If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics. The following collection of feature stories and case studies is based on the number of BDCnetwork.com readers who clicked on the article in the past 10 months. The topics range from BIM for facilities management applications to modular data centers to augmented reality.
1. “BIM Becomes VDC”
By John Tobin, LEED AP, Director of Architecture, EYP Architecture & Engineering
The disruptive growth of BIM has been largely due to the unanticipated interest contractors have taken in the technology. Contractors have grasped the power of BIM with far more vigor than designers. Contractors look at BIM models and immediately understand how they could be used for VDC tasks. www.BDCnetwork.com/vdc
2. “Augmented reality goes mainstream: 12 applications for design and construction firms”
By David Barista, Editor-in-Chief, BD+C
Thanks to inexpensive mobile devices and increasingly advanced software apps, Building Teams are finally able to bring their BIM models to life on the job site. This article offers a dozen distinct applications for augmented reality and profiles one of the nation’s largest AR implementations: the Oakland Medical Center Replacement. www.BDCnetwork.com/ar
3. “’My BIM Journey’ – 6 Lessons from a BIM/VDC Expert”
By Jared Krieger, AIA, LEED AP, Project Manager, Gensler
From applying the two-inch rule to simplifying the BIM execution plan, Gensler’s Jared Krieger offers valuable advice for taming BIM/VDC workflows based on his five-year journey with the technology. Krieger discusses how to prepare for virtual coordination meetings, work more effectively with subs on BIM-driven projects, and apply clash detection tools more effectively. www.BDCnetwork.com/mybim
4. “World’s tallest children’s hospital pushes BIM to the extreme”
By David Barista, BD+C
Learn how the Building Team for the 23-story Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago implemented an integrated BIM/VDC/IPD workflow. This report includes an in-depth look at the coordination of the tower’s 10th-floor mechanical space, which, according to the Building Team, could not have been built within the time frame and budget without the use of BIM and VDC. www.BDCnetwork.com/bimhospital
5. “Level of Development: Will a new standard bring clarity to BIM model detail?”
By Jeffrey Yoders, Contributing Editor, BD+C
This article breaks down the Levels of Development Specification developed by BIMForum. The document will allow Building Teams to specify and articulate with a high level of clarity the content and reliability of BIM models at various stages of development. www.BDCnetwork.com/levels
6. “BIM 2.0: AEC firms share their vision for the great leap forward in BIM/VDC implementation”
By David Barista, BD+C
For our 2013 Giants 300 Report, BD+C reached out to dozens of AEC firms that made our annual BIM Giants lists and asked one simple question: What does BIM 2.0 look like to you? What they had to offer ranged from augmented reality applications to “smart” job sites to BIM for O&M tasks. www.BDCnetwork.com/bim2.0
7. “5 tips for running a successful BIM coordination meeting”
By Jared Krieger, AIA, LEED AP, Project Manager, Gensler
BIM tools are great, but if you can’t run efficient, productive coordination meetings, the Building Team will never realize the benefits of true BIM coordination. The author offers helpful tips for making the most of BIM coordination meetings based on his experience working on BIM/VDC-driven projects. www.BDCnetwork.com/5tips
8. “Hospital project pioneers BIM/VDC-based integrated project delivery”
By Jeffrey Yoders, Contributing Editor, BD+C
Everyone talks about the need to bring together BIM/VDC and integrated project delivery in the design and construction of complex projects, but so far there have been few cases of true integration. Jeffrey Yoders profiles one of these rare projects: the Marlborough Hospital Cancer Pavilion. www.BDCnetwork.com/ipdhospital
9. “Electronic surveying improves accuracy on BIM-driven hospital project”
By Robert Cassidy, Editorial Director, BD+C
In the rapidly changing world of virtual design and construction, the MEP component of building information modeling has earned a reputation as something of a technology laggard. That negative perception is changing, as MEP engineers find new ways to put BIM to use. www.BDCnetwork.com/surveying
10. “BIM-driven prototype turns data centers into a kit of parts”
By Ryan Schultz and Timothy Connor, Architects, Sheehan Partners
Considering their predominantly functional and technical nature, data centers are becoming as much a product as they are a building. This article explores a BIM-designed data center prototype that takes advantage of mass customization of assemblies to achieve higher levels of efficiencies. www.BDCnetwork.com/bimdatacenters
11. “7 ways it pays to use BIM for data centers”
By David Barista, BD+C
Perhaps no other project type stands to benefit more from coordination using BIM and VDC than data centers. This article explores how AEC firms and owners are getting the most bang for the buck when using BIM/VDC on data centers. www.BDCnetwork.com/7ways
For more BIM articles, visit: www.BDCnetwork.com/bimit.
Related Stories
| Nov 27, 2013
Exclusive survey: Revenues increased at nearly half of AEC firms in 2013
Forty-six percent of the respondents to an exclusive BD+C survey of AEC professionals reported that revenues had increased this year compared to 2012, with another 24.2% saying cash flow had stayed the same.
| Nov 25, 2013
Electronic plan review: Coming soon to a city near you?
With all the effort AEC professionals put into leveraging technology to communicate digitally on projects, it is a shame that there is often one major road block that becomes the paper in their otherwise “paperless” project: the local city planning and permitting department.
| Nov 22, 2013
Kieran Timberlake, PE International develop BIM tool for green building life cycle assessment
Kieran Timberlake and PE International have developed Tally, an analysis tool to help BIM users keep better score of their projects’ complete environmental footprints.
| Nov 8, 2013
Can Big Data help building owners slash op-ex budgets?
Real estate services giant Jones Lang LaSalle set out to answer these questions when it partnered with Pacific Controls to develop IntelliCommand, a 24/7 real-time remote monitoring and control service for its commercial real estate owner clients.
| Oct 30, 2013
Why are companies forcing people back to the office?
For a while now companies have been advised that flexibility is a key component to a successful workplace strategy, with remote working being a big consideration. But some argue that we’ve moved the needle too far toward a “work anywhere” culture.
| Oct 18, 2013
Meet the winners of BD+C's $5,000 Vision U40 Competition
Fifteen teams competed last week in the first annual Vision U40 Competition at BD+C's Under 40 Leadership Summit in San Francisco. Here are the five winning teams, including the $3,000 grand prize honorees.
| Oct 18, 2013
A picture’s worth a thousand words… if you can find it
Photographs are becoming more essential to project communication and documentation. Recently, I sat in a local airport integration project meeting in which the owner outlined their expectation for construction documentation. One of the first requirements was to provide photographs throughout the building process.
Sponsored | | Oct 7, 2013
Bridging the digital divide between the BIM haves and have nots
There's no doubt that BIM is the future of design. But for many firms, finding a bridge to access rich model data and share it with those typically left on the sidelines can be the difference between winning a bid or not.
| Oct 2, 2013
Corporate HQ in 10 months made possible with BIM coordination
An integrated Building Team uses BIM/VDC to convert a 1940s-era industrial building into a flashy new headquarters for Hillshire Brands in a matter of months.
| Sep 26, 2013
Mobilizing your job site to achieve a paperless project: fact or fiction?
True mobility in the field has rapidly evolved from lock-box kiosks on each floor to laptops on rolling carts to tablets and iPads loaded with drawings sets stored in the cloud. And WiFi-ready job sites have gone from “nice to have” to “must have” status in just a little over a year.
