On-Site's Construction Forum
The buzz on BIM
by Barry Reid and Chantal Bateman
Barry Reid, LEED AP, is business development manager, Georgia-Pacific Gypsum LLC.
Chantal Bateman is architectural consultant, Georgia Pacific Canada
Ask any architect working on a complex commercial project and they will tell you Building Information Modeling, or BIM, will be the dominant design tool for architects and an important construction process tool for general contractors in the near future.
According to a recent survey conducted by McGraw Hill, the growth of BIM usage on projects from 2008 to 2009 has been quite significant, an approximate estimated growth of 40 per cent. The reason being is that “we all must move toward more predictable outcomes.” To maximize efficiency during the design and construction process, architects and general contractors (GCs) have begun demonstrating the advantages of BIM to their clients by showing them the proven cost control processes achieved by using the BIM 3-D virtual construction modeling technology.
BIM provides the architects and contractors with, essentially, a 3-D and sometimes 4-D blueprint of information that ties design, construction and documentation together, meaning everyone on the project team can accurately plan for specific materials and assemblies, simulate operational scenarios, and schedule trades to work on areas of a building efficiently.
GCs value BIM for what commonly is called a Clash Detection System throughout the construction stage. BIM technology enables the project team to work out areas of concern early on - before they become costly, on-site problems - and ensures that what has been designed is being built to the intended building performance standards. It makes the building process clearer for contractors, as well as ensuring that the client's needs have been carried through to completion. It’s an important process that every building owner should insist on in their projects.
“The benefits of BIM throughout the construction industry are endless” says Brad Finck, vice president of Cadsoft Corp., a leading BIM software vendor in Guelph, Ont. “Our clients have told us that BIM helps set them apart and saves them time and money. These benefits are being realized by not only architects and engineers, but also manufacturers, suppliers and construction companies.”
The ability to visualize your project and communicate in 3-D are apparent, but the ability to extract intelligent building information and share this data across project disciplines is changing the way the industry thinks and works.
Recently, Georgia-Pacific Gypsum embarked on a project with a U.S. construction company, to see if efficiencies in scheduling could be captured and improved with the use of BIM when using higher-performance building products. This report in its original form was authored by Quality Planning Solutions LLC (www.q-plan.com) ("QPS"), a Turner Construction company. QPS's conclusions were based on particular projects under particular conditions. Different projects and different conditions may lead to different results.
The task was to determine, through modeling, if the time to complete a large health care facility could be significantly reduced if fibreglass mat gypsum panels were installed instead of conventional paper-faced gypsum panels in areas of the building that were vulnerable to moisture damage. Using BIM, it was confirmed and illustrated that the durable, moisture- and mould-resistant attributes of fibreglass mat gypsum panels allowed the contractor to install DensArmor Plus interior panels in pre-rock and core areas of the building while the exterior sheathing was being installed. The building was completed 10 weeks ahead of schedule, in comparison to the building as originally scheduled with regular paper faced gypsum board.
Although it may be instinctive to use non-paper faced gypsum boards in moisture-vulnerable areas to mitigate moisture and mould risks during construction, this study has proven how BIM modeling has broadened the scope and applications of unique product technologies. In short, the model demonstrated when a fibreglass mat gypsum product is used on the interiors it allowed the drywall to be sequenced from the interior to the exterior rather than from the exterior to the interior - as practiced when regular drywall is used. The contractor can now see both the risk mitigation and the dollar savings if the construction schedule of a large project can be shortened, early in the planning process.
In Canadian cities, fibreglass mat gypsum panels have existed for two decades, but modeling tools are allowing the designers and contractor to visualize and capture the downstream savings and time gains. Commercial construction in general is a complex process. As more architects and general contractors adopt BIM as a key tool for their projects, it will provide more opportunities to combine the benefits of both product and design technologies to meet and exceed increasingly demanding building performance and code standards, as well as the budget demands of building owners.