What would happen if every part of the planning process was done in a collaborative environment? What would happen of every tool used in design could share information? What if the information could be reviewed by everyone in real time? What would that change?
What if the bid package were 100% accurate. What if assemblies from the building model were used to construct all the duct and case work off site. What if the contractor could deliver as-builts with the building, because the build matched what was originally designed?
What if energy models were created on-the-fly with each iteration of design, so you always knew the cost and performance of each change What if part of commissioning was having the building compare itself to those energy models with live data. Automatically. What if you could renew that comparison whenever you wanted?
BIM is properly about data sharing, and information stewardship across the life of a facility from initial Design Intents and Programming to final Demolition. Data sharing is based around data standards. The data standards for BIM are referred to as IFC. That is as technical as I will get for now.
The attached Quicktime movie is about 10 minutes long. The movie takes you through a real life programming charrette, and how everything is changed once access to the information becomes universal and standards based. It is marketing literature, so of course everything works. Even so, it is a good introduction to the power of interoperability during Planning and Design.
Please take the time to watch this QuickTime movie. It *will* give you the strength to read up on buildingSmart.
The movie is information about Onuma's BIM-based server software. I have no relationship to Onuma, but I think the software shows how abstract standards-based abstractions about building information change the way we interact with acquiring buildings. Abstract standards-based information about processes in buildings will change the way we interact with buildings, The good news is that that standards are the same...
Now what if you used this process throughout operations and maintenance. What tools would you use to shape building load, when energy analysis looked like this, when you knew what the space was used for, when you knew what people were doing throughout the day. What if you could pull space, time, energy, and people together because you could see how it all worked together….
To see more training information on a BIM-based project server, go to http://onuma.com/services/TrainingSupport.php