Integrate Design with Construction and Operating Costs Using BIM

Powerful global forces are pushing for faster adoption of building information modeling (BIM). Are you ready?

Client requirements for faster delivery, new standards imposed by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the move toward sustainable buildings, and increasingly competitive global building supply markets have all given design firms impetus to move forward with BIM. There’s no question that the architecture, engineering, and construction firms that adopt a holistic approach to building systems will gain market share.

The promise of bringing sustainable building design and value engineering together can be realized with help from BIM-based technologies. Building projects are complex and, in the past, have gone through a linear, step-by-step process. By sharing a single data model across an entire project team, BIM allows architects and designers to draw on the wealth of knowledge of downstream disciplines, including structural engineering, MEP, and even the construction trades.

Making Informed Value-Based Decisions in the Design Phase
The benefits of BIM are beginning to catch on, especially as architects and engineers understand and leverage BIM’s capabilities. Value engineering can be defined as an organized effort to analyze designed building features, systems, equipment, and material selections to achieve optimal functionality at the lowest lifecycle cost.

In the design phase of building development, properly applied value engineering considers alternative design solutions to optimize the expected cost/worth ratio of projects at completion. At the same time, it elicits ideas about new ways of maintaining the structure while reducing building lifecycle costs. BIM supports the ability of a design team to perform longer term return on investment analyses more accurately and far more quickly by giving architects the information they need upfront to make informed short- and long-term cost decisions.

For example, an architect working with a BIM will be able to swap cladding or window materials, and the model will show how these choices affect such variables as aesthetics and materials costs. With additional software, designers can view energy use and construction costs as the model changes.

By looking at the cost of materials used for construction during the design phase, architects can perform value engineering for customers either by reducing material costs or by showing that the choice of materials over the long run will have a positive impact on total cost of ownership due to operating costs. Furthermore, designers can include in their thinking broader economic variables such as interest and inflation rates, energy costs, and the potential for rising materials costs.

With BIM integrating the disciplines, a designer can perform these economic and design trade-offs upfront, which means fewer iterative design changes as drawings get passed from design to structural and MEP engineers. Better still, this means fewer expensive changes during construction.

Designing Sustainable Buildings for the Long Term
Although sustainable building design may mean different things to different people, generally speaking, sustainable buildings minimize the use of resources such as energy, water, materials, and land through optimal design. They are also designed and operated to allow healthier and more productive work, learning, and living environments through the use of natural light and improved indoor air and environmental quality.

From a fiscal perspective, sustainable buildings should be cost-effective, saving money by reducing operations and maintenance costs over the life of the structure. By allowing engineers, constructors, and subcontractors to work together from the start to make decisions about green materials, methods, and design, BIM supports the creation and maintenance of green buildings.

BIM: A Win-Win-Win Proposition
In the final analysis, no one loses with BIM. Architects can generate better solutions to design challenges within budget constraints. Engineers can contribute early on in the process and influence design in a positive manner. General contractors, construction companies, and subcontractors can communicate the impact of different material choices in the design phase and deliver more accurate estimations. Finally, owners benefit significantly from a design aesthetic that protects the value of the building over the long term, by reducing operating costs.

All told, BIM truly is a win-win-win proposition.

Beau Turner is manager of Solutions Consultants with the Building Solutions division of Avatech Solutions in Norfolk, Va.