So what exactly is BIM?
Well, for starters, BIM stands for Building Information Modeling, which tells you a little, but not nearly enough. The simplest explanation I have heard, and probably my favorite, is BIM means we build the building in the computer before it's built in the real world.
The Building Smart Alliance, which produces the National BIM Standards, has described BIM as:
For one thing, it means that instead of drafting two dimensional lines to represent, for instance, a wall, a BIM user instead picks a wall tool, then selects a wall type, picks a start and end point and voila, you have a wall. In plan, this wall may look like anything you may have drafted in CAD. However, this wall also exists in 3D. It has finish information associated with it. It has layers of construction, i.e. gypsum wall boards, tile, 3 5/8" metal studs, plywood, etc. The wall has a sound rating, fire rating, wall type for tagging, specification section references and much more. This is where the "I" in BIM comes from.
This information allows for much more advanced levels of coordination. For instance, an appropriately built BIM model can calculate the amount of gypsum wall board needed in a project. Or tile, plywood, metal studs, concrete, paint, etc. Any material used in the project can be estimated from the BIM model. Some structural firms even model the rebar used in concrete pours.
Additionally, by modeling systems in three dimensions, BIM software allows designers to do detailed Spatial Coordination, checking the locations of the designed systems of the various disciplines against each other in 3D, including clearances. This illustrates to designers instances where a fire protection pipe might run into a mechanical duct, or where a mechanical duct may run along the access clearance of a run of cable tray. By modeling the systems in 3D, this coordination becomes easier to see, hopefully reducing costly changes in the field during construction.
There are many more facets to BIM, too many to cover succinctly in a single post. Put it all together though and what BIM does is allow designers to manage and coordinate the design of increasingly complex buildings in a more manageable way.
Well, for starters, BIM stands for Building Information Modeling, which tells you a little, but not nearly enough. The simplest explanation I have heard, and probably my favorite, is BIM means we build the building in the computer before it's built in the real world.
The Building Smart Alliance, which produces the National BIM Standards, has described BIM as:
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition.What does that mean though?
For one thing, it means that instead of drafting two dimensional lines to represent, for instance, a wall, a BIM user instead picks a wall tool, then selects a wall type, picks a start and end point and voila, you have a wall. In plan, this wall may look like anything you may have drafted in CAD. However, this wall also exists in 3D. It has finish information associated with it. It has layers of construction, i.e. gypsum wall boards, tile, 3 5/8" metal studs, plywood, etc. The wall has a sound rating, fire rating, wall type for tagging, specification section references and much more. This is where the "I" in BIM comes from.
This information allows for much more advanced levels of coordination. For instance, an appropriately built BIM model can calculate the amount of gypsum wall board needed in a project. Or tile, plywood, metal studs, concrete, paint, etc. Any material used in the project can be estimated from the BIM model. Some structural firms even model the rebar used in concrete pours.
Additionally, by modeling systems in three dimensions, BIM software allows designers to do detailed Spatial Coordination, checking the locations of the designed systems of the various disciplines against each other in 3D, including clearances. This illustrates to designers instances where a fire protection pipe might run into a mechanical duct, or where a mechanical duct may run along the access clearance of a run of cable tray. By modeling the systems in 3D, this coordination becomes easier to see, hopefully reducing costly changes in the field during construction.
There are many more facets to BIM, too many to cover succinctly in a single post. Put it all together though and what BIM does is allow designers to manage and coordinate the design of increasingly complex buildings in a more manageable way.
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