We talk about using a common information environment called a Building Information Model to help get to higher quality decisions, but are we making progress toward that goal? It seems that new independent organizations spring up every day that are starting out re-inventing new ways of doing business and generating information that are not looking to what information may already exist. In reality a lot of the information for green, sustainable and high performing facilities should be shared. Yet each group sees itself as independent. How do we entice people to work together and share the far greater rewards of working together? This has happened in other industries, possibly not as diverse and fragmented as our own. It has happened in the related world of GIS. However even GIS sees themselves as an island and seeks to expand their base independently. However, if coordination can happen elsewhere then the AECOO industry should be able to do it also. What are everyone’s thoughts on how we can focus our goals in the...

We talk about it a lot, but interoperability is what it is all about.

BIM Handbook, A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors by Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholtz, Rafael Sacks and Kathleen Liston recently published by Wiley with a forward by Jerry Laiserin is the first scholarly text of its kind for building information modeling. It covers the subject well and provides a lot of good insight as to what tools are available and what is possible today with the tools. It also takes a glimpse into the future of where this whole effort is headed. This is a fast moving target and it will also be fun to look back at this book in ten years as the baseline of what it looked like in 2008

buildingSMART alliance™ has published its second edition of the Journal of Building Information Modeling. The cover story about BIMStorm™ is by Kimon Onuma. There are other articles covering the latest concepts in this exploding industry. It will be available in PDF on the buildingSMART alliance web site (www.buildingsmartalliance.org) soon and will be in print in a couple of weeks.

The National BIM Standard was released recently by the National Institute of Building Sciences. A portion of the announcement follows:

 

WASHINGTON, DC — The National Institute of Building Sciences’ (NIBS), Facility Information Council (FIC) announced today that the Executive Committee for the National Building Information Modeling Standard (NBIMS) project has released the National BIM Standard Version 1 – Part 1: Overview, Principles, and Methodologies for public use. This document, which includes contributions by more than thirty subject-matter experts in the capital facilities industry, incorporates industry comments and now contains new and expanded information about the NBIMS production and use process.

 

This document is a major step forward for the industry as it undergoes its transformation. As companies transform they are amazed that they operated under such primitive conditions for so long. The transformation does require accepting some significantly different ways of doing...

With my work as Executive Direector of the buildingSMART alliance, I come across many interesting events - this, I believe, is something of extreme interest that you may want to participate in. Once it is complete, let's spend some time discussing the impact on the industrey as a whole. 

BIMstorm™ Los Angeles | 31 January 2008 BIMStorm LAX was a simple concept in December 2007, and is becoming a “Woodstock” for the building industry. BIMStorm LAX is a free event that will involve a wide cross section of building industry professionals to design over 30 Los Angeles city blocks encompassing 30 million square feet in real-time.

Forty years ago an event changed the culture of the world. Join us for 24 hours of collaboration, harmony and to change the culture of the industry.



Date 31 January 2008

Visit http://onuma.com/services/LaStorm.php for lots more information and to get involved.

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AutoDesk acquisition of NavisWorks - Good news or not? What are your thoughts?

The open standard which has been under development was announced today. The industry review period runs till May 21st.

There is a critical void in the education process for teaching and understanding BIM

Just wanted to introduce myself to my fellow bloggers.  I am currently leading the efforts of many in development of the National BIM Standard.  I am also involved in the development of buildingSMART as I am on a task force with several IAI and NIBS BOD members working out a charter, business plan and funding strategy.  Our goal is to accelerate the implementation of building information models and building information modeling.  The focus of course is on information and we are lookng way beyond 3D visualization to essentially building a building virtually before physically.  Working out as many problems as possible electronically.  I am interested in hearing the stage everyone is at in implementing BIM and what we can do to help.  I know education is a huge issue both at the university level and continuing education for the practitioner.  Let me know what you are thinking about this subject.