B3 - Future of BIM

The video discusses how quickly the AEC industry is moving towards BIM and how advanced users of the software are incorporating automation and computer programming to automate some menial and iterative tasks. In Bill Allen’s “The Future of BIM will not be BIM-And its coming faster than you think”, he estimates that BIM will evolve and drastically improve in under ten years.

I think overall the future of BIM in our industry is bright however like all things, some facets will change. In the past, pen and paper was the method designers and engineers used. From that, spawned many different programs such as AutoCAD which became the gold standard. I believe Revit is the first iteration of this new method called BIM. After Revit runs its course and begins to show its flaws, other programs will spawn and eventually replace Revit or force it to improve or change. I believe the "new new" thing will incorporate more design aspects into the program rather than drafting aspects. That way, an engineer could explore different virtual models and run the loads and load combinations within the same software. This can cut down on back and forth calculations and consultations with architects about what can and cannot be done.

At my old company, one of the eldest partners still did design and drafting on pencil and paper. He is probably one of the last engineers doing it that way. Just like he is a dying breed, one day AutoCAD will probably become the dying software as BIM replaces it. Just as the whole office was on CAD and he was on paper, one of our client architects began using Revit which forced us to start to adapt. My old boss also said he was looking into relocating the office and upscaling all of the technology including making a concerted effort to switch to Revit. One day however, everyone will be using Revit and wondering whats next after that.

Wenhan:
I agree with what you were saying about how crazy the advantages already are and what they will be soon. Revit will definitely also be incorporated into construction more and more until contractors can view the 3D models on site and even view live updates when issues arise.

Kyle:
The material properties are definitely one of the most interesting aspects of designing with Revit. Using these to communicate with other programs seems very interesting and I think the future will be incorporating all of these into one solo program.

Alynne:
I didn't even consider the fact that the files will be so huge and require such impressive computing power. It does seem significantly different from cad though. I used to work exclusively with AutoCAD and we would have about 5-10 files per job. This had advantages and disadvantages.

[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

Blog 3 - Future of BIM

Last week we were asked to predict where we thought BIM would be in 10 years. My opinion is very similar to the opinion of my groups. I believe BIM and more specifically programs such as Revit will continue to be a useful tool in Architecture, Engineering and Construction.

I think over the next few years the applications of BIM in construction will increase significantly. The integration between design and construction is becoming more common. With advancements in modeling it is easier to resolve many issues, that were in the past solved in the field, in the design phase. With the help of programs such as navisworks you are able to do clash detections and see conflicting elements. BIM also helps with constructibility, having the construction team involved early on in design by showing them the model they are able to input their opinions and help come up with solutions.

I believe that we are just getting started with the use of BIM and that there is so much more to come. One example of this is the use of applications and add ons such as dynamo to input information into models. Using coding as opposed to modeling elements and creating schedules individually helps to increase efficiency and accuracy. More add ons and programs are being integrated into Revit everyday. There continues to be improvements and modifications that not only make things quicker, but limits errors by not having information stored separately in two places. An example of this is using add-ons to integrate excel with Revit such as RushForth. When the excel file is directly linked to the Revit model the information contained in it tends to be more accurate. When the files are separate there is the constant need to export and update the information manually. I think in the next 10 years we will continue to see information being integrated into models.

Responses:

Jacklynn, I agree that the lack of integration between the new and old versions of Revit can be an issue. However there is a way around that by exporting the model to a different file format then importing it to the old version and converting, but similar to when you upgrade a model there is the risk of losing some information. Typically companies will keep all versions of Revit on company computers and will not upgrade models. This allows you to continue working on a project in an old version with out risking losing information.

Yicheng, I agree that lack of synergy and keeping up with the needs of BIM are two major problems that many companies still face. As the popularity of BIM continues to increase companies have to adapt to these changes. Many companies are now implementing BIM departments in addition the IT department. These employees are focused on keeping up with software updates and challenges. Creating a more collaborative environment would also be beneficial to these companies. When architects and engineers stop thinking about their components and building systems alone and think of the project as a whole when working to resolve issues such as clashes in the models things become a little bit easier.

Jenny, great point about how BIM helps both the client and sub contractors get a better idea of what the final product will look like and how you can accomplish building it. Walk through videos are a great presentation tool for showing the owner progress through out the design phase.

Blog 3 - Future of BIM

Since the start of this course, we have been looking at current technologies and advancements applied to buildings. In which we have look to different technologies, that even that they are applied to other fields, some people use these principles and apply them into building technologies. After watching the in-class video from Autodesk University called “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM” it is clear the current advancements done in building design, in which BIM makes easier the things like design, share data and simulation. This combined with other aspects such as algorithms are constantly present in the design of new buildings to make it more efficient, precise and to bring new ideas into the table.

After discussing with my group, we have come up with some ideas of the advancements in 10 years, trying to apply what we know and try to come up with future applications of the principles. Among many of our ideas the most predominant were: the use of AI in the future and how it will play a role, the use of CNC machining for the creation of complex shapes, the use of augmented reality on site.

               Talking about the AI role, the team agreed with some of the scope from the in-class video, in which the person speaking said that AI provides a group of best options that match the parameters established. However, AI do not have a feel for aesthetics like an architect yet. As a result, we are still depending of the decision of an architect to choose the best option among the ones provided by the AI. In 10 years, we believe that AI will take in consideration aesthetic parameters and make better decisions in which he will provide less options.

               In the other hand, on site creation of complex shapes consumes a lot of resources and an excessive amount of time. In 10 years, we believe that CNC machining will be easily transported to a site in which complex shapes will be quickly designed. There are currently great projects that can do this type of complex shapes, but the limited mobility and the extensive amount of time make this procedure expensive and uncommon in most construction. We believe that in 10 years this will be more common and affordable.

               Finally, augmented reality has been booming the past could of years. The advancements done in this area has not only helped the entertainment industry, but the manufacturing industry, health industry and even construction has been developing this technology to take advantage of its potential. In 10 years, we believe that the use of Augmented Reality will be part of the construction site by allowing the workers see the whole design in 3D in the site and allow the to understand better where to place each thing and provides them with all the information of each element.

Hanyan Chen

Your idea of using robotics in the construction site in the future is really close to what we thought about CNC machining. However, your point in which robots replace human force is great. This will make the process of construction not only faster but safer and more precise. By eliminating the human error, we could achieve enormous and precise structures. I hope that in 10 years we are that far.

Matt Mullen

It is clear that BIM provide excellent benefits to the owners. I do believe that I 10 years the software will be much easier to use, and owners will have access to the database that BIM provides. This will not only give a better idea on how the owner want to make changes, but it will give him a better understanding of the status of the construction and the plans to the future.

Yidi Li
I can clearly see how BIM has to also evolve as AI develops towards the future. AI being a huge technology in which we are closer to achieve can bring enormous changes to our buildings. I can see BIM providing all the database of the elements in the design and AI using it to come up with the best performance possible of the building. It is clear that software will need to be updated once AI comes to play a big role. I can see it in 10 years, but today we are too inexperienced with AI to be able to implement it.

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.

Blog 3

I believe that in the future it is definitely possible for something to overtake BIM but I feel that future is far out. Even while these programs are being developed BIM will also be advancing until it reaches a cap on its usefulness and the the other programs will really start to make headway. I feel like the focus for the next 10 years will be directed towards interoperability for BIM and databases for other programs. In regards to BIMs interoperability there are already several different types of programs that can be used together. The further they are developed the more information that will be able to  transfer between programs. Information like material properties will being carried between programs makes work much more efficient allowing time to be spent in other places. The information provided by this type of program is stagnant which is why Bill Allen suggests the future is coming quick. By having a database that can take into account future results of construction with a better rate of success buildings can be created more efficiently and with a higher standard of living. It will be possible to monitor how fluctuating temperature or storm patterns may affect a buildings structure. It is also possible in the future that the monitoring of structural stability and air quality will become regulated. Putting sensors on buildings to gather the data of failure then using that for future project design will help create better buildings. I think the widespread usage of these data programs is in the future but it is farther out then Bill Allen predicts and I expect to see BIM advance to its peak in that time instead.

Comments:

Richard, I am not familiar with the programs Dynamo and Grasshoper but as you mentioned in the future it will be good to keep an eye on them. I feel that Revit has a vast potential and it is good that you could grow your knowledge of it while on co-op. I am a little skeptical on the use of these programs in the next 10 years but agree that robotics is farther off.

Jacklynn, In my post I also agree with the fact that for the next 10 years BIM will be the priority. The application of your work experience speaks volumes towards why BIM is the thing to look for in the next 10 years. I think that after this time period will be the turning point when BIM starts to fall behind.

Sean, It is good to see that you are taking an interest in the algorithms mentioned by Bill Allen because they will in no doubt become relevant at some point in your career. I find the drawbacks to the use of design in repetitive buildings being an interesting limiter to the capabilities of these database programs. I still personally believe that 10 years may be a bit soon for all of these programming changes to transpire.

Future Problems with Revit/BIM

What are the possible future problems with Revit/BIM?

There are always new concerns that emerge with the implementation of unorthodox methods of accomplishing traditional tasks; BIM is of no exception. Some of the problems will stem from the software itself and/or the affect of implementation on the future engineering and construction industry.

            The software will need to find compatibility with hardware that has large enough capacity to support the growing size of BIM models. HOK suggested that their company would anticipate “24GB of RAM for its new workstations so it can hold the Revit datasets without paging to disk on its biggest projects. This is a considerable investment. BIM simply cannot run on old machines designed for running AutoCAD”. These models will grow exponentially as more details are added to the design addressing the question of whether quality of design and in essence “the benefits of modelling” should be sacrificed for space which is necessary to “load and manipulate” models. This could encourage future competition in the hardware industry to invent faster, larger, lighter easier hardware which comes with investment. I think that there will a period in the distant future where the amount of resources required to store these models will lead to the invention of alternative databases.

            The effect of BIM on future design industries is a complete shift in the traditional communication standard between parties working together on a project. BIM will be ingrained into the design process as another player in the firm and may encourage cooperation between designers and builders such that all firms will adopt an integrated approach to design (i.e. Integrated Project Delivery). The implications of a one for all and all for one mentality could promote competitiveness and comradery between joint firms. It’s worth noting that firms which refuse to adopt this ideal may become obsolete, ineffective, and lose major contracts and business partners—at the same time these firms will have to adopt training and set money aside for BIM. As far as the engineers at these firms, there may be a somewhat ‘utopian’ mentality taken towards experienced engineers and novices; if a novice could use BIM to produce the same results as someone with seniority than the value of the experienced engineer would be changed and possibly lowered.

References:

[1] https://aecmag.com/technology-mainmenu-35/450-the-trouble-with-bim

Comments:

Laney Fries - I agree with your suggestion that technology will completely integrate with newer generations. I would expect this change to come many years from now but if BIM could be integrated into a portable device and/or represented virtually in real time (i.e. without computers) then that would create the opportunity to bring the design to the client and to the site. It could further eliminate the issues associated with hardware space and storage concerns.

Robert Borrelli - I think that you are fair in saying that BIM will threaten many people in the engineering and design industry who are comfortable with the traditional means of communicating a project. I wonder if the change in culture will lead to more or less interest from new engineers and if the older generation will adopt the changes or become obsolete in their ideals. As with any new intrusion, there will be a period of dislike for the program; at the same time engineers are always considering better ways to solve a problem and BIM is undoubtedly a coming solution to creating efficient design.

Andy Kuriatnikov - I appreciate your comments on clash analysis and how it impacts field construction. This is a benefit of BIM that is undeniable and saves money and time for all involved. While traditional designs are difficult to duplicate and create precisely, I believe they still serve a purpose for laying out initial ideas and groundwork for a project. The human mind can help to detect concerns prior to design, while BIM contributes to addressing errors during design.  

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.