
BIM may help create a healthy interior environment for the building users by exploring sustainable options for interior spaces, by asking questions like:
BIM models are a collection of data. BIM totals the quantities to make estimates used by the procurement team to calculate the inventory required to create less waste by ordering too much or incorrect materials.
BIM data links help set plans for preventive maintenance and repair plans in the operational phase to prolong the life cycle of all systems.
Rework is a major source of waste in construction. BIM reduces rework thanks to team collaboration in scoping and planning the sequence in which the work should be done. Each team plans its tasks knowing when they will receive the information required to complete their work to reduce potential costly reworks. Avoiding clashes during the design phase prevents unnecessary deconstruction, repair, or materials disposal during the construction phase.
BIM is a collaborative tool used by all project team stakeholders to improve sustainability and transparency in accessing data. Each team member understands what they must do, when and how, to complete their tasks.
Collaboration helps the project owner to make informed, critical decisions about sustainable materials, equipment, and systems to plan efficient energy and get a LEED, certificate.
BIM in prefabrication and modular construction helps to manufacture materials or modules off-site and then transport them to the site where they are assembled. They are manufactured in a controlled environment resulting in less waste and pollution than in traditional method.
Sustainability is a hot topic at the moment because protecting the environment is important to preserve our planet!
Making sustainable choices in planning your BIM projects should be a top priority.
Using a platform like Plannerly will help you:
Take our Technology appraisal diagnostic, to find out the best way to insert BIM and modern technology in your workflows, move your organization to cloud computing so you can open up new possibilities for your daily planning tasks and make sure your data never leaves the optimally secured data center.
The technology appraisal report will help you explore what investment is required to improve your projects’ sustainability, productivity, and collaboration as well as the ROI you can expect.
Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now
Of practices using BIM made positive ROI
Of practices using BIM improved health and safety
Of practices using BIM decreased errors and omission
Of practices using BIM enhanced their practice image
Of practices using BIM claimed less litigations
Of practices using BIM reduced rework
It might seem daunting, time consuming & prohibitive for smaller practices, to implement BIM. Not with Driving Vision!
