atributes of bim in different countries
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Atributes of Building Information Modeling in Different CountriesTRANSCRIPT
AEDMARTICLE
Attributes of Building InformationModelling Innplennentations inVarious CountriesAndy K. D. Wong*, Francis K. W. Wong and Abid Nadeem
Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
AbstractVarious initiatives can be taken to implement building information modelling (BIM) systems in a country. Tbe
purpose of this article is to bigbligbt critical initiatives derived from the review of BIM implementations in
botb tbe public and private sectors in six selected countries. Tbe metbodology adopted for structuring the
study is to classify BIM initiatives for its implementation in policy, process and technology fields. A literature
review of such BIM fields from the USA, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Singapore and Hong Kong is provided.
Moreover, tbe experiences of autbors in BIM researcb projects conducted in tbe past tbrougb questionnaire
surveys and interviews are also utilized to syntbesize tbe findings. The review suggests that, in several
situations, BIM is implemented in conjunction with industry foundation classes for better integration and
interoperability of various components of a BIM system. The types and roles of major stakeholders in
promoting and providing support for tbe implementation, research and development of BIM systems are
presented. The findings suggest that initiatives can be taken for policy formulation, BIM organization,
information exchange capability, researcb areas identification, promotion, presentation and liaison of BIM
programmes for an effective BIM implementation in a country.
• Keywords - Building information modelling; Hong Kong; industry foundation classes; interoperability; Scandinavian countries;
Singapore; stakeholders' roles
INTRODUCTIONBuilding information modelling (BIM) has emergedfrom three-dimensional (3D) architectural designtechnology to a comprehensive 'methodology tomanage the essential building design and projectdata throughout the building's lifecycle' (Penttilä,2006). Using BIM, a computer model of a buildingis developed that simulates the design (alsopre-design), construction and operation of a facility.BIM has the attributes both of an approach and of aprocess/action. It is an approach because it providesan alternative to the traditional, paper-based, twodimensional (2D) or 3D computer-aided design
M 'Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]
(CAD)-based approaches to project design andmanagement. It is a process/action in that it createsa product called a building information model, whichcan be manipulated for various business purposesand whose performance can be measured. In normalpractice, the terms 'building information modelling'and 'building information model' are usedinterchangeably. However, there is a differencebetween these two terms, as the former is aprocess and the latter is a product.
The knowledge domain of BIM is expanding withits implementation in many countries in theconceptualization, design, construction and
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT H 2010 B VOLUME 6 S 288-302doi:l0.3763/aedm.2010.IDDS6 ©2010 Earthscan ISSN; 1745-2007 (print). 1752-7589 (online) www.earthscan.co.uk/journals/aedm
Building Information Modelling Implementations 289
Operation of the buildings. In this article, a review ofBIM initiatives for Its implementation in a number ofcountries is presented. Such initiatives can becategorized with respect to the type of mainstakeholders taking initiatives, such as the publicand private sectors, as well as by the class ofinitiatives. BIM initiatives have been classified intothe policy, process and technology fields (Succar,2009). Further explanation of this classification isprovided in the Methodology section. Findings fromthis study are based on the review of literature ofBIM initiatives from the USA, Finland, Norway,Denmark, Singapore and Hong Kong. The chosencountries are from three continents and the review isexpected to cover a wide range of BIMimplementations. The USA is a large country andproduces a great deal of BIM technology. Finland,Norway and Denmark represent the Scandinavianregion in Europe. This region is regarded as one ofthe earliest adopters of BIM technology, outside ofNorth America. Asia is represented by Hong Kong,which is a Special Administrative Region of thePeople's Republic of China, and Singapore.Singapore is one of the earliest BIM adopters in Asiain the public sector: BIM is being graduallyimplemented in Hong Kong in both the public andthe private sector.
In order to implement BIM, certain policies,processes and technologies are needed that interactand/or overlap with each other to produce thedesired outcomes in the form of a buildinginformation model. The purpose of this article is tohighlight such policies, processes and technologiesfrom the selected countries and integrate thefindings to illustrate the common behaviour of suchinitiatives or Implementations.
METHODOLOGYThis article is based on the review of literature ofBIM initiatives In various countries. Moreover, theexperiences of authors in BIM implementationresearch from information obtained in the pastthrough questionnaire surveys and interviews forother BIM research studies are also used to integratethe findings. In order to structure the informationpresented in this article, BIM initiatives are dividedinto three fields: the technology, process and policy
fields. For each field, the players and deliverables canbe identified. Admittedly, the information presented inthis article about the deliverables and players is notexhaustive. However, it is expected that thepresented information is a good indicator of theoverall pattern of BIM implementations. Afteridentifying players and deliverables in these fields,analysis is made of any overlap in the fields orinteraction of fields to arrive at the research findings.The chosen fields are explained as follows.
Policies are 'written principles or rules to guidedecision-making' (Clemson, 2010). It includes playerssuch as insurance companies, research centres,educational institutions and regulatory bodies. Theirjobs are normally to train practitioners, deliverresearch, distribute benefits and minimize conflictsbetween industry participants. These players do notgenerate any construction products but arespecialized organizations.
Process is defined as 'a specific ordering of workactivities across time and place, with a beginning, anend, and clearly identified inputs and outputs: astructure for action' (Davenport, 1992). It includespeople who procure, design, construct, manufacture,use, manage and maintain building facilities orstructures. Facility owners, architects, engineers,contractors, facility managers, etc. can be included inthis group.
Technology is 'the application of scientificknowledge for practical purposes' (Oxford, 2010). Itincludes the players who develop the software,hardware, equipment and networking systemsnecessary for BIM implementations.
BIM PLAYERS IN VARIOUS COUNTRIESTHE USA® General Services Administration (GSA) is the main
public client implementing BIM in the public sector.GSA's National 3D-4D BIM programme waslaunched in 2003 (GSA, 2007).
® National Institute for Standards and Technology(NiST) conducts research on BIM andinteroperability among other areas (NIBS, 2007).
® CAD/BIM Technology Center is a research centrefor the US Army Corps of Engineers, providingtechnical and professional services for BIMdeployment across the professional services in a
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
290 A. K. D. WONG, F. K. W. WONG AND A. NADEEM
consistent manner that ensures acceptable returnon investments and promotes interoperabilitybetween BIM and other geospatial technologies.
• Construction Engineering Research Laboratory of theCorps of Engineers with the support of its otherlaboratories is transforming the use of BIM and is aprimary player in the industry transformation withproducts such as COBIE (Construction OperationsBuilding Information Exchange).
• Other players from the USA are listed in Appendix 1along with their brief description of BIMinvolvement.
FINLAND• Senate Properties is the public owner running pilot
projects using BIM and Industry FoundationClasses (IFC). It has assessed the product modeltechnology that supports BIM technology andfound it sufficiently ready to use in projects.
• In the private sector, Skanska Oy is the generalcontractor that has implemented BIM In itsoperations and has also performed research anddevelopment (R&D) in BIM.
• fetes has promoted BIM in Finland and theAssociation of Finnish Contractors has alsopromoted BIM, in association with state clientsenate properties.
• Helsinki University of Technology and TampereUniversity of Technology are the educationalinstitutions performing R6D in BIM.
• VTT\s the major research organization in Finland forBIM and other research in the construction andbuilt environment.
NORWAY• Statsbygg is the state client promoting the use of
BIM.• Norwegian Homebuilders Association encourages
the industry to adopt BIM and IFC.• In the private sector, Selvaag-Bluethink is
developing IFC-based BIM.• SINTEF is the leading organization conducting
research in BIM.• In the Norwegian University of Science and
Technology (NTNU), several student projects onBIM are being conducted.
• The Norwegian international Alliance forInteroperability (¡At) Forum is active in defining theinformation exchange requirements for BIM.
DENMARK• There are at least three public owners who have
initiated work on BIM. They are The Palaces andProperties Agency, The Danish University andProperty Agency and Defence ConstructionService. Although the government projects donot represent a large part of the total propertyarea, they do have significant impact on themarket created by IFC requirements.
• Other government agencies, such as GentofteMunicipality ana KLP Ejendomme. have alsoadopted the requirements from the DigitalConstruction project in Denmark.
• In Denmark, guidelines for working with 3D CADapplications have been prepared. This wasaccomplished under the Digital ConstructionProgram initiated by the Danish Enterprise andConstruction Authority.
• In the private sector. Bips is developing BIMguidelines and Rambeit is working to makeRambyg - its web-based system for operation andmaintenance of buildings - compliant with IFCrequirements.
• In the education institutions, Aalborg Universityfocuses on IFC model servers and 3D models.Aarhus School of Architecture is focusing onproduct configuration, design intent and IFCmodel servers, whereas the Technical Universityof Denmark's work is on interoperability.
SINGAPORE• In Singapore, Construction and Real Estate Network
(CORENET) is the main organization involved in thedevelopment and implementation of BIM forgovernment projects. It is a major informationtechnology (IT) initiative that was launched in1995 by Singapore's Ministry of NationalDevelopment.
• In the private sector, consulting engineers such asArup and WSP have embarked on theimplementation of BIM in their projects.
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
Building Information Modelling Implementations 291
HONGKONG
• In Hong Kong, the Works Branch of the
Development Bureau (DevB) aims to plan, manage
and implement public sector infrastructure
development and works programmes (DevB,
2008), Under DevB's initiatives, BIM is being
gradually introduced into the existing CAD
standard for Works Projects (DevB, 2007).
• The Housing Authority of the Government of the
HKSAR has included BIM in its programme of
activities for development (construction and
building control in the fiscal years 2008/09 and
2009/10) and is now actively promoting its use in its
new projects (Hong Kong Housing Authority, 2009).
• The Hong Kong Institute of Building Information
Modelling (HKIBIM) was established in April 2009
by a group of Hong Kong corporations,
stakeholders and experts in BIM applications.
HKIBIM is the first professional institute in the
world for promoting and facilitating applications
of BIM in the building environment.
SUMMARY
A summary of BIM policy players in the selected
countries along with their sector and BIM role is
given in Table 1.
BIM INITIATIVES IN THE USAOVERALL USAGEThere has been a rapid adoption of BIM in the past few
years (McGraw-Hill, 2009) that is expected to continue
in the coming years. Half of the industry was using
BIM or BIM-related tools in 2009. This represents a
75% increase In usage from the level in 2007.
Forty-two per cent of BIM users were at an expert or
advanced level, which was three times the amount
reported in 2007,
POLICY INITIATIVES
GSA has a policy to incrementally adopt 3D, 4D and
BIM for all major projects by leading 3D-4D-BIM
pilot applications and incentives for current and
future capital projects. GSA provides expert support
and assessment for ongoing capital projects to
incorporate 3D, 4D and BIM technologies and
assess industry readiness and technology maturity.
GSA also partners with BIM vendors, professional
associations, open standard organizations and
academic/research institutions. In order to fulfil the
objectives of its BIM programme, GSA has taken the
following policy initiatives:
• In July 2003, GSA launched nine pilot projects
to study the implementation of BIM
(Fallón, 2005).
• In 2006, GSA started another three pilot projects
using laser scanning of buildings and using data to
create as-built BIM models of buildings for
planning further improvement and operation of
buildings (Jenkins, 2006; Jacob, 2007),
• GSA mandated the use of IFC-based BIM and
emphasized that BIM adoption should not be
driven by cost savings alone, but for its other
benefits such as the ability to explore different
engineering systems, perform energy analysis,
derive specifications automatically and eventually
eliminate the use of paper and paper-based
processes (Khemlani, 2006a).
• GSA also mandated that new buildings designed
through the Public Buildings Services (PBS) use
BIM in the design stage (Hardy, 2006).
• GSA announced its requirements in advance
of the release of the US National Building
Information Modelling Standard, 2006, which
were later incorporated in the standard (Wilson,
2006).
• GSA collaborated with BIM software developers to
produce a new GSA BIM Guide. The guide helps
designers to develop final concept designs for
GSA's PBS and to meet GSA's spatial programme.
The requirements include the submission of a BIM
IFC model defined by the buildingSMART
organization of the National Institute of Building
Sciences (NIBS) (Bentley, 2007).
• GSA also collaborated with international real
estate organizations to support open standards for
BIM software and systems. These organizations
included Finland's Senate Properties, the Danish
Enterprise and Construction Authority, and
Norway's Directorate of Public Construction
and Property. The aim was to promote
interoperability and the seamless and accurate
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292 A. K. D. WONG, F. K. W. WONG AND A. NADEEM
TABLE 1 BIM
COUNTRY
USA
Finland
Norway
Denmark
Singapore
Hong Kong
policy players
SECTOR
Public
Public
Private
Public
Private
Public
Private
Public
Private
Public
Private
and BIM roles
ORGANIZATION NAME
General Services Administration (GSA)
National Institute for Standards and
Technology (NIST)
CAD/BIM Tecfinology Center
Construction Engineering Research
Laboratory (CERL)
Senate Properties
Skanska Oy
TekesAssociation of Finnish Contractors
Helsinki University of Technology
Tampere University of Technology
vn
Statsbygg
Norwegian Homebuilders Association
Selvaag-Bluethink
SINTEF
Norwegian University of Science
and Technology (NTNU)
Norwegian IAI Forum
The Palaces and Properties Agency
The Oanish University and Property Agency
Defence Construction Service
Gentofte Municipality
KLP Ejendomme
Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority
Bips
RamballAalborg University
Aarhus School of Architecture
Technical University of Denmark
Construction and Real Estate Network
(CORENET)
Arup
WSP
Works Branch - Development Bureau
Housing Authority
The Hong Kong Institute of Building Information
Modelling (HKIBIM)
BIM ROLE
Regulator and guidelines developer
Guidelines and building standards development
Research and consultancy
Research
Regulator and guidelines developer
Application and research
Application and promotion
Application and promotion
Education and research
Education and research
Research and application
Application and promotion
Application and promotion
Application development
Research and development
Research and education
Application development
Regulator
Regulator
Regulator
Regulator
Regulator
Guidelines development
Guidelines development
Research and development
Research and development
Research and development
Research and development
Regulator and system developer
Application implementer
Application implementer
Regulator
Regulator and application implementer
Professional body and standards development
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
Building Information Modelling Implementations 293
exchange of digital data between differentdevelopers (GSA, 2008).
Several more BIM initiatives (policy, process andtechnology) from the USA are listed in Appendix1. The following are a few BIM initiatives related toprocess and technology fields.
PROCESS INITIATIVESGSA demonstrated the energy-efficient design in theSan Francisco Federal Building Project by halving theamount of energy needed by the typical officebuilding. To this end, the building was designed withthe optimum width for natural lighting and ventilation.The use of BIM on this project provided the platformfor early integration of architectural, structural andmechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) designs,and tools. In another project - the Salt Lake CityFederal Courthouse - GSA also applied BIM in theenergy-efficient design (Khemlani, 2006b).
GSA has also used BIM for space reporting, spatialmanagement and tenant management, and inevaluating how well a proposed design meets theprogramme requirements (Khemlani, 2006a).
TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVESFor disaster response situations, GSA explored the'avatar' technology from the gaming industry thatcreates a simulation of human behaviour by virtualpeople. This would allow, for instance, a BIM modelto be populated with electronic people programmedwith behaviours such as walking, running, turning,detecting the nearest exit and so on, which wouldallow the egress pattern and time in a proposedbuilding to be studied in the event of an emergency(Khemlani, 2006a).
BIM INITIATIVES IN FINLANDOVERALL USAGEIn a survey conducted in 2007, the usage of BIM andIFC-compliant BIM applications in Finland wasestimated to be 33% (Kiviniemi, 2007). It is to benoted that IFC is a standard for sharing andexchanging building information among variousnon-interoperable applications. In the same survey itwas observed that in Finland, 93% of thearchitectural firms were using BIM for some parts of
their projects whereas engineers' usage (such asstructural engineers) was nearly 60%.
POLICY INITIATIVESSenate Properties has mandated the use of modelsmeeting the IFC standard in its projects since1 October 2007 (Senate Properties, 2009), whichmeans that all design software packages are checkedagainst the current version (at the time of checking)of IFC. It has also set up detailed modellingguidelines to convey the modelling data requirementsto the project participants at each stage of the design.
The BIM guidelines have been drafted as a resultof an R&D project called ProlT conducted withindustry-wide support. It developed a number ofguidelines on product modelling. The guidelines arein the Finnish language and cover general principlesof product modelling in construction projects,product modelling in architectural design, productmodelling in structural design and product modellingin building services design (Senate Properties, 2009).
Another organization, Tekes, promotes BIM, andthis has helped high utilization of BIM in Finland. TheAssociation of Finnish Contractors is also active inpromoting BIM in the industry in association with thestate client (Senate Properties) whose path is similar,with the addition of the need for open standards.
In Finland's private sector, several research anddevelopment (R&D) projects in BIM are beingconducted. For example, Skanska Oy's project is onthe integration of project-specific building informationmodels into the industrialized building process, and theadoption of 3D modelling in practice (Kiviniemi, 2009).
Research organizations and universities in Finlandare running several programmes involving theimplementation of BIM. For example, HelsinkiUniversity of Technology and VTT's Engineering andConstruction Project Information Platform (ECPIP)integrates BIM into actual construction and buildingmanagement (Leicht et al., 2007). VTT and TampereUniversity of Technology's Virtual BuildingEnvironments (VBE) and another project by TampereUniversity of Technology investigate industrialprocesses incorporating IFC-based BIM (VTT, 2007).
VTT has been researching building product models,or building information models, since the late 1980s.Finland, and especially VTT, actively took part in the
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
294 A. K. D. WONG, F. K. W. WONG AND A. NADEEM
international development and standardization ofintegrated BIM when the lAI was formed in 1996. VTThas focused on technical issues related todownstream applications, including tools that utilizethe information in the models. These are differentanalysis, simulation and process managementapplication tools. Among these tools, energy andenvironmental analysis tools are given more attentionbecause of their high reliability in evaluating theenvironmental impacts or lifecycle costs of buildingsby robust analyses and simulations. More applicationsof BIM by VTT are summarized in Appendix 2.
BIM INITIATIVES IN NORWAYOVERALL USAGEOverall, about 22% of architecture, engineering,construction and facilities management (AEC/FM)companies in Norway have used or implementedBIM or IFC-enabled BIM. The state client Statsbygghas promoted the use of BIM in the past few years.Another organization, the Norwegian HomebuildersAssociation, has encouraged the industry to adoptBIM and IFC. Also, a number of Norwegiancontractors have invested in and implemented BIMsystems to be integrated into Information andCommunication Technologies (ICT) for their businessof constructing apartments and houses.
POLICY INITIATIVESNorway's BIM guidelines are called the BIM Manual.These guidelines are based on experiences fromStatsbygg's pilot construction project at Hogskolen iBod0 (HIBO) using BIM. Statsbygg produced the firstversion at the end of 2007, and the latest version(1.1) of the guidelines was released in February 2009(Statsbygg, 2010). The BIM Manual is insynchronization with the Norwegian standardNS8353 CAD Manual and the NBIMS standard fromthe USA. This manual was actually developed forStatsbygg's use: however, it is now also being usedby other parties in Norway (Le ef al., 2006).Moreover, Statsbygg has decided to use BIM for thewhole life cycle of its buildings. In 2007, five projectshad used BIM. By 2010, all the projects will berequired to use IFC/IFD-based BIM. It is to be notedthat IFD is an abbreviation for InternationalFramework for Dictionaries and it defines what
information should be shared or exchanged indifferent building product models.
Norway is among the first few countries todevelop the IFD standard in the building constructionregime as an implementation of the InternationalOrganization for Standardization 12006-3 standardand has potential for global application. UnderNTNU, several student projects and thesis proposalsare focused on buildingSMART technology and arebeing conducted in collaboration with industry andresearch organizations to develop student courses.
The Norwegian lAI Forum is defining therequirements for information exchange under theInformation Delivery Manual (IDM) (lAI ForumNorway, 2007). The aim of the IDM is to support theinformation exchange requirements for businessprocesses within the building construction industr/.Through IDM, the parts of the IFC model that arenecessary for information exchange betweenidentified processes can be specified.
PROCESS INITIATIVESINTEF is working on several internal andcross-department projects under the buildingSMARTinitiative, besides developing BIM guidelines. SINTEFis converting over 800 design sheets to the formatrecommended under buildingSMART guidelines.buildingSMART is a national coordinating effort tofocus and collaborate on all building developmentand implementation projects.
BIM INITIATIVES IN DENMARKOVERALL USAGEThe overall usage of BIM in Denmark is promising.According to a survey that was carried out in 2006(cited in Kiviniemi ef al., 2008), the most commonlyused BIM application among architects wasArchitectural Desktop with approximately 35% offirms using It. It was followed by Archicad, Revit andBentley Architecture. The survey also showed thatabout 50% of architects, 29% of clients and 40% ofengineers in Denmark were using BIM for someparts of their projects in 2006.
POLICY INITIATIVESDenmark public sector clients have specific modellingstandards/guidelines to adopt in their projects. These
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
Building Information Modelling Implementations 295
requirements are set out by the government and someof them are part of the building regulatory laws. InDenmark, Bips, which is a user-driven organization,has a strong influence on the use of IT in the Danishconstruction industry. The mandatory demands onBIM from the Danish state clients in 2007 havemoved the use of BIM to a higher level in Denmark.
Denmark has actively put forth its requirements forusing BIM in government projects. Such requirementsfrom the government are known as Byggherrekravene(Det Digitale Byggeri, 2007). The architects, designersand contractors participating in public sectorconstruction projects are utilizing a number of newdigital routines, methods and tools starting fromJanuary 2007. The initiative is called 'Det DigitaleByggeri' in Danish, which means 'the DigitalConstruction'. At the beginning, when the initiativewas under experimentation, the public sector clientsexercised flexibility in its use. For example, theadoption of a new common classification systemwas recommended in the initiative, but it wasnormally up to the architects/engineers to decidewhether the system should be used or not.
The use of 3D models in the projects has beenrelated to the price of the project. For projects above5.5 million euros, 3D models in the design have tofulfil a number of requirements regarding contentand information levels for the various phases, andthese are to be defined by the client for theindividual project. The models are recommended tobe exchanged using the IFC format. Also, there are afew municipalities and private clients in Denmarkwho demand object-based modelling.
A package of guidelines regarding 3D wasdeveloped. The guidelines concerned both thesetting up and fulfilling of requirements in file anddatabase-based CAD/BIM applications. The adoptionof the Digital Construction Program has beenpublished in the form of a number of reports andguidelines (Bips, 2008). These guidelines are alsoavailable in English, which include 3D CAD t\Aanual2006, 3D Working t^ethod. 3D Working Methodsand Layer and Object Structures 2006.
Bips has adopted the results from the DigitalConstruction Program and is promoting the newworking methods to all companies in the Danishconstruction industry. Ramboll and the Danish
Enterprise and Construction Authority are supportingthe R&D work in BIM in Denmark.
BIM INITIATIVES IN SINGAPOREPOLICY INITIATIVESCORENET provides information services, whichinclude e-information systems such as eNPOS ande-Catalog to its clients. It also offers an integratedsubmission system in the form of e-Submission andIntegrated Plan Checking System. IT standards arebeing adopted in the construction industry ofSingapore, adapted from lAI. Singapore, has, since1997, been promoting and later on also requiring theuse of BIM for various kinds of approvals, such asbuilding plan approvals and fire safety certifications(Khemlani, 2005). The CORENET's e-PlanCheckdefines Singapore's Automated Code CheckingSystem, and several authorities in Singapore areparticipating in the e-submission system, whichrequires the use of BIM and IFC. The BIM guidelinecalled 'integrated plan checking' has now beencompleted.
PROCESS INITIATIVESArup Singapore has adopted the process of BIM onall its projects for the past few years with success(Pynn, 2009). WSP also adopts BIM at the projectdesign stage because of its effective use in thepreparation and evaluation of structure designs andloading analyses. BIM was recently applied todesign production on the Civic, Cultural and RetailComplex, One North Singapore project, which isan integrated complex and is scheduled to becompleted in 2011.
BIM INITIATIVES IN HONG KONGPOLICY INITIATIVESThe Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) is applyingBIM technology in the public sector of Hong Kongfor design, sustainability studies and constructioncoordination of its public housing projects. The BIMinitiative follows the regulatory policy of the WorksBranch of the Development Bureau of Hong Kongtowards BIM. A BIM centre was set up in 2009 atthe headquarters of the HKHA to promote the use ofBIM and facilitate experience sharing. HKHA hasbeen piloting the use of BIM in new public housing
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
296 A. K, D. WONG, F, K. W. WONG AND A, NADEEM
projects since 2006. Its experience with BIM suggeststhat BIM can improve productivity and efficiency interms of enhancing collaboration, designoptimization, construction planning and conflictdetection. HKHA anticipates it will save time andcost, with less wastage in the long run.
HKHA will continue to use BIM in more projects,with an aim to cover all projects from 2014/15onwards. To develop BIM as a more user-friendlytool in Hong Kong however, HKHA plans to exploremore application areas, for example, automaticextraction of bill of quantities from BIM models,checking of building codes to comply with buildingregulations, integration with specification,préfabrication and assembly RFID, etc, HKHAconsiders that the requirement for BIM in the AECjob market would soon change from being a 'desiredskill' to a 'required skill'.
In the private sector, HKIBIM as a professional BIMbody is promoting BIM on a number of fronts asfollows:
• promoting and advancing the general education,understanding, appreciation and interest of and inBIM for the benefit of the member and the generalpublic;
• establishing and maintaining standards of BIMpractice in Hong Kong;
• establishing links with relevant institutes of tertiaryeducation, government bureaus/departments,statutory bodies and other organizations;
• providing guidance on careers in the BIMprofession;
• establishing and maintaining a code of conduct forpractitioners of BIM in Hong Kong.
PROCESS PLAYERS AND INITIATIVESA few developers in Hong Kong such as HendersonLand Development Company Limited, New WorldDevelopment Company Limited and Mass TransitRailway Corporation (MTRC) Hong Kong Limited havealready adopted BIM in their projects (Autodesk,2007). Main BIM applications include clash detection,design visualization and design evaluation.
In Hong Kong, Aedas Limited and L.W.K. &Partners (HK) Limited are among the architects whoactively practise BIM on their projects. As
architectural firms, they mainly use BIM for projectdesign and drawing production such as presentingcomplex geometry on a 3D platform, using a 3Dmodel to export 2D construction drawings, etc.
Structural engineering firms such as WSP HongKong Limited adopt BIM at the project design stage.They point out that it is effective to use BIM for thepreparation and evaluation of structure designs andloading analyses. Efficient and accurate drawingproduction is one of the benefits derived from BIMusage experienced by structural engineering firms. Inaddition, for civil engineering projects, a 3Dtopographic model can be efficiently produced usingBIM,
BIM consultants provide a convenient service forfirms that want to adopt BIM on their projects.Intelibuild, Forida and Tecton are independentconsultants providing BIM sen/ices in Hong Kong.They have clients in both public and private sectors(Autodesk, 2007). The role of BIM consultants is tobe mainly responsible for the technical aspects inthe building up of BIM models at project level. Theirbusiness models focus on the exploration andexploitation of applying BIM technologies,investigating the potential use of BIM for diversifyingtheir services so as to enlarge their market share andto attract more clients. Their BIM services includedesign visualization, photomontage, designcoordination, computer simulation of sunlight andwind effects, production of construction drawings,construction process simulation, maintenance,material taking off, etc.
INTEGRATIVE ANALYSIS OF BIMINITIATIVESThe review of implementation initiatives in terms ofpolicy, process and technology for BIM by variouspublic and private sector players in the USA, Finland,Norway, Denmark, Singapore and Hong Kong isintegrated into the research findings. The findingslead towards describing collectively, in qualitativemeasures, various aspects of BIM implementations.This is described in terms of the strategic stepstaken to implement BIM, Therefore, from the studiesperformed, the following attributes of BIMimplementations in various countries can beidentified.
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
Building Information Modelling Implementations 297
ROLE OF MAJOR PLAYERSThe review, as presented before, highlights the criticalrole of the public sector in the implementation of BIMin any country. In the countries discussed, the publicsector was one of the major drivers for theimplementation of BIM. However, the role of theprivate sector is also significant. In Hong Kong, whichhas an open economic system, the role of the privatesector in contributing to the economy is quitesignificant and this includes Hong Kong's AECindustry as well. It can be expected that new trendsor the introduction of new technology would mostlikely arise from the private sector The same is thecase with BIM, which has been largely implementedby the private sector in Hong Kong. There is a highprobability that BIM usage will greatly increase in theyears to come. The government of Hong Kong, as thepublic sector, has also realized this need. Therefore,HKHA is actively implementing BIM in its projects.
BIM POLICY AND/OR PROGRAMMEFor the effective implementation of BIM in a country,the government needs to establish the specificpolicy of adopting BIM on all projects. In each of thecountries discussed, specific governmentdepartments were responsible for setting the BIMpolicy, which includes in varying degrees theregulatory guidelines, contractual arrangements,setting up of best practices and standards, providingresearch and educational funding, etc. The initiativesof GSA in the USA, Statsbygg in Norway and DevBin Hong Kong, among others, are examples. BIMpolicy, in fact, also covers many of the followingattributes of BIM implementation.
DEVELOPMENT OF BIM STANDARDS/GUIDELINESBIM standards/guidelines are usually a component oran expected outcome of the BIM policy in a country.Whereas the policy is normally attributed to thepublic sector, the development of BIM standards orguidelines can also be initiated by the private sector.In the USA, the public client GSA has its BIMguidelines, which are parallel to the national BIMguidelines drafted by the NIST. The guidelines mayserve a specific purpose for an organization;therefore, in one country there can be more than
one set of BIM guidelines. The development of openBIM standards is recommended, which means thestandards should be usable on a variety ofcomputing platforms/systems. GSA in the USA andthe Association of Finnish Contractors in Finlandcollaborate with other partners to establish openBIM standards. In other countries, there are manycompeting BIM developers/vendors. Their effortsneed to be streamlined. The public sector in acountry is in a better position to instil synergy intovarious competing BIM developers in the market. InHong Kong, HKIBIM is taking a proactive role byproviding an exchange platform for gathering thecontributions from BIM professionals andstakeholders.
INFORMATION EXCHANGE CAPABILITYAn important capability of the BIM implementationsystem is exchanging information among differentBIM and non-BIM systems without loss of data,making the design information explicit and making itavailable to stakeholders so that the design,construction or operation intent can be easilyunderstood and evaluated. The requirements of BIMto pass IFC, IFD or IDM certifications, as presentedbefore, are intended to fulfil information exchangecapability requirements.
ORGANIZATION FOR BIM IMPLEMENTATIONIn order to implement the BIM policy of a country,there should be one or more designatedorganizations to take up the major responsibilities forBIM implementation, initially through some pilotprojects. It could be an existing governmentdepartment or organization that can be entrustedwith the task of overseeing BIM initiatives in theterritory. Several such organizations are discussedand summarized in Table 1. There can be otherorganizations in a country whose work can benefitfrom BIM implementations. These organizationsshould be encouraged to adopt BIM, in consultationwith the main departments responsible forcoordinating BIM implementations in the country.
PRESENTATION, PROMOTION AND LIAISONIt is important to disseminate the findings of the BIMprogramme, once established, at various outlets such
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
298 A. K. D. WONG, F. K. W. WONG AND A. NADEEM
TABLE 2 BIM
INITIATIVES
Organization and
projects
BIM Guidelines
research initiatives in the Scandinavian
FINLAND
Helsinki university of Technology
and VTT
ECPIP, Engineering and
Construction Project Information
Platform
VTT and Tampere University of
Technology
VBE, Virtual Building Environments
Tampere University of Technology
IFC-hased BIM Industrial Processes
Supported for Open Virtual Building
Environment
ProlT
Product modelling in construction
countries
DENMARK
Aalborg University
IFC Model Servers
3D Models - B3D
Aarhus School of Architecture
Product configuration
Design intent
IFC model server
Technical University of Denmark
Interoperability
Digital Construction Program
Guidelines for working with 3D CAD
NORWAY
SINTEF
Several projects under buildingSMART
initiative
BIM guidelines development
buildingSMART
A national coordinating effort to focus
and collaborate on all buildingSMART
development and implementation
projects
NTNU
Student projects and thesis proposals
focused on buildingSMART technology
Collaboration with industry and
research organizations to develop
student courses
BIM Manual with experiences from the
HIBO Statsbygg project
projects general principles,
architectural design, structural
design and building sen/ices design
applications
as forums, journals, conferences, professional bodies
for information exchange and recognit ion. For
example, GSA liaises w i th other partners f rom Europe
such as Senate Properties for collaboration. The BIM
best practices are recognized in the fo rm of awards.
In the USA, the American Institute of Archi tects '
Technology in Architectural Practice organizes the
annual BIM awards. In Hong Kong, Autodesk Hong
Kong organizes the annual BIM awards. Several of the
organizations described earlier in this article have
been recognized through these awards.
FOCUS OF BIM RESEARCHResearch programmes are, in fact, part of the policyfield of BIM. A number of areas for comparisonunder this category are summarized in Table 2. Fromthe review of the areas of research anddevelopment, it is observed that R&D in selectedScandinavian countries (Finland, Denmark andNorway) is being conducted in two broad areas:management aspects and technical aspects. Onesuch area is the investigation of the transformational
effect of BIM on the overall business processes of areal estate and construction company, starting fromautomation of the process and passing through theinformational effect. In another managementresearch area, research is being conducted intobusiness drivers for the implementation of BIM,which is divided into various areas concerning eachstakeholder involved in the whole building life cycle.
In technical research, researchers have paid greatattention to interoperability issues. IFC specificationsare also being investigated to make them cater forthe needs of the construction and real estateindustry. The major issue in IFC specifications is thecomplexity of its use, efforts are being made tomake the specifications clearly modularized andcategorized to better suit the needs of constructionindustry users.
CONCLUSIONSA review of BIM initiatives in the USA, Finland,
Norway, Denmark, Singapore and Hong Kong has
been presented in this article. From the integrative
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
Building Information Modelling Implementations 299
analysis of BIM initiatives in these countries, theoverall attributes of BIM implementatiori in a countrywere extracted. The findings suggest that for aneffective implementation of BIM in a country, both thepublic and private sector should work collaboratively toset up a suitable environment for the implementationof BIM in the AEC/FM industry. Such steps wouldinclude, but not be limited to, defining the roles ofmajor players in BIM implementation, and setting up asuitable policy for BIM implementation. The BIM policywould include steps such as organization for BIMimplementation, developing effective informationexchange capable systems, setting up modellingguidelines, BIM standards and best practices, possiblyin the form of successful pilot projects, and thepromotion, liaison and presentation of BIM initiatives inthe country, with other stakeholders in or outside ofthe country. The study also reviewed salient BIMresearch initiatives in these countries, which, in fact, isa part of the overall BIM policy field, and found thatsustainability, interoperability. Informational andtransformational issues are being and should be givenprofound attention.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThe authors gratefully acknowledge the fundingprovided by the Research Grants Council of theHKSAR Government for this research project (RGCReference No. PolyU 5301/06E).
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ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
Building Information Modelling Implementations 301
APPENDIX 1 ORGANIZATIONS IN THE USA INVOLVED IN BIM APPLICATIONS (NIBS, 2007;WBDG, 2008)
NAME BIM ROLE/INITIATIVES
National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS)
American Institute of Architects (AIA) - Building
Connection
AIA - Integrated Project Delivery
AIA - Technology in Practice
American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)
American Society for Quality (ASQ)
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
American Society of Professional Estimators
(ASPE)
Association of General Contractors of America
(AGC) - BIM Forum
Continental Automated Buildings Association
(CABA)
Center for Facilities and Environment (CIFE)
Construction Users Round Table (CURT)
Georgia Tech AEC Integration Lab
International Code Council (ICC) -
SMARTcodes™
National BIM Standard (NBIMS) for the USA
Journal of Building Information Modeling
An organization serving as an interface between the government and the private sector
Interoperability standards and activities in the architecture, engineering, construction
and real estate industries
White papers, articles, presentations regarding integrated practice
A resource for the deployment of computer technology in the practice of architecture
Interoperability and BIM through developing the CIS/2 standard and promoting Its use in
the structural steel design, detailing, fabrication and construction process
Inclusion of the knowledge of BIM and interoperability into the knowledge required by
Certified Quality Managers
Develop and identify initiatives and opportunities presented by interoperability, BIM and
related topics affecting the HVAC & R industry and ASHRAE interests
Develop informational and educational programmes on BIM and interoperability for
ASHRAE members
The Architectural Engineering Institute of ASCE is dealing with building information
models
All estimating professionals may want to get in on the BIM discussion affecting their
work. ASPE chapters will be presenting speakers and programmes to facilitate the move
towards BIM
BIM Forum is AGC's task force on building information modelling, BIM Forum's 200+
members collaborate virtually via the online forum, AGC has a BIM guide for general
contractors
To promote advanced technologies for the automation of homes and buildings in North
America, It has prepared a report entitled Technology Roadmap (TfíMj for Intelligent
Building Technologies, which focuses on commercial, institutional and high-rise
residential buildings and provides an in-depth examination of intelligent building
technologies including BIM
CIFE end Stanford have long been pioneers in collaborative design, integrated practice
and BIM in general, CIFE has published a number of reports and working papers on BIM,
3D/4D, and virtual design and construction
To promote excellence in the creation of capital assets and support BIM/Virtual Design
and Construction (VDC) implementation, CURT is in the third year of an arrangement with
CIFE and GSA in conducting a VDC Usage Survey in order to gain business metrics
around VDC implementation
It provides information on the specification, functionality and exchange capabilities of
BIM tools to help facilitate new technology for the AEC industry
It automates compliance checking with building regulations, codes, standards, etc,
which includes significant work on a dictionary that can sen/e as a basis for other
dictionary work in the USA and globally, coordination with model checking software
entities and working with BIM software developers to understand what infomnation is
needed in a BIM to make it checkable for compliance
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT
302 A. K. D. WONG, F. K. W. WONG AND A. NADEEM
APPENDIX 2 APPLICATIONS OF BIM BY VTT
APPLICATION AREA BRIEF OESCRIPTION/PURPOSE
Environmental sustainability of built environment
(Häkkinen and Kiviniemi, 2008)
Integration of BIM into web service application
(Permala et ai, 2008)
Integration of BIM and IFC standards into
performance-based building standards and business
processes (Huovila, 2008)
ECPIP project (Mäkelainen ef ai, 2008)
To use design information from BIM for the purpose of building
operations. To investigate the potential of BIM for seeking solutions for
the problems of sustainable building processes
Real-time information sharing for addressing the problem of
information transparency in tbe construction supply chain. BIM and
web service applications were used as information sources to the
construction supply chain. The end product developed was a
prototype, called CS Collaborator. The CS Collaborator programme
was one of the first attempts to build a BIM-based web service for the
construction industry
To enhance innovation and sustainable development. The potential for
value creation during the whole life of buildings by the use of BIM was
identified in a number of areas including customer and end-user
requirements, sustainability within the building process and lifecycle
phases, decision-making, building process re-engineering, etc.
To improve the quality and productivity of the Real Estate and
Construction Cluster (RECC) through customer-driven development
and implementation of new processes utilizing an integrated
information platform. This helped to bring RECC processes and BIM
into an innovative dialogue by using process simulation
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