Implementing Virtual Design and Construction using BIM

Current and future practices

Lennart Andersson, Kyla Farrell, Oleg Moshkovich, Cheryle Cranbourne

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317326953
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Construction & Architectural Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Implementing Virtual Design and Construction using BIM outlines the team structure, software and production ecosystem needed for an effective Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) process through current real world case studies of projects both in development and under construction. It provides the reader with a better understanding of the successful implementation of VDC and Building Information Modeling (BIM), and the benefits to the project team throughout the design and construction process. For readers already familiar with VDC, the book will provide invaluable examples of best practices and real world solutions.

Richly illustrated in color with actual VDC documentation, visualizations, and statistics, the reader is shown the real processes undertaken and outputs generated when working on high profile building information models. Online animations, interviews with practitioners, and downloadable templates, forms and files make this an interactive and highly engaging way to learn a crucial set of skills.

While keeping up with current industry practice is a minimum requirement, this book goes further by helping you prepare for the next level of virtual design and construction. This is essential reading for project managers, construction managers, architects, design managers, and anybody with a role in BIM or virtual construction.

1 Introduction

Disruptive new technologies are transforming all facets of the built environment. Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) is the implementation of these technologies and processes. Understanding this emerging field is essential for all professionals working in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC).

The success of VDC depends not only on technology, but on the skills and knowledge of people who initiate, design, construct, and operate projects using a wide variety of professional tools. The ambition of this book is to communicate how powerful new tools significantly improve the process of building, as well as the quality of resulting buildings.

The AEC industry refers to much of what we discuss here simply as Building Information Modeling, or BIM. We find “BIM” to be an inadequate description of the workflows we are developing as VDC professionals. For the purposes of this book, the result of BIM or “BIM model” will be referred to simply as an “information model.” For activities incorporating use of an information model, we use the terms VDC process (or methodology), VDC service, or VDC product. VDC processes are workflows that incorporate the information model and integrate previously disconnected aspects of design and construction. VDC processes seek to apply new technologies to the AEC industry and link all the work being done by the project team into the information model. The information model acts as a hub. VDC services are specific services unique to VDC, such as clash detection, 3-D scanning, tracking, or information model authoring. A VDC product is the deliverable resulting from a VDC service, such as a point cloud, a systems coordination model, database, or a constructability logistics animation.

While the concept of BIM has its roots in the early beginnings of computer technology, it was not until the personal computer became powerful enough to drive the data and graphics in real time that 3-D models became a useful tool. An information model simulates the geometry and data of an environment, unlike Computer Aided Drafting (CAD), which is merely a representation, like a drawing on paper. The information model is a virtual, geometrical, spatial relational database. It keeps track of data as it relates to specific geometry and location. Many types of data can be linked to a virtual object, and there are many possible ways to use and analyze the data contained in the model.

An information model is powerful because it allows all of the data surrounding a building project to be centralized into one ecosystem that all participants can share. This centralization mitigates problems associated with the fragmentation of data inherent in the traditional design and construction process. For example, someone viewing color-coded 3-D models instead of black-and-white line drawings gains a much better understanding of the project at hand, as relationships between different components are more clearly visible. Using information models thus minimizes the risk of misunderstandings and subsequent conflicts.

The case studies in this book are written from the perspective of our experience working in the VDC department within the LiRo Group, a Construction Management, Architecture, and Engineering firm headquartered in Syosset, NY. LiRo is a professional, full-service design and construction management firm ranked among the nation’s Top 20 CM firms by Engineering News Record in 2014. The VDC department operates out of its own office in Manhattan. In addition to the VDC group, LiRo’s current workforce of over 650 personnel includes licensed professional engineers, architects and field staff experienced in design, pre-construction, construction inspection and supervision, CPM scheduling techniques and computerized logging and document control systems. The staff also includes experienced value engineers, certified cost estimators, and LEED accredited professionals. The construction management team enlists in-house environmental, structural, traffic, and civil engineers, hazardous material specialists, PLA consultants and database developers, among others, to respond to any technical need that may arise on a project. From our vantage point in the VDC department, working with LiRo’s full spectrum of designers, engineers, and constructors, we have a deep understanding of how the various processes of a building project relate to each other.

The construction manager’s (CM) main role is to ensure that the intended design is built in the best possible way, at the lowest cost and in the most time-efficient manner. The tools a CM uses apply mostly to means and methods, such as planning and tracking the construction of the project. A CM ensures that all parties understand their scope and responsibilities through contractual documents. Specific services rendered include specification authoring, sequencing and scheduling, cost estimating, constructability review of the intended design, creating staging plans, tracking and reporting progress, enforcing site safety, quality assurance and control as well as cost-related tasks, such as value engineering and administration. All these services can be greatly improved with VDC processes. The CM might actually be one of the greatest beneficiaries of VDC, as the transparency it affords helps the CM understand and monitor every aspect of the project.

VDC will only continue to expand as a discipline, becoming a further integrated part of the AEC process.¹ New technologies and innovations are constantly being devised to address the many inefficiencies in current professional practice. As VDC professionals, we are interested in the rapid advances being made in the development of new technologies that facilitate a bidirectional link between the real and the virtual, providing a platform for better decision making. 3-D scanning, 3-D printing, sensors, prefabrication, automation, and robotics are among the many exciting innovations being developed. At its core, VDC ultimately seeks to bridge the expertise gaps between design, construction, and operations; to realize facilities that are dramatically less wasteful both in assembly and usage; and to create buildings that function to serve their occupants throughout the complete usage lifecycle.

NOTE

1 Forty percent of US owners and 38 percent of UK owners expect that more than 75 percent of their projects will involve BIM in just two years. McGraw Hill Construction, Marketing Communications, “U.S. and U.K. Building Owners Expect to Increase Their Involvement with BIM in the Next Two Years,” Market Watch. October 13, 2014. Web, October 24, 2014.

2 The Practice of VDC

VDC is an interdisciplinary practice in which data is centralized, typically within a 3-D information model, allowing for increased efficiencies and deeper project understanding and analysis. VDC is a shift from mere representation of project information as in a 2-D design process to detailed simulation, from a linear design and construction process to a concurrent process with live feedback loops. Implementing a functional VDC practice requires an understanding of the building process, structure and professional culture both at the project and enterprise level.

VDC processes are workflows that incorporate the information model and integrate previously disconnected aspects of design and construction. VDC processes seek to apply new technologies to the AEC industry and link the work done by the project team to the information model. The information model acts as a central hub in the VDC workflow. VDC services are specific services unique to VDC, such as clash detection, 3-D scanning, tracking or information model authoring. A VDC product is the deliverable resulting from a VDC service, such as a point cloud, a systems coordination model, database or a constructability logistics animation.

VDC services can be utilized throughout the entire design and construction process. If VDC services simply run parallel to traditional workflows, they don’t provide the optimal benefit to a project. VDC services must be integrated into the traditional trades and everyday workflows to be effective. Every member of the team needs a certain level of understanding regarding VDC in order to innovate and improve existing practices. Successful VDC implementation requires a thorough understanding of how things are done in theory as well as practice. Understanding the team’s existing structure of decision making is crucial to implement effective new practices.

A VDC department’s success depends not only on the talent of its team and strong process awareness, but also on clear organization. The structure of the VDC practice should evolve with each project, simplifying initial deployment, and incorporating lessons learned from previous projects, which are captured as a set of pre-formatted templates, databases, and a clearly organized file tree. Clear naming conventions and correctly implemented interoperability standards are the conduits that connect VDC to traditional AEC workflows and are addressed further in Chapter 5 (“Reference Documents”).

2.1 VDC Services

VDC services broadly fall into three categories: implementation, production, and support services. Implementation includes consulting and educating a project team on the integration of VDC into a project’s design-through-construction workflow. Writing up VDC Specifications and Implementation Plans, and maintaining the overall quality of models all fall into this category. Production is the work of creating deliverables and output from the various types of specialized information models outlined in section 2.2, each of which supports specific VDC services. Support services are those that include using the model to solve specific project issues that emerge throughout the course of the existing design and construction workflow. Examples of such services include litigation support and risk workshops.

IMPLEMENTATION SERVICES

VDC Specifications

Specifications provide the rulebook for a project. They set expectations and outline how work should be performed. A good VDC Specification states what the information model should include and to what level of detail, as well as major information model deliverables for all phases of a project, from early design to the facility’s final operations. The Specification should also reference the related global standard for level of model development. Global standards are in development for BIM and VDC. In the USA, the most prominent of these are the National BIM standards and the Level of Development document.¹ (For these standards, readers are referred to Chapter 5, “Reference Documents,” which includes an example VDC Specification document.) Contracting bids are submitted based on the provided specifications.

How VDC should be integrated into a project greatly depends on how a team is organized. Every project has different requirements, and team organization varies based on the project’s typology, size, complexity, client, location, phasing, and other requirements. A team’s level of sophistication is an additional factor to consider. For example, where some parties are not sufficiently capable of operating information modeling software that might negatively affect how, or even if, VDC is incorporated into the process.

Providing detailed specifications that outline the implementation of a VDC process is extremely important. Any omission will likely adversely affect other aspects of the project; successful collaboration requires clearly defined standards. Essential standards for an information model include naming conventions, file structure, software workflows, component definitions, model completeness, and data output. Standardized formats for sharing 3-D data ensure the consistency and compatibility of both internal and external sharing.

Procedures for the implementation of new technology are essential, including the choice of software platform(s), identification of individuals who require software training, and analysis of existing technological infrastructure, including upgrades to targeted computers.

VDC Implementation Planning

The VDC Specification should require the team member responsible for model authoring and model coordination to produce a VDC Implementation Plan. The plan is typically the responsibility of the design team during the design phase, the contractor during the construction ph...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The Practice of VDC
• 3 Case Studies
• 4 VDC Tools
• 5 Reference Documents
• 6 The Future of VDC
• Glossary of VDC Terms
• Index