The Future of BIM

As continuing the discussion from the class, similar to the post from our group. I believe the BIM will have a bright future, but it could take more than 10 years for the technology to be practical in other engineering fields.

The major concern for me about the BIM and specifically the Revit to be more practical is the community. As for my own experience and research, most of the firms are still using AutoCAD as their priority tool to deliver their projects. Moreover, governments as the biggest clients in all countries, will pay a huge role here as we speak of the future of the Revit. For instance, my coop experience at City of Philadelphia uses CAD in all our projects and I do not see the changes will come sooner than later. The education of the Revit is still developing and not to mention the elder architects and engineers are more unfamiliar to Revit than recent graduates.

Contractor is also the obstruct for the practice of Revit to be practical, contractors are relatively less educated than the engineers and architects. However, they also need their key personals to be familiar with Revit. In fact, in the lecture of Revit by Autodesk university, there are only a few people works for the contractors. The amount of cost of money and time is huge, and the desire of Revit is relatively low.

Nevertheless, in the meantime, Revit is still advancing. The changes during a decade will be outrageous. Also, with the education on the BIM and relevant subjects, the future of the BIM technology and the use of the Revit is bright. Revit will be more intimate in construction industry with the development of the other technology like AI and robotics. As we speak of, some of the projects are already uses the robotics in construction or even uses the 3D printer for small units to the whole structure. These innovations will lead the development of the modeling tools like Revit and other BIM technologies.

In conclusion, I believe the future practical of the Revit will be significant in our field, but I think it going to take more than a decade for the changes to happening.

Jacklynn Lord: I agree with your post a lot. Your experience in AECOM is good to know. I believe the training of Revit is beneficial to all of us. The innovation is happening, no matter if it comes sooner or later. The problem between versions could be worth noticing when different parties are involving in a project. However, I do not think it will be hard to solve it in the future.

Hanyan Chen: I agree with you the sharing data repository is a key feature for Revit. The families can be sharing in Revit will help a lot regarding to connect the whole industry. The data repository will help the fields to better innovating. I believe it will help in delivering more intelligent and environmentally friendly designs.

Ren: I agree with you about the economic efficiency is a factor for BIM to be practical. The community lack of experience of BIM is also my concern. Some of these people even do not concern the new technology as opportunity to them but in the contrary, they regard it as the threats. I believe the BIM’s development leads and relies on the industry to development at the same time.

B3 - Current Advantages of BIM

 BIM offers many benefits over traditional paper drawings in the modern age. These advantages are best described by splitting them into the following categories; functionality, ease of use, and connectivity. Functionally, BIM software allows designers to convey an extremely granular amount of information about their design in an easily navigable manner. Assigning metadata such as material properties to a model element allows for the combination of visual elements with quantitative and qualitative information, a practice that is typically only available to paper drawings in the form of label leaders and hatching patterns. Whereas excessive labeling can convolute and obscure a paper drawing, BIM drawings and models display this information only when an object is highlighted, leading to a more legible drawing overall. 

BIM drawings are not only easy to parse, they are also incredibly easy to disseminate and transport in almost all applications. The ease of use associated with storing an entire project’s drawing portfolio on a laptop or tablet no thicker than a couple of inches at most is unbelievable. The less cumbersome and more readily available a cohesive building plan is, the more likely it is to be carefully reviewed in detail throughout the design process and the more likely it is to be constantly referenced and updated throughout construction. 

The nature of these plans (typically) being stored on a firm’s intranet allows for another degree of company-wide integration; having any authorized employee able to view and edit BIM drawings in real time, even remotely, and see those changes reflected across all copies of the drawing instantaneously is an incredible asset to any design or construction team. 

In addition to this, most BIM suites also offer interconnectivity between several applications that can all use the same model. For example, Autodesk Revit integrates directly with Robot, a structural analysis application that utilizes a Revit model and the associated metadata with minimal effort required to import and export. 

I can understand how the transition to BIM can be somewhat intimidating for established professionals who have only ever worked with paper drawings due to the unfamiliarity and relatively high cost of entry, but i believe the benefits i’ve explained are blatant and pervasive enough to encourage continual widespread adoption of BIM throughout the AEC industry.

B3 - BIM and technology in the next 10 years

While the video we watched in class on Thursday showed where Revit and other programs can bring us in the near future, I think that a 10-year plan is a bit too fast paced. One of the main issues I see in this is the willingness of people (mainly the older generations) to utilize this technology. Technology changes every day, and as Professor Mitchell said towards the end of class, once you hit a certain point there doesn’t seem to be enough reason to learn something new and complex. A way of fixing this was making the program user friendly, but that along could take 10 years to master. With making the programs user friendly (easy enough to learn, etc.) you could realistically make these different programs accepted in the older generations still working or to those who were never introduced to the project from an early time.

Another doubt with such a short time frame is the fact that one particular program isn’t used universally and getting a program to be used throughout a profession could be extremely difficult. For example, using programs on Macs vs. PCs can make the experience difficult or easier because many of these design programs are built for just one. Past that, there are many different programs that are utilizes and convincing people to stick with one specific program might be difficult – and if there are multiple programs in use, finding ways to overlap them would become necessary if the technology is fully integrated.

While I don’t think it will be fully integrated within a decade, I think technology will be more integrated than now. I think with programs improving at the rate they currently are and other extensions coming out, more people will be pulled to using it and it will start to become an easier platform to work with as more people use it. Along with that, the younger generations are utilizing technology a lot more, and with time, those who are against using these different programs will retire or see the benefit in them are start using it. I think associating a timeline with when technology will be fully integrated is putting a date to something that doesn’t need it – I do believe these programs will be a large part in the future, but it’s impossible to know when as the rate that technology is improved, and programs are created are constantly changing.

Comments:

To Nick Maloney – I completely agree with where you’re coming from. Something you talked about that I did not mention is the costs associated with the programs. Often times, especially with it’s the “newest and greatest” thing, it’ll be extremely expensive and not realistic to purchase for smaller companies. That also creates a time delay of sorts for when technology will be integrated to the highest potential.

To Harvin Bhandal – I think you bring up some great points. The fact that what’s considered “old technology” or “old school” to many still functions for their purposed and many people prefer it. I think that will also limit people’s willingness to work with newer technology and make it even more difficult to integrate it across all platforms.

To Jackie Lord – I think you bring up great points, but I think there’s the separation between big companies and smaller ones. Big companies, like AECOM are able to spend the money on more expensive technology and have enough people where they can train everyone (and not take away from their projects), where smaller companies can’t do the same thing. That’s where I think the ten years is a bit fast, because I’m not sure it’s realistic across the board.

How Far Can BIM Go In 10 Years?

This assignment required students to watch a video “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think” by Autodesk University, discuss it amongst groups and then share with the class, and then formulate individual ideas. The question to keep in mind is how relevant BIM is to engineering design and how advanced can it get in 10 years.

The video showed some of the state-of-the-art uses for BIM and how much easier designing architecture would be if more softwares were incorporated. The expression of more fluid shapes were possible within a computer. This combined with the iterative design process generated by a computer opens up many possibilities of architecture.

AI may be usable as an architects inspiration but it may not replace their sense of aesthetic. AI may not be able to produce something that is attractive to the human eye. What I mean is that the architects of old created art with the human fascination in mind. It may be difficult for AI to achieve the same results. However, an architect may be able to manipulate BIM and AI to create art.

In the engineering design process, I believe that within 10 years, we may see competitive engineering firms use automation to quickly generate ideas for clients. As the interoperability between different softwares increases, so does the speed of engineering design. However, it will be a pretty big investment. The training required to get everyone in the company to proficiently use BIM in several softwares will be rigorous. In the case where software proficiency is not widespread, the job market will be more focused toward hiring individuals who have practiced BIM and automation.

On the manufacturer side of construction, I can see the advancement of CNC machining to create the complex shapes that are generated in BIM. However, I can see that some CNC machinists may lose their jobs if a computer can accomplish the same results.

Architects, engineers, and contractors need to learn BIM for it to truly be useful.


Comments on colleagues’ posts:
Alec Silverstone
Your idea that the incorporation of this AI iterative design in BIM will come with setbacks is something that I believe will happen. It’s simply the way that new technology works. It may take several years just to convince higher-ups that technology is worth investing into and then training staff to use it proficiently. That being said, I like the way that the AEC industry is heading. However, it means that the way undergraduates are being taught will need to change as well.

Harvin Bhandal
I still believe that the smaller companies will hold onto orthographic drawings in AutoCAD rather than move onto BIM. The question arises is how useful is BIM if the client does not want a commercial building but something more specific like a power plant. In this case, the structural integrity is all that matters. Other small firms may choose to take a smoother transition by hiring a few people who are capable of BIM and have them work with senior staff. This is how I imagine small firms proceeding.

Matt Mullen
I can see VR/AR being the standard to advertising a product to clients. If everyone involved with the building is well-versed with BIM, there may not be as many conflicts during construction. I would also like to see the construction industry make the leap and perform at a higher speed and efficiency.

B3 - Future of BIM

From personal experience, I think BIM will be made the priority for training in the upcoming 10 years. Right now, it seems like the majority of big firms are currently using some version of AutoCAD. I work at AECOM and we use CAD Civil3D every day and throughout all of our projects. Most of our clients still utilize CAD and require we work in it as well. While CAD is a great tool, it isn’t as intuitive as Revit or other software, which is why we are starting to see a push towards BIM.

Recently, our team has been required to go through Revit training for one of our clients. Through the training, the PM has been discussing the benefits and limitations of Revit. The main use we see for our team is the cohesion of all disciplines working in one document. This crucial change will allow companies to grow and complete projects more efficiently. Another aspect to BIM is how user-friendly and intuitive it is with users. The only drawback right now to Revit is the lack of compatibility in between versions. For example, I did my entire A.1 project at work on 2019. The school computers only had Revit 2018, so I had to redo the entire project because there was no way to save back or convert or open a later version of the software. Once this issue is taken care of, I feel that BIM will be prevalent in all offices with CAD only as a backup for companies that have not made the push to advancing technologies.

Aside from just Revit, BIM and robotics are making a push now to become more widely used. In 10 years, the benefits will outweigh the costs and limitations for companies and I feel like it will be the standard for firms.

Comments:

Hailey Ihlow – I agree with your post. I’m seeing more and more companies look into the benefits of using Revit vs. CAD. In later years, the companies that have already made the push into Revit will be pursuing other programs while the rest of the world plays catch up.

Hanyan Chen – I agree that the use of robotics in construction will be the future. Why would companies spend time and money on man power when the potential for robots to perform is there? Also the companies are liable for workers on a job, whereas should something fatal occur while the robot is working, it’s much less cause for lawsuits.

Nana Rasmussen – I’ve never worked with Rhino or Grasshopper, which is why I can see your point in companies spending time and energy to train employees. I think that when these programs are more widely accepted, universities will start spending time offering courses on these topics.

Future of BIM

In the video of Bill Allen, he talked about the future of BIM in the following 10 years and showed us several BIM software that is changing the industry and our future career. As a software storing building data, BIM has already shown its significant strength in the construction process. It helps all departments involved in a project to better collaborate, reduce the conflicts and field changes, and improve productivity and efficiency.
As an architect, Bill Allen gave us some example of how this BIM software improve his working efficiency, such as using Parametricism plus BIM to create multiple iterations without remodeling buildings every time. For engineering, he mentioned several features that will change the construction industry in the future.
One of the features could be the application of AR/VR. BIM now is helping the owners to better understand the model of the designed building, with 3d models and walkthroughs. In the future, it is possible that we will use AR/VR plus BIM to give a better exhibition of the model to anyone that is not familiar with engineering drawings.
Another feature he mentioned is robotics, including machine robots that work in the field, 3d printing robots and drones. In the future, robotics will be developed more and will be more commonly used in construction process. As to 3d printing, it will be a significant improvement of productivity as long as the problem of material shortage is solved.
Another feature that I can think of is the sharing data repository. Because of the rich data stored and shared by BIM, not only contractors are able to see its interaction with other objects, other parties that does not involved in the construction process are able to backtrack and retrieve the data in order to design a future project around it. On the other hand, we can imagine a city will be constructed with a more detailed design considering how buildings will react to each other. It will also reduce the conflicts between existing infrastructure and new construction. This will create a more comfortable, more efficient, more intelligent and healthier urban environment.
Sources:
Allen, Bill. “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think.” YouTube, uploaded by Autodesk University, 23 November 2016,   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6yKyauu-o

Comments:
Yidi Li,
I totally agree with you that AI development will speed up the drawing phases and provide multiple iterations without remodeling over and over again. Also, it is true that AutoCAD took about 20 years to become the mainstream but in my opinion BIM, such as Revit, will take less time than AutoCAD. It was a different era and the penetration of internet is not as strong as now. The whole industry is accepting new technology in order to prevent being knocked out by other competitors.

Matt Mullen,
I totally agree that BIM will give a lot of benefits to owners. They have the opportunity to get involved directly at the beginning of a project and supervise any problem arises during design and construction process. The development of BIM will create a better communication between owners and contractor, even subcontractors, that providing a more understandable model for owners.

Gabriel Grajewski,
It is interesting that the building industry will have a such high requirement of mathematical knowledge for people. In that case, it will need more than 10 years for data optimization becoming mainstream based on the learning curve. It will be really excited if data optimization could be used for major work in the future.

B3 - Implementation of BIM in 10 years

From the speech, “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think”, we watched on YouTube in last class and through the discussion within our group, we believe that there will be a bright future for AEC industry. However, it is hard to predict that how soon that future will come.

Bill Allen introduced many interesting application cases of BIM in today’s AEC industry. From the video, it’s easy to conclude that the BIM has and will improve the accuracy and efficiency of almost every process of construction activity. He emphasized some applications of BIM and other parametric design software such as grasshopper in architecture design. Along with my own experience in architecture design, I believe there will be more and more buildings, especially large-scale public buildings, designed in this way. Because parametric design can not only improve the design efficiency but also provide the visualization of design logic. It helps designers and architects to explain some certain design details and the logical reason behind them. It is quite common that after the completion of building design, the first party will doubt and argue about some design details of that building with architects. Thanks to the parametric tools, now architects can defend their ideas more convincedly and also can adjust design according to the owner requirement easily.

However, innovation and development are often based on the need for economic efficiency. Nowadays, almost all architects and engineers know that BIM is good. It can help people cooperate better, it can decrease the risk of human error, etc.. But from my own experience, there are still so many architects, engineers, builders do not know how to use BIM tools like Revit. Most of them are still relying on the AutoCAD or Sketchup. This fact makes it hard for firms to revolute their working mode due to the cost of training workers, upgrading working tools, etc.. And in fact, for many small projects like a house or a traditional apartment building, it is not worth for these firm to apply BIM. There are already a bunch of references for floor plans, details, standards for construction. They can complete the job even faster than using BIM tools.

Comments:

To Bhandal,

I agree with your points. I also doubt that the wide application of BIM in every field will come later than 10 years. Just as you said, to use BIM, every stakeholder have to be on board. But from the current situation that many firms are still relying on the 2-D tools, it is hard to say that the bright future can come in 10 years.

To Nana,

I agree that 10 years is too short to let the ambition come true. And I also agree that complementation relies on our generation who already learned those techniques and will or already on work in this field. In 20 years, I would say, after these young architects and engineers becoming senior workers, the wide application of BIM will come true.

To Weiyi,

I like the analogy you used between the parametric modeling assistant and food delivery apps. Exactly, techniques today are saving a bunch of time for people and make it very convenient from daily life to work. But there are still problems such as cost and time consideration. And the techniques like parametric design or 3D printing are still under developing. People need more time to refine and improve these techniques. Just as what you said,  "Haste makes waste, so nothing should go in a rush."

B3 Revit's Relation to Drafting Programs - Alkiviadis Tsitsios

Revit and AutoCAD are both Autodesk design softwares which are used to design a variety of components to a construction project. The main difference between the two is that AutoCAD is a computer-aided design drafting program. It is used for accurate drawings, both 2D and 3D. It has access to many industry toolsets. It is a more general drawing tool that can be applied to a large amount of projects with a broad application. Revit, on the other hand, is a building-specific design software. It offers documentation solution, and is used throughout all of the phases of a construction project. It can be used to plan, model, design, construct, and even manage infrastructure with the many tools that it contains. While the two softwares have different functions, their core purpose is the same. To help model and visualize the design of a certain project.
AutoCAD and Revit coincide and can be used together. 2D designs compiled in AutoCAD can be exported into Revit, to incorporate building designs and functions. Revit can then use its BIM capabilities, and create intelligent components of designs. AutoCAD is often the first step, while Revit steps in to provide BIM deliverables, enabling collaboration with other factions who may be using the design at hand. For example, in AutoCAD, ducts are often represented just as lines. The lines are indicators of the ducts with no additional information, unless it was labeled and detailed in a table elsewhere. With Revit, the AutoCAD data can be turned into components of a system. Not only that, the components can even have technical specifications, and proper materials can be assigned. AutoCAD has the capability of creating 3D models as well, but they are solely geometric with no component information. Revit models contain component information.
AutoCAD is the predecessor to Revit, launched in 1982. As it has been updating regularly, Revit launched in 2000. When Autodesk purchased Revit, the potential was very clear. Revit can be used to further develop AutoCAD drawings. As technology is improving and new buildings are erecting, building systems are improving as well. Revit fills that gap as AutoCAD is used for existing buildings and renovations projects regularly. Overall, the two go hand in hand as leading design softwares in the industry. CITATIONS Tobias, Michael. “How Do AutoCad and Revit Compare?” MEP Engineering & Design Consulting Firm, New York Engineers, 15 May 2018, www.ny-engineers.com/blog/how-do-autocad-and-revit-compare. YIDI LI Great way to correlate BIM with the future of AI development. As AI technology improves, the importance for BIM becomes more relevant. Automation will increase. While AutoCAD is still primary as you said, BIM will become an important component of an engineer’s skill set regardless. As the technology improves, it is important to adapt with the times. WEIYI TANG Data optimization is in AEC’s future as you mentioned, I do not agree that it will take as long as you say though. It is true that Haste makes waste, but as the intelligent technology industry is growing exponentially, industries which are correlated must follow. Yes, it will not become true instantaneously, but I believe the transition will be more swift than you think. It is so easy to share information between programs in modern times, which will speed the transition. It is not like decades ago, where computer aided implementation was a groundbreaking difference. YICHENG LI I was intrigued by your problem 2, where IT departments will need to improve just as the technology does. The requirements rise, and departments will have to re educate themselves on the industry. Also, they will need to hire qualified personnel.

B3 - The future of BIM in the AEC industry

The video that we all watched in class from Autodesk University, “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM – and It’s Coming Faster than You Think” [1], gave in an-depth look into how BIM developed, what it is capable of today, and what it will be capable of the near future.  The question is, how far away is “the near future”, and also what industries will it affect in what timeframe?  In class, Dr. Mitchell mentioned that he would like us to speculate 10 years into the future, and to see what role BIM will have in the AEC industry in that time; However, I believe it will take longer than 10 years.  As was clearly shown in the video in class, some architects and designers are already using BIM modeling in conjunction with visual coding softwares to compare design models for optimization.  I believe that this is most helpful for them because they are designing systems from scratch with no framework to guide them.  In the AEC industry, though, typically engineers are given a basic design (usually in the form of DD level drawings) to begin their design work on for their particular system.  Often, this basic design will be enough to limit an engineer’s design to a handful of options on larger decisions like duct runs, pipe risers, and column locations.  Because of this, I do not believe that this level of BIM modeling will become integrated into the AEC industry within the next 10 years.  I think that first, it will get more integrated in the baseline design and architecture industries more heavily, and following that, once it is better understood and easier to integrate, the AEC industry will more-so “adopt” it, rather than get it integrated.  The difference in “adopting” and “integrating” in my mind, is that only small areas of the AEC industry will utilize this level of BIM modeling, and it will also be almost fully developed by the time the AEC industry really begins to use it to its full potential.  That is adopting, because it will already exist, and will not permeate through the industry as heavily as the architecture industry.  I also believe that if this were to happen, it will take more than 10 years, as it will be closer to 20 years.

[1] Allen, Bill. “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think.” YouTube, uploaded by Autodesk University, 23 November 2016,   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6yKyauu-o

Comment 1 – Gabriel Grajewski:

Gabe, I completely agree that I think it will take more than 10 years for the AEC industry to utilize BIM modeling that was shown in the video to its full potential. You bring up a good point that higher mathematics knowledge will be required to use this type of modeling. I would imagine that future engineers would gain those knowledge in college, prior to becoming an engineer. If this is the case, then I can absolutely see how this would take more than 10 years. First the industry would need to show a need for this type of work to be done (which is may already be doing), then the universities need to recognize this need, and adjust their curriculums accordingly. Finally, new students need to enroll in those universities, and complete the coursework, and then become profession engineers, which is about a 9 year task on its own (college = 4 years, P.E. = 5 years). If this is the course that the industry will take, then I agree that it will definitely take more than 10 years.

Comment 2 – Albert Hanan:

Albert, I had the same prediction in my post of about 20 years before the AEC industry adopts advanced BIM modeling like what was shown in the video in class.  My experience I think is similar to yours, where I worked for a small engineering firm, and followed that up by working for two mid-sized firms.  The smaller firm still used physical stick sets, which pre-dates AutoCAD, while the mid-sized firms were moving towards integrating Revit into their projects.  It is interesting to see that both smaller firms like I worked for, and also larger ones like you worked for (Jacobs Engineering) are still roughly in the same area.  It makes me think that the AEC industry evolution into BIM is independent from company or industry size, but rather the interests of a particular company's management team.

Comment 3 – Harvin Bhandal:

Harvin, I mostly agree with your time-frame, although I think that there is a good chance that it will take longer than 15 years.  You also posed a new perspective that I did not consider, being that all stakeholders must agree to this method as opposed to traditional engineering methods.  Mostly all people that are experienced and high enough in their respective companies to be a stakeholder are fairly set in their ways, know what they are paying for when signing the contract, and may be hesitant to risk a project they are paying for on a new method that has not been fully vetted by the industry.  As stated in the video, mostly larger projects with more resources and larger companies will utilize this technology first, as they have the extra space in their budgets to train their employees and pay for the software, which should also impact higher leveled stakeholders.  This will hopefully trickle down into smaller projects over the course of, what I believe, to be 20 years.

Blog 3: The Future of BIM

In class last week we watched part of the youtube video, "The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think”, in which Bill Allen discusses the current state of BIM, and where he believes the industry is heading in terms of automation and accessibility. One of the main questions he presents to the audience is, “ Can algorithms design a building?” He believes more and more work will be performed by computers and machines, and instead of building information modeling, we are going to see Building Information Optimization.

Mr. Allen explains the use of Building Information Optimization to expedite the design process by “feeding” the computer rules or constraints in design that have to be met, and the computer will construct the building’s optimal footprint, structural load capacity, and thermal performance.

I find the concept of algorithms that determine the optimal footprint of buildings extremely interesting, practical, and applicable to the entire industry, but it seems to me that it could remove an element of the human creativity process that is present in building design. While obviously these features will speed up the iterative design process, will the algorithms have too much control over the design that buildings begin to be repetitive to achieve streamlined efficient buildings? On the flipside of this argument, the algorithms could potentially create designs that an individual would have never had thought of. I believe the use of algorithms will be best used as a starting point where numerous potential designs are output by the algorithm, and then the design can be manually edited.

Allen believes that for the less niche designs, algorithmic building can be used effectively since the algorithms can mimic human behavior enough that the design options created will seemingly have no difference to designs manually created by humans. Additionally, with algorithmic design the number of design options output will be much greater than the number of outputs from humans while taking considerably less time.

In a more intermediate and current example, Allen brings up an example of how he has used graphical algorithmic modeling with Grasshopper to develop a family with complicated planar panels, in a very intuitive and graphically accessible way that does not require complicated coding or equation inputs. He refers to this creation as the “transition period”, before the computer algorithms will develop all of the design iterations on their own. I think graphical algorithmic modeling has more of a place in the coming years, than complete algorithmic modeling, where the computer creates the options for you, especially in the 3 to 10 year time frame which Allen proposes (this video is already more than 2 years old).

Source:
Allen, Bill . YouTube, The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think, 23 Nov. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6yKyauu-o.


Comments:

1) Nick,

I agree that the algorithmic tools presented in the lecture have great potential in the speed and quantity of iterative design. It also seems to be applicable to any discipline so it will have a universal use in the AEC industry. To me, AI BIM seems to most functional and appropriate when the designs work cooperatively between the AI and human input. I think the biggest hurdle in the adoption of these programs is their cost, learning curve and accessibility for a slow adopting industry like the AEC.

2) Albert,

I agree Allen’s prediction for the state of AEC tech after BIM is unrealistic. In the video he says 3 to 10 years, and it is already 2 years since he gave that presentation. Interoperability and accessibility are huge hurdles for the industry, and it seems that unless both of these are very refined for these algorithm modeling programs, they will not be implemented in a practical way anytime any time soon. I appreciate your personal insight into the speed at which firms adopt new technology. The firms I worked at all primarily focused on Revit, but the idea that some companies are dragging their feet on Revit makes Allen’s prediction seem almost impossible for the majority of the industry in 10 years.

3) Weiyi,

Good points on the speed of implementation for software and technology, as well as reasons why technology sometimes seems to fade into and out of relevance. I agree that AI assistance can be a great boon for the AEC industry in terms of design optimization, as long as humans are making the final choice in the design. I think it will be a little hard to market completely computer design buildings to the general public for a while. The potential of this technology is remarkable. AI BIM can lead to increased efficiency and design speeds, and with that more time will be available for individuals to learn new skills or do other things for projects. It could completely change the way and quality of life for individuals in the AEC industry.

B3-BIM implementation in the future

From last week’s lecture, we watched the speech “The Future of BIM Will Not be BIM” from Autodesk University. Bill Allen talks about the future of BIM within the following 10 years, which will be a huge innovation in the AEC industry, and the iterative design will rapidly get into the way of automation.

The future of AI development could easily speed up the drawing phases and accelerate repetitive processes, which doing well on saving time and money for stakeholders. Programs like BIM could even be used to make decisions on choosing materials and narrow down the design choices since it integrates the design intent, engineering principle, and the site information. It will be utilized for bigger and complex projects and helps to check the design conflicts. From the BIM Handbook I read last week, it presents that BIM increasing the collaboration between architects and contractors. In design-build, BIM allows contractors to be involved into the progress since design stage to provide suggestions and cooperate on the design, which increase the productivity and efficiency of the entire team.

Automation will be developed rapidly in 10 years, and the popularity of AI programs will highly increase. I do think that the prospect of programs Bill Allen mentioned in the video will happen in the future; however, it may not be that fascinating for all workforce in AEC industry as a mainstream in only a decade. As a civil engineering student, I have heard about Revit, but I never got to use it before. Same for the students in mechanical engineering in our group. Civil engineers still use CAD as their primary implement from my co-op experience. Considering the popularization process of AutoCAD, which it was published in 1982 and used about 20 years to become the mainstream of design tool. Relative to AutoCAD, BIM is more technical, it will take more time to be developed among engineers in all the fields. During the discussion in our group, we thought there will also be a steep learning curve in the skills and knowledge of professionals with the technology for engineers. I do believe that the technologies explained by Bill Allen will be the future of AEC industry, but it needs more than 10 years for engineers in each field to cover up the gap, and to make the interoperability become practical between software.

Allen, Bill. “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think.” YouTube, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6yKyauu-o.

Comments:

Albert Hanan:

I cannot agree more that the steep learning curve for users would block the progress of the transition. It needs time for engineers like civil engineer and mechanical engineer to get into the BIM program, and to introduce BIM to all the engineers in high level education. However, I don’t see there are enough impetus for engineers and firms to make this transition in 10 years.

Nick Maloney:

I agree with you that the program Bill Allen mentioned in the video was very attractive, but there are many limitations can be thought of. The cost of BIM software you bring up in your post is very practical. I left this part over, but I agree it has significant impact on the propagation of BIM. As a civil engineering student, Autocad is enough for me to accomplish my work during co-op, and same for my colleagues. Then why should firms spend that unexpected money for that work they can handle?

Hailey Ihlow:

It is interesting to hear that engineers in all different age groups know some level of Revit in your office, which is totally opposite comparing to my co-op office. I guess the major difference is the job specification of the office. Architectural engineers do their work relay on Revit, but a large amount of civil engineers works with Autocad. It will be great to see that architectural engineers could lead this transition in AEC industry.

B3-How far will the AEC industry go in 10 years?

The computers used half-century to walk into ordinary people's life. How long will it take for the AEC industry? There was an advertising slogan for 4G (the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology) when the 3G was commonly used several years ago-"The future is here." However, now, in China, 5G has already walked into our life. Therefore, the future is never far away from us. In Bill's presentation, I agree with his appointment that data optimization is the AEC industry's future. I believe that for one day, those AI BIMs and the robots will take an important role in the building designing process and take some jobs from the designers, but how long will they take? Ten years? Or another half-century?

About five years ago, the 3D printed residential houses were selling in some countries, which were high-efficiency for both money and time, and even environmental friendly since the printer was using construction wastes as the ink. However, for 2019, most buildings are still constructing by human beings. Why? It is because the technology for 3D printing houses is not progressed enough to receive the truths from the public. For the safety reasons, most of those 3D-printed buildings were dismantled in several months after built. It is improving, but not good enough. So we cannot predict how far the 3D printing construction will go in 10 years. 

For the Grasshopper and the Dynamo, which are the BIM programs that Bill mentioned in the presentation, since the sample programs have already been created, and they were only going to feed the applicable algorithmic modelings to the Revit and let the designers choose the model at the last, I am holding a positive viewpoint for their developments in following 10 years. Since human is still the object to make the final decisions, and the program itself is only providing reasonable options, this method is similar for nowadays’ AI working theory. Like the food delivery apps, it will help you to get rid of those far restaurants, the food you do not like, and show up all the options with a rated list. All you need to do is to choose your food at the last step. 

The AEC industry will realize the data optimization, but this will not come true instantaneously, and this might be a long journey so that it can be ten years, 20 years or a half-century. Haste makes waste, so nothing should go in a rush. The human beings already finished a lot of amazing pioneering works in 10,000 years, which is an extremely short period for the Earth, which is about 4.5 billion years old. Bill said in the presentation that we are fortunate for living now because many exciting things are happening. Future will be here, and the future will never be far away from us. 

Works cited:

Allen, Bill. “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think.” YouTube, uploaded by Autodesk University, 23 November 2016,   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6yKyauu-o

Comments:


Matt Mullen:

I agree with you that the VR walkthrough will be more popular than the 3D printing models in the future. One is because the VR will cost less money and the 3D printing models might create wastes. The other reason is that the 3D printed model is a static model and VR is an intuitionistic digital model, so if the model needs any change, VR walkthrough model is only going to change the alternative part while the 3D model is going to be rebuilt entirely.



Gabriel Grajewski:

I agree with you because I believe that to realize the data optimization will take a long time for the AEC industry, but I do not have an exact idea about how long it will be. Although they are progressing the data manipulation, the data gathering is still the central part of the AEC industry. Many examples, which Bill provided in the presentation, were the underlying ideas and samples. Therefore, the data optimization is not easy to be realized in only ten years.



Jenny Fretta:

Like you, I doubt that 3D printing will be used to construct an entire building ten years later. Because of the limitation of the materials, the development of the 3D-printing technique for the building was not fast in the past ten years. The limitation of the materials will still be a problem either before founding or creating new material or another printing method. Although the improving speed is ideal, the progress of it never stops. The road is 3D printable now, so it is sure that 3D printing will assist a lot for the construction in the future.

What are the problems with Revit/BIM right now?

From the Autodesk University lecture, the ideal BIM design should be such a model: all the majors in the design institute work together on the same model, and the architectural model is created by the architectural profession. On the basis of the architectural model, other majors deepen the information of the model and carry out their respective professional design. After the design is completed, the owner is provided with a complete comprehensive model. Visual model design, collaborative design, performance analysis, and pipeline synthesis have been implemented in this model. According to the BIM model provided by the design institute, the owner extends to the construction and operation and maintenance direction to realize the BIM capability of the whole life cycle of the building. This is an ideal thing, but in reality, it will encounter the following problem:

Problem 1: BIM synergy can cause short board effects

In the traditional industry, the various majors of architectural design are basically single-handed. Under such this status, to achieve BIM design, it is equivalent to continuously solve two problems, that is, working alone to collaborative work, and then to three-dimensional design. In solving problems, it is required to advance at the same time in various professions. If any major fails to keep up, it will cause short-board effects and drag the entire team. It can be seen that the synergy of BIM is a double-edged sword. At this time, the managers of the design enterprises need to have a sustained long-term investment in technology upgrades, and have strong management objectives. For the current design institute, this requirement is indeed not low.

Problem 2: Can talent and technical support keep up with the needs of BIM design?

In the era of CAD design, the functions of IT departments are relatively simple. Generally speaking, the work is mainly limited to the upgrading of computer hardware and various network management tasks. However, in the era of BIM design, enterprises have very high requirements for IT support. First, computer single-machine configuration and server configuration need to be well matched. At the same time, because BIM design is a multi-software and multi-user collaboration process, IT departments need various professional software. At the same time, continuous training for employees at all levels can be achieved. In a word, BIM design is not only a matter for designers, but also a system project that requires engineering designers and IT support staff to complete. All in all, engineering knowledge professionals having a low level of cognition and acceptance of BIM and the mismatch between BIM software standards and actual applications are another major problem right now.

Problem 3: The implementation of AI and automation code is difficult.

We now have BIM, and more and more proposed building designs are being modeled in BIM, rather than in CAD. In theory, it should make automatic code checking easier. However, there are still deficiencies in the AI technology and automatic programming in BIM. The cumbersome operation process increases the workload and reduces the efficiency. I hope that when revisit the topic of automatic code review again, we will have more discussions, not only in terms of technical solutions, but also in the implementation of regulatory agencies.

Although these are temporary obstacles to the development of BIM technology, the advantages of BIM technology visualization, integration and parameterization have become the future direction in the construction industry. About the trend of BIM development, these problems will be solved under the guidance of policies in the future.

Reference:

Kenneth Wong, “Prelude to GTC: Design Software That Mimics the Way You Think and Work”, April 13,2017,

https://www.digitalengineering247.com/article/prelude-to-gtc-design-software-that-mimics-the-way-you-work-and-think/

Lachmi Khemlani, “Automating Code Compliance in AEC”, AECbytes Feature, October 22, 2015, http://www.aecbytes.com/feature/2015/AutomatingCodeCompliance.html

William Speakman,“3D Scanning for Better BIM: An MEP Firm's Search for an Alternative to Laser Scanning”, AECbytes Viewpoint, February 11, 2016, http://www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2016/issue_77.html

Comment:

To  Harvin Bhandal

I agree with you. As you said, as automation technology improves, companies can only switch to keep up. Those who learn this technology can continue to develop in this industry. But as for the development time, I think it is possible to reach the highly intelligent nature mentioned in your article within 10 years. The development of the information industry is growing at an exponential rate, and the impact on BIM technology is also great, so I think the changes in the construction industry will be huge in the next 10 years.

To Matt Mullen 

I think your analysis of the Future of the AEC Industry in 10 Years is very interesting. The owner will no longer communicate with the subcontractor through the general contractor, and the general contractor will only talk to the architect after the design has a problem. By using algorithmic modeling and BIM, it's very interesting to work with everyone in the project from the start of the project to quickly design and build buildings. This can better reduce the communication costs of each link and improve construction efficiency.

To  Hailey Ihlow

I am happy with your level of mastery of Revit software, and as you said, almost everyone in your office knows a certain degree of Revit. There is no doubt that BIM technology will dominate in the next 10 years, but it does not rule out the emergence of more efficient technology than using BIM. There is a problem with your blog, the length is a bit short, and you can't explain your point very well.

Blog Post 3: The Future of the AEC Industry in 10 Years

Bill Allen is the co-founder and principal at EvolveLAB BIM Consulting. It’s interesting that someone who is the co-founder of a BIM consulting company is already thinking about what’s next. It goes to show you that in order to be successful, you need to stay informed on the latest technology and embrace change. Bill showed how programs are already being implemented to create projects using algorithmic editors (Grasshopper and Dynamo). Algorithmic modeling allows us to create things that would be far too time-consuming using standard BIM technology. Bill’s advice is to prepare yourself for the future and get started by using the technology that is on the forefront today.

I believe that some construction companies will have begun embracing and implementing algorithmic modeling within the next 10 years. However, not every project will benefit from BIM and algorithmic modeling. 3D scanning and VR walkthroughs are already being used to both show owners what a new building will look like and what is inside an existing space. These technologies are extremely useful for very large projects/buildings, but some small projects are finished before a 3D model could be developed. I think that VR walkthroughs will become more and more popular in the coming years which will help to reduce change orders by giving the owner the opportunity to see exactly what the building will look like and could then make any changes to the design before construction even begins.

Above future technology, collaboration during both the design and construction phases will be improved. Owners will no longer communicate with subcontractors through general contractors who only talk to the architect after a problem arises with the design. There will be less RFIs because everyone will be on the same page throughout the life of the project. It will be very interesting to see how quickly buildings can be designed and constructed with everyone on the project collaborating from the very beginning of the project using algorithmic modeling and BIM. Much less time will be wasted designing buildings manually and changing different parts of the building from person to person. I think that larger construction companies will have the capital to invest and benefit from these future technologies on their large projects. Hopefully, they will lead the way to a more efficient construction industry with more affordable technologies.

Source:

1. Allen, Bill. The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think. Youtube, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6yKyauu-o.

To Albert Hanan

Many of the applications mentioned by Allen are definitely being used today, but you make a good point that wide-spread adoption of these applications isn’t coming anytime soon. Many companies have a certain way of doing things and do not like change. I think that once one large company starts using future technology to get more jobs done faster and cheaper, other companies will catch on and be forced to adapt to compete for jobs. I agree that 10 years is a bit too optimistic, but 20-25 years is definitely possible.

To Harvin Bhandal

I have a similar experience from my co-op where you were told to avoid telling people that you could use AutoCAD and Revit because barely anyone knew how to use it and you would get stuck with everyone’s work. The construction industry is currently struggling to get older subcontractors to use iPads and cloud-based project management software so it’s hard to imagine even talking to them about data optimization. One way that has proven to be effective is making it mandatory to use certain technologies in the contract. This could definitely be used to speed up the adoption of future software.

To Gabriel Grajewski

You make a number of good points throughout your post and I like that you back them up with real-world experiences. The construction industry is notoriously behind on the latest technology and I’m sure data optimization will be no different. It is odd to even hear the words construction and data optimization in the same sentence, but we will get there eventually. I definitely agree that basic applications will be implemented within the next 10 years to work on large projects more effectively.  

B3 - Implementation of BIM technology within the next 10 years

From the Autodesk University lecture, Bill Allen discusses the future of BIM in the AEC industry and how these changes will occur within the next 10 years, which is sooner that most expect. As a quick summary, the changes he is referring to are increased use of automation during iterative design. Through manipulation platforms such as grasshopper or rhino, designers could cut down time over some of these iterative processes and have it be done through automation. This, in theory, would save companies tons of money and time.

As evidence from the lecture and from our guest speaker the other week, certain companies are already implementing this technology and are putting themselves on the forefront of this “revolution”. Through this information alone, it is easy to believe that this type of technology would be accepted as an industry standard within the next decade. However, it appears that the companies that are actively pushing the use of these design tools are large firms that have enough resources to allocate to certain departments for training and execution. Most firms still rely on 2-D drawings for design through microstation and autocad, and it has been working well. In my experience, a lot of the senior engineers at the company I co-oped at were not even very familiar with using these CAD softwares let alone being able to use Revit or visual programming languages. They would rely on the more “tech-savvy” employees to produce the drawings while they would review and make edits to them. What this says to me is while there are new methods that would theoretically work better than traditional or old fashioned methods, there is still a large gap in the industry and people are hesitant to learn new things when they don’t have to. Since the old methods are still proven to be working effectively, why would a company (specifically smaller firms) put in the time and money into teaching employees these new methods when both clients and workers are more comfortable using traditional ways?

Overall, as automated technology continues to expand and become even more efficient, firms will have no choice but to make the switch in order to keep up. As the generation that did learn this methodology early in their careers moves on to higher level/senior positions, it will then become an industry standard. While the technology Bill Allen presented in his talk will ultimately change the AEC industry and affect firms everywhere, I think his prediction of complete integration within the next 10 years is a bit optimistic. All stakeholders in a project would have to be on board for this new methodology to be implemented and it seems unrealistic given their comfort of using traditional methods for the past several decades. My estimation is it will take around 15-25 years rather than 10.


Comments on others

To Nick Maloney:

You post was very well-put and you described the limitations that will slow down the implementation of these powerful tools. I couldn’t agree more that economic factors would be a huge hindrance for many firms to add these tools to the company repertoire. For smaller firms, and with smaller projects, it is typically not necessary to even use some of these tools Mr. Allen presented. In these instances, it seems like it would be a “waste” of money for these firms. Operation and training costs would take up alot of time and money at first, and full integration would definitely be a long, slow process.


To Hailey Ihlow

Your personal experience relates to this topic perfectly. It was interesting to hear that your company also is seemingly preparing its employees for the eventual switch by introducing some of these design tools during lunch and learns. I wonder if they will soon have a more aggressive training approach and make it a requirement for certain teams. It’s definitely a great example of the methods that companies are using to start making the transition to using this technology.

To Albert Hanan

I agree that there is an increased time frame for these changes than as Allen describes. We share the sentiment that the newer generation of industry leaders would pave the way for these changes, as those who currently practice traditional methods will retire. The mentality that many principals have (which may not necessarily be a bad mentality at all), is that there’s no point to fix what isn’t broken.

B3- Will Implementation of BIM for Engineers be Possible in 10 Years?

           After discussing in class, watching the 2016 Autodesk University video with Bill Allen, and reading other groups’ views on this topic, I find myself believing that the future of the AEC industry will follow the described projection in roughly the next ten years. 

            To quickly recap, the video we viewed in class from Autodesk University exposed viewers to extremely efficient and useful tools that, as described, are in the works of becoming fully integrated in current construction practices. The software highlights new abilities that speed up a design process by rapid iteration development. From my understanding, iterative design is huge in architectural design, as there is a need to have choices on a final product. As a mechanical engineering student, I’m still learning more about this but it doestranslate well as mechanical engineering always has iterative design. That being said, I would agree that the same process described in architectural design and software manipulation could be easily bridged into common engineering processes. The biggest takeaway I had from the discussion is that a future of AI development will take away a lot of the “busy work” that comes with choosing a design and generating options. I believe that design intent and engineering principles can be streamlined into one singular process in the near future. I could be wrong, but the way Bill Allen presented the programs in the presentation made it appear as though this idea is not a dream and that it is quite literally happening right now. I am quite hopeful to see this technology come to fruition, and I hold that it will be possible within a decade. 

            While I stated that this transition will be possible in the next ten years, I do need to mention that this will not come with ease. With any change in an industry comes a slew of hindrances, limitations, and difficulties. Quite possibly the largest difficulty is overcoming the idea that not all software works the same. This was discussed quite a bit before in class in general discussion and was mentioned in the group last class. We talk about this idea of “interoperability” which, in theory, is fantastic. Quite frankly, though, the industry is limited right now as companies compete for business and software products are not compatible. A lack of compatibility hinders progress, and as much as I’d like to see it change, I’m not sure whether we will overcome the hurdle of business competition for the improvement of design and construction. Another aspect blocking the progress of this idea is the steep learning curve that exists between industries. Revit and BIM users are great at using those tools for design, but when you put, say, a mechanical engineer in front of these programs they’re sure to be at a loss for where to start. Solidworks and PTC Creo users also are great with those tools for 3D design and engineering calculations, but when put an architect in that environment those software products are extremely foreign. There will be a great need for education and assimilation of all people involved to streamline this technological development. With education and time comes great cost, and this development is surely going to be a costly one.

            In conclusion, while I do hold that this idea presented in the video about the AEC industry will be feasible in ten years, I admit it will come with a lot of hard work. Associated costs, time needed for education, a need to overcome business competition to integrate interoperability, and a lack of interest from older generation workers will all create a great deal of friction. While the claim I make is quite a preposterous one, there is a certain inspiring feeling that comes from believing in a better future of development in the industry. 

Comments on Others’ Posts

            Nick Maloney, I could not agree more with all the points you mention in your post. The video in class really did present some outstanding tools that help with the iterative design process and their progression in the industry. I like your idea with how, ideally, the transition would go (that is, taking input parameters of interest that guide AI) and I believe my vision of this aligns perfectly with yours. I certainly do hope that this “methodology” (great word, by the way) is “close to implementation on an industry-wide scale” as you mentioned. It would be fascinating to observe this development from an outsider’s point of view (as I am studying mechanical engineering and this field is very new to me). I also could not agree more with the obstacles you address for the implementation within ten years. All are valid points and I’m curious to see how the industry addresses them. Great post!

           Albert Hanan, after reading your post I think I’ve changed my mind on the matter. I agree with you that this is the future of the industry but it is a bit unrealistic and ludicrous to think that the industry will fit this change into a ten-year time frame. I also agree with your statement that the “technologies described in Allen’s talk aren’t that far off from existing now” because, as demonstrated in the video, the desired end-products are quite achievable right now via the simpler means provided by this software. Your point made that people like to stick to the “do it because that’s how we’ve always done it” notion is extremely valid. Our tendency is to stay in the safe zone with what we do and it indeed limits our ability to progress.

           Hailey Ihlow, I like how you have experience with Revit so you are familiar with its popularity and its use. As a mechanical engineering student, I have no prior experience with the software so I look to students like you to give me some insight into its usefulness and relevance to the industry. I like your idea that more ambitious and competitive companies will be more likely to push to fit the ten-year timeframe. We’ll see where these companies go soon!