BIM Handbook Chapter 6 - BIM for Contractors

 Building Information System (BIM) has been a big part of the modern construction industry. Not only the owner and the architects/engineers benefit from the technology, contractors also enjoy the many benefits brought by from the BIM technology. For a contractor point of view, timely manner and money are two critical elements in their business. BIM technology has potential to help the contractors to deliver the project perfectly with a maximize benefits. Although constructors are not design firms who needs to develop the BIM model from the beginning, there are a ton of contractors that are currently develop beam to support coordination, clash detection, estimating, 4D CAD, procurement, and so forth (Eastman, 2011).

One thing I noticed interesting here is although the design teams whether or not developed the models during the design stages, the contractors are creating their own building models from scratch to support coordination. In my point of view, this is extreme inefficiency as the contactor has to develop models during their construction stage. I believe as the BIM becomes more and more essential for the future construction industry, the use of BIM needs to be more standardized. The work distribution between different parties needs to be clear. In that way the whole construction phases will be more efficient and can save more time as well as money for all parties.

One of the prospects the constructor benefits from using the BIM technology is the construction analysis and planning. Traditional bar charts were used to plan projects but it unable to show the link between different activities in a sequence. Also, most people cannot determine if the schedule is feasible or not. BIM technology provides a better solution to the problem. The first method is by using 4D CAD. 4D CAD is 3D models with also time associations, which means the construction schedule is also linked to the model. Another approach is use analysis tools that incorporate BIM components.

Overall, although the constructors do not develop the design directly, there are also multiple benefits towards the contractors assisting them to save money and time.

1.      Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley; 2011. http://ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=364239&site=ehost-live.

Comments:

Yidi Li: You listed several benefits for contractors to use the BIM in the future work. They are certainly beneficial for the contractors as long-term development. One thing I noticed in your post is the current scheduling system is in needs for improvements, I think the 4D model as one of the approaches will be really beneficial for the contractors in their future development.

Qiaodan Lin: I learned several points from your post about BIM for owners and facility manager. One thing I think is worth mentioning is the cooperation between architectural design to MEP development. The details can be then including in one model rater than in 2D they are in different plans. That will minimize the conflicts and is easier for contractors to work with.

Michal Tse: Your personal experience is really interesting. The conflicts between contractors and architects/engineers are always there. BIM indeed is a great way to cooperate between different parties. Not only between the stakeholders but also between contractors and sub-contractors; and between different sub-contractors.

B2-Chapter 4: BIM for Owner and Facility Manager

BIM handbook’s Chapter 4 discussed the changes of architectural and construction industry which could take many conveniences to the owners and facility managers. There are some main benefits for owners: firstly, the performing of building; secondly, shorten the building schedules; and then reduce the finical risks.

With developing of BIM software, now the buildings can be performed perfectly with all different models, like the 2-D plans and 3-D models with all details, like lightings, floor materials, and the facades, via Revit. Moreover, the BIM model can have a great cooperation with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing system. And all the system can successfully be combined or separate to show structure of the buildings. Therefore, the owner can check the models to ensure the designs can meet his requirements, and the owner can see where his investment is.

Then, BIM can shorten the project schedules. In BIM software, all the details of building can be performed and scheduled with accurate time and amount. Therefore, when making a construction schedule, it will be much easier.

And, BIM can help with reduce the risk of finical problems. Because when you finished the modeling of buildings, all the materials and energy consumption can be demonstrated roughly. Therefore, compare with old method of measuring the cost of construction, BIM is better with some details of material and energy usage which will help the owner to save money. For example, if the energy consumption was 10,000 dollars for 1,000 square feet per month. But after using BIM methods, the designer can change some plans to reduce like ten percent of energy use which will help owner to save 1000 dollars per month.

Moreover, the facility managers are involved in the design and construction process. Therefore, they will know what kind of equipment will fit this building. And where is the best place to install equipment which will ensure higher efficiency and less wasted materials. Also, they will be aware which place need to pay more attention.

Last but the least, the BIM can be much more convenient than the old technology when the owners want to do the remodel. Because the BIM file will always be there, and you can edit, modify, and re-design based on what you have. And the small elements, like lightings, HVAC systems, or the material of wall or glass can be re-design at any time and any place.

Reference:
Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol. 2nd, 3rd ed, Wiley, 2011. EBSCOhost, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2NDIzOV9fQU41?sid=bc728db5-ac2a-463a-be02-b1d1edcfc78a@pdc-v-sessmgr02&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_71&rid=0

Comments:
Hanyan Chen, I really like your post. From your post, you discussed a lot about the benefits for the owners. And I really like your point which the owner can install some voice control or some control system they like to enable their life more convenient. Moreover, for the facility managers, they will be easily to learn which place is best for different equipment because they know all the designs and construction process.

Kyle Breiman, I looked your post, and I found you mentioned about the construction process. The BIM will help the owner to simulate, therefore it will help the construction becoming more efficiency, knowing the details of maintenance, and estimating the energy consumption of the building.

Jenny Fretta, I totally agree with your point. You discussed three points which BIM can take for the owner and manager. Reduce the time and cost, and production efficiency. In your post, your quotation is about when the owner looked at the designs and the owner will know where his money is. Therefore, the whole project team will feel what they are doing, and which part is expensive. And from showing the investment, the owner also can decide to re-design the part he think is not valuable.    

B2- Chapter 3- The Interoperability of BIM

By reading the third chapter of the BIM handbook, I learned about the interoperability in BIM.

At first, all applications of the computer were run independently and could not be coordinated. When designing a building model, it is difficult to uniform information processing in many aspects. So The Interoperability of BIM was coming. In the design process, coordination is the key content in the construction industry.(Based on page 66) Whether it is the construction unit, the owner and the design unit, they are doing coordination and coordination. In the design, due to the communication between the professional designers, there is a collision problem between various professions. For example, when the pipes in the professional such as HVAC are arranged, since the construction drawings are drawn on the respective construction drawings, in the actual construction process, the structurally designed beams and the like may be located here when the pipeline is arranged. This hinders the arrangement of the pipeline, and the coordinated solution of such collision problems can only be solved after the problem occurs. BIM's coordination services can help deal with this problem, which means that the BIM building information model can coordinate the collision problems of various professions in the early stage of building construction, generate coordination data, and provide them.

Right now, there are four main implementations of BIM interoperability:

1. Direct, proprietary links between specific BIM tools

2. Proprietary file exchange formats, primarily dealing with geometry

3. Public product data model exchange formats

4. XML - based exchange formats

In addition to these four main ways, an alternative way to exchange data is through XML. XML is an extension to HTML, the language used to send information over the Web.(From page 68) XML Schemas in AEC Areas includes OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium), gbXML (Green Building XML) ,IFCXML and BLIS-XML. All interoperability methods must deal with version issues. When updating an application with new features, if the switch mechanism is not maintained and the standard version is poorly managed, the switchover may fail.

In the realization of the interactivity of BIM technology, IFC plays a key role, which is shared by the International Collaborative Alliance (IAI) for different professions in the construction industry and different software in the same profession to share the same data source to achieve data sharing and Data model standard for interactive standard building objects. The IFC standard is an open international standard for the expression and exchange of building product data, supporting data exchange and sharing throughout the life of a building. Support data exchange between application systems in the horizontal direction, and solve the data management of the whole life cycle of buildings in the vertical direction.(From page 81) Among them, IFC is an abbreviation of Industry Foundation Classes. The IFC standard is developed and maintained by the International Organization for International Interoperability (IAI). The organization has now been renamed buildingSMART International (bSI).

In the exchange and viewing of project information in BIM, there are two widely available formats, 3D PDF (Portable Document Format) developed by Adobe ® and DWF (Design Web Format) developed by Autodesk ®, which have many advantages.(From page 86)  On the one hand, all BIM design tools now support IFC fairly well, allowing basic exchanges to be made with adequate completeness and accuracy. Only a few exchanges allow editing; most only static viewing. There is a small movement for using IFC for analysis interfaces, but these too are just

becoming available. Various XML schemas are being used for different business exchanges. On the other side, formats such as DWF and PDF hold the potential to become richer and support exchange as well as viewing. (Both have XML capabilities.)

So, the introduction of BIM in the building information model to establish a collaborative model of engineering projects, in the coordination of engineering project management, can achieve specific results. BIM is a trend in the future. It is expected that relevant departments can construct a perfect operational coordination model to improve the dilemma of unsynchronized and inconsistent management information of today's construction projects.

Sources: Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook : A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors, 2011. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2NDIzOV9fQU41?sid=bc728db5-ac2a-463a-be02-b1d1edcfc78a@pdc-v-sessmgr02&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_71&rid=0

Comment:

 Sean Reifer,

You succinctly explained the contents of Chapter 3. In the future of the AEC industry, program interoperability is important and plays a key role in every process in the construction industry. BIM has developed a number of corresponding technologies for this interactive system to support its applications. Although it is still in the development stage, it has a good prospect.

Kunlun Ren,

According to your blog, I know that the author introduced the history of 3D models, which makes me very interested. In addition, I understand that in the Revit software model, all drawings, 2D and 3D views and schedules are used to present information in the same virtual building model. I think this is a more intuitive display of the building model than the software used in the previous CAD, which is more convenient for the user.

Weiyi Tang,

Your blog looks very interesting. BIM design methods are shifting from simple warehouses to new complex buildings. This provides great convenience to the designer, the builder and the owner. For the introduction of IPD, I think that you describe it very well, so I quickly understand this new concept. It increases efficiency, reduces costs, and is easy to design.

Blog 1 – Robotics, AI, BIM and Future

Blog 1 – Robotics, AI and Future
Week 2
Hanyan Chen
B1
Robotics, AI and Future

Robotics
Robotic Milkers and an Automated Greenhouse: Inside a High-Tech Small Farm
It was a significant year for robotics and autonomous system. Robotics is being hotly debated whether it will make humans' life better and safer or not. This article is talking about a small farm called Rivendale Farms in Bulger using the cutting-edge technology includes milking machine, sensors to monitor the movement, health condition of the animals and sensors to control temperature, humidity and sunlight for crops. It became a laboratory for the robotic technology for smaller farms. The farm’s dairy operation is overseen by one staff now while it will need five workers without the robotics technology. [1] This kind of robotics is applied to improve the efficiency, and reduce the pressure comes from labor shortage, and it is generally changing the small farms and make humans' life better.

AI and Future
This clever AI hid data from its creators to cheat at its appointed task
Is this the year 'weaponized' AI bots do battle?
Unlike robotic technology, AI has always been a controversial topic. I saw there is an article in the beginning of 2018, Is this the year 'weaponized' AI bots do battle?, which asked if AI is our enemy or ally. In this article, AI will allow for early diagnosis in order to save heart and cancer patients. But the question is what will be limit for AI that it will not do things out of control. On the other hand, will humans' safety been ensured while AI-powered system is working. [2] There is another article published at the end of 2018, This clever AI hid data from its creators to cheat at its appointed task, which is talking about the machine learning agent "intended to transform aerial images into street maps and back was found to be cheating by hiding information it would need later in a nearly imperceptible, high-frequency signal" [3]. As the technology is developing, the voice of debating is never stopped for this topic. It is a topic related to ethic, and is always easy to catch people's eyes. AI, as still a debated topic, will have to be researched more in a way that ensures humans life in the future.

Work Cited:
[1]Robotic Milkers and an Automated Greenhouse: Inside a High-Tech Small Farm
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/13/technology/farm-technology-milkers-robots.html
[2]This clever AI hid data from its creators to cheat at its appointed task
https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/31/this-clever-ai-hid-data-from-its-creators-to-cheat-at-its-appointed-task/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
[3]Is this the year 'weaponized' AI bots do battle?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42559967

Comments:

To Lin
I totally agree that the technology is the biggest influence on the productivity. Technology is always the way to make things more efficient. Not only robots for manufacturing, but also AI technology, which make people's life more convenient. It is also an aspect that increase the efficiency of people's life.

To Samantha, 
Thanks for your post, I am amazed that AI and robotics are being used for art now. Robotics are used to be used for completing dangerous but simplex work. Now it is used for improving efficiency. It is amazing that AI can be such creative for an artwork. It is a mix of science and art.

Wenhan Fu Week 2 Blog: Database, Network, Sociology, Future

Wenhan Fu

Week 2 Blog: Database, Network, Sociology, Future

Database has already been used for decades in a ton of different industries. It provides the users with more efficiency to access, backup and analysis the different data sets. As the internet industry growing exponentially, the database industry also has tremendous changes. The increasingly enormous amounts of data flooding websites and businesses and the different database system brings chaos [1]. Therefore, many companies may find out there once organized data nowadays are promiscuous. In the future, the one database that can provide a single system that does everything from full-text search to in-memory storage, graph analysis, and more will be the solution to the companies to reorganize its data [1].

Another close topic will be the network, network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources and exchange files. It has been changed a lot within the past decades, it has become wireless, faster, safer and etc. In the future, it will continue to develop mostly in these aspects: The demise of the WLAN controller, ethernet switches become transparent, everything else in the cloud [2]. Moreover, the speed of the network has been improved a lot in the last 10 years, nowadays 4G network has been covered for 99% of the United States territory, the next generation which is the 5G network has already been standardized and will be used commercially with in the next few years.

Sociology contains a lot of topics. With the development of the modern technology, the study of the sociology also looked over in these prospective. One of the is the threats of the robotics. With the robotics ability to learn, many scientists are concerned that developments in human technology may soon pose new, extinction-level risks to our species as a whole [3]. It is truly a dialectical topic and will be discuss a lot I the future.

1.      Finley, K. “World’s Many Databases Unite to Form One Simple Super-services” Wired.com, Feb. 2014, https://www.wired.com/2014/02/orchestrate/

2.      Mathias, C. “What is the future of networking for enterprises?” SearchingNetworking. Com, N.A, https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/opinion/What-is-the-future-of-networking-for-enterprises

3.      N.A. “Foundation to Study the threats from robotics and other future technologies.” N.A. http://cser.org/index.html

Comments on Robert Borrelli's post:

I see you focused a lot on architectural field and that is what I have not been focused on. Your post provided me with some details about the database important pieces of information and other insights. But maybe a little more discussion about the future development will be even better for your post.

Comments on Alkiviadis Tsitsios's post:

Your post is really interesting and you noticed a lot of insights of these three topics. One thing interesting that caught up my mind is the 5G network. As you stated, it is really a fast pace the network development and I am really curious where will this fast growing industry leads us to.

Blog Post 1: How Robotics and AI Will Benefit the Construction Industry

Robotics and AI are already being utilized in various industries and are beginning to develop in the construction industry. Many aspects of the industry are going to change dramatically because of construction automation [1]. While some traditional roles will be filled by this automation, safety and efficiency will increase dramatically and new jobs will be created where positions will need to be filled.

Some issues that we currently face are low quality work due to unskilled or unprofessional laborers, safety concerns associated with certain tasks, and deadlines must be met to keep a project on schedule. Construction automation will address each of these issues and more. Robots would be programmed and/or taught how to complete a task and will perfectly execute that task any number of times [2]. They would be able to complete dangerous tasks without the risk of any person being injured or killed on the job. And lastly, construction automation would mean that the job site is active at all hours of the day. Traditionally, three 8-hour shifts would be very costly and overtime would have to be paid on weekends. However, you would only need specific supervisors and technicians to keep an eye on the robots throughout the day which would be cost effective and greatly increase the overall timeline of construction.

3D printing and robots would greatly improve the speed and quality of specific tasks on a job site. Entire structures are already being created out of certain materials and the speed of the printing itself will only increase as time goes on. Also, very repetitive tasks such as masonry work would be more precise and cost-effective [3]. Many of these robots are already being used and developed so that they will be more affordable and more efficient in the future. I believe that these machines will be used on almost every major construction project in the near future.


[1] Robotics Online Marketing Team. "Construction Robots Will Change the Industry Forever." Robotics.org. 17 April 2018. https://www.robotics.org/blog-article.cfm/Construction-Robots-Will-Change-the-Industry-Forever/93

[2] The B1M. “The Construction Robots Are Coming | The B1M.” YouTube. 30 May 2018. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKGGHdl3NyQ

[3] Hamakareem, Madeh Izat. "Construction Automation – Applications and Advantages in Construction." The Constructor. 2018. https://theconstructor.org/construction/construction-automation-applications-advantages/16644/

Response 1: Andy Kuriatnikov
I agree that sensors are key to intelligent building operation. I look forward to when buildings will run themselves and will keep occupants safe and comfortable just by using sensors. I like that you mentioned the internet of things because it really is where we are headed. Reducing energy consumption is also an important factor in future building construction.

Response 2: Aaron Goldberg
We mentioned a few of the same things when it comes to AI and future jobs in the construction industry. The industry will benefit a low but some traditional jobs will be phased out. We will need to adapt to the changes or, even better, get ahead of the changes. I like that you mentioned that the quality of work will be better and the cost of the work will be lower.

Response 3: Hailey Ihlow
I like how to mention that we will advance as technology does. You make a good point that we need to think about what the future of technology will look like so that we can understand the pros and cons of them. We are already seeing the pushback against self-driving cars even though the technology is almost there. It will be interesting to use technology that does not need any form of replaceable or rechargeable battery in the future.

Blog 1-Future Database, Network and Sociology

     As we can see from our lifelog, cloud-based containers and serverless computing model are very popular today. Containers allow people host applications inside portable, isolated environments. Serverless functions can execute code on-demand. People only need to pay for the time the code actually runs, which allows organizations to stop the server running constantly when the applications only serve part time. Containers and serverless are not perfect for all situations, but they can fit in most of the workloads. They can help to quickly deploy applications and scale services, also they help on saving money. The containers and the serverless do not have to work with each other hand-in-hand, they can be used without another, but both of them are scalable and cost-efficient computing. [1]

     The network and database are used commonly in the society today. Some University provided Echo Dots to students last year, which is a voice-activated devices program. It can be used to answer same specific question about the campus, for instance the meal plans and the office hours of for building. Students first learned to bring the device into their life to ask about the weather or play music. Then students wanted to ask more-personalized answers like: What my last test score? The network then should be more complicated because it needs to contain more private information, and the system would grow up soon. [2]

     The database can also used to shape our future cities. The information gathers from smartphone GPS chips, transport cards and street sensors could be used to ease congestion or manage waste, but it can also create a "pernicious feedback loop". These predictive policing data could impact city planning and resource allocation, since people and company would not like to move to areas in high crime rate. On the other hand, the big data is not always right. Some people use apps like Google map to mediate their trip with transport instructions, however, they can be optimized by speed or distance, but not scenic route or environment. [3]

1.      Tozzi, Christopher. “Containers and the Serverless Computing Model: What AWS, Azure and Google Offer.” Nov 29, 2018. https://www.itprotoday.com/programming-languages/containers-and-serverless-computing-model-what-aws-azure-and-google-offer

2.      Ellis, Lindsay. “Hey, Alexa, Should We Bring Virtual Assistants to Campus? These Colleges Gave Them a Shot.” AUGUST 02, 2018. https://www.chronicle.com/article/Hey-Alexa-Should-We-Bring/244129?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=fca8c6a17b7943d696dd417c6c7d660f&elq=02622bf46f104a1d98af1a2355bb2f4b&elqaid=19988&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=9293

3.      Bogle, Ariel. “Big data is going to shape our future cities. Will it treat us all equally?” 14 Mar 2018. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-15/big-data-algorithms-equality-future-cities/9544138

Comments

Alkiviadis Tsitsios:

Like what you mentioned in the network part, the containers become more and more popular today. Deploying applications become easier with containers, and it works well with serverless computing model as well. When the technology grows up rapidly, there are positive and negative effects, and sometimes the fake data appears.

Samantha Huttick

I agree with the design purpose you said about robots. They are usually designed for the tasks that people can not work on, like working in dangerous situations and doing very accurate works. Robots can also help as a delivery person or performer for disables, and even able to be used in very accurate medical operations.

Jenny Fretta

I agree with how you describe the 3D printing and how we delivering from 2D printing (CAD) to 3D printing (CAD). As an engineer who also study in interior and architecture design area, I can obviously see the superiority of 3D printing, which cost less; reduce the time to make a models; increase the accuracy of the models. More materials can be used in 3D printing models today, it even broadens the use of 3D printing. All of these provide a better visual experience for clients